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“It’s weirdly quiet around here. Like scary quiet.” Doc said as he, 10K and you explored the third floor of a decaying building. You all came across the dilapidated town a couple weeks after leaving the hotel and decided to look around for any possible supplies or food.
However, during the search everyone noticed the town’s surprising lack of Z’s.
You all quickly came across the building you were now in and thought it wouldn’t hurt to look inside. It looked like it might have been a warehouse, and if everything checked out, meaning if you found food and there were no “puppies and kittens,” maybe it could even provide shelter for the night.
There was another building, similar yet larger, across the street and Warren suggested the team split up to cover more ground, as it was unlikely you all would have been the first ones to pick these buildings and who knows what might actually be left.
Warren, Vasquez, and Addy took Murphy with them and searched the larger building, while you, Doc and 10K searched the smaller building.
The building you were searching was three stories tall and you all agreed it might be smarter to start from the top floor and work your way down. Get the hardest bit out of the way first.
Yes, you could have all taken a floor and searched separately to save time, but Doc wasn’t the only one paranoid about the seeming lack of Z’s. If a group of zombies was hiding or trapped behind a closed door and ambushed when one of you opened it, it’d be better to have some backup.
You reach the top floor and start searching, not really finding much until 10K came across a box with a few canned goods inside.
You see a box on the furthest edge of the room and decide to check it out. You get up and start to walk over, but about 5 feet from the box the floor gave way beneath you, causing you to fall about chest deep into the floor. You let out a cry of startled pain and frustration and Doc and 10K rushed to your aid.
“Kid! Are you alright?” Doc cried out when he reached you.
“Yeah.” you groaned, trying to pull yourself up to no avail. “I think I’m stuck though.”
“Oh- Ok. Don’t panic now.” Doc said worriedly. “We’ll help you out.” He motioned for 10K to grab your other arm so they could try and pull you up, but they were interrupted by the snarling that could now be heard from the floor below.
“Um, guys…” you swallowed hard. “Please tell me we didn’t just hear that.”
The snarling could be heard again, louder this time. There was a zombie in the room below you. The room that you had just fallen halfway into. You were literally a meal dangling in front of a zombie.
Doc’s eyes went wide and he quickly moved to try helping you out of the hole again, shouting to 10K, who had already bolted toward the stairs, to find the Z fast and pike it.
“I knew there were Z’s hiding somewhere!” Doc cried.
As Doc tried to help you out of the floor you felt the Z start to grab onto your legs and you tried to kick it away, to no avail.
Doc tried to give words of encouragement as you struggled to keep you from panicking, even though he was on the verge of panicking himself. You might have been relatively new to the group, but you were already part of the family and he’d be damned if he was gonna lose you to a Z now.
You swore as you kicked. The damn Z didn’t really have a tight grip, but it was relentless.
Doc was still trying fruitlessly to pull you up when your swearing turned into a very unexpected sound for the situation you were in.
You were… giggling?
Doc raised an eyebrow. “I don’t really see what’s so funny about this right now, kid.” he said, now trying to see if he could figure out what was keeping you stuck.
“It-it tickles!” You covered your face while you continued to laugh, trying in vain to kick the zombie below you away.
The zombie, though trying it’s best to take a bite out of your thigh, couldn’t manage to do so. What you couldn’t see was that this zombie had been an old man when it died, and apparently hadn’t been wearing his/it’s dentures when he/it turned. Being stuck in that room in the old building for years and unable to feed for all that time had also made it weak. The zombie wasn’t strong enough to hurt you, but it was succeeding in tickling the shit out of you as it repeatedly gnawed and clawed at your legs while it continued to snarl loudly.
“It tickles? What the hell are you goin’ on about, kid?” Doc asked incredulously. “Z’s don’t tickle, they bite!”
“It-it- ahaha! I-I don’t think it has an-any teeth!” you laughed. “Ahaha! It-it’s weak or something- No! No! Ahaha! It tickles so bad! I can't get it off!”
Doc just looked at you for a moment. He then donned an almost amused smile, stood up, and grabbed an old chair from the wall. He then proceeded to sit down and lean back with his arms rested behind his head.
“What are you doing? Ahaha! Get me out!” you whined, still overcome by giggles.
“Nah. This might be the first time I’ve heard a genuine laugh out of ya in a week. Seems like you could use it, darlin'.”
“Doc!” you whined.
“Oh settle down.” Doc chuckled. “You’ll be fine ‘til 10K gets there. Ain’t nobody ever died from being tickled before.”
“Heehehe! Doc I swear I’ll-” you started, but you were cut off by a fit of giggles you couldn’t contain, rendering you speechless.
Doc only grinned. It was good to see you laughing, even if this situation was completely bizarre.
Just a few moments later Doc and you were able to hear the crash of the door below from 10K kicking it open and then after a moments hesitation, the thud of the Z’s body hitting the floor after 10K piked it.
You gratefully sucked in lungfuls of air now that your torment had ceased, residual giggles still escaping your lips. “Thank you!” you called below as you threw a glare at Doc.
Doc merely laughed and walked back over to you. “See. Told ya you’d be fine. Ain’t nobody ever died from being tickled.” he teased.
You blushed and started to retort but before you were able you let out a squeal and another stream of laughter as you felt 10 nimble fingers briefly skitter over your belly.
“Sorry! Couldn’t resist!” you hear 10K laugh from below. If he hadn’t heard Doc tease you about being tickled then he had obviously made the connection when he had burst into the room half-expecting a bloody mess and instead finding a toothless zombie attempting to bite at you while you struggled and your laughter rang out from above.
“You are both so dead.” you threatened, trying not-too-successfuly to glare at Doc.
Doc raised an eyebrow and grinned mischievously. “Oh really? If you want I’ll just say the word. I’m sure 10K will have no problem getting you again if you want to be snippy, darlin'.” he teased.
You heard 10K laugh at this from below and you covered your face as nervous giggles threatened to crack the stoney glare you were going for. “Ok, ok! Just please help me get out now!”
Doc chuckled again and he and 10K started helping you out of the floor once again. 10K discovered your jacket kept catching on one of the broken ceiling planks from below and figured you’d have better luck getting free if you tried to continue down through the hole rather than trying to lift yourself back up out of it. His idea worked and you were finally free.
Doc came down to join you a few minutes later and together you all continued searching the warehouse, finding a few more canned goods and a few rolls of toilet paper. Other than that, the place was fairly picked clean.
Of course you did also have to deal with the occasional poke or tweak to your ribs while you searched, each time the other two quickly turning away to pretend they hadn’t done anything but grinning to themselves at the mischief.
Just before you all were about to leave the warehouse you spouted off something snarky to Doc. In return he jokingly wiggled his fingers in the air at you and told you that you better behave before another tickle monster came after you.
“Wait!” You giggled and quickly moved to hide behind 10K.
“Damn, kid! You really are ticklish aren’t you? I don’t even gotta touch you!” Doc laughed.
“You’re such a freakin’ dork.” you spouted back, blushing and rolling your eyes, a grin still plastered on your lips.
You left the warehouse and met back up with the others. They had slightly more luck in searching their building, and as it was starting to get dark you decided to just stay there for the night. After all, the area did seem to be "puppy and kitten free." Well, except for the one that 10K piked, that is.
Though you all had your theories, none of you were ever able to figure out where all the Z’s had gone from this town.
However, though you might not have had to worry about Z’s during your stay, you now had to watch out for Doc and 10K. It became a new game to them to see who could best sneak up on you and make you either jump or giggle with a poke to your sides or fluttering their fingers on your neck. You swore you could hear them keeping score.
Needless to say, Doc made it a point to make sure you laughed more after that day. Given how life was after the apocalypse, you supposed you didn’t hate that, and despite all the threats you made to get them back, you had a feeling Doc knew you didn’t mind a little more laughter in your life.
And he did know. After all, you never once told him to stop.