Chapter 4: Pink

A week had passed since the school incident. Sana's knee was healing rather fast and the only pain she felt was at the end of a long day of walking. Everything was going alright. Momo was the one in charge of the directions, since Sana had no sense of orientation whatsoever. She was also responsible of their daily schedule and Sana was okay with it, following her without any complaints. The blonde knew Momo simply had better survival skills.

Momo surprised herself in the past week. She thought she would be more annoyed with the blonde, but Sana was actually tolerable. They bickered a lot about Oakley in the last few days and whether or not they should put him on a leash. Sana thought it would be safer if they made sure he stayed close, but Momo argued that he never wanders too far from them. They also argued over teaching Sana how to shoot a gun. Momo had an extra one from the guy in the school and thought it would be smart if Sana knew how to use it, but the latter hated any kind of weapons. Her bat was the only thing she could deal with.

At least Sana was getting better at this whole killing walkers thing. She now knew how to use her bat in the most effective way possible and most of the walkers they met in the last two days fell to the ground with only one or two strikes to the head.

The girls were currently making their way out of the forest to a nearby city to fill up on food and water, just as Momo proposed. Having Oakley with them meant supplies didn't last as long as before, but both girls were okay with that. After all, they quickly got attached to the dog. At least Sana did. Momo would never admit it. She would not talk to Oakley in that cute baby voice Sana used and didn't want to show too much affection to the animal in front of the other girl.

Sana sneezed, pulling Momo out of her thoughts. The brunette looked up to the sky, wiping the rain drops that landed on her face. She opened her bag and gave Sana the jacket that was at the bottom, telling her to wear it so she wouldn't catch a cold.

“Thanks" said Sana, wrapping her arms around herself to create some heat. Oakley was walking close to her, rubbing himself on her legs as if he knew she was affected by the weather.

Momo had once read somewhere that dogs could sense people's emotion. Well, she was sure dogs could also sense a lack of emotions. At least Oakley could. Anytime a walker was near, the dog would warn them with a low growl. It became pretty useful at night when the pair wanted to get some sleep. The girls took turns sleeping, while the other would keep watch. However, sometimes their eyes would close for just a bit too long and they would end up falling asleep, leaving no one awake to look out for potential danger. This was mostly common with Sana. These were times that they were especially thankful they had Oakley around. As he would instantly wake up when he heard a branch crack or the grunts of a walker. He would then wake them up by growling or lightly biting their fingers if that turned out to be ineffective.

“Can we stop and eat something?” Sana asked, shivering even with the additional layer of clothing.

Momo nodded and offered her the only thing left in her bag - a granola bar - and told her to eat it slowly. The blonde hadn't gained much weight since Momo found her in her house. After all, they burned more calories by walking all day than eating their few snacks.

“Here, have some” Sana said, offering her half the snack.

Momo shook her head. “I’m good. We need to put some fat on you.”

_______

“That looks promising” Momo said pointing to a large building in front of them.

It was a large hotel situated in the center of the town. It looked fancy, yet nothing too extravagant. They slowly made their way inside, being careful not to attract walkers by making any noise. Sana was in awe as they stood in the lobby. The hotel had this open space look with black and white furniture filling the room while also having a cozy feel with the fireplace in front of the couches. Momo nudged Sana’s arm to pull her out of it. They then followed signs on the wall that led them down a corridor to the kitchen. Once in the room, they had to clear a few walkers before getting to the pantries. Momo let out a sigh of relief when she opened it and saw all this food inside. She knew by now that raiding grocery stores was useless because it's the first place people would go to find food, since it was so obvious. Some hotels, however, and restaurants, were left untouched if they were lucky.

Both girls filled their bags with dried fruits, beans and soup cans. Momo let out a satisfied yell when she found the hotel’s water supplies and suggested to Sana they should bring it to a room and take a well deserved shower. Sana almost moaned at the idea.

“What about the top floor?’’ Sana asked with a bright smile. “I heard the most luxurious rooms are there’’ she added, wiggling her eyebrows.

“Sure. Help me out with those first’’ she said pointing at the water jugs.

They headed towards the staircase in a slow pace because of all the things they were carrying. It took several minutes before they reached the top floor, out of breath and their arms and thighs on fire. They left the jugs on the floor and took out their weapons, ready to clear the floor of anything living. Surprisingly, only half a dozen rooms were occupied by walkers, making it a quick and easy clearing. Momo let Sana choose the room in which they were going to stay for the night and Sana happily ran all the way down the hall, opening several doors before finding a room she liked. Momo entered silently after the blonde and sighed in satisfaction. Two queen beds were in front of her, fancy bedding intact and the fluffiest looking pillows screaming her name. The back wall was just one large window framed by pure white curtains. On the left was a door that Momo guessed led to the bathroom. On the right side was an archway leading to another room where couches faced another window, offering a stunning view of the city. Both girls flopped on the beds at the same time, finally able to rest on something other than dirt and a thin sleeping bag.

_______

“This is the most amazing shower I’ve ever taken in my entire life’’ Sana exclaimed coming out of the bathroom.

She only had a white towel wrapped around her body that stopped well above the knee. Water was dripping out of her loose hair and onto the hotel room floor as she made her way to the bed. She hummed some melody while retrieving the sweater from her bag.

“You better go take one now because I’m changing’’ she said while undoing her towe