Lara came running out of the house frantically after she spotted her uncle’s car coming down the road.

Danny felt a little awkward at the emotional embraces and tears that came immediately after. He felt as if he was somewhat intruding into the family’s intimate moment and touchy reunion.

Though it warmed his heart seeing that he had made a difference in the life of those people, he also did not know if he should stay put or move away to give them some space. He didn’t know what to do with his hands or if he should say something, the raw emotions being presented in front of him made he uncomfortably aware of every little motion and action he made.

His discomfort was interrupted shortly after however, when Lara looked at him and with firm and decisive steps walked ever closer, cupped his face with both hands, and kissed him with an intensity that cleared his mind of all thoughts.

The affectionate display had been entirely unexpected to both him and her family members equally, but it was pleasant nonetheless.

“Thank you.” She simply said after they separated a few moments later. Her father who stood a few meters from them, scratched the back of his neck and looked away, while her uncle and his family smiled at Lara’s boldness.

Danny felt his cheeks burning once he realized they had been staring, but he recomposed himself in but an instant, following the family inside the house afterward.

There, they filled Lara in on the events that happened ever since they left her on that fateful day soon after the Apocalypse had started.

The tale was filled with tension and evoked a wide range of emotions. The dread they felt towards the undead; the happiness of finding her uncle’s family alive, safe and sound; their reluctance to abandon their neighbors, leaving them to fend for themselves and their wish to help them evacuate; the betrayal that followed and their fear of never being able to return and reunite with Lara once they had been deprived of their car and uncle John had been imprisoned for assaulting a guard at Hank’s settlement; and finally, Danny’s unexpected arrival and their seemingly untroubled departure from the survivors’ camp.

The family still did not understand how they managed to simply take their things and leave once Danny was brought in the equation. They had begged, pleaded and screamed at Hank and his minions to let them leave – anything they could think of that might work, really – but nothing they did moved the stoic and heartless commander.

Therefore, it was entirely strange that they were allowed to simply leave. It felt as if their previous history with the camp and their subsequent misery didn’t exist. All their problems went away with a poof, as if in a magic trick once Danny arrived.

At that point, every head turned in Danny’s direction. Curious eyes watched him with expectation, hoping that he would shed some light to the astonishing end to that chain of events. In the end, how the hell did he manage to free them so easily? Who was he, really?

Obviously, what appeared to have been a simple affair to the family had been anything but. To them, it looked like it only took a few words out of Danny’s mouth for their problems to go away, as they weren’t privy to what exactly he had done for Hank, nor did they know the part he played in solving the camp’s food crisis.

Nathaniel had asked him numerous times already, both back at the camp and during their trip back, but Danny merely shrugged his shoulder and limited himself to say that he had struck a deal with Hank and worked for him for a little bit, avoiding going into too many details.

He had no use for gloating, and revealing the full truth would only bring forth more questions that he didn’t want to respond.

Therefore, this time around, he once more repeated his previous explanation and glossed over the details of what he had done and how he achieved what he did.

Nathaniel and his brother looked like they were not satisfied with his answer, but before they could protest or insist in their line of questioning, Lara intervened and steered the conversation away from the subject and in a much less contentious direction.

Though Lara could be said to be the kind of person who wore her emotions on her sleeves and was honest to a fault, she was definitely not slow. She quickly realized that Danny did not wish to elaborate further, so she interceded to avoid making their guest and benefactor uncomfortable. She was sure he had his reasons to keep whatever it was that he didn’t want to talk about a secret.

Besides, he had just helped them immensely. The kind of favor she could not put a price on and could not ever hope to repay. After what he did for them, what kind of host, or better yet, what kind of people they would be if they repaid his assistance with such attitude?

She knew that her dad and uncle didn’t mean anything by it other than being curious, but they could be oblivious and indelicate sometimes, so it fell to her to put a stop to it. Even though they remained unsatisfied, the brothers didn’t protest against Lara’s very obvious change in subject. They also didn’t try to grill Danny for information anymore from this point forward.

After spending some time in the living room, speaking about random things and listening to Lara’s very own, even if boring, tale of what she had been up to ever since she was left all alone - which consisted mostly of long periods of waiting at the window with a gun in hand with small breaks in between to take care of the place -, Lara invited Danny to stay with them for the night. The rest of the family also unanimously nodded their heads in approval and urged him to stay for the night and rest.

This time, he didn’t refuse Lara’s offer.

They all looked genuinely thankful for the assistance he had provided and after they said that they wanted to repay some of their debt of gratitude and that Danny should allow them this much at the very least, he didn’t find it in him the willpower to say no to them.

Moreover, he felt strangely comfortable around Lara. Normally, he would behave more defensively around strangers, but for some reason he didn’t feel the need to when she was near. Maybe she had some of those soothing types of personality, or maybe he just liked her as a person.

In any case, he sorely needed a bath after his scuffle with the zombies at the factory, and though others tried to hide and be polite about it, Danny was aware that he stank. The twitching eyes and noses of those around him told him that much.

After a pleasant hot water shower – a true decadent luxury in this new apocalyptic world -, Danny left the bathroom thinking he would grab something to eat and search for a place to crash before stealthily eating a crystal and going to sleep. He could not afford to slack on his training. Not once. Not even around people.

Instead, however, he was surprised by Lara waiting for him in the corridor. She didn’t say anything to him. She just grabbed his wrist and led him to her bedroom with flushed cheeks.

A couple hours later they left her room and joined the rest of the family for home cooked supper. It was the best thing Danny had eaten in a very long time. The experience would have been even more enjoyable if not for the knowing looks he kept getting during the whole event from everyone at the table with the exception of Lara herself and her cousin.

Her cousin because he was too young or too dense to understand what had happened, and Lara because she was busy looking down at her plate and making sure to avoid any form of eye contact, as if the food in front of her was the most interesting thing in the whole world.

The food was good, but it was not that good. She was clearly dealing with her embarrassment and the fact that her father was there.

Danny on his turn pretended as if it was business as usual. They were both consenting adults and there was nothing to be ashamed of, even if he would prefer for Nathaniel to stop gazing at him with such intensity.

Once they finished with their dinner, Danny swiftly sneaked to his bag, pulled free a crystal from his stash, and gobbled it down before anyone could notice what he was doing.

Then, he pretended to be rummaging through his things and organizing them as he waited for the effects of the energy coursing through him to dissipate. Once that was done, Danny turned around and climbed the stairs to the second floor. He didn’t need to look for a place to crash anymore. He knew exactly where he would be spending the night.

He turned the knob to Lara’s bedroom and went inside.