"I'll sleep in the car."

I said.

"But I'm too scared to sleep here alone."

"It's safe here, you have nothing to be afraid of."

"I know it's safe, but I'm still scared. Just say here with me. Please."

I spent the night on the floor beside the bed. Germaine offered for me many times to sleep in the bed beside her. But I refused.

We decided to go into the city today to stock up on a few luxury items. We're set for food, clothing and honestly anything else we could need to survive the winter. And longer. But Germaine insist she would like some winter clothes more within her own style. Along with the soaps and shampoos she's use too. That sort of thing.

I seem to recall all the pharmacies and such being completely emptied out. But I was focusing on the food aisles. So it's quite possible they are well stocked on these sorts of things and I just hadn't noticed.

We get in the car and cross the bridge. Again going slowly, the drive makes me nervous. As soon as we cross the bridge back out of the community. It's as if the weight of the world crashes down on us once more. Immediately we get at each others throats.

Germaine's attitude quickly changing she snaps at me.

"So what are we gonna do about the power stations? Did we decide we're just not going to try and stop them?"

I snap back.

"I thought so yeah, what do you want me to do. I can't travel the world and shut down every single power station there is."

"I want you to at least try something!"

We park the car and approach a grocery stores doors. It tries to open automatically as we near. Though it's been smashed beyond repair and only moves about an inch before resigning to aggressive buzzing.

I start in again.

"See it's happening here too. There's nothing we can do. So why should we even try. Put our lives at risk for nothing. We have a good set up. Just get whatever it is you dragged me out here for and lets go home."

We continued fighting like this. The whole time we were in the store and whole drive back. Crossing the bridge, I wanted nothing more than to get out of the car. Slam the door. And let Germaine get her own damn wheelchair out of the trunk.

After parking. That feeling had gone entirely. I closed the door normally. Got the wheel chair out with a smile and helped Germaine get in. She was the first to speak.

"I'm sorry."

"Me too."

Neither of us taking the time to specify what it was we were sorry about. I doubt either of us felt the other needed too.

We got back to the house, still filled with the smell of fresh bread.

"Maybe it's time we bring the baby inside."

I said.

"I am starting to feel bad leaving it in the car like that."

She replied.

I went to get the baby. Bringing it into the kitchen. Still strapped into the car seat. I left it on the floor by the table. It's still blindfolded so it couldn't see us. But whenever we made a sound it would start biting in the direction the noise was coming from. Eventually the snapping sounds become normal. Not long after that it became comfortable.

As the days passed we played cards, shared books, talked and walked around. Checking out the other houses and cleaning the ones that Amos didn't make too much of a mess of. Figuring we may end up taking in more survivors at some point. We'll need somewhere for them too stay. But really we were just looking for anything to pass the time.

With clean clothes and hot meals, life was starting to feel pretty normal. One morning I even got back into the habit of shaving my beard. Fresh faced and ready for the day, I joined Germaine in the kitchen.

"Levi."

Germaine said with a surprise as I joined her at the table.

"You shaved."

She continued.

I look at her and raise my shoulders to indicate I don't understand her reaction.

"I liked you better with a beard."

She concluded.

"I'm sorry?"

Genuinely meaning it though not understanding why.

Germaine inhaled as if she was about to say more. But I jumped up from the table and shouted.

"The baby isn't biting!"

I point to it. Laying there in its chair. Head slumped forward. Not moving at all.

"It's running out of power!"

Germaine says, beginning to panic.

"We need to give it a boost!"

I said.

"How!?"

Germaine exclaimed

"Yoder's got a generator in the barn."

I grab the baby and rush to the barn. Germaine keeping pace right behind me. I drop the car seat on the floor and start pulling the cord for the generator.

One pull, two pulls. I begin praying it still has power. Remembering I had used all the gas that Yoder had on hand to burn the bodies. I fear the worst. Finally on the fifth pull it sputters to life. I grab the two cables and hold them up.

"What if it's too much, it could kill the baby."

She yells to me, over the loud hum of the generator.

"If we don't try it will die anyways. At least this way we can say we tried our best."

Before giving her a chance to try and further dissuade me. I press each cable to opposite sides of the babies head.

It shakes violently, foam coming for it's mouth. Smoke rising from where the cables are pressed.

"You're killing it!"

Germaine yells.

I keep the cables pressed as I slowly count to five. Exactly as long as the adult zombies had held on to the coil at the power station.

Pulling the cables away. The baby lay motionless. A long few seconds pass until finally. It bares it's gums and starts biting at us once more.

Through a sigh of relief Germaine mutters.

"We can't do this forever. Eventually we will run out of power and it will die."

"I know, but we need to try. At least for a few years, until it's old enough to take care of its self out there."

I said. Starting to take the baby back home.

Germaine stops me.

"Levi, seeing how quickly you sprang to action. It had me thinking. Well, that's not true, I was already thinking. But it cemented my thought. We should get married. We should try and have our own babies and repopulate. You've said it yourself. We have everything we need here."

I looked at her, unsure of what to say. I would like to marry her. But how would we have the wedding? I knew I had to say something but my mind was rushing so fast all I could say was.

"Okay."

"Sleep in my bed tonight. I'm scared it in alone. I know how important a wedding is to you. And we'll figure out a way to have a proper one. However you'd like to have it, I'll do it."

She stops for a moment. Wheels over and grabs my hand.

"Levi... I love you."

"You too."

I feel terrible for being so bad at communicating my feeling, but I know Germaine understands.

I had never pictured myself with an outsider before. But I had never pictured any of this happening. I had genuinely grown too love Germaine and wouldn't want to be going through this with anyone else.

That night I did sleep in her bed.