Mai
You and Joel walked back to your place in silence. It was quite awkward to be honest.
After your little sing-a-long you had grabbed some leftovers from the abandoned mess hall and polished those off before Joel decided to tag along on your walk back home.
Despite the awkward atmosphere, you started to mentally plan your painting session with Jesse, Ellie and Dina. You had enough paints for everyone to be able to use a reasonably medium-sized canvas… Wait- fuck!
“Shit,” You cursed under your breath. How could you forget about canvases!? Not only that, but you were sure you didn’t have any material that would provide a decent substitute. Paper was out of the question and you didn’t have—
“What’s wrong?” Joel inquired after noticing you scent had soured in worry.
“Huh?” You turned to Joel, startled out of your internal panic, “Oh! Sorry, I- uh realised that I don’t have any canvases to paint on.”
Joel looked confused for a split second before obviously remembering about your promise to teach Ellie to paint. The Alpha’s brows furrowed in thought before he came to a stop, causing you to stop in your tracks as well.
“I think I have an idea,” Joel said before beckoning you to follow him.
You weren’t sure where you were going, still unfamiliar with Jackson’s winding roads. It wasn’t until you neared a familiar house that you realised that Joel had dragged you to his place.
“If I find out you’ve got a stash of canvases, don’t think they’ll still be there by tomorrow,” You threatened lightly, only half joking.
Joel chuckled lightly, shaking his head, “Nope. But I think I have a decent replacement.”
You frowned, cocking your head to the side in confusion.
Opening the door, Joel led you inside. You found your body completely relaxing as you took in the strong, calming scent of the Alpha. The last time you were in here was—You felt your cheeks heat as you quickly tried to shake off any indecent thoughts, and hurriedly followed an awaiting Joel up the stairs.
You couldn’t help but admire the gorgeous paintings on the walls as you travelled up to the second floor. Traditional oil paintings that each depicted horses and their riders stood proudly on the walls. Resisting the urge to reach out and trail your fingertips across the faces of the canvases, you looked up to Joel who was at the top of the stares watching you with amusement.
You huffed, rolling your eyes before quickly catching up to him. The Alpha’s lips twitched into a smile at your antics, before darting into a small studio. The scent hit you like a brick, causing your Omega to whine and you to desperately not follow suit. It was obvious that the Alpha spent a lot of time in here and the overwhelming scent was making your heat-dazed-self hot and bothered. You stepped out of the room and lingered in the doorway. When Joel sent you a questioning look, you shrugged, trying to play it off coolly.
“You spend a lot of time in here,” You simply said.
“Sorry,” Joel grumbled lightly.
You watched as the Alpha pottered around – opening and closing draws and cabinets – before finding what he was looking for with a triumphant huff. He brought the materials towards you and revealed them to be four decently-sized wooden panels.
“That okay?” You just beamed in response, snatching up the three panels and running your hand over the smooth surface. They’d already been sanded and were perfect for a small painting.
“Yes! Thank you so much!” You cheered, flashing Joel another smile. The Alpha himself wore a soft smile at your enthusiasm and his ability to be able to please yo–
Joel’s eyes widened at his thoughts, before clearing his throat and quickly changing the subject.
“You should probably head back now, don’t wanna stay out too late,” You froze on the spot before quickly peering out the window to see that it was getting dark.
“Crap- okay!” You said as you fled down the stairs before coming to a dramatic halt. “You- uh… Thanks Joel,” you said, offering a gentle smile. The Alpha just waved the comment off before turning back into his studio, letting you see yourself out.
You jogged back to your place and, in your excitement, you somehow forgot that you had no clue where you were going.
Coming to a halt, you looked around trying to find any familiar buildings or landmarks to help get your bearings. Unfortunately for you, you had absolutely no clue where you were and weren’t even sure how to get back to Joel’s place.
Anxiety bubbled up in your chest. You weren’t a fan of being out at night, especially when you didn’t know where you were going; and you knew there was no one waiting for you back at your hut so there would be no search parties for your stupid, frozen ass until the morning.
Sighing, you tried to reign back your anxiety as you continued to wander around the eerily quiet neighbourhood, desperately looking around for any familiar areas. You saw a small group of young adults and decided to ask them about how to get to the mess hall – you knew how to get back to your place from there at least. And even though there was no one else really around, the area was relatively open to any onlookers, so you hoped that no one would try anything funny.
“Hey!” You called out, gaining their attention as you jogged over. “Do you guys mind giving me directions to…” You trailed off as a hauntingly familiar scent filtered through your senses.
Your eyes snapped to a Beta man, his scraggly orange hair was tied into a ponytail and he had stubble lining his face. Emerald eyes met with yours as the pale skinned man leered down at you.
“Elijah…” You breathed shakily.
“(Y/n),” He regarded you bitterly, “Thought a bitch such as yourself would’ve died by now.”
“That’s the dumb bitch that got me stabbed!” A woman next to Elijah screeched. You quickly glanced in her direction to find out it was the lady who had jumped you beforehand – both hands heavily bandaged to the point where you couldn’t even see her fingers – before you felt your eyes wearily trailing back to the ghost that stood before you, almost like he was a trick of the light..
“Well,” Elijah hummed in acknowledgment of his comrade’s outburst, sending shivers down your spine. “I guess we can all get some revenge then,” He reached out towards you, causing you to violently flinch away.
“I never killed Mai,” You whispered, the words bubbling from your throat with no conscious thought. A mantra that had been playing on your mind like a broken record for the past 7 years.
“Liar!” Elijah snarled before lunging at you.
You didn’t fight him, you couldn’t, not after what you did.
You felt hot tears roll down your face as Elijah’s knife rested at the base of your throat. “I think losing some skin first will help you understand her pain,” He said as you felt someone rip apart your top before hot white pain seared your senses. You cried out in pain as you felt the skin from your collarbone being violently scrapped off. Instinctively, you thrashed around, causing the others around you to hold down your limbs as you keened in pain.
There was chatter, laughing and mocking, words that you couldn’t properly distinguish above the chant that fell from your lips.
“I’m—so-sorry…Eli- I- she – sorry…”
You scoured through the kitchen draws for some supplies. Mai was in the bathroom doing the same.
“Found anything!?” The Alpha called out.
“No!” You replied. You started sweating – fuck, you thought, why me?
You started to panic, breathing heavily, your throat tightening as if it were strangling you. Sweat started to leak from your pores and you could tell your scent was getting stronger by the second.
“Hey,” Mai softly called out – when did she get here?, “Everything’s gonna be fine,” she said, soothingly running a hand down your back.
You couldn’t think straight. Everything was just panic, panic, PANIC.
“(Y/n), I need you to breathe with me,” Mai said as she squatted down in front of your form – when had your knees given out?, “In and out, in and out,” the Alpha breathed along with you, guiding you through the simple steps of inhaling and exhaling.
“Sorry,” You croaked out, eyes glassy.
“It’s okay,” Mai smiled, “Everyone panics every once in a while.”
Helping you up off the floor, Mai quickly rubbed the inside of her wrists against your neck, trying to conceal your omegan scent as much as she could.
“Let’s get back to base,” Mai suggested as she tugged your jacket sleeve, guiding you outside, “We’ll figure something out. You may just have to ride it out though,” the Alpha appeased.
“Yeah.” You sighed as you let the familial scent of Mai wash over you.
You couldn’t believe your pack had managed to run out of suppressants. Not even Riyana or Isaac had any – both assuming you had some. The team decided to go out in search for some, everyone pairing off in twos. Unfortunately, out of the three omegas, you had drawn the short straw and were to venture out with Mai so she wouldn’t be alone… Well, it’s probably better said that Mai drew the short straw.
As Mai led you through the doorway, trying to coax you out of your depressed state with cheerful chatter, the awfully familiar sound of clicking began.
“Fuck!” Mai quietly cursed as the two of you ducked back into the house. Peering through the window.
There were two clickers and three runners roaming outside of the house.
“Let’s try and go out the back,” You suggested, not trusting your body to have enough control of itself not to release pheromones.
“Yeah,” the Alpha agreed as you both quickly snuck through the house.
Mai quickly and silently slid open the glass door leading out to the house’s backyard. You slipped out first and as you turned back to make sure Mai had gotten out safely too, you were tackled to the ground.
Supressing a cry of surprise, you tried to manoeuvre yourself so that the fucking runner was no longer on your back. You could hear the snapping of jaws and before you could feel them sink into your shoulder the weight was lifted off of you. Mai grunted in exertion as she hauled the runner off of you before grabbing her gun and stomping her boot on its shoulder to hold it still, and shooting them.
The shot rang through the air – loud and proud. But the relief only lasted a second before the screaming started up.
“Fuck!” Mai shouted as she grabbed you and pulled you to your feet before the two of you took off.
Jumping the fence, you both narrowly missed the jaws of another runner before bolting around the corner and running as fast as you could down the street.
“I thought this area was fucking clear!” You shouted, as infected came barrelling out of nearly every house in the vicinity.
“So did I!” Mai called back.
You quickly whipped your pistol out and shot a clicker that got a little too close for comfort.
“Their gonna surround us!” You screeched.
“I fucking see that,” Mai said as she frantically looked around for a way out. “There!” the Alpha called out before taking off in the direction she pointed to.
“Mai, I love you but why the ever loving fuck are we going into the one of the houses!”
“Just trust me!” Mai cried out before started to push a dumpster towards the house.
“What the fuck!” You screamed out as you frantically tried to cover her from the infected.
“Hurry up!” You looked towards Mai who had climbed atop of the dumpster and quickly joined her before clambering your way up onto the roof.
“Now what!?” You asked.
“Haven’t thought that far!”
“What the fuck Mai!?”
“Oh shut up!” she snapped back.
Your chest heaved as you looked around for a way out. The infected were all trying to clamber their way up onto the roof and they were making rather quick progress. It wasn’t until you saw a ladder.
“Cover me!” You shouted at the Alpha who immediately did so.
You hauled the ladder onto the roof, before turning to the neighbouring house. Quickly grabbing a brick from your pack, you aimed to throw it at one of the windows – only to miss.
“Fuck!” You cried out, “Mai give me something to throw!”
“To you!? You have fucking shit aim!” She yelled exasperatedly – she wasn’t wrong.
“Fucking – God! Okay switch then! Try and break that window over there!” You quickly pointed it out before taking over Mai’s job of trying to keep the infected at bay.
You heard the shattering of glass.
“What now!?”
“Grab the ladder and place it between here and the window!” You shouted.
“Are you crazy!?”
“Yes! Now hurry the fuck up!” You screamed back at her.
“Ready!” Mai’s voice rang out. You quickly shoved back another infected with your foot before turning tail and making your way as quickly as you could across the wobbly, makeshift bridge.
After you hurled your ass through the window, Mai quickly shoved the ladder off of the window sill.
“Let’s secure this floor,” Mai panted.
“Yeah okay,” You wheezed in response.
Getting to your feet the two of you quickly barricaded the staircase to the second floor you were on. You then checked out all of the rooms and secured all of the windows.
“Hey! (y/n), come here!” You heard Mai call out. Following the sound of her voice, you found her in the bathroom holding a packet of heat suppressors!
“Fuck yeah!” You cheered as Mai threw them towards you. Grabbing two pills, you tossed them back before pocketing the rest.
“Feel better?” Mai inquired.
“They ain’t magical!” You laughed, “it’ll take some time for ‘em to kick in.”
Mai just huffed, before rummaging through her backpack.
“Here,” the Alpha said as she held out some beef jerky towards you. You raised your brow in questioning, “Elijah gave them to me,” Mai grumbled, her cheeks tinting pink.
“Aww” You cooed, earning a scowl from Mai. “Nice to see the two lovebirds finally getting along again!”
“It’s not like we were fighting in the first place,” Mai grumbled.
“Sure,” You snorted, taking a bite of your jerky. “Fuck,” You groaned, “Elijah finds the best foods! Lucky bastard needs to share more.”
Mai just chuckled before sighing, her smile fading and her shoulders sagging.
“Hey, what’s wrong?” You prodded gently.
“It’s nothing,” Mai said before continuing after the flat look you gave her, “do you think we’ll be able to get back?” the Alpha asked quietly.
You frowned. You were a bit worried about Riyana and Isaac not having access to suppressants, but you were sure that this hoard will pass. Besides, once the meds kicked in Mai will be able to completely conceal your scent and you could start making your way back to base.
“Yeah,” You finally said, “We’ll be okay.” You flashed a small smile to Mai, “We always have been.”
“I guess you’re right,” Mai sighed, giving you a smile.
“When am I not?” You proclaimed.
“When you thought you had good enough aim to break the window,” Mai snorted, causing you to pout.
“No fair!” You whined.
Silence overtook the two of you as you both snacked on your food. It wasn’t until Mai broke it again, that you finally looked her way.
“Hey (y/n)?” Mai asked gently, almost whispering.
“Yeah?” You replied, keeping your voice low too. You weren’t sure why Mai was being so quiet, but it felt… wrong for it to be otherwise.
“When you see Elijah, can you tell him to keep fighting?” Mai whispered.
You frowned, “Don’t talk as if you won’t be there.”
“Can you all keep fighting please?” Mai continued, ignoring you, “I love all of you and I want you all to only die of old age…” The Alpha trailed off, before turning to face you. “(Y/n),” she said sternly, “I’ve known you for a long time… even before the outbreak… and I-I want you to know that love is real, I know you get scared of embracing, any of it – friendship, romantically and so on… but you shouldn’t,” Mai sighed, “But even if you do, can you promise me that you’ll keep fighting for yourself? That you will love, at least, yourself?” Mai’s voice broke off, her eyes glassy as she watched you.
“Yeah, I’ll promise you that,” you sighed, “but only if you promise me to always be here.”
“I promise,” Mai whispered.
…The screams started not much later. Mai’s blood covering your shaking hands.
The crimson liquid stained – sinking into all it came in contact with – and no matter how much you scrubbed at your sullied hands, the blood never came off. You could never look at your hands again and not see red.
“Liar,” You whispered.
“Fuck!” A voice called out, “Holy shit! (Y/n) are you okay!? Can you hear me?”
You opened your eyes and saw a blur of colour. Tears prevented your sight from focusing, but you recognised that colour anywhere.
Red.
“NO!” You cried out as you tried to scramble away, your chest burning.
Red… Red… No red… you couldn’t – red – it wasn’t –
“Hey!” The voice said, startled, “It’s okay, you’re okay.”
Your chest hurt like hell, but you blinked away the tears. Trying to force yourself to calm down. Focusing your gaze on the voice…
“Jesse?” You questioned, still not quite able to make out the fuzzy being.
“Yeah… I-Yeah, it’s me,” Jesse said. He reached out towards you, causing you to flinch away. “Fuck okay- umm,” The Alpha didn’t know what to do, but he didn’t want to leave you here to go get help. “I’m going to grab your shoulders and help you on your feet…okay?” Jesse waited for a moment and after a while you gave him a little nod.
Slowly reaching out, the Alpha gently grabbed your shoulders, trying to avoid any skinless areas. He helped haul you up to your feet before trying to hook your arm around his shoulder, causing you to cry out in pain at the stretching of scabbed-over skin.
“Sorry,” Jesse quickly supplied, looking around. “Okay, Ellie’s place is near here,” Jesse commented as he practically dragged your form forwards, your feet awkwardly moving along.
“We all went out looking for ya since you hadn’t arrived back at your place yet,” Jesse rambled on and continued with his chatter but you tuned it out – thoughts focusing on Mai, Elijah and your lost pack.
Everything felt sluggishly slow, your memory becoming mere snapshots of events. You were unsure if you were passing out between them, or if you were so out of it you weren’t paying enough attention to your surroundings.
You passed your cabin. Jesse picked the lock to another. You were settled on the bed and then…
Before your mind could process anything more, you found yourself sitting on the edge of a bed multiple people fussing over you, but you paid no mind to it.
You were fine with the pain, used to it by now…
Really they should just let you be.