Man your battle stations

Eleanor quickly darted across the deserted street to the large, still standing apartment building. The static from her walkie -talkie was once again interrupted.

"Eleanor! Come in Eleanor! Christ, you're being stupid! Eleanor, do you hear me?!" It cackled at her. She turned the volume down. " I can hear you." She thought. " I just don't care." She smiled and quickly scanned the perimeter before bounding up the building's stairs.

"Who's there?!' A voice demanded over the intercom.

"It's me." She responded, feeling her pulse quicken upon hearing his voice.She pictured his perfect face, tanned from the hot summer sun. Then she felt her blood boil as she thought about her...and him.Together. The mix of excitement and anger made Eleanor feel high.She bounced impatiently on the balls of her feet. The door buzzed open.

His apartment door was open before she was down the hall.
"Oh hi you." He said with a smirk.
Eleanor pulled back and punched his perfectly aligned nose with as much force as she could muster.She heard a satisfying crunch as her fist met bone "Hi" she said,jumping back as he crumbled to his knees.

"Jesus! Fuck!" He bellowed, as he covered what Eleanor hoped was a broken nose.Blood ran down his face, and started to make a small puddle on the cheap laminate flooring.

"Good shot,Sport" He spat, as he took his shirt off and used it as a rag.Eleanor tensed as she noticed his perfectly toned body. A rush of heat coursed through her veins and she cursed her body for betraying her emotions. He looked up at her with his crystal blue eyes and a knot formed in her stomach.His stare was a mixture of anger and something that made Eleanor's body tingle.It was a look she knew too well. "Well, I suppose I deserve that" He said,slowly climbing to his feet. He looked her up and down before locking his eyes with hers.He smirked, not once losing eye contact with her. Eleanor shivered and dropped her gaze to the floor.

"I came her to tell you I know about her, obviously" She said, gesturing to his face.
" I also came to tell you that we're leaving." She continued. "You can come with us, or stay here and wait for help that's not coming. Your choice. I'd recommend listening to me, but we both know you're incapable of making wise decisions-so whatever." She said, rushing the words out while her adrenaline and nerve were still high.

"Is that all?" He said, tossing the rag aside.His nose had stopped bleeding was beginning to swell, somehow it suited him. "Is that all you came here to say, Love? Is that everything?" He said, as he brushed her cheek with his finger.

"Well that, and I hate you." She snapped,as she felt her breathing begin to quicken.She hated that she felt so com pulsed to be near someone like him. Someone she wanted to hug and strangle simultaneously.

He took a step towards her, completely removing all and any distance between them. Eleanor felt her mouth go dry.
"Almost everyone we know is dead, it's probably the fucking end of the world out there and you risked crossing town to crack me in the face and tell me you hate me?" He said, placing his hand on the back of her neck. "Be real"He whispered.

She could smell his familiar musky scent as he placed his forehead against hers. Her heart started pounding again as he pressed his body against hers.

"I hate you." She whimpered.

"Oh...really?" He asked, as his eyes flickered down at hers. They were touching nose to nose and Eleanor could feel his warm breath against her lips. Every nerve in her body tingled and the room wobbled as she began to feel lightheaded.It was becoming increasingly harder to breathe. "Hate me, eh?"His gaze made the knot in her stomach tighten.

"You hate me?" He reiterated, as he grabbed a handful of her hair, causing her to quietly cry out.Her breath quickened as she remembered how muscular his arms were and she could feel her cheeks starting to blush as she recalled being entangled in them,completely destroying her angry guise.

"Fucking loathe" she said breathily as she tilted her head.His lips brushed over her smooth neck and traced her chin. Her pulse quickened and she could feel his heart,thudding rhythmically, matching her own.
Eleanor went to push his face away from hers , but he caught her hand in his before she touched him. He lifted her arm above her head, locking it there with a vice like grip.

Before Eleanor could say a word he covered her mouth with his in a hungry kiss. She couldn't fake it anymore and responded immediately,giving into every impulse in her body. His mouth was so warm,his lips almost angry with anticipation. He tasted forcefully with his tongue, and Eleanor opened her mouth with a low moan. His hand slid from her hair and down to her waist, where he dug his fingers into her skin, causing her to cry out once more. He drove his tongue deeper into her mouth, as he pressed his hips into hers. The room spun as Eleanor grabbed the back of his neck with her free hand,eagerly pressing her hips back into his.
He pulled away and for a moment they said nothing. Eleanor's walkie-talkie began to angrily crackle.

"Elle! Eleanor you GODDAMN BITCH you better answer this! IF YOU'RE DEAD I'M GUNNA BE PISSED.Where the FUCK are you?!" A voice screamed over the line. His eyebrows raised in amusement. "You gunna get that?" He asked with a chuckle.

"Urggh" Eleanor groaned as she pushed him away. "Just one minute, just one friggen minute" she mumbled as she turned the volume up on the only communication she had in the world.

"Eleanor here. This better be good" she snarled into the receptacle.

"Better be good? Bitch, fuck you" the voice said back , but Eleanor could here the smile through the line. Her best friend, Ruby was elated to hear her voice. Two minutes of no communication could, and usually did mean you were dead.

"Did you get to Fuck Face safely?" Ruby inquired.

He grabbed the walkie-talkie from Eleanor with a smile. "Hey Ruby, nice to hear you're safe and sound too" He said with a sarcastic smile.

"Get bent, Fucker. I was hoping you were bit so I could do you in myself" Ruby quipped.

Eleanor quickly grabbed the walkie-talkie from him before Ruby and him got into a famous quip for quip battle.

"I'm on route." Eleanor said, trying to catch his gaze.

"I may have one with me."She said, still searching his body language for a clue as ro what he was thinking. His gaze didn't move off the floor.

Eleanor clicked the walkie -talkie back onto her belt loop and stared at him.

"You're not coming, are you?" she asked, feeling her stomach drop with the weight of her words.
He shook his head once, a defiant 'No'. Eleanor sighed, any glimmer of hope that he'd stay with her fading away. His gaze drifted from her hand placed on her hip, to her lips and then rested on on her eyes.

"But, you knew that." He said with a small smile. "You knew that when you met me, and you knew that when you came here. I'm not the commitment type." He leaned against the raggedy couch placed directly in the middle of an otherwise empty room.

"Besides, this place has working laundry!" He laughed. Eleanor rolled her eyes.

"Your priorities are fucked" She said as she moved towards him, wrapping her arms around his middle.He stroked her hair as she sighed and placed her head on his shoulder. They embraced for a moment, enjoying the rare moment of silence.

" But hey,that's why you like me." he said as he firmly gripped her chin in his fingers, lifting her face to his once more before kissing her lightly on the lips.

"Cause the crazy people make the world better, and the sane one's fuck it up." He said as he unwrapped her hands and intertwined her fingers with his. He kissed her palms and held them against his lips for a moment. Eleanor sighed once more and took a step back from the man she'd never see again. She smiled, and lightly touched his face.

"Later" she said, turning her back to him and gripping the door handle to sturdy herself.

"Hey" he said quickly, causing Eleanor to face him once more. "It was fun, right?" He said, smiling that million dollor smile at her again.

"It was something" she replied before blowing him a kiss and sliding out the opening in the door frame. She inhaled deeply, and wiped the few escaped tears off her face.
Even in the middle of the Apocalypse it was hard to remind yourself not to fall in love.