Be Careful What You Wish For: A Zombie Apocalypse
Chapter 140: Worth Saving

Chapter 140: Worth Saving

With a nod of his head, Tank reached down and gently took the toy out of the little girl’s hands. Carefully tucking it under his arm, he patted her head once again. "Deal accepted," he chuckled. "Go get your mommy, and we’ll head back now."

A woman, probably no older than 25, rushed forward and picked up her daughter. Clearly exhausted, Tank looked at the dark circles under her eyes. Survival wasn’t easy on anyone, especially when they had children to look after.

"Do you need to grab anything?" asked Tank, his face going back to impassive now that he was no longer speaking to the child. The fact that she looked like she could have belonged to him and Hattie had no bearing on him saving her.

"Nothing," replied the woman with a quick shake of her head. She was trembling as she stood in front of Tank, but her chin was up and her shoulders back. She had more grit inside her than Cameron had in his entire body.

"Are you really that low that you would take a toy from a child?" demanded Cameron, clearly needing to be the center of attention.

Tank glanced over at the child just in time to see her face falling at Cameron’s words. "Of course I would accept a toy as payment. It is the most valuable thing that she owns... and unlike you, she also understands that nothing in this world is for free. Her Teddy has now bought her and her mother a home with food, hot water, electricity, and anything else she needs."

Looking down at the ’hero’, Tank couldn’t stop the look of scorn on his face. "She has just ensured her mother’s survival... and hers," he repeated. He would have gone on, but that seemed to be nothing more than a waste of words.

"I have a Teddy," snarled a man, looking around the floor for something to give to Tank. Finding one of the other children nearby with a doll in her arms, the man snatched it from her and held it up to Tank. "Take me with you."

Tilting his head back with laughter, Tank couldn’t help but shake his head. "The Teddy was her sacrifice. Your head is yours."

Without another word, Tank walked through the front door as the woman and child followed closely behind them, careful not to get too close to the zombies.

----

"Thank you," sighed the woman after they had gotten far enough away from the mall. "My name is Sophia, and this is Libby."

Tank looked at the woman from the corner of his eyes but didn’t bother to respond. The only reason why he hadn’t left her at the mall was because of her daughter. She should just keep her mouth shut and be grateful.

"I don’t know why you saved us, but thank you," she continued, looking up from beneath her lashes. Taking in a deep breath, she steeled her nerves. "I will do whatever I have to in order to make sure that we can get the supplies you spoke about."

Tank stopped walking suddenly and sneered at the woman. "I don’t know how it worked at the mall, but the Dragon’s Lair is different from everything you know. Keep your head down and your mouth shut, do the job assigned to you, and you will be fine. But the next time you... proposition... me or Mr. Leone like that, be prepared to die."

"I don’t understand," sputtered Sophia, more than a little relieved that she wasn’t expected to become a whore, but also not sure as to why she was saved. "Didn’t you save me so that I could—"

Tank started walking again, holding up the Teddy Bear in his hand. "Your daughter paid your entrance into the Lair."

"You were serious about the Teddy?!?" asked the woman, more than a little surprised. "I thought..."

"I know what you thought," replied Tank dismissively. "What are you good at?" Since nothing was free, Sophia was going to have to work for her supplies, but he had no idea where to put her. She would be the only living woman at the Lair, and he probably should have asked Dante before letting her in.

Oh well, Dante wouldn’t be able to say no as soon as he saw her daughter anyway.

"I was a teacher," replied Sophia as she rushed to catch up. The ground under her feet was uneven, and she kept tripping in the darkness.

"We don’t really have a use for a teacher," grunted Tank, racking his brain to figure out where to put her. With a very put-out sigh, he turned around and plucked Libby out of her arms. "Give me the child before you drop her," he grunted, holding the girl in front of him.

It was awkward with the Teddy still under his arm, so he gave it back to Libby. "Hold this until we get to where we are going. I don’t want to drop it."

Libby nodded her head as she took the Teddy back and wrapped both of her arms around Tank’s neck.

"I don’t—" started Sophia as she reached forward. She knew that the Teddy wasn’t the real reason why this man had agreed to take care of them, and she would die before she let a predator touch her child.

"Shut your mouth," snarled Tank, more than done with everything. When the child in his arms flinched, he forced himself to relax. "Your daughter looks like my wife," he murmured softly after a while. "That is the reason."

"You’re married?" sputtered Sophia, looking Tank up and down. It was a brave woman who would willingly tie herself to someone that looked like Tank. "I’m—congratulations?"

"My wife is currently missing," growled Tank, picking up the pace. "She has the exact same Teddy."

Stunned, the woman didn’t quite know what to say, but it was enough to make her a little more relaxed.

----

"You’re late," muttered Dante as he stood in front of the gate, waiting for Tank to appear. "Did everything go okay?"

"Fine," grunted Tank, still carrying the child. "We have a mother and child that decided to pay for their entrance. They might be the only ones worth saving from that place."

Dante stared at his second, stunned as he looked at the blonde haired child in Tank’s arms. She couldn’t have been more than four years old... If Dante didn’t know better, he would have thought that Tank had a soft spot for children.

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