Could be worse

Sakura was a superstar. I would be lying if I said anything less. She had led the three of us the four miles through the zombie horde with such grace. I couldn’t put myself on her level.

Still We found ourselves in a tough situation.

“Ugggggghhhhhhh,” rang the sounds of dozens of the undead. The smell of rotting flesh was potent, barely tempered by the doorway that separated us from them. We had nearly made it through the mall, but when darkness came we were **** to take shelter.

We never made trips during full darkness. We would have to wait till daylight to move again, and just hope that the horde would move to another area of the mall by then.

We heard a single knock on the wall beside us.

“Shikamaru,” said Sakura, “Just stay put. When morning comes and these creeps have moved on we will all go.” For a moment silence came, and then Shikamaru answered with a single knock.

We were **** into these shops suddenly by the horde. They caught sight of us and lost us in chase. Shikamaru was stuck in a candle shop, and we were stuck in a record store.

“Well,” said Sakura, “not the smoothest mission so far, but we are alive. Nothing left to do but sleep.” Sakura hadn’t interacted with me more than what was absolutely essential for the mission. It’s true I was never cool enough for her, but this must have been because of Shizune.

I curled up behind the counter of the store, one of the only spots you couldn’t see the zombie horde. For the first time on this mission Sakura regarded me.

It seemed she wanted to say something. I knew what it was, and quickly began to gather my things.

“No,” said Sakura. “Don’t move for me, just.. share.. some of the space if you would.” I moved over for her instantly, giving her almost the whole space.

“Oh,” I said, “I’m usually just kicked out by my other partners.”

“Go sleep by the zombies,” I mimicked, “you have nothing of interest to them.” Sakura smiled as she placed her bag beside me