Leah felt herself smirk as she listened to Charlie begin to turn their adventure into a 'walked into a jail' joke. The humor mistakenly allowed for her guard to lower somewhat, and her normally acute hearing didn't catch the sound of fingernails scraping along the concrete wall until it was too late.
The leaping zombie knocked her into the railing and would've taken her over the side had she not braced herself with her arms at the last second. Instead, with a surprised grunt, Leah sank to the floor with the zombie on her back. An elbow to the face kept it from sinking its teeth into her shoulder, but the confined space and the unfortunate position didn't give her a good enough angle to dislodge the zombie.
She refused to scream for help. There were four other people with her, one of whom was her brother. Someone would get this fucking thing off of her. Hopefully before those dull but determined teeth sank into her flesh. It definitely wouldn't be the first time she'd been bitten, but anyone with any amount of good sense would not be a fan of having a zombie gnaw on them.
When the weight lifted, indicating someone — Charlie — finally coming to her aid, Leah rolled over onto her back, prepared to either stand up or defend herself better if the zombie managed to get out of Charlie's grip. It didn't. Leah, heart pounding and breathing heavily from the adrenaline rush, watched as the shorter blonde tossed the dispatched leaper over the railing.
Her eyes went to the hand Charlie offered her, hesitating for only a millisecond before accepting the help. Whatever doubts Leah may have had about Charlie having her back completely disappeared in that moment. Leah couldn't have really explained exactly why it changed things, but it did. Saving her from that leaper gave her the solid proof she needed.
"Yeah, I'm great. Thanks." One hand on the railing and the assistance from Charlie helped Leah find her feet again. She let out a huff of breath and leaned against the railing. "Fucking leapers," she grumbled, peering over the edge at the zombie that had pinned her. She'd have to remind herself to give that fucker a kick in its undead head when they got down there.
"Can we get going now? I'm ready to get this damn place cleared out." She rubbed at her shoulder where the zombie's hands had gripped her. If the worst thing she suffered today was a bruise? She was doing just fine.