When Abby woke up, she didn’t recognize the surroundings at first and rose up with a start, immediately looking for any possible dangers. Looking out the window and seeing the empty seats of the WLF stadium, she remembered why she wasn’t in her designated bunk bed hearing Manny’s snores from the other side of the room: she had moved in with Y/N yesterday.
You had been dating for about two months and made it official a week ago when Abby had taken you out of the base for a picnic in the woods, leading you to a beautiful clearing overgrown with wildflowers. You had put down a big blanket and enjoyed some fruit together when Abby had suddenly looked at you with a strange expression on her face.
“What is it, babe? Did you hear something?” You had put down your apple and grabbed your knife, but Abby had shaken her head and caressed your face with her warm, calloused hand.
“I’ve really enjoyed those last few weeks with you and I just realized that-… I don’t want to pressure you into anything.. But I realized that I only want to spend my time with you and… Y/N, will you be my girlfriend?”
You had squealed with joy and let yourself fall into her arms. “Oh Abby, of course I’ll be your girlfriend! I didn’t bring it up yet because I didn’t want to scare you away but I’ve been waiting for you to ask!”
She had given you a big squeeze and an enthusiastic kiss. “I’ve already put my connections to use and made arrangements for us to get a shared room, we should be able to move in before the end of next week.”
The WLF management was surprisingly helpful and open about shared accommodation for anyone; they seemed to accept that physical contact and spending time with loved ones made people happier and more productive. With her high rank as one of Isaac’s top soldiers, Abby had quickly gotten through to administration and secured you a room you could only dream of before.
The last four years you had shared a room with six bunk beds, your roommates coming and going and not really bonding as all of you were going through different levels of training and often restationed to different outposts as needed.
Since last year you had been a teacher for the 12-15 year olds, teaching their last classes of general education and helping them find their strongest suits for further training. You connected them to experienced educators in medicine, farming, food preparation, weaponry, education, administration or military and had made a few friends in the different fields through your work. This was also how you had met Abby and Manny, both of them volunteering to train new recruits for a few hours a week and inviting you to come along for personal insight. Abby had asked you out for a drink later and made her interest in you clear very quickly. She was not one to wait around and hope for the best, she wanted you and she got you.
Your newly shared room had been one of the VIP lounges of the stadium before the outbreak, a big concrete cube with a glass front protruding from the rows of seats and granting you a perfect view of the stadium and the different fractions in it.
You didn’t have any furniture to bring along from your old room, only a few books to add to Abby’s collection and a suitcase of clothes. Abby had brought a gigantic box of supplies for patrols and fights against the Seraphites, fresh linens and blankets, pictures and a small variety of washed-out khaki and black clothes. Manny and Nora had agreed to help Abby with bringing back small pieces of furniture and decoration from patrol runs so you could make the big, naked space a real home.
The best thing however was the bed that stood right at the middle of the concrete wall - a metal frame carrying a queen-sized mattress without any spiral springs sticking out, big enough to comfortably fit both of you and serve as a soft, safe island in the middle of the chaos that pervaded your lives.
A bed that now seemed strangely empty without you in it, your side cold to Abby’s touch and your smell only faint on the pillow Abby now buried her face in. You had left for work much earlier and were probably in the middle of class while Abby didn’t need to work until the late afternoon. She had promised to give her trainees an introduction to the canine unit and to have them meet Alice, her favorite German Shepherd. While Alice loved cuddles and could play fetch for hours, she also took her work very seriously and listened to commands without hesitation.
After a lost game of cards the week before, Manny was going to be the victim of Alice’s invincible and merciless sharp teeth today. Abby smiled at the thought of him wrapped into thick blankets to endure the commands the recruits would practice on him with Alice; she could hear his complaining already.
Manny had been extremely sad about Abby moving out, constantly lamenting how he would never find a better roommate (especially not one who would regularly spend the night somewhere else so he could bring over women) and how she was a terrible friend for abandoning him. He had to admit that the two of you made a good couple though and he actually liked you a lot. You had introduced him to your colleague Ms. Potts, his latest flame, so he technically owed you. Even more important, you had promised him to convince Abby to leave their TV and DVDs behind for him, agreeing to come over for movie nights regularly.
Abby rolled over and grabbed a book she had founds on her latest supply run and hadn’t had the chance to read yet, Maestra by L. S. Hilton. It seemed to be a thriller about art fraud with a strong female lead and something completely different from the classics Abby usually read. The library was only stocked with high literature, crime novels, nonfiction and children’s books as the old librarian had despised anything that she saw as low-level reading or scandalous. Upon realizing years ago that the librarian was trying to influence what people wanted to read, Abby had started to bring back books from outside the base and read anything she got her hands on.
The librarian had passed away a few weeks ago and apparently, a young woman had taken her post; Manny had already talked Abby’s ear off about her but Nora had remarked with a raised eyebrow that the new girl had shown no interest in Manny at all and likely played for her team instead. This had shut him up while Abby had encouraged Nora to take some time off work and ask out the librarian for a drink. Maybe you could make it a double date?
Fully immersed in her book, Abby didn’t hear you come in at first. The book had turned out a lot more scandalous than the cover had made it seem and the protagonist was currently attending a sex party, effectively distracting Abby from anything going on around her.
Immediately seeing your chance, you took off your shoes and quietly crept up to her. You suddenly jumped onto the bed, scaring Abby so much that she let out a small scream and threw her book halfway across the room.
“Jesus Christ, what the fuck is wrong with you, Y/N?” Recovering from the initial adrenaline rush and hearing you laugh wholeheartedly she tried to keep a stern face but had to give in to a slightly guilty looking grin. “Sorry babe, didn’t mean to snap at you. You scared me.”
“What kind of incredible book have you been reading that your senses shut off completely? I’m definitely banning it from your patrol pack, I don’t want you becoming clicker feed because you’re so immersed in that story.”
Abby shrugged. “Oh, it’s nothing. Just a novel about art fraud, it’s really interesting. How was your day? Kids do okay?” She put a hand to your cheek and gave you a long kiss, definitely trying to distract you from her secret literature. You decided to let it slide for now and have a look at the blood-red book lying on the floor as soon as Abby headed off to work later.
“Work was good, I think I have a new trainee for you. She’s 14 and joined the WLF with her mom a few months ago. General education is a bit unsteady so I assigned one of my teacher trainees to tutor her, but she has a lot of experience in hunting and fighting infected. Her dad was killed on the way here. She’s a good kid, I think you’ll like her.”
Abby contemplated your proposal for a moment, then she nodded. “I’m taking the kids to work with Alice for the first time today. Maybe that would be a good introduction to training, we could do some team-building exercises and laugh at Manny together - he’s on victim duty today.”
You laughed. “Perfect. I’m meeting her mom for lunch, I’ll let her know to send her daughter over.” Scooting closer, you buried your face in your girlfriend’s neck. “How did you sleep, my love? What’s your verdict on the new bed?”
Abby leaned into your touch and snuck a hand under your shirt, gently stroking your back as she kissed the top of your head. “Like a stone. I can’t ever go back to a bunk bed. Waking up without you was sad though, I missed you so much.” You looked up at her pouty face and kissed her until she smiled again. “I’m sorry babe, we’ll have plenty of time to sleep in on Sunday. Wait, have you eaten yet?! Come on, let’s go have lunch!”
You jumped up and put on a sweater. The cafeteria was in the basement and had no windows so it was always much colder than the upper levels. From the corner of your eye you could see Abby trying to be unsuspicious as she kicked the book under the bed and put on her favorite khaki pants. You would definitely read that book and ask Abby innocent questions about it, acting like you didn’t know the plot. Abby put on a pair of shoes she had dug out from her metal trunk and came over to put her arms around you.
“I’m so happy to be here with you, you have no idea. We’ll make something out of this place.”
You smiled warmly and gave her a peck on the lips. “We will, baby. Now let’s grab some burritos before Manny eats them all.”