This poor girl is trying so hard to hold it together for her husband; she reminds me of myself back in Philly when Addy and I were kidnapped. I watched as Mack helped Doc move the man, who's name we learned was Rick, off the floor and into a rocking chair. I pulled the lever that brought the foot rest out at Doc's request and looked at the newly encountered couple. He really doesn't look good- but I don't have the heart to tell her that.

"You're gonna be okay, he's a doctor." The woman, Jane spoke to her husband as she brushed his hair out of his face.

"Uh, well, they sorta just call me 'Doc'." I looked at the older man like he was crazy.

"Why would you tell them that?" I whispered. He just shrugged.

"No, no doctor. I just... need a nap." Rick mumbled out, his eyes closing slowly. I instinctively placed my hand on my pistol.

"Oh, that- no, that wouldn't be good, dude." Doc tried talking to him as he shook Rick's legs in an attempt to keep him awake. "Do not nap." He looked at Jane. "Don't let him fall asleep, he's got a bad concussion- at least." He warned the worried wife.

"Rick? Rick!" She called to her husband, who was no longer conscious. "Help him!" She yelled to Doc, who seemed to be flustered. Just then, Mack and Addy came up from the basement. I made eye contact with Mack and nodded towards Rick- telling him to keep an eye on the situation. He nodded once in understanding before turning to everybody.

"Basement's clear." He informed us as I walked into the kitchen, only to be greeted by 10k who was already looking through cupboards.

"Anything good?" I asked as I opened a drawer.

"The cupboards are pretty stocked up. Lots of canned food and some water." He noted before helping me look through the drawers.

"No batteries, no radio, no first aid." I listed out the disappointments.

"Let's go let them know." Tommy suggested. I nodded once before following him back into the living room where it looked like we were interrupting something.

"Kitchen was pretty well stocked up." Ten Thousand shared our findings with the rest of the group.

"There's water and canned food; no medical supplies, no batteries though."

"We need to get our communications up." Garnett spoke before turning to Thomas and I. "You two go out into the neighborhood; see what you can find- but don't go too far. Be sure to get back before the storm hits." The two of us nodded before grabbing what we needed and walking towards the door.

"Janey, what are all these people doing here? My parents will be home for dinner any minute." Was the last thing I heard before we closed the door behind us, jogging towards town.

"Do you think he's gonna make it?" Thomas asked me as we fought the wind.

"Is that a joke?" I teased before giving my serious answer. "It's 50/50. Unless Doc can figure out how to get his brain to stop swelling, he's gonna turn by the time we get back." Tommy didn't say anything else until we entered the first building. No zombies were in sight, so we walked right in- remaining cautious. I was stopped by his hand on my shoulder.

"Are you okay?" He asked me when I turned to face him. I cocked an eyebrow.

"What do you mean?" I questioned.

"No offense, but something seems off about you today. You're more sarcastic than usual, and you have a more grim outlook on things than normal." Wow, can't believe he noticed that.

"Yeah, just nervous about this storm." I lied. I knew why I was acting like this- because I'm thinking too much; too much about Ten Thousand.

"(Y/N), I know you well enough to know when you're lying." He informed me. I sighed and looked away. Should I tell him?

"I've just been thinking a lot." I admitted.

"About what?" He interrogated. I thought about my next words carefully.

"Everything. The mission, you... guys. The whole apocalypse." Okay, maybe I pussied out in admitting I have feelings for him, but hey- maybe now isn't the best time for that conversation.

"What about us?" He pushed. I listened as the thunder got closer before looking up at him.

"Maybe we should talk about this later?" He hesitated for a second before nodding, taking his hand off my shoulder and turning to enter the nearest room. I took a deep breath to calm my beating heart before following him. After moving through a few different houses and rifling through drawer, after cupboard, after closet, we managed to find a few batteries and a small first-aid kit.

"I'm trying really hard not to think that this was a waste of time!" I shouted to 10k over the wind as we ran down the road back to the group.

"At least we're not empty handed!" He shouted back before grabbing my sides to stop me from running. I followed his gaze to the sky, and saw the tornado was much closer than I thought.

"We're not gonna make it back, take shelter!" He yelled close to my ear; sending shivers down my spine. I looked frantically for any cellar door- or anything that was even relatively safe. My eyes landed on a small blue car.

"Run for the car!" I yelled, taking my own advice with him running alongside me. He opened the passenger's door for me and I didn't hesitate to throw my bag and gun in, climbing in after them and sitting behind the wheel. Thomas did the same before climbing in as well, closing and locking the door.

I locked the drivers door and looked behind us, fear squeezing every bit of breath out of me. The tornado was right there. Both of us looked forward, bracing. I let out a yelp as the car starting moving sideways.

"Tommy!" I called to him. This better not be how I die.

"Hang on!" He called back. I reached for something- anything to grab onto as the car gained speed. After a few moments it stopped long enough for me to see what I was grabbing. My left hand was gripping the door- but my right? My right was gripping his thigh. 10k and I looked at each other, then at my hand, then back at each other. Before either of us had a chance to say anything, the car started rocking.

Then the passenger's tires left the ground. Both of us pressed our hands to the ceiling, bracing ourselves for the worst that was yet to come.

"Oh God!" I yelled when the car was almost on its side.

"Don't let go!" Ten Thousand shouted as the car started flipping. Glass started breaking and the car made various noises in protest to the events. I squeezed my eyes shut- no way in hell am I going to calm down as I watch the world spin. When I closed my eyes, all I could envision was Thomas right next to me. This is not how we're going to die.

Suddenly, almost as soon as the tornado had appeared- it was gone. The car stopped, the wind dissipated- it was quiet. I slowly opened my eyes to see us upright with the passenger's side of the car against a building- which probably saved our lives.

Thomas and I looked at each other before letting out shocked laughter. I unlocked the driver's door and climbed out; grabbing my gun and bag. 10k did the same as he took in our surroundings.

Some buildings were heavily devastated, others completely gone. The car that saved our lives had some heavy damage done to it, but was otherwise fine. 10k and I looked at each other. I searched his eyes for any emotion- and there was plenty.

"Are you okay? You're bleeding." He stepped forward and used his thumb to wipe something off my cheek; blood. He wiped his hand on his pants before grabbing my chin and turning my head to get a closer look.

"Y-Yeah, I'm okay. It's just a cut." I stuttered out as my stomach did backflips.

"It looks like some glass cut you, I'm gonna make sure Doc looks at it when we get back." He told me as he released his grip. I could still feel where is hand was.

"You don't have-" he cut me off.

"I'm not going to let you argue with me on this." He said sternly, catching me off guard. "Doc is looking at it." I didn't speak- I couldn't. I just nodded. He looked at our surroundings one last time before grabbing my wrist and pulling me towards the group.

Not protesting, I jogged along slide him for a minute before stopping and pulling my arm back.

"Thomas?" He stopped moving and turned back to me, a confused look crossing his gorgeous features. I took a deep breath through my nose before slowly moving to stand in front of him. He watched me closely, growing even more confused.

"(Y/N), what's wrong?" His confusion turned to worry as I just stood in front of him, not saying anything. Hearing him say my name sent chills down my spine. I mustered any courage I had inside myself and hugged him tight.

"I don't want to lose you." I whispered in his ear. He slowly set a hand on my back.

"You won't lose me." He reassured, moving his hand in slow circles. I looked up at him, not releasing the embrace.

"That's what I've been thinking about." The words slipped past my lips before my brain even had time to process them.

"What?" He questioned. I looked away quickly. No going back now, I guess.

"I've been thinking about you." I muttered.

"Why?" He continued rubbing my back, so I guess that's a good sign.

"Because, I... I really care about you, Thomas." I spoke quietly. Not exactly what I wanted to say, but I guess it works. He didn't answer for a second. Shit, did I just mess everything up? Panic started to replace the nerves I was previously feeling as I went to step back; but to my surprise he didn't let me. Instead, he just tightened his grip around my waist.

"I really care about you too, (Y/N)." Okay now I'm confused, does he care about me- or care about me? Either way, I'm okay with both. I kissed his cheek softly and stepped out of his arms.

"We should, uh, head back." I spoke shyly. Since when did I become shy? He nodded in agreement; and just like that the conversation was over.

We made it back to what was once Warren's house, which was now just a pile of rubble. Relief set in when I saw that our group was okay; even Rick and Jane made it. We ran over and I instantly hugged the first person I came into contact with- Doc. He chuckled and hugged me back.

"Nice to see you two made it."

"Same goes to you." I smiled.

"Hey, Doc? Can you clean that cut on her cheek?" 10k asked the elder, who simply nodded and reached into his bag, pulling out an alcohol swab and handing it to the raven-haired male.

"How about you do it, kid? I wanna check things out." Ten Thousand nodded before taking it. He stood in front of me as he opened the package, and once again grabbed my face. Gently, he cleaned the area. It stung, but that's not what I was focused on. Seconds later he was letting me go again, tossing the package into the rubble. Before I had a chance to thank him; Addy pulled me in for a hug.

"Man, if I see a munchkin I'm gonna freak!" Doc declared, causing us to laugh. I guess this is the first time he's taken in his surroundings. I walked over to Rick and June.

"Nice to see you pulled through big guy." I patted the man's arm softly before Jane gave me a hug. Weird, but I hugged back anyway.

"Hey, I found this while we were out." I set down my bag and pulled out the small first-aid kit before handing it to Jane. "There's some gauze in there that way you can change that out when it gets gross." I motioned to the gauze around Rick's head.

"Thank you." She stated breathlessly. I simply smiled and nodded before walking over to the rest of my group; Warren, Garnett and Mack all pulling me in for a hug.

"Don't ever disappear in the middle of a tornado again." Addy scolded me.

"If the opportunity arises, I'll try not to." I teased. I listened as Mack explained to me what happened with Warren before looking to my left to see Murphy, who was now completely bald.

"So while everybody else was preparing for the tornado, you decided it was time for a haircut?" I asked, dumbfounded.

"Oh, shut up." He grumbled before walking to the SUV. I chuckled and shook my head before joining 10k on the fire truck; standing between the cab and the part that held all of their equipment.

"I need to go!" Murphy called from the back seat of the vehicle as the rest of the group approached.

"I'm not sure I care for that look." Warren teased the bald man. I grinned and leaned on the cab of the truck, resting my chin on a lip that stuck out.

"Nobody asked you." Murphy retorted, causing us to laugh.

"New haircut, same Murphy." I observed, everybody nodding in agreement. I watched as Charlie climbed into the driver's seat of the truck while Warren sat next to him. I also watched as Doc handed Jane a couple viles of morphine, which was shocking.

"You folks gonna be alright?" Garnett asked the couple from behind the firetruck's wheel.

"Rick's got family nearby; we're gonna keep looking for them. But, thanks- thanks for everything." She looked between all of us, and when her eyes landed on me I gave her a sailor's salute. Once everybody was on, or in one of the vehicles, Garnett started the truck. After a minute of sitting, he pulled the horn twice. We drove off, waving goodbye to Jane and Rick.

After talking to Thomas, I feel like I'm back to normal. I hope those two make it. I heard CZ over the radio, meaning Warren must be blasting it for us to listen to.

"Survivors of the world, hello. If you're hearing this, congrats! You're still alive. You are the baddest of the badasses. Fearing neither man, nor twister, nor the living dead. My headset is off to you."

"Damn straight we're badass." I muttered.

"You're badass." I looked to 10k, who was already looking back at me. I couldn't read the emotion on his face, it was one I hadn't seen on him before. I smiled and rested my head on his shoulder lazily.

"So are you, Ten Thousand."