Be Careful What You Wish For: A Zombie Apocalypse
Chapter 345: The Snow’s Stopped

Chapter 345: The Snow’s Stopped

"Fucking hell," grumbled Colt as he watched Sadie and her newest rescue leaving the sixth floor. He could talk to that woman until he was blue in the face, and she would still do what she wanted to.

It was not a good idea to bring strangers into the mix. Things were tense enough amongst the survivors, especially with supplies running low. Soon enough, he was going to have to go out and try to find an alternative food source. Bark would work if he could find a spruce, pine, elm, or birch, but most wouldn’t be willing to eat it.

"I feel ya, man," agreed Désiré as he clamped a hand on Colt’s shoulder. "Hattie is one woman dat you don’ wanna be messin’ with. She’s got her own ideas. As a man, it be better ta just go with dem. Might let you live longer, too."

Colt found himself nodding with the Cajun man before stopping himself fast. He didn’t want to form any type of friendship with these people. Having Sadie insist that they take care of the other 26 remaining survivors in the building was bad enough.

"Donna worry," sighed Ronan as he looked at the door. "We’ll be gone as soon as possible. We wanna be ’ere a much as you want us ’ere."

"You’ll be on the 8th floor," announced Colt, shutting down his emotions as he narrowed his eyes at Dante and Luca. "If your dog isn’t housebroken, you will be cleaning up after him. If you don’t, I’m not too particular about where my meat comes from nowadays."

"Fine," shrugged Salvatore. Tank could use the toilet just like the rest of them; it wasn’t like he wasn’t housebroken in either form.

"But first, I’m putting you to work. No one stays here without working for their place," announced Colt as he strolled away. His legs were long, so he easily ate up the distance toward the stairway. However, none of the other men had a problem keeping up. "The rest of you stay here and be on guard. I’m worried that the wolves are going to make their move soon. If we’re running out of food, they’ll have been starving for a few days now."

-----

"Hey! Water boy! I need more water," called out an elderly lady as she banged her cane against the floor. Beau, biting his tongue, filled up a massive vase with water, cursing everyone in his head. He was a renowned surgeon, for Christ’s sake. His hand saved lives, and now he was carrying containers of water around to everyone who wanted it.

The things he did for his woman.

Colt led them upstairs to what had to be the topmost liveable floor. Opening a door on the right, the nine men were surprised to see that it was a massive room, covering one end of the hallway to the other.

"When we realized what was going on, we started knocking down walls," announced a man, slipping into the room behind Dante. "Now we all live together."

"What’s the containers in the middle of the room for?" asked Luca, cocking his head to the side as he looked at massive metal bowls every six to ten feet.

"Fire," grunted Colt. "Only source of warmth."

"Can’t ’elp but notice dat dere ain’t no fire in dem," smirked Désiré as he strolled over to the closest one. Crouching down, he winked at the teenage girl who was trying to poke at the coals in the middle of the bowl.

They weren’t cold, but they weren’t producing any warmth either. "Let me ’elp," smirked Désiré. With a wink, a click of his tongue, and a finger gun, he re-lit the coals, causing a massive fire to rise up.

"Thank you," breathed the girl as she blushed at the handsome man.

"My pleasure," replied Désiré, coming to his feet. Grumbling in his head at his inability to not flirt, even if that was the furthest thing on his mind, he returned to Dante’s side.

"Don’t worry about it," murmured Pride, placing his hand on Désiré’s shoulder. "You are Lust. To ask you not to flirt is like asking you not to breathe air. Either keep your mouth shut and hide in the corner, or accept that this is just who you are."

"’Eh! Hot stuff!" called out an elderly gentleman a few firepits down. "Come light my fire, would ya?"

Désiré blinked before nodding his head. "I’m comin’!" he called out, hurrying over to make himself useful.

Meanwhile, Salvatore and Ronan were already over in the ’medical wing’ of the room. It was simply a place with a giant red cross and curtains all around, but at least it made it easy to identify who needed to be healed.

"Are you really superheroes?" asked a small child as she pulled on Dante’s pant leg. "Where’s your cape? And your suit? Do you wear the spandex ones like the X-men or is it more like Batman? I want to marry Batman when I grow up. Are one of you Batman?"

Dante couldn’t help but blink over the onslaught of questions, his mouth opening and closing as he tried to work his brain. However, for the first time in his life, he was drawing a blank.

"Spandex is too cold," called out Désiré as he continued to light the makeshift fireplaces. There were blankets and bedding all around them, and it was easy to see that everyone shared this one monstrous room.

"We’re still workin’ on de brandin’," called out Ronan as he gently placed his hands on a middle-aged man with frostbite. His lower legs were almost completely blue, and it was easy to see where the skin and muscles had already died.

However, something as simple as frostbite wasn’t that much of a challenge for a healer. As long as the man was alive, Ronan could heal him.

"I wanna be a mutant like you," whispered one shy kid as he looked at Salvatore’s white hands as they healed his broken leg. "Can I be a mutant, too?"

"Waitlist," answered Salvatore, his face impassive. "We’ll see."

The child frantically nodded his head in happiness.

Tank sat at the door, guarding it as everyone else moved around the room, receiving a warmer welcome than they ever had before.

"Hey!" called out a woman. "The snow’s stopped."