She opened her mouth to scream, but she was voiceless.
Two hands gripped her sides firmly and dragged her out from under the beam's line of fall, to which the enormous steel bar slammed to the floor with a deafening clang, rattling and shaking every inch of the building upon impact.
Riddled with sheer terror, the girl could not control the way she collapsed into the body of someone.
Nikolai almost toppled at the quick pace he moved, his back connecting harshly with the wall and audibly knocking the air from his lungs, his arms remaining locked around the girl in his arms.
Subconsciously, (Y/n) had pressed her palms to his chest to break her fall, and while still unable to comprehend such a flash of events, her mouth hung agape as she panted heavily. She could barely register a thing, feeling a dizzy sensation as she stared at Nikolai, her face full of fright at the thought of being crushed.
The Russian was worried that she could feel the way his heart was beating like a banging drum at such sudden closeness, but when her eyes dropped to see her hands planted firmly just below his shoulders, she came to her senses and almost jumped back out of embarrassment.
"O-oh my god, I'm sorry!" (Y/n) began to fret, adrenaline still rushing through her, causing such jittery movements.
She snapped around to observe the wreckage of the catwalk, that was once situated above their heads, now in a heap of itself, entirely blocking an exit route from the building.
"Are you alright?" Nikolai's deepened voice called to her in pure concern.
When (Y/n) turned, she saw his face contoured with stress, and a hand readied to place on her shoulder, however, stopping himself when she nodded with a heavy sigh. She planted her hands on her hips, letting her head bow and eyes fall shut as she calmed herself.
"Thank you, Nikolai." She breathed, wiping a hand over her face. "I owe you one."
However, his face was flushed red as the thought of being so close together remained permanently etched into his mind. Unbeknownst to Nikolai, (Y/n) wouldn't dare lock eyes with him, feeling the same embarrassment and awkwardness of being pressed so tightly to someone she hardly knew.
Neither of them could bring themselves to move as awkwardness was eating them up inside.
As if relieving them of the tense situation, Dempsey, tailed closely by Takeo, barged through the doorway atop the stairwell nearby, out of breath and clutching rifles tightly.
"We've got company." Dempsey informed loudly, his voice gruff and stern. "Get your asses out here."
Apparently, the crashing noise was enough to alert the stray undead swarms nearby, for they were filtering in through any access point possible, with some of them even tearing of their own decaying limbs as they came through or impaling themselves on broken barricades.
Equipping their weapons swiftly, (Y/n) bolted for the stairs that lead to a vantage point, with Nikolai tailing behind. She breezed past Dempsey, and took position beside Takeo, who had found excellent position that allowed for quick and easy shots to the heads of zombies.
With the team regrouped the hordes were cleared strangely fast. Typically, swarms came in frequent waves, virtually endless, but this time the air stilled. Not a groan or cry was heard from a zombie around. Even some of the boys moved to peer through open barriers, surveying the area, but they soon reeled themselves back to the group with their brows knit in confusion.
"Strange." Takeo spoke aloud in his husky voice. "The land is silent."
(Y/n) acknowledged Takeo and hummed in agreement, both vigilantly looking over their shoulders for approaching danger.
"So, did you guys find anything?" She asked, filtering her attention between the other pair.
Tank shrugged, looking a bit defeated. "A little. Couple cans of food, but that's about it. This place is deserted if you ask me. We ain't gonna find much."
(Y/n) sighed in disappointment, the idea of a delicious homecooked meal seemed so far out of reach. She's certain the men craved something more than just a measly can of beans, and even then, it's typically shared amongst the five of them, barely subsidising the painful hunger.
Clicking of a gun being reloaded sounded. It was Dempsey loading his sidearm. While keeping his focus on what he occupied himself with, he spoke.
"What about you? Find anything?"
A response was on the tip of her tongue, but her own mind caught her off guard, teasing the image of her body pressed against Nikolai's, and the way his gorgeous blue eyes stared deeply into her own. Vividly recalling the way his large, gloved hands rested softly on her sides, supporting her knees that dared to buckle under the weight of embarrassment. She felt her hands begin to clammer up at the intrusive thought, wiping them subconsciously on her coat.
When (Y/n) never responded, Dempsey's little task in his hands halted as he peered through his eyebrows at her.
"We found stashes of ammunition, but not much else." Nikolai had interjected.
Mentally, the girl thanked him for taking the words she failed to speak, however, feeling more awkward when she saw Dempsey eyeing her suspiciously.
Starling her, Takeo breezed past silently, moving to a cracked glass window that overlooked the storage room. Apparently something had caught his attention from afar. He observed the sight of the wreckage of the fallen catwalk; it certainly stuck out compared to the feeble clutter in the room.
(Y/n) couldn't help the way her feet carried her towards him.
Sensing that she was standing a small distance from him, Takeo spoke.
"We heard a crash on the opposite side of the facility. Was it this?"
Takeo sounded so genuine, strangely. His speech was typically blunt and didn't have much change in low tones.
"It was the catwalk that collapsed. The place is falling apart at the seams." She answered briefly.
Takeo nodded in acknowledgment. He had suspicions that the rumbling noise of steel landing with such a mighty force had alerted the chaotic number of undead creatures.
(Y/n) stared blankly at the structure below, somewhat in a daze when she confessed. "I was standing underneath it when it fell."
Dempsey and Takeo pivoted to face the girl simultaneously, their shoulders visibly tensed and eyes almost bulging.
Snapping back to her senses, she forced a smile as she quickly reassured, "I'm fine. Don't worry."
Both relaxed in sync, breathing relieved sighs.
"But I have to say that I'd be dead right now if it weren't for Nikolai pulling me out of there." She told, looking at the Russian sincerely. "I really owe him one."
In that moment she hoped that the frosty air nipping at her skin had already tinted her cheeks a rosy hue, for she could feel a burning fluster rising from her chest. A smile threatened to tug at Nikolai's lips as he glanced her way.
No one had seen Dempsey's eyes practically burning fire as he snapped a dirty look towards Nikolai.
"Alright, enough with the sappy 'who saved who's life' shit now." Dempsey blurted out bitterly. "We've got shit to do."
Thudding footsteps followed as Dempsey stormed off out of the building with his assault rifle under a mighty grip and chest puffed in hot rage. Takeo looked to (Y/n) who stood tall by Nikolai, only to be scrutinising the Russian with his intensive eyes before stalking out with a huff.
The girl knit her brows in confusion.
It could be said that Dempsey was known for his ability to lose his temper quickly, and few times she had seen his anger get the better of him, but Takeo's strange reaction struck her differently. She had never seen him give anyone, but Richtofen, such a fierce glare.
"What was that about?" (Y/n) asked, sounding somewhat bewildered.
Nikolai swallowed hard, struggling to muster a response when she looked at him with beady eyes, hoping for an answer.
Unfortunately, the Russian knew all to well just what sparked Dempsey and Takeo to be so infuriated, with him only.
"If I didn't know any better I'd say they seemed jealous." She spoke aloud.
Oh, but how jealous they were, and that's only the beginning of it.
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