Born to Fight by Tara Brown

walks to us. He rubs against Jake, making me laugh.
    Jake helps me back, but doesn’t let me off the hook, "You acted like an idiot. You need to stay in bed."
    I feel my brow pinch together. I don’t like it when he's mad at me. Leo and him give me the same look and usually it involves some degree of doubt or sarcasm.
    Anna is still in the chair, chewing and drinking.
    I lie back down and curl into the blanket, "We need to go check on Meg and Sarah."
    "Maybe in a week or so," Jake says and crosses his arms. The twinkle in his eyes is still there. I sigh in relief. It's the thing I wanted the most in the world, to see that twinkle. I swear it's food for my heart. He makes me believe that things could be okay again, maybe. It's saved me, when I was sure I had no heart. I never had a reason to hope before, not even before we ruined the whole world.
    Leo whines and nudges me with his cold nose, "You okay, boy?" I ask, watching his eyes. They still seem like they're full of fire and life. He pants, making me smile as I run my fingers through his fur. The thickness seems lessened than before we got taken. I can't imagine how it was for him.
    "Did you check him for any wounds?"
    Anna swallows chicken and nods, "Yeah. We had doc look at him. He got feisty about it, but Jake did the whole stand up really tall and crossed his arms like Will. Then Doc just looked him over, said he seemed fine."
    I shake my head at her, "You're eating like Meg. What's the matter with you?"
    She laughs, "I was starved for weeks."
    I roll my eyes and look at Jake, "How did you guys lose her?"
    His cheeks blush and I realize, it was him. He runs a hand through his hair and smiles, "It was a misunderstanding. I thought Will was going back to see if she was okay, but I guess it was supposed to be me."
    I shake my head and hold my hand out for the juice. She passes it to me, "Did they check me for infection? Did they check you?" I ask Anna and keep my eyes off Jake.
    She nods slowly, "You've asked this too many times. You really are immune. Stop asking me about the friggin’ infection. I'm fine. No infection in this body."
    I swallow and shake my head, "Yeah…well…you don't know when it could happen to any of us."
    She picks her teeth, making me frown, "Stop it."
    She kicks at me, "Shush. I've been living amongst the undead and pretending to be a nurse and killing shit. I'm allowed to have a few moments of acting like a savage."
    Jake shoves her, "Yeah, moments. Keep telling yourself that."
    She snarls at him.
    "Where is the golden Jake dog?" I ask looking around.
    Jake looks confused and Anna's almost choking, she's laughing so hard. She hits her own chest a couple times and moans, "He found that circle of old ladies and befriended them. He's ditched us."
    I roll my eyes, "Sounds about right."
    I look at the huge beast next to me and grin, "You stayed, right boy? No ditching us for old ladies like the Jake dog."
    Jake frowns, "What Jake dog? What does that even mean?"
    Anna snickers, "It's so true. He was clumsy and happy like you. Dang dog."
    Leo is making the purring sound as I run my fingers through his fur. It's making me sleepy doing it. I move over on the single cot. He assesses the situation and climbs up gingerly, not trusting a bed off the ground. He tries to spin and get comfortable, but instead ends up giving me a sideways look. We all laugh. He lies at my feet, covering them and the entire lower half of the bed, but keeps his butt to me.
    The smile almost hurts my sore, exhausted face.
    Jake is laughing still, "Guess you know how he feels about you lately."
    I shake my head, "I don't blame him. I would have been so angry if he got me shot and caged."
    Anna smiles, "I think he's mad cause he wants the hunt. He's been coming with me but he seems weird. You know what he's like with you; he doesn’t do the same things with me and Jake."
    "Jakey, we need to have some help over here to lift a few barrels," Will lifts back the tent flap. I cringe