Author's Note- This is more of a filler but it still matters all the same. Unedited.  I hope you all like it (and Declan a little more)

Chapter Seven:

Alex kicked the door down, immediately fanning out to make sure the room was clear. We had two floors, and ended up choosing the second so we could block the stairs. Tristan and I were assigned to checking out the rooms to find a suitable suite to share while the others cleared the hallway.

Not that I objected to the place, but it didn't seem ideal to be sleeping in a once crowded building in a densely populated city. I paid it no mind, concentrating on the task at hand.

The power was out and our flashlights were dim. I was squinting to see the stretch of hall in front of me, to make sure we were alone. Tristan swung the first door to the left open, meeting the gaze of a rotting Creature. The room itself was covered in discarded organs and blood, unusable even without the monster inside. My knife did the trick.

Slamming the door, we moved on to the end of the hall. I don't know if I've ever been so happy to see a messy room.

Sheets were all over the floor like someone had rolled out of bed. They'd left their non perishable food behind, as little an amount as it was. Mud was on the carpet by the door, and it was apparent that someone had been here recently. I wondered if they were dead as I sat down at the foot of the bed. That was the only problem; one bed, a desk chair, and a tiny couch.That made sleeping awkward.

"I call the couch," Tristan claimed his spot as soon as we were all in the room. Alex gave me a shy smile as he sat down in the chair. I know they meant for me to get the bed, but Declan Blaze wasn't exactly chivalrous.

"There's room for two," He gave me a perverted grin. I glared his direction.

"Fair enough," I gritted my teeth to keep my internal cursing to a minimum. I wanted to prove that out of the two of us, I could be the mature one. The boys all took their shirts off to get comfortable, changing into basketball shorts like it wasn't an apocalypse.

I stiffly stood in my pants and jacket, unsure of what to do. I hadn't worn pajamas in a year.

Tristan handed me a pair of his shorts and smiled. "You can wear your undershirt."

My hands started to shake at the very thought. The bite would be visible if I took the jacket off. That wouldn't end well at all.

Carefully, I stepped into the bathroom to find the person who was here first. His blood was on the walls behind his head. The gun he pulled on himself sat on the floor next to his crumpled form. I grabbed his first aid kit from the counter before shutting the door. As I breathed fresh air, a gasp escaped my lips. I smelled like death.

I wrapped my arm in gauze before slipping my jacket off. There, no bites anymore. The shorts had to be rolled several times to get them on my hips, but I felt more comfortable. The denim from my jeans left slight marks on my pale figure.
Declan was the only one awake when I got back to the bed. "Come on," He gestured.

Whether he meant to or not, he took the section of the bed closest to the door; which actually was the chivalrous thing to do.

Awkwardly, I slid next to him and closed my eyes. My head hurt with the image of the dead guy in the bathroom floating around. So, I forcefully closed my eyes before he did, curling up as far from him as possible.

His blood was in my mind. What was left of his face was staring me in the eyes when I opened mine. I knew he wasn't gonna hurt me, that I'd shut the door, but my paranoia was incessant and never ending.

***

I woke up to an arm around my waist. He pulled me closer and snuggled me into his chest. I couldn't decide what to feel; should I jump away or curl up like he clearly wants me to. He pulled me into him and sighed on the back of my neck. He seemed so at peace that I didn't care that I was cuddling with Declan Blaze of all people.

When his blue eyes finally opened, he smiled for a minute. It was two am, so he must've been tired when he leaned closer and planted a kiss to my forehead. We both fell back asleep tangled up like that.

And I actually liked it

***

"Well then," Tristan's voice jolted me awake. I realized that Declan had me in his arms and pulled away. As for my bedmate, he gave me a disgusted look and stepped out of bed to put his regular clothes on. I hoped he didn't remember when he kissed my forehead- I hoped I would forget.

I put on my day clothes and awkwardly waited for the others to get ready. We were all still groggy from the lack of sleep, and it didn't help to have a pain in my shoulder. My arm was itchy from the bandage- even though my scar was already healed over. Sweat collected under the layer of gauze, causing immense discomfort.

"We need supplies," I said after a while. That was an understatement actually; we needed meds, food, water, batteries, and gas. On top of that I was low on ammo and Tristan was out.

"Unfortunately we have to go on foot until I can siphon enough gas," A hand want through Declan's hair while he evaluated the situation. He looked stressed; an emotion I'd seen a lot from him. We weren't particularly enthusiastic over the idea of going into the city.

I fiddled with my bra strap so I wouldn't bite my nails. Terrified was an understatement when it came to my emotional state. As sad as it is, I was just glad to feel something, even though it was painful.

***

After pairing off, we headed out to our respective jobs. Tristan and I were on ammo and supplies while the others found us more gas or a better vehicle.

The doors to an outdoor supply shop were boarded up, a small gap at the bottom big enough for me to weasel through. My job was to open the window from the inside and let Tristan in. I was afraid that there was a ton of company in the building. Usually I knew, but there was always the lingering suspense that made my heart pound in my throat and blood rush to my ears.

I stepped closer to the door, let my stomach meet the floor, and crawled my way in. Tristan was in a minute later. My eyes widened at the dusty guns weapons just lying there. Since it was the apocalypse, this was the equivalent of candyland.

Post cards were scattered across the tiles, displaying pictures of the past and places that were long gone. One of them was of New York City, a place Layla and I ditched school for once. Even though I tried to block it, memories flooded my mind.

"Imogen Catherine Logan , you will get your butt on this bus right now," Layla barked, wild eyes and untamed curls backing her up. Today was a rarity: laundry day while her t-shirts got washed. I was wearing a black cardigan and a purple tank top with tight jeans, cute- but nothing noteworthy.

"Fine," I complied, sitting down next to her with a copy of Under The Dome in my lap. The book was huge and hurt my hands to carry, but I wanted to read a book that was a thousand pages and this worked.

"We are shopping in Times Square," She said matter of factly. I nodded and buried my nose in the novel. Layla rolled her eyes and put her headphones in her ears. She put on an episode of- you guessed it, TWD. Someone was getting eaten, so I focused on my book. The funny thing was, I was scared to death of gore prior to the end, and now I was the survivor and she was dead.

We got off the bus and took a cab to Times Square, both of us staring at the hectic behavior that was NYC. I remembered the lights and the hot dog stands as we walked the streets. I'd give anything to be back there.

I opened up my bag and shoved as much ammunition as possible into it. My gun was dropped on the counter for one of the rifles. Tristan put my gun back in its holster before loading the rifle for me. I gave him a smile before putting a machete around my hips.

We were about to head to the convenience store when I heard the screaming. It was obvious Tristan couldn't hear it, meaning I was using Creature hearing at the moment. The screams were the type that meant death was already starting to take over. I had a choice between risking exposing my nature as a Hybrid- and saving a possibly lost cause.

I chose to be selfish.

Declan was seated next to a car while he filled the tank up. We were leaving behind Tristan's very flashy white van for a small SUV, perfect for the circumstances. I smiled as I loaded up our new materials into the back. Gun in hand, I slid into the back seat while everyone else finished up. Tristan opted to drive, Alex was his navigator, and Declan sat down next to me. His fingers grazed mine, leaving my breath hitching.

He grinned at my reaction and felt for my pulse on my neck. My heart was racing and he loved it.

"Aww, I make your heart race. How sweet," He mocked me, dropping his hand away from my skin. I glared out the window and scolded my body for betraying me like that. That pig wanted a reaction and I was giving him one.

We assigned jobs as we pulled into the lot of a WalMart. Cars were still in the spaces, untouched for months. Since the parking lot alone looked like a massacre, I didn't want to imagine the building itself. A small shiver went down my spine when I stepped out into the cold air. I tried to ignore the disgusting smell of dead people while I split from the group to find toiletries. I grabbed toilet paper first, the expensive kind... because why not? Then came soap and mouthwash, among other embarrassing things that went into my jacket so Declan wouldn't see.

It was so weird stealing right now. Even weirder that it was second nature. I grabbed the expensive kinds of everything- even tampons- just because it was now a luxury I could have.

I wanted to stroll past the clothing department without a glance, but I couldn't help but notice a cute dress on the rack to my left. Trivial things like washing clothes still came left to me- and seeing a dress pure like that made me ache.

"Get the dress," Declan startled me. Color flooded my cheeks.

"I-"

"You want the dress, so get the dress. Wear it later if you want to. Also, Tristan advises you to grab more underwear and pajamas if you want," With that, he pivoted on his heel and left me. I threw the dress in my bag as I stepped over a dead Creature. Someone had already put the bullet in its face so I didn't have to. How funny, I'm getting a dress and thinking about shooting things. Wonderful. How feminine.

I grabbed new bras and underwear before heading back to them. A baggy t-shirt was my new sleepwear and resting in the front pocket of my bag.

Declan looked smug, so I knew he was telling them about the dress thing. How cliche of me, the chick wearing a dress during an apocalypse.

"I demand that you try on this dress," Tristan ordered me. I froze at the sudden attention... I had only just arrived, after all.

"It's stupid," I kept my face slack. That sounded heartless enough to get them to lay off, so I looked away to avoid blushing.They'd probably accuse me of PMS, but it was better than being girly. Now was not the time to be childish.

"Stupid enough to have in her bag," Declan rolled his eyes. "Even in the apocalypse she's desperate for male attention. Pity."

I bit my lip and stared at the ceiling. Why did he always have to attack me? "Leave me alone."

He clicked his tongue and smirked. "It's all good, princess. Calm yourself. Maybe take a trip to the book section?"

I couldn't tell if he was joking, but I still went and came back with a hardcover of Looking For Alaska. I made sure to smack him upside the head with it out of pathetic revenge. Before I could open the doors to leave, a Creature jumped at me.

I felt something snap. Sudden aggression came over me and flooded my system.

I shoved the thing onto the floor and climbed on top of it. Yanking out my meat cleaver from my jacket, I continued to stab its forehead. Thick, congealed blood covered my arms and face as I swung back for another blow. Though it was long since killed, I couldn't stop. It was one blow after another. Brain matter spilled over the floor and my fingers as I pulled apart the face with my smaller knives.

I wouldn't stop.

Hands met my waist and pulled me off. My knives hit the floor while I crumpled into Declan's arms. My breathing was heavy and I felt wild.

"Dang," He exhaled hugging me to his chest. I sighed and put my knives back into my coat. That couldn't have looked good. If I was terrified then I could only imagine how they must have felt. I'd never snapped like that, lost control like that. It wasn't me. Is this how Creatures feel? Is that why they can't control themselves? Great. More Creature side effects to worry about...

I helped them load things into our trunk, avoiding the eyes of my group members. Declan sat next to me in an attempt to get me to speak. I was terrified of what I'd just done. I hadn't just killed a Creature- I'd brutally destroyed the body.

"What was that?" Declan whispered into my hair; my head was on his shoulder.

"What was what? The whole brutal killing thing? I don't know," I twiddled my thumbs.

"You don't know or don't want to tell me?" Declan asked. It was both actually, I had a hunch it was my other half making an appearance... but I couldn't guarantee anything.

"Dunno," I said softly. He nodded, intertwining our fingers with a smile.I let him surprisingly enough.

"Let me know if you need anything," He said.

I leaned closer and pulled out my book so I could escape for a while. Whenever things got hard I could pretend I was still me. Still human.

"I'm crazy aren't I?"

"No," Declan said. "You just have been through a lot."

"Who hasn't?" Alex grumbled. He seemed to have replaced Declan for the time being. I was just confused with the sudden changes in the other twin's behavior. Both of them made no sense.

I rolled my eyes at his positive attitude before looking away from everyone. The gray sky seemed darker than ever, probably due to my awful mood. We went out to the countryside, out of the city.

***

After driving for miles, we pulled up at an old ranch and stepped out of our car. The air smelled fresh and the place looked like it hadn't met the new world. We all headed up to the front door and studied the interior. I let out a breath when it was clear it was abandoned.

Three bedrooms, two bathrooms, and a huge living room made this place seem like heaven. It seemed to be a winner with Declan, because he dubbed it our new weekend house so we could rest a couple days. I made my way to the smallest room and sat down on the bed. It was clear that this once belonged to a teenage girl, with the magazine cutouts of Justin Beiber and the name ''Mckenna" spelled in pink letters on the wall. Out of respect to the previous owner, I didn't touch anything as I settled down to sleep. The girl and her friends had pictures everywhere- and their faces haunted me as I tried to sleep.