Chapter Three
"Bloody hell, another song. How many songs are in this movie? Don't believe the old man, he's clearly crazy. Never believe crazy people, they say whatever they want. You stupid ponce, how naive are you? Listen to the bloody monkey, he clearly has more sense than you."
"He's so cute," Lucille whispers.
Zoey opens her eyes, seeing the blurry shapes of Aladdin playing on the TV screen sharpen. She's just in time to watch the disguised Jafar open the Cave of Wonders.
"Think he can shut it off?" Negan whispers back.
"Merlin, doesn't he see how weird it is that the old man only wants a dirty, old lamp? Look at all that treasure, what's so great about a lamp? The Goblins would have instant heart attacks if they saw all that treasure and gold sitting around without making money."
Oh! Genie is coming up! Zoey remembers asking if Harry is a genie. He looked so confused and lost on what a genie could be, much less if he is one. She can't wait to see if he catches on.
"Hush you, I think it's adorable."
"Oh, wonderful, the monkey is worse than the kid. Does no one have any sense these days? Why is an old lamp so far down? This doesn't make any sense."
Hearing his constant stream of muttering, Zoey is immensely comforted. She went five days - or she thinks it was five days - without hearing it. Facing the world without Harry's commentary felt daunting and impossible. She's really happy she doesn't have to face it alone anymore.
"At least we'll know in advance if he tries anything," Negan's tone is dry but fond.
"I told him not to trust the old man. Always something wrong when someone hits you up to get something. Now he's stuck in there until the keys are-"
The moment Aladdin rubs the lamp and Genie comes out, Harry goes completely silent. Zoey pulls her eyes from the TV to look up at Harry's face. A flicker and Zoey sees Lucille and Negan also watching Harry take in the movie. They seem equally enamored with his reaction. His eyes are so focused on the movie that his mouth is slack. Harry closes his mouth and opens it again but nothing comes out.
The rest of the movie, Harry remains completely quiet. Even Negan refrained from breaking the immersion. And though Zoey loves Harry's muttering and missed it dearly, she also loves how quiet he got once he allowed himself to get into it.
When the credits start rolling, Harry comes back to himself with a sudden head shake, "That was something."
"That was something, alright," Negan confirms, rolling his head to look at Harry. "Your commentary was more amusing than the movie. It's like you never watched it before."
"What?" Harry blinks, looking at Negan in confusion.
She’s really going to have to talk to Negan about that. It’s annoying her that he keeps trying to bring attention to it. The last thing she wants is for Harry to stop. Zoey jumps in, "How'd you like Genie?"
Harry is sidetracked from Negan to answer her question, "Genie was the only character that had any sense. No wonder you asked me if I was one, granting wishes like that."
Zoey grins, surging up and sitting back on her buried heels, "We have so many movies to catch you up on! We need to watch Fantasia and Cinderella and Mulan and-"
"Wait, wait, wait," Negan interrupts with wide eyes. "Catch up on? What? And shouldn't you check if we have any of those silly-"
"We do, Negan," Lucille reminds him gently.
"We have all the Disney movies? Why?" Negan turns to Lucille with disbelief.
She gives him an affronted look, "Adults like Disney movies too."
Zoey grins at Negan's taken aback expression. Harry distracts their interaction with, "I wasn't allowed on the telly growing up." Negan and Lucille look at Harry then. "Zo thinks I'm missing out on some vital experiences. If they are anything like Aladdin, then I probably am."
"Uh, kid," Negan moans, leaning back and rubbing his face. "Barely any of them are about the dude, okay? All of them focus on the princesses. It's boring."
"Negan!" Lucille scolds gently, elbowing him in the side. He flinches, sending her a look and, "What? Dudes don't typically enjoy watching girls struggle with their issues, okay?"
She thins her lips, unimpressed and Negan turns to Harry, "Help me out here, kid."
"Not my monkey, mate," Harry quips, winking at Zoey, making her grin. "Don't put me in the middle."
Negan makes a fake outraged sound, pretending to be grumpy about the lack of support. Zoey giggles, clapping her hands over her mouth when Negan glances at her with narrowed eyes. She muffles more giggles as he leans back with a huff, "Everyone's a critic."
"Come on, Mister Macho," Lucille teases gently, allowing Negan to help her to her feet. She smiles at Harry and Zoey, "Goodnight, you two."
They all pause when snarling can be heard outside. Negan sighs, "I'll shut off the generator. It'll go away eventually."
Harry frowns and Zoey knows Negan will be hearing about it now. "Why not go out and kill it?"
Negan looks at Harry, "I don't want to get used to it. If I turn the generator off, it will eventually go away on its own."
"Don't want to get used to it?" Harry asks, aghast, standing from the couch. "I don't know if you noticed, mate, but there are billions of those things across the world. This-" Zoey feels smug that Harry is reaming the couple about their aversion to killing biters but sad because-well, she remembers her first kill and it's not as easy as she thought. "-all of this, isn't going to go away. Not killing them isn't dealing with the problem!"
Negan challenges Harry, stepping in front of Lucille, "Oh? Tell me, kid, how are we not dealing with the problem? If you haven't noticed, my wife is sick-"
"I'm well aware she's sick but neither of you can afford to coddle her," Harry quips. "By doing so, you make both of yourselves vulnerable. You will not be able to stay in this place forever, you know. Eventually, you will be forced to move on. Coddling Lucille isn't going to help her survive later on."
Lucille has her lips set in a thin line and she keeps glancing at Negan's profile as he clenches his fist, "Kid, you don't know-"
"Don't give me that shite!" Harry snaps, suddenly seeming bigger and colder. The cold, driven Harry Zoey had seen before they were taken. "You turn off the noise and hope the bad things go away. That's not facing it! That's hiding! It's not going to go away, Negan! Those things out there will continue to walk and feed until they rot away. Corpses can take up to ten years to decompose! Can you live in this area for the next ten years, Negan?"
By the look on Lucille's and Negan's face, the question hits differently. None of them, Zoey included, thought about how long this might go on for. How could they? Tomorrow seems so far away when you are spending every waking minute surviving.
"Not to mention," Harry continues as they look at each other. "Biters aren't the only threat out there. Humans are worse and if the wrong kind follows you back… if you can't kill a biter, how the bloody hell are you going to kill someone assaulting your wife?"
"I would fucking kill them," Negan blurts out darkly, gaining a highly concerned look from Lucille.
Harry sighs and reigns himself in, "I hope so. Think about what I said. I'll go out and deal with it. Tomorrow, we will talk about what's going to happen next." Zoey perks up but when Harry turns to go, he shakes his head, "I won't be long. You need to make sure these lunatics don't lock me out, hm?"
"Can you tell me what you mean by, what's going to happen next?" Lucille requests gently before Zoey can respond.
Harry turns back to her and then glances at Negan, "My first priority will always be Zo. Always. If you cannot bring yourselves to adapt, it's too dangerous to stay here. We will leave." Lucille's face falls. "I'm indebted to you guys, really. What you've done for us, for Zo, I can't repay but her safety means more to me than repaying you. I will do what's best for her, even if it means you will no longer be in the picture."
Zoey frowns; the way Harry said that sounds wrong but she can't place her finger on why.
"How do you know leaving is best for either of you?" Negan asks, sounding distracted.
"I don't," Harry replies truthfully. "I just know she isn't safe now."
Negan nods at that, still distracted. Harry sighs again, patting Zoey on her head and then leaving. Zoey shuts the door behind him, turning around to see Negan pull Lucille into a hug. They clutch at each other, molding to each other's bodies. Zoey remembers her parents doing that a lot, too. She realizes at that moment that she's starting to see Negan and Lucille in a different light, they no longer feel like strangers. In fact, even though she's only known them for less than a week…
"Harry's not-" Zoey blurts out because she feels suddenly terrible that Harry had a hand in making them feel bad, even though she's been wanting to say the same things herself. Lucille and Negan look at her. "-he's not a bad person, okay? He's just… we-I-"
"Hey, it's okay, Zoey," Lucille assures her, detaching from Negan to approach her. "It's not something we wanted to hear, no, but-" Lucille sends a loaded look at Negan. "It's not new, okay? It's okay."
"It's not okay!" Zoey suddenly cries, surprising both of them by hugging Lucille around her waist. "I don't want to leave! I want to stay with you and Negan and watch movies and play games but I don't want Harry to be in danger! I don't want to let him go and I don't want to let you go! I don't know what to do!" Zoey buries her face into Lucille's chest and shakes so hard she feels like she's falling apart. She's not going to cry!
Negan's hand comes down on her shoulder, prompting Zoey to look up and sniff, "Lucille and I have some big decisions to make, kid. But I can promise you that you won't have to choose, okay? Sometimes… sometimes life has a funny way of reuniting people."
Lucille pulls back, her hand coming up to Zoey's cheek and smiling sadly, "We feel the same way, sweetheart. Don't beat yourself up over it, okay? We'll talk in the morning."
Zoey sniffs again and nods, letting Lucille go, "Okay."
Lucille allows Negan to help her up and then they both pad into the bedroom. Negan gives Zoey one last wink before the door closes. Then she turns around when Harry comes back in. She roves her eyes over him, making sure he isn't hurt and then gives him a glare.
"Bloody hell, what did I do this time-"
"You don't have to be so mean, you know," Zoey says to him.
Harry looks taken aback but recovers quickly, "Yes, I do."
"No, you don't," Zoey tells him firmly, scowling.
Zoey receives a look she's never seen before and feels incredibly small in a second as Harry says, "I'm trying to protect you. You know as well as I do that this place isn't built to be permanent. The doors are flimsy, the fences are waist high and made for looks rather than for defense. This place isn't safe, Zoey." The use of her name coming from Harry is startling and strange. "You know this. Guillermo refused to adapt. He was confident he would be able to hold it-"
"He died because we left!" Zoey finally blurts out.
"No, Zoey, he died because he refused to change!" Harry retorts.
"No!" Zoey denies, shaking her head. "We left! We weren't there to help! If we were-!"
"Zoey!" Harry snaps, startling her into being quiet. "If we stayed, you'd be dead!"
She reels back, shock rippling through her, “What?”
"It wasn't the military that killed the Vatos, Zoey," Harry reveals patiently, destroying her deepest thoughts that they killed the Vatos to get to her and Harry. "They got there just after we did."
"How do you know?"
"If the military killed them and found we weren't there, they wouldn't have stayed. They didn't come in by chopper, or else we would have heard them and we both know how easy it is for the biters to overwhelm anybody. Staying on the miniscule chance we'd return is plain stupid and a waste of resources. We just had shite luck, is all."
Zoey's head reels and she drops her eyes to the floor. She had been too worried about Harry and getting to know Negan and Lucille that she hadn't spared much thought to her dead friends. She actually avoided thinking about them, to the point of denial. It didn't happen, no sir!
But it did.
"I told you that I felt like if we didn't leave soon, that we wouldn't be able to at all," Harry ventures, reminding Zoey of her guilt over not believing Harry. "They would have even killed you, Zoey. They killed Miguel, they killed Abuela. They knew about me but not how important you are to me. They would've killed you before I-" Harry cut off abruptly, his throat working furiously. He's blinking rapidly and Zoey can see how the thought of losing her affects him viscerally. "I wouldn't have been able to save any of them. They all got headshots. Every. Single. One. I can't…" Harry's voice cracks and Zoey feels her eyes water. "I can't bring back the dead, Zo. I can't heal a shot to the head."
She starts crying, bringing her hand up to wipe her cheeks, "I didn't actually believe you." Harry doesn't even look surprised; Zoey wonders if he knows already or if it genuinely doesn't bother him. She doesn't know which option she prefers. "I was just so bored and I kept trying to think of things to do but couldn't and then you said you wanted to leave so I jumped at the chance to get out of there. I'm sorry, Harry."
Harry reaches out and brushes her hair back from her face, "I'll take a little fib over tying you up and kidnapping you."
Zoey lets out a startled giggle, "Harry!"
Harry quirks a small grin, his eyes roving over her face, "Listen, okay? Hear me?"
Zoey sobers and nods.
"Alright, good. I need to make this clear to you." Harry is staring her right in the eyes and she feels the seriousness of this moment like a heavy stone in her stomach. "From now on, my saving people thing isn't going to interfere with your safety. I'm going to be making hard decisions for both of us until you are old enough to take care of yourself. Sometimes these hard decisions are going to make you angry and sad and you may even come to hate or resent me. Ah! Listen!" Harry brought his finger up to silence her protests. "I need you to know that if that ever happens, it's okay. You can be as angry, sad, miserable or hateful as you want because you will be alive to feel that way." Every word hits Zoey hard and she feels her lips tremble. More tears spill down, Harry reaching out to wipe her cheeks clear. "I know you like Negan and Lucille. I do too. I also want to stay and hide and hope things get better. I just can't. I can't protect you and them. If they don't want to see, then I can't make them but I won't let their inability to accept reality compromise your safety."
Zoey doesn't like it. She doesn't like it at all. She feels like she's losing something incredibly important if they leave. She hears, and deep down understands, but reconciling her feelings over it is hard. She knows Harry is right and even feels a brief flare of resentment for that too. Harry is always right. But-
But…
Harry sighs, pulling her into a hug. Zoey wraps her arms around him and cries, feeling a maelstrom of emotions surging through her. He continues talking, the vibrations traveling into her head and soothing her tears, "I'm going to continue your training. You may be small but you're fast. There's no reason why you shouldn't know how to defend yourself. After tomorrow's talk, depending on how it goes, we'll decide where to go, okay?"
Zoey pulls back with a sniff, bringing her hand up to wipe her cheeks, "Okay."
"I love you, you know that, right?" Harry says, asking her seriously.
Zoey nods, giving him a wet smile, "Yeah, you only mumble it five times a day."
"Only five times?" Harry gives a fake gasp, eyes wide and mouth open. "I'm losing my touch! Should be at least seven!"
Zoey laughs, lightly shoving him away, "Harry!"
Harry grins, eyes sparkling, "You want to pick a truly sickening princess centered Disney movie so I can not care about their issues?"
Caught off guard, Zoey bursts out laughing, clapping her hands over her mouth to quiet herself. She giggles into her palms instead. Harry's grin softened, turning into a fond smile. He slings his arm over her shaking shoulders and leads her back to the TV.
Zoey ends up choosing Fantasia. Harry was hooked from the very second it started, immediately being swept into the veritable explosions of color and sound. Zoey just cuddles into his side and wishes Negan and Lucille choose to adapt. She's tired of losing people she cares about.
—
The quiet click of the door wakes Zoey right up. She sits up, peering over the back of the couch and confused when she sees no one. She realizes Harry isn't on the couch and she spies the bathroom dark with the door ajar. Then she hears quiet creaks of heavy steps. Frowning, she slips off the couch and heads to the door. She quickly pulls on her shoes and sneaks out the door, careful to close it as gently as possible. Then, she sneaks upstairs, hearing quiet talking nearby. She tiptoes over to the back door and pauses.
"-you- heal her-?"
Negan. Zoey holds her breath and closes her eyes, concentrating on their quiet tones.
"-you, mate. Ask her why she doesn't want to be healed."
Zoey lets the breath go. Lucille doesn't… she doesn't want to be healed? What does that mean?
"She just says she doesn't want to ask you but I know she's lying. She refuses to tell me. Just please-please-if I have to get on my knees and beg, man, I will. Just heal her, okay? I can't-"
"Mate, you give any real thought on why your wife is refusing to be healed?"
"I… what?"
What?
"Stop asking why she's refusing to be healed and ask her why she prefers you risk your life instead."
Zoey is almost fourteen and even she knows a low blow when she hears one.
"That's-"
"Negan, I can't help her if she doesn't want to be helped. My powers don't work that way."
Zoey can hear the low sounds of Negan's sudden grief. She takes this moment to sneak back downstairs, mind whirling, surprising Lucille with her abrupt entry, "Oh! Zoey, you scared me. Have you seen Negan?"
"Is it true?" Zoey blurts out, suddenly feeling anxious and hurt.
Lucille looks confused, "Is what true?"
"Do you really want to die?"
The blunt question hits Lucille right in the face, making her bone white and wide eyed. Her mouth opens but nothing comes out. The look is all Zoey needs as validation and demands, "Why?"
Lucille shuts her mouth, her teeth clacking together. Zoey sees how she shuts down, looking to the side and then turning away, "That's none of your business."
Hurt gives way to anger and Zoey retorts with, "But it's Negan's and he’s fucking crying."
Lucille tenses, "Zoey, please drop it. I'll talk to Negan-"
"He loves you," Zoey snaps. "How can you just give up?"
"Zoey!" Harry barks, scaring the crap out of her. She jumps and whirls around, eyes wide and heart thudding, "You're out of line!"
Harry steps further into the house, Negan close behind. Lucille doesn't look at him, suddenly bursting into tears and retreating to her room. Negan's face crumples again, shoulders bowing under his grief. Zoey suddenly feels like she did something horribly wrong.
"Zoey, upstairs. Wait for me at the back door." Harry snaps out, face scarily blank.
"But-!"
"Now!" Harry orders, stepping aside and pointing at the door.
Zoey has never seen this side of Harry before and goes quietly. Her eyes stay on the floor as she passes both of them and closes the door behind her. In a numb haze, she blinks and finds herself at the back door. Another blink and Harry's there.
She looks up as Harry speaks, "I'm disappointed in you."
Zoey flinches.
"I know your heart was in the right place but your execution was terrible. Despite your intentions, you just dished out a lot of hurt. Negan and Lucille needed to work it out themselves, not having some upstart thirteen year old be a judgy crone."
Zoey doesn't laugh, feeling far too ashamed of herself.
"We're going to head out on a run, give them time to hash things out without anyone around to hear. I want you to think about what you just did and when we get back, you will apologize. Yeah?"
Zoey nods, not saying another word. Harry tuts and mumbles as he absently tucks her hair behind her ear. Despite her terrible mood, she feels a surge of warmth from the clear sign of care. He rests his hand on her shoulder, "Ready?"
“Wait,” Zoey pleads, realizing Harry still doesn’t have glasses. “How’re you gonna see where you’re going? Your glasses are gone.”
Harry only winks, “What glasses? Are you ready?”
Despite her confusion, Zoey nods again, managing a small smile.
Harry searches her face again, just a little strange without the glasses in between and then nods, "Lets go."
—
Zoey is exhausted as Harry leads her around the house. A biter is there; Harry quickly takes care of it and Zoey waits by the back door for him to move the body elsewhere.
Their run was successful, as far as she's concerned. Negan had given Harry detailed instructions on where the infested locations are while Zoey and Lucille slept. So Harry had led them to the closest one and they found plenty of goodies. After looting and stuffing their bags - Harry even found a first aid kit - he cleared an open area. Then, he forced Zoey into doing the katas he was showing her at the Vatos.
Then, once she was warmed up and ready to go, he began showing her maneuvers for escaping holds and disarming aggressors. Once she had them down a bit, he moved onto sparring. Everything hurts from how many times she was thrown to the ground but it felt like a good pain, vindicating almost. She had all that time to think about what she said and came to the gut sinking realization that she has seriously hurt both Lucille and Negan. They've been nothing but nice and kind; Negan even wanted to risk his life to go find a traveling doctor because he was worried about Harry. Worried for a teenager he hadn't even exchanged one word with. And Zoey throws it back at their faces, scared of being abandoned again.
Harry comes back, bending slightly to look her in the eye, "You alright?"
Zoey nods, fresh shame bubbling up. Harry smiles a little, "I'm sure if you apologize, they will forgive you. They don't seem like the type of people to stay mad."
She nods again and Harry straightens, moving past her to get to the door. Once back downstairs, she faces the door nervously. Harry stands at her back, a silent, patient shadow as Zoey gathers her courage. She doesn't quite manage to when the door opens, Lucille's pale face peeking out. Confusion smooths out into relief and she opens it wider with a, "What are you standing there for?"
The dam breaks and Zoey blurts out, "I'm so sorry, Lucille!"
Lucille startles from the unexpected apology but she relaxes with a soft smile, reaching out. Zoey almost sobs as she bolts forward and hugs her gently, ever so sensitive to how frail Lucille is. "It's okay, sweetheart. I know you didn't mean it in a bad way."
"I just-I got scared because-because I really like you and Negan. I like you guys so much and I got scared 'cause I thought you were gonna leave me like-"
Like her Mom left her.
Zoey pauses and pulls back, looking up at Lucille in shock and finishes softly, "-like my Mom."
Lucille doesn't seem to get the full gravity of Zoey's feelings. Instead, she's distracted by, "Your mother did what?"
"Hon? What's taking so-Harry, what the hell are you doing?" Negan pokes his head out the door and frowns over their heads at Harry. They both look at him, finding him holding his hand over his mouth, face blank. She hadn't noticed his lack of mumbling, caught up in her emotions.
Harry removes his hand after a blink and replies, "It seemed like a serious moment and figured my mumbling wouldn't help, so I manually shut myself up."
The reply was bizarre and jarring. Zoey cracks first and giggles, hiding her face in Lucille's chest. Negan begins chuckling and then Lucille is laughing. Harry's face drops into confusion, "What?"
Zoey can't reply. She's too busy trying to control her giggles over the entire thing. He literally shut himself up. She begins another round of laughs as Harry looks at Lucille, "What did I say?"
Lucille chortles and shakes her head, "I think we're all a little rung out. Let's get you guys settled. Harry, I think you should take a shower while we unpack what you guys brought back."
Zoey gasps, looking right at Harry with wide eyes, "They have hot water."
Harry's eyebrow goes up, "Someone is happy about that."
Zoey sighs dreamily, "It was nice."
Harry snorts, reaching out to touch her hair. She squeals and ducks out of the way, "Dirty hands! No!"
Grinning, Harry wriggles his digits as Zoey backs into Lucille, "You mean… my fingers?"
"Harry!" Zoey says warningly as Lucille and Negan get out of the way. She takes another step back, only to find no one behind her. She glances over her shoulder and Harry pounces. Zoey startles with a squeal and retreats into the house, Negan laughing at her. "No!"
Harry laughs as he closes the door, taking off his bag and shaking his head, "Alright, you dirtyphobe. I'll go clean myself." He sets the bag on the floor.
Harry reaches out and pokes Zoey's head as he passes, laughing as she swipes at him. Then he disappears into the bathroom. She suddenly remembers he doesn't have a change of clothes and turns to Lucille, "Those clothes you made for Harry?"
She looks up, face lighting up in remembrance and stands, "Right, I'll grab those. Be right back."
Negan goes to the bag Harry dropped, "Kid, you wanna put your bag on the table?"
Zoey does, turning around in time to take the clothes Lucille offers to her. They exchange smiles and then Zoey heads to the bathroom. She unthinkingly opens the door, looking up and pausing in horrified shock, "Har-"
Harry's back is completely covered in scars, long thick, criss crossing lines with strangely round-square ends. His hair, longer than when they met, brushes the space above his shoulder blades. As he half turns, the hair moves and reveals more scars. Zoey meets Harry's calm eyes as he fully turns around. Thankfully he's wearing pants and doesn't seem to be bothered by what she found, "Oh, clothes. Thank you, Zo."
"Harry," Zoey croaks as he grabs the clothes from her hands. "What happened?" His chest is free from scarring, oddly.
"Hm?" Harry pauses and frowns when he looks at her. "Zo? You okay?"
"Your back," she manages to get out through the thick thing blocking her throat. "Why-"
Harry blinks and looks over his shoulder, "Oh, those." He shrugs, placing the clothes on the counter. "Not everyone has loving relatives. Mine were just a little more spiteful than most."
He sounds so nonchalant about that, likes it's seriously not a big deal to have his entire back marred like that. Zoey can't understand how someone who goes through that can still be so kind and gentle.
"Zo, you're going to meet people who are just not going to like you. It's not your job or responsibility to make them. I accepted that my relatives will never love me and learned how to fight back. These are like my reminder that I won't ever let someone beat on me for fun ever again." Harry smiles at her and she wonders how he can be so strong. "So don't worry about them, alright? They should inspire you to fight, not inspire you to pity."
Zoey nods shakily, glancing at his shoulder in a new light. Harry smiles and then manually turns her around, pushing her out the door, "Great! And please knock next time. This may be the apocalypse but we still have manners."
The door clicks shut behind her and Zoey's head reels from all the revelations she's had today.
"Zo?" Lucille calls out, worried.
Zoey shakes her head and pads into the kitchen, "I'm okay."
Lucille smiles, looking relieved, "Good. You guys brought back a lot of good stuff. Negan said the area was clear, where did you guys go?"
Zoey sits at the table and watches Lucille and Negan cook together, "I don't know. Harry said Negan told him where the infested locations were so we went to the closest one."
"Negan!" Lucille snaps.
Negan put up his hands and waved them rapidly, "Wait, wait! I told him so he knew where to avoid going. How was I supposed to know he'd be stupid enough to sneak in?"
"Not stupid, Negan," Zoey cuts in with a severe frown. "You've seen it with your own eyes. The biters at the crash?"
Negan's face drops in understanding, "Oh yeah…"
Lucille still doesn't seem to understand. Zoey clarifies, "Harry can walk right through biters. Him and anyone within five feet or so. Negan knows, there were biters swarming the crash."
Negan ran his hand through his hair, "I completely forgot about that. Her killing that biter really threw me off."
"So all of this is because you and Harry literally walked through those… biters to get it?" Lucille emphasizes to help her understand. When said that way, it sounds stupid and incredible but Harry knew what he was doing. There was plenty of untouched supplies just… sitting there. Understandable, given how packed the streets were. "He took you along? Isn't that just a little irresponsible?"
Zoey stands, suddenly incredibly defensive, "It's not like that! Harry would never put me in danger!"
Lucille puts her hands up, waving Negan off to watch the food, "No, Zoey, I-that isn't what I meant."
Zoey calms a little.
"I'm sorry, I haven't been out very much at all since this all started," Lucille grimaces, looking down at her frail body. Zoey calms further, slowly sitting back down. "I don't have a great frame of reference for danger these days."
"She's just worrying, kid. It's what chick's do as they get old-ouch!" Lucille had turned around to smack his arm. "Okay, okay, shutting up!"
Lucille narrows her eyes and stares him down as he meekly goes back to cooking. Rolling her eyes, she winks at Zoey, getting a grin in return. It's so fun watching them poke and tease each other like that.
The food is almost done by the time Harry comes out, freshly clean and in the clothes Lucille hemmed for him. His hair is dripping into the collar of his shirt but he doesn't seem to notice or mind. He fits the clothes a lot better than she fits hers, at least. Lucille is quick to intercept him before he can make it all the way into the kitchen, "Can I talk to you, Harry?"
"You're in for it now, kid," Negan teases from the stove. "She found out."
"What?" Harry asks, confused.
Lucille shoots Negan a look, "Never mind him, do you mind?"
"Erm, no. Please," Harry replies, motioning to the bedroom. She precedes him into the room and she shuts the door behind him.
Zoey turns to Negan, "Can you stop mentioning his mumbling to him, please?"
Negan glances at her, "What's that?"
"He doesn't notice how much he mumbles. He didn't even know he mumbles until someone pointed it out. Stop referencing it, he doesn't know what you are talking about."
Negan looks away and then back at the food, nodding, "That's fair. He mumbles all the time?"
"With the exception of deep sleep, conversation, when he's concentrating really hard and, apparently, Disney movies," Zoey replies with a fond grin.
"Doesn't it get annoying?"
Zoey shrugs, even though he doesn't see it, "Sometimes but I find it more soothing than anything."
"Oh?"
"Yeah," Zoey replies absently, remembering those two days of silence. "I don't really like the quiet."
"Match made in heaven, then," Negan teases as he turns the stove off.
"Harry saved me," Zoey says, looking up. "He pulled me away from the biter that bit me-" she knows the difference now. That wasn't David any longer. "And took me with him. He didn't know me, I never met him before in my life but he kept me safe and took care of me."
"What happened to your parents, kiddo?" Negan asks in a cautious tone.
"Dad died a few years ago. Car accident. Mom and I were okay but I later learned he had turned the car in such a way to protect me. The way the accident should have gone, the other car should have killed me instead."
She had told Harry that. She also told Harry about how her Mom pulled away after that as well.
"Mind sharing how it went down?"
"I can't remember much," Zoey replies, tracing shapes in the table. "They said he turned slightly into traffic. If he hadn't, they said the other car might have hit me instead. Dad would have probably been fine."
Negan whistles lowly, "Damn fine man, I'd say. Not saying it doesn't suck, 'cause it does, but I can respect a man that puts his own kid before himself. What about your Mom?"
Zoey looks at him as he sets steaming plates down on the table. They are piled with pasta and creamy tomato sauce. Her mouth waters from the smell but her stomach turns at the question, “I’m really hungry and don’t want to ruin my appetite, so I don’t want to talk about her,” Zoey states, reaching for her fork.
“Oh-kay then. Dig in, Thumbelina.”
Zoey drops her fork and whips her head up, glaring.
Negan, the absolute troll, quips with, “What? That princess not tall enough for you?”
“I know where you sleep at night, NegNeg,” Zoey says in an eerily blank voice. “And you snore, how was I supposed to know you weren’t a biter?”
Negan turns on his heel, “Okay, message received!”
Zoey smirks, "How come you and Lucille never had kids?"
Negan pauses as he sits down, picking up his fork, "It just never ended up happening, I suppose. We talked about it but didn't even end up actually trying. We just decided that if it happens, it happens. Why worry about it? Up until a few years ago, we were both pretty career driven and had no time for kids anyway."
Zoey nods, picking up her own fork, "What did you do?"
Their food slowly disappears as Negan shares his love for teaching sports. He was a gym teacher and loved teaching a new batch of kids every year, the pride he feels when they succeed and move on. He rarely sees any of his old students and thinks that's how it should be. Zoey laughs at one of his funny recollections when the bedroom door opens again. They both look over, Negan dropping his fork.
Lucille has a healthy glow to her skin that wasn't there before. She's still frail looking, holding herself self-consciously as she comes out but the weakness of her limbs and the drag of her feet are gone. Harry slowly walks out behind her, hand on the wall. Lucille glances at him and then to Negan, smiling tremulously.
Negan stands, the scratch of the legs on the floor loud in the sudden silence. He's breathing heavily, looking at his wife in yearning hope. She smiles again, tearing up and Negan is suddenly across the room, scooping her up into an embrace. Harry approaches the table and pushes Zoey's face away from the scene, sitting heavily next to her. She focuses on him instead, giving the couple privacy.
"You didn't pass out, you okay?"
Harry slouches into the seat, sighing in exhaustion, "I healed the damage the cancer wrought to her pancreas-" Zoey has no idea what he’s talking about. What's a pancreas? "But the damage of the chemotherapy will need another session or two. It's not life threatening to wait so I figured why make you more mad at me when I can avoid it."
Zoey can't help the grin, "You can learn!"
Harry quirks a tired smile, "Hush you."
Zoey glances at the couple again, then gets up, "I'll grab you a plate."
"Thanks, Zo," Harry says, sounding grateful. She sets the plate down in front of him but he doesn't even get a chance to dig in. Negan comes around the table and pulls Harry up, hugging the daylights out of him, "Thank you, Harry."
"Ooo-" Harry utters, sounding strained from the hug. Zoey merely grins at his suffering when he glances at her for help. "Welcome?"
Negan lets him go, slapping him on the back with a loud whack, "You done it now. Yer stuck with us, kid. Can't get rid of us now."
"Oh joy," Harry intones flatly.
Zoey giggles and gets back up when Lucille joins them at the table, "I'll get you a plate, too!"
“Oh! Thank you, sweetie.”
Negan sits down, taking Lucille's hand and kissing the back of it. Harry sits down as well just as Zoey comes back, placing the plate of spaghetti in front of Lucille. Then she sits down and looks at everyone, her heart filling to bursting. Harry digs in, moaning at the taste and Negan regales them of his Momma and her awesome sauce. Lucille smiles as she takes small bites, her eyes glued to Negan. Harry says something back and for the first time since her Dad died, Zoey feels like she's regained something vital she had lost.
Lucille glances at her and winks. Zoey grins and digs in, listening to Negan's rich story-telling voice. The food is even more delicious.