Us vs. the Apocalypse
Title: To The Rescue
Word Count: 381
Author's Note: Avery's abandonment was discussed briefly in Everything I Can't Say, where Keenan blasts Aura for not going back to get her. But while Aura's a very "by the books" person, I can't see her willingly leaving Avery to die like that, so I engineered it slightly so that it was Doug's doing, rather than something Aura chose for herself. And yes, Avery is holed up in an abandoned hospital. No zombie story is complete without one!
"You still with me, baby girl?" Keenan asked, edging around an ambulance that had smashed into the side of the building and peering at the broken windows leading into the office. It seemed empty, though with the power out and only the light of the moon to go by, it was hard to say for certain.
"Keenan?" Avery's voice was a bare whisper, edgy and rough. "Is that you?"
"The one and only," he said, climbing up onto the windowsill and easing himself into the office. The sound of the broken glass crunching under his feet was uncomfortably loud, and he winced as he tried to step away from the window as quickly and quietly as possible. "A little bird told me you could use some backup."
"Oh God," she whimpered, and he could picture her somewhere high above him, tucked into a corner in a dank ward room, her skinny arms wrapped around herself in the darkness. "I didn't... I didn't think anybody would come back, I thought maybe they would say I was lost or -"
"They did," he told her, leaning against the wall by the door so he could quickly flash his light into the hallway. Seeing nothing aside from stained tile and abandoned gurneys, he stepped into the hall and used the wall as a guide, moving slowly to let his eyes adjust to the darkness. He clicked his flashlight on only occasionally, checking the overhead signs as he tried to locate a stairwell. "Doug told us that we weren't allowed to come for you," he explained, and he heard her gasp, a squeaky, high-pitched noise of horror. He wasn't exactly sure what was so startling about it - he'd figured out within a day that Doug's only purpose was to do what Raymond didn't have the guts to do back at Haven - but then again, Avery always did have a tendency to think the best of people.
"But you came anyway?" she asked, more a statement than anything. He smiled slightly, turning a corner and finding the stairwell door ahead of him.
"I told you before, Ave," he said softly, his ears catching the sound of something shuffling in an office nearby, "as much as the universe keeps trying, nothing's taking you away from me."
Word Count: 381
Author's Note: Avery's abandonment was discussed briefly in Everything I Can't Say, where Keenan blasts Aura for not going back to get her. But while Aura's a very "by the books" person, I can't see her willingly leaving Avery to die like that, so I engineered it slightly so that it was Doug's doing, rather than something Aura chose for herself. And yes, Avery is holed up in an abandoned hospital. No zombie story is complete without one!
"You still with me, baby girl?" Keenan asked, edging around an ambulance that had smashed into the side of the building and peering at the broken windows leading into the office. It seemed empty, though with the power out and only the light of the moon to go by, it was hard to say for certain.
"Keenan?" Avery's voice was a bare whisper, edgy and rough. "Is that you?"
"The one and only," he said, climbing up onto the windowsill and easing himself into the office. The sound of the broken glass crunching under his feet was uncomfortably loud, and he winced as he tried to step away from the window as quickly and quietly as possible. "A little bird told me you could use some backup."
"Oh God," she whimpered, and he could picture her somewhere high above him, tucked into a corner in a dank ward room, her skinny arms wrapped around herself in the darkness. "I didn't... I didn't think anybody would come back, I thought maybe they would say I was lost or -"
"They did," he told her, leaning against the wall by the door so he could quickly flash his light into the hallway. Seeing nothing aside from stained tile and abandoned gurneys, he stepped into the hall and used the wall as a guide, moving slowly to let his eyes adjust to the darkness. He clicked his flashlight on only occasionally, checking the overhead signs as he tried to locate a stairwell. "Doug told us that we weren't allowed to come for you," he explained, and he heard her gasp, a squeaky, high-pitched noise of horror. He wasn't exactly sure what was so startling about it - he'd figured out within a day that Doug's only purpose was to do what Raymond didn't have the guts to do back at Haven - but then again, Avery always did have a tendency to think the best of people.
"But you came anyway?" she asked, more a statement than anything. He smiled slightly, turning a corner and finding the stairwell door ahead of him.
"I told you before, Ave," he said softly, his ears catching the sound of something shuffling in an office nearby, "as much as the universe keeps trying, nothing's taking you away from me."