you doze off somewhere along to journey, robbys warm embrace making you feel safer than you have in a while. your sleep is interrupted by a hand running up and down your arm and occasionally squeezing, followed by a gruff voice softly telling you to “wake up, sweetheart. were back.” you whine, turning your head away from the sound and attempt to burrow further into the safe haven that is his chest. he chuckles, “i know your probably very tired and you can sleep soon, we just need to get you checked out.”

well that definitely woke you up. get you checked out?

you blink wearily and rub the sleep from your eyes with a dirty hand, feeling slightly more panicked now. you hadnt thought any further beyond being wrapped up in the strangers arms, forgetting that he was taking you to a community. other people.

your thoughts are cut short when you arrive at some dented corrugated metal gates.

“abbot and robinavitch. plus one…. stranger.” the greying man yells to what you assume are people on the other side.

“clean?” a male voice responds

“robby checked said shes clean.”

“nothing other than some bruising adam we’re all good.” robby shouts, bringing a hand up to cover your ear thats not pressed to his chest.

he keeps his hand in place as the gates open. you still flinch at the high pitched squealing noise as the metal scrapes along the floor. he flicks the reigns on his horse again and the pair head forward, the shrill sound of gate closing behind them piercing your ear drums again. as the horses continue to !!!! a small group of people gather round all staring at the new person thats penetrated their walls.

robby slides down and you mourn his warmth, he reaches up and places his hand on your hips lifting you from the saddle and placing you gently on the hay covered ground of the stables. the growing hoard of people gather closer and closer to the stable and peer in, robby to block your half covered from their intrusive gaze with his own body.

“alright alright. have some decency the girls terrified as is no need to fuckin’ stare,” abbot grits out as he goes to close the door to the stable, “you could at least be useful and go and get her some damn clothes.”

he slams the door and turns back to his horse, unloading all of his equipment. robby keeps an eye on you as he does the same, now shielded from the community’s people.

a few minutes later a knock against the wood captures your attention.

robby responds, “who is it?”

“who do you think jackass?” a female voice responds.

as the form enters you move closer to robby. you are greeted with a blonde woman in her early fifties carrying a pile of clothes for you.

“its nothin’ fancy but better than what youve got now. my names dana, i help run this place.” she extends her arm to you, but when you dont reach out to take the clothes robby does for you. you put on pants and shoes, wanting to keep the comfort of the jacket the man gave you.

“alright well, if you come with me i can get you settled in okay hon?”

at the prospect of leaving, you step back and hide yourself behind robby, gripping onto his thick arm and willing away the tears building behind your eyes. dana glaces at robby, cocking an eyebrow then sharing the same look with abbot who just shakes his head with a smirk.

the brunette notices your state of distress, “hey its okay, you can trust dana. shell take care of you.” his reassurances do nothing to your shaking form.

safety is sacred to you. something you havent felt know for god knows how long. but you feel it with robby and youre not willing to let it go.

he turns to full face you, “i uh- i guess i could come with you. help you get settled in.” he smiles warmly when you nod, your grip on his arm still not letting up. he looks to dana and she nods as well, smirking slightly at the man’s proposal.

“come on sugar, first stops the clinic.” she holds the door open for the pair of you to follow her.

———

“so honey how old r’ya?” dana asks, placing the old pen light she was just shining in your eyes back in her pocket.

when met with silence robby chimes in, stood behind your form sat on an old hospital bed. “she uh… doesn’t talk.”

dana hums and purses her lips, her glasses rested low on her nose, thinking. “you can nod though right? saw you do it back there in the stables.”

you nod.

“good. so i’m assuming you can also shake your head no.”

you do so.

“great. just gonna ask you some simple questions. if you need a break at any point sweetheart you just raise your hand okay?”

nod.

“you injured?”

nod.

“can you point where?”

you raise a frail hand to point at your ribs and your left arm.

“okay. any serious cuts or bleeding?” she asks, not seeing any blood on your person but wanting to be safe.

you shake your head.

“i trust robbys judgement so im not gonna ask you to strip like i normally would. you seem all good other than the injuries you noted on your ribs which im guessing is bruisng?”

nod.

“well if you have any more problems or decide you want treatment you can find me, robby or abbot. we’re the doctors around here m’kay?” she pauses and looks at robby, “now we need to find you accommodation. theres an empty house down by the creek which is all yours if you want it.”

you dont respond just stare at the toes of the borrowed shoes you wore, gently swinging your legs over the side of the bed. empty house? no. you had just been saved from an empty house why on earth would you willingly put yourself back in that situation. you dont want to be alone again. you cant be alone again.

robby pipes up once again, “or… if you dont want to be alone, i have a spare room in my house. its not much but you can stay there while you get comfortable here, means you wont be alone if thats what youre worrying about.” he sounds unsure in his offer, like he doesnt want to step over a non-existent line. god what are you doing, he thinks to himself, she probably thinks im a creep.

you take a second, still looking at your shoes. being alone again is terrifying, the thought sends a shiver through your body, and robby has been nothing but gentle to you in such a harsh world. a rare privilege. you look over your shoulder and meet his warm eyes checking his eyes for any sign of hesitancy, not wanting him to feel like he has to house you, but you find none.

once again, you nod.

———

the walk to robbys house is nice, scenic.

you stroll slowly, he reassured you there was no rush and to get comfortable in the new area, taking in the trees and the few townsfolk that you pass. unaware of your actions, you chew and pick at your nail beds, pulling the skin back until you draw blood. its a nervous habit you’d had since childhood, always needing something in your hands or mouth to fiddle with. you feel that same anxiety thrumming through your body now as you did back then with your nails still being the ones to take the brunt of it.

robby notices this and envelops your hand in his making you pausing the relentless picking. “you shouldnt do that,” he says with a voice to soft for the man it comes from, “dont wanna risk getting infected.”

you nod and lower your hand, looking away from him. he still holds your hand in his and you find yourself hoping he doesnt pull away. the warmth is so welcome after so long being stuck in the freezing cold, but its different. its not the warmth you used to get from the ratty old blanket you kept on the end of your bed, the one youd always curl up in after a bad day. no this unique. just this small touch on your hand causes a flood of comfort and saftey to rocket through your veins unlike anything youd felt before.

and completely unknown by you, robby feels the same. holding your hand, he feels the large fortified walls hes spent years painstakingly building develop a small crack in the foundation, letting the cold interior warm only slightly. this however is closely followed by a much stronger wave of fear and insecurity, one he prays will patch up the break with haste. he hasnt felt like this in years- if ever -and all hes done is hold your hand, and it terrifies him. youre young and fragile and hes…. well hes old and broken. hes your perfect antithesis in a way. he cant explain it but he feels this innate urge to protect you. protect you from this world which clearly has already begun its attack on your spirit, he wants to be the one to stop it from doing anymore damage. he knows hes older than you despite not knowing your exact age (hes a doctor for gods sake he knows youre in your early to mid twenties) and the stares of the residents do nothing to help the guilt he feels about it. he needs to shut down this warmth thats creeping through his walls before it becomes something catastrophic, before they break completely.

The only road that was empty morphed into a highway bridge, blocked by a pileup of cars at least twice your height. The only thing you could see above the wreckage was the crest of the road.

You grabbed someone’s shoulder, eyes locked on your way out. “There!”

Altaïr, focused on the incoming threat, snapped his gaze to follow your pointing finger. He beckoned the group — easily eleven people strong. “Well, come on! Move!”

Everyone followed, footsteps falling in a fast, desperate beat. A hand grasped your elbow, pulling you up to speed. “Come on, quick,” Jacob said, glancing over your shoulders, comparing the rotting bodies to his bullets.

You could easily estimate a crowd of fifty, what? Runners, swarmers, walkers, screamers? You’ve heard them called many names, but right now? You’ve termed them ‘*Fuck no’*s.

Approaching the pileup, you scanned the wreckage for an easy route up, watching as Ezio and Altair quickly led the charge on either end of the pile up. Altair took a staircase-like approach on the right, from a trunk to a pickup’s hood to the roof of a van. Ezio scaled the slope of an upturned car wedged against others, feet jumping precariously between pipes and holes. They both waited at the apex of the crash site, turning back. “Andiamo!” Ezio yelled, motioning everyone forward.

The group diverged, the faster ones taking Altaïr’s route, while the more agile followed Ezio.

“Keep going until you’ve crossed the bridge!” Altaïr yelled over the groans and cries of the hordes behind you. Turning around, you watched them all merge into a sea of heads and limbs. The noise pierced your ears, erratically pumping panic into your veins.

You and Arno were the last ones to climb, taking either side. Spurred on by the fear of idleness, you reached and snagged onto Altaïr’s awaiting hand, and he didn’t let go until you were safely on your way down, following quickly after.

The group hadn’t moved. They all gathered fifteen metres down the road, peering down.

Your heart dropped. Oh God…

“Why haven’t you…?” Altaïr’s voice trailed off, eyes cast skyward. “Oh.”

The bridge had collapsed on a section of its low incline, leaving a gap easily two cars wide. You slid between shoulders before standing beside Kassandra, eyes widening.

Below, waters had risen far enough into the city that the lower highways had flooded completely. Whatever debris had remained formed harsh tsunamic rapids against the debris as the water thrashed and rolled against them.

Edward pointed to the other side of the bridge. “We can make that.” You assessed the chances; the foundations of the bridge had been stripped bare along the edges, with thick steel beams still sticking out of the concrete, reinforced by strips of rebar.

Your own personal olive branch.

Evie’s gaze snapped to Edward. “Are you insane?!” She checked the gap herself, swallowing thickly. “There is no chance of making that.”

“Have some faith, Evie—”

“Prove it,” Kassandra said. “Quickly.”

Tilting his head, Edward shook off any trepidation, taking a few steps back.

One deep breath.

“Edward, wait…”

Sprinting down the end of the concrete, he leaped.

His fingers clamped onto the lower lip of the beam, body swaying above the water. Your hand flew to hold your forehead, distressed.

One hand met another on one side and he pulled himself up, palm pressed against the flat metal surface. He pulled his feet underneath him, steadied himself, and moved a few paces up the steel and onto the concrete.

Altaïr moved to the leap onto other beam. “Tallest go first. Move with urgency!”

As people gathered their courage, you flinched at a sharp creak. You turned, moving out of people’s way.

A head appeared from the other side of the car wreck. You pulled out your gun, aimed, held your breath, and shot.

The swarmer went down.

“Y/n, what are you doing?!” Arno’s voice demanded.

“Buying us time!” You fired another round, brows furrowing at how the body slumped forwards and over the wreck, crashing onto the asphalt. The closest one yet.

When a body emerged from the opposite side of the wreck, you snapped your gun to it, but the shot that rang out didn’t come from you. Resetting your position, you spared a glance beside you — Arno had joined you, taking post on the other side of the road. You sent him a nervously grateful smile, a wave of uncertainty growing within you.

There’s a chance you won’t make it out of this.

“Y/n! Let’s go!” Jacob hadn’t seen you cross yet, and almost panicked before he turned around.

“Yeah, gimme a second!”

“Arno, you have to run!” Elise shared a worried look with Jacob.

“We’ll follow on! Just go!”

You focused on popping shots off at emerging heads and torsos, but the creaking had increased; a growing weight was forcing itself against the metal scrapheap of a crash, and you knew that behind it stood an army of teeth-gnashing demons.

An army you really couldn’t overrun.

“You two, get yourselves over here, now!” Altaïr had his military voice on. You turned around; only you and Arno were on this side of the bridge.

A frantic clicking came from beside you. “I’m out.” Arno looked at you, wide eyed.

“Then, go!”

“But—”

“Go!”

Arno nodded, holstering his gun. Taking a few steps back, he took the running jump as everyone else.

You heard his boots leave the ground, his hands hitting the steel, and a panicked yell. The metal let out a disgruntled scream. “Arno?!” You couldn’t turn around.

“I’m fine!”

You huffed, firing another shot. The barrel of your gun swung back and forth as the numbers of zombies appearing at the top of the wreck multiplied faster than you could shoot them down.

Firing four more shots, the fifth trigger procured a click. Your heart dropped. “Arno, are you clear?!”

You could barely take your eyes off of the horde to check; the cars began to scrape across the road as the infected began to pile on top of each other to climb the obstacle. “Arno?!”

“Just jump, Y/n!” Jacob’s voice hit your ear in desperation. Turning, you saw Arno struggling to climb the metal beam which had been jolted out of place, creaking dangerously at a steep uphill angle.

The free one looked stable.

Looking down, your stomach flipped. The beam seemed to grow further and further away the longer you looked at it. Taking a few steps back, you looked back at the wreck one more time. A few swarmers had fallen over the wreck, which had been straining against the force of the weight behind it.

You took a deep breath and before you could overthink, jumped.

The cars behind you crashed open.

Grasping the steel beam, your body almost collided with Arno’s. “Sorry!” You yelped, the metal being more slippery than you thought — ice shot through you at the thought of falling. Scrambling onto the top of the beam, you straddled it, feet pushing against the lower lip of the beam. You used the acquired space to lean on one knee.

“You alright?” His hand shot across momentarily to steady you.

“I’m okay, I’m okay.” As soon as the words left your mouth, both beams jolted, the rebar snapping. You both cried out in surprise, almost slipping completely from the beam. The edge of the beam dug into your ribs as you clung desperately to it, your leg slipping from the bar.

“Arno!”

“Y/N!”

You checked on Arno, who fought to regain his stability after almost falling completely. “Are you okay?!” you yelled.

“Yeah, yeah,” he replied, slinging his leg over the beam.

Movement in your peripheral vision had you looking up to the other end of the beam; Elise and Jacob both dropped to lean over the ragged edge of the road, hands extended. While Arno moved to Elise, you focused on Jacob.

Not the hordes approaching behind you.

Definitely not the river below you.

Inching across, you held your breath at every movement, lest the entire thing snap completely.

“Y/n, grab my hand.” Jacob braced one hand against the asphalt, stretching the other as far as he could towards you.

Only a metre away. You could make it.

Slowly, you outstretched your arm, fingers aching to close the gap.

Out of the corner of your eye, Arno’s fingers had just about wrapped around Elise’s palm. Jacob noticed along with you, and he inched forwards.

“Jake…” You stretched as far as you could, not quite making it. The uncertain whine in your tone was an unspoken worry — the fear that nothing more can be done.

That this is the best you could do… and it’s not enough.

“You’re okay, it’s okay.” Jacob inched himself over the edge. He balanced precariously — one wrong move could send him down too. “Just a bit further, darling.” You could hear the strain and a lick of panic in his voice.

“Come on,” he muttered, frustrated with himself. Straining with everything you had, you leaned forward. Your fingertips brushed his.

The metal screeched and snapped.

“No, NO!” Jacob cried as you screamed, following the steel beams into the rapids below.

Arno followed after, gravity ripping himself from Elise’s unstable grip. “Arno!”

A hand grabs Jacob’s shoulder and pulls him upright. “Follow me, now!”

They all set into a dead sprint, Jacob close on Altaïr’s heels. At the end of the bridge, the land curved around to meet a bank of dirt. Jacob moved past Altaïr as the field medic slowed down, only stopping a few feet from the water, scanning for any sign of you or Arno.

The next moments were too much to bear — to demote himself to merely watching and waiting had Jacob’s fingers itching to help. He dropped his rucksack on the bank.

And if he couldn’t find you? Or worse, found you too late?

He bit his cheek. No.

That wasn’t on the table. It couldn’t be.

“There!” Altair came up beside Jacob, pointing at two motionless bodies surfacing from the water, the current washing them downstream.

“No…” Jacob almost raced Altair into the waters, tunnel vision zeroing in at you. He swam over as fast as he could. Treading water, he grasped your shoulders and turned you onto your back. “Y/n?”

You were unresponsive. Eyes closed, lips blue…

He looked to Altair, unsure, and watched how he towed Arno towards the shore. Cupping his hand under your chin, he locked out his arm and followed suit.

“Connor! Eivor!” Altair commanded as his feet could feel the river bed underneath him. “Take an arm each and slowly pull him to shore.” He held Arno’s head gently as the three of them pulled Arno safely away from the water.

“Edward! Kassandra! Do the same with Y/n.”

Jacob mimicked Altaïr’s movements as you were pulled free of the water, set down on drier land. He knelt beside you, taking your face in his hands.

“Y/n?” Jacob caressed his thumbs over your cheekbones. “Open your eyes, darling. Wake up, angel, please.” Altair checked your airways, expression cold and unreadable. When he turned away, Jacob leaned over you, eyes checking for any minuscule giveaway of consciousness.

There were none.

Elise did the same beside Arno as Altair kneeled beside him. “Arno? Arno, can you hear me?” He rested his fingers against the side of his neck, his ear hovering over his mouth and nose, his eyes set on Arno’s chest.

“They aren’t breathing.”

The wind was whipped out of Jacob’s lungs, like he had plunged into ice water.

He dropped his head to hover over your chest, waiting for a rhythmic rise and fall, a breath on his ear, anything.

It didn’t come.

“Fuck,” he cursed, checking it again. “Please, no…”

He watched Altair as he tilted Arno’s head back, giving him one rescue breath and waited.

Nothing.

When his chest fell, he tried again.

For a beat, nothing.

Then a staggered gasp and a choke.

Water spurted out of Arno’s lips as Elise turned him over, allowing him to cough it onto the dirt.

Jacob, panicked, observed you. Blue lips, pale skin, a relaxed expression…

Tilting your head back, he pinched your nose and sealed his mouth over yours. A staggered breath passed from his lungs to yours.

He sat up, panting. He couldn’t get air in himself. Your chest rose, fell, and remained still.

He tried again.

When he sat up, Altair sat a foot away for space, supervising. Your chest rose and fell with borrowed breath.

Nothing.

“Oh, Christ…”

A third breath.

People were watching them now, bated breath between them.

No response.

“Altair… I-I don’t…” Jacob looked up, eyes pleading for help.

“Two more,” he said quietly; careful not to give away his thoughts on the status of the situation.

A fourth time.

You still hadn’t moved. Or breathed. Or twitched.

Altair shuffled closer, intertwining his hands. He held them slightly in the air, free from your chest until the fifth breath cleared.

“If she doesn’t wake from this one, I’ll start compressions.”

Jacob’s heart dropped.

“Come on, my darling. Don’t do this to me.”

He took a breath. One more.

As carefully as time would allow, he expelled a large breath from his lungs into yours.

He barely had time to sit up straight before your body jerked.

Altair pushed you onto your side, resting your chest on Jacob’s lap as you coughed up water and threw up on the sandy bank beside him. The field medic closed his eyes, releasing a relieved sigh. Subtle.

Jacob noticed.

He rubbed his hand in circles on your back until your dry heaving settled down. As you coughed up anything left, Jacob sent a grateful look to Altaïr before focusing on you, muttering soothing words to help your body settle, and in return, your lungs begged for air. Gasping and shivering, Jacob pulled you up into his lap, holding you close. He noticed the tremors in your body as you shook against his chest. You panted heavily against his neck, clutching him tightly. You hugged him as if he had brought you out of hell itself.

“Oh, Y/n, darling…” He buried his own face in your neck, muscles relaxing against you. He pressed a kiss against your cheek, hand caressing the back of your neck to pull you into his shoulder.

“Thank you,” you squeaked, voice cracking. Warm tears hit the skin on his neck, pulling at his heartstrings.

He shushed you gently, holding you just as tightly. His heart wrenched at your ordeal. “You’re alright, my love. You’re alright now…”

Thank God, you’re alright…

He closed his own eyes, head rising to the sky. He never typically believed in anything religious or supernatural, but he’d pray every day if it meant you were safe.