Patrol
You blinked your eyes open, watching as the world slowly blurred into focus. Letting out a yawn, you languidly stretched your arms above your head before looking down at the ground.
Currently, you were taking refuge up in the branches of a rather tall tree, your waist tied tightly to the trunk as to not let you slip and fall during your sleep – if you had taken the idea from the Hunger Games, then that was no one’s business but your own.
After checking that your surroundings were clear you deftly untied yourself from the rope’s hold and snagged your bag that was hanging on a branch beside you, stuffing the material inside before pulling out a packet of pills.
The pills read ‘Heat Suppressors’ in neat, clipped print that was uniformly stamped across the back of the foiled package. Letting out a sigh as you eyed the remaining three pills, you made a mental reminder to try and find some more soon. Popping one of the pills open and swallowing it dry, you quickly pocketed the medicine and shrugged your backpack on before checking you had all your guns loaded and equipped before making your way down the tree.
Landing with a soft thud, you felt your head spin suddenly and stumbled against the tree beside you.
“Fucking hell,” You muttered as you righted yourself. Huffing, you brought your hand up to poke at the thick green paste that covered the scent glands on your neck, checking that it was still moist and therefore still effectively covering your scent.
For a moment, you merely took in your surroundings. The trees around you had almost lost all of their leaves, the ground covered in a thin layer of snow. Winter was surely starting to make its appearance and you cursed at the fact that you’d either have to try and find a place to hole up in for a couple of months or to get some warmer clothing other than the threadbare jacket you had wrapped around you.
Winter was always such a bitch.
Grumbling to yourself, you continued to trek through the woods. Oddly enough, you weren’t particularly cold. If anything you were warm.
You frowned, not liking how your gut churned in anxious anticipation. You had no idea why, but you knew that something was about to happen, and you were pretty fucking sure it wasn’t going to be something good. Sometimes you hated how your instincts always managed to predict the shitty future ahead – they could at least let you enjoy the day without being wracked with nerves.
Sighing for the umpteenth time, you quietly and quickly made your way through the shrubbery, trying to remember where you were on the faded map you’d encountered a couple of miles out plastered on a billboard. You could’ve sworn there was supposed to be a diner around here—
“SHIT!” You cried as the ground below you suddenly disappeared. Scrambling for purchase your hands grappled at the muddy slope that you were sliding down at an alarmingly fast pace. You yelped as you bashed into a tree that slowed your descent and knocked all of the wind out of you.
Gasping for air, you stumbled quickly to your feet in alarm as you heard the unmistakable sound of Clickers nearby. You really had to learn to keep quiet, even if you were caught by surprise.
Moving quickly across the expanse, you realised that you had stumbled across the abandoned building you were looking for. You felt relief build up in your chest as you quickly made your way inside the front door, locking it from the inside by shoving a nearby chair under the doorknob, glad to have avoided any encounters with infected. You were a little too jittery to trust your aim right now.
You wished you could take the moment to relish in your relief, but you knew you had to secure the rest of the building. The last thing you wanted was a runner climbing through an open window or something, especially since you knew there was at least a Clicker roaming nearby and infected always travelled in groups.
As you snooped around the rest of the little brick building, you realised that all of the windows were secured and that all the entrances blocked… A little too well to have been clumsily done by the panicked hands of those seeking refuge on Outbreak Day two decades ago.
“Odd,” You muttered, stepping into another room that overlooked the current mountain you were on with a desk perched in front of the frosted-over window. You couldn’t see through the glass, and gave up after attempting to wipe the ice away had failed. But there was a book that lay open on the desk. You frowned, looking down at the pages. There were names and dates scrawled across the lined pages, with descriptions of what looked like patrol routes.
“11/1 – Jesse/Dina – Took out two runners and a clicker near the water tanks, otherwise all clear.
11/15 – Jesse/Dina – All Clear.
11/29 – Joel/Tommy – No infected sighted. A fresh looking campsite was found by the petrol station, but no wanderers. T”
Oh shit, you thought, dread creeping up your throat. I’ve just walked into some big fucking group. Well, there went today’s goal of not dying.
Shit, all of this panic was making you feel dizzy. You huffed as you fanned yourself from the sudden onslaught of heat. For a winter’s day it sure was hot.
Jumping at a sudden bang that rang through the room, you quickly darted out of the room and took cover behind a bench that on-looked the door you’d come in from. That was unmistakably a gun shot, and considering you were still breathing it means you likely weren’t their target.
Sure enough, gunshots suddenly rang through the room and you felt your heart leap into your throat as the door rattled as whoever was on the outside attempted to get in.
Suddenly, the banging was back tenfold and- Crap! They were trying to shoulder through the door!
Ducking back under the bench, you listened as the door collapsed in on itself and the sudden squealing of infected as two sets of feet ran inside and gunfire echoed throughout the building.
Five bullets and then everything went quite.
You peered over the bench and blinked as you realised you could barely focus your gaze. Something was definitely wrong with you.
“I think that’s all of ‘em.” Someone sighed, the voice sounded feminine, but you couldn’t distinguish the face.
Suddenly you were hit by their scent though. One Alpha and one Beta. The Beta wasn’t a problem, but the damned Alpha was. You felt alarmed as your nose didn’t crinkle in disgust of the overpowering scent, but instead forced you to give out a high-pitched whine.
Slapping your hands over your mouth, you were suddenly hit with what was wrong with you. You were going into heat. For the first time in seven years. And there was a goddamned Alpha not even 10 metres away. Fuck.
“What was that?” Another voice spoke, the sound low and baritone. “…Do you smell that?”
“I can’t smell shit, and you know it. Why? You got something?”
“Yeah… but—” The Alpha was suddenly cut off as you charged him from your hiding place, staying low as you reached to your hip to grab your switchblade. Pushing upwards, you swung the blade with the intent to slice into the man’s jugular, but he dodged, ending up with you nicking his brow instead.
“Shit!” The Beta cursed, whipping out a Glock and aiming for you. You threw yourself to the side, crashing into a table as you avoided the gunfire and grabbed your own handgun to shoot at the woman.
The ensuing fight didn’t last very long – you were more concerned about getting away from the two and finding a safer place to try and either ride out your heat or stop it – to bother killing them so they didn’t follow you. That appeared to be your mistake though.
Just as you managed to reach the front door and was about to turn tail and run, a screaming Runner lunged at you. You yelped as you fell backwards, feet sliding out beneath you on the fresh blood oozing from the dead infected on the floor as you tried to scuttle away. The Runner had no qualms joining you on the floor as you wrestled to keep its ugly face away from your jugular. A sudden bang rang through the room and your face was covered with the warm spray of blood as the infected slumped to the ground, immobile.
You breathing stuttered as you wiped the blood out of your eyes and was welcomed to the sight of a man towering above you, gun held loosely in his hand and he watched you with hungry eyes.
“Well hello, little lady,” The Alpha crooned. You snarled, baring your canines as he reached towards you, quickly knocking your gun out of your hand as you pulled it out to aim for his face.
Snatching you by the wrist, the Alpha hauled you upwards and dragged you back inside the double doors.
“Secure the entrance,” He demanded, not bothering to turn to his partner. “I’m going to have some fun.”
You heard the Beta mutter something under her breath but you were still struggling to escape from the Alpha’s iron grip.
“Let go of me!” You yelled, pulling your switchblade out once again and aiming to stab the man. You screamed as a deafening crack filled the room and you felt a bullet rip through your side.
“Aliya! Don’t ruin the goods.” The man complained, shooting her a rather nasty glare.
“I’m saving your ass, at least be grateful.” Aliya snapped back, holstering her gun.
The Alpha snorted before returning his attention to you. You’d lost your hold of your blade and was now griping your side as blood started to seep through the cracks in your fingers.
“Let’s have some fun, shall we?” The Alpha grinned. You felt yourself pale as the man’s scent swept over you, and your body reacted in kind, your scent pouring out past the herbs that covered your scent glands.
This wasn’t going to be fun at all…
Ellie and Dina rode in a peaceful silence as they made their way to the next checkpoint on their patrol around Jackson. Winter was starting to noticeably creep in; last night being the first snow fall of the year. So far they had only come across a small pack of runners and nipped them off rather quickly before heading on their way.
Ellie eyed Dina to her left, taking in her small smile, curved nose and chocolate eyes that glistered in the cold winter light. The Alpha’s hand itched to reach for her journal and sketch the beautiful Beta next to her, but Ellie resisted, harshly reminded herself that they were on patrol dammit!
Still, the young Alpha yearned for Dina’s attention and affection – too bad she was getting it on with Jesse. It wasn’t like Ellie didn’t like the other Alpha, no that wasn’t it. She quite valued their friendship and the playful banter that came with the man, Ellie just wanted Dina. She just… wasn’t too sure how to get there. She loved Dina and cherished the bond they had and she didn’t want to fuck it up just ‘cause of some fluffy feelings that the Beta likely didn’t even return.
“Ellie…” Dina’s tentative voice cut through Ellie’s thoughts, snapping the Alpha to attention. Ellie’s brows furrowed at the cautious tone in Dina’s voice and flicked her eyes to where the other was looking.
Just beyond the trees was a small building – the location of their next checkpoint. It was a one-story, brick building that was perched upon the incline of a hill, overlooking Jackson. Except there were four dead Clickers and two Runners outside the front of the building and they certainly didn’t look like they’d been there for long.
Ellie glanced back to Dina who seemed to be having the same idea. Without a word both girls dismounted their horses and tethered them to a nearby tree before quietly making their way towards their checkpoint.
The door was… Well, it was barricaded by what looked like the old shelves that were kept nearby. Ellie and Dina shared a look before making their way around the building.
There was always the possibility that look-outs could be compromised, so Jackson always made sure that there was at least one other way to get in that the infected couldn’t. That usually tended to be the air vents.
Helping Dina up first, with Ellie climbing in afterwards, the two quietly crawled their way inside. It was then that Ellie smelt a rather cloying scent that was obscured by a sour and rotten smell, so strong Ellie could taste it. Fear.
The Alpha shook her head slightly as she followed Dina around a corner before silently hopping out of the vents, hoping to help dispel the putrid scent. They landed near the front entrance, obscured by a knocked-over table.
Upon exiting the vents Ellie’s hand immediately flew up to cover her nose as she heavily breathed through her mouth. Fuck, that scent was strong! Was some alpha in rut?
Her Alpha stirred and clawed at her consciousness, making Ellie frown as she tried to rein her instincts back. Ellie and Dina shared a look before rounding the table and pulling their guns out to survey their current situation.
The scene the girls came crashing into was rather unpleasant. A man – who was obviously an Alpha - was towering a top a woman, holding her wrists above her head as he settled between her thighs. The woman was lying deathly still and, if it wasn’t for the heavy rising of her chest, then Ellie might’ve thought she was dead. Regardless, it was obvious what was about to happen here and Ellie was about to step in before a bullet whizzed past her, missing her but nipping Dina in the shoulder, who cried out in pain.
An olive-skinned woman was standing in front of a doorway holding a rifle. Ellie whipped around and shot the woman twice in the chest before she could even reload her fucking gun. Ellie scoffed at the woman’s incompetence before remembering the current situation and went to step in to help – but not before looking back at Dina just to check she was okay.
Upon nearing the pair on the ground, the woman underneath the man suddenly latched her legs around his waist before flexing and bringing him crashing down on top of her, causing him to loosen his grip on her wrists. The woman took a hold of this chance to wrap her fingers around his neck before bodily flipping them both over.
A low growl tore through the woman’s throat as she strangled the man who floundered before wrapping his hand around a nearby bottle neck and bringing it smashing down on her head – it was then that Dina ran in pulling the woman back by the scruff before shooting the son of a bitch in the face. Ellie smirked – atta girl, Dina!
The woman fell back on her side, gasping and sweating all over. Ellie went to approach her but was stopped as the female’s eyes snapped to the Ellie as she snarled, baring her teeth. Though the bitch let fucking Dina approach her without so much as a glance in her direction.
Mildly offended, Ellie watched as Dina reached out towards the woman who was leaking fucking pheromones all over the damn place – eliciting a warning growl from said female – before gently pulling her over to lie on her back. From this angle it was obvious she had been shot. Her left side was bleeding profusely, a bullet obviously having torn through the meat of her stomach. Dina’s eyes flicked up to Ellie, silently beckoning her over.
Ellie cautiously approached the two, the growling increased as she neared and the woman’s scent of fear was so overwhelming that Ellie started unconsciously producing her own calming pheromones to hopefully help ease the hurt female. Unfortunately, it only seem to anger the woman as she snapped her jaws in Ellie’s direction. Ellie frowned, wondering what this chick’s fucking problem was before an idea popped into her mind.
Slowly, Ellie tilted her head very slightly to the right – lightly showing off her jugular. Although Ellie absolutely fucking hated submitting, she wasn’t a fan of Dina being so close to the high-strung woman. The Alpha’s brows furrowed as she realised she had no clue what this person’s second gender was. She definitely wasn’t a Beta – her scent was too strong for that. But Ellie had a distinct feeling that this woman definitely wasn’t an Alpha either… Weird.
“Ellie what the fuck did you do to her!?” Dina whispered yelled, Ellie shook herself out of her musings and looked at the woman that now lay completely slack against the floor, her breathing harsh but quiet and her eyes staring at Ellie’s slither of exposed neck as if it were a trick of the light.
“I don’t fucking know!” Ellie whispered back just as harshly once she realised Dina was accusing her something, “I just thought that it would show I’m not a threat…”
“Well I guess that worked,” Dina snorted.
“Oh shut up,” Ellie grumbled, embarrassed, as she made the rest of the way to the pair.
The woman still eyed Ellie rather cautiously but was no longer looking as if she would bite her the moment she got close enough – better than nothing, I guess, Ellie thought.
Annoyingly, now that the scent of fear had resided, that horrible saccharine scent came back double fold. Ellie’s skin felt tight as she felt her basic insticts clawing at her mind’s edge, urging her to… to help the limp body in front of her, a feeling so strong that she’d almost think she had met the woman before. It was certainly unusual to have such strong protective desires over someone Ellie was quite sure she’d never met.
“Do you know what she is?” Ellie questioned, lifting her eyes to meet Dina’s. The woman between the two stiffened slightly at the question. The two girls ignored the woman’s obvious discomfort at the question.
Dina lifted an eyebrow in questioning as she replied; “You know that as a Beta, my sense of smell is shit, yeah? So I’d have thought you’d have a better chance of figuring it out…” Dina’s voice trailed off as she looked down at the woman who stubbornly refused to meet her eyes. “But her scent is strong enough for me the smell, so an Alpha?”
Ellie shook her head gently, looking back down to the woman between them. Her face was flushed, her breathing heavy and her skin was covered in a sheen of sweat. The Alpha’s brows knitted together before flicking her eyes down to the woman’s pants – hey! It’s not like I want to! I’m just checking out a fucking theory- and yup! There was a damp patch in her jeans.
“No fucking way…” Ellie breathed out, eyes wide.
“What?” Dina asked, looking slightly worried when Ellie didn’t reply immediately. “Ellie, wha-”
“She’s a fucking Omega, Dina! And I’m pretty damn sure she’s in heat!” Ellie whisper-yelled unnecessarily, but this revelation felt too much like a secret to exclaim out loud.
“What!?” Dina snapped, disbelief working its way into her features. “I thought they were all extinct! The infected are attracted to them like fucking flies!”
“I know! I know, but I can’t think of any other explanation.”
Dina’s brow rose slightly higher, showing her surprise but also her doubt. “Aren’t alpha s’pose to – I don’t know – go fucking crazy horny when Omegas go into heat?”
Ellie couldn’t suppress her snort as she retorted; “Probs why that son of a bitch didn’t pay us any attention when we barged in here.”
Dina huffed out a laugh before shaking her head and once again looking at Ellie for answers, her silent question as to why Ellie wasn’t reacting hanging in the air.
Ellie sighed, “Joel told me that not every Alpha will get the urge to… well, force themselves onto an Omega in heat but rather protect and stuff…” Ellie groaned, frustrated at how fucking awkward she was making this. She also didn’t like the taste of Joel’s name in her mouth; it was too sourly tainted with betrayal for her comfort. Shaking her head to dispel any distraction, she continued, “Apparently those Alpha’s are usually family or close friends that don’t feel any attraction to the Omega… but I don’t know why I’m feeling like that, usually Alpha’s who don’t know an Omega would just fucking mount them.” Ellie pulled a face, disgusted at the lack of control Alpha’s supposedly had and fucking relieved she didn’t need Dina to hold her back or some shit. Then again, Ellie also knew that Omega’s weren’t impossible to resist, but most Alpha’s pretended they were to get away with taking advantage of Heat-vulnerable Omegas; or so Joel used to say.
Glancing over in the Beta’s direction, Dina wore a contemplative expression as she gazed down at the panting omega who seemed more than happy to let them continue their little conversation without any of her input.
“Maybe you’re related?” Dina asked hopefully.
Ellie scoffed, “Highly fucking doubt it.”
Dina sighed before turning back to the Omega and poking her in the temple. “Hey, can you talk?”
The Omega whimpered and made some rather fucking unpleasant sound before croaking out, “Would rather not.”
Ellie huffed as she felt her body move on auto-piolet and push her canteen of water into the Omega’s hands who just eyed it suspiciously. Looking at Ellie, the woman held her eyes for a while before seemingly to be satisfied with whatever she was looking for and swiftly uncapped the bottle and gulped down the rest of her water before handing it back.
The Omega pushed herself up on her elbows before pushing the rest of her torso up off the ground and tucking her legs underneath her so she was kneeling.
“Thanks.” She said curtly, looking highly uncomfortable.
Ellie snorted at the Omega who shot her a glare.
Dina sighed at the two. “What’s your name?”
The Omega looked at the Beta amusedly before replying with a hint of suspicion lacing her voice, “What’s it to ya?”
“Wow, we just fucking saved you and unless you want us to call you ‘Omega’” – said Omega growled at the mention of it, causing Ellie’s lips to quirk up – “I suggest you give us something else to call you by.”
The woman just glowered at Ellie before dropping her shoulders and sighing, “(Y/n).”
“Right, (Y/n)” Dina clapped her hands together looking overly cheerful – earning a look from both Ellie and the Omega. “Let’s get you back to Jackson!”
…
“What!?”
You looked at the Beta girl like she had grown a second head. She might’ve well had if she expected you to fucking go to whoever this ‘Jackson’ was.
Despite your anger and suspicion you decided lashing out probably wasn’t a great idea – the Alpha hadn’t even touched you yet and appeared to not be overly affected by your pheromones. It was probably best to stay that way, especially since she seemed to be rather fond of the Beta (perhaps they were together, that thought settled your nerves slightly).
“I don’t even know your names yet, nor who you people fucking are, so like shit I’m following you back to your fucking ‘Jackson’.” Crap … That came out a little harsher than intended. You flicked your eyes back to the Alpha who looked surprised if not amused by your answer.
“I’m Dina and this is Ellie,” The Beta responded cheerfully, as if that made anything better. She was way too cheerful for this situation, you immediately decided she wasn’t your favourite person… But then again you’d trust her over the Alpha, so really, that didn’t matter. “Also Jackson is our town and I think it’s probably the best place to be due to your, uh… current predicament.” Ellie let out snort at Dina’s rather polite response. Well, it was obvious the Beta wasn’t always so airheaded. That was a good thing at least.
“Look I’m perfectly fine. The first wave is over and I just gotta find a safe place to wait out the rest of it.”
“Wave…?” Dina asked with a tilt of her head, Ellie silently looked at you for an answer too.
You sighed, looks like you these two knew nothing of Omegas – not that, that was particularly surprising, most had died out after all. “Omega’s heats come in waves that gradually get more intense as they continue. The periods in between are when the omega is most lucid and leaks less pheromones.”
“You’re pheromones are fucking strong either way, you’ll just attract all the bloody infected” Ellie argued.
Well, she had a point there. It has been seven years since your last heat and this one was a lot stronger than you remembered… You carefully considered your options.
This heat would just get worse, but with your new injuries you’re likely to go into a heat daze and that could potentially leave you in more danger in the long run. These two on the other hand… Well, they seemed genuine enough and you could always make a break for it if they started acting sketchy. You sighed, already knowing what your best option was.
“Fuckin’ fine. How far away is Jackson?”
“About a 20 minute ride on the horses,” Dina smiled. Horses?
“You got everything you need?” Ellie asked, you huffed before pointing to your bag in the corner of the room. “I’ll get the bag, you sign us in Dina.”
“Okay!” Dina wandered off into another section of the house – you assumed she was going to write in that diary you had found before – and Ellie got up to retrieve your backpack.
“Holy fuck, what do you have in here!?” You shrugged as Ellie hauled your bag over. You brought along a lot of useless shit with you, but it kept you occupied when you weren’t trying to kill everyone and everything around you.
You rummaged around your bag and pulled out some bandages, Ellie quickly snatching them from you and wrapping your side up herself since it was “in a hard spot to do it properly yourself”. You reluctantly accepted the half-arsed excuse, but couldn’t help but how your back remained ramrod straight as she lifted your shirt slightly to properly wrap the wound.
Dina re-emerged from the back room and beckoned you to follow her and Ellie outside. You slung your bag across your right shoulder, letting the uninjured side of your torso endure it’s weight, before following the two outside where two horses were saddled and tethered to a nearby tree.
The two girls went to go mount their own horses before you spoke up, “I want to ride by myself.”
Ellie whipped around, “Like fuck you are! How do we know you won’t just take off?”
“And how do I know you’re not going lure me to your base and rape me?” You deadpanned. Ellie pursed her lips before looking at Dina.
“I mean, she kinda has a point,” Ellie sighed before handing the reins to a gorgeous chestnut mare to you.
“You hurt Shimmer and it’ll be the end of you,” Ellie threatened darkly, the cutesy name ruining whatever intimidating effect Ellie was going for.
You threw the reins over the horse’s head before mounting, ignoring the way your shoulder screamed at the motion. God, you haven’t ridden a horse since before the apocalypse. You smiled to yourself as memories of a time of peaceful rides across stretches of untouched land flooded your mind.
“Hurry up!” Ellie called out, you clicked your tongue and urged Shimmer forward with a squeeze of your legs.
“You’ve ridden before?” Dina asked, eyeing your posture.
“I used to ride a lot before.” You said tetchily.
Thankfully, Dina picked up on your tone to not press the subject any further as the three of you rode towards Jackson, your heat itching at the back of your mind…