"No first aid kit, huh?" Zero asks as he ties the bundle of rats by their tails to his hip.
Serenity watches the action with curled lips and wrinkled nose.
"No," She answers as she tears her gaze away. With nothing to show but three small dead animals, the pain in her shoulders shrivels any good mood she has left inside of her.
"Once we find somewhere to settle for the night, I'll look at it. But unless we find a needle and thread to stitch that up, there's not much I can do." He replies.
Serenity follows him out of the run down shop and down the street. The sun is beginning to set, the sky painted in orange and pink. It distracts her from her burning shoulder, the light breeze cooling her down.
They find a house with most of its windows intact and use it for temporary shelter.
Zero barricades the door with what furniture was left intact and directs her to steer clear of any windows besides the one he's using to clear the smoke of the small fire pit he created.
Serenity searches the kitchen for any forgotten food, but finds herself more distracted with the number of gadgets she finds. Most of them have rusted or were broken. She finds a discarded and bent up silver can laying in the back of a cupboard and sets it on the counter where she had put other things that she thought may have been useful.
Exiting the kitchen, she comes across a banister of stairs.
"I'm going up," She glances back to the living room where Zero crouches in front of the fire. She watches as he skins the small rats with his sword, revealing pink meat.
He hums and offers a wave in an indication that he heard her.
When she reaches the top, she glances from one closed door to another that is split un half. Splinters of wood lay on the floor, a sliver of moonlight emitting from the room.
She nudges the half standing door and it clatters to the ground with a crash. She stills, eyes darting from one corner of the room to the other, and relaxes when a zombie doesn't jump out at her.
While Zero did scout the house for them, Serenity doesn't want another encounter like she did for the first time. She'll probably always be cautious going forward.
Stepping further inside, she takes in the bed in the shape of a race car. The orange and red paint is deteriorated, peeling off of the surface. Blood stains the blue sheets, the blanket ripped to shreds beside it.
Posters of men and women in strange costumes line the wall, a chest full of toys pushed into a back corner.
She steps towards a dresser and lifts a frame. An image of a boy with brown hair smiles up at a woman. They look alike, and she can only assume they are mother and son.
Turning back to the bedroom, the bloody sheets on the bed tell a sad story.
Pushing those thoughts to the back of her mind, she continues to roam the room. She pauses when she spots a wooden bat leaning against the chest of toys. It reminds her of the branch she used when Zero showed up and saved her.
A smile lights her face and she steps up to grab it. It's a lot lighter than the branch was, and easier to grip.
It may not be as sharp as Zeros blade, if she can learn how to properly swing, she's positive the head of a zombie wouldn't be hard to smash.
With a skip in her steps, Serenity swings the bat to rest on her shoulder and makes her way downstairs.
"Hey, look what I-" She starts with a smile.
"Sh, quiet!" Zero is quick to wave her away. He's no longer standing at his makeshift fire pit. The skinned rats have been skewered and dangles above the fire. Fat drips from them, sizzling from the heat.
Zero now crouches by a window, eyes peering over to look outside. Curious, she tiptoes closer, hand tightening around her new found weapon.
She crouches down next to him and looks out the window. It's dark, the moon high in the sky. She can only make out the houses across the street, the few lamp post still standing have long ago flickered out. In the distance she can make out a few figures walking.
"Zombies?" She murmurs.
Zero narrows his eyes, "No. People."
She squints to get a better view, "How can you tell?"
"Look at the way they walk. They're not limping." He points out.
She nods her head, "Why are we hiding then?" She turns her head to look at him, brows furrowed in confusion.
Zero doesn't answer her at first, eyes glued to the three figures that walk further down the street.
"Some people you don't want to encounter." He finally murmurs.
"But you said every life is worth saving." She watches him pull away and walk back to the fire. Glancing back at the figures that get further away one last time, she follows him.
"I did say that, didn't I?" He grumbles, scratching the back of his neck. Serenity nods.
Zero sighs, "While that's true, not everyone has good intentions. Most will steal your rations and if it came down to it, leave you for dead."
"Well that's not very nice." Serenity frowns.
Zero looks at her, dark eyes dancing from the fire, "No it's not. So be careful who you encounter and who you trust."
"I trust you." Serenity smiles.
Zero smiles back, "Yeah?"
She nods her head.
"Good. I trust you too." A growl interrupts the moment and Zero glances down at his stomach. "Let's see if dinner is done."
She eyes the three small lumps that hang on a stick. While it didn't look appealing at first, the smell of cooked meat makes her mouth water.
Zero slides a rat off onto a make shift plat of a wooden board and hands ot too her.
"You're sure this is safe to eat?" She asks, eyeing the charred meat. Its tail dangles off the side of the wood, dripping fat onto the floor.
"Its either this, or nothing at all." Zero says as he grabs one for himself. He brings it to his lips and takes a large bite. A groan of satisfaction leaves him.
"That doesn't answer my question," She mumbles. Watching him for a moment, she takes a bite when she notices that he hasn't died yet.
Though flavorless, the moment she swallows, she's ravenous for more. She tears meat from bones and swallows with little chewing.
How long has it been since she ate something? She may have just woken up yesterday, but without remembering anything else, it's hard to say.
Zero notices the bat at her side and chuckles, "You find that?" He asks, nodding his head to it.
She glances down at it and nods. She swallows before saying, "Yeah. It's not sharp like yours, but I figured it would work better than nothing at all."
He nods, "Just remember to aim for the head."
When she's finished with her food, she eyes the third rat.
"Take it," Zero passes it to her.
Not having to tell her twice, she begins to devour it. When he finishes his, he tosses the bones to the side and stands up.
"I'm going to look at your shoulder now, okay?" He comes up behind her. When she waves at him in acknowledgement, mouth to busy chewing and swallowing, he chuckles.
He begins to untie the makeshift bandage that was once his sweater. The fabric sticks to the wound, and she hisses as he peels it off.
"Sorry," He mutters.
Serenity is quick to finish her second rat and tosses the bones into the same pile Zero had made with his.
"It's still bad, but it seems to be healing okay." He murmurs. She hisses out when he pokes at the tender flesh. "I don't want to use any of the clothes here, who knows if it's infected. So, You'll just have to tough it out with this."
He begins to rewrap the sweater around her before tying it.
"Let's head to bed. We need to find you something to stitch your shoulder, so we have a long day ahead of us."
Serenity nods in agreement. The sooner she can get it fixed, the sooner she can be rid of the pain.
Not trusting the pillows and blanket after seeing one drenched in blood upstairs, she finds a spot in a corner to lay down. She hugs her new bat to her chest and closes her eyes.