The two just stared at each other for a moment, and finally she barked, "What!"
"Can I sit here?" he finally asked.
Zoe looked down to her Spaghetti-O's and just shrugged.
Zachary sat down across from her and looked down to his own dinner, but he did not start eating right away. There was a quiet awkwardness between them and neither spoke for a few moments, even after he finally started eating his dinner.
He finally shattered the silence with, "Your name's Zoe?"
Not looking at him, she just nodded.
"That's a cute name," he complimented.
"Thanks," she offered. "I like yours, too."
"Thanks," he said.
They ate in silence again for a while, then he finally glanced at her and asked, "So, how long have you been a zombie?"
Zoe shrugged and replied, "A week or so, I guess."
He took a drink, then went on, "Do you like being a zombie?"
She had never really thought about it and just stared down at her bowl for long seconds. With a little shrug, she said, "It's okay, I guess. There isn't any pain when I get hurt and I heal really fast and most other zombies don't bother me anymore."
"That mad-dog sure bothered you," he pointed out.
Turning her eyes away, she snarled, "Yeah." Finally looking to him, she insisted, "You have to shoot them in the head, otherwise they won't die. You have to. That's what the soldiers said to do."
He was staring at his bowl, and just nodded.
She stared at him for long seconds, then turned her attention back to her bowl.
"I've killed like twenty of them," he informed. "They came to our house and we had to fight them off, then we got in the R.V. and went looking for supplies and stuff." He turned his attention to her. "I got that one off of you and you didn't even say thank you."
"You didn't shoot it in the head," she countered, her attention still on her dinner.
"I still got it off of you," he grumbled, picking up his glass.
He was really aggravating her, but in the end he was right. She looked off to the side, her brow low over her eyes as frustration and pride waged battle against what she had been brought up to believe. Manners were manners and she huffed a sigh and grudgingly offered, "Thank you."
"Yer welcome," he replied. He took a bite of his lunch, then vented a breath through his nose, swallowed his mouthful and informed, "I'd do it again. Pretty girls shouldn't ought get eaten by them things."
Unconsciously, Zoe reached up and combed her hair back behind her ear, and she could not stop the little smile that overpowered her lips.
They finished their meals in silence. Zachary finished first and just sat there looking around him at the other people who were eating. Zoe finished hers and leaned back in her chair, keeping her attention on her tray for a moment.
"Do you want me to take your tray?" she asked without realizing.
"I can get it," he assured.
They stood up together and Zachary walked behind her to the big window where they would set their trays onto the conveyer belt. Halfway there they stopped as the lights dimmed, and a breath shrieked into Zoe as they went out completely.
An eerie hush fell over the entire cafeteria as darkness consumed the area for long seconds.
Zoe and Zachary exchanged looks, then they resumed their mission to turn in their trays.
As they left the cafeteria, the hospital speakers, which had been silent since Zoe's arrival, announced in a man's voice, "All strike teams report to the rally area. All strike teams report to the rally area. Any civilians with electrical or electronic or mechanical expertise are to report as well."
The two looked to each other again, then they turned and ran toward the stairs.
The rally point was a beehive of activity when they trotted into it. Zoe looked around frantically for someone she knew, and finally she saw Captain Langley preparing his gear and giving instructions to a few men who stood close by listening to him. She ran to him and patted his shoulder.
When Langley looked to her she raised her brow and asked, "What's going on?"
"Something happened over at the power plant," he answered. "No idea what, so we're sending a few teams in to check it out. Most likely something broke down so it's going to be one of those fix-it jobs more than anything."
"We still have power though," Zachary pointed out.
"That's the emergency generator," the Captain informed. "The grid's a whole lot more efficient for running places like this and we don't want to have to rely on the generator until we absolutely have to, that and there are other places in the city we want to keep up and running." He patted Zoe on the shoulder and offered her a smile. "You kids just sit tight. We'll be back in a few hours, God willing."
Zoe watched him as he turned and strode toward the door with a number of soldiers and a couple of civilians following him. Looking around her again, she saw one of the other soldiers she knew and hurried over to him, taking his arm as she asked, "Do you want me to go?"
"No, I think we got this," he assured. "You might ask the Colonel what he wants you to do. I got to go. Catch you later, Princess."
He also turned and hurried to the door and for the first time in many days Zoe found herself left out of the action. Without a word, she trotted to the elevator, only to find it not responding. Looking to the door off to the side, she darted to it and pulled it open to reveal the stairs that would take her to the floor she wanted to go to, and Zachary was right on her heels.
She found Colonel Halstead still in the conference room, talking with some civilians and a couple of soldiers and she rushed to him, calling, "Sir!"
He looked to her, then to the men he had been talking to and ordered, "Okay, get to it, people." As they left, he looked back to her and asked, "What can I do for you, Private?"
"Do you want me to go with the soldiers?" she asked anxiously.
"Negative," he replied almost harshly. "Two of the Strykers are already on the way. I think we can handle this. You just need to stand down for the next couple of days. We'll hold the fort for a while." He stood and strode toward the door without speaking further.
"Where is Sergeant Morris?" she asked desperately.
"Already on his way," the Colonel replied as he left.
Her eyes were a little wide, her brow held high over them as she looked toward the floor. With her mouth ajar, she tried to shake off the feeling she had that she had just been left behind, even though she knew to expect to be.
Doctor Caswell peered into the room and declared, "There you two are! Come on, Zoe. We have some things to do, and Doctor Kavorski wants to see you, too, Zachary."
Hours later found them in one of the examination rooms on the first floor, sitting in chairs that faced each other and laughing, Zachary found himself working to show Zoe some secret handshake he had learned in his childhood, and she was struggling to get the intricate gestures just right.
"Okay, okay," he barked. "Let's try it again. You ready?"
Zoe made herself control her giggles and nodded, assuring, "I'm ready."
Doctor Caswell sat at a desk outside of the room that had a view of the inside, and she smiled as she looked up from the reports she read and to the kids who were simply having fun. She heard Doctor Kavorski walking toward her, but kept her eyes on the young people as they both broke out into hysterical laughter again.
Kavorski set the papers he had down and turned to lean his hip on the desk as he also looked into the room, and a smile found his lips as well.
"People call them disabled, or challenged," Rachel observed, "but I'll bet those same people don't have a fraction as much fun as they do."
"They sure are the lucky ones in many respects," Kavorski confirmed.