Un-Dead World Book One: Dead Men's Game

Taking Chances

    "What does that even mean?" I asked Branson. I was just so confused with how he had been acting lately and this newest statement wasn't helping. 

    "Nothing. Just forget I said anything." He was staring at his knees while he sat, and I slowly sat next to him. 

    "No." He looked at me in surprise as I spoke. "Look, when we first met it wasn't ideal, I totally understand that. It wasn't like I hadn't just been attacked and subsequently had to shoot my boyfriend. Which made me feel bad enough. You can't do this though! You can't act like you cared about me and kiss me and then act like I'm a monster. You sure as hell can't do it and not at least give me a reason why. Is it really that big of a deal that I'm only half human? I didn't know about it, I have never given you a reason not to trust me, and I am so sick of you walking around like a wounded puppy. Everyone can see that you have some big problem with me and I want to know what the f**k it is." I was out of breath from my outburst and I felt traitorous tears threatening to spill forth. He just stared at me though. "Tell me what I did!"  I shouted this in his face and it was like he came to life again. 

    "It isn't about you, Laura!" He stood and began to pace the small room. Back and forth in front of the small twin size bed. "How am I supposed to measure up to a f*****g angel? This world hasn't even begun to show us how terrible it can be. Do you think every person we meet is going to just be friendly and helpful like they've been? Do you think we're gonna be able to stay at that school forever? No! We're going to meet people who will try to take everything that we have and at some point we will have to leave the school. It just isn't somewhere that is sustainable forever. The generator is failing and none of us can fix it, there are a lot of us now, and we have a kid to look after! I can't love you the way I want to because I can't be the person that deserves you. I'll have to make hard decisions to keep all of us safe and I can't do that if I'm constantly terrified of doing something so vile that the woman I love will hate me. I don't care that you're an angel in the way that you think I do but I'll be damned if I'm the reason you have to put your morals on the line." He finally stopped pacing and speaking. Standing in front of the window and looking out at the stumbling bodies around the house, he took a deep breath. "I have to be a leader, Laura. Which means I can't waiver from any chance to keep our people safe, no matter what I may have to do. I would rather you find some sort of happiness with someone who has the luxury of living inside of your moral boundaries." 

    "Someone like Jimmy?" I asked him. He turned to face me, eyes guarded. "That's why you told him you didn't care, isn't it?" 

    "Yes, someone like Jimmy. I saw how he looked at you when they saved us. That's when I realized that he would be better for you than I would. He wasn't a leader and he wouldn't have to compromise himself to make you happy." Branson almost looked ashamed when he admitted this.

    "What about me?" I demanded. "What about what I wanted? Did that never cross your Neanderthal brain? Maybe I don't want to be with Jimmy. Maybe it was my choice who I wanted. If you think that I wouldn't be able to understand when you did something for the good of the group, you obviously don't know me. Which honestly, I guess you don't huh? It's not like you took the time to get to know how my mind works, or like you even gave us a chance to see if it could be more. You made that decision for me, Branson. You treated me like I was a child who wasn't capable of making her own choices. If you weren't interested and you didn't want to be with me, I would both understand and respect that. That isn't why though. As soon as there was another viable option, you ran. You're too scared to see what this could become and I don't have the time to chase after someone who is a coward. It's the end of the f*****g world, Branson. You can either choose to live with what time we have left, or to die knowing that you gave up. I won't be the latter." 

    I was on my feet now and didn't recall when that had happened. I noticed that the banging inside the rest of the house had stopped. I focused my thoughts and felt outside of the room. I couldn't feel any more zombies. Ignoring Branson, who was still just staring at me, I went to look out the window next to him. There was a group of at least forty zombies just standing outside of the window. Not moving, not making a sound, like they were statues. Not wanting to chance going outside, I went to the door. I leaned over the dresser and put my hand to the door, sending waves of energy into the house. It was clear. There wasn't even the weird static I had felt before. I was fairly certain they were all outside, but the energy was very different in them now. As I was standing with my eyes closed I heard Branson's steps coming up behind me. Still angry, I kept my eyes shut and continued what I was doing. 

    "You're right, Laura. I am scared. I took a risk in love before and it scarred me, deeply. Then there you were, making me feel things I hadn't felt towards another person in a long time. Maybe it was all just an excuse because I was afraid of opening up and losing love again. You're also right about another thing though." He grabbed my shoulder and turned me to face him. After a moment I opened my eyes and looked up into his face. He raised a hand to stroke my cheek. "I don't want to die knowing I gave up." 

    When he said this, I saw his face change and knew he was going to kiss me. I was going to let him too. He dropped his head to mine and very softly, almost hesitantly, pressed his lips to mine. It started out gentle, but quickly became almost aggressive. Our teeth, lips, and tongues entwined passionately. Nipping on my lips between hungry kisses, he growled into my mouth. I felt his hand grab my waist before he set me on the dresser in front of him. I opened my legs and hooked them around him, pulling him close to my heat. I could feel the ridges of his hard c**k against my inner thigh and I was not disappointed in what I felt. He slid a hand down the front of my pants and hissed when he felt my wetness. 

    "You're so f*****g wet, baby." He snarled this into my ear, before biting down on my neck, eliciting a happy moan from me. He was rubbing circles around my swollen clit which made my hips arch into him. I couldn't take it anymore. 

    "Branson, I need you. Please." I begged him for what I had been craving for months. I needed to feel him inside of me. 

    "Yes. Now." He yanked open the front of his jeans, the button flying off, before he grabbed my pants and pulled them down. In our haste, his pants remained around his ankles while I had mine dangling from one foot. Without further delay, I pulled him back towards me and reached down to guide him into me.         

    We both groaned as he fully seated himself deep inside before pulling back and slamming back in forcefully. This is what I needed, what I wanted. He wasn't just f*****g me, this was a claiming. I braced my hands behind me on the dresser and put my feet on the edge, opening myself up to him even more. The new angle caused him to lose control. He wrapped one hand around my throat and pounded into me like his life depended on it. Over and over again, he sheathed himself in my core, bringing me soaring past the precipice of pleasure into oblivion and not slowing one bit. I almost couldn't handle it anymore as the sensation was almost too much but that's when he finally joined me in blissful abandon. 

    He slumped against me, but still kept one arm around me to hold me up. He smiled down at me and kissed me softly on the forehead. This was such a change from the rough s*x we had just had and I felt something change between us. As the twitching began to subside, he pulled his softening member from my depths and I couldn't stop the noise that brought forth. He grinned at me while he pulled his pants back up. I still sat on the dresser, legs too shaky to stand just now. 

    "Well, so much for not needing a belt today." He said jokingly as he zipped his pants and looked around him for the button. Just like that, he was him again. I could feel the change between us and I was glad to see him smiling at me once again. I laughed at him.    

    "The one day, you aren't prepared is the day you need it!" I stood on shaky legs and got dressed again. I can't believe that we had just slept together. In the middle of a zombie horde disaster. Speaking of zombies, I couldn't feel anything around us. I ran to the window and looked out in shock. Every zombie that had stood outside of the room was now a lifeless corpse on the ground. Like they had just dropped and returned to being truly dead. 

    "That's not normal, right?" Branson asked as he came up behind me. Unexpectedly, he stopped directly behind me and wrapped his arms around me, resting his chin on my shoulder while he looked outside. Not wanting him to stop, I didn't question it.     

    "Not even a little bit." I told him. I smiled as he kissed my cheek before walking to the door and scooting the dresser back. 

    "Let's see if the coast is clear then." He opened the door, drawing his gun. I ran over to grab mine where it had fallen out of the holster in our haste. Not smart. Next time I would make sure my gun was safely out of the way.     

    "Looks like they all just dropped where they were." I pointed out as we entered the house to find more bodies.             

    "Yeah, I wonder what happened. Maybe Marisol did something?" He asked.

    "Nope! Not me!" Marisol suddenly said causing us both to jump and raise our guns. She was standing in the doorway of the house looking at us both. "I felt a surge of energy from this direction a couple minutes before we got here. I was worried something bad had happened but I'm pretty sure you two handled it..real good." She smirked at us and walked back outside. "It's okay guys! They aren't dead! Laura took care of things." She laughed at her own innuendo but she didn't say anything else. We walked out and saw that all except Pam and Chloe had came to rescue us.     

    "There's plenty of stuff still inside the house. If we're all here, we might as well as load up." Branson told them, reverting back into leader mode. There was an air of ease about him now though. He didn't seem as uptight. Everyone started to make their way into the house to start grabbing stuff, and as I walked up the porch Jimmy came up to me. 

    "I'm glad you're safe, Laura. When Wilbur showed up and said y'all were trapped, we couldn't get here fast enough!" He said. That's when reality came crashing down on me. What was I gonna tell Jimmy?