The Havenwood Survivors

Josh shrugged. "I dunno. Wasn't my expertise in the military. But I could try." Josh stepped closer to the safe and stared at the buttons. "We can't carry it, but maybe. Three, seven-- nine. Zero." He turned to the others. "Those are the numbers. I think."

"That's only twenty four combinations," Cody said. "We have time to guess."

"So long as the battery hasn't died in it," Shane said, pessimistically.

"The light is still on," Josh reminded. "So it's still good."

Josh pressed some buttons. The red light flashed, and the safe buzzed.

"Well, that wasn't it," Marshall murmured.

Again and again, Josh pressed the buttons only for the red light to flash and the safe to buzz.

"Oh, c'mon," Josh complained as the red light flashed once more. "We have like two left." He huffed. "Nine, zero, three, seven."

The green light flashed. The safe clicked as it unlocked. The four men cheered as Josh opened the door.

The safe was full with a gun sitting next to the ammunition hidden away in the back behind the bottles of pills and medicine.

"Clear it out," Marshall said. "We'll take inventory later."

Josh readied an empty bag before emptying the safe's contents in it. The bag bulged and groaned as Josh zipped it up.

"It's still light out," Marshall noted. "We can look around a bit more."

"I saw some walls a couple of streets down to the east," Josh explained. "We can make contact and maybe make a trade agreement."

"Good," Marshall said. "We'll try there."

They all left before pulling beside the wall. Rust crept across the metal walls.

"Hello!" Marshall shouted. "Friendly out here!"

Silence.

They glanced at each other before turning back to the wall.

Several groans came from the other side then came light thudding against the wall.

"Boost me," Shane said, looking at Josh.

"Careful," Marshall said as Josh interlocked his fingers. Shane stepped a foot inside Josh's hands before Josh lifted him.

"Oh shit," Shane whispered. He looked down. "Infected. Looks like they overran the place."

"How many do you see?" Marshall asked.

"About twenty," Shane answered after counting. "Do you think we can take them?"

"We can't leave the cars," Marshall said, rubbing his chin.

Shane peered over the wall. About five feet to his right was a door and next to it was a large garage like door.

"Maybe we can funnel them through the door," Shane said. "There's like eight here."

"We can maybe find something," Marshall said, still rubbing his chin.

"Something like a truck?" Shane asked. "We can pull the cars in so long as I can get to the door."

"Why don't we go around?" Cody asked. "They're drawn over here."

Shane peered over the wall and smiled. "Well, not anymore. They all wandered off."

"Can you make it to the door?" Josh asked. Shane nodded again. "Go over. We'll be right there."

Shane leapt over the wall as Marshall and Cody got into each of the cars. Shane threw open the garage door before they steered inside.

The infected turned towards them just as Shane closed the door again.

"Get ready," Josh said as the infected rushed towards them.

"Stay," Marshall said to Cody with his hand.

Cody sat in the car, watching as Marshall, Shane, and Josh went through the horde. Dried blood splattered over their clothes. Their chests heaved with every breath.

Cody stepped from the car as they started to drag the corpses off to the sides.

"Gross," Josh said, making a face as he rubbed his hands along his jeans.

"Hold it," Marshall said, holding up a hand.

They all froze, turning to where Marshall was staring.

Three children stood in the doorway of one of the trailers. Two of them, the elder boy and girl, looked to be around fifteen while the younger boy, holding the hand of the girl, looked to be around three or four. The elder boy was darker in skin tone, a soft clay color, clearly of Hispanic descent, while the girl and younger boy were light peachy tones.

The elder boy had his dark raven black hair cut short around his ears. The girl's platinum blonde hair was pulled back into a messy bun, and the younger boy also had his brown hair cut short.

The elder boy wore an oversized denim jacket over top of his plain black shirt and jeans. The girl wore a zipped up pink faux leather jacket and some jeans while the younger boy wore an ill-fighting yellow monkey shirt and some pants that were held up by a belt.

"Hello," Cody said, stepping closer.

"Careful," Marshall whispered.

"We're not bitten!" the girl cried. "We've been hiding."

"What happened here?" Josh asked.

"Someone lied," the elder boy said. "About being bitten. Then all this happened."

"Is there anyone else?" Marshall asked.

"No," the girl said. "Not that we know of, but we haven't seen anyone else."

Marshall stepped closer. "You all were held up in here?" The elder boy nodded. "How many people were here?"

"About sixty of us," the elder boy said.

"What are your names?" Shane asked.

"I'm Miguel," the elder boy said. He pointed to the girl. "This is Jessica, and he is Tristan. We found him wandering around. We don't know his real name, but our teacher, Mrs. Pike, started to call him that."

"Where is she?" Marshall asked.

"She's inside," Jessica said. She gestured inside as she spoke.

A rock clattered on the ground.

"What the fuck?" Marshall asked, looking at the rock.

"That's our signal," Miguel said.

"Whenever the scavengers can't call out, they throw a rock over the wall," Jessica explained.

"Which means they're back," Miguel said, rushing to the door and opening it before anyone could stop him.

Three adults rushed inside, carrying whatever they could, before closing the door behind them.

"Uncle Dean!" Jessica cried, rushing over to the man in the middle and giving him a big hug.

Miguel glanced around at the three adults. "Where's the other three?" Dean didn't look at him. The other two lowered their gazes. "Are they really gone?"

Dean nodded slowly. "We got jumped by a horde." He shook his head. "I don't know about the other group."

"No one else came back," Jessica said.

"Who are you?" Marshall asked.

"I'm Dean." He gestured to the taller, more muscular dark raven black man behind him. "That's Garrett." He turned to the plump woman. "And that's Amber."

"I'm Cody. This is Marshall, Josh, and Shane. We thought this place was empty."

"Fucking Keith," Dean murmured under his breath, looking around at the corpses piled on top of each other. "I knew that fucker was lying." Dean turned as Tristan staggered over to Cody's side. Tristan smiled as he raised his arms. Cody bent over and picked him up. "You must be great with kids. He's a shy little boy."

"Yeah," Cody said. "I like kids. I wanted some before--. You know."

"Yeah," Garrett said in agreement.

"You know," Marshall said. Everyone turned towards him. "We have a community. We are more than willing to extend the invitation for you all to come with us."

Dean glanced at Garrett and Amber.

"Let us have a minute," Dean said. He and the others turned away. They stepped away, far enough for Marshall and them to not be able to hear them.

"You think they'll come?" Josh whispered.

"I think so," Shane said. "Everything's destroyed over here." He gestured to all around them. "I doubt they wanna stay."

"Same here," Josh said. "It'll be a few hours before we can grab everything."

Thunder rolled over their heads.

"Hopefully we have that much time," Marshall murmured.

Dean, Garrett, and Amber turned back towards them before they all met halfway. Dean frowned as he looked around again.

"There's a lot here," Dean said. "But if what Miguel and Jessie were saying is true, there's really no one here besides us." He sighed, glancing at his niece. "As much as I don't want to trust complete strangers, none of us would survive if we stayed here."

Marshall smiled. "We're happy to have you. Now, let's gather any and all things that we can. Josh, whatever we don't grab today, I want you to come back tomorrow with a group and gather whatever is left."

"How many people do you have?" Dean asked.

"A hundred and twelve," Cody answered. "We also might be getting more people next week."

"Might," Marshall repeated.

"Can you afford more people?" Amber asked, crossing her arms. "We were living pretty good here. We don't wanna go back to struggling."

"Yes," Marshall said quickly. "We wouldn't have offered it if we were struggling ourselves."

"We need to go quickly," Dean said. "It looks like it's about to rain."

They all hurried, gathering everything they could. Blankets, mattresses, bed sheets, clothing, shoes, food. Anything they could get their hands on, not caring about the importance of the item. Dean showed Shane the truck and sedan their community were working on, and with a quick change of batteries and a few tweaks on both, they were up and running.

Garrett gathered up the office water containers, setting them in the trunk of one of the cars. Miguel shifted the book bag on his shoulders.

"Whatcha got in there?" Josh asked.

"My Pokemon cards," Miguel answered. "And some movies."

Josh's eyes brightened. "What kind of movies?"

"Mostly Disney movies, but we also have some full seasons of old tv shows. Perry Mason, Bonanza, Gilligan's Island. You know, the boring stuff from the fifties."

Josh frowned. "Bonanza is one of the best shows ever made. There's something clearly wrong with you if you dislike it." He paused. "The first season wasn't that great, but they were trying to find their footing."

"We only have the first season."

"Of course you do." They fell quiet for a moment. "What else do you guys have?"

Miguel pulled out the large disc organizer from his bag before handing it over. Josh started to flip through the sleeves, flipping past every Disney ever made, before getting to the other movies and full season TV shows.

"We raided a daycare to find the Disney movies," Miguel said.

"That'll explain it." Josh flipped the pages some more. "Xena: Warrior Princess. I used to love that show. Have you seen it?"

Miguel shook his head. "The adults didn't let us watch whatever we wanted when we wanted. Conserve the electricity, they always said."

"We're the same way." Miguel frowned. "But we watch a movie every week. Everyone gets to vote on it."

Miguel's face brightened. "Oh cool."

"C'mon, guys!" Dean called out. They turned and hurried to join the others.

"Out of room or out of stuff to grab?" Marshall asked.

"I think we're out of stuff," Shane said, looking around.

"We should start heading out then," Marshall said.

Thunder crashed again as lightning shot through the sky. The clouds burst, allowing the rain to fall to the ground.

They all quickly rushed into a car before they drove off. Only the sound of the study hum of the engine and the rain hitting the cars' rooftops were heard.

The gate opened for them. What little crowd was around them stood in amazement as all four cars rolled in.

All the goods were quickly counted before being transferred to the factory, the nearest building where the larger items could be left until the rain went away.

It rained throughout the meeting, even as they carried the smaller items to their respective places. The medicine cabinet was fully restocked. The library nearly doubled its inventory of books and board games though some of them were copies of what they already had.

Though they weren't too happy about it, Dean and the others were placed in quarantine with Dr. Lee monitoring their temperatures and heart rate every so often.

Cody laid on his bed. He sighed into his pillow.

"Hey," Marshall said as he finally came in from the rain.

"Hey." Cody yawned, turning to lay on his back.

"Micah talked to his group," Marshall said, sitting on the edge of the bed.

Cody sat up and looked at him. "Really? What did they say?"

"They're gonna be joining us."

Cody's face brightened. "That's awesome."

"They'll be here in a week."

Cody smiled. "Where are we gonna put them?"

"We're gonna discuss it tomorrow, but I'm gonna nominate that we expand the wall to include the two apartment buildings to the north of us."

"Excellent." Cody continued to stare at Marshall before leaning back, bracing his weight on his hands behind him and raising his gaze to the ceiling.

"I'm sorry."

Cody looked at him. His brow furrowed. "About what?"

Marshall sighed. "For yelling at you earlier. At the pharmacy." Cody continued to stare at him. "I was just so worried about losing you." His face grew hotter, turning a bright red. "Especially before I worked up the courage to tell you."

Cody scooted closer until they were sitting next to one another. "Tell me what?"

Marshall frowned, turning slowly towards Cody. He remained quiet. His gaze dropped down to Cody's soft lips.

"I love you," Marshall said after a minute.

Cody blinked. "Like as a friend?"

Marshall frowned as they stared at each other. "No."

Cody stared at Marshall. Slowly, his face turned bright red. "Really?"

Marshall glanced away, nodding faintly. "Yeah." He frowned harder. "I know you probably don't like me."

Cody frowned. "Why is that?"

Marshall shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe because of how we were before all this." Cody chewed on his bottom lip. "I know that you're gay, but that doesn't automatically mean that you'd like me back."

"But—." Marshall turned towards him. "I do love you. Like a lot, Marshall."

Marshall's eyes widened. A smile danced across his lips. "Okay." His face grew red.

"Yeah." Cody felt his heart pound faster in his chest. His own face grew hot.

"So what do we do now?" Marshall kept his gaze down.

Cody frowned, raising a hand. He gripped Marshall's chin, turning him gently so they could face each other. Cody leaned forward. He hesitated as he felt Marshall's breath on his lips before leaning forward again. Their lips finally touched.

Cody felt electricity seep deep into his skin and shot through his entire body.

Marshall gripped Cody's hips, twisting him so Cody's legs were on his own.

Cody felt Marshall grow hard underneath his thigh. Marshall deepened their kiss. They fell back onto the mattress. Marshall hovered over Cody as to not to crush the smaller man with his weight.

Cody wrapped his arms around Marshall's neck. Marshall lowered a hand underneath Cody's shirt, pushing it further up his chest. Cody gasped at the touch. His nipples hardened when they met the cold air. Marshall lowered his mouth, taking one of Cody's nipples in between his teeth, suckling it gently.

Cody sucked in a breath. "Fuck."

Marshall released Cody with a pop. He raised his arms, pulling his shirt over his head and tossed it aside. He returned his mouth to Cody's. Their tongues touched. One of Marshall's hands slipped underneath the waistband of Cody's jeans. Cody gasped again as Marshall wrapped a hand around his member.

"I've wanted this," Marshall whispered. "For so long." He shuddered.

Cody's hands went down to the front of his jeans, undoing the button and zipper. Marshall pulled Cody's hardened member out before sitting back on his ankles.

Cody grew hot underneath Marshall's gaze. "I have too."

Marshall shifted on the bed, kicking off his shoes and removing his jeans.

Cody shifted, doing the same. His shoes clattered onto the floor.

Marshall leaned forward after another moment. His mouth found Cody's neck, biting hard enough to leave a bruise. Cody ran a hand through Marshall's hair. Marshall lowered his mouth, running kisses down the length of Cody's chest and stomach.

Cody gasped as Marshall licked his length. Cody felt his face grow hot. His mouth went dry. He pressed his hips against Marshall's mouth.

Marshall raised his head slowly. Cody gasped and moaned as Marshall bobbed his head. Marshall pressed a finger against Cody's opening before pushing it forward.

Cody hissed a breath through his teeth. He gripped more of Marshall's hair.

"Fuck me, Marshall."

Marshall quickened the pace of his finger, striking the hard yet sensitive spot inside of him. Cody clawed at Marshall's shoulders. His nails, scraping his skin.

Cody moaned. "M-Marshall, please." He started to tremble.

Marshall raised his head finally, pulling his finger out of him.

Cody groaned at the absence.

"You're so beautiful," Marshall said, settling in between Cody's legs, snugly fitting their hips against one another.

Cody felt his face grow hot. He bit his bottom lip, smiling wide. He widened his legs. "Please."

Marshall shifted, grabbing his own hardened member. He ran the head along Cody's opening.

They both gasped as Marshall breached him.

"Oh fuck," Cody whispered as Marshall continued to fill him until their hips touched.

Marshall threw back his head. His hands, still gripping Cody's hips.

Marshall rocked his hips back then forward again. Cody tightened around him. Marshall allowed a low growl escape from his lips.

"That feels nice," Marshall murmured. He raised Cody's hips, pushing forward again. His fingers dug into Cody's skin.

Cody tightened around him again.

The mattress creaked as Marshall began to move. The headboard thudded lightly against the wall.

Cody felt his face grow hot. "Yes. Just like that."

Marshall slammed his hips against Cody's.

Cody ran his hands up Marshall's arms, scraping his nails along his skin. Marshall hissed out a breath. Blood pulsed fast as lightning through their veins. Cody gripped Marshall's shoulders, driving his nails into his skin. Heat pooled in his stomach. His member ached, begging to be touched, weeping from a mixture of the pain and pleasure.

Cody felt his lungs burning. His skin felt electric wherever Marshall touched him. His face grew hot, turning a faint red. He gasped again and again as Marshall quickened his pace.

Their moans and gasps filled the room. Cody was sure anyone walking by outside would easily hear them.

Cody ran his nails down Marshall's chest, eliciting a deep groan from the other man. They both tensed at nearly the same time, both exploding onto Cody's chest and stomach, leaving them in pants as they tried to catch their breaths.

Marshall swallowed, sitting back on his ankles. "Damn."

Cody smiled. "You can say that again."

Marshall shifted before he stood, walking over to the sink. He opened the cabinet and pulled out a body wash wipe before handing it over to Cody. "Here. It's the last one."

Cody smiled faintly as he took the wipe from Marshall, running it up and down the length of his chest and stomach.

"You think anyone heard us?" Marshall asked. Thunder crashed overhead. Marshall frowned slightly. "I guess not."

Cody tossed the wipe in the nearby waste bin before climbing into bed, pulling the covers up underneath his chin. Marshall climbed in next to him.

Cody scooted closer to Marshall, placing his head on the older man's shoulder. Marshall wrapped his arms around Cody, resting his chin on his forehead.

"Goodnight, Cody." Marshall kissed his forehead.

Cody smiled. "Goodnight."

Sleep came over them rather quickly with their already fatigued state and the sound of the rain from outside.

Over the following week, Marshall oversaw the extension of the community walls. Though progress was somewhat slow with the rain coming and going, they, thankfully, finished the expansion by the end of the week. Dean and Jessica were given one of the remaining rooms in the motel while Miguel and Tristan were taken in by Gretchen and an older couple, respectively.

Micah and the rest of his community walked in through the gate, carrying all that they could. A couple of cars pulled in after them, carrying their elderly and those unable to walk the distance.