《RU in?》


 Chapter 1 .

    Lily


    I would never have thought that my Halloween night would end with an actual zombie apocalypse.


    It was my senior year of highschool. I was supposed to be off at a fun teenage party, not taking my little sister trick-or-treating. Except I had been invited to a party and I had refused to go. Just thinking of being in a crowded room was enough to send my heart racing into a panic. I hated crowds. I wasn''t sure why, I just did. My two friends, Maria and Anna, loved parties and they had tried to drag me to this one. Luckily I had the excuse that I needed to take my little sister trick-or-treating as my parents were going to some Halloween party of their own.


    "How does it look?" Mackenzie asked.


    I had painted her face to resemble a leopard. I wasn''t good at too many things, but art was one of the few things I was good at. It went well with the leopard costume our mom had made her. It wasn''t one of those sexy leopard costumes. None of us in my family were into that. Honestly, I couldn''t understand why on the one day of the year you could dress up into something truly unique or frightening you would choose something generic and sexy.


    I moved to the side so she could look in the bathroom mirror. She smiled grandly and her hands went up as if she were going to touch her cheeks, but she stopped herself before she could ruin the makeup.


    "I love it," she said. "Aren''t you going to paint your face too? Maybe a skeleton. That YouTube video you made of yourself doing the skeleton makeup was really cool."


    I was good at art, but especially face and body painting. I loved it. There were a few videos I made of myself up on YouTube, but none had gone viral or anything. My following was very small, but that was all right. I just loved doing it.


    "I''m too old to do that for Halloween. Unless I was going to a Halloween party, which I''m not," I added quickly as Mackenzie opened her mouth to speak and I knew she was going to try to encourage me to go with Maria and Anna. She didn''t have the same hangups with crowds as I did. Our brother didn''t either. He loved being the center of attention. We didn''t see Tanner much anymore since he went off to college.


    "Fine," Mackenzie said. "Let''s go get Vicky."


    "Let''s," I agreed. "You sure you don''t want a jacket?"


    "And cover my costume? Are you crazy?" my little sister said as she headed out the door, but I noticed she had a large empty pillow case in hand.


    I left a large bowl of candy on the porch and made sure the door was locked and the keys in my pocket.


    The Sang family lived a block away. It didn''t take us long to walk there. I took my bag of makeup just in case Victory wanted me to do her makeup too. The Autumn air was chill. The leaves were a mix of reds, oranges and yellows. Little children and their parents lined the sidewalks as they went from house to house.


    My breath hitched for one brief moment when Hunter opened the door instead of Victory. I didn''t think he would be home, but where else would he be. He definitely wouldn''t be at the party. Hunter didn''t associate with others. Not anymore. It seemed to be a family tradition - once they hit 13 they cut off all ties with their friends and just decided to be alone. It happened with Grace. She stopped hanging out with my brother and their friends when they turned 13. It happened with Hunter when we turned 13. He barely said anything to me or anyone at school anymore. I really hoped Victory didn''t follow that tradition because it hurt to lose a friend and Mackenzie would cry for days. I had.


    "Hi," I said.


    He looked at me with his dark brown eyes, but didn''t return my greeting.


    "Is Vicky here?" Mackenzie asked easily. She wasn''t as wary of Hunter as I was, but why would she be? She hadn''t been his friend that he suddenly cut all contact with.


    He stepped aside and waved us in. He wore dark clothes as usual. He had red streaks in his black hair. That was another strange tradition among the Sang siblings. When Grace turned 13 she dyed teal streaks in her black hair. Hunter dyed red streaks. And since they both turned 13 neither of them went a day without those colorful streaks. Didn''t they get bored with it? They never even switched up the color.


    Victory came bounding down the stairs wearing a blue tattered dress. Her long black hair had been curled into loose waves.


    "You''re here," she said and grabbed Mackenzie''s hands. The two of them spun in a circle. "You look great," Victory said. As they spun, Victory''s hair flipped up and for the first time I noticed she had dyed white streaks into the lower layers of her hair.


    My first thought was that she wasn''t 13 yet. My second thought was a silent plea that she wouldn''t abandon Mackenzie like Grace and Hunter had abandoned Tanner and me.Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.


    I glanced over my shoulder hoping that Hunter had left to do whatever brooding he had to do, but he was there watching all of us not unkindly. My heart beat a little faster. Damn my stupid crush. It didn''t seem to matter that he had betrayed our friendship or that he was rumored to be gay. It had been years, but I couldn''t get over my crush of him. He was handsome as his sisters were beautiful. Their father was rather plain, but their mother was possibly the most beautiful woman I had seen. Her children had inherited her looks.


    "Oh good. You brought your makeup bag," Victory said as she grabbed my hand. I hadn''t realized the girls were done spinning.


    "Yes," I said. "Would you like me to do something for you? What are you supposed to be?"


    Victory smiled mischievously and in a lower, gravely voice she said, "A lizard girl."


    Hunter huffed and said quietly behind us, "Lizard girl."


    We ignored him. "Do you want me to paint you green?" I asked Victory as she led us into the downstairs bathroom. Hunter followed us, but he stayed in the doorframe.


    "No," Victory said. "I want white scales with a trace of blue on the outer ridges."


    "That''s rather specific," I said.


    "Can you do it?" she asked excitedly. Her brown eyes shone brightly.


    "I''ll try," I said as I opened my bag. Victory and Mackenzie chatted easily as I applied the makeup. All the while, Hunter watched us from the doorframe. It made me a little uneasy. He didn''t say anything as he watched us. I made the scales large as smaller scales would take longer.


    "Does it look good?" I asked and stepped aside so Victory could look at herself in the mirror.


    She smiled. "It''s perfect," she said as she looked at her white scales rimmed with a light shade of blue.


    "I can take them trick-or-treating," Hunter said. "You can go to that party." Our eyes met through the mirror.


    "I don''t want to go the party," I said. "I''ll take them." I said into the mirror.


    "We''re 12," Mackenzie said, "we don''t need chaperones."


    Hunter and I both ignored her.


    "I don''t have anything else to do," Hunter said.


    I turned to face him. "You could go to the party," I supplied amazed at how much he was speaking with me.


    He scoffed. "Yeah, right."


    "It''s stupid to sit here and argue," Victory scolded us. "Kenzie and I are going." The two of them brushed passed Hunter and headed to the door with empty pillow cases in their hands.


    Hunter turned to follow them and since I didn''t have anything else to do - I definitely was not going to the party - I followed all of them out to the porch. I didn''t notice it the first time, but there was now a large bowl filled with chocolates on their front porch.


    We followed Mackenzie and Victory as they bounced arm in arm down to the sidewalk. The sky was just beginning to darken and it was slightly colder than it had been earlier.


    "Take our picture," Mackenzie said as she handed me her phone. Mackenzie and Victory put their arms around each other and smiled at the phone in my hands. I took a few pictures just to be sure at least one wouldn''t turn out blurry. I loved art, but I was not good at photography.


    The girls went to the first house to the right and rang the bell. Hunter and I waited for them on the sidewalk. I glanced at him. He wasn''t that much taller than me, but I was 5''10 so there were guys shorter than me. I hated being this tall. Anna and Maria were both short at 5''3 and 5''4 and often told me how much they envied my height, but I just wanted to be petite and tiny like they were.


    "It''s really okay if you want to go home," I told Hunter. His dark eyes turned to me. "I can take the two of them around."


    Hunter shrugged and turned his attention back to his sister. Mackenzie and Victory came back to us, but they didn''t pay us any attention as they led the way to the next house.


    It was going to be a long night if I was going to be stuck with Hunter. What could I possibly say to him? It was clear he really didn''t want friends.


    "Why did you say those things?" I hadn''t meant to say it out loud.


    "What things?" he asked.


    "Nevermind. I didn''t mean to say anything. I should have made Kenzie bring a jacket even though she didn''t want to cover her costume." His attention went back to the girls as we followed them to the third house. All around us was "trick-or-treats" and happy squeals and giggles from children. Adults greeted each other and asked their children what they got from each house. Occasionally a parent would snatch one of their children''s candy.


    A warm hand grabbed my wrist and pulled me slightly until I was facing Hunter directly.


    "What things did I say?" he asked with his hand still over my wrist.


    "That you didn''t want to be friends with anyone," I said.


    He dropped my wrist.


    "Trick-or-treat," Mackenzie and Victory said when Mrs. Harris opened the door. She was old. I wasn''t sure how old. She had just always seemed old. Her husband had died when I was really young and she was left alone. If she had any children, I never saw them visit her.


    "Wow, look at you two," she said. "What are you supposed to be?"


    "I was going through some stuff," Hunter said to me.


    "Some stuff," I said. A mix of sadness and anger - but mostly anger - welled up inside me. "For 5 years? How long is this stuff going to last?"


    He sighed. "I don''t know."


    "Is this the same stuff Grace went through when she abandoned my brother and their friends?"


    "Yes," Hunter said.


    "Well, how long is this going to last? Are you going to get over it soon so we can be friends again?" I wasn''t sure where I found the courage to speak with him after so long, but now that he was talking I wanted to keep it up just to hear my old friend''s voice.


    He didn''t answer right away and I turned my attention back to Mackenzie and Victory. They both grabbed a large handful of candy from the bowl Mrs. Harris offered them. I was about to open my mouth to tell them to take just one, but Hunter said quietly beside me, "I hope so."


    My focus went back to him with a new sense of hope. The sky flashed green. It lit the entire sky and every head turned to look upward. Goosebumps formed on my arms and an eerie chill went down my back.


    "What was that?" I asked breathlessly as if the green light had taken my voice.


    "Mrs. Harris?" Mackenzie asked.


    "Victory, get her away from there!" Hunter shouted just as I noticed people collapsing all around us. I couldn''t get away from the sense of dread and panic that curled over my flesh.


    I turned back to my sister to see her kneeling on the ground next to a collapsed Mrs. Harris and my only thought was that something was very wrong.

 Chapter 2 .

    Lily


    About a fourth of the parents and children around us had collapsed completely to the ground.  Mr. Morgan picked up his five year old daughter and cradled her to him.


    "What''s wrong with her?" Mrs. Morgan asked as she placed a hand on her husband''s shoulder.


    "I don''t know.  She just . . ." Whatever he was about to say was stopped as their little daughter turned her head into the crook of Mr. Morgan''s neck.  I thought it was just a hug and that everything was fine until I saw the blood trip down from his neck. Mr. Morgan grimaced in pain and pulled his daughter off him.  The little girl''s mouth and teeth were covered in blood. She snapped at him again, but he kept her at a distance with his long arms. The veins in the white of her eyes popped out red.  She looked more like a monster than a child.


    "Mrs. Harris?" Mackenzie said again, but I couldn''t tear my eyes away from the little girl who bit into her father''s hand.


    Mrs. Morgan screamed, but she was spurred into action.  She grabbed her daughter by the shoulders and pulled her off Mr. Morgan.  Mr. Morgan brought his bit hand up to the bite on his neck and held it there to stem the bleeding.  The little girl fell to the ground with the force which Mrs. Morgan pulled her off of Mr. Morgan. The little girl quickly jumped to her feet and ran at Mrs. Morgan with her red mouth and eyes, fingers extended clawlike towards her mother.  Mrs. Morgan screamed again and ran away as her daughter used her little legs to chase after her.


    Mr. Morgan collapsed to the ground and began to spasm.


    "Victory!" Hunter shouted.  "Get her out of there now."


    "I''m trying!" Victory shouted back.  "Come on, Kenzie. We''ve got to go."


    "But Mrs. Harris," Mackenzie said.


    I turned back towards my sister as my heart raced against my chest and my arms and legs tingled with a sense of dread.  Mackenzie was bent over Mrs. Harris gently shaking her shoulders. Victory pulled on Mackenzie''s arm, but Mackenzie wasn''t leaving Mrs. Harris.  After just witnessing the Morgan''s daughter attack them, I didn''t want Mackenzie anywhere near Mrs. Harris. Especially when Mrs. Harris''s fingers started twitching.


    "Mackenzie," I started to call.  A strong arm wrapped around me from behind me.  It lifted me off the ground and spun me. I was set down, but the momentum had me taking a few steps away until I could steady my feet.


    Hunter had one hand wrapped around Mr. Morgan''s throat.  He brought up his other hand that had just let me go to keep Mr. Morgan''s claw-like fingers away from his face.  Mr. Morgan snapped his teeth as he tried to bite Hunter''s arm, but couldn''t quite reach him with the way Hunter held him.  The white of his eyes had gone red just as his daughter''s had, only this close I could see that his pupils were no longer black.  Not exactly. There was a rim of green around his pupils. The exact color that had lit up the night sky earlier.


    Mackenzie screamed.  The sound of it cut through my core.  I looked back at Mrs. Harris''s door. Old Mrs. Harris had Mackenzie pinned against the door.  Her yellow teeth chomped towards my little sister, but stopped inches from her cheek as Mackenzie had her arm against Mrs. Harris''s neck to hold her at bay.  Mackenzie screamed again.


    She was not the only one screaming.  Screams filled the cold air. Her screams drew the attention of a nearby monster that had moments before been human.  The human-like woman rushed across the grass towards my sister and Victory.


    I took a step towards them, but before I could turn it into a run Victory grabbed Mrs. Harris''s white hair and pulled her roughly off Mackenzie.  Mrs. Harris skidded across her wood floor back further into her house. Victory grabbed Mackenzie''s hand and pulled her from the house just as the other woman reached out to them with her extended fingers.


    "Get back to the house!" Hunter shouted.


    Victory didn''t need anymore coaxing.  She pulled Mackenzie''s hand and the two of them ran through the grass and fallen leaves back towards the Sang house.  I took two steps towards them before I remembered Hunter.


    "Hunter," I said.  How could I get Mr. Morgan off him?  And the woman had changed direction from chasing after our sisters to come at us instead.


    Hunter gave a great heave and Mr. Morgan fell backwards onto his butt.  The woman reached us, but I kicked out with one of my long legs kicking her in the stomach.  She staggered a few steps backwards. That was all the time we needed for Hunter to grab my wrist and pull us after our sisters.


    Mr. Morgan and the woman were quick on our heels.  My legs pounded. I took wide steps as I ran which put a slight distance between us and the monsters.  I could feel them behind me, hear their strange moans as if they were trying to form words, but couldn''t.  And most disturbing of all - I couldn''t hear them breathing. Not even a small gasp. Nothing.


    Mackenzie and Victory had almost reached the house.  There were two children on the sidewalk up to the Sang house.  I guessed they were about five and nine. They had their backs turned to Mackenzie and Victory, but as my sister got closer to them, they turned to face our sisters.  Blood was on their mouths and hands - splattered all over their costumes. The five year old was dressed as a fairy, the nine year old was a pirate.


    We had closed the gap slightly on our sisters, but we still weren''t close enough.  My heart dropped when the children lunged at our sisters. Mackenzie hesitated, but Victory didn''t.  She pushed them both away violently before grabbing Mackenzie''s hand and leading her up the three steps to the porch.  She twisted the door handle, but the door didn''t open.This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    "It''s locked!" Victory yelled back at Hunter.  He and I had reached the children. We were closer to them now than our sisters were and they charged us.  Hunter quickly fished the key out of his front pocket and threw it at Victory. She caught it easily. Mackenzie picked up the bowl of candy off their porch and held it in their hands while Victory fiddled with the keys.


    In the next movement Hunter did something similar to what Victory had done and shoved both of the children back.  The two of us bounded up the stairs just as Victory opened the door. Mackenzie was the first into the house. Victory quickly followed her, but Mr. Morgan and the woman had reached me and Hunter.  The woman''s hands clawed at the back of my jacket. It snagged for one brief moment before I turned. Her bloody mouth descended towards my shoulder, but I pushed her away from me with my arm and when she was at arm''s length, I kicked her in the stomach.  She stumbled down the stairs.


    While I was dealing with the woman, Hunter was dealing with Mr. Morgan.  There were hanging potted flowers on either side of the porch. He grabbed the one that was almost hitting his head, pulled it roughly from it''s hook and slammed it into Mr. Morgan''s head.  It knocked him back down the stairs, but he and the woman and the two children were quickly rushing towards us again.


    And they weren''t the only ones.  Other monster/human-like creatures were rushing across their lawn towards us.  Hunter grabbed my arm and pushed me inside before he followed and slammed the door closed behind us.  He locked the door. Fists pounded on the other side.


    Victory and Mackenzie were already struggling to push a heavy cabinet in front of the door.  Hunter and I moved and helped them.


    "Run and check to make sure the back door is locked," Hunter told Victory.  "Then start at the back of the house and work your way to the front to make sure all the windows are locked and the blinds are down.  Be quiet about it and make sure they don''t see you."


    Victory nodded and ran to the back.


    "We''ll help to make sure the windows are locked and the blinds are down," I offered quietly.  Already the pounding against the front door was growing quieter.


    "Start on that side," Hunter said and waved to the left side of the house.  "I''ll take the right."


    Hunter walked into the room on the immediate right.


    I looked Mackenzie up and down quickly.  The leopard makeup was all smudged and I doubted she knew that.  It wasn''t really important though. That was the least of our problems.


    "Are you all right?" I asked her quietly.


    She nodded and swallowed hard.  I didn''t see any visible wounds and her costume was still intact so it appeared she was fine.  I took her hand in mine and squeezed it gently. Her hand was cold, but I wasn''t sure if that was because we had been outside or because she was frightened.  I stepped over the two pillowcases barely filled with candy and the candy bowl that the girls had discarded on the floor. Mackenzie and I went into the dining room.  The blinds were up. It was semi dark outside, but with the light off it was darker inside the dining room. I wasn''t sure if the monster people could see us, but I didn''t want to take any chances.  I knew they were there. I could see their silhouettes milling about in the yard.


    I dropped to my hands and knees.  Mackenzie did the same. We went to the first window.  It was locked. I checked the next window before I reached up to grab the string that would lower the blinds.  I held my breath as if those outside could hear me. The creatures didn''t seem to notice. We quickly finished with that room and moved to the next.  It was the bathroom. There weren''t blinds in here, but it was a glass block window so they wouldn''t really be able to see us through it anyway. I made sure it was locked and we made our way to the kitchen.  Victory was already inside the kitchen. She finished checking the last window before turning to us. Weirdly, her makeup was perfectly fine. The scales seemed somehow fitting on her.


    She smiled kindly at Mackenzie.  "Let''s meet back up with Hunter," she said to us quietly.


    We found him waiting for us at the bottom of the stairs.  He didn''t say anything when he saw us, but he led us up the stairs and into his bedroom.  It had changed a lot since the last time I had been in here. Gone were all traces of Pokemon and instead his room was decorated with various video game posters.


    He looked outside his window down into his yard.  There was a large tree outside his window that he once used to sneak out of the house, but I didn''t think he used it like that anymore.


    "What happened to those people?" Mackenzie asked.  "We need to get them to a hospital."


    "I''m not sure a hospital will know what to do with them, Kenzie," I said gently.


    "They''re not people anymore, Kenzie," Victory said.  "They are zombies."


    "Zombies aren''t real," Mackenzie said defensively.


    "Well, they are now," Victory said.  "Right Hunter?"


    We all looked at him.  He tore his eyes away from the window to look at his little sister.


    "They aren''t zombies," Mackezie said with more conviction before Hunter could say anything.


    I wanted to agree with her, but I couldn''t.  "It doesn''t make sense," I said, "but the sky turned green and a fourth of the people fell to the ground and when they got up they started attacking people.  And...they aren''t breathing, Kenzie."


    "That''s silly," Mackenzie said.


    "No," Hunter said, "she''s right.  They weren''t breathing. And Victory''s right.  They are zombies. I don''t know how or why, but this is our reality now.  We need to figure out what to do next."


    "What about mom and dad?" Victory asked.  "And Grace?"


    Hunter paled considerably at this.


    "And Maria and Anna," I whispered.  Was this happening everywhere? Just our block?  Just our city?


    "And Tanner," Mackenzie said with panic in her voice.


    "Your parents are at the same party as mine," Hunter said.  "I''ll call my mom and make sure they are all alright. You call Maria or Anna.  We''ll call Grace and Tanner as soon as we are done with that."


    I took out my phone and called Anna.  It went straight to voicemail. She must have let her phone battery die again.  She never was good at keeping it charged. I called Maria while Hunter called his mom and looked out his window while he waited for the call to go through.


    "Lily?" Maria answered immediately.  It was clear from her voice that she was crying.  "Where are you?" she sobbed. "Anna collapsed and then she started attacking people and . . ."


    Hunter''s expression changed to sheer terror.  He dropped his phone to the carpeted floor and flung open his window.  He didn''t hesitate as he sprang onto the nearest tree branch.


    "Hunter!" Victory screamed after him.  I dropped my phone as the three of us rushed to the window to coax Hunter back in.


    He didn''t pay us any attention as he scrambled a little ways down the tree.


    "Run, Arthur!" he yelled and stretched his hand out.


    Arthur?  There was a ten year old Arthur down the street.  Was that who he meant?


    I didn''t see him at first as the evening continued to get darker and darker.  What caught my attention first was about twenty of those creatures running down the sidewalk and the street all in the same direction.  Towards us. And then I saw the ten year old boy running as fast as his legs would carry him towards the Sang''s yard. Towards Hunter and the tree.  But the zombies in the yard had seen Arthur too and were running at him.

 Chapter 3 .

    Lily


    Victory ran from the window and out of Hunter''s room towards Grace''s room.  Mackenzie tried to follow her, but I grabbed her wrist. "You are not going to leave my side," I told her.


    "Keep running to me," Hunter yelled out.  "Trust me!"


    Arthur didn''t waver as he ran straight into the Sang''s side yard.  He ran away from the crowd of zombies behind him and towards the handful in front of him.


    Now that he was closer I could see the tears that streamed from his brown eyes and onto his dark cheeks.  There was red splattered across his Black Panther costume, but it didn''t appear to be his blood. The Black Panther mask had fallen off and bounced along his back as the string hung onto his neck.


    "Drop to the ground!" Hunter yelled just as the zombies running from the front of Arthur reached him.  Arthur dropped to his knees and curled his body into himself with his hands holding the back of his head.  Three zombies tripped over him.


    "Run!" Hunter yelled.


    Arthur was instantly on his feet and running again towards the tree.


    Victory reappeared with Grace''s bow and an arrow cocked and ready.  She leaned out the window sill looking for her first target.


    "Don''t kill them!" Mackenzie cried out.  "We might still be able to help them."


    "We can''t," Victory said calmly.  "They are zombies."


    I wondered if it should disturb me that zombies didn''t seem to faze Victory.


    "Veer to the left!" Hunter called out.  Arthur didn''t hesitate as he shifted to his left.  A zombie ran passed him and was stopped by the wooden fence between the Sang yard and their neighbors.


    Arthur resumed his course.  He was almost to the tree, but so were several zombies.  One moved and blocked his path to the tree as the zombie rushed towards Arthur.  Arthur''s steps hesitated for the first time.


    "Don''t miss, Vicky," Hunter said.


    "I won''t," Victory said.


    Hunter called out to Arthur again.  "Keep coming!"


    Great tears ran down Arthur''s cheeks, but he didn''t hesitate as he ran forward again - straight towards the zombie.


    Victory let loose the arrow.  The zombie reached out for Arthur - almost had him - but the arrow split through the back of his head and he fell forward into the grass.  Victory readied another arrow. Arthur continued to run towards the tree. There were zombies close behind him - reaching out with their fingers.


    "Jump!" Hunter commanded.


    Arthur used his momentum to put his bottom foot on the trunk and jump up.  He reached up with both hands. Hunter leaned over the branches and caught him.  For a brief terrifying moment, I thought Arthur would slip out of Hunter''s grasp, but Hunter was strong and he hauled him up in the tree.


    Zombies surrounded the base of the tree and scratched and reached up towards Hunter and Arthur.  It hurt to see the small children still in their costumes among the zombies.


    Hunter guided Arthur back up the tree branches.  I reached out when they got close. Arthur took my hand and I helped him inside.  He threw his arms around my waist. I held him close and stroked his hair as he sobbed and cried into my shirt.


    Hunter easily climbed in after him.  He closed the window and took up his position by the window again.  He looked out at all the zombies in the yard. Victory withdrew the arrow and let the bow rest by her side.


    "Lily?" a quiet voice said.  I looked around for the source.  It clearly wasn''t Hunter or Victory.  Mackenzie was in front of me with a comforting hand on Arthur''s shoulder.  It hadn''t been her either.


    "Lily!" the quiet voice was more desperate this time.  Hunter reached down and picked up his phone from off the floor.  That was when I remembered Maria. I turned Arthur around so he could hug Mackenzie instead.  I quickly picked up my phone and brought it to my ear.


    "Maria?" I asked.


    "Oh, Lily," she sobbed.  "I thought they got you. I thought they got you like they got everyone else."


    "Where are you, Maria?" I asked.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    "I''m locked in a bathroom in Jason''s house."  That was where the party was. "Lily, Anna went crazy.  She bit Jason over and over again. And she wasn''t the only one.  And then Jason got up and started biting people. I ran into the bathroom on the ground floor, but they are pounding on the door.  They are trying to get in. What do I do? I tried to call my parents, but the call wouldn''t go through."


    I looked at Hunter who now had his phone up to his ear.  He shook his head at me which I took meant he couldn''t get through to his parents.


    "The zombies are at Jason''s house too," I said to him.  "Maria is locked in a bathroom. She says they are pounding at her door."


    Hunter bit his lower lip and looked out the window.


    "Zombies?" Maria said.  "What do you mean zombies?"


    "Maria," I said to her, "I think you need to be as quiet as possible.  Maybe they will stop pounding on the door if you are quiet. Is there a window you can climb out?"


    "There is a window," Maria said so quietly I could barely hear her.  "But I think it''s too small for me to climb out of. Hold on." I heard shuffling on her end before she said, "I don''t think there is a way to open it.  It''s one of those windows they put in bathrooms so you can''t really see through them clearly."


    Hunter stuffed his phone in his pocket and moved to his bed.  He grabbed his backpack and emptied its contents on the floor.


    "Tell her we''ll go get her," Hunter said.  Mackenzie and Arthur looked at him as if he were crazy.  Victory rushed out of his bedroom towards her own.


    "It''s on the way to the Brighton''s," he went on.  That was where our parents were. "We''ll go get her and then our parents."


    I nodded.  "Maria," I said into the phone.  "Be as quiet as you can. We will come get you.  Look in the bathroom and see if there is something you can use as a weapon."


    "Okay," Maria said quietly.  Some of the panic left her voice.  "Who is we?"


    "Me and Hunter and our sisters."  I looked at Arthur. She wouldn''t know who he was so instead of mentioning him specifically, I said, "and anyone else we can pick up on the way."


    "Okay," Maria said.  "Please hurry."


    I ended the call.


    "My call wouldn''t go through to either my mom or my dad," Hunter said.  "Why don''t you try your parents while I try Grace?"


    I nodded.  I called my mom first and got the message, "All lines are busy."


    Hunter opened his closet with his phone held to his ear.  He took out a leather jacket. He handed it to Mackenzie. Mackenzie quietly put it on.


    I was about to hit the command to call my dad, but stopped when Hunter said, "Grace?"  He stopped moving as he spoke into the phone. All his focus was on his older sister in that moment.  "Are you okay? ...Yes we are both okay...I haven''t been able to get through to them. Is that Tanner?"


    My brother?  They did attend the same college, but I didn''t think they had reconnected.  Hunter''s eyes found mine.


    "You are both okay?" Hunter said into the phone as he stared at me.  Mackenzie took a step closer to him.


    "Lily and Mackenzie are here with us.  They are both okay." He paused and then held the phone out to me.


    I rushed to his side in one great step and took the phone from him.  "Hello?" I said into it.


    "Lily," my brother said to me.  I dropped to the floor suddenly filled with emotion.  I hadn''t realized I was scared, or upset, or worried about everyone until I heard my brother''s voice and I burst out crying.


    "Lily," he said again more gently and I knew he had heard my crying.  "Are you all right? And Kenzie?"


    I nodded because I couldn''t find my voice.


    "Lily?" he said again this time with concern.


    That for some odd reason gave me strength.  I wiped the tears off my cheeks. "I''m okay," I said to him.  "We are both okay. Is it happening there too?"


    "Yes," he said.  "I think it''s happening everywhere.  We were watching the national news when it happened.  One of the news anchors dropped to the floor and the next moment was attacking the other news anchor."


    "You were watching the news with Grace?"


    "Not just the two of us.  There were a bunch of us. Some of them started attacking people too.  We''re safe though. We''re both safe. You don''t need to worry about us.  What about mom and dad?"


    "I don''t know," I said.  "They were at a party with Hunter''s parents.  He tried calling, but couldn''t get through. I tried calling too, but I couldn''t get through either.  I was about to try again."


    "Everyone is trying to call their loved ones right now," Tanner said.  "It will be hard to get through. Keep trying though."


    "We are going to go get them."


    Tanner paused for a very long time.  "Take weapons, Lily. Don''t hesitate to use them.  I don''t know what''s happening, but those aren''t people anymore.  You and Kenzie need to survive no matter what. Are you at our house or the Sang house?"


    "The Sang house."


    "Try to get back to our house.  Dad has a gun locked up in his closet."


    "I know where it is," I said just to confirm.


    "Get my baseball bats too, the kitchen knives, anything and everything you can use as a weapon.  Cover up too. Don''t let them bite you."


    "Okay," I said.


    "You know that diner we stopped at when you guys drove me up to college?" Tanner asked.


    "Yes," I said.


    "Dad said it was the halfway point.  Meet us there. Tell Hunter to meet us there.  Grace and I will be there."


    "Okay," I said.  "Be careful, Tanner."


    "You too, Lily."


    "I love you."  And for a brief, horrible moment I thought that might be the last time I spoke to my brother.


    "I love you too," Tanner said.  "I''m handing the phone back to Grace now."


    I stood and handed the phone back to Hunter.  He took it from me and walked out of the room.


    "Is he okay?" Mackenzie asked me.


    "Yes," I said.  "He is fine." I wrapped her in a hug.  "We are all going to be fine."


    Arthur had stopped crying.  His Black Panther mask was now in his hands.


    "Are you okay, Arthur?  Where are you parents? And your little brother?"


    He looked out the window and swallowed hard.  "My dad fell to the ground when there was the green light in the sky."  He looked back at me. "He bit my little brother''s leg. I didn''t know what was happening.  I couldn''t stop it."


    "I know you couldn''t," I said and pulled him into my hug with Mackenzie.  She welcomed him into it. "What about your mom?"


    He pulled back from the hug so he could look up at me.  His bottom lip quivered. "I don''t know," he cried. "She stayed home to pass out the candy."


    "We''ll go look for her too," Hunter said as he came back into the room with more jackets and gloves.


    "What if she''s like them?" Arthur asked.


    Hunter didn''t reply.  He looked down at all the stuff he had just dumped on his bed.


    "Then we move on," I said to Arthur.  His lips turned down into a sad frown, but he nodded his head in understanding.

 Chapter 4 .

    Lily


    "Put this jacket on," Hunter said as he handed Arthur a pink, puffy jacket.  Arthur took it without question and put it on, but he was clearly not happy about wearing pink.  Hunter was back sorting through the things he had just brought in. "Here." He handed two smaller, black matching gloves to Arthur.  He put them on.


    Hunter handed two matching blue gloves to Mackenzie.  She took them and put them on even as she said, "It''s not that cold out there."


    "It''s not for the cold," I said before Hunter could answer.  "It''s to protect you in case the zombies try to bite you."


    "Yes," Hunter said.  He handed me a pair of black leather gloves.  I put them on and tucked them under the sleeve of my jacket for - hopefully - extra protection.  Mackenzie and Arthur did the same when they saw me. Victory came back into the room with her arms full with bike helmets.


    "Here," she handed the smallest one - again pink - to Arthur.  He frowned but took it. "Sorry, it''s pink," Victory said. "I used to really like pink."


    "It''s okay," Arthur said.  "Pink isn''t that bad," but his expression said otherwise as he slipped it on the top of his head.  Hunter helped him buckle it under his chin.


    "What did you do with Grace''s bow and arrows?" Hunter asked Victory.


    "I put it in the back of the van," she said.  "You said we were going to get mom and dad." I hadn''t seen their van in the driveway so I assumed it was safe in the garage.  There was a door directly from the kitchen to the garage so we wouldn''t have to go out among the zombies to get to the van.


    "We are," he said.


    Victory now had on a leather jacket of her own and picked a pair of gloves from the pile on Hunter''s bed.


    "I wish I could retrieve the arrow in that zombie''s head," Victory said.  "We are going to need as many as we can get."


    "We can''t risk ourselves to retrieve it," Hunter said.  He gave her a warning look.


    "Fine," she said.


    I took a black bike helmet from the pile and put it on Mackenzie''s head.  She didn''t protest as I clipped it on her head.


    Hunter went back to his closet and pulled out his usual black, leather jacket.  He put it on quickly and his gloves. The three kids now all wore bike helmets.


    "Victory," Hunter said, "go down into the kitchen and get food and water to put in the back of the van.  Nothing that needs to be frozen or refrigerated."


    "Sure thing," she said.  She grabbed Mackenzie''s hand.  "Let''s go."


    "Come with us," Mackenzie said to Arthur as Victory pulled her out.  Arthur silently followed the two girls.


    I was left alone in the room with Hunter.  The thought sent my heart racing which was stupid.  Stupid heart. Didn''t it know we were in the beginning of a zombie apocalypse.  Now was not the time for unrequited crushes.


    He put on a black beanie and pulled it down low so it completely covered his ears.  Then he put a blue baseball cap on over it. He handed me a red beanie and a black baseball cap.  I put on the beanie making sure it covered my ears and then put on the cap. He stared at me.


    "What?" I asked as my heart fluttered again even though he wasn''t looking at my face as he stared at me.


    "Your hair," he said.  He took a step closer to me and reached up.  "The zombies can grab it if it''s out like that."  He gently stuffed my hair into the back of jacket.


    "Thank you," I said.  He smiled at me exactly as he smiled at his sisters.  If I had any doubt my crush was unrequited, that would have confirmed it.  He didn''t see me as anything more than a sister, but at least there was that.  At least I knew he didn''t abandon our friendship because he hated me.


    "Why don''t you go supervise the kids," Hunter said.  "Knowing Victory, she''s stuffing the van with candy and chips only.  I''ll get our camping supplies."


    "We should stop at my house before we go to Arthur''s," I said.  "I know where my dad''s gun is and we can grab all of Tanner''s baseball bats to use as weapons.  And if we are going to be picking up more people along the way, it will be better to have two cars than just one.  Our hatchback is still in the garage."


    He nodded.  "Good thinking."


    I left him then and went downstairs.  When I reached the kitchen, I heard the kids whispering in the garage.


    "I don''t think this is what he meant," I heard Mackenzie whisper as I went into the garage.  The back of the van was open and all three kids were at the back of it. Occasional moans sounded from outside so I knew the zombies were still out there.  They didn''t sound too close though and there was no more pounding on any doors.Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    "I''m not going to be stuck eating those disgusting dry soup packets," Victory whispered back.


    They stopped talking as I rounded the back of the van.  Arthur froze with a half eaten snickers bar in his hand and a little bit of chocolate at the corner of his lips which he quickly wiped away when he saw me.  The back of the van was filled haphazardly with bags of chips, candy and chocolate.


    "The water should go in first," I said keeping my voice low.  There was no water to be seen.


    "Right," Victory said as if that was what she had intended all along.


    With my supervision and help, we got the van loaded quickly with water, soups - both the dry packets and canned - canned vegetables and fruits, canned tuna fish, cereals, - no milk though - nuts and anything else we could find that was dry or canned.  And I let them put the chips and candy back in. I moved Grace''s bow and arrows up to the backseat where Victory could easily reach it if she needed it.


    Hunter made several trips with various camping supplies.  I noticed he had a large hunting knife strapped to his thigh.  I wondered why he even had it in the first place. As far as I knew, his family had never gone hunting.  They liked to go camping, but that was different from hunting.


    The back of the van was almost completely full leaving just a small space that we would be able to look out when we drove.  The floor by the backseats was filled with sleeping bags and blankets. Hunter put a block of kitchen knives on the floor by the backseat directly behind the driver''s seat.  "Don''t get out the knives unless we are being attacked and you need a weapon," Hunter instructed the kids. "The last thing we need is for one of you to accidentally stab yourselves or each other."  All three kids nodded.


    "Okay," Hunter said.  "Let''s go to Lily''s house to get the other car."


    We all scrambled into the van.  I sat in the passenger seat. Victory sat behind Hunter and Mackenzie sat behind me.  Arthur was between them.


    "If a zombie gets in our way, I''m not going to stop," Hunter said.  "I''m going to run over them. So if that''s going to bother you, close your eyes."  He addressed it to all three kids, but mostly to Mackenzie.


    Hunter started the car but took a deep breath before he opened the garage door.  I could see a few pair of legs outside as the garage door lifted, then complete zombies.  They paused to look at the van, but didn''t move any closer. They quickly lost interest and continued to mill about on the driveway and lawn.


    The zombies mostly ignored us as Hunter pulled the van out slowly.  He didn''t hit any zombies. Nothing really happened until one of the zombies looked directly through the windshield and saw me.  The green reflection in his eyes was more prevalent now that it was dark outside. Then he rushed to the van. Hunter sped up and turned on to the street.  He quickly shifted into drive and sped down the street.


    I could see in the side mirror that the zombie quickly lost interest when he could no longer see me.


    "Wait!" Arthur called out.


    "What?" Hunter said.  He slowed a little, but didn''t stop.


    "It''s Molly!" Arthur sprang forward so his upper body was between me and Hunter.  He pointed to a house to the right of us. It was dark now so she wasn''t noticeable at first, but then I saw her.  A labrador retriever with a red cape cowered on one of the neighbor''s front porch.


    "The zombies aren''t interested in her," I observed.  She was afraid of them, but they paid no attention to her.


    Hunter slowed the van down even more.  "They don''t seem interested in any of the animals," he said.


    A cat ran passed a bunch of zombies and up a tree.  The zombies didn''t give it a second glance.


    "We have to save Molly," Arthur said.


    "Sit back and wear your seatbelt," I said.


    Arthur immediately obeyed as if his obedience would spur us to help her.


    "We''ll slow down as we pass her," Hunter said.  "Mackenzie, open your side just a little and Arthur you call for her.  If she comes when you call, she can come with us. If not, we''re going to leave her.  The zombies aren''t interested in her. She''ll be okay if she doesn''t come."


    "But," Arthur started, but stopped when he saw the look Hunter gave him through the rearview mirror.


    When we got close, Hunter slowed the van.  Mackenzie opened the door just wide enough for Molly to fit through.


    Arthur leaned across her and called out, "Molly!"


    The dog''s head shot up and she looked around.  She wasn''t the only one though. The zombies in the area looked around too.


    "Come here, Molly."  Arthur made his voice sound as happy as he could to coax the dog.  His voice shook at the end when several zombie eyes settled on him and Mackenzie in the van.


    I reached behind the driver''s seat and carefully, but quickly pulled out a large kitchen knife.  I unhooked my seatbelt and turned in my seat so I could defend my sister as best I could if needed.


    Five zombies ran at the van.  I almost told Mackenzie to close the door, but Molly chose that moment to run from the porch towards Arthur''s voice.


    "Come, Molly," Arthur''s fake cheerful voice called again.


    She was faster than the zombies.  She streaked passed them and leaped into the van over Mackenzie and directly into Arthur''s lap.  He held the large dog as close to him as he could and cried into her fur. She was visibly shaking as she smothered him in kisses.


    Mackenzie immediately slid the door closed just as the first zombie reached the van.  His hand caught in the door preventing Mackenzie from closing it all the way. The fingers wiggled in her direction.  She pushed with all her might to keep the door closed as much as it could be with the zombie hand in the way.


    Hunter pressed on the gas pedal and I had to grab onto my seat as the van lurched forward.  Tears streamed down Mackenzie''s cheeks as she vocally cried.


    "It won''t shut," she sobbed.  The zombie''s fingers touched her gloved hand.  She screamed, but didn''t let up the pressure as she continued to keep the door closed as much as she could.


    "Move," I commanded her.


    Her hands immediately left the door and hugged herself.  I used my long arms to my advantage and brought down the large kitchen knife as fast and as hard as I could.  Five fingers fell on top of the green sleeping bag at Mackenzie''s feet. The van door slid wide open. The zombie fell away now that the door and his fingers weren''t keeping him in place.  The back tire ran over him. More zombies began to chase the van now that Mackenzie was in full view.


    Mackenzie bent forward enough to pick up the bloody fingers by the fingertips and toss them out the door.  Then she quickly closed the door.


    I breathed a sigh of relief and sat back in my seat.  I didn''t bother to buckle my seatbelt as my house was just ahead.  But Hunter didn''t stop. He continued on passed my house.

 Chapter 5 .

    Lily


    "What are you doing?" I asked Hunter.


    His dark, brown eyes looked in the rearview mirror.  "We need to lose the zombies before we stop at your house."


    I glanced in the side mirror.  Through the darkness and the light from the car lights, I could see about 8 zombies chasing us including 3 children.  They quickly lost interest when the distance between the van grew wider. They began to wander and disperse. Arthur continued to sob into Molly''s fur.  She in turn continued to rain him with wet, slobbery kisses and rub her furry face all over his.


    "Okay," Hunter said after a few minutes.  "We''ll circle back around. Be very quiet," he said mostly to the kids in the back.  "They seem to react when they hear or see us. It''s dark in the car so they might not be able to see us directly, but maybe you should duck just in case."


    He turned the van back around and headed back towards my house.  I held the house key tightly in my fist inside my jacket pocket. The kitchen knife was still in my other hand.  Victory and Mackenzie ducked their heads low when we passed a congregation of zombies. Arthur was blocked by Molly.  I sunk low in my seat.


    Everyone inside the van was extremely quiet - even Molly.  She stopped her slobbery kisses and instead the large dog sat on the ten year old''s lap as best she could.  We were in front of the neighbor''s house now. Their porchlight was on, but everything was quiet.


    Hunter pulled into our driveway and put the van into park, but left it running.  Our yard was thankfully zombie free, but there were a few zombies across the street and in the neighbor''s yard.


    If we wanted to gather what we needed and get the other car quickly, I would need Mackenzie to come in with me.  And we would need to do this quickly. Who knew how long Maria or our parents would last. The problem was that the zombies would surely see us as soon as we exited the van.  I needed to protect not only Mackenzie, but those left behind in the van because they might get noticed too once we exited. The door on Mackenzie''s side would take longer to shut as it slid shut as opposed to mine which I could just slam shut quickly.


    I didn''t want to take the chance that the van door by Mackenzie wouldn''t shut fast enough and let a zombie get in leaving Arthur especially exposed.


    Hunter looked at me through the darkness as if he knew exactly what I was thinking.


    "Mackenzie," I whispered.  "Climb up here."


    "Why?" she whispered back.


    "You''ll need to come in with me, but I don''t want you to use that side door.  We''ll both use this front one. You''ll go out first and run to the house. I''ll be right behind you."


    "Aren''t we all going in?" Victory whispered.


    "We''ll wait here," Hunter said quietly.


    "Why?" Victory''s voice grew slightly louder, but not enough for the zombies to take notice yet.  "I have to be there to protect Kenzie."


    "Her sister will be with her," Hunter replied roughly, but still quietly.  "There is a good possibility when they get out of the van it will attract the attention of the zombies.  How would we be able to get back to the van if we went with them and when we came back out the van was surrounded by zombies.  Then they wouldn''t be able to get their car out either and we would all be stuck here."


    Victory shook her head and looked out the van window.  Her arms crossed over her chest. Her jaw clenched, but she didn''t argue.


    Hunter reached up and pushed a button by the overhead lights so they wouldn''t come on when I opened the door.


    I heard the click as Mackenzie undid her seatbelt.  She maneuvered passed Arthur and Molly and climbed clumsily into my lap.  We hadn''t been in this situation since I was ten and she was five. I wrapped my arms around her - extremely careful with the knife in my hand - and gave her a little hug from behind.


    "We''re going to be okay," I whispered into her ear.  I pulled the keys out of my pocket and put it into her gloved hand.  "Run out first. Head straight to the door and unlock it. Don''t look behind you.  I''ll be there and I''ll protect you. Be calm and don''t panic. If you drop the keys, it''s no big deal."  I told her this because I knew my sister and if she panicked and dropped the keys, she would panic further and would fumble with picking them up and fumble with the lock putting us both in danger.  If I told her it was okay to drop the keys she likely wouldn''t drop them and if she did, she wouldn''t panic because I already told her it was okay.The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    Mackenzie''s hair tickled my face as she nodded her head in understanding.  I gave Hunter one last look. He nodded at me.


    "Go," I whispered urgently to Mackenzie.


    The cool air hit my cheeks as she opened the door.  Then the weight and warmth on top of me was gone and my little sister was running straight to our door with the key extended forward.  Heads turned in her direction. I gripped the bloody kitchen knife tightly in my hand and was out the door. I closed it fast and loudly behind me.  More zombies looked our way. The two in our neighbor''s yard ran towards Mackenzie and our door.


    I reached the door just before they did.  More zombies from across the street were now in the road as they ran straight for us.  Their moans echoed in the quiet night. The pupils in their eyes glowed that eerie green.


    I stood at my sister''s back.  I faced forward towards the oncoming zombies.  Two reached our porch just as I heard the click of a lock.  I kicked at one of the zombies - she used to be Mrs. Rupert - and she stumbled backwards tripping the other zombies rushing us.  The second zombie that reached our porch grabbed my forearms. He - Mr. Rupert - tried to bite at my face at first, but I used my long arms to keep him at bay.  I couldn''t help but notice the bloody wound along his neck. The door opened behind me and I heard my sister''s frantic steps as she scrambled inside.


    "Lily!" Mackenzie screamed/sobbed behind me.


    "Stay there!" I demanded.


    The zombie that was once Mr. Rupert - still dressed in his traditional Dracula costume minus the fake fangs - went to bite my arm instead.  All he got was a mouth full of jacket. I let go of him with my other hand - the one that held the knife - while the one he tried to bite still held him at bay.  The zombies behind him were rising to their feet. More zombies were running towards us from further away but consistently getting closer.


    "I''m sorry," I said to him as I stabbed him in the temple with all my strength.  Blood rushed out onto the knife and onto my gloved hand. I tried to pull the knife out, but it was stuck on something hard.  His skull probably.


    "Lily!" Mackenzie screamed again.  I dropped Mr. Rupert and let the knife fall with him still stuck in his head.  He didn''t move anymore and the green glint disappeared from his eyes, but the other zombies were scrambling back towards me.


    I turned and ran inside the house.  My sister quickly closed the door and locked it behind me.  We turned and looked at each other. Her eyes were filled with moisture, but she quickly blinked them away.


    "Are you all right?" She whispered to me.


    There was a loud bang on the door followed by more.  My sister jumped and began to shake. I motioned her to me.  She came to me fast and quiet. I held her and stared at the door.  We waited.


    After a few moments of us being quiet, the pounding on the door quieted and there was shuffling beyond the door as the zombies stepped away from the door.


    "Get the keys to the car," I whispered to Mackenzie.  "Fill the back with food and water like we did with the van."  Mackenzie nodded. "I''m going to get dad''s gun and Tanner''s baseball bats.  You can get the large kitchen knives to pack in the van too. Anything you think will be good as a weapon."


    "Okay," she whispered.


    I cupped her soft, oval cheeks in both of my hands and hoped that would give her the strength and comfort she needed so she could be calm enough to accomplish her tasks.  Then I left her and went upstairs. I went to my parent''s room first and grabbed their jackets and gloves for when we found them. I then knelt beside the small safe in their closet.  They had told me the combination a few years ago. I opened it quickly and took out the unloaded gun and the box of bullets. There was also a small stack of cash they had told me was only for emergencies.  A zombie apocalypse surely must have counted as an emergency so I took the cash and stuffed it into my pants pocket.


    I went to Tanner''s room with my arms filled with the things I just took from my parent''s room.  I grabbed 4 of Tanner''s baseball bats and went down the stairs with my arms full.


    Mackenzie was in the garage filling the back of the hatchback with cereal boxes.  With a quick glance I could see she already put in water and canned foods. She had put our kitchen knives still in the block on the backseat.  I put my collection of stuff on the floor by the backseats with the exception of the gun and box of bullets. I put those in the glove compartment.


    "I''m going to get our camping supplies," I whispered to her.  "Quickly gather anything else you think we need. We''ve got to hurry."


    She nodded and took off back into the house and down the hallway.  I made my way to the backroom where our closet of camping supplies were.  I took out my cellphone on the way and tried to call my mom. It rang and rang, but there wasn''t an answer.  I hung up and stuffed the phone back into my pants pocket. I pulled out several sleeping bags and the pack with our cooking supplies, flashlights, matches and other camping supplies.  With my arms and hands full and sleeping bags dangling, I started the walk back down the hallway towards the front of the house and the door that led to the garage.


    That was when I felt the cool breeze.  I stopped as darkness and dread filled my being.  The door to the study was open. It usually wasn''t.  I hadn''t noticed it opened when I made the trip down to get the camping supplies, but it was dark in the house as I hadn''t turned on the lights and I had been on the phone trying to reach my mom.  I tiptoed with my arms still full into the room. The curtain over the window blew inward. Glass shards spread out on the carpeted floor beneath it.


    From further in the house, my sister screamed.

 Chapter 6 .

    Lily


    My heart constricted.  My stomach lurched. Tingles shot through my limbs and settled in my fingers and toes.


    My little sister screamed again.


    I ran to the front of the house.  Hyperaware, I now noticed the bloody handprint on the wall, the splatters of blood on the floor.


    The bathroom door was open, but I knew it had been closed earlier.  The light was on cascading rays of light into the hallway. I dropped everything and ran inside.


    Crystabel had my sister pinned in the tub.  Her teeth snapped at my sister''s head. They scraped against the bike helmet my sister still wore leaving my sister unharmed, but it caused the bike helmet to go slightly askew.  The soap and shampoo had fallen to the floor. The towel had been pulled so it was almost off the rack. The toothpaste and toothbrushes had fallen into the sink.


    Our first aid kit was out on the floor with its contents spilled everywhere.  The wrap was missing. No. Not missing. It was wrapped around Crystabel''s right upper arm.  Blood seeped through it even still - ran down her arm and dripped slowly to the tub. Blood dotted our tiled floor, but mostly around the first aid kit.


    I grabbed our neighbor''s shoulders and pulled her hard off my sister.  Tears streamed down Mackenzie''s face. She tried to find her footing, but she slipped on the blood and ended up lying back in the tub.


    I looked around quickly for a weapon, but didn''t see one right away.  Then before I could move or help Mackenzie out of the tub, Crystabel was lunging for me.


    I held her at bay as she pushed all her weight towards me as she tried to chomp on my neck.  She was stronger as a zombie than she had been as a human. If this had been my first encounter of the night, it would have been fine.  But it wasn''t. My arms were already tired after dealing with Mr. Rupert and then hauling everything to the car.


    Mackenzie managed to get back to her feet.  She stood in the tub. Tears streaked her cheeks.  She looked all around for a weapon.


    Crystabel had me pinned against the bathroom sink.  It gave me a clear view of the discarded camping gear in the hallway.  And then Victory was there leaping over the camping gear with grace and agility.  She had one of their large butcher knives in her hands. There was no hesitation as she stabbed Crystabel in the back of the head.  She had no problem withdrawing the knife unlike me with Mr. Rupert. The zombie fell to the bathroom tiles - her hands trailing down my arms and legs as she fell.


    Victory dropped the knife, stepped into the tub and wrapped Mackenzie in a tight hug.  Mackenzie burst into sobs as she buried her shoulder into her friend''s shoulder.


    "It''s okay," Victory said.  "I''m here. Are you okay? Did she bite you?"  Their bike helmets clinked together as they held each other.


    "I''m okay," Mackenzie spluttered between sobs.


    I picked up the bloody knife and looked out into the hallway searching for more zombies.  The hallway was quiet, but there was banging on the front door again.


    "How did you get inside?" I asked Victory.


    She pulled away from Mackenzie and pulled our house key out of her pocket.  "You left your key in the door. The zombies had dispersed enough outside that when I heard Kenzie screaming, I just rushed right in."


    Mackenzie''s sobs quieted and she ran her gloved hands over her cheeks to wipe away the tears.


    "Thanks, Vicky," she said.


    "No problem," Victory said.


    "What about Arthur and Hunter?" I asked.


    I really hoped Victory''s door had closed all the way and hadn''t left Arthur exposed.


    "They are safe in the van," Victory said.  She stepped out of the tub and started to collect the camping supplies I had dropped in the hallway.  "I''ll take these to your car," she said.


    Mackenzie stepped out of the tub as Victory disappeared down the hallway.  "I just came in for our toothbrushes and toothpaste and soap," she said. "I thought that no one would think of hygiene while we were gathering supplies, but we would want them later.  I didn''t know she was in here." Her green eyes darted to the corpse of our neighbor on our bathroom floor. Then they flickered quickly away. "The light was on, but the door was closed so I just thought we had accidently left the light on.  How did she get inside? The doors were locked."This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.


    "I should have noticed it sooner," I said as I placed a comforting hand on my sister''s shoulder.  "A window in the study was broken. She must have been bitten and thought she could hide in here. She must have turned while she was dressing her wound."  I looked at the first aid kit.


    "We still need the toothbrushes and stuff," Mackenzie said.


    I nodded and let her collect what soaps and brushes she wanted while I collected the first aid kit.  Victory came back and helped Mackenzie collect more hygiene items.


    I took the first aid kit to the car.  The two girls followed close behind me.  None of this seemed to affect Victory, but Mackenzie had never liked scary movies or violence.  They both climbed into the back seat. I opened the driver''s side door, but before I got in, several items in the garage came to my attention - the ax, the saw, a nail gun, the drill kit.  I left the car door open, but quickly went and collected the items. Victory and Mackenzie got out again when they saw me.


    We put the ax on the floor of the front passenger seat but buried the saw and other items in the back by the water.


    It was when I closed the hatchback that my cell phone rang.  I quickly brought it out of my pocket and looked at the caller I.D. hoping that it was my mom or dad.  I didn''t recognize the number right away. Mackenzie and Victory looked over my shoulder at the phone.


    "It''s Hunter''s number," Victory informed me.


    I quickly answered it.  "Your sister is okay," I informed him before he could talk.


    "And Mackenzie?" he asked.


    "She''s okay too.  Our neighbor, Crystabel must have broken a window and tried to wrap her wounded arm in the bathroom, but she turned.  Mackenzie walked in on her. I have to thank you for the bike helmet. It saved my sister''s life."


    "Glad to hear it," he said and his voice did sound more relaxed than it had a moment before.  "I almost called immediately, but was worried the phone ringing might attract zombies and I didn''t want to put any of you in more danger.  I couldn''t wait any longer though. I needed to know that you all were okay."


    "Are you and Arthur okay?" I asked.  "Did zombies surround your van when Victory left it to come inside my house?"


    "We''re both all right," he said quietly.


    "And Molly too," I barely heard Arthur''s voice say.


    "And Molly''s fine too," Hunter added.  "Most of the zombies followed Vicky to your door.  She barely made it inside. Tell her if she tries that again, I''ll kill her myself."


    "I have to protect Kenzie," Victory said stubbornly obviously overhearing him.  Mackenzie looked at her with a confused expression clearly not overhearing.


    "She has her sister with her," Hunter replied just as stubborn.


    "Victory was a big help," I said.  Not that I was condoning her actions.  If she was my sister, I would have been mad at her for not staying in the car too.  But I couldn''t deny that she had been a big help. Perhaps she had even saved both of us.  I thought I might have come up with a solution on my own to get rid of Crystabel, but maybe I wouldn''t have.


    Hunter sighed.  "Fine," he finally said.  "Are you almost done? I still can''t get through to either of my parents and it''s getting later and later."


    "I couldn''t get through to mine either," I said.  "We''re finished though. We are just getting in the car to pull out."


    "Good," he said.  "You can follow me to Arthur''s house.  Hopefully his mom is all right."


    "Okay," I said, "and then to Maria at the party."


    "Yes," he said.


    I hung up and motioned for the girls to get back into the car.  I climbed into the driver''s side, clicked on my seatbelt, glanced over my shoulder to make sure the girls both had their seatbelts on, and then I started the car.


    I clicked on the garage opener attached to the sun visor.  The garage door slowly opened behind us. The lights on Hunter''s van were on.  He slowly started to backup out of the driveway. I followed.


    The zombies weren''t interested in our vehicles.  There were several zombies by my front door, but they weren''t banging on it anymore.  They were just wandering back and forth dumbly in front of it.


    Hunter drove slowly down the street.  Occasionally we would maneuver into the wrong lane to avoid a zombie.  The red of his brake lights reflected into my windshield. He turned. I didn''t understand why he would pull into the Bahena''s driveway.  He came to a complete stop. I stopped in the middle of the street. I debated following him into the driveway, but I wasn''t sure what he was doing and I didn''t want to draw attention from the zombies.  Although, the zombies didn''t seem interested in our cars unless they could actually see us through the windows.


    The curtains inside the Bahena''s house shifted and a shadow moved beyond them.  I almost took out my phone to call Hunter to ask what he was doing, but then realized the light on my phone screen would illuminate me and alert the zombies of my presence so I didn''t.  I drummed my fingers nervously on the steering wheel as we waited.


    A zombie brushed passed the passenger side of the car.  I glanced in the rearview mirror afraid Mackenzie would scream again, but Victory was holding my sister''s hand.  Mackenzie looked at Victory with wide, scared eyes, but she didn''t scream.


    The zombie rounded to the front of the car.  He looked at the windshield and blinked. It was Mr. Morgan.  I held my breath and hoped he couldn''t see me. He rounded the car again so he was directly next to the driver''s side window.  I held my breath and willed myself to blend in with the carseat. He paused by my window. It was quiet inside the car. I was afraid to breathe.  I glanced at the ax on the passenger floor. I might be able to reach it without taking off my seatbelt. My body tensed ready to lurch for the ax if the zombie noticed me.


    Then again, the zombie wouldn''t be able to easily break through the window even if it did notice me.  Maybe it would be best to just drive away. But I didn''t want to leave Hunter and Arthur.


    Mr. Morgan shuffled further along the car until he stopped by Victory''s window.  That was when the Bahena''s front door opened and their three children followed by Mrs. Bahena ran out towards Hunter''s van not even bothering to shut the door behind them.  Mr. Morgan''s head shot their way.


    The youngest child tripped and fell in the grass.  The van''s doors on the passenger''s side both opened before the children had even reached it.  Arthur and Hunter must have opened them from the inside. Zombies ran at them from every direction.  Mrs. Bahena barely paused as she scooped up the youngest child and ran to the van.


    The two elder children got inside the back.  Mrs. Bahena got into the front with the child she was carrying.  The front passenger door closed loudly. Before the side door the children went in could completely close, the zombies were there.

 Chapter 7 .

    Lily


    Screams came from inside the van.  They were in a similar position that my sister had been in, only whereas the zombie''s fingers only fit through the door before, this time, the zombie''s head fit in and the door was slowly opening as more zombies gathered.  Then the zombie''s shoulders fit in. More zombie hands reached passed the first zombie as they tried to get inside.


    Mrs. Bahena got out of the front door, slammed it closed behind her and began pulling the zombies away from the back seat.  Raindrops began to dot the car windshield.


    She wouldn''t survive like that.


    Even as I wondered what to do, Victory rolled down her window and began yelling out her window, "Hey, zombies, over here.  Come and get us." She waved her arms out the window. I rolled down my window and began to do the same even as I made sure the car was in drive.  My foot was ready to come off the brake and hit the gas at any moment.


    Some of the zombies turned and started towards us, but the few that were right in the thick of it ignored us.  One of the zombies Mrs. Bahena pulled away from the side door turned around and bit her in the neck. She ignored it and tried to pull the next zombie away from the door, but more zombies came up behind her and bit her from behind.  Soon she was pulled to the ground and I could only see her legs lying still on the grass as the zombies continued to swarm her.


    The last zombie at the door pulled out the eldest child of the Bahena''s - their only daughter.  She screamed and struggled to get away, but the zombie bit her in the arm. Molly sprang from the car, bit onto the zombie''s arm and began to shake it vigorously.  Even then the zombies ignored the dog.


    Victory and I continued to yell even as I watched helplessly.  The rain began to come down harder and harder in just a matter of moments.  A lightning strike hit the group of zombies that were over the still form of Mrs. Bahena.  It startled me and the car lurched forward as my foot slipped from the brake to the gas. I immediately hit the brakes again.


    The girl tore away from the zombie that bit her.  A chunk of her sleeve and flesh was still in its mouth.  She got back inside the van. Molly followed her and the van door slid shut just as Hunter backed up out of the driveway with a screech.  He hit a zombie on his way. The van paused just long enough for him to shift gears and then he burst forward on the road. I quickly stepped on the gas and followed him.  Victory and I rolled up our windows leaving behind the zombies that had almost reached our car.


    The rain lightened to a drizzle.  We were half a block away from Arthur''s house when the van stopped in front of us.


    I stopped, put the car in park and reached down for the ax.  The zombies hadn''t followed our vehicles and there weren''t any zombies close to the street in this area - most had ran to the Bahena''s when they heard the screaming.  The girl had been bit. Had she turned? She wasn''t that much younger than Mackenzie. The van was quiet.


    Hunter got out from the driver''s side.  He had the bow and an arrow. He shut his door quietly, went around the back to the passenger side and opened the side door.  He reached in and pulled the girl out. He said something to those inside the van, but I couldn''t make out what. Then he closed that door quietly and dragged the girl to the back of the van.


    Blood ran down her arm and darkened the sleeve of her shirt.  She tried to pull his fingers away from her arm, but she couldn''t.


    "What is he doing?" Mackenzie asked.  She and Victory were peeking around the front seats to get a good look.  I immediately turned off my headlights.


    "Don''t look," I instructed them.  I looked in the rearview mirror to see Victory hugging my sister.  Mackenzie''s helmeted head was turned away from the windshield.


    I had turned out my lights, but Hunter and the girl were still illuminated in the back lights from the van.  His dark brown eyes looked through my windshield as if he sought my own, but I knew he wouldn''t be able to see me.  He closed his eyes and let go of the girl. She dropped to her knees on the wet road and clung to his legs. Her cries were muffled, but I could still hear them.


    "Please," I heard the quiet voice.  "Please don''t kill me. I''ll be okay.  I won''t turn into one of them." Hunter patted the top of her head, but held her back when she stood and tried to go back inside the van.This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.


    "I''m sorry."  I couldn''t hear him, but I clearly saw his mouth form the words.


    She dropped to her knees and bent over.  Her body quivered as the sobs took over.


    "Stay in the van!" Hunter demanded.  I didn''t notice until then that the side passenger door had started to open.  It quickly closed.


    The girl''s shivering became something different.  She flipped to her back as violent spasms came over.  Hunter pinched his eyes closed. The muscles in his jaws tightened.  A tear trickled onto his cheek from his closed eyes. Then his eyes opened and he readied the bow and arrow pointed directly at the girl''s head.  She stilled. I held my breath. Hunter held his.


    The girl''s eyes flashed open.  She sprang to her feet and rushed at Hunter with her fingers extended claw-like.  Hunter didn''t hesitate. He let loose the arrow and it embedded itself into her head.  He swallowed hard and walked back to the driver''s side of the van.


    "He should have taken the arrow with him," Victory said.


    I swiveled my head in her direction.  She still held my sister so my sister couldn''t see, but Victory had no qualms looking out the windshield.


    "I told you not to look," I said.


    She shrugged and held onto my sister tighter.


    I missed the moment when Hunter got into the van, but the van drove forward along the road.  I went around the dead girl and followed. The van stopped a few moments later in the middle of the road.  I stopped behind it and waited. Nothing happened. All was quiet. The rain picked up again. It came down fast and hard.


    Victory reached a hand around so it was directly beside me.  "I need to call my brother," she said.


    "But the light from his phone might draw the attention of the zombies," I said.


    "He''s in pain."  It was the first time I ever heard Victory close to tears.  She had been acting so tough this entire time, even scolding her brother for leaving the arrow, that I thought she was hardened or somehow immune to all this.  But I knew in this moment I had been wrong. She was barely holding it together. I handed her my phone.


    She called him and put the phone up to her ear.  I looked out the windows for any signs of zombies.  There were a few off in the distance, but none nearby.


    "Hunter?" Victory said.  "Hunter, pull it together.  Hunter?" Victory handed me the phone.  "He''s not listening to me. Maybe he''ll listen to you."


    I took the phone and put it up to my ear.  My stomach fell when I heard Hunter sobbing and the crying of children in the background.


    "Hunter," I said gently, "it''s not your fault."  He seemed to choke on a sob, but it didn''t get better.  Tears sprang to my eyes, but I blinked them away as I looked up at the ceiling of the car.


    I was about to speak again, but Hunter''s struggled voice broke through the crying on the other end.  "How is not my fault? I killed her. I killed a little girl."


    The cries from the little boys in the background intensified.


    "Arthur!" I practically yelled into the phone.  "Can you hear me!"


    "Yes," I barely heard Arthur''s voice.


    "Do not let the Bahena brothers think that Hunter killed their sister, understand?  He killed a zombie not their sister. Make sure they know that."


    "Okay!" Arthur called out to me and then I heard shuffling in the background and Arthur''s calm voice as he tried to soothe the crying brothers.


    "Hunter," I said quieter, "she had turned.  I saw that. She wasn''t a little girl anymore.  It was better that you pulled her from the van instead of letting her turn inside to attack her brothers.  She wouldn''t have wanted that."


    I waited for a response, but all I heard were his sobs that seemed strangely in time with the rain that fell from the sky.


    "Hunter," I said gently, "you can''t lose it now.  We still need to see to Arthur''s mother, Maria and our parents.  Not to mention Grace and Tanner. Remember? We promised we would meet them at the diner.  They are counting on us, Hunter."


    He took a deep breath.  His sobbing quieted. "Okay," he said.  "You''re right. We still need to get the others. Lily."


    "What?"


    "How did the night turn into this?"  The rain began to lighten again. "It wasn''t that long ago that I watched you put makeup on my little sister for Halloween night and now we are running for our lives, trying to save our families.  Will we ever see our homes again?"


    I didn''t have an answer for that.  The question drifted in the silence between us.


    "We''re almost to Arthur''s," I finally said.  "What''s the plan when we get there? We shouldn''t bring everyone in with us."


    "I''ll go in alone," he said.


    "No, you won''t," I said.  "None of us should ever go somewhere alone again."


    "I''ll go in with him," Victory volunteered.


    "No, she won''t," Hunter said.


    I looked in the rearview mirror to see Victory pouting.


    "Fine," Hunter said.  "Here is what we will do.  I''ll pull into their driveway, you pull alongside me on their lawn.  Victory and Mackenzie can transfer to the van so the kids are all in one place.  Then you and I can go inside to check things out. You have your dad''s gun?"


    "I''ll bring it," I said, "and an ax."  The ax was now lying on the passenger seat beside me.  "But what if something happens to the both of us inside?  How will the kids get away?"


    "I''ll leave Arthur my phone so we can be in communication if we need to be.  Victory knows how to drive. She can get them out of there if she needs to."


    "She''s twelve and she knows how to drive?" I asked incredulously.


    "I''m almost thirteen," Victory said.


    "Vicky is one of those people who knows everything and can do anything," Hunter said.  "It''s really quite annoying."


    "Okay," I said.  "Then that''s the plan."


    I followed him the rest of the way to Arthur''s house.  He pulled into the driveway and I pulled up alongside him on the grass.  There weren''t any zombies around, but I got a sick feeling when I noticed the front door was ajar and candy was littered all along the porch with an empty bowl nearby.

 Chapter 8 .

    Tanner


    "You didn''t tell your sister about us," Grace said.


    "Should I have?" I asked as I stuffed my phone back into my pocket. "I thought you wanted to keep our relationship a secret from our families. I''m fine calling back right now to tell them." I started to pull my phone back out of my pocket, but she reached out to stop me. Her warm hand settled around the sleeve of my forearm.


    "They''ve got more important things to worry about," Grace said, "like staying alive. We''ll tell them when we see them."


    "Okay," I said. I wrapped my arms around her waist and pulled her close. She smiled and tiptoed to give me a gentle kiss on the mouth.


    "We better get going," she said and pulled away. "We can''t stay here."


    I groaned, but dropped my arms. I looked around my small dorm room. My roommate hadn''t come back from the Halloween party. He might not ever come back now. We had been down in the communal area watching the news when everything started to go wrong.


    My dorm neighbor had collapsed to the ground the same time the news anchor had and when he got back up, he had attacked me just as the news anchor had attacked the other one. With Grace''s help, we had managed to get away and shut ourselves in my dorm room. "What do we take with us?" I asked. I reached out and grabbed the one baseball bat I had brought with me. I wasn''t leaving that behind.


    "I wish I had brought my bow and arrows from home," Grace said longingly.


    "Do you want to stop at the archery club and take some?" I asked her.


    She nodded eagerly.


    There was a loud scream down the hallway and then someone ran passed my closed dorm door. Grace and I froze as we looked at each other and waited. Someone else ran passed, but this time there was otherworldly moaning along with it. They too passed by as Grace and I waited in silence. Goosebumps formed on my arms beneath the sleeves of my shirt.


    When it was quiet again, I grabbed one of my hoodies and put it over Grace''s head. She put her arm through the sleeves. I tightened the strings so the hood fit snug over her head. Strands of her black and teal hair stuck out of the hood in uneven tendrils. Her brown eyes blinked up at me. Her pale, oval face just looked so beautiful that I had to lean in and kiss her again.


    "Okay," she said softly against my lips. "We can''t stay here. We''ve got to get moving."


    "Yes," I said and let her pull away. I put on a different hoody and tightened the hood around my head as well. It probably wouldn''t do much in the way of protection from bites, but maybe it would.


    "Do you need to stop at your dorm for anything?" I asked her.


    "I probably should," she said, "if only to check and make sure Camila is all right."


    "You''ve got your car keys?" I asked her.


    She grabbed her large, black purse off my bed, pulled out her keys and jingled them lightly.


    "Let''s go," I said. I leaned the baseball bat up against the wall by the door. I put my ear to the wood of the door and listened. I didn''t hear anything. I was about to turn the nob, but Grace stopped me.


    "Are we going to help people or offer them a ride to come with us?" she asked. "I think we better decide that now ahead of time."


    I was all for helping people in normal circumstances, but I didn''t want to take the chance of Grace getting hurt or worse, turn into one of them. I didn''t want that for me either.


    "If we can help them without risking ourselves, then yes," I said. "But you and I have to get back to our families no matter what."


    She nodded and took my left hand in her right one. I put my ear to the door and listened again. All was quiet. I slowly opened it and peeked out down the hall. There was a trail of blood that dotted the wood floor all the way to the end of the hall on the left. There was a bloody handprint on the dorm room door to the immediate right of us. The hall was empty. I grabbed the baseball bat with my free hand and pulled Grace with me as I started quietly down the hall to the right.


    We reached the top of the stairs. I took a step down when I heard hard, running footsteps from below and then on the stairs. I took a step back with Grace pressed up behind me. I let go of her hand and readied my bat. My roommate, Connor, ran up the stairs. His face was pale making the freckles stand out even more. His red hair was disheveled. He was panting hard and fear was clearly painted on his face. He looked at me and my bat without missing a step and continued up the stairs as fast as he could. He had gone to the Halloween party as a vampire, but both his cape and fake teeth were now gone.Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.


    Close behind him was Angel. His visage was twisted into a fearsome snarl. Blood covered his shirt, mouth, hands and arms.


    A moan came from the hallway. I took a quick glance. Jordan was barreling towards us down the hall much as Angel was on the stairs. Blood dripped from his right arm and right leg. It looked like he had been bitten multiple times. We were trapped between them.


    Connor reached us at the top of the stairs. He saw Jordan and froze. Grace didn''t. She grumbled and pulled out a screwdriver from her purse. I didn''t know why she had a screwdriver in her purse. I didn''t even know it was in there. I didn''t make it a habit of going through my girlfriend''s purse.


    "Hold this," Grace said calmly as she handed Connor her purse and readied the screwdriver. Man, I loved her.


    Before Angel could get too close with his strange moaning and claw-like fingers, I stepped down a few steps and brought my bat down hard on top of his head. He crumbled to his knees, but reached out and grabbed my pants leg.


    I heard scuffling behind me, the moaning and the sounds of Grace''s purse as it hit something over and over again. And then the moaning behind me stopped and something hard fell to the ground. I couldn''t spare a glance though as Angel brought his bloody, wide mouth towards my leg. I bashed his head again. His movement paused for only a moment before his mouth continued its progress towards my leg. I closed my eyes and brought the bat down as hard as I could. I felt the moment when the hard skull gave way, as the bone shattered and the bat went into the soft brain.


    I slowly opened my eyes and looked down at the bloody, mushy head. Angel wouldn''t be getting back up now. I cringed as I wiped the red liquid dripping down my bat on the back of Angel''s shirt. I didn''t want to have to get used to this.


    "Let''s go," Grace said as she passed me on the stairs with her now bloody screwdriver. I looked back at the top of the stairs to see Jordan''s body crumbled to the floor with a bloody hole in his temple. Connor stood over the body with Grace''s purse in his hands. I could just imagine him hitting Jordan with the purse over and over again while Grace stabbed Jordan in the temple with her screwdriver.


    Connor''s gaze was uncertain, but hopeful as he looked down at me. I gave him a nod that he should come with us. He didn''t hesitate as he started down the stairs.


    "Wait," someone called from further down the hall. I couldn''t see who, but I recognized the accented voice.


    Todd - not his real name, but the name he used so the rest of us could pronounce it - came to the top of the stairs. His real name was Lin, Yi Two.


    "Take me with you," he said. He paused, looked down at Jordan''s body and kicked him.


    "Come on then," Grace said quietly further down the stairs.


    The four of us made our way quietly through the dorms, practically tiptoeing as we went. Grace took her purse back from Connor, but left her screwdriver out and ready.


    There were more moans from further upstairs, but downstairs was quiet. We made a quick stop to the kitchen to grab large carving knives so that Daniel and Connor could have a weapon. We all froze when we heard moaning near the kitchen window. We all dropped low and waited.


    That was when Todd''s phone rang.


    The moaning outside the window got louder and more intense. So did the moans upstairs. There was shuffling upstairs, but nothing on the stairs or downstairs.


    Todd fumbled with his phone as he desperately took it out of his pocket. He answered the call, but didn''t speak as he put the phone up to his ear. We all held our breaths as fingers scratched against the window. There was a scream from somewhere further down the street, then there was running outside the window and the moaning grew distant.


    Todd began to speak rapidly in Chinese over the phone in hushed tones. He ended the call quickly. We all stared at him. "My family," he said. "Wanting to make sure I was okay. It''s happening in Taiwan too. It''s happening everywhere." Which only confirmed what I thought.


    "What time is it in Taiwan?" Connor asked him.


    Todd looked at the time on his phone. "It would be almost 7 a.m."


    "Come on," Grace said. She led the way to the front doors and we all paused and listened. There were screams and moans, but they weren''t close. Grace and I exchanged a quick glance and then she threw open the door and ran as fast as she could to her car. The three of us ran after her. The street that housed the dorms was in complete chaos. People ran in every direction, some from fright, some with those eerie moans coming from their lips. In the middle of the street, someone got tackled by one of the moaning creatures - couldn''t really call them people anymore. Blood spread out over the person''s shirt as the - fine. I decided to call them what they were. - as the zombie bit into the back tearing the green shirt and the flesh underneath it over and over again until the person stopped moving.


    The four of us scrambled into her car. Grace dropped her purse by my feet on the passenger side and put the screwdriver next to her on her seat. She started the car up and put the gear into drive just as the zombie stopped biting the lifeless person. The zombie noticed a young woman climbing a tree and went after her. The person he had just attacked in the road was no longer lifeless. He spasmed and rose to his feet completely disregarding the large gashes in his back. He looked around, saw us in the car and ran straight for us.


    Grace didn''t hesitate as she accelerated. She hit him squarely and he went flying up into the air completely over her car. That was going to leave a dent. I turned to look at the rear window. Todd looked too, but Connor''s eyes stayed fixed ahead. The zombie we just hit tumbled along the road with several more cuts and abrasions, but he didn''t hesitate as he stood and chased after us. He got quickly distracted as there was another scream somewhere behind us. He took off in the direction of the scream.


    Grace careened onto the grass right in front of her dormitory before slamming on her brakes.


    "Go get Camila," she instructed me. "I''ll keep the car running."

 Chapter 9 .

    Tanner


    I gripped my baseball bat tighter in my hands. "Is there anything else you want me to grab from your dorm room?"


    "Yes," Grace said. "There are two backpacks at the foot of my bed. Don''t grab the red one. That is just for school. Grab the green one."


    "What''s the green one?" Connor asked from the backseat.


    "A 24 hour kit," she said.


    "A what kit?" Todd asked.


    "You know," she said as she turned so she could face the back seat better. "A kit with extra supplies to last for 24 hours in case of an emergency or disaster."


    "Why would you have one of those?" Connor asked completely baffled that she would have anything like that.


    "To be prepared," she said as if it was the most obvious thing.


    "But why would a college student even think of that?" Connor continued.


    "Why wouldn''t I?" she asked.


    She was just too endearing. I leaned over and kissed her.


    Todd and Connor both sighed annoyed in the back.


    "You are so whipped," Connor said to me.


    "Better than being jealous," I told him pointedly. He frowned at me, but didn''t disagree.


    "Go on," she told me. I started to open the door, but she grabbed my arm. "Make sure to come back." She leaned in and kissed me again. Her lips were soft and warm. The sudden scream from nearby reminded us of the urgency of the situation and I broke away from the kiss.


    I looked out the windows before getting out. There were zombies around, but none directly next to us. I quietly closed the door and opened the back door. Connor looked at me like I was crazy.


    "You''re coming in with me," I said quietly as I reached in and grabbed his arm to pull him out.


    "Why?" he said. "Your girlfriend told you to go in."


    "I''m not going in there alone," I said. "We need to watch each other''s backs." I closed the passenger door quietly.


    Connor''s fist closed tightly around the chopping knife he held. He took in a deep breath and nodded at me. There was a moan from my left. The closest zombies were beginning to take notice of us. Several began to run towards us.


    "Run," I said quietly. Connor didn''t need anymore encouragement. He ran as fast as he could to the dorm doors. I followed closely behind. I could have passed him as I was faster, but I wanted to guard his back. He opened the door and almost ran straight into a female zombie. She tried to grab him, but I pushed him out of the way and swung my bat as hard as I could. Her skull crumbled under the blow and she fell limp to the floor.


    Connor had the door closed behind and we were now in the dorm. The zombies outside banged on the door for a few moments, but quickly retreated when they could no longer see or hear us.


    I started to lead the way to the stairs, but two female zombies popped up from behind a couch. Both had blood dripping from their mouths and hands. They charged us. I swung my bat hard. It connected to the side of one of the zombie''s head and she crumbled to the ground. The other zombie quickly pinned Connor to the wall. Red spit trickled from the corner of her mouth as she tried to chomp Connor''s cheek, but he quickly turned his face. He tried to push her back. I grabbed her from behind and pulled her off him. I quickly brought my bat down on her head.


    I looked at Connor for a moment as he stared down at the dead zombie in frozen horror. I clapped him silently on the shoulder. He jumped in surprise.


    "They are so strong," he whispered in a daze.


    "Let''s go," I whispered.


    He managed a nod and swallowed hard as he followed me to the stairs. A third zombie popped up from behind the same couch as the other ones. Her bloody shirt was torn in several places. Several bite marks littered her neck and shoulders. It appeared the zombies we had just killed had bit her. She had changed into one of them while we killed the other two. She charged us.


    Connor was behind me. I had already started up the stairs. She grabbed him in the moment he froze and forgot he had a large chopping knife in his hand. I turned to help him, but a moan came from above me. A zombie rushed down the stairs fast. I managed to get the bat up in between us right before she pinned me against the wall. Her mouth snapped in front of my face as I pushed with the bat to put some distance between us.


    "Use your knife," I called out to Connor as he struggled to hold his zombie at bay. I didn''t look at him as I tried to push the zombie on me far enough away that I could get enough leverage to bash this bat into her skull. I did hear the scuffle behind me though. Connor had better succeed because if he didn''t, I didn''t think I could fight off two zombies in my situation. I couldn''t die here, I had to get to my family. The scuffle behind me intensified. Then there was the sound of footsteps running down the stairs. My stomach dropped. If it was another zombie, I didn''t know how I would be able to fight them off too.


    Camila rounded the stairs with a little black tube in her hand. She pulled the zombie off me and sprayed whatever was in the tube directly into the zombie''s eyes. It didn''t faze the zombie at all as she rushed towards Camila. I pulled Camila behind me and bashed the zombie''s skull. The zombie fell down the rest of the stairs to land at the feet of the other zombie and Connor.The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.


    "It doesn''t work," Camila said in dismay as she looked at the tube in her hand. I rushed passed her and pulled the zombie off Connor. She tripped over the dead zombie and I used that opportunity to swing the bat down over her head. The skull cracked and that spot on her head became mush.


    "Next time use this," I said to Connor as I held up his hand that had the large knife.


    "Right," Connor said as he stared down at the dead zombies.


    "Thank you," I said to Camila.


    She shrugged and put the tube in her pants pocket. "I saw you pull up in Grace''s car. You were taking a long time so I thought you might be in trouble. I tried to help, but apparently pepper spray doesn''t work on them."


    "It got her off me long enough so that I could use my bat," I said.


    "What is even happening?" Camila asked. She ran a hand through her dark, thick hair.


    "Zombie apocalypse," Connor said. "We came to get you."


    "I need to get a bag from your room for Grace," I said. "And you should gather anything you want to bring too." I headed up the stairs. Connor and Camila followed.


    "Where are we going?" Camila asked.


    "Grace and I said we would meet our families at a diner about an hour away from here."


    "You got through to your family?" Camila asked. "I''ve been trying to get a hold of mine, but none of my calls are going through."


    "I think we just got lucky," I said.


    Camila opened the door to their dorm room. I quickly followed in after her. I saw the two backpacks Grace had told me about by her bed. I grabbed the green one and slung it over my shoulder. Camila emptied her own backpack and stuffed some clothes inside as well as a few smaller bags. She grabbed that and her purse and then said. "I''ll go with you for a little while, but I want to find my own family too."


    I couldn''t remember exactly where her family was located, but I knew it was out of state.


    "Me too," Connor said.


    "After we get my family, we can talk about where to go next," I said. "Maybe we''ll go with you. Maybe we''ll have to split up, but for now let''s stick together."


    They both nodded. I led the way back down the stairs and to the front door. I opened the door to just a crack and peeked outside. There were more zombies outside now, but none directly in front of the door. Most of them were in costume, I assumed they were from the Halloween frat party Grace and I had purposely ignored. Some milled about shuffling slowly from place to place. Others ran towards people trying to escape the dorms or trying to hide inside the dorms. Grace''s car was not outside.


    "Where is she?" Connor whispered. I didn''t realize he was peeking out too until that moment. "Did she leave us?" His voice was beginning to get louder and there was an edge of panic to it.


    "She wouldn''t leave us," I said calmly. "I trust that she will be out there." I opened the door wide and stepped out just as both Connor and Camila reached out to stop me. They were too late.


    The zombies that were nearby immediately looked in our direction. Connor stepped out beside me and readied his knife as I readied my bat. His hands visibly shook, but he held his ground.


    I trust you, Grace.


    The zombies ran at us. Their mouths were open and their hands outstretched us. There was a screech of a car nearby and then Grace''s car ran over two of the zombies that had been running towards us. The car stopped right next to us. Todd reached over the back seat and opened the passenger door as Grace did the same with the front passenger door.


    "Get inside," she yelled at us, but we were already moving. Connor slid into the middle of the back seat, Camila sat next to him and quickly closed the door just as a zombie tried to grab her. The zombie''s fingers caught in the door. Connor didn''t hesitate this time as he leaned across Camila and sliced off the zombie''s fingers with the chopping knife. I sat in the front and Grace took off before I could finish closing the front door.


    A large pickup truck drove over a bunch of zombies that had surrounded the base of a tree.


    "Hurry, jump down," someone from the truck called up to the tree. The young woman I had seen climb up the tree earlier dropped into the bed of the truck. The truck continued on, but paused every once and awhile to allow running students to jump into the back. The truck and Grace''s car reached the main street at the same time.


    The truck was to the right of us on the street. A man in his forties with a cowboy hat on and a rugged look rolled down his window and motioned for me to do the same.


    "We''ll have a better chance surviving this if we are all together," the man called when I rolled down the window. He and Grace kept driving at the same speed and his gray eyes would dart from to the road and back again in a constant rotation. He had passengers inside the truck as well as the bed of the truck, but I couldn''t get a good look at them past him.


    "We''re going to the archery club to get weapons," I called out the window, "and then we are heading west to find our families."


    The cowboy nodded. "Sounds like a plan then. We''ll meet you at the archery club." He rolled up his window and sped past us. Grace accelerated to keep up.


    I was worried about the people in the bed of the truck. If we stopped, the zombies had a clear opening to them. It was better than being stuck in a tree though.


    The parking lot for the archery club was empty and there was no one - zombie or otherwise - around. We pulled into a spot next to the truck and rushed into the building.


    Besides the five college students that were in the back of the truck and the man that looked like a cowboy, there was also another man who looked to be in his forties and a tiny woman who looked to be in her sixties.


    "Dr. Smith," Connor said. He was surprised to see her. I had no idea who any of them were.


    "Connor," the older woman greeted Connor as Grace led the way to the bows and arrows. Grace had a key to unlock them.


    "She''s the professor of my Art History class," Connor said to me.


    Grace took out a bow that she seemed familiar with, a quiver and several arrows. She then stood aside so that others could access the bows and arrows. I stood where I was. I was more comfortable with my bat.


    "This is Dr. Higgins and Dr. Patel," Dr. Smith indicating the two men I guessed were in their forties. "They are professors too, but in different departments."


    Dr. Higgins and Dr. Patel were both retrieving bows and arrows of their own.


    "I don''t think it''s safe for these students to keep riding in the back of my truck," Dr. Higgins said.


    "I have a car," one of the students said, "but it''s parked at the cafeteria."


    It was silent. The cafeteria would be crowded this time of night. I could only imagine how many zombies would be there.


    "Maybe the cafeteria is not the best place to go to right now," Dr. Patel offered.


    "I''m parked towards the back though," the student said, "not near the building."


    Dr. Higgins looked at Grace. "Well, what do you say? Feel like a drive to the cafeteria?"


    "We will follow you there," Grace said.


    We piled back into the car. Grace followed Dr. Higgins''s truck to the cafeteria. He stopped in one of the back rows and the students hopped out of the back of his truck and rushed to a blue car. I watched them get inside.


    "It''s weird," Grace said.


    "Very strange," Todd agreed.


    "What?" I asked. I looked in the direction they were looking. There were many zombies roaming outside the cafeteria building. There was only one person I saw that wasn''t a zombie. He was wearing a hoodie pulled low so we couldn''t see his face. He didn''t run from the zombies or scream. In fact, he seemed comfortable around them as he finished spray painting something on the side of the cafeteria building. With yellow paint in big letters he wrote RU in?

 Interlude 1 . and Chapter 10 .

    Interlude 1 .


    Unknown


    "It starts.  It is time for us to gather.  Spread the sign. You know what to do if others respond to the sign."


    Chapter 10 .


    Lily


    I followed Hunter quietly to the porch.  We were careful not to step on any of the spilled candy.  I followed Hunter around the candy bowl that sprawled on its side.  Hunter maneuvered so his head was looking through the open door while the rest of his body remained outside.  I looked around the dark neighborhood. There were zombies around, but so far none of them had noticed us. They shambled aimlessly on neighboring lawns.


    The children watched us intently from inside the van.  Victory sat behind the wheel. Mackenzie sat in the front passenger seat with the youngest child on her lap.  Arthur, Molly and the other boy watched us from between the front seats.


    Hunter stepped inside moving slow so as not to make noise.  I followed him. Inside the living room the television was still on.  There was a reporter on the screen. Her hair was askew and she trembled slightly as she said, "...on repeat.  You are instructed to stay in doors. Stay away from anyone acting strangely or anyone who has been bitten . . ."


    There was a broken table lamp on the floor and a blood trail that led to the kitchen.  The kitchen light was on. Hunter and I exchanged a glance. I readied the ax. He readied the bow and arrow.


    When we entered the kitchen, it was clear a struggle had taken place.  A block of knives had been scattered on the floor and there were shards of a broken glass.  Arthur''s father was by the kitchen island and the scattered knives. There was a large kitchen knife stuck in his head.  Blood pooled on the floor all around him.


    Hunter relaxed the bow and arrow and picked up a large kitchen knife that the blood hadn''t touched yet even though he still had his hunting knife strapped to his leg.  We silently made our way around the other side of the island avoiding the blood and broken glass. Arthur''s mom sat on the kitchen floor with her back propped up against the cupboards.  Arthur''s little brother sat in her lap. Her arms were loose around him. Her eyes stared at nothing. Her hair was a mess, her makeup was smudged and her clothes were askew. There were a few child sized chunks taken out of her neck.


    It looked like she killed her husband, but couldn''t bring herself to kill her son.  Instead, it appeared she held him while he bit her.


    We stopped when we saw the scene.  We exchanged a glance. I tried to ask him with my motions if we should kill them or just quietly back out and leave them be.


    He shrugged a shoulder.  He looked back at the child zombie and mother zombie.  He turned back to me and motioned we should go back to the cars, but it was at this moment that the mother zombie turned her eyes to us.  Her pupils had that eerie green over them.


    She sprang to her feet with no care for the child zombie in her arms.  She moaned high and loud as if to let all the other zombies around know we were here.  She ran at Hunter with her arms outstretched and her lips pulled back. Her jaw opened wide to take a bite.If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    The child zombie sprang to his feet and also moaned, but his was lower and quieter.  He charged at me with his short legs and his small child arms. My heart dropped. This was Arthur''s little brother.  This was Aaron. I had seen him walk down the street with his family, play in the nearby park, laugh and joke with Arthur and the other kids.


    I placed my hand on his head when he got close to keep his snapping jaws at a distance.


    Hunter held zombie mom back with the bow with one hand while the other brought the knife hard into the top of her head.  She crumbled to the floor. Red poured out onto the floor and darkened Hunter''s knife. Hunter wiped the knife on on the back of her shirt and saw my hesitation.


    "It isn''t a child," he told me.


    He was right and I knew it, but still, the zombie was small.  He had once been Arthur''s cute, little brother. His tiny hands fisted around the cloth of my pants, but his mouth couldn''t get close enough to bite me.


    Hunter made the decision for me as he drove the knife into the back of his head.  The child zombie fell next to his parents. "Your ax was akward in this position anyway," Hunter tried to console me.


    I nodded my head and tried to convince myself that was why I hesitated instead of the fact that the small zombie had once been a child.


    There was a shuffle at the front door.  Hunter and I froze. He put one finger to his lips urging me to be silent, but I didn''t have any intention to suddenly start talking.  He peeked around the wall towards the front door.


    There was a low moan that sent chills along my spine.  Hunter immediately pulled back into the kitchen and motioned towards the back door that went out from the side of the kitchen.


    Just as I took a step to go to the back door, I heard a higher pitch moan coming from the living room and the sounds of many shuffling feet.  It seemed like the mother zombie''s moan really had attracted other zombies.


    Hunter followed me to the back door.  I tried to open it, but the handle wouldn''t turn.  A male zombie shambled into the kitchen. His eyes didn''t waver from us.  His low moan grew louder. He ran straight at us, but got hung up on the kitchen island.  There were several answering moans from the living room.


    I unlocked the deadbolt and this time the door opened.  I rushed out into the night and almost ran straight into a zombie.  He was about Mackenzie''s age, but I didn''t hesitate this time as I brought the ax down hard on top of his head.  It broke through the skull and squished in the brain. I pulled back hard and withdrew it just as Hunter pulled the door closed behind us.  Blood dripped from my ax and spurted from the dead boy''s head.


    The pounding started on the inside of the door.  We were alone in the backyard. I bent low and wiped the ax silently on the grass.  I got most of the blood and brain matter off, but not all of it.


    We made our way as quietly as we could to the fence that led to the front yard.  There were many moans from inside the house now. Hunter and I looked carefully over the fence.  A zombie walked through the open front door. The front yard was empty. There were three zombies pounding on the passenger side windows of the van.


    Even from this distance I could hear the crying of the youngest Bahena brother.  Hunter easily hopped the fence and motioned for me to do the same. I did so, but less gracefully.


    Hunter motioned for Victory to leave.  Victory didn''t see him, but Mackenzie did and she slapped Victory in the arm.  When Victory looked at her, she pointed to Hunter. Victory finally saw and pulled out.  She ran over one of the zombies in the process, but didn''t stop.


    Hunter hopped up onto the porch and quietly closed the front door shutting a large group of zombies inside while I continued to run to my car.  Luckily the zombies that had just been there followed the van and the kids so I was able to slide into the driver''s side without a problem. I tried to close the door quietly, but it still made a noise.  The two zombies that had been chasing the van turned and ran to my hatchback.


    Hunter ran across the lawn, opened the passenger door and hopped in just as the zombies began to pound on the rear window.  I turned the car on, shifted it into reverse and ran over both zombies. I really hoped this wasn''t causing a lot of damage to the car.  The van drove slowly ahead of us. I swerved around them and led the way to the party where Maria was trapped.


    I slowed down when we passed the high school.  Hunter and I exchanged a quick glance when we saw the person with the spray paint.  There weren''t any zombies around, but there was a hooded figure that just finished the question mark.  He ran away as quickly as he could once it was done.


    Spray painted on the school in bright yellow was the phrase RU in?

 Chapter 11 .

    Lily


    I slowed down when we reached the house, but didn''t stop completely.  There were a lot of teenage zombies in costumes wandering the front yard.  How were we supposed to get inside to save Maria?


    "Let''s park at the neighbor''s house," Hunter said as he stared out at the zombies.  "The kids can stay in the van and you and I can try to find another way inside other than the front yard."


    I nodded, but he didn''t see me as he was still looking out the window.  I parked in the empty driveway of the neighbor''s house. Their driveway was large enough that Victory could pull in beside me.  There was a large hedge dividing this neighbor''s house with the party house so we could get out of the car without being seen by zombies.


    "You have the gun and the ax?" Hunter asked me.


    I grabbed the gun and the bullets.  "This will make a lot of noise," I said.


    "Only use it if you have to," he said.


    I nodded and gripped the gun tightly in one hand and the ax in the other.  He had his hunting knife strapped to his leg, but he also took a large knife from the block I had brought from my house.  He had the bow and arrows in his other hand.


    We both got out of the car and closed the doors quietly behind us.  The van''s driver side window slid down and Hunter tried to pass the bow and arrows back to Victory.  Only Victory and Mackenzie were in the front now. The three boys were strapped safely in the back seats with Molly spread out on all three of their laps.  They were thankfully all quiet.


    "You might need those," Victory whispered.


    "You are better with them," Hunter whispered back.


    Victory''s expression immediately brightened.  "I''m going with you?" she asked excitedly.


    "No," Hunter said and her face fell.  "You are the only one who can drive if something happens to me and Lily," he said.  "Unless," he looked at Mackenzie, "you know how to drive?"


    "I''m only twelve," Kenzie said.


    "So am I," Victory said as if that was no excuse.


    "Vicky, Kenzie," Hunter addressed both of them.  "If we don''t come back, you need to take the van and leave.  You need to go meet up with Grace and Tanner. You have to protect those boys and Molly in the backseat.  Understand?"


    The two of them nodded.  Hunter turned to me. "Are you ready?"


    I nodded, but then thought of something.  "Hold on," I said. I opened the back passenger side door and pulled out extra knives.  "For Maria and anyone else we might rescue," I explained. Hunter nodded. I shut the door quietly and followed Hunter.


    He led the way to the hedge.  We peeked over it into the side yard.  There were about four zombies shambling in the side yard.  A lot less than what was in the front, but if they moaned and alerted those in the front of our presence, we would be in trouble.  There weren''t any doors that led inside from this side either. There were windows, but they were all shut and probably locked.


    Hunter motioned towards the back and I led the way.  We peeked over the hedge and looked into the backyard.  There was a sliding glass door that was opened, but there were also more zombies back here.  Maybe around a dozen. I didn''t want to fight my way through a dozen zombies.


    "What are you we going to do?" I mouthed to Hunter.


    He thought about it for a moment and then motioned for me to follow him.  We made our way back to the driver''s side of the van. Victory rolled down the window.


    "We need you to make a diversion," Hunter told her.  "Take the van and go to the front of their house, then yell out your window and drive away.  Try to get as many zombies as you can to follow you, but don''t let them get too close."


    Victory nodded.  "Be careful," she said.


    "Stay safe," Mackenzie said to me.


    "Don''t worry about us," I said.  "We''ll be fine." It sounded confident which wasn''t how I felt.


    Hunter and I went back to hide behind the hedge.  Victory pulled the van out of the driveway and stopped in the middle of the road in front of the party house.  She rolled down her window and began to shout, "Hey, zombies. Over here." She waved her arms out the window.


    The zombies in the front and side yard ran straight at her.  She didn''t hesitate as she accelerated and slowly went down the street all the while calling out the window.  She was driving fast enough to keep a healthy distance between her and them.


    Several zombies ran out the open front door to join the others.


    "Look," Hunter whispered to me.  He pointed to a second story window of the party house.


    Someone was waving frantically at us.  It took me a moment in the dark to recognize him.  He was a junior, medium brown hair, navy blue rimmed glasses that covered light brown eyes.  Hunter signaled him to stay where he was and Darren nodded that he understood.This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    "He''s the last person I expected to be here," Hunter whispered to me.


    Darren and his small group of friends didn''t usually socialize with other people.  I wondered if his friends were here somewhere too. Or if they were zombies.


    "I wonder how many other people are trapped inside that house," I whispered.


    "Let''s go see," Hunter replied.  We slowly, quietly made our way around the hedge and into the yard.  It was quiet and empty. Victory''s yells could still be heard in the distance as well as a multitude of zombie moans following her.


    The living room inside the house was empty.  Hunter closed the front door quietly behind us.  It wasn''t completely silent in the house. Moans could be heard from upstairs and further in on this level.


    A side door opened and Grant''s head peeked out.  His expression washed over with relief when he saw me and Hunter in the empty room.  Hunter motioned him over. Grant stepped out of the room behind him. He held Monica''s hand and she followed extremely close behind him, almost as if they were one person.


    I handed them each a kitchen knife.


    "Everyone isn''t going to fit in my car," I whispered to Hunter.


    "Do you have a car?" Hunter whispered to Grant.


    Grant nodded.  "It''s parked down the street," he whispered.


    "Let''s get out of here."  Monica''s voice started out as a whisper, but ended in a panicked cry.


    All three of us shushed her, but the moans in the house changed.  Shuffling footsteps began to come our way.


    Hunter motioned frantically and the four of us ran back into the room Grant and Monica had just exited.  The door slammed loudly behind us. Hunter looked at Grant with a mix of horror, disgust and anger. I imagined my own expression must have looked like that.


    "Sorry," Grant whispered.  "It was an accident." His hand was still on the doorknob.  Many hands began to pound on the other side of the door.


    "What do we do?" Monica''s voice was almost hysterical.


    "We don''t panic," Hunter whispered harshly to her.  He crossed the room and looked out the blinds covering one of the windows.  He unlocked the window and opened it. "You two get out and go to your car," he instructed.


    "By ourselves?" Grant scoffed.  "You need to come with us."


    "I''m here for Maria," I said.


    "And Darren is upstairs," Hunter added.


    "Leave them," Grant said easily.


    My hand tightened around the handle of the ax.


    "You are such an idiot," Hunter said.  He slid the window closed. "Fine, stay with us then.  After we get Maria and Darren and whoever else needs our help, we''ll escort you to your car."


    "Thank you," Monica said obviously missing the disgust and disbelief in Hunter''s voice.


    Hunter shook his head and brushed passed them to return to the door.  He placed his hand on the door handle and waved me over. When I reached his side he indicated my ax and indicated he would open the door.  I nodded my head that I understood and got the ax ready.


    He opened the door slightly.  Many zombie hands reached in, some tried to pull the door open further.  Hunter used all his strength to keep the door from opening all the way.


    A zombie face appeared and I smashed my ax into her head ignoring the fact that the zombie in the sexy fairy costume had once been Stacy.  I pulled the ax out and blood spurted onto my cheek and onto Hunter''s cheek. I really hoped that this zombie outbreak wasn''t contracted through their blood.  I knew it was through their bite, but so far I hadn''t seen any evidence of it being through their blood too. Still, I was very careful not to accidentally lick the blood that was on my lips.  I wiped my face roughly on my jacket as Hunter kicked the dead fairy zombie away while still holding onto the door.


    Another zombie quickly took her place.  I brought my ax into his head too.


    "A little help might be nice," Hunter said pointedly to Grant after I killed the fourth zombie.


    "I don''t know what to do," Grant said.


    The fourth zombie fell away, the fifth took his place.  A sixth zombie was crawling their way inside. I brought my foot down on his face and held him in place while I dealt with the fifth zombie.


    "Come kill this one!" Hunter almost yelled it as he kicked the zombie I held down with my foot.  The zombie bit the heel of my shoe.


    The seventh zombie was Anna.  I froze. My best friend''s mouth was bloody.  Her teeth chomped in my direction. Her eyes were wild, unrecognizing.  She was dressed as a ghost in a white, tattered dress. The white makeup on her face was smudged and splattered with red blood.


    "Anna."  I didn''t really process that I said her name out loud.


    The zombie underneath my foot went slack.  I looked down to see Monica taking the knife out of the zombie''s temple.  She took in a breath, steadied herself and then nodded to me and Hunter. She raised the knife and took a step forward, but I stopped her.


    I brought my ax down into Anna''s skull.  Wasn''t it better that I, a friend, be the one to release her from this zombie fate?  Maybe it didn''t matter to her anymore, but it mattered to me.


    I did step aside though and let Monica take care of the eighth and ninth zombies.  There wasn''t a tenth. Hunter pushed the door open. The bodies of zombies beyond it shifted as he did.  It was only when we saw that the room beyond was clear that Grant stepped forward.


    "Let''s hurry and get your friends and get out of here," he said.  He tried to step passed Hunter, but Hunter grabbed his arm and held him back.


    "The back door was still open," Hunter whispered.


    Grant easily stepped aside to let Hunter and me lead the way with those words.  We left the living room and walked down the hall to the back of the house. We stopped when we saw the back door open and zombies milling about in the backyard.


    Hunter motioned for us to stay put.  He crept forward until he reached the door.  It was at that moment that a zombie walked right in front of the open door.  His head swiveled Hunter''s way, but the zombie stopped almost as if it was mesmerized.  Then Hunter quickly shut the door and the moaning began from the other side. There were more moans that joined the first and then there was pounding on the back door.


    Hunter came back to us.  "Let''s hurry," he said.


    "Where''s the bathroom?" I asked Monica.  It was her house after all.


    "The one on this level is here," she led the way down another hall and we stopped at a closed door.


    I knocked quietly on it and put my ear to the door.  "Maria?" I called out softly.


    The door immediately opened and Maria hugged me tight.  She cried into my shoulder.


    "Lily," she sobbed.


    "It''s okay," I whispered to her.  "We are getting you out of here."


    She nodded as she pulled away from my shoulder and I wiped away the tears that had messed up her makeup.  I looked down at her costume. Sexy cowgirl.


    I turned to Monica.  "Do you have any clothes that you and Maria can change into that will provide you with more cover from zombie bites.  You know, long sleeves, long pants."


    Monica nodded.  "Upstairs."


    "Darren is upstairs," Hunter said.  "Let''s go, but be careful. There might be more zombies up there."


    I handed Maria a kitchen knife.


    When we reached the base of the stairs, Monica started to led the way, but Grant held her back.


    "They can go first," he said indicating me and Hunter.  "They seem to know what they are doing."


    Hunter rolled his eyes, but led the way quietly up the stairs.  I stepped in beside him.


    We reached the top and looked around.  Down the hall to the right there were about five zombies wandering around one particular door.  On the left was another group of zombies around another door. This wasn''t going to be easy.

 Chapter 12 .

    Lily


    "What are we going to do?" Monica whispered.


    Hunter looked from the left to the right and then looked to me as if I had the answers.


    "Maybe we could make a noise to distract them downstairs or something," I whispered, but I really didn''t want to repeat the process of killing many zombies in between a door and its frame.  "Maybe we could somehow lure them into one room and lock them in there."


    Hunter seemed to like that suggestion.


    "Let''s go . . .," he started, but a zombie head turned our way and moaned loudly.  Several zombie heads turned in our direction.


    "Go back," Hunter waved Grant and Monica to go back down the stairs.


    They turned around and started to run down the stairs together.  Maria was close on their heels and Hunter and I followed. There was several feet running behind us, closing in.  Moans mingled together in menacing threats.


    Monica tripped and tumbled down two stairs before her hand reached out and grabbed onto the baluster to keep her from tumbling all the way down.  Grant didn''t hesitate as he leaped over her and continued down the stairs.


    Maria bent down and helped Monica up.  The moans behind us were closer, close enough that goosebumps formed on the back of my neck.  We weren''t going to make it. Hunter and I turned around almost in complete synchronicity.


    The stairs were large enough that the zombies could come down two at a time, but that didn''t stop the zombies from behind to push the zombies in front.  The front zombies were directly behind us. Hunter stabbed his knife into the temple of the zombie in front of him. I brought my ax down hard through the skull of the zombie in front of me.  Normally, the zombie would have the height advantage being higher on the stairs, but she was short and I was tall.


    I withdrew my ax as Hunter withdrew his knife.  Maria''s and Monica''s footsteps retreated down the stairs behind us.  The zombies in front of us dropped to our feet. The zombies directly behind them tripped over their downed bodies.  But even as the zombie fell over the one at my feet, reached out, grabbed my leg and tried to bite it with his teeth that were red with blood.


    A door slammed somewhere below us, but since Maria''s and Monica''s footsteps just reached the bottom of the stairs, I assumed Grant retreated into a room by himself and shut all of us out.


    "Lily!" Maria screamed.  "Run!"


    But I couldn''t run.  I had a zombie attached to my leg.  Hunter stabbed the zombie that had tripped in front of him.  The zombie that had a hold of my leg bit me. My heart dropped and my only thought was that I let my family down.  Then I realized there wasn''t any pain nor could I feel a zombie mouth. I looked down as another zombie tripped and started to crawl towards me over the zombie that was gnawing at my jeans but not breaking the skin.


    "Grant!" Monica called out from somewhere below us.  "Let us in!"


    "Come out and fight, coward!" Maria said instead.  I heard her footsteps as she bounded up the stairs.


    The next zombie in front of Hunter was once Mark Turner, a defensive lineman on the football team.  He didn''t trip over the downed zombies in front of him but instead walked over them to grab Hunter''s arms and tried to bite his arm.  Hunter was pushed back several steps.


    I couldn''t worry about the zombie biting at my jeans as a fourth zombie walked over the tripped zombies at my feet.  I swung my ax sideways into his head and he fell into the zombie that was trying to get at Hunter and the Mark Turner zombie.  The ax slipped out of my hands in the process. My pants leg was starting to lift up and the zombie''s teeth was getting dangerously close to my flesh.


    The scuffling behind me grew louder, but I couldn''t spare a glance for Hunter and Maria.  The second zombie at my feet grabbed onto my other leg and bit at my pants. The fifth, and last zombie in front of me walked on top of the two at my feet and grabbed my shoulders.  I tried to take out a spare kitchen knife, but I had to bring my arms up to hold back the head that was trying to gnaw at my face. With two zombies grabbing my legs and one grabbing both my shoulders, I was completely pinned.


    My pant leg lifted higher and I could feel the chill as my skin was now exposed.  Something wet dripped onto my leg and I didn''t know if it was blood or saliva from the zombie at my feet.


    I summoned all my strength to that leg and tried to step back, but the zombie was too strong and my foot shuffled only slightly back.  I couldn''t do anything. It was only a matter of time now until they bit me and then I would turn into one of them. But that couldn''t happen.  I had to get Mackenzie and our parents to Tanner. I tried again to move my foot, but with the same results. I decided I would take the chance that I could hold back the zombie trying to bite at my face with only one hand as the other went for a knife.


    That brief moment my arm dropped, the zombie''s head zoomed in to my face to where I could actually feel cold flesh against my flesh.  I brought my arm immediately back up to block him further and I closed my eyes as I tilted my head back and away as far as it would go.  I was off balance now and the only things keeping me from tumbling down the stairs were the zombies that held me in place.


    The zombie directly in front of me dropped his hands from my shoulders and without him holding me up, my back tilted backwards.  The other two zombies held my feet firmly in place, but my top half was falling. My eyes flashed open and I flailed my arms to try and keep my balance.  I saw Darren beside the dead zombie in front of me. He retracted scissors from the zombie''s temple and the zombie crumbled on top of the two zombies at my feet.Stolen novel; please report.


    I fell backwards, but someone warm was behind me holding me up.  "I''ve got you," Maria said.


    And then Hunter was there at my feet.  He stabbed the heads of the two zombies at my feet in rapid succession.  I pulled my feet out of their slack grasps.


    "Thank you," I said to Hunter, "and thank you," I said to Darren.  Darren smiled as I turned to hug Maria. "And thank you," I said into her curly hair.


    She patted my back.  "Are you okay? Did they bite you?"


    I pulled away.  "No. I don''t think so."  I patted my cheeks to be sure and lifted my pant legs to expose my calves.  No bite marks.


    "You did well," Hunter said to Darren.


    "Thank you," Darren said, but his eyes scanned over me to make sure I was truly all right.  Darren was dressed as a jedi complete with a fake lightsaber at his hip. His medium brown hair was a tousled mess, but it usually was.  He had a tendency of pulling at his hair mindlessly when he was anxious. He pushed up his glasses as he wiped the bloody scissors on the back of the zombie''s shirt.


    "Are you guys all right?" Monica asked as she came back up the stairs.  "Grant locked himself in the study. He won''t come out."


    "We''ll get him in a moment," Hunter said.  "For now, you and Maria need to change into clothes that will protect you from zombie bites."


    "Right," Monica said.  She took Maria''s hand as if the two had been best friends since forever and not just general acquaintances that attended the same high school.  I retrieved my ax as the two of them led the way up the stairs and to the door on the right that the zombies had previously been at. It wasn''t the room Darren came from.  That room had been on the left and the door was still open.


    Monica opened the door.  A male screamed from inside.  Monica and Maria screamed from the outside.  Hunter and I looked at each other and rolled our eyes.


    Darren said, "Richard?" and pushed his way passed Monica and Maria.


    "Oh, Darren.  Thank goodness."  The male voice said.


    Hunter and I followed Monica and Maria inside.


    "What are you doing inside my room?" Monica asked as the two jedis hugged each other.  One 5''7", skinny with glasses and the other 6''1" with quite a large belly and black hair that clung to his head.


    Hunter walked over to Darren, grabbed his wrist and pulled him away from Richard.


    "I didn''t know this was your room," Richard said.  "I just needed some place to hide."


    "Come on, Richard," Hunter said as he pulled Darren out of the room.  "The girls need to change."


    I followed Hunter and the boys.  There was no reason for me to stay.  I was already changed. We went down the stairs.  At some point Hunter let go of Darren''s wrist.


    "Are you really all right?" Darren asked me.


    "I''m fine," I said.  "Thank you. You saved my life."


    Did Darren just blush?  Did this 5''7" jedi have a crush on my 5''11" self?  I hoped not. I wasn''t interested. I already had my unrequited crush.  Hunter.


    Hunter pounded on the closed door of the room where we had killed all those zombies earlier.


    "Open up, Grant," Hunter said meanly.


    "Be quiet," Grant hushed from the otherside of the door.  "You''ll bring the zombies."


    "There are no more zombies inside the house," Hunter said.  "Now open up."


    The door opened just a crack.  "Are you sure?"


    Hunter gripped the door and ripped it open.  Grant fell forward onto the zombies we already killed.  He scrambled backwards mortified, but Hunter bent low, grabbed him by the collar and lifted him to his feet.


    "If you ever abandon us again," Hunter practically growled, "I will find you and throw you to the zombies myself.  Understand?"


    Grant nodded frantically.


    We waited at the front door for the girls to come down.  We didn''t have to wait too long.


    "We''ll all pile into Lily''s car and we''ll drop Grant, Monica and Richard off at Grant''s car," Hunter said.


    "Why Richard?" Darren asked.  "He should stay with us."


    "Because I don''t trust Grant, so I want people with him I do trust," Hunter said.  "Speaking of, Grant give Monica your car keys."


    "No way," Grant said.


    "Give her your keys," Hunter commanded.  "I don''t trust you to drive. She will drive.  Richard will sit in the front passenger seat and you will sit in the back so you don''t cause problems."


    "This is ridiculous," Grant said.  "No way I''m letting anyone but me drive my car."


    "Then I will take your keys by force and leave you here," Hunter said.


    Grant fished his keys out of his pocket and handed them to Hunter who in turn handed them to Monica.


    "We''ll go to Grant''s house next," Hunter said.  "That''s where most of our parents will be. Will all of your parents be at that party or do we need to stop at other places?"


    "My parents texted me," Richard said.  "They were heading outside the city. I was supposed to meet them somehow."


    "Give Lily your phone.  She can text them where we are going to meet Grace and Tanner.  They can meet us there too."


    Richard handed me his phone.


    "My parents are at the party," Darren said.


    "Mine too," Monica said.


    "And mine," Maria said.


    "Monica, do you have dried food or canned food and water you can pack to take with us and maybe camping supplies like a tent?" Hunter asked.


    Monica nodded.


    "Good.  Take everyone and gather up supplies quickly."


    Hunter and I stayed by the front door as the others followed Monica to collect supplies.


    I typed a message to Richard''s parents with directions to the diner.


    "Are you sure it''s a good idea bringing Grant?" I asked Hunter quietly so the others in the house wouldn''t hear.


    "No," he said, "but we need his car.  And I don''t want to start abandoning people if it can be avoided.  Do you think we should abandon him?"


    "I don''t want to start abandoning people either," I said, "but he might put us in dangerous situations."


    "He might," Hunter conceded.  "I''ll do what you think is best.  If you want to leave him, we''ll leave him."


    "Maybe his parents will be fine and we can just leave him with them," I said, but with a party that big, the zombie outbreak was sure to have hit it hard.


    "And if not?"


    I sighed.  "We can''t abandon him.  I don''t want to be that type of person."


    "Neither do I," Hunter said.


    The others came back with backpacks stuffed with food and water and camping supplies including a tent.


    There weren''t any zombies outside.  Victory was circling the block slowly to make sure the zombies were following her.  We all ran to my car with the supplies and piled in. Maria and Monica had to sit on laps.  Maria chose Hunter''s in the front passenger''s seat. Monica chose Grant''s. I drove them around the corner to Grant''s car.  Luckily, there weren''t any zombies around.


    Monica, Grant and Richard scrambled out with their arms full of the things they brought from Monica''s house.  Hunter and Maria got out to help them.  They put everything in Grant''s trunk.  When they were finished, Maria went in the backseat with Darren.


    Grant went for the driver''s door of his car, but after he saw the look Hunter gave him he moved to the backseat.  Monica got into the driver''s seat and Richard sat beside her in the passenger''s seat.


    "Follow us," Hunter said to Monica.  She nodded as she started up Grant''s car.  Hunter got back in the passenger''s side of my car.


    We drove back to the main street.  Victory saw us and pulled in behind Monica.  We sped up and left the zombies behind. I only had one thought on my mind as I hurried to the parent''s Halloween party.  I prayed my parents were still alive.

 Chapter 13 .

    Lily


    I steered the hatchback onto the street of Grant''s house.  My foot automatically began to ease off the accelerator when I saw the huge number of zombies in front of Grant''s house and the neighboring houses.  We wouldn''t be able to park next door to sneak inside.


    My stomach dropped when I realized the chances of my parents surviving - any of our parents - that party was extremely unlikely.  I crawled to a stop in the middle of the road far enough from the house that the zombies hadn''t noticed us.


    Victory pulled up on the passenger''s side and rolled down the window.  Hunter rolled down his window so he could speak with her. Mackenzie seemed to be okay in the passenger seat.  I couldn''t see the boys, but there wasn''t any crying so I assumed they were okay. Molly''s head suddenly came between Mackenzie and Victory and I could no longer see my sister.


    "What''s the plan?" Victory asked.  "I''ll lure them away again."


    "I don''t know, Vicky," Hunter said.  "If the zombies surround the van, I''m afraid you guys won''t be able to get away."


    "We have to," Victory said.  "Our parents are in there."


    I had a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach that our parents wouldn''t be as we hoped.


    Monica pulled up on my side and their passenger side window rolled down.  "What''s the plan?" she asked across Richard.


    I looked at Hunter.  He looked at me. "I don''t want to leave the kids alone this time to draw the zombies," he said.


    "So we leave a driver with each of the vehicles and the rest of us will go in while they distract the zombies.  They can drive around together to watch each others backs," I said.


    Hunter nodded.  "All right," he said.  "Monica can stay in Grant''s car.  Darren can drive your car."


    "I want to go in too," Darren said.  "My parents are in there."


    "Mine too," Maria pointed out.


    "The girl should stay with the car," Darren said.


    "What?" Maria and I both asked at the same time.


    "You think I''m weak because I''m a girl?" Maria''s voice grew louder.


    Hunter and I both shushed her.  I looked at the zombies down the street, but none of them had taken note of us yet.


    "That''s not what I meant," Darren said.


    "But it''s what you said," Maria said accusingly.


    "We don''t have time to argue," I said.  "Just do rock, paper, scissors."


    They both frowned at me.  Hunter scowled at me, but I wasn''t sure why.  I thought it was a perfectly reasonable suggestion.


    Maria and Darren put their fists together and did rock, paper, scissors.  Maria threw rock. Darren did scissors.


    "Ha," she said triumphant in her victory.


    "Darren, Monica," I said, "do either of you know how to shoot a gun?"


    Darren shook his head while Monica said, "My dad takes me to the shooting range every two weeks."


    I put the car in park and got out.  The others followed me. Darren got into the driver''s seat with a frown on his face.  He had to adjust the seat forward since he was shorter than me.


    Richard and Grant exited Grant''s car.  I leaned in through the passenger window to give Monica the gun.  "Only use it in an emergency," I said. "The sound might attract more zombies."  Monica nodded.


    Grant called out to Monica to pop the trunk.  Hunter and I both shushed him. I looked at the large congregation of zombies.  A few heads were turned our way, but most of the zombies still milled about aimlessly.  The few that looked in our direction were very still. I pulled Maria and Richard and moved towards the back of the cars where the zombies couldn''t see us.  Hunter followed us.


    Grant moved the items in the trunk around and pulled out a lug wrench.  Then he shut the trunk quietly. He tested it just to make sure the trunk was really shut.  We went around the back of the cars to the van.


    Hunter went to the back passenger side door and opened it.  Molly licked his face and he patted her on top of her head. He took out one of his kitchen knives and handed it to Richard.  I went to the front passenger side window. Mackenzie rolled down her window. I reached in and hugged her.This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.


    "Be careful," I told her.


    "You''re the one going inside a house full of zombies," she said quietly.  "You be careful. You have to come back, Lily. No matter what."


    "I will," I said.


    "I mean it," she said.  "If our parents are zombies, you have to leave them and come back to me."


    "Don''t worry, Kenzie," Victory said.  She reached over and squeezed my sister''s hand.  "Hunter is with her. They''ll both come back. And in the meantime, I''ll take care of you."


    "I''ll come back," I said.  "I promise."


    Hunter and the others stood behind me now.  I turned back to the task at hand. Mackenzie was safer in the van than with me, but I didn''t like leaving her out of my sight.


    "Everyone has a weapon now, right?" Hunter asked.  We all nodded. My hand gripped the ax handle tightly.  He led the way towards the front of the vehicles. I glanced at the group of zombies, but none of them watched us now.


    "We''ll move stealthily among the houses until we get to the party house," Hunter said to us and the drivers.  To the drivers - and mostly his sister - he said, "Draw as many zombies as you can, but stay together in a group.  Don''t get separated. If the zombies start to surround you or get too close, drive away quickly and then come back to draw them away."


    All three drivers nodded that they understood.  The windows on the vehicles went up and Victory led the way.  The rest of us who were on foot, ran as quietly as we could to the nearest yard.  We peeked around it''s fence and watched.


    The three vehicles slowed down in front of the house.  The children started shouting at the zombies from the van.  Monica and Darren joined them. The zombies in the yards ran in a lumbering rush to the vehicles.  There were so many of them.


    Victory took off and Monica and Darren quickly followed.  The drove down the street in a v formation with the van in the lead.  They slowed down slightly when they realized they were losing the zombies.  The children continued to shout from the van, but Monica and Darren seemed to be concentrating on driving now.  Other zombies joined the large mass that was now trailing behind the vehicles.


    We quickly made our way through the empty yards, hiding behind fences to make sure the next yard was clear until we made it to Grant''s house.  The front door was open. There were several different pools of blood on the porch, on the grass and down the sidewalk. Bloody handprints were on the front door.


    We crept quietly up to the door - Hunter and I in the lead, the three others followed.  The yells of the children grew distant. Hunter and I carefully looked through the front door.  I was careful not to touch the door frame and the blood that still dripped from it.


    There were about a dozen zombies wandering the back of the room.  They hadn''t noticed us yet. Off to the side of the living room was an open door.  Hunter and I stepped away from the front door and turned to the others.


    "Any suggestions?" Hunter whispered.


    "There are a lot of zombies in that room to fight," I whispered, "and there will probably be more in the house."  And my arms and legs ached from all the fighting we had already done.


    "The door to that side room is open," Hunter whispered.  "Maybe we could lure them in there."


    "Then we would be trapped in the parlor with them," Grant whispered harshly.


    "I''m assuming there are windows you can crawl out of," Hunter whispered.


    Grant nodded.


    "Let''s check the side yard to make sure it''s zombie free," I whispered.  I didn''t want to get trapped between two groups of zombies.


    We made our way quietly to the side of the house.  There weren''t any zombies. Some could be seen wandering around the backyard, but they were far away and didn''t take any notice of us.


    We looked into the first window.  Grant and Hunter were in the lead.  I looked over Hunter''s shoulder, Maria was beside me and Richard was on the other side of her.


    This room was also filled with zombies.


    "Now what do we do?" Richard whispered.


    Hunter froze in front of me.  I followed the direction of his eyes to see what he was staring at.  It was Mr. Sang, Hunter''s dad. Hunter''s zombie dad. I scanned each of the zombie''s faces dreading the possibility that one of them would be my parent.


    "There''s a body," Richard whispered as he pointed.  We all followed his finger to the body of a woman lying on the floor in a pool of blood.  Her stomach and neck had been ripped open. There were several gashes along her arms and legs.  Her face was left untouched. My heart dropped when I recognized the face. Mrs. Sang.


    Hunter quickly left the window.  He didn''t go far, just far enough he couldn''t see into the window.  He put his back against the stone bricks. Tears dripped from his eyes and down his cheeks.  He rubbed a hand over his heart as if it hurt.


    "Why didn''t she turn?" Maria asked.  Richard and I were the only ones who seemed to notice Hunter''s despair.  Richard walked in front of Hunter and placed a large, comforting hand on Hunter''s shoulder.  I slid my hand in Hunter''s and gave it a gentle squeeze.


    Richard and Hunter were no longer in front of the window, but I still was.  I looked at Mrs. Sang again searching for any head trauma, but I didn''t see any.  There was a pool of dark blood underneath her, but not around her head.


    "I don''t see any head wounds," Maria said.  "Maybe we should take her body with us. We could take her to the CDC.  Maybe she was immune and they can create a cure."


    "Mom?" Grant suddenly said and then louder he cried out, "Mom!"  He pounded on the window to get his zombie mom''s attention.


    All the zombies turned to the window.


    "Oh my god, you are such an idiot!" Maria yelled at him.


    "Run back to the front!" Hunter yelled.


    I took Maria''s hand and we ran after Hunter and Richard.  Grant''s footsteps followed behind us. There was a loud crash as the zombies burst through the windows.  I turned my head to look. Glass shards littered the grass. The zombies didn''t think to climb out of the windows so they just fell face first to the ground.  They also didn''t avoid the glass shards still stuck in the glass pane. The shards cut through the zombies, but the zombies didn''t act hurt by the gashes and the blood left in the window panes.  Once they fell out, they were quick to get back up and chase after us. The green glow in their pupils was clearer as the night grew darker. Their moans echoed through the night and the zombies from the backyard began to run into the side yard.


    We got to the front of the house and ran in through the front door.  The last of the zombies that had been in the living room ran into the side room.  Hunter ran to it and closed the door just as Maria closed the front door. The zombies pounded loudly on both doors.  Moans came from all directions of the house. We huddled together and held our breaths. I readied my ax in front of me.

 Chapter 14 .

    Lily


    We silently waited.  Our weapons were at the ready.  The pounding on the doors gradually stopped.  The moans from over the house settled down. We let out a collective sigh of relief.


    "Both of my parents are dead," Hunter said.  "And Grant''s mom. We can''t give up hope that there are survivors hiding in this house.  Let''s find them."


    He was being so brave and putting his own sorrows aside to help the rest of us.  This was not helping my crush.


    "Any suggestions on where to start?" Hunter asked Grant.


    "That way," Grant pointed to a hallway to the left.  Hunter led us as we silently crept to the hallway. We all stepped over the puddles of blood that dotted the carpet.


    We came across a closed doorway.  There was blood and scuff marks along the door.  Hunter knocked quietly and we all held our breaths as we listened.  The door opened a crack and an eye peeked through from the other side.  The door opened wider and Maria''s mother greeted us from the other side.


    Maria pushed her way between Grant and Hunter and threw her arms around her mother''s neck.  She cried into her shoulder. Her mother cried silently with her and patted her head. She wasn''t alone.  There were three other women in the bathroom that I didn''t recognize. They were dressed in a variety of costumes.  All of them were too revealing for a zombie apocalypse.


    There was a moan from down the hall.  A zombie came into the hall and saw us.  His moans grew louder and two more zombies showed up behind him.  They were all bloody. Moans came from the opposite end of the hall.  Three more zombies entered the hall on that end.


    "Quick.  Hide in here."  Maria''s mother pulled Maria in, but the bathroom was  already crowded. Grant eagerly went into the bathroom, but while Richard and I hesitated wondering if that was the best course, Hunter stepped out in front of us and readied his hunting knife.  I readied my ax and Richard readied his own knife.


    When Maria saw us, she stepped back out beside me and readied her knife.  The zombies at either end rushed us. We stood back to back, Hunter against my back and Richard against Maria''s.  When Maria''s mom saw we were not going in the bathroom she charged out to stand next to her daughter with the toilet plunger in her hands.  More zombies came into the hall, but I couldn''t spare them a glance as the first zombie was close to me now.


    I brought my ax down hard into the top of her head and she collapsed to a heap on the floor.  Maria stuck her knife in the eye of the zombie in front of her even as his hands grabbed her arms.  She pulled her knife out. Blood squirted from his eye as he fell at her feet.


    Hunter and Richard shuffled behind us as they fought off the zombies in front of them.  Hunter''s back pressed into mine several times. I would have turned to see if he needed help, but Maria''s mom was barely holding off the zombie in front of her with the toilet plunger.  Both Maria''s mom and the zombie held onto the toilet plunger. It was turned on its side and raised in front of both of their faces. The zombie''s mouth opened wide and bit one of her fingers.


    Maria screamed, her mom screamed as the zombie bit through the finger, chewed it and swallowed it.  His head bent for another bite, but Maria stabbed it violently in the temple. Maria''s mother looked in horror at the stump where her finger had just been.  I grabbed her wrist and pulled it to the carpeted floor. I didn''t hesitate as I chopped off the remaining stub with my ax. I just hoped I got to it in time.  The ladies in the bathroom pulled her back in and immediately began to wrap her wound.


    Maria still screamed as she stuck her knife into the next zombie head.  I stood up ready to face the next zombie, but I froze when I saw my own mother in front of me.  There was no recognition in her eyes. Her pupils glowed green. Blood dripped from the corners of her open mouth.  Her teeth were covered in the red liquid. Her hands gripped my shoulders. Somewhere inside me I was aware of Maria screaming Hunter''s name, but I couldn''t move, couldn''t think as I saw my mom''s mouth get ever closer to my face.


    My mom was pulled off me.  Her fingers lingered on my shoulders until she was completely pulled away.  I saw it as Hunter plunged his knife in her temple, but I didn''t really register it.  Then Hunter was in front of me with blood dripping from his knife and over his gloved hands.


    "Are you all right?" he asked me.  His eyes scanned over me for bites.


    "I wasn''t bitten."  It was my voice, but I didn''t consciously say it.  I sounded hollow - monotone.


    "We need to survive now," Hunter whispered to me.  "We can grieve later."


    That brought me out of my trance and a tear spilled onto my cheek.  I brushed it away roughly and nodded. There were now only dead zombies in the hall, but there were moans around us in various places of the house.


    "Let''s continue," Hunter said.


    He led the way down the hall.  The ladies followed us. Maria''s mom was between them holding the bandage around her hand.  Maria stood close to her mother. Richard and Grant were taking up the rear, but one of the ladies took the knife away from Grant and said, "You''re a coward like your father," and pushed Grant in front of her so she was now walking in the rear with Richard.Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work!


    We rounded the corner of the hall where my mom had come from.  We were now inside a large kitchen. Various food items and drinks were on the kitchen counters and table for the guests.  Some were knocked to the floor and mixed with the blood.


    "There''s another dead body," Maria whispered from behind me.


    Behind the table I could see the unmoving legs of a man.  My stomach turned. I recognized the pants. I couldn''t move.  Hunter didn''t know yet and went around the table to where the head would have been and stopped.  His eyes met mine and I knew.


    Grant had joined Hunter, but Hunter didn''t seem to notice.  "This one doesn''t have a head wound either. Why didn''t they turn?" Grant asked.


    I grabbed the nearest bowl on the counter and threw up in it.  Maria was there patting my back gently. I stared at my vomit that mixed with the chips in the bowl before I quickly put the bowl back on the counter and turned away from it.


    "What''s wrong with her?" Grant asked.


    "This is her dad," Hunter said quietly.


    "Oh," Grant said.


    "Everyone make sure you have a knife or weapon of some kind and let''s continue," Hunter said.  The ladies that didn''t have weapons grabbed the kitchen knives. Grant grabbed several. Maria''s mom took one too.  Her skin was beginning to take on a sickly color. I wasn''t sure if she would turn soon or if it was because she lost so much blood.


    We still hadn''t found Maria''s and Grant''s dads or Darren''s and Monica''s parents.  Actually, I didn''t know what their parents looked like. The woman who took the knife away from Grant and called him a coward kind of looked like Darren.  Maybe she was his mom.


    We went to the closed door at the back of the kitchen.  Hunter opened it and peeked out. He opened the door all the way and led us out.  He and I listened to the first door we came across. Low groans and shuffling of feet greeted us.  We didn''t bother to open it. We moved on and came to another door. We listened, but didn''t hear anything.  Hunter knocked quietly, but there was no response. He opened the door. Someone gasped behind us at the carnage inside, but I didn''t know who.


    Body parts were strewn all across the room.  Blood was splattered across the walls and carpet.  It had been a bedroom - I guessed a guest bedroom - but now the headboard was broken and the mattress and quilt were in tatters.  A cool breeze came in through a shattered window. The window frame was half in and half out of the house. Hunter closed the door and we went on our way.


    "What could have done that?" Maria whispered.


    As bad as the zombies were, we hadn''t come across any carnage like that tonight.  Hunter gave a look like he knew, but I thought I was the only one who noticed. Everyone else seemed clueless.


    "Maybe there''s a different kind of zombie we haven''t come across yet," Richard said.  "A really big vicious one we don''t ever want to come across."


    Hunter didn''t say anything, just led us on.  We came to the stairs. We slowly went up them.  We went slowly down the hallway. There was an open door to the left.  Moans and shuffling came from the room. Hunter went in the doorframe just enough to grab the door handle.  The moans grew louder and the zombies inside ran at him. Hunter slammed the door shut. The zombies from the other side of the door began to bang on it.  I tightened my grip on the handle of my ax.


    Moans came from all over the house.  We waited, but no zombies appeared in the hall before us.  The banging from the other side of the door quieted and footsteps shuffled away.


    The next door we came across was closed.


    "My bedroom," Grant whispered.


    Hunter put his ear up to the door.  I couldn''t hear anything from within.  Hunter opened the door slightly and looked inside.  Two women and a man stood up from the other side of Grant''s bed where they had been crouched.  All of them were crying.


    "What''s happening?" the woman asked.


    "Zombie apocalypse," Richard said.


    "What are you doing in my room?" Grant asked accusingly.


    We all gave him a disgusted look.


    "What?" he asked.


    Hunter shook his head before he asked.  "Do you have anything in your room that could be used as a weapon.  Scissors, a baseball bat, anything?"


    "No," Grant said.  Then his expression changed.  "Wait. I have golf clubs."


    He went into his room and opened his closet.  He pulled out a bag of golf clubs. "These are expensive though," he said.


    "No one cares anymore," Hunter said.  He snatched 3 of the golf clubs out of the golf bag and handed them to the three adults that had hidden in Grant''s room.  "Let''s go."


    We went down the hall and stopped to listen at every closed door.  There were zombie moans behind every one. The same was true with the last door.  We were going to just leave, but Grant said, "That''s my parent''s bedroom. There is a bathroom in there too.  Maybe my dad is hiding in the bathroom."


    Hunter and I looked at each other.


    "Let''s just leave," the woman that had called Grant a coward said.  "He isn''t worth it."


    "Don''t say that about my dad," Grant said.


    "Maybe if you saw what I did, you wouldn''t be defending him," she said.


    Grant was silent.


    "What did you see?" I asked.


    "He and his wife were running up the stairs together," the woman said.  But I knew we had already seen Grant''s mom in that room downstairs. "The zombies were running after them, were going to catch them so your dad threw your mom down the stairs so he could get away."


    Grant shook his head.  "My dad wouldn''t do that."


    "He did do that," the woman said loudly.  The moans in the rooms grew loud. Banging came from the other side of the door that we stood in front of.


    "Regardless," Hunter interjected, "I don''t want to become the type of person that leaves people behind."  He opened the door just barely and stabbed the first zombie head that came into view. The door started to open wider as many zombie hands tried to open it and Hunter was keeping it closed with just one hand while the other stabbed another zombie.


    Richard pushed his way to the front to stand by Hunter.  He took over the door for Hunter. He held on with both hands.  Even though there were many zombies trying to open it, he was strong enough to keep the door opened just a crack.  A zombie head poked out at waist level and tried to bite Richard''s fingers. Maria crouched in the space between Richard and Hunter and stabbed at any of the zombies trying to crawl out or bite Richard''s fingers.  I joined Hunter and we alternated with him stabbing and me axing until there weren''t any zombies left.


    Richard pushed open the door and we stepped inside over the pile of dead zombies.  Grant rushed between us and into the room. "Dad?" he called out.


    A door in the back of the room opened and a portly bald man with thick glasses stepped out.  "Son?"


    "Dad!"  Grant rushed over and hugged the man.


    "I couldn''t save her," the man said sadly.  "I tried, son, but I couldn''t save her."


    "I''m telling you," the woman said quietly to me and Hunter, "I saw it myself.  If he wouldn''t hesitate to push his wife to the zombies, he won''t hesitate to do it to any of us."

 Chapter 15 .

    Darren


    Monica and I followed the van in the cars.  A large group of zombies followed us. More zombies came from neighboring yards as we drove around the block and the group behind us grew even more.  When we were two blocks away from Grant''s house, Hunter''s little sister sped up. We matched her speed and we soon left the zombies behind us. In the rearview mirror I could see they were beginning to disperse now that they were trailing behind us and we were no longer shouting.


    Victory led us back to Grant''s street.  I almost stopped in shock when I saw the front lawn covered with zombies again.  There weren''t as many as before, but more than there should have been. The front door was closed where it had been opened before.  I hoped that meant the others were safe. Especially Lily. She was brave, beautiful, smart, strong and just perfect. I didn''t understand how she didn''t have a boyfriend.  If I hadn''t been so short and nerdy looking and a year younger, I would have asked her out.


    The first time I ever saw her was my first day of high school.  She was a sophomore. I saw a group of older kids picking on one particular freshman, and Lily went up, put her arm around his shoulder and led him away from his tormentors.  She was a lot taller than him. She was a lot taller than me, but I had a crush on her ever since. I told my friends about my crush once and most of them teased me about the height difference.  Richard was one of the few in our group of friends who didn''t. Now they were all dead or zombies except Richard.


    I didn''t have any sense of fashion, didn''t really care about fashion.  I had a bad habit of tugging on my hair so it always looked messy. I washed and brushed it every morning, but by the time evening came it looked like a bird''s nest.  I had to wear glasses because contacts irritated my eyes too much. I had planned to get lasik surgery when I was older, but that probably wouldn''t happen now as we were in the middle of the world dying.  I really needed to be careful not to break my glasses because I was terribly nearsighted. I wouldn''t be able to tell if it was a zombie running at me or a human.


    The kids starting yelling from the windows of the van drawing the attention of the zombies.  Monica and I followed suit. I cracked my window only a little. No use giving the zombies an opportunity to bite me.  We followed Victory as she led us down a different street than the previous one before circling back to Grant''s house once we lost the zombies.  We parked in front of the house and waited.


    We didn''t have to wait long before Hunter and Lily ran out of the house followed by the others and a group of adults.


    Hunter, Lily, Maria and a woman who looked like Maria with a bloody cloth wrapped around her hand came running towards the hatchback while Richard, Grant and a man ran to Grant''s car.  The other group of adults ran to other cars.


    Lily sat in the front passenger side while the other three got in the back.  I almost put the car in gear to leave, but noticed an unmistakable figure.


    I rolled down my window and yelled out, "Mom!"


    My mom stopped, looked around and when her eyes fell on me she immediately began to cry.  She tossed her car keys to one of the other ladies she had been running with.


    "Take my car and go find your families," she said to the ladies.  "I''ve found mine."


    She ran to the driver''s side of the hatchback, cupped my cheeks in her hands and kissed me all over the face.  Her wet tears fell on both of us.


    "I''m okay, mom," I said.


    "Get in, Mrs. Smith," Hunter said.  My mom opened the back door and scrambled in.  Now there were four people crammed in the back seat.  I paused to look at Hunter. Most people assumed my last name - Harris - was the same as my mom''s.  Only my friends knew that my parents were divorced and my mom had remarried. Hunter knew though. I had no idea he knew that much about me.  I had never spoken to him before tonight. I obviously knew who he was. Everyone in school knew who he was. The handsome, mysterious recluse that exuded this aura that made him stand out.Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.


    "Jack?" I asked my mom about my stepdad.  She shook her head and more tears spilled from her eyes.  I knew that he was either dead or a zombie.


    I fought back my own tears then.  Jack had married my mom when I was 14 so he had only been in our lives a few years, but he had treated us better than my real dad ever had.


    "Darren," Hunter said.  "Pull up alongside the van.  I need to speak to my sister."


    I nodded and complied.  The cars with the other parents were leaving.


    Lily and Hunter rolled down the passenger side windows as we came up to the driver''s side of the van.


    "Where are they going?" Victory asked indicating the other cars.


    "They are going their own way to try and find their families," Hunter said.


    "What about mom and dad?" Lily''s little sister asked across Victory.


    Lily shook her head slowly as tears spilled down her cheeks.  Her little sister started to cry which only made Lily cry harder so little sounds of sorrow accompanied her tears.  I patted her shoulder awkwardly. I wished I was her boyfriend and could just hug her, but I wasn''t. Hunter noted my hand on Lily''s shoulder, but he didn''t say anything.  He turned his attention back to Victory.


    "Mom and dad?" Victory asked Hunter.


    "They didn''t make it," Hunter''s voice almost sounded strong until the last moment when it hitched.


    "But mom . . ." Victory''s voice trailed off.


    "She didn''t turn into a zombie," Hunter said.  "I think when she saw dad turn, she just let the zombies . . ." He couldn''t continue.  Tears were now freely falling down his cheeks. Large tears fell from Victory''s eyes.


    "We''ve got to get out of town now and find Grace and Tanner," Hunter finally said.


    Victory nodded and wiped away the tears on her cheeks.


    "Do you want to keep driving or do you want me to?" Hunter asked her.


    Victory''s eyes darted behind the cars - Monica was waiting behind me for us to move.


    "Zombies," she said.


    We all turned and looked at a large group of zombies running towards us down the street.  They looked like the last group we had led away. I guessed we hadn''t led them far enough away.


    "I''ll keep driving," Victory said.


    "Follow us," Hunter told her.  "Don''t try to take the lead."


    She looked disappointed, but nodded her accord.


    Hunter reached passed Maria and her mother and tapped the back of my seat.  "Head to the freeway," he said.


    That was when Maria''s mother started to convulse.  Her eyes rolled into the back of her head so only the whites showed.


    "No, mom," Maria pleaded.  Tears spilled from her eyes as she grabbed onto her mom''s shoulders and shook her.  Hunter didn''t hesitate as he opened the passenger side door as the zombies got closer.  He pulled the convulsing woman over the crying Maria. Maria tried to pull her mom back from Hunter''s grasp, but Lily grabbed her arm.  Tears streamed from her eyes too. Maria let go and Hunter was able to drag her mother from the car.


    "It''s too late, Maria," Lily cried.  "It''s too late."


    Just as she said that Maria''s mom stopped convulsing, but her eyes flashed open with green in her pupils and a snarl on her lips.  Hunter stabbed her through the temple. He hopped back into the car just as the first of the zombies began to circle Monica''s car.


    I sped away.  Victory followed us and Monica followed her.  Maria silently cried while my mom hugged her. I kept looking in my rear and side mirrors to make sure we didn''t lose the others.  We soon lost the crowd of zombies as we drove through the streets that would take us to the freeway.


    We passed the high school on the way to the freeway entrance.  My foot lifted off the gas pedal. Written on the school - almost glowing - were the words RU in?  The glow was mesmerizing, enticing. The words seemed to pop away from the building and dance in front of my eyes.


    The words pulled to me.  I had to know what it meant.  I wanted to scream, ''Yes, I''m in.''


    "Keep driving," Hunter''s voice broke through my trance.


    "But," I started, but didn''t know exactly what to say.  I just knew I had to check it out. I had to.


    "Keep driving," Lily''s voice pleaded, but it sounded far away and didn''t really register with me.  My foot moved to the brake and I slowed down as I watched the glowing, dominating letters.


    "Darren!"


    My head spun in Hunter''s direction.  He was leaning over the others, standing hunched over in the car staring directly into my eyes.


    "Keep driving," he commanded.


    I nodded and moved my foot from the brake back to the gas and kept driving.  We passed the high school without any further delay and I got on the freeway.


    Wait.  When Hunter had commanded me, were his eyes gray?  I glanced at him quickly. He looked back. His eyes were the dark brown they had always been.  It must have been my imagination. Eye color didn''t just change like that.

 Chapter 16 .

    Tanner


    I had an uneasy sense of dread as we waited behind the multitude of cars on the freeway.  All lanes, medians and emergency lanes were filled with stopped cars trying to abandon the cities.  I wasn''t sure where everyone was going. All cities would be the same. I knew where we were going - to the diner near the freeway to find my sisters and Grace''s siblings.


    I called Lily again and held the phone to my ear.  I waited, but I didn''t even get the all circuits were busy message.  It was only silence. I tried to call Hunter with the number Grace had given me, but the results were the same.


    "I can''t get through," I said to Grace.


    "Try my phone," she said.


    "I can''t get through to anyone either," Connor said.


    "Me neither," Camila and Todd said at the same time.


    "I''ll try Grace''s phone," I said.  I took her phone from her purse and tried to call Hunter first.  I encountered the same issue. It didn''t sound like it was even trying to ring.  I tried my parents and Lily''s number with the same results.


    It was dark outside except for the car lights.  There were cars in front of us, behind us and beside us.  Dr. Higgins truck was directly in front of us. Dr. Smith and Dr. Patel still rode with him.  The students that had been with him were now in their own car stopped beside the truck. It had been a half hour and traffic hadn''t moved at all.


    "It would be faster if we got out and walked," Camila grumbled.


    "What if traffic starts moving as soon as we get out?" Connor asked.


    We waited in silence for a few minutes before Grace said, "Maybe we can convince those behind us to backup and we can take side streets or something."


    She didn''t sound too thrilled with that idea and I wasn''t exactly thrilled with it either.  Side streets meant going through towns where we were more likely to encounter zombies. But as it was, we were at a complete standstill.


    None of us said anything to her suggestion.


    There was a scream from somewhere to the front of us.  We all stiffened. I gave Grace her bow and arrows and grabbed my baseball bat.  The people in the back tightened their hold on their weapons. We waited. There was a moment of silence and then more screams from up ahead.  A few people got out of their cars and passed us as they ran back in the direction we had come from. Terror was on all of their faces. Some carried children, some had weapons or backpacks, but they all ran away.


    Grace and I exchanged a glance.  I grabbed her purse, she grabbed her 24 hour kit and we both got out of the car.  Camila, Todd and Connor followed our lead. I couldn''t see what was happening up ahead, but I could guess from the throngs of people getting out of their cars and running our way.


    Dr. Harris, Dr. Patel and Dr. Smith scrambled from the truck.


    "Run!" Dr. Harris yelled to us and the students in the car next to them.  Dr. Patel crouched and Dr. Smith scrambled onto his back. Dr. Harris carried their weapons as they ran to the concrete barrier to the side of the freeway instead of running along the freeway like everyone else was.  Connor started to run with everyone else, but I grabbed his shoulder and moved him so he faced the barriers.


    "That way," I said.  The students that came with us and our group of friends were the only ones who followed the doctors to the side and over the concrete barriers.  We ran across the grass field as more screams came from the freeway behind us. Dr. Harris had a hand on Dr. Smith''s back to support her as she bounced on Dr. Smith''s back.


    "Holy shit," Connor mumbled breathless.  I turned to him. He had stopped to stare back at the freeway.  I grabbed his arm to pull him along with us, but I froze when I saw the freeway.  There were hundreds of them. Zombies. Chasing the fleeing motorists. They would catch them, bite them and move on to catch more while the ones they just bit spasmed, changed and chased after the retreating humans.Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.


    The few humans that had chosen to remain in their vehicles soon regretted it as the zombies pounded on the windshields until the glass broke.  They obviously didn''t feel pain like we did as they used their arms and fists and didn''t care what broken bones or bruises or cuts they received in the process.  The humans didn''t have anywhere to go as the zombies climbed in and bit them.


    "Run!" Grace screamed at me just as a group of the zombies on the freeway saw us or heard us and stumbled over the concrete barriers to come after us.  I tugged on the sleeve of Connor''s shirt. I ran after the others with Connor beside me. There was a treeline ahead of us.


    "We can hide from them in there," Dr. Harris yelled back to us as he and the other Dr.''s rushed to the trees.  I wasn''t sure that would work, but right now we didn''t have a choice.


    The groans of the zombies echoed in the night behind us.  They didn''t get closer, but we weren''t out running them either.  The Dr.''s hit the treeline first. They stuck together as they veered to the left and forward after they passed the first few trees.  The other students ran through the trees and veered to the right. I wasn''t sure splitting up was a good idea, but I had never been in this position before so maybe it was a great idea.  Maybe it would divide and confuse the zombies trailing after us. Todd and Camila came to the trees first and they veered to the left after the professors. Grace, Connor and I followed them.


    We could see the professors up ahead, but it was getting more difficult to see them as the trees got thicker and blocked out the stars and moon making it even darker.  I wondered if the zombies could see in the dark. I wasn''t willing to take the chance that they couldn''t. We needed to find cover.


    Camila faltered.  Todd grabbed her arm to help steady her.  We caught up to them and we ran together. I could no longer see the professors or hear the other students.  There were groans and footsteps somewhere behind us, but it didn''t sound like they were directly behind us.


    There was a bird calling out somewhere.  We all ignored it except Grace who paused.  I reached out and took her hand. I tried to pull her along with us, but she wouldn''t move.  The others noticed and stopped as they motioned desperately for her to follow. She put one finger up to her lips motioning for us to be quiet.


    The bird called again.  Only then did I realize we hadn''t heard any type of animal or insect until that moment and birds didn''t usually sing at night.


    She clasped my hand tighter, but pulled me slightly to the right where the bird sound was coming from.  The others followed us. I could still hear other footsteps and groans, but I couldn''t tell which direction they were coming from and it didn''t sound like they were getting any closer.


    We came upon a small clearing with a cabin.  A small road led up to it, but there was no car parked in front of it.  It was dark through the windows. All the windows were closed except one.  The bird call rang out again. It came from the open window. Then Dr. Harris''s head poked out and he looked all around.  He saw us and waved us over. The professors made it. At least so far. I hoped the other students had figured out the bird call like Grace had.


    We didn''t need anymore encouragement.  We ran the short distance to the cabin window.  Grace clambered in first followed by Camila, Todd, Connor and myself.  Dr. Patel and Dr. Smith stood nearby in the dark cabin.


    "Where are the other students," Dr. Patel whispered to us.


    "They went the other way," Grace whispered back.


    Dr. Harris leaned his head out the window and made the bird sound again.  He immediately pulled back inside and slid the window closed. "Zombies," he whispered and as if to confirm it, a groan came from somewhere outside.


    Dr. Harris motioned us away from the windows.  We all tiptoed so our backs were against the walls.  We waited in silence as the groan got closer and there was shuffling footsteps at the window Dr. Harris had just been at.


    "How many?" Grace silently mouthed to Dr. Harris.  He held up one finger in reply.


    Grace nodded and slipped passed me towards the window.  My first inclination was to pull her back, but I didn''t.  I trusted her. The zombie''s footsteps shuffled passed the window.  Grace slid the window open just slightly. The zombie moaned and shuffled back to the window.


    Grace''s arm shot out fast and pulled the zombie head in that small space of the open window.  The zombie tried to bite her arm, but she was already moving. The screwdriver she had in her other hand came down hard into the zombie''s temple.  Blood splattered on the windowsill, her arm and hand and the screwdriver. She withdrew the screwdriver and pushed the zombie head back outside. The body crumbled below the window.  I moved beside Grace as she stared out at the dead body.


    A scream pierced the night, but it didn''t sound close.  It was followed by more screams and then silence. I didn''t realize Grace and I both held our breaths until we collectively let out a sigh.


    It was at that moment that the sky flashed green for the second time that night.  I didn''t see it the first time, but Connor had told me about it. I saw it this time.  Goosebumps formed on my arms and the hair at the back of my neck stood up.


    "That''s foreboding," Dr. Smith whispered.

 Interlude 2 and Chapter 17 .

    The In formerly the Unknown


    "Phase one is going as planned?"


    "Yes, Mistress."


    "No problems?"


    "No. Everything is working out as it should. We''ve already had several join us since the initial message went out."


    "Good. Then we can all agree that it is time to initiate phase two?"


    "Yes," several of her companions said.


    She turned her attention back to the underling groveling on the ground in front of her. "Initiate phase two."


    "Yes," he said. He left quickly without looking at her or any of her companions.


    They gathered around the windows to watch the night sky. It didn''t take long before green flashed and blocked out the stars.


    Chapter 17


    Lily


    We had only been driving on the freeway five minutes when the sky flashed green again. Goosebumps formed on my arms. I suddenly felt nauseous. The first time that happened the zombie apocalypse started. What would this second green flash mean?


    The car''s engine sputtered and then completely shut off. The car crawled to a stop.


    "What''s happening?" Darren''s mother asked.


    Maria hadn''t stopped crying since her mother turned. She sat between Hunter and Mrs. Smith.


    I looked in the side mirror. The van and car that Victory and Monica drove stopped behind us. Darren tried to restart the car, but it wouldn''t start.


    "Lily," Hunter said behind me, "is your phone working?"


    I pulled it out of my pocket. The screen was dark. I tried various things to pull up anything on my phone - to just get it off that dark screen, but nothing worked including the power button. "The battery must have died," I said except I knew the last time I looked at it there was plenty of battery life.


    "Mine''s dead too," Mrs. Smith said.


    "Was it something like an EMP?" I asked.


    "EMP''s don''t look like a green flash," Mrs. Smith said.


    "And they don''t cause zombie apocalypses either, but that''s what happened tonight," Hunter snapped.


    "What is happening?" Maria wailed. She held her forehead in her hands.


    "Maybe the car will start up in a few minutes," Darren offered.


    "Maybe if this was a normal EMP," Hunter said, "but it''s not." He got out of the car and started walking to the van. I quickly followed him.


    Victory got out of the van and ran to Hunter throwing her arms around his waist. Mackenzie did the same when she saw me.


    "It''s going to be okay," I said quietly in her hair even though I wasn''t sure I believed it.


    "The van stopped," she said.


    "I know," I said. "The car did too."


    The other three kids and the labrador retriever clambered out of the back of the van. Arthur hugged me and Mackenzie while the other two boys hugged Hunter and Victory. Molly ran around us in circles. She didn''t bark or make any noise other than her paws on the asphalt.


    "What''s going on?" Grant asked as he and the others got out of their car. Darren, his mother and Maria were now standing behind us. Maria had wiped her tears away and was no longer crying. I didn''t know Monica well - tonight was the most I''d ever talked with her - but I decided I liked her when she came and wrapped a comforting arm around Maria''s shoulders. Richard went to stand next to Darren and his mom. Mrs. Smith gave Grant''s dad a dangerous look. He didn''t get too close.


    "Your car shut down too I''m guessing," Hunter said as he hugged Victory and the boys.


    "Yes," Grant said. "What was that green flash?"


    "It happened before," I said. "That''s when the zombies first started."


    "Then what did it do this time?"The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    "Obviously shut down the electronics," Hunter said, but he added quietly, "idiot." Me and the kids were the only ones who heard him.


    Molly whined and put her forepaws on my back. It was more of a push than just jumping on me.


    "We can''t stay on the freeway," Hunter said. "We''ll be obvious targets."


    "But all the stuff we packed," Victory said.


    "We''ll have to carry it as best we can," Hunter said. He went to the van with Victory and the littlest boys. I opened the back of the hatchback. Carrying the canned foods and the water was not going to be easy, but we needed both. Darren, Richard, Maria and Mrs. Smith stood behind me and Mackenzie as we began to pull out items. The camping items were easier to carry as they were already packed. We divided the food and the water so we all carried a little bit of each. I liked this because not only did it divide the weight between us, if something happened to one of us, the rest of us wouldn''t be without food and water.


    We took off our jackets and made them into packs. Even Arthur and the little boys carried something. Grant and his dad looked like they wanted to complain, but couldn''t as even the children were willing to help out.


    "What are your names?" I crouched low in front of the two little boys.


    "Juan," the older of the boys said.


    "Marcos," the littlest one said. I didn''t think he was older than 3.


    "How old are you?" Maria asked as she crouched down next to me.


    "Seven," the older one said.


    The younger one held up 3 fingers.


    "Don''t worry," I stood up straight and took the littlest one''s hands. "We are going to take care of you now. We are all family."


    "Let''s get off the freeway," Hunter said. He led the way off the freeway into the woods.


    We walked silently among the trees for about a half hour before Grant''s dad said, "Maybe we should rest. It''s been a long day."


    I was extremely tired and the way Marcos''s feet shuffled and stumbled on the forest floor I knew he was too. But I didn''t want to sleep and wake up to zombies killing all of us.


    We all looked at Hunter expectantly.


    "I''m hungry," little Marcos said.


    "Do you think the zombies will be attracted to fire?" Monica asked as she stood next to Grant and his dad. "Or do they just have to see or hear humans?"


    Hunter shrugged. "I don''t know. We''ll keep the fire low and take turns with the watch."


    He put down the pack he was carrying.


    "We can''t camp here," Grant''s dad said. "We need an open space to set up the tents."


    Hunter arched a dark eyebrow at him. "We''ll have more cover here. It will be harder for zombies to spot us. And we will be free to run if they do happen to find us. I don''t want to be trapped in a tent."


    "Where are we going to sleep then? Just in the open? On the ground?" Grant''s dad challenged.


    "It''s not like you were going to be on a luxurious bed in a tent," Mrs. Smith said as if he was a complete idiot - which it seemed like he was. She put down her own makeshift pack and cleared a space for her to settle down. She pulled the two youngest boys with her and Darren and Richard settled down around them. They got up when they saw me and Mackenzie gathering firewood. Maria and Monica dug through the food and brought out cans of soup.


    Victory took out a pan while Hunter started a fire. We arranged our sleeping spots while the soup cooked.. When the soup was done we ate - we passed around the pan and we each had our own spoon to save on washing dishes - we discussed who would take watch.


    Hunter and Grant would take the first shift - mainly because we trusted Hunter to be able to do it by himself and we didn''t trust Grant. Victory insisted she take a shift too and then Mackenzie wanted to do it with her, but Grant and his dad didn''t trust two young girls to have a watch alone so Richard volunteered to do the second watch with them.


    Mrs. Smith and Grant''s dad would take the next watch. Monica and Maria would follow and Darren and I would take the last watch.


    Darren washed the dishes when we were through and all of us except for Hunter and Grant settled down to sleep. I thought I was going to have a hard time sleeping on the cold ground, but I slept well. My body jerked awake when Maria gently nudged me. My body ached all over and it wasn''t just because I had slept on the ground. I had fought off a lot of zombies. My muscles had worked more than they were used to. If this was the new world we lived in, my muscles had to get used to it.


    It was still dark out. I got up ignoring my stiff muscles. Maria settled down in her original spot next to where I had just been. Mackenzie was there too and Arthur and Molly. The dog settled protectively around Arthur and had her head on his stomach. Her eyes opened when she heard me moving, but she didn''t move. Her eyes quickly shut.


    Darren sat up with a start when Monica shook his shoulder. He blinked up at her a few moments before he got up. I went to one end of the camp and he went to the other.


    I looked out into the darkness of the trees and listened. An owl hooted from somewhere in the distance. Crickets chirped. A sat on the ground with my back against the tree. I looked over the camp to make sure everyone was where they were supposed to be. Darren watched me. Our eyes met. He blushed and looked away quickly.


    My eyes drifted back to the sleeping Hunter. Streams of moonlight glistened down from between the leaves of the trees and settled on his face giving him a mystical silver aura. It wasn''t fair that he was this handsome. It wasn''t fair that I found him this attractive and he couldn''t see me as more than a sister.


    I tore my eyes away from Hunter and saw Darren looking at me once again. He turned away but this time didn''t blush. I turned my attention back to the dark woods beyond the camp. I listened carefully, but didn''t hear any indication of movement out there in the dark.


    There was a sudden desire to tell my mom that Hunter was my friend again, but that he couldn''t return my crush. Pain ripped through me when I remembered she was dead. That my dad was dead. Stinging tears came to my eyes before I could stop them. There was a painful lump swelling in the back of my throat making it difficult to swallow. How could this be life now? Only hours earlier we had been preparing for our Halloween night, me helping Mackenzie, dad and mom making sure their cowboy/cowgirl costumes matched perfectly. Dad had taken mom''s hands and they had danced in the living room with laughs on their tongues and joy in their eyes. They must have felt such terror when the zombies first started unless...what if my mom had been one of the first ones to collapse. What if my dad had gone to help her and hold her only to see her awaken and attack him. Or what if he had seen the zombies bite my mom. What if he had tried to stop them and in turn got bit. Or what if it was the opposite and my dad had got attacked first and my mom had tried to help him.


    I suppressed a sob and wiped the tears roughly away. I had to be strong for Mackenzie and the others. I couldn''t allow myself a moment of distraction in this zombie filled world.


    A shadowed human form was suddenly there just beyond our camp. Just enough for me to see the shape, but not enough for me to discern features. I jumped to my feet and readied my ax.

 Chapter 18 .

    Lily


    Before I could warn the others, the shadowed form stepped into a ray of moonlight.  He held one finger up to his lips urging me to be quiet. Mason. I didn''t know him well.  He was a senior too, but he only hung out with his group of friends. They didn''t interact with other people.  I had always found that strange as they all seemed like they would be the popular athletic types. His sister looked like she should be a cheerleader.  He and Alex looked like they should have been football players. They had never been on a sports team. They had never been in any after school activities.  When school was finished, their group went home together. I didn''t know where they lived, but there were rumors they lived in a cult compound. I didn''t believe that though.


    His brown eyes drifted to the camp behind me.  I turned to look if he had garnered anyone else''s attention, but not even Darren had noticed us and everyone else was still asleep.  Molly, however, lifted her head from Arthur''s stomach. She sniffed the air and then jumped to her feet. I opened my mouth to urge her to be quiet, but she didn''t bark.  Instead she ran to Mason and jumped on him wagging her tail happily. He crouched so he was eye level to her. He smiled fondly and scratched between her ears. She leaned into him loving every moment of it.  He stood up straight and waved a hand in Arthur''s direction. Molly ran back to Arthur''s side and settled down next to him with her head on his stomach.


    He turned back to the woods and made a shooing motion with his hand as if to tell others to leave.  I didn''t hear anything in the woods, but I hadn''t heard him either. He turned back to me. I waited for him to say something, but he didn''t.  He stepped passed me into the camp. He stopped near Hunter''s head and stared down at my friend. He cocked his head to the side in contemplation.  His eyes slowly left Hunter and scanned over everyone else in the camp and the low fire.


    He crouched next to Hunter''s head and tilted his head again.  "You must really trust your friends to sleep so deeply you don''t notice me," he said.


    Darren spun in our direction with his knife raised.  The rest of the camp woke with a start, but Hunter''s hand shot out and closed around Mason''s neck.


    "Careful," Mason said as Hunter sat up and his grip tightened.  "I''m not alone." For the first time, I heard footsteps in the woods, twigs breaking as if they were purposely letting themselves be heard.  And it wasn''t only coming from the direction Mason had come from. It came from all around the camp. We were surrounded.


    Hunter slowly released Mason''s neck.  Mason smirked and brought his hand up to rub his neck.  "You are dangerously close to our home," Mason said never taking his eyes off Hunter''s.  "The ignorance of these others I can understand, but you and your sister don''t have that excuse."


    "We''ve been killing zombies all night," Hunter said.  "Their blood and viscera on my clothes must have hidden your smell."


    That was an odd response, but it seemed to satisfy Mason as he looked down at Hunter''s clothes.


    "It''s almost dawn," Mason said standing up straight.  "You better break up camp and be on your way. Erik knows you are near and he doesn''t like it."


    "In case you didn''t notice," Hunter said, "the world is different than it was yesterday."  He stood up and shielded his sister behind him.


    "We could really use some help," Mrs. Smith said.  "Even if it''s just packs to carry our things." She held up a jacket that had been folded up to carry food and water.


    "We''re not planning on staying," Hunter said to Mason.  "We are on our way to find my sister and Lily''s brother."


    Mason sighed.  "Stay here a moment," he said.  He walked passed me and back into the woods.


    I strained my ears and listened carefully, but I didn''t hear anything.  He came back a few moments later and this time Alex was with him.Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.


    "We''ll take you as far as the gates," Mason said.  "It''s up to Erik if we are going to help you. None of you can go beyond the gates.  We''ll go this way." He and Alex walked across the camp and left through the trees near where Darren stood.


    We gathered our things and followed.  Molly ran ahead and nudged Mason''s legs.  He patted the top of her head, but didn''t stop walking.  She ran to Alex''s side and he did the same. Then she ran back to Arthur''s side and stayed near him the rest of the time.


    We didn''t see the others, but I knew they were out there.  We had heard more than Mason and Alex around our camp. I could feel their eyes on me and they didn''t feel friendly.


    I couldn''t see any identifying marks to show where we were going.  There were only trees and more trees. Mason and Alex seemed relaxed and easy other than the occasional glances they gave Hunter and Victory.  Hunter and Victory on the other hand grew more and more nervous. Their eyes scanned through the trees constantly. Hunter''s fingers skimmed along the knife strapped to his leg several times.  Victory''s hand almost went for the bow on her back, but every time she started to reach for it, she stopped herself. Hunter took Victory''s hand in his. They held each other so tightly their knuckles were white.


    There was a moan from somewhere in the distance.  We all froze except Mason and Alex who kept walking as if a zombie moan was no big deal.  The rest of us followed them again. It didn''t take long before the zombie moaned again this time louder and more urgent.  But before the moan could die away it was suddenly cut off. We didn''t hear it again. I assumed one of the silent guards in the woods killed it.


    We continued our walk through the trees until we got to a small road.  We followed it until we reached a large ornamental iron fence. There was a large stylized wolf on the iron gate.  The fence stretched out in the woods for as far as I could see. Mason''s other companions finally came out of the woods then including Mason''s sister, Elsie.


    "What were you supposed to be?" Elsie asked.  Her hand reached up and almost touched the faded makeup on Victory''s cheeks, but Hunter pulled Victory behind him before Elsie could touch her.


    "Relax," Elsie said easily.  "If I was going to hurt her, I would have already done it."


    Mackenzie looked at me with concern for her friend.  It was strange how Mason and his friends seemed to focus on Hunter and Victory but barely glanced at the rest of us.


    "So what were you supposed to be?" another young woman from the group asked.


    Victory didn''t answer her.  Now everyone in Mason''s group stared at Victory.  Hunter couldn''t shield her from the stares of all of them even though he tried.  They had encircled us.


    Victory didn''t answer them and she seemed uncertain - maybe even afraid of them - but she didn''t shy away from their gazes.  She was defiant in her silence in a way I didn''t understand. Mackenzie squirmed beside me clearly not liking the way the focus was on her friend.


    "She was a lizard girl," Mackenzie said.


    "Lizard girl?" Elsie asked and then they all started laughing - like jovial, genuine laughing.  I didn''t understand it.


    "I don''t want to be rude," Monica said as she stood beside Grant, "but don''t one of you need to go in to get Erik or whatever?  The phones are dead so you can''t exactly call him."


    "He''s on his way," Mason said easily.  "We''ll wait for him here."


    It grew quiet as we waited for Erik.  I had never met or seen Erik myself. He had been a senior when Tanner was a freshman and Tanner had spoken highly of him.  He had said Erik was the coolest person he had ever seen and had even tried to dress like him for a few weeks. He had tried to become Erik''s friend, but after Erik ignored him and only focused on his own group of friends, Tanner became disenchanted with him and went back to normal.


    "Lizard girl," Alex muttered and their entire group laughed again as if it was the funniest thing they had ever heard.


    Victory reached up and rubbed away the leftover makeup roughly.  Mackenzie stepped up and helped her get it all off. Victory''s reaction seemed to indicate Mason and his group were making fun of her, but I didn''t understand how.  It was as if they all had some inside information the rest of us didn''t. Because with the exception of Hunter and Victory who both scowled at Mason and his group, the rest of my group looked as clueless as I felt.


    It grew silent again as we waited.  The sun was rising and the sky was lighting.  Birds began their morning call. Molly had settled at Arthur''s feet.  She jumped and rushed to the gate with her tail wagging vigorously. A moment later a man stepped out of the woods beyond the wrought iron fence.  A woman stood by his side and a handful of people stood behind them. He smiled at Molly and reached through the fence to pet the top of her head.


    Hunter and Victory became even more stiff at the appearance of the new man.  The man looked away from Molly and his face went serious when he saw Hunter and Victory.  Hunter pulled his sister close to him and wrapped his arms around her shoulders as if to shield her.  She hugged him back and wouldn''t look the man directly in the eyes. Hunter didn''t look at his eyes either.


    "You were at the party," Mrs. Smith said to the man. "You both were," she indicated the woman by his side.


    "How''d you get out?" Grant''s dad asked.


    The man smiled, but it wasn''t friendly.  It was menacing and a rush of fear spread through me causing the hairs on my arms to stand on end.

 Chapter 19 .

    Lily


    Mason walked up to the gate and discussed something quietly with the man.  The woman who stood by the man stared at Hunter and Victory. She ignored the rest of us.  The morning light streamed all around us. The morning air was chill. Birds chirped from the trees up above.


    Mason turned back to us.  "This is Erik and his wife Salene.  Erik says you can have the backpacks you requested.  Wait here."


    Erik, his wife and the others behind the fence turned to leave.


    "So you''re not going to tell us how you got out?" Mrs. Smith directly addressed Erik.  "I saw you and your wife. You were in that room with the broken window. We went in there too.  What happened to those zombies? They were torn apart."


    Couldn''t she feel how dangerous this man felt?  The hairs on my arms still stood on end. Erik waved a hand to the other men with him and they disappeared back into the woods.  Then he turned back to us.


    "I don''t know," he said with a knowing smirk.  "Maybe it happened after we broke out the window.  Maybe the zombies turned on each other."


    "We''ve never seen the zombies turn on each other though," Darren said.  His voice grew quieter as Erik''s eyes turned to him. Darren looked down at his feet.


    "You know it wasn''t the zombies," Hunter said.


    "Do I?" Erik asked dangerously.  He opened the iron gate and stepped through to our side of the fence.  The atmosphere was already tense, but it grew more so as he and Salene drew closer to us.


    He walked up to Hunter.  Hunter was tall, but Erik was taller and more muscular.  Not to mention he had this presence that no one else I''d ever met could match.  He stared down at Hunter. Hunter quickly looked away. Victory hid behind Hunter''s back as Erik''s wife stared at her.


    "Do you want to tell me face to face what I do and don''t know?" Erik''s eyes burned into Hunter.  Hunter shook his head without looking up at the bigger man. "Did you rescue these parents from that party?" Erik asked him.  "Did you go inside the house?"


    Hunter didn''t answer him, but Grant did.  "Yes, we did," he said with bravado.


    "Did you see your parents?" Erik asked Hunter completely ignoring Grant.


    "Don''t," Hunter said quietly as if the word choked in his throat.


    "Because I did," Erik went on.  "Your father fell with the first flash of green light.  Did your sister go inside too?"


    Erik waited for a response, but neither Hunter nor Victory answered him.


    "No.  She didn''t," Maria said.


    "Did you tell her what you saw?" Erik addressed Hunter.  "I can tell you exactly what happened. Your father fell.  When he stood, he was a zombie. Your mother could have defended herself, but she didn''t.  She just let him bite her over and over."


    "Stop!" Hunter shouted.  He shoved Erik away from him hard.  The wind began to pick up. Mason, Salene and the rest of Erik''s people tensed.  Crouched a little even as if they were preparing to pounce on Hunter and his sister.  I took a step towards Hunter. My grip on the handle of my ax tightened. I would protect him if I needed to no matter how much Erik frightened me.  Molly ran erratically around Arthur''s legs as if she didn''t know what to do or maybe extra protection for Arthur.


    Erik stepped back in front of Hunter with one quick movement.  They stared at each other with hate in their eyes. Grey clouds began to drift in with the wind.


    "Careful," Erik warned.  "You don''t want to challenge me."  They stared at each other only a few moments longer before Hunter dropped his eyes.  With that simple movement, Erik''s people relaxed. Molly settled next to Arthur.Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.


    "And you," Erik turned to me.  I took an involuntary step backwards as he walked towards me.  I hadn''t even seen him before today. Why was he addressing me?  "You are like your father," he said as he stopped in front of me.  "But your siblings aren''t."


    "What do you mean?" I asked before I realized it.


    "Did you go into that house as well?"


    I nodded.  Trepidation filled me.  I really didn''t want to hear what he had to say.


    "Did you find your parents?" he asked.


    "Don''t do this," Hunter pleaded.


    The others were completely still.  Even Erik''s people. I wasn''t sure what was happening.


    "Yes," I whispered in answer.


    "Then you saw that your father didn''t turn into one of them," Erik said.  I wondered if that was something he had just assumed or if he had seen it.  How much had he seen in that house before he and his wife got out that broken window?


    "Maybe that means your father was the key to a cure," Grant''s dad offered.  "Maybe you are the key to a cure," he said to me.


    Except Erik couldn''t know that just by looking at me and I didn''t think that was the comparison he was making.


    Erik and his people laughed.  "A cure?" he asked incredulously.  "To a green flash in the sky?" His people laughed even harder.


    "You don''t know," Grant came to the defense of his father.  "Maybe that green light was a virus or something."


    "A virus that also stopped all our electronics?" Darren asked him as if he were stupid.


    That shut up Grant and his dad.


    "You think you don''t need them," Hunter said drawing Erik''s attention.  "You think you and your people can hide safe in your little settlement, but you''re wrong."


    "What do you mean when you say them?" Erik asked Hunter.  He stepped away from me back towards Hunter.


    "Them," Hunter waved to us.  "Not exactly them, but them. You know what I mean.  A world filled with zombies will affect you whether you think it will or not."


    Erik cocked his head to the side as he studied Hunter.  Salene, Mason and the others watched Erik carefully as if what he said next held great value.  Maybe it did.


    "We don''t need them," Erik said to Hunter.  "I don''t commiserate with those who turn into zombies or those who are left behind.  You think they would care about you or I if they knew the truth? You don''t think they brought this zombie apocalypse on themselves?  Your mother kept you and your siblings sheltered. There is a lot you don''t know. A lot of failed negotiations. A lot of unfounded hate.  In some instances genocide even. And I''m not talking about generations ago. I''m talking about now."


    "But those that did this will gain even more power," Hunter said.


    "Do you even know who did this?" Erik asked.


    "I could guess, but I don''t know for sure," Hunter said.


    "Leave it that way," Erik said.  He left us and headed back towards the gate.  Salene stepped in beside him. The men who had left came back out of the woods on the other side of the fence.  They had several empty backpacks with them. Erik took a backpack and tossed it across the distance to Hunter. Hunter caught it easily.


    "You are risking your safety and your sisters by traveling with them," Erik said.


    "We would never hurt them," Mackenzie said defensively.


    "Maybe not you," he said to my little sister before turning his attention back to Hunter, "but you can never tell who will when they know the truth."


    "The truth about what?" Grant asked.  He looked suspiciously at Hunter and his sister.


    Erik smirked, but no one answered Grant''s question.  Erik motioned to the men behind him and they brought the backpacks out to us.  Mrs. Smith and Maria immediately began to fill the backpacks with items wrapped in jackets.  Darren and Richard helped them.


    "Be careful who you trust," Erik said to Hunter.  "Mason will take you out of our territory. If you or your sister cross the boundary again, we will kill you.  No questions asked. Do you understand?"


    Hunter swallowed hard and nodded.


    "Does that apply to just them?" I asked as Erik and Salene begin to retreat back into the woods on the other side of the fence.


    "No," Erik said.  "You have no means to detect our territory.  He," he waved a hand in Hunter''s general direction, "does."


    He didn''t say anymore as he and his wife retreated.  The men who brought the backpacks soon followed. The people who were with Mason retreated back into the woods on our side of the fence until I couldn''t see or hear any of them except Mason.


    "Follow me," he said.  We grabbed our newly acquired backpacks and followed Mason in silence.  I couldn''t tell if we traveled the same way we had come. Everything looked the same as we walked among the trees.


    We walked about a half hour before we reached the treeline.  The freeway came into view, but it was a different section than we had left last night.  We just needed to follow it and we would reach the diner. It would only have taken about 2 hours in the cars, but I wasn''t sure how long it would take now that we were on foot in the middle of a zombie apocalypse.


    "Sorry it has to be this way," Mason said as he turned around to face us.  "Erik''s just on edge. It''s his responsibility to protect all of us. I hold no ill will towards you," he said pointedly to Hunter, "but I hope I don''t see you again.  I will follow Erik''s orders even if I don''t want to."


    "Don''t worry," Hunter said.  "I don''t have any intention of coming back this way again.  We just want to find Grace and Tanner and be on our way."


    Mason nodded.  "Then I wish you luck."  He patted Hunter on the back of the shoulder.  He didn''t say goodbye to any of the rest of us, but he did stop to crouch eye level with Molly.  "You''re a good girl," he said to her. She happily wagged her tail and licked his face. "Make sure you guard your owner well."  He scratched her ears and then disappeared into the woods.

 Chapter 20 .

    Lily


    We walked just inside the edge of the woods so we could see the freeway, but anyone - or zombie - wouldn''t be able to see us.  There was a light, cool breeze. The gray clouds spotted earlier were now gone. The sky was blue with a few white, puffy clouds.


    There were a spattering of zombies on the freeway near abandoned cars, but they were far away and never noticed us.  An occasional moan could be heard from the freeway, but it always died away quickly and was never directed at us. Birds sang from the treetops, an occasional squirrel or chipmunk would run up a tree or hide in the underbrush when we got near.  A few flies buzzed around but there weren''t too many of them at this time of year. We needed to find our siblings and setup a safe place to stay before winter started.


    "Maybe we should go back into town," Grant''s dad said.


    The rest of us looked at him like he was crazy, even Grant.


    "Now, hear me out before you give me those judgemental looks," his dad said.  "It''s possible the police have now got things under control or maybe even the military has arrived to help out."


    "I don''t think that flash of green light was discriminant in who it turned into zombies," Hunter said.  "The police and military and everyone would have been affected. And in case you didn''t notice, that second flash of green light wiped out our cars and electronics.  The military is not going to be able to just roll in."


    "We should at least go back and see," Grant''s dad said.


    "Go ahead," Hunter said, "but I''m going to find my sister."


    "I don''t know why a kid thinks he gets to order the rest of us around," Grant''s dad said.


    Hunter - who had been in the lead with Richard beside him - stopped and turned to face Grant''s dad fully.  Mrs. Smith pulled Juan and Marcos close to her. Victory, Mackenzie and Arthur all stood next to each other.  Molly sat obediently at Arthur''s feet. Monica seemed slightly embarrassed by Grant''s dad''s actions. At least, if I read her shuffling feet and her eyes staring down at the ground correctly.


    "I wasn''t ordering you," Hunter said.  "In fact, I told you to go ahead and go back.  Just because I don''t follow you doesn''t mean I''m ordering you to follow me.  I think I''d rather you left actually."


    "And now you''re being a smartass," Grant''s dad said.


    Hunter rolled his eyes obviously not caring that everyone - including Grant''s dad could see.  He turned away from Grant and his dad and started walking, but Grant''s dad said, "Why don''t you tell us what that Erik person meant when he said you were lying to us.  I think if you want us to follow you, to trust you, you owe us at least that much."


    "I don''t owe you anything," Hunter said as he turned back around to face us.  "What I keep to myself is my business. It isn''t putting any of the rest of you in danger and I don''t care if you follow me or not.  I already told you I''d rather you leave."


    "How can you say that to my dad?" Grant asked.


    Hunter shrugged.  "Your dad talks about trust," he said.  "But Lily and I were the ones who put our lives in danger to save all of you and get you out of those houses you were trapped in.  I think we''ve more than proven ourselves. And honestly, I don''t want to hear about trust from a man who pushed his own wife to the zombies."


    "He didn''t," Grant said.  His voice began to get louder.


    "Please, Grant, it''s obvious he did," Hunter said.  "Don''t feel too bad about it though, I''m sure you would throw your loved ones to the zombies too if it meant saving yourself."


    Grant screamed and with tears falling onto his cheeks charged Hunter.  Hunter didn''t flinch as Grant tackled him to the ground. The two of them rolled around on the dirt and foliage as Marcos cried and clung to Mrs. Smith''s legs, as Victory and Mackenzie screamed at them to stop, as Richard stepped up and tried to pry the two off each other, but ended up tripping as they rolled onto his feet, and as Molly barked and barked.  A flock of birds lifted from the tree branches above and flew away. The moans on the freeway began to get louder.The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.


    Darren and I both stepped up to the grappled young men as they rolled completely over Richard, but before we could pull them apart, Hunter ended up on top of Grant and pinned him to the forest floor.  Grant tried to sit up, but Hunter pushed his shoulders back onto the ground.


    Grant''s dad moved to intervene, but Mrs. Smith gave him a look that froze him in his tracks.


    "I''m trying to do what is best for my family first and foremost," Hunter said as he pinned the squirming Grant to the ground.  "I will help this group as best as I can, but I have no obligation to help you or your dad. I don''t have to listen to either of you.  If you think there is a better route for you that I''m not taking then you are free to leave us at anytime."


    "I would never throw my mom to the zombies," Grant said as crystalline tears still flowed.  Dirt now smeared on his cheeks as well.


    The eerie moans grew louder - closer.  I signaled Darren and Maria. The three of us readied our weapons and stood towards the treeline.  The zombies didn''t seem to react to animals, but I signaled to Arthur to quiet Molly.


    "Molly, shush," Arthur whispered.  Molly quieted and ran to Arthur''s side.


    Hunter sighed.  "Maybe that was harsh of me," he said, "but try to understand from my perspective, you haven''t really done anything to help us out yet and you locked us out of that room when we were still in Monica''s house.  Maybe you could start helping out more," he slowly got off Grant.


    A zombie shambled through the treeline ahead of us.  His gruesome head turned to us. The skin on half of his face was completely missing exposing muscle and bone.  He moaned loudly and charged us. A second moan came from behind us. Grant and Richard scrambled to their feet as the rest of us readied ourselves.  Grant''s dad moved so he was in the middle of the group. Grant moved to join him there. Mrs. Smith hid Juan and Marcos behind her.


    Darren stepped up to meet the charging zombie that had half a face.  He stabbed him through the face with the blade angled up so that it would go through the brain.  A second zombie broke through the treeline. She charged at Darren. Darren tried to pull his knife out of the falling zombie in front of him, but the knife stuck.  I was closest to him. I ran that short distance. The second zombie hadn''t seen me yet. I brought my ax down into the back of her skull.


    "Thank you," Darren said to me.  He was on the ground next to the zombie he killed.  He continued to yank on the knife trying to get it out.  "I think the knife is stuck in the skull."


    "Here," Hunter said.  He knelt next to Darren and tore the knife out.  He handed the bloody knife that still had brain matter on it back to Darren.  Hunter stood up and extended a hand to help Darren up at the same time I did. We looked at each other briefly.  Maybe it was weird that I had extended my hand. Maybe I should retract it, only wouldn''t that make it weirder now?


    Darren quickly tucked the knife away at his belt over his jedi robes and took our hands in each of his.  Together we pulled him to his feet.


    Marcos screamed in his little child voice and there was shuffling behind us.  The three of us turned quickly with our weapons at the ready. A third zombie had come out of the woods behind us and charged Mrs. Smith.  The two children hid behind her as she brought the knife up through underneath the zombie''s chin and into her head.


    A fourth zombie moaned and charged Monica from the treeline.  She was by herself now that both Grant and his dad were in the middle.  She brought up her knife and stabbed the zombie in his eye as hard as she could as he wrapped his fingers around her shoulders and brought his head close to bite her.  She retracted her knife as he fell to the forest floor.


    A fifth zombie broke through the treelines near the middle of us.  He ran straight towards Grant''s dad. Grant''s dad''s eyes flitted from Grant to the zombie and back as if he was actually contemplating throwing his son in front of it.  Grant raised his knife, but his hand vibrated so badly I didn''t think he could really use it.


    An arrow embedded itself in the zombie''s head.  He fell hard onto his back. Victory calmly walked passed Grant and his dad to retrieve her arrow.


    "We need to hurry and leave," Hunter said quietly.  "We made a lot of noise. Any zombies that heard will be coming."


    Even as he said that there were more moans heading in our direction from the freeway.


    "Follow us or not," Hunter said to Grant and his dad.  Hunter was already moving away. I moved in next to him.  Arthur, Mackenzie and Victory followed us. Grant and his dad followed them leaving Mrs. Smith and the little boys now in the back with Monica.  Maria, Darren and Richard moved to the back so the children were more in the middle. Monica stood there as she stared at the retreating backs of Grant and his dad as if she couldn''t believe they were leaving her at the back alone.  Richard moved to her and placed a hand on her back and gently pushed her forward. She looked up at him. He nodded down encouragingly to her. She stepped in behind the rest of us with Richard beside her. It was only when I saw everyone was coming with us that I turned my attention back to the front.

 Chapter 21 .

    Lily


    The rest of the day went by without further incident.  We camped just inside the treeline by the freeway. We each took turns with the watch.  The night was colder than the previous night. There had been occasional sobs through the night.  I think all of us cried at one point except for Grant''s dad. I missed my parents.


    The next morning we broke camp and continued on our way.  It was late morning when Hunter stopped us. Gray clouds hung heavy overhead and blocked the sun.


    "We''re coming upon Freemont," he said.  "I think a few of us should go into town and see if we can acquire guns and maybe some crossbows or bows."


    "And what if the few that go in never come out," Grant''s dad said.


    "Then you can leave without us," Hunter said.


    "I''m going in," Victory said.


    "We''ll talk about that in a moment," Hunter said.


    Judging by Victory''s pout, she was taking that as a no.  Mackenzie gave her a short hug to comfort her. Victory smiled briefly at my little sister.


    "I think the children should stay here with Mrs. Smith," Hunter said.


    "I''m staying too," Grant''s dad said.  "I''m not risking myself for something foolish."


    "Yesterday you were talking about going back home thinking the military or police would have everything in order," Mrs. Smith pointed out.


    "Well," Grant''s dad said, "if they are, they will be in this town too and then whoever goes into town can come back for the rest of us."


    "I''m going to stay too," Grant said.


    "What do you want to do?" Hunter asked Monica not unkindly.


    She looked at Grant who gave her a little hand signal to stay.  "I guess I''ll stay," she said.


    Richard''s eyes lingered on Grant and his dad while Maria''s eyes lingered on the children.


    "I think I better stay too," Richard said.  I liked that. He was the biggest of us and if Grant or his dad tried anything Richard could stop them.


    "Me too," Maria said.


    "Great," Victory said.  "Then the rest of us can go in with you."


    My little sister frowned and shuffled from foot to foot.  She was clearly not as eager as Victory to go into a city filled with zombies.  And I didn''t want her to come with us. It would be safer in the woods where she could hide or escape more easily.


    "Vicky," Hunter said as he placed a hand on his little sister''s shoulder.  She rolled her eyes clearly knowing what was coming. "You have the bow and arrows.  If zombies attack here while I''m gone, don''t you think it''s best if you were here with your weapon?  Nobody else has a long range weapon."


    "I still have the gun," Monica said helpfully.


    "Don''t use it unless you have no other choice," Hunter told her.  "It might attract more zombies."


    She nodded.


    "You are the only one who has a silent long range weapon," Hunter amended his words to Victory.  She frowned, but nodded.


    "Be safe," she said as she hugged him.


    "I guess," Darren said, "that means that Hunter, Lily and I are going in."


    Mackenzie hugged me tightly.  "Be careful," she whispered to me.


    "I will.  I promise," I said as I returned her hug.  I kissed her on the top of her head. "We''ll find Tanner and be a family again."  As much as we could be without our parents. It still didn''t feel quite real that they were dead even though I had seen their bodies.  It almost seemed like we were just on a camping trip without them.


    Mrs. Smith gave Darren a kiss on his forehead as Marcos and Juan clung to her.  She patted down Darren''s messy hair, but the wavy tendrils immediately sprang back up haphazardly.


    Hunter, Darren and I walked from the treeline to the freeway exit that would take us to Freemont.  We didn''t see any zombies. There was an occasional zombie moan, but it sounded far away.


    We paused as we came upon the first stoplight.  There was a 5 car crash in the intersection ahead.  Zombies milled about the cars, some zombies moaning inside the cars.  Two of the cars had unmoving figures inside them. I wasn''t sure if the people inside were dead or zombies that just weren''t moving.  Large black birds hovered on the street lamps and posts as they looked down on the crash. Sparrows and Robins hopped along the ground like they normally would.  The zombies didn''t pay them any mind. The birds would hop away if a zombie got too close, but then they would go back to their spot when the zombie meandered away.This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.


    There was a heavy stench of rot and decay and death in the air.  I already missed the fresh smell of the trees, shrubbery and the earthy smell of the woods.


    Hunter waved to a nearby building.  Darren led the way. We went slowly and quietly.  We reached the back of the building and hugged the wall as we went to the next building.  We went to the end of the block by hiding behind buildings. We peeked around the corner of the last building into the next street.  There was only one zombie on this street meandering aimlessly. We waited until his back was fully turned to us before we ran across the street to the next set of buildings.


    We went the next few blocks in this same fashion.  We were always able to slip passed the few zombies we saw.  Thankfully, they weren''t smart or observant. We heard gunfire in the distance.  I froze. Had it been Monica? Had I left my sister behind thinking she would be safe only to have her be killed while I wasn''t there?


    I turned around to go back and bumped into Hunter.


    "It came from that direction," he whispered and motioned to the left which was not the direction we had left our group.  It hadn''t been Monica.


    "That building," he pointed to a few buildings ahead, "is the one we are going to."


    "How can you tell from the back?" Darren whispered.


    "I''ve been there many times.  It was Grace''s favorite place to go for her supplies."


    When we got to the back of the building, the back door was slightly open and the doorknob had been knocked off.  The three of us looked at each other and then readied our weapons in silence. Hunter opened the door just enough for us to slip in.  Thankfully, it didn''t make any creaking noises.


    It was dark inside and I stepped on Hunter''s heels more than once.  Darren bumped into me from behind and murmured a quiet, "Sorry."


    We navigated through the dark, small hallway.  A small stream of light wafted in when Hunter opened a door.  We filed out of the door and were now in the main store. Sunlight filtered in through the large windows at the front.


    Guns, knives, crossbows, ammunition and an array of other items had been rummaged through and knocked off shelves.  Someone had been through here and taken what they needed, but they hadn''t looted everything. The glass front door was slightly ajar.  I could only see two zombies walking aimlessly in the street through the window. One of them was a child. It was dark and quiet inside the store, hopefully we could keep it that way and the zombies wouldn''t notice us.


    Darren tripped beside me and grabbed onto my shoulder to steady himself.  All three of us looked down to see what Darren had tripped over. A small gasp escaped Darren.  It was a dead human. He hadn''t been a zombie. It didn''t appear that he had any bite wounds on him either.  He did have a large gash in his head and a pool of blood underneath him. I bent down and felt his neck for a pulse just in case even though he looked bluish and I was sure he was dead.  I didn''t feel a pulse and it didn''t seem like he was breathing.


    "Dead," I whispered.


    "It doesn''t look like zombies did this," Darren whispered.


    "No," Hunter said quietly.  "I think it was the looters that came before us."


    I wondered if the man had a family waiting somewhere for him.  Maybe his family were now zombies. It was pointless to wonder.  It wasn''t like we could find his family to tell them of his fate.


    We began to look around the store and gather supplies.  Darren and Hunter left it up to me to choose the guns as I was more familiar with them.  Hunter grabbed some crossbows and bows as well as arrows. Darren gathered hunting knives.  We gathered a few more things like a tarp, rope, matches and flint and steel.


    "There''s a bicycle shop across the street," Darren said.  I hadn''t realized he had drifted so close to the store front.  "Should we risk getting bicycles? It would make traveling faster and easier."


    "I don''t know," Hunter said.  "If we were going to get bicycles, we should get enough for all of our group, but there are only three of us now and I don''t know if we could manage 12 bikes and that''s assuming Juan and Marcos will ride with adults and not on their own."


    Darren looked back over the street.  "I still think we should try," he said.  "Maybe between the three of us we could drag 12 bikes on a tarp or something."


    "The problem isn''t just halling them," I said.  "The problem is getting the bikes and us passed all the zombies and back to the woods.  Although, bikes would be good to have. They are relatively quiet and we''d make a lot more distance.  And we could also get chocolate." We still had the Halloween chocolate we brought, but we could always use more chocolate.


    I pointed across the street where a fancy chocolate store was situated between the bicycle shop and a dance studio.  There was a sign indicating there was a yoga studio underneath the dance studio in the basement. There were two sets of stairs.  One led up to the dance studio and the other led down.


    Goosebumps rose on my arms when I noticed the words RU in? had been spray painted over the sign to the yoga studio.  Now I only wanted to get out of there as soon as possible. I didn''t know what those words indicated or why I felt such trepidation when I saw them.  They were the same words that had been spray painted on the school. Now we were in a completely different town and it didn''t seem like someone''s sick joke or a coincidence.  It couldn''t have been.


    My arm dropped heavily back to my side.


    "Bikes would be good to have," Hunter relented.  "Even if we didn''t get enough for everyone. Even if we just got three we could take turns riding them and we could give the others a little reprieve by packing more onto the bikes so the others don''t have to carry so much."


    "We should check that place out," Darren pointed to the words RU in?


    Hunter''s eyes widened when he saw the sign and he swallowed hard.  "No," he said. "Nevermind about the bikes. We should leave now."


    He started towards the back of the store where we came in.


    "Why not?" Darren asked, but did not turn away from the sign.  "What if it''s people or an organization that can help us? Maybe they are working on a cure or something.  It seems welcoming to me. We should go." He took a step towards the store door, but I placed my hand on his shoulder and held him back.


    "No," Hunter said.  He walked back to me and Darren.  "We need to go now."


    "Shouldn''t we at least check out the bikes?" I asked.  He had just said he wanted some.


    "No," he said to me again.  His eyes pleaded with me, but I wasn''t sure why.


    "Is it because of that weird sign?" I asked.  "Because, yes, I feel creeped out by it too, but Darren has a point.  What if it is an organization that could help us?"


    "It''s not," Hunter said.


    "How do you know?" I asked.


    "I just do," he said.  "Trust me please."


    I did trust him.  I trusted Hunter any day over a sign that was already giving me creepy vibes.


    I nodded.  "Okay," I said.


    There was a loud creak and a bang as Darren threw open the door and ran across the street as fast as he could.


    "No!" Hunter and I screamed at the same time.


    The two zombies in the street shambled after Darren, but stopped when Darren disappeared down the steps.  The two of them turned to me and Hunter. They moaned. More moans joined them.

 Chapter 22 .

    Lily


    "What do we do?" I asked as the two zombies ran towards the open store door and a third zombie appeared on the street.


    Hunter grabbed my hand and pulled me towards the back of the store.  We went back into the dark hallway that would lead to the door to the back.  Hunter closed the inner door behind us. We went a little down the hallway, but we didn''t go all the way out.  There was pounding on the door Hunter had just closed and several moans. We heard the front store door bang open a few more times and more moans and pounding sounded at the door.


    "We can''t leave Darren," I whispered still aware that Hunter held my hand.


    "What do we do?" he whispered back genuinely wanting to know.  "If we go out back and circle around, the zombies will see us and charge us once we get to the front."


    I nodded even though he wouldn''t be able to see me in the dark.


    "Okay," I whispered.  "You brace the door and we''ll open it just enough that I can put my ax in zombie heads."


    "That''s risky," he whispered.


    "It worked for us before," I whispered back.


    "Doesn''t mean it wasn''t risky.  I guess everything is risky though in a world full of zombies.  Okay. We''ll try it, but at the first sign of trouble you run out the back door."


    "And you too," I said because I didn''t like the way he worded that.


    "Me too," he agreed.


    We went back to the door as quietly as we could.  There was less pounding on the door and the moans had quieted.  Hunter opened it just a crack.


    There was a zombie right there.  His eyes had dulled and were centered on the floor, but as soon as he saw me, he pushed against the door, squeezing his hands through the crack and groaning loudly.  There was shuffling and movement behind him as the other zombies in the room came back to the door.


    I brought my ax up and then down hard in between his eyes.  I used all my strength to pull it out. The zombie fell dead at my feet.  Another one immediately took its place. Several hands reached inside now and Hunter''s face strained in the faint light as he held the door in place with all his strength.


    I killed this second zombie and a third took her place.  Except there was an additional higher pitched moan coming from almost waist level.  I had forgotten about the zombie child. I shifted so my backpack fell forward slightly to the front at waist level just as the child tried to bite me.  She got my backpack instead. She bit into it over and over trying to find flesh not understanding that it wasn''t me. I killed the third zombie bringing the ax down on top of his head with one hand as the other steadied the backpack.


    A teenage zombie came to take that one''s place.  The child zombie pulled on the backpack and in the process threw me off balance.  I stumbled forward toward the teenage zombie''s reaching bloody fingers. He grabbed my shoulders and started pulling me closer.


    I looked down just to make sure the child zombie hadn''t made it passed my backpack.  The last thing I needed was for her to bite my stomach while I was fighting off the teenage zombie.  But as soon as I looked down I saw her attention was no longer on me or my backpack. She had seen Hunter.


    "Hunt," I warned, but couldn''t get out more than that as the teenage zombie with incredible strength pulled me towards his chomping mouth.


    Without the child holding my backpack, I was able to raise the ax over my head with both hands and bring it down into the teenage zombie''s head right as his teeth bit the sleeve of my jacket.  He slid down on top of the other dead zombies as I retracted my ax. There were bite marks on my jacket, but he hadn''t managed to tear it.


    Hunter slid back slightly as the child zombie attacked him.  The door opened a little wider as he did so. Two zombies were left outside the door.  They managed to push the door open enough for both of them to come through at once. Before I could step back both zombies had me pinned against the wall.  I put my ax up sideways and shoved the handle in both of their mouths. I had to use all my strength to keep them at bay. My arms were tired and beginning to ache, but I couldn''t give up.  Hunter would help me. I had to believe in him. There was a shuffle beyond the zombies but I couldn''t see passed them.


    I imagined myself getting a sudden burst of strength and twisting around so the zombies were against the wall and Hunter and I could make a break for the door.  I pushed with all my might trying to gather my strength against the zombies as I imagined, but they only pushed back. They wouldn''t budge. Their claw like fingers tugged at my jacket, pawed at my face.  I think one of them cut my cheek, but I wasn''t sure if they had actually broken the skin.


    And then Hunter was behind them.  There was a splattering of blood on his cheek, but I didn''t think it was his own.  He brought his knife into the back of the neck of one of the zombies in front of me.  This allowed me to push the remaining one back slightly. I tore the ax handle free from his mouth and quickly swung it down into his head.  He dropped to my feet as I pulled the ax out. The store was now zombie free. At least for the moment.


    "We need to go get Darren," Hunter said.


    I nodded.  "I agree," I said.


    We went to the front of the store and quietly peeked out along the street.  There were zombies further away, but not close enough where they would pay any attention to us.


    We ran quietly and half crouched across the street.  I started to go down the stairs, but Hunter grabbed my wrist.


    "When we go in there," he said quietly, "I don''t know what we''ll see, but whatever it is, whatever we have to do, trust me please.  Just go along with whatever I say."You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.


    I nodded.  I did trust him.  There were things he was keeping from me, but he had kept things from me since he stopped being my friend all those years ago.  I was just happy he was my friend again.


    We went down the stairs.  Hunter took in a deep breath before he opened the door and stepped inside.  It was dark, but there was a faint light from somewhere up ahead. I didn''t realize there were black curtains in front of us, until Hunter pulled one back slightly.  The light immediately got brighter, but it was still dim. I stepped into the studio, Hunter close behind me. There were bean bags set up all around. Soft candles were on the floor providing the light.  Not very fire safe. A handful of people sat in the bean bags, relaxed, faint smiles on their faces, eyes drooping. Other people walked around the bean bags and brought drinks to those who sat in the bean bags.


    "You shouldn''t be here," a woman''s voice said.  Her hair was raven black, her eyes a deep brown, her skin was pale with a beauty mark by her lower lip.  She had tiny wrinkles by her eyes, but that seemed to only enhance her beauty. She stood tall halfway in the room, drink in hand, and addressed Hunter.  Her eyes didn''t land on me once.


    "I''m looking for my friend," Hunter said.  "He just came in here."


    "Oh," the woman said.  "This one?" she stepped to the left and further in the room was Darren sitting on a bean bag with a drink in his hand.  He was talking to a young woman who stood patiently in front of him. The young woman had flawless, dark skin and hair. Her eyes were a light brown.


    "I don''t know where my friends are."  His voice reached us from a distance. It sounded muted.  "I thought they were right behind me, but then they weren''t.  I hope they are okay. Should I go out and bring them in?"


    "Darren," Hunter called out.


    Darren turned to us and smiled.  "There they are." He held up his drink to us in a greeting.


    Hunter took my hand and pulled me with him as we went to Darren.  His grip kept me close to his side. I was grateful for that. I was getting creepy vibes from everyone standing in that room.  I didn''t get it from those who sat in the bean bags.


    When we reached Darren, Hunter took the drink away from him.


    "Hey," Darren said.  "That''s mine."


    Hunter handed the drink to the young woman who had been speaking with Darren, then he leaned down, grabbed Darren''s wrist and pulled him to his feet.  This entire time, he still held my hand. "We''re leaving," Hunter said.


    "But you just got here," the young woman said.  She took Darren''s other wrist in her hand.


    "Yeah," Darren said.  "We just got here." He broke free from Hunter''s grasp.


    "You aren''t really what we are looking for," the woman who first addressed Hunter now addressed me.


    Was this a weird thing where they didn''t want women?  I looked around the room again, but there were a few women in the bean bags and there were men and women both serving the drinks so I had no idea why Hunter and I were singled out.


    "You can stay though if you want," the woman with raven hair and a silky voice said to me.  "You, however," she addressed Hunter again and her voice changed from silky to dangerous, "need to leave."


    "I''m not leaving without my friends," Hunter said.


    "Everyone needs to relax," Darren said.  He took the drink away from the young woman.


    "Don''t drink that," Hunter took the drink away from him.


    "But it smells and tastes like honey and strawberries," Darren said as he took the drink back from Hunter.  "It''s delicious."


    "Wait!" Hunter rushed to take the drink away from Darren, but Darren already had it to his lips and downed it in one swift gulp.  He handed the empty cup back to the young woman. "Here, Lily, you''ve got to try it." Darren grabbed a cup from one of the people passing by.  He sniffed its contents and smiled dreamily. "It smells like honey and strawberries." He handed me the cup. "And look at the color. It''s such a pretty turquoise color."


    The contents in the cup were clear.  Darren grabbed another cup and started to bring it up to his lips, but Hunter let go of my hand to grab the cup away from Darren.  I sniffed the contents of the cup, but it didn''t smell like anything. Was this alcohol? Was Darren drunk already?


    "Don''t drink that," Hunter said to me.


    "I won''t," I said.  The older woman with the pale skin took the cup away from me and handed it off absentmindedly to someone that was walking by.


    "Come on," Darren said.  He took Hunter''s hand and dragged him to the bean bag.  He pulled him down into it so they were sitting squished side by side.


    "Come on, Lily."  Darren patted the space next to him even though there really wasn''t any room left on the bean bag.


    "No, Darren," Hunter said.  He stood up and pulled Darren with him still holding hands.  "We''ve got to go."


    "But I haven''t even asked if they can help us yet," Darren said.


    "They can''t."/"We can."  Hunter and the woman said at the same time.


    "See," Darren said.  His words were slightly slurred now.  "They can help us."


    He tried to fall back onto the beanbag, but Hunter held him up.  I noticed that the others who were serving the drinks had paused and were all looking at us.  Those in the beanbags didn''t care.


    "Let him stay," the woman said to Hunter.  "We can help him."


    "No," Hunter said.


    "Is he yours?" she asked.  There was a subtle change in the air, a subtle change in Hunter.  I didn''t know what it meant, but I could see the resolve behind his brown eyes - the certainty of what he must do.  I had no idea what it was he thought he must do.


    "Yes," Hunter said.  He wrapped an arm around Darren''s shoulders and held him close to him.


    "Both of them are yours?" the woman asked and her eyes flicked to me and then back to Hunter.


    "Yes," Hunter said.  He wrapped his other arm around my shoulders and drew me close into his other side.


    "Really?" this time her question was directed at me.


    I didn''t understand what any of this meant, but I knew this place creeped me out and I only felt relatively safe in here when Hunter was close.


    "Yes," I said and I wrapped both of my arms around Hunter''s waist.  I thought it must have been the right response because Hunter breathed a little easier and the woman scowled slightly.


    "Darren," she said in that silky voice.


    "Yes?" Darren asked her.  He didn''t make any effort to move out from under Hunter''s arm.


    "Is it true?  Are you his?"


    I held my breath.  Hunter held his breath.


    "We''re all ours," Darren said drunkenly and he wrapped his arms over mine so we were both hugging Hunter as he had his arms draped over our shoulders.


    Both Hunter and I let out a sigh of relief.  The woman frowned.


    "Ours," Darren said with his eyes closed.  His arms over mine suddenly slacked and he collapsed.  Hunter let go of me and caught Darren right before he hit the floor.


    I almost missed the little flick of the finger the woman did and then a large man came from out of the shadows.  He picked Darren up as if he weighed nothing and started to carry him away from us.


    "Wait!" Hunter said and immediately went after him.  The woman grabbed his arm to hold him back.


    I didn''t realize what I had done until everyone else moved around us.  It was then that I realized I had my ax out threatening the woman as I stood between her and Hunter.


    "I guess you are his.  Relax," the woman said easily.  "Follow me."


    She led me and Hunter through some more curtains into another room.  This one was filled with sleeping bags. Several of them had people sleeping in them.  The large man set Darren down on one of the sleeping bags.


    Hunter and I rushed to Darren''s side as the man backed away.


    "I will make an exception," the woman said.  "You may stay here until he wakes up."


    Hunter started to sit Darren up.  Darren''s eyes stubbornly remained closed and he was limp in Hunter''s arms.


    "We''ll leave now," Hunter said.


    "You''ll carry him through the zombies like this?" the woman asked.  "You''ll all be dead before you can go two blocks. Stay and rest until he wakes up.  I insist."


    The large man blocked the entrance at her words.

 Chapter 23 .

    Mackenzie


    "Shouldn''t they be back by now?" that mean old man asked.


    I sat on the ground in between Arthur and Vicky.  Molly stretched out behind us. Her back foot would occasionally jerk as she slept and kicked Arthur in the back.  He didn''t seem to mind. In fact, the way he leaned back into her, I thought he might actually like it.


    There was a fire going in front of us.  Mrs. Smith had a pan over the fire and was cooking soup.  The two little boys were playing a game of tag a little way from the fire, but still in the camp.  Their little giggles brought some peace to my worried heart. I didn''t like being away from Lily. It was cold, but noticeably warmer by the fire.  The hearty smell of the soup made my stomach growl. I covered my stomach with my arm, but it had been quiet enough I didn''t think anyone heard.


    Richard and Maria walked along the outskirts of the camp.  I wasn''t sure if they were patrolling to keep us safe or watching for my sister and the others.


    "They''ll be back," Victory said confidently.  "We just need to wait for them."


    "How long do we need to wait?" the old man asked.  "The sun is beginning to set."


    Gray clouds gathered over head, but the sun had drifted below them.  Its rays spread through the tree branches to the west while the sky darkened in the east.


    "Maybe something happened to them," Monica said carefully.  She sat next to Grant not too far away from the fire. The old man stood behind them.  I couldn''t figure out why Grant was her boyfriend. She seemed nice and he seemed like a jerk.  He was handsome though. "Maybe some of us should go find them."


    "Nothing''s going to happen to them," Victory said.  "I''m sure they are fine. Maybe they just got caught up somewhere or decided not to travel in the dark."


    It wasn''t that dark yet.  I looked in the direction they had left earlier that day.  There wasn''t any sign of them. I was worried about my sister, but she and Hunter had proven themselves very capable over the last few days.  If anyone could survive, it would be them. I wasn''t sure about Darren, but I didn''t think Hunter or Lily would let anything happen to him.


    "If they''re not back by tomorrow," Richard said, "I''ll go look for them."


    "Me too," Maria said.  It made me feel a little better that others care about my sister and Victory''s brother.


    "Well, isn''t this a pleasant sight," an unfamiliar male voice said.


    Those of us who were seated scrambled to our feet.  The little boys ran and stood behind Mrs. Smith''s legs.  Molly immediately woke and stood protectively in front of Arthur.  Her hackles were up and her teeth bared. Victory had her bow out and an arrow cocked and pointed at the strange men that entered our camp.  Maria and Richard gathered with the rest of us. Their hands were tight on their weapons, but didn''t raise them as a threat yet.


    "Careful there, girl," one of the three men said to Victory.  "You don''t want to accidentally fire that at us."


    "It wouldn''t be an accident if I did," Victory said.


    I didn''t like this.  Not at all. I hoped no one noticed that my fingers trembled slightly.  There was a tightening in my stomach that made me want to go to the bathroom, but I held it in.  I wished Lily was there. I stepped a little closer and behind Victory.


    The man raised a gun.  It wasn''t pointed at anyone, he was just showing it off.  The other two indicated their guns as well. Arthur''s fingers slipped into mine and together we took another step back as Molly and Victory stood in front of us.  A low growl came from Molly. The dog''s reaction more than anyone else''s told me these people were not good.


    "We''re not here to hurt you," one of the men said, but the way his eyes looked Maria and Monica up and down gave me goosebumps and a wave of nausea washed through my stomach.  It caused Richard to move slightly forward as he placed himself between Monica, Maria and the men. I noted that Grant took a step back instead of placing himself between his girlfriend and these men.  He really was a jerk.This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    "It looks like you''ve got plenty of supplies," one of the other men said.  "Why not just give us a few? We''re starving." But his eyes roved over Maria, Monica and Mrs. Smith similarly to the way the other man''s had.


    Grant and his dad were the first to move and put their backpacks on clearly not willing to give up theirs.  Monica and Maria did the same. Maria also grabbed Richard''s. Arthur and I grabbed ours. Mrs. Smith grabbed hers.  The boys clung to her pants as she did. I grabbed Victory''s as she made no move to lower the bow and arrow.


    "There''s a city close by," Richard said.  He never took his eyes off the three men. "Go there to get your supplies."


    The sky darkened as the sun set and the gray clouds darkened.  The fire in front of us crackled and flickered.


    "Come on now," one of the men said.  "You''re not being very friendly. We haven''t done anything wrong."  Except now his eyes drifted over Victory and me in a similar way as it just had Monica and Maria.  I just wanted to run away from them. My legs were tense. This would be easier if they didn''t have those guns.


    "We don''t need to be friendly when there are zombies roaming around," Richard said.  "Go on your way."


    The three men raised their guns.  One had his pointed directly at Richard, one at Grant even though Grant wasn''t making any threatening movements and the other on Victory.  They hadn''t figured out yet that Grant was a coward and it was unnecessary to threaten him.


    "We''re not going anywhere," one of the men said.  "Now," he said pointedly to Maria, "why don''t you bring me some of whatever is cooking and then we can have a little chat."  And then he smiled with the creepiest smile I had ever seen.


    I took a step away from them, but didn''t want to run away without everyone else.  Arthur''s hand held onto mine tighter. It gave me enough courage to stand my ground.  Molly growled low as one of them took a step forward. Her body was tensed and slightly crouched.


    Maria hesitated, but she handed her bags to Monica and took a step towards the fire.


    "Don''t do it," Richard instructed her without taking his eyes off the men.


    "If you don''t, we''ll start shooting," one of the men said.  "We just want some food. What''s so bad about that? It''s the end of the world.  Shouldn''t humanity be helping each other out?"


    "Don''t worry," Maria said to Richard, but Richard tensed.  He didn''t move to stop her as she went to the fire. She picked up the cloth we had been using as a hot pad and removed the pan from the fire.  She walked up to the first man and I got a sick feeling. The back of my throat tightened. I didn''t want to be there anymore. Molly growled loudly, crept two steps forward, but then stopped.


    "Here," Maria said.  She held the pan out towards the man.


    He grabbed her arm and spun her around so her back was pulled up against him.  He held her tightly around the waist.


    "Let her go!" Richard yelled as Molly barked, growled and took two more steps forward.


    The man leaned forward as Maria struggled to get free and licked her ear.  The look of horror and disgust was clear on her face as she froze for one brief moment.  My stomach churned suddenly and I almost threw up, but managed to keep it down.


    Several things happened all at once.  Maria stomped hard on his foot. He grunted in pain and when he let go of her from the surprise and pain, she threw the soup in his face just as a gunshot went off.  The man howled and wiped frantically at his face as his fell backwards and tripped so he landed on his butt. His face was a deep red from the scalding soup and bits of meat and vegetables clung to his face and hair.


    The man on the opposite end, grasped his stomach as blood began to spread over his shirt.  He fell to his knees. Monica had her gun pointed directly at him. Sleet began to fall from the gray clouds making everything colder and wet.  Molly charged the man in the middle. His gun had been pointed at Grant, but when he noticed Molly''s charge, he lowered it to shoot her. He was too late.  She bit his wrist and twisted her head violently from side to side. The gun went off, but the bullet hit the ground. The man hit her on the top of the head with his free hand.


    "Don''t hurt her!" Arthur yelled at the man.


    "Get away from them!" Victory yelled.  Maria stumbled as she ran back towards our group.  The empty pan was still in her hand. Molly broke away and ran with her.


    The man who was just bitten by Molly raised his gun in our direction as his two companions sat on the ground holding their wounds.  Lightning struck the ground right in front of the men. The man who was going to shoot us jumped back in surprise. Zombie moans began to call out in the night among the sleet.  They were still at a distance, but we had made a lot of noise. They would be drawn here.


    "Run!" Mrs. Smith yelled.  And we ran forward away from that spot.  I looked over my shoulder to see the man who wasn''t injured helping the man who had been shot up.  The one who had been scalded got to his feet to help. The three of them disappeared into the woods.  We ran because it was the only thing we could do, but I worried that meant we were leaving behind my sister for good.  No. I had to trust that she would find me no matter what.

 Chapter 24 .

    Tanner


    We slept on the cabin floor all huddled together.  I held Grace close to me as we slept. That was how I woke with sunlight streaming in through the cabin windows.  The cabin was void of furnishings. It looked like it hadn''t been occupied for quite awhile judging by all the dust and cobwebs.


    "I''m hungry," Camila mumbled as she sat up on the other side of Grace.


    Grace nuzzled her face more into my shirt, but didn''t make any move to get up.


    "Is there anything in your 24 hour kit to eat?" Connor asked.  He grabbed the backpack by Grace. Grace sprang up and pulled it away from him.


    "And something to drink?" Todd asked.  Unlike Connor, his tone was polite and his eyes patient and hopeful as he blinked his brown eyes at Grace.


    I sat up cross legged and Grace settled next to me.  She unzipped her pack and began to rummage around. "I do have some water," she pulled out a large bottle, "but we need to share it so only start with a few swallows."  She handed the bottle to Camila. The professors gathered around us waiting for their turn as the water was passed around.


    "I do have a little bit of food, but not much.  It''s called a 24 hour kit not a kit to save your life in an apocalypse."  Grace pulled out a bag of jerky, opened it and handed each of us one.


    "We''re going to need to get food and water," Dr. Higgins said.


    Dr. Smith stretched her back and mumbled, "My arthritis is killing me."


    Connor stood as he chewed the jerky and went to the door.


    "Where are you going?" Dr. Higgins asked.


    "To the bathroom, dad," Connor bit out.  "I was trying to be discreet about it.  Geez."


    "From now on," Dr. Higgins said, "no one goes anywhere alone.  There has to be at least 2 of you so one can watch out for the other.  This is no longer a safe world."


    "Was it ever a safe world?" Dr. Patel mumbled.


    "Todd, come with me," Connor said.


    Todd stood and went to the door.  I went with them. I made sure I had my bat.  Connor opened the door a crack and peeked outside before he opened it a little wider.  I didn''t think there were any zombies out there. There weren''t any zombie groans.


    "I saw an outhouse in the front," Dr. Patel offered.


    "Oh," Grace said.  "I have tissues if you need it."  She tossed a small packet of tissues across the room to me.  I caught it and nodded my thanks.


    I followed Todd and Connor out and closed the door behind us.  We scanned the area as we walked to the outside. It was quiet.  It was colder than it had been the previous day, but maybe that was just because it was morning.  There were a few clouds overhead, but none of them covered the sun at the moment.


    Connor hesitated with his hand on the handle.  He let go and turned back to me and Todd. "I''m just going to pee in the bushes," he said.  We followed him as he walked into the woods enough he wouldn''t be seen from a cabin window.


    Todd and I scanned the woods as Connor relieved himself.  All was quiet as he went, and then Todd and then myself.


    We walked back to the cabin to see the women standing out front.  Dr. Smith was huddled between Grace and Camila.


    "Where is Dr. Higgins and Dr. Patel?" I asked because the cabin door was open behind them and I could see it was empty.


    "They went into the woods to relieve themselves too," Dr. Smith said.  "You boys didn''t try the outhouse?"


    "I''m not going in there," Connor said definitively.


    "Well, I am," she said.  Camila and Grace walked with her to the outhouse.


    "Tissues?" Dr. Smith said to me before she entered.


    "Oh, right."  I almost tossed it, but remembered last minute that she had been complaining of arthritis so I walked the short distance and handed them to her politely.


    "I hope our siblings found our parents," Grace said to me.


    "Alive," I added.


    "Yes," she said.


    I pulled my phone out of my pocket to try and call again, but it was dead.Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.


    Dr. Patel and Dr. Higgins stepped out from the woods and rejoined Connor and Todd.


    "We should go back to the edge of the woods to check the freeway," Dr. Higgins said.  "If the zombies are gone we should retrieve our cars and be on our way."


    "Our cars might be boxed in," Grace said.  "We might have to take other cars."


    Dr. Higgins nodded.  "This is true," he said.


    Dr. Smith came out of the outhouse and handed the tissues to Camila who went inside.  I had never been in an outhouse and it really wasn''t an experience I wanted.


    "I left my backpack in the cabin," Grace said to me.  "Why don''t you get it so we can be ready to go when I come back out."


    I nodded.  Camilla came out of the outhouse and handed Grace the tissues as she went inside.  I went back to the cabin and retrieved her backpack. I looked around quickly just in case we had missed something useful, but the place was bare.


    I stepped out and rejoined the others.  When Grace came out, she took her backpack from me and put the tissues back in it.  She strapped the backpack onto her back. I noticed Camila had Grace''s purse.


    "Why don''t you carry your purse and I''ll carry your backpack," I said and started to reach for her backpack.


    "You carry my purse," she said to me.


    "Fine," I said.  Camila handed me the purse and I put the strap over my shoulder.  "But then I''ll have the screwdriver you''ve been using to kill zombies."  I could see it clearly at the top of her purse.


    Grace blinked up at me with her beautiful eyes.  "Fine," she sighed. "You carry my backpack and I''ll carry the purse."  She slipped out of the backpack straps and handed it to me as I handed her the purse.  She opened it and ran her fingers along the screwdriver''s handle almost lovingly. That thing had saved our lives.


    The professors - mostly Dr. Higgins - led us back through the woods.  We ignored the dead zombie by the side of the cabin. I hoped Dr. Higgins knew where he was going because everything looked the same to me.


    We traveled mostly in silence because we knew zombies had chased us into the woods the previous night and we had only killed one of them.  There had been a scream so maybe the other students had killed the zombies. Or maybe they were now zombies. All the more reason for us to be quiet and not draw any zombie attention.


    We reached the edge of the treeline.  Not too far away was the freeway. It wasn''t the exact spot we had left it however.  I couldn''t see our cars - didn''t know if we should go forward or backwards to get to our cars, but Dr. Higgins started to move back along the freeway.  The freeway was eerily devoid of humans or zombies. All was silent. Empty cars and trucks lined the backup freeway. All the vehicles were turned off, but I would have assumed some at least would have been running by the urgency people scrambled out of their cars the previous night.


    Dr. Higgins led us closer and closer to the freeway.  The closer we got the emptier it seemed. I spotted his truck before I spotted Grace''s car.  My first inclination was to rush to the cars, but Dr. Higgins in front of us kept the pace careful and slow.  We followed him. I held my bat tightly in both hands just in case. My legs were tense ready to sprint back to the woods at a moment''s notice.


    Dr. Higgins carefully led us over the concrete barrier.  Dr. Patel helped Dr. Smith over. The professors went to the truck while the rest of us went to Grace''s car.  Grace sat in the driver''s side and climbed in. I wasn''t sure why we bothered, we were boxed in by other cars.  We''d have to move some - probably the ones behind us - to get out. Grace tried to start the car, but nothing happened.  It didn''t even make a noise like it was trying to start. There was just the click of the key in the ignition.


    The professors exited the truck. Dr. Higgins dug around behind his driver''s seat and came back out with two bottles of water and a blanket.  We all got out of the car as they came to us.


    "Truck won''t start," Dr. Higgins said quietly.  He and Dr. Patel both scanned the area to make sure there weren''t zombies about.


    "My car won''t start either," Grace said.


    "Do you have anything useful in it?  Like a blanket or something?" Dr. Higgins asked.


    "I do have a blanket in the back and I think I have some water."  She popped the trunk and I went to the back with her to retrieve the items.  She had a case of unopened water bottles, a blanket and a tarp. We dispersed the water bottles between us and took the blanket and tarp.  She also had a lug wrench we took and she grabbed a flashlight from her glove compartment. She patted the hood of her car affectionately before she left it.


    Dr. Higgins led us further back on the freeway.  It made me antsy because my family was in the opposite direction, but we needed an available car or transportation of some sort to get us to the diner.


    We traveled slowly as we checked the cars we passed for anything useful.  We gathered more water bottles, a bag of chips, several bags of halloween candy and another bag of jerky.  We gathered a few more blankets and flashlights along the way as well.


    When we came to a spot where there was no concrete barrier, we each tried a car at the edge of the freeway hoping to just drive alongside the freeway to get out of there.  There were several cars and trucks with the keys left in them. The owners had obviously been in a hurry to get away from the zombies. None of the vehicles worked. At first, I thought it was just coincidence, but the more vehicles we tried the less coincidence was a possibility.


    "What happened?" Todd finally asked.  "Why won''t they start?"


    "It doesn''t make sense," Camila added.


    "Maybe it was the green light," Dr. Smith said.


    "That doesn''t make any sense," Connor said.  "How could a green light cause all the cars to stop?"


    "How could a green light cause zombies," Dr. Patel countered.


    We all stood in the heavy silence.


    "So now what?" I asked.  "We have to get to the diner.  Our families will be there." I indicated myself and Grace with a wave of my hand.


    Dr. Higgins sighed heavily.  "We need to go into a nearby town," he said.  "There is a freeway exit not far from here if we backtrack a little.  It will be dangerous. I''m sure we''ll encounter zombies, but we need more food."


    "And maybe we''ll find bicycles or something to use," Dr. Patel said.


    I liked that idea.  I could get to my family faster.


    "What about my family?" Camila asked.


    "And mine," Connor said.


    "We already know where mine and Grace''s will be," I said.  "We''ll reunite with our families and then help you find yours.  Wouldn''t it be better to stick together?"


    I took their silence as agreement.


    "Okay," Dr. Higgins said.  "We go into town then."


    I wasn''t a religious man, but at that moment I prayed to God that my sisters and parents were all right.  But even as I said my silent prayer, my heart sank and there was a terrible pit in my stomach. I clasped Grace''s warm hand desperately in mine.  There was nothing I could do for my family at the moment but get to the diner.

 Chapter 25 .

    Tanner


    There were smears of blood along the asphalt and along the vehicles as we made our way back to the nearest town.  I pretended I didn''t notice the severed fingers near the tires of a car. I wasn''t sure if the others saw them and just pretended not to or if the others really didn''t see them.  Tension was in the air as we watched our surroundings for any sign of the zombies. We were silent except for our footsteps. We paused when we came upon the off ramp.


    There had been an accident here.  Several cars were smashed together.  Some of them still had bodies inside.  We didn''t get too close, but since the bodies were still and there were no zombie groans, I figured they were truly dead and not undead.  Until there was tapping on one of the car windows. In one of the backseats of a heavily damaged car were two girls. They looked similar in age to Mackenzie and it tore at my heart.  The older one - she seemed slightly older than Mackenzie, but younger than Lily - had dried blood on her forehead. The younger one who I guessed was Mackenzie''s age, had a large, bloody scrape on her chin.  There were unmoving bodies in the passenger''s and driver''s seat in the front. The girls were both crying as they tapped on the window. The driver''s side of the car was completely smashed against another car.  The girls couldn''t get out that way. And the back door on the passenger side was bent inwards as if another car had hit it. There was a rolled over SUV not too far away. Maybe it had hit their car and rolled away, or maybe it had hit their door in the process of rolling away.


    I didn''t realize I moved towards them until Connor grabbed my forearm.  "Where are you going?"


    "Shh," several of those around us shushed him.


    There was a zombie groan somewhere in the distance.  It was greeted by several others. They were all at a distance, but it was only a matter of time until they would arrive here to investigate the talking.


    I pointed to the girls in the car.  We had to hurry and get them out. Connor released my arm and whispered, "Hurry."


    I sprinted to the car and tried the door handle.  It wouldn''t open. I tried the front passenger door.  I figured it was better for them to crawl over their dead mother than remain in that backseat.  However, the front door wouldn''t open either. Their brown eyes stared up at me by the glass, hopeful, imploring me to help them.  I motioned for them to scoot back and held up my bat. They scooted to the other side. I readied the bat and swung as hard as I could.  The glass shattered and broke inwards. A hole formed in the glass, but not big enough for the girls to fit through and the shards still sticking up would be dangerous for them.  I hit the glass again and got rid of the shards sticking out. There were zombie groans all around us now and getting closer.


    "Hurry," Camila urged.


    Grace and Todd were directly behind me now ready to help.


    "Come on," I said and waved to the girl that looked to be Mackenzie''s age.  She reached for me and I carefully helped her out of the car window with Todd and Grace''s help.


    Grace took her hand when she was out and on her feet.  Together they went to stand next to Camila, but the little girl watched anxiously from that distance as I pulled her older sister out of the car.  The older sister''s dark skin had an ashen sheen to it.


    Her leg hit the car frame and she screamed.  Several zombies groaned loudly in reply. It was only then that I noticed her leg was twisted.  Broken. I waved Connor over because honestly, he hadn''t been much help against the zombies yet.  I trusted anyone else to defend us against the zombies over him. It wasn''t that he didn''t want to help, he had just frozen every time.


    "Carry her on your back," I said.  "Her leg is broken."


    Connor turned his back and crouched slightly.  I helped her get on his back just as a zombie came into view from further up the freeway.  He groaned loudly as if to alert other zombies. And other zombies answered him. He rushed us.  Grace swung her bow off her back, cocked an arrow and let it fly. It embedded directly into the zombie''s forehead.


    I had completely forgotten she had the bow and arrow which was strange because that was her thing.  I was a terrible boyfriend.


    "Let''s go,"she urged and waved me forward.  Connor sprinted back to the group with the girl on her back.  She let out little whimpers as she bounced up and down with Connor''s movement.  I ran beside Connor and placed a hand on the girl''s back to help steady her. That seemed to help a little.


    Two zombies ran toward us coming from further down the offramp we were on.  Dr. Higgins used his bow and arrow on the first one, but he missed the head and it landed in the shoulder.  Dr. Patel had been running beside Dr. Higgins with Dr. Smith on his back, but as the two zombies got closer, he slowed down slightly to be behind Dr. Higgins.  Todd stepped forward and tried to use his bow and arrow, but he also missed. It skidded along the asphalt behind the zombie. Both men drew their knives as we all continued to run down the offramp.  More zombies came from the freeway behind us and charged down the off ramp. Grace shot another one in the head with an arrow.Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.


    The first zombie in front stretched his claw like fingers towards Todd.  Todd sidestepped at the last moment and kicked his leg out in front of the zombie.  The zombie fell on its face. The zombie didn''t bother to break it''s fall so his cheek and chin were scraped badly.  He didn''t notice the wounds as he started to rise. Todd jumped on his back, pinning his shoulders to the ground with his knees and brought the knife down into the back of the skull using both of his hands.  It buried down to the hilt.


    The second zombie in front of us ran into Dr. Higgins.  Dr. Higgins stuffed his knife directly upwards into the zombie''s open mouth.  He retracted his knife just as Todd pulled his out of the skull. The rest of us ran around them.  They quickly followed and Dr. Higgins sped passed us to be in the front once again.


    Grace shot another arrow behind us.  Another zombie fell to the road as the arrow went straight in her head.


    Two more zombies came at us from the front.  Zombie groans surrounded us. It sent the hairs on the back of my neck straight up.  Dr. Higgins didn''t hesitate as he sidestepped the first zombie and buried the bloody knife in the temple.  It was Camila this time who killed the next zombie by rushing up to the charging zombie, kicked hard at her knee so she stumbled and then grabbed the zombie''s hair to tilt the head up and bury her knife in the zombie''s eye.


    The girl Mackenzie''s age ran alongside Connor.  She kept looking up at her sister with a clear expression of worry.  She stumbled a few times, but since I was behind Connor to help steady the girl on his back, I could also help the younger girl when she stumbled to keep her on her feet.


    We came to the end of the off ramp and onto the first street.  There was a car accident here too, but more concerning were the several zombies in the streets.  They were already groaning, but as soon as we came into their view, their guttural groans got louder.  The crowd of them rushed us. Dr. Higgins veered off the street and onto the grass. We as a group followed him.  Grace let loose several more arrows in the zombies chasing us, but it was starting to slow her down and she was already at the back.  I removed my hand momentarily from the girl on Connor''s back to tug at Grace to follow along quicker.


    Grace frowned, but she lowered her bow and focused on running.  I couldn''t afford to lose her. Things weren''t looking too good for any of us right now.  The girl''s arms around Connor''s neck loosened and fell to her sides. She started to fall backwards as her eyes closed, but I held her upright with my hand.  She must have fainted from the pain of her broken leg being bounced around.


    The younger sister noticed her sister''s limp form and she started sobbing.  The audible sounds mingled with the zombie groans.


    Camila took the girl''s hand.  "It''s going to be okay," she whispered as she pulled the little girl with her.  "It''s going to be okay," but now it sounded like she was trying to convince herself more than the girl.


    Dr. Patel with Dr. Smith fell back next to me.  Dr. Smith placed her hand next to mine on the limp girl''s back.  "Go help the others fend off the zombies," Dr. Smith said. "I''ll steady the girl."


    I nodded and released my hand from the girl''s back.  I gripped my bat with both hands. As if knowing what we had just discussed, a zombie came out from the right and lunged towards Dr. Patel and Dr. Smith.  I swung my bat hard at it''s head. My hands vibrated with the impact and I heard the skull break. The zombie fell to the ground tripping the next one. It allowed our group a small distance between us and the zombies, but that small gap was quickly being filled as more zombies saw us from side streets and chased after us.


    We ran and ran along the streets, in front of buildings, across new streets.  Dr. Patel and Connor were quickly tiring.


    I glanced at Grace.  She shot of another arrow, but at least this time she was aware of her own speed and made sure not to slow down.  Her brown eyes met mine and I knew she was contemplating the same thing I was. I didn''t want to abandon our friends, the professors, or the girls, but we had made an agreement that we and our families came first above everything else.  Maybe it was time to veer away from the main group. I was confident we could survive if it was just me and Grace.


    I looked back at Connor, my roommate since the beginning of the year.  He could be annoying at times and never picked up his clothes. He froze when the zombies attacked us, but he was now courageously carrying a girl on his back that he could easily drop to get away faster.  He didn''t. Even as his panting was heavy and desperate, even as the sweat dripped down his face, he wouldn''t let her go.


    Todd sometimes had a difficult time communicating as English was a second language and he was more often shy at times than not, but he stayed with us, fought off the zombies even though he could probably make it alone.


    And Camila, she had greeted with Grace with a warm hug the moment they had met.  I knew Grace was safe in the dorms because I knew she had Camila to watch out for her.  They watched out for each other. In high school, Grace didn''t have friends and I didn''t think she ever had a best friend as close as Camila had become.  Camila had come down those stairs to protect me from the zombies when I needed help. And even now, she guided the little girl along with her. She would occasionally kill one of the zombies if it got too close to her and the girl.


    I didn''t know the professors well, but they had driven around the dorms to save the students.  Even now they didn''t abandon us. Even now Dr. Patel and Dr. Higgins did everything they could to save us.  Dr. Smith even held the girl up on Connor''s back.


    But my sisters.  Lily and Mackenzie.  Mom and Dad. And Grace''s siblings, Hunter and Victory, and her parents.  We had to get to them. We had to.


    I switched my bat so it was in one hand and took Grace''s free hand in mine.  We were almost to the next street. If we were going to do it, that would be the time.


    Dr. Higgins suddenly veered to the right, ran up the steps to a house and in through the open door.  Everyone followed. I noticed the blood that marked the floor, but we didn''t have time to worry about it.


    Grace and I were the last ones inside and Dr. Higgins slammed the door shut as soon as we were inside.  Dr. Patel put Dr. Smith back on her feet and Todd helped Connor put the girl on a couch.


    The zombies pounded on the closed door and groaned.  Groans answered from inside the house.

 Chapter 26 .

    Tanner


    "Stay away from the windows," Todd whispered.  He grabbed Camila''s forearm and pulled her away from the nearest window.  Groaning came from just outside the window, outside the door and from upstairs.  Zombie fists pounded on the door behind me and Grace. Footsteps came from the floor above us.  A moment later and the loud footsteps and groaning were on the stairs.


    Five zombies - three adults and two children - came rushing down the stairs, tripping over each other in their rush to get to us.  The children were still in tattered Halloween costumes. Grace lifted her bow and arrow and shot the charging adult male zombie in the head.  He tumbled to the ground. The two adult zombies behind him - a man and woman - tripped over him. The children zombies ran around them.


    The little girl we had rescued from the car, cried and hid behind Camila.  The zombies pounding on the door behind us grew louder. Pounding started on the windows.  Dr. Higgins stabbed the zombie boy in the head. Dr. Patel stabbed the zombie girl. I looked away.  It was too difficult seeing small children like that even if they were zombies.


    Todd and I stepped up between the professors to take care of the two adult zombies that were groaning and shambling to their feet.  Todd plunged his knife in the back of the zombie man''s head. I swung my bat hard into the zombie woman''s skull. She crumpled to the ground at my feet.


    Glass shattered nearby and a zombie started to climb in through the nearby window.  Grace quickly stepped up and stabbed it in the temple with her screwdriver. She left the zombie where it was halfway through the window and then quickly closed the curtains.  The rest of us went through the room quickly closing all the curtains.


    "She''s not breathing," the little girl from the girl screamed.  She was on her knees next to the couch and her sister. She shook her sister''s shoulders and screamed, "She''s not breathing!"


    "Shhh," several of us shushed her and Camila covered the little girl''s mouth with her hand for emphasis.  The little girl had tears streaming down her face. She pointed at her sister urgently, but didn''t talk anymore.


    The zombie groans outside picked up again.  There were a few loud knocks on the door, but not as many as before.  Dr. Patel rushed to the older girl on the couch. He bent low with his ear over the girl''s nose and mouth.  He put a finger up to her nose, then he put two fingers on the girls neck to feel for a pulse. He felt around in different spots and then shook his head.  "There isn''t a heartbeat," he whispered.


    The younger girl started wailing.  Camila hugged her into her shoulder to muffle her sobs.


    Dr. Patel waved Grace over by his side.  She immediately complied. He started doing chest compressions.  After he had done a few, he paused and indicated for Grace to breathe into the girl''s mouth.  Grace held the girl''s nose, tilted the head slightly back, dropped the jaw and breathed into her mouth.  They repeated this process for several long moments. Nothing happened. The girl didn''t move. Her heartbeat didn''t return miraculously.  She didn''t start breathing.


    The zombies quieted outside during this process.  I hoped that meant they were leaving, but didn''t dare open a curtain to check.


    Dr. Patel finally broke away from the older girl and shook his head.  The younger girl clung to Camila and cried, but at least her cries were silent now.  Camila stroked her hair and rocked the girl that was Mackenzie''s age back and forth.


    "But it was only a broken leg," Connor whispered.  I put a hand on his shoulder. He was pale and wrung his hands together tightly.  I hoped he didn''t blame himself. He had done what he could to save her.


    Dr. Patel shook his head.  His voice was quiet when he answered.  "She might have had internal bleeding somewhere.  Even if there was internal bleeding around the break in the leg, it could cause a blood clot or other complications.  It would be difficult to determine internal bleeding without taking her to the hospital and I doubt hospitals are up and running right now."


    Dr. Patel reached over and patted the younger girl on top of her head, "What''s your name?" he asked her.


    "Hailey," the girl managed to get out.


    Dr. Patel nodded.  "Don''t worry," he said.  "We''ll take care of you. We won''t let anything happen to you."


    The girl''s bottom lip quivered.  She reached out and took her dead sister''s hand.  I really hoped both of my sisters were all right and that they had found our parents.  As if knowing my thoughts, Grace took my hand in hers and squeezed it.


    Dr. Higgins tapped me on the shoulder.  Todd stood beside him. Dr. Higgins indicated with a slight nod of his head that I should follow him.  I brought Grace with me still hand in hand. We found the kitchen and began to look for supplies. Dr. Higgins and Todd went to look for supplies further in the house.


    Grace and I took out all the canned and dried food and set them out on the counters.  We found matches and candles, took out the can opener and some silverware, some pans we would be able to use over a fire.  Todd and Dr. Higgins came back with some backpacks, camping supplies and more blankets.Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators!


    We regrouped back in the living room with the others.  Dr. Smith and Camila both hugged Hailey while they sat on the floor next to the couch.  Connor still looked shook up. Dr. Patel sat next to Connor with a comforting hand on his shoulder.


    "There is a back door," Dr. Higgins whispered.  We didn''t hear any more groans outside. "The back looks clear.  I think we should find another way out of the town than the way we came in.  I''m sure that area is going to be crowded with zombies still."


    Dr. Patel nodded, "Let''s go," he whispered in reply.


    Dr. Higgins led the way to the back door.  It was silent outside. He opened the door, stuck his head out and looked in both directions before he led the way.  We went as silently as we could along the grass in the back and to the grass in the next house over. The only sounds were our feet in the grass, an occasional groan and the shuffling steps of zombies on nearby streets.


    We paused when we reached the next street.  There were a few zombies down the street, but they had their backs turned to us.  We ran across the street as quietly as we could as a group. We went the next few blocks in a similar fashion until we reached a street with local businesses.  There were no zombies meandering on this street.


    Dr. Higgins pointed to the camping supplies shop.  We started to head towards it when Grace grabbed my forearm and stopped me.


    "What is it?" I whispered.  The others stopped with us.


    Grace swallowed hard and pointed a little further down the street.  There was a cafe, but the words RU in? Had been spray painted over the cafe sign.  Black curtains had been drawn all along the windows.


    "We should go there," Dr. Smith said.


    "No," Grace said.  "We should avoid it at all costs."


    "I saw someone spray painting that when we were trying to leave town," Hailey said.  "Maybe they are people who can help us."


    "We don''t need help," Grace said.  Everyone but me looked at her like she was crazy.


    "Don''t you get weird vibes from it?" Grace asked everyone, but mostly me.


    "It does feel ominous," I said.


    "You just think that way because we''re in an apocalypse," Camila said.  "But I''m getting good vibes from it."


    "Me too," Dr. Smith and Hailey said at the time.


    "I think we should check it out," Dr. Patel said.


    "I agree," Connor said.


    Dr. Higgins shrugged.  "I don''t feel one way or the other about it.  It wouldn''t hurt to check it out."


    "If everyone is voting," Todd said timidly, "I think we should check it out too."


    Grace''s face fell and she closed her eyes tightly.


    "We''ll stay close by the door," I leaned in to whisper to her and only her.  "If we need to escape, we can do it quickly."


    She took in a deep breath and then nodded.


    We stepped quietly to the cafe, always aware of our surroundings and watching for any zombies that might be lurking nearby.  We didn''t see or hear any.


    The door wasn''t locked when Dr. Smith opened it.  She went inside followed closely by Hailey and then the others.  Grace and I were the last to enter.


    I was surprised to see that all the tables and chairs had been removed.  It was dark inside except for the candles that were spread throughout the room giving off a pleasant aroma.  Beanbags were spread out over the floor. Some were occupied by people. Other people walked around serving drinks to those in the beanbags.


    "Welcome," a man said with a pleasant voice as we entered.  "Find a seat. You are safe here. You don''t need to worry about anything."  He ushered Dr. Smith carefully into one of the beanbags. "Get her a drink," he said to a young woman.  The woman nodded and went off to get a drink.


    "Please," the man said to the rest of us, "find a seat.  Take a rest." His face and pleasant voice faltered when he saw Grace.


    "Am I welcome too?" she asked.  There was a challenge in her voice I hadn''t heard before.


    "Do you want to be welcomed?" the man asked in a flat voice.


    "We should leave," Grace said.  "Now." She snatched up a drink that had been meant for Camila and gave it back to the young man who had tried to hand it to Camila.


    "Hey," Camila complained, "it''s okay to relax for a moment."


    "It won''t be for a moment," Grace said.  "Look. Already all of you are too comfortable."


    Dr. Smith took a sip of the drink that was handed to her.  Her face relaxed into a smile. "Delicious," she muttered. Hailey sat in the beanbag next to Dr. Smith.  She quickly drank from the cup that was handed to her. She smiled for the first time and sunk into the beanbag.


    "Don''t drink that!"  Grace snatched another cup from Todd.  He looked up at her confused from his beanbag.  Grace turned to me with desperate eyes and said, "Help me."


    I snatched the cups away from Dr. Higgins and Dr. Patel as she took the cup away from Connor.


    "If you keep this up I will have to ask you to leave," the man said to Grace.


    "I''m fine leaving.  We''ll all leave."


    "I''m too old and tired," Dr. Smith said.  "Just leave me here." She took another drink.


    "What''s the problem if we stay and relax for a moment?" Connor asked.


    "My brother and sister are out there alone," Grace said.  She snatched away another cup as it was handed to Connor. "They need me.  I thought all of you were going to help me reunite with them. And Tanner''s family."


    That made all of them pause for a moment except for Hailey who took another drink.


    "You''re right," Dr. Higgins said.  He stood back up and turned to the man who had first greeted us.  "Thank you for your hospitality," he said, "but we really should be going."


    The others stood up with the exception of Dr. Smith and Hailey.


    "Of course," the man said with a fake smile and narrowed eyes directed at my girlfriend.  I stood in front of her to get his eyes off her. This place, these people, didn''t feel right.


    "I''m going to stay here," Dr. Smith said.


    "Me too," Hailey jumped in.


    "But," Grace started, but Dr. Smith interrupted her.


    "I''m too old.  I''m slowing you down.  My body aches everywhere.  I can''t keep this up."


    "I''ll stay with her," Hailey said.  "I don''t want to go back out there. It''s scary and all of my family are dead."


    "I think they''re right," Dr. Patel said.  He hugged Dr. Smith and so did Dr. Higgins before they headed to the door.  The others followed, but I stayed where I was as I watched Grace. She bit her bottom lip and then went and crouched in front of Hailey.


    "If you ever feel like you are not yourself, leave this place," she implored the girl.  "Leave immediately, please."


    Hailey nodded, but she was already drinking her next cup.  Grace and I followed the others to the door. My girlfriend looked one last time at Dr. Smith and Hailey.  There was a pained expression on her face, but she came with me when I tugged gently on her hand.

 interlude 3 .

    The In


    "Everything is going as planned," the underling informed them.  "Phase 2 was a complete success."


    "As expected," the Mistress said.  "How are the clubs going?"


    "A few of the clubs have had unexpected and unwanted guests, but nothing that we can''t handle.  Nothing that has interfered with the clubs. The clubs attract more and more everyday. Some are useless.  Some are useful. We grow more powerful."If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.


    "Good," the Mistress said.  "Has anyone approached us yet for negotiations?"


    "No," the underling said.  "Most don''t realize how powerful we''ve become.  They still think we are hiding away, obeying the government laws."


    The others laughed.  "Good," the Mistress said.  "They won''t realize how strong we''ve become until it is too late to stop us."

 Chapter 27 .

    Darren


    Everything was a pleasant haze as I woke up.  I blinked my eyes open and knew I had to have more of that delicious drink.


    "Are you okay?" Hunter asked.  He and Lily hovered over me. My wonderful new friends.  Hunter was so cool and Lily was beautiful. If only they could have noticed me while we were still in school.  We could have all been friends then. Lily''s bright eyes looked down at me with concern. Maybe she would be my girlfriend if I asked.  I giggled. It was too soon for that.


    Hunter and Lily looked at each other.  "Is he drunk?" Lily asked. "I didn''t smell anything in that drink."


    Oh yeah.  The drink.  Honey and strawberries.  I needed more. I sat up and looked around.  I was on a sleeping bag in a room with a bunch of other sleeping bags and a few sleeping people.  There wasn''t anyone in here passing around the drinks though.


    "I''m not sure," Hunter said.


    "I''m not drunk," I said.  "You guys are funny."


    I could see a bean bag and candle through a small opening in a black curtain.  I began to crawl to the opening. Hunter grabbed the back of my shirt.


    "Where are you going?" he asked.


    I pointed.  "To get a drink."


    "No," Hunter said.  "You''ve had too much to drink."


    "He''s been asleep for a long time," Lily said.  "I thought he would be fine when he woke up."


    "Me too," Hunter said.


    "The others must be worried about us," Lily said.  "I hope they don''t come looking for us. We need to get out of here and get back to them."


    "I agree," Hunter said.  "Darren! Stop moving!"


    I was trying to crawl to the opening despite his firm grip on my shirt.  Maybe I could slip out of it. I started to squirm and shift. The shirt lifted up along my back and stomach.  Now I just needed to stretch out my arms and off it would come.


    His arms wrapped around my bare skin and pulled me to him.  I tried to get away. I pushed. I pulled. I squirmed. I tried to crawl away, but it didn''t matter what I did, because he was stronger than me.


    "Darren!  Stop!" There was something in Hunter''s voice this time that made me pause and look at him.  His face was red, but I couldn''t tell if he was actually angry or not. I looked at beautiful Lily.  Her eyes shifted between me and Hunter figuring something out, but I didn''t know what. Hunter tugged my shirt back down when I stopped.


    "I need to go back out there," I said to get them to understand.  "I need more of that drink. I''m hungry."


    "If you''re hungry," Lily said, "then you need food not that drink.  Here." She pulled her pack around and took out some jerky. She offered it to me, but the sight of it made me sick to my stomach.  I didn''t want to refuse anything from her. Not her, but I was going to throw up if I kept looking at it.


    I pushed it gently away.  "Not that," I said. "The drink.  I need the drink."


    Hunter collapsed to the floor as if my words had just sapped all his energy.  He rolled his eyes and sighed heavily.


    "Darren," Lily said.  She reached out and touched my arm.  My breath caught in the back of my throat.  It wasn''t skin on skin contact, because I had long sleeves on, but still this beautiful young woman was touching me.  Maybe there was hope for the two of us yet. "Are you listening to yourself?" she asked me.


    That confused me.  Of course I was listening to myself.


    The curtains opened and the woman with the long black hair walked in followed by a very tall, muscled man.  He might have been a bodybuilder before the zombie apocalypse happened.


    "You''re awake," she stated.  Lily and Hunter scooted so they sat in front of me.  The woman smiled, but it was strained, not the welcoming smile I had first been greeted with.  My friends were making her angry. Why couldn''t they just relax? These people were going to help us.  And the drink was really delicious.


    "Can I have more to drink?" I asked.


    Hunter''s and Lily''s heads swiveled to me looking at me in disbelief, but I couldn''t fathom what the problem was.  It was a delicious, yummy, delectable drink.


    "Of course," the woman said and her smile this time was genuine.


    "No!" Lily and Hunter said at the same time.  I liked them, but I was beginning to hate them at the same time.


    "Lily, Hun . . ."  Hunter covered my mouth as if he didn''t want me to say his name.  I grabbed his wrist and removed his hand. "These nice people said they were going to help us.  Stop being rude to them."This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.


    "How?" Lily asked me.


    "What?" I asked.


    "How are they going to help us?" she asked.  "Have they told you specifics because so far I''ve only seen them give you a drink that made you drunk and tired."


    "I''m not drunk," I said, but she did have a point.  "How are you going to help us?" I asked the woman. The younger woman came in with a drink.  She smiled kindly at me and tried to hand me the drink. I reached out eagerly for it, but Hunter snatched it out of her hands and scowled at me.  "Relax," I said to him and patted his shoulder.


    I blinked at the woman with the long black hair waiting for her to answer how they were going to help.  She smiled, but it was strained again. "We can of course give you supplies if that''s what you want, but wouldn''t it be better to bring your group back here?  We could give them shelter and protection and all the food they would need."


    I nodded in agreement.  "And the drink," I said.


    Her smile turned genuine now.  "Of course. We have plenty of that."


    "Sounds good to me," I said.  "Lily, Hun . . ." Hunter covered my mouth again.  He took his hand away when I nodded that I wouldn''t say his name.  "Why don''t you two go get the rest of our group and bring them back here to safety?" I said.


    "Darren," Lily said, "you shouldn''t trust these people so easily."


    "They''re not going to hurt us," I said.  I tried to reach for the cup in Hunter''s hand, but he lifted it up and away from me.  I hated being short.


    "May I please have some privacy to speak with my friend?" Hunter demanded more than asked the woman.  Her eyes narrowed to slits and her lips pinched tight.


    The two stared at each other for a long moment before the woman said, "I don''t think that is a good idea.  You can speak to him with us here."


    They were being weird.  I just wanted a drink. Lily''s head swiveled worriedly between the woman and Hunter.


    "In that case," Hunter said, "I will go out there and start knocking down candles.  I will drag as many people out of here and onto the zombie infested streets as I can.  I will spit in the drinks you are passing around to people."


    "You think you can do all that before we stop you?" the woman asked.


    "Do you want to see how much destruction I can cause before you can stop me?" he asked.  "Are you willing to risk that instead of just letting me talk to what is mine?"


    I had forgotten.  The three of us had all said we were each others and I even got to hug Lily.  Hunter had been between us, but that didn''t really matter since I got to put my arms over hers.


    I scooted between Lily and Hunter and put an arm around each of their shoulders.  "Ours," I said. ...I did sound a little drunk. Was their alcohol in that drink? But I was a minor.  They wouldn''t serve minors alcohol.


    "Fine," the woman said.  She got up and signaled for her companions to follow her.  When it was just us and the others who were sleeping soundly around us, Hunter turned so he was facing me directly.


    He paused before he said to Lily, "Would you please go over there and make sure no one comes in."  He indicated the curtains. Lily frowned, looked from Hunter to me and back again before she made her way over to the curtains.  She sat down sideways so she could still see us and the opening in the curtains. Hunter signaled for her to turn all the way around.  She sighed, but did as she was asked.


    Hunter turned a little more so his back was fully to Lily.  Then he grabbed my knees and slid me along the sleeping bag so I was still directly in front of him.


    "Darren," he said to me.


    "Yes?"


    He put his hand on my shoulders and leaned in close to me.  "Darren," he said again, "you need to snap out of this. Lily and I need you so we can all make it back.  Our siblings and friends need you. Your friend, Richard, remember? And your mother."


    "But these people said they can help."


    "They can''t help, Darren."  He got even closer. His voice took on a commanding quality that held my full attention.  His gray eyes bore into mine like storm clouds overhead. I couldn''t ignore him even if I had wanted to.  I couldn''t look away. I couldn''t close off my ears.


    "You can''t rely on anyone, but me, Lily, our siblings, Richard and your mother.  Understand? No one else. And most importantly you need to take care of yourself.  You need to rely on yourself to be able to take care of the rest of us. We need to have each other''s backs.  You don''t want anymore of their drink. You need food and water to survive. We have that. These people in this place are wrong.  Do you understand?"


    I blinked as his eyes went back to brown.  My mind was cleared of a fog. I looked around processing where I was for the first time.  It was weird. I didn''t know these people. Why had I trusted them so easily? They hadn''t come to rescue me from that house like Lily and Hunter had.  These people hadn''t gone into Grant''s house with me to save my mother. It was Lily and Hunter who had always been with me. And Richard and my mother and everyone else...well maybe not Grant and his dad.


    "You''re right," I said.  Hunter let out a great breath I hadn''t realized he was holding.  "Let''s go," I said. The craving for the drink was completely gone now.  I was only hungry. "Lily," I said. She turned to us. "Can I have some of that jerky now?"


    She smiled and said, "Of course," she moved to retrieve it from her backpack.


    Wait...had Hunter''s eyes been gray?  It wasn''t the first time I had thought his eyes had been gray.  It must have been my imagination though because eyes didn''t just change color in that way.


    I quickly devoured the jerky Lily handed me.  I looked around for my pack while I ate. It was next to the sleeping bag I had been sleeping on.  I searched through it quickly to make sure everything was still there. It was. I drank my water. It was refreshing.  It wet my dry mouth and soothed my throat. It was just what I needed.


    "Ready?" Hunter asked me.  I nodded. He looked to Lily and she nodded.  "Let''s get out of here."


    I was more than ready to comply.  This place had felt welcoming before - like home.  Now it was foreign. I didn''t want to be here anymore.  Hunter led the way into the room with the beanbags and candles.  Lily and I stayed close behind him.


    "Would you like that drink now?" the woman with the black hair asked.  She had seemed friendly before, but now there was something menacing about her.  Why had I trusted a stranger?


    "We''re going to leave now," Hunter said.  He grabbed both my wrist and Lily''s wrist and tugged us to the door.


    "But we can help you," the woman said to me as she stepped in front of Hunter.


    "We can help ourselves," I said.  "Thanks for letting us sleep here.  We''ve really got to get back to our group now.  There are people waiting for us."


    The woman frowned.  It caused my heart to jump because she was suddenly terrifying.  Lily brought her ax out in front of her. When I saw that, I took out my knife.  I didn''t think we could fight our way through all these people, but if Lily was going to try I was going to try with her.


    The woman''s eyes bored into Hunter''s for several long agonizing moments before she gave the fakest smile I had ever seen on anyone.  She stepped aside and let us go to the door.


    "Don''t let us catch you here ever again," the woman said as Hunter pushed the door open.  "Next time we won''t be so cordial."

 Chapter 28 .

    Lily


    It was cold as we stepped out into the morning light.  There was a thin layer of slush all around us. It was cold enough that the slush wouldn''t melt, but not cold enough for it to turn into ice.  Darren and I immediately pulled our jackets around us tighter. I slid my gloved hands up and down my arms in an effort to get warm. Our breath came out in little puffs in the cold air.  Hunter seemed unbothered by it.


    The streets were quiet except for the occasional moan in the distance.  The sky was a clear blue except for a few sparse clouds drifting away. I hoped my sister didn''t freeze in this weather.  They had been out in it all night, not sheltered like we had been.


    "We should get some winter wear somewhere," Darren said as he hugged himself.  "And enough for everyone back at camp."


    "And I still think we should get some bikes," Lily said, "even if we can''t get enough for everyone.  We can pack more on the bikes."


    "Okay," Darren agreed, "since we are already here," he waved to the bike store.  "Although, I don''t like being this close to...that other place." He purposefully turned his back to the sign that said RU in?


    The glass door had been knocked off the hinges of the bicycle shop.  Shards of glass were splattered everywhere. Bikes were knocked over and it was clear that some were missing from their displays.  While we looked at the bikes, I said, "Did you know who those people were, Hunter?"


    "No," he said.  He crouched low inspecting the wheels on one of the bikes.  "Why?"


    "You seemed to know what to say to them - how to protect me and Darren."


    He stood up and went to the next bike, but both myself and Darren were watching him.  "It was instinct," he said.


    Darren and I exchanged a glance.


    "Let''s get these ones," Hunter said and began to pull bikes from the racks.  "We should also get some bike repair supplies while we are here." He pointed to an area across the store.  I left Hunter and Darren as they retrieved the bikes. I grabbed a duffle bag from a display stand and began to fill it with supplies - an air pump, extra bike chains, wrenches, pliers, screwdrivers, duct tape, zip ties and anything else I thought we might need.  I also put in some extra water bottles and some trail mixes. The bag was heavy when I was done.


    When I got back to Darren and Hunter, they were tying their packs with the weapons we had gathered the day before to the bikes.  Hunter took the heavy duffle bag from me and began to tie it on one of the bikes. I began to tie down the bag I had with the guns and ammunition.


    We took the bikes one at a time out to the empty street until all six bikes that Hunter had selected were on the street.  We could each ride a bike, use one hand to steer it and the other to guide an extra bike.


    "Do you know where we can get coats?" Darren asked quietly.


    "We passed a place on our way here," Hunter said.  "Let''s go."


    He led the way back behind the weapon store.  It wasn''t easy to ride the bikes through the slush and grass.  It was slow going. My muscles tired quickly, but I kept going.  There were less zombies along the streets than the previous day. I wasn''t sure why that was.  Maybe because of the slush - except the few we had seen didn''t seem bothered by it. Maybe because Hunter and I had killed some on the weapon store.  Maybe other people killed some too. Or maybe they were drawn elsewhere.


    Hunter stopped behind one of the buildings.  We got off the bikes and leaned them up against the building.  Hunter tried to open the back door, but it was locked.


    "Let''s go around to the front," Darren said.


    "What if someone steals our bikes while we''re gone?"


    It wasn''t that far from the bike store and we could always go back, but we had already strapped our supplies to them.  We had spent so much time away from our group. I was worried about Mackenzie. It was dangerous for them to stay in one place for too long.  The zombies had more chances of coming upon them the more they stayed in one spot.


    "You two stay here," Hunter said.  "I will go in through the front and let you in."


    "By yourself?"  I asked. "You need to take one of us with you so you can watch each others backs.  There might be zombies in there."


    "But what if whoever is left out here encounters zombies?" he asked.  "You''ll need to watch each others backs."


    "This is an open space where we can run away from zombies," I said.  "Inside you might be cornered. You need to take one of us."You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.


    "I''ll go with you," Darren volunteered.


    And I remembered how Hunter reacted when he had to hold Darren back earlier.  I wasn''t sure before if the rumors about Hunter being gay were true. I did know that he never looked at me the way I wanted him to.  He never looked at me the way he had looked at Darren not too long ago. I wasn''t 100% sure, but I was pretty sure. And it hurt. A lot.  More than I was willing to admit.


    Hunter looked between me and Darren before he sighed and said, "Fine, but Lily, at the first sign of trouble, run."


    I nodded.  They rounded the building together and I was alone with the bikes.  I leaned back against the wall. I already knew Hunter wouldn''t look at me the way I wanted him to.  It was better to let my feelings go. It was better to focus on getting back to Mackenzie and then getting to the diner where we could reunite with Tanner.  But feelings were not so easy to change even if I knew Hunter couldn''t love me. Stinging tears moistened my eyes. I blinked them away.


    I turned my focus to listening for any sounds coming from inside the building or outside it.  It was quiet. I gripped the handle of my ax tighter. There was a metallic click and then the door beside me opened.  Darren opened the door. He came out and started to pull in a bike.


    "Where''s Hunter?" I asked.


    "He''s looking at the coats in the kids section.  There are four kids in our group who will need them.  You should go look in the women''s section. I''ll finish pulling in these bikes and then go to the men''s section."


    "Have you checked the entire store to make sure it''s clear?" I asked.  I helped to pull in the bikes.


    "Yes," he said.  "We killed two zombies.  It sounds like there is one in the back office, but the door is locked so we just left it there."


    I nodded and headed in.  He could pull in the last few bikes.  The lights were off, but the large windows at the front of the store and the smaller windows high on the walls everywhere else provided enough light that I easily found my way to the women''s section.


    The women''s section and child''s section were directly next to each.  Hunter was at the edge of the aisle looking at preteen girl''s coats. He had two coats draped over his arms that would fit the two little boys.  I went to the same aisle, but browsed the women''s coats. I pulled off a pink one that would fit Maria.


    "Hunter," I said.


    "What?" he asked.  He pulled off a white, puffy coat and slung it over the boys coats draped over his arm.


    "Can I ask if that rumor about you being gay is true?"


    He stopped and looked at me.  I avoided his gaze as I pulled a gray coat from the rack that I thought would fit Darren''s mom.


    "Will it change things if it is?"


    I finally looked at him.  "No," I said. I would still have my crush on him that I couldn''t seem to get rid of.  He would still be my friend. He would still be my companion in this zombie apocalypse.


    "It''s true," he said.  He turned back to the coats and pulled a red one from the rack.  "Do you think this will fit Mackenzie?"


    "Yes," I said.  I grabbed a light blue coat for Monica.  "Can I ask you another question?"


    "Might as well," he said.


    I grabbed a green coat for me in my size before I turned to Hunter.  "Do you have a crush on Darren?"


    "Yes," he said quietly.  "It doesn''t matter though.  He has a crush on you."


    I wasn''t sure how to take this news.  I had never thought of Darren that way.  I wasn''t sure I could. "But I have a crush on you," I said equally quiet.


    "I know," he said.


    There was a noise to my left.  I looked with my hand already on the handle of my ax, but it wasn''t a zombie or a stranger.  It was Darren. Had he heard our conversation? I hadn''t meant him to. I had only wanted it to be a conversation between me and Hunter.


    There was a long silence.  "I was going to the men''s section he said," and pointed a hand beyond the two of us where the men''s section was.  "I didn''t mean to hear."


    I looked at Hunter worried he would be mad at me for revealing his crush to his crush.  Hunter''s eyes were only for Darren, waiting for judgement or hate or disgust or something.


    "So . . .," Darren said, "if we all have unrequited crushes on each other, what are we supposed to do?"


    "Nothing," Hunter said.  "We just remain the friends we already are.  What else can we be?"


    Darren nodded at that.  "Okay," he said. "I''m just going to start getting coats for the men."  He walked in between me and Hunter and continued down the aisle.


    "It doesn''t bother you that I like you?" Hunter asked Darren.


    Darren turned back around to face us.  "It surprises me," he said. "But it''s flattering.  You''re really cool. I don''t know why you would like me.  Does it bother you," he said to me, "that I like you?"


    "No," I said.  "I''m sorry I don''t feel the same."


    Darren shrugged sadly.  "It''s okay. I know you know how it feels.  We all do. If you two are done getting your coats, you can help me get the coats for the rest of the group."


    It didn''t take us long to get coats for Richard, Grant, Grant''s dad - I still didn''t know his name, but I didn''t like him so I wasn''t even curious - Hunter and Darren.  Hunter of course chose a black coat. We grabbed thicker gloves for everyone and scarves, ski masks, snow boots, and thick socks. We loaded them to the bikes and continued on our way along the back of the buildings.


    We were able to avoid any zombies we saw from a distance and made our way back to the ramp to the freeway.  There were zombies groaning as we neared the camp. We froze. My heart went numb. My sister. Then my body tingled as my only thought was to save my sister.  Hunter grabbed my bike handle as I tried to speed passed them. He brought a finger to his lips urging me to be silent. Then he slowly, carefully got off his bike, lowered the kickstand on it and the other bike he had guided and then motioned for us to do the same.


    Darren and I immediately complied.  Hunter led the way silently through the woods towards our camp.  He had his hunter''s knife in his hand. Darren had his kitchen knife in his and I had my ax out and ready.


    We stopped when we saw the zombies shuffling ahead of us through the trees.  The zombies hadn''t spot us yet. Hunter motioned for Darren and I to stay put.  Then he took a step forward. I grabbed his wrist and shook my head when he looked back at us.  I motioned for all of us to stay together. Hunter shook his head. Darren reiterated my movements that we should all stay together.  Hunter sighed and led the way closer. We didn''t get too close, just close enough to see that none of the zombies were our group.


    Darren gasped and pointed to the ground across the camp.  Mixed with the slush was red. Blood?

 Chapter 29 .

    Lily


    Darren and I both took a step towards the red slush.  Hunter grabbed both of our wrists and shook his head. Darren pointed fervently at the red.  Hunter shook his head and started to pull us back to where we left our bikes.


    But I had to know if that was my sister''s blood or Maria''s or anyone else''s in our group.  I refused to let him pull me back.


    Hunter frowned in frustration before he held up one finger and then put both his hands together in front of him in prayer style.  He motioned back to the direction where we left our bikes and held up one finger again. He took a step backwards towards the bikes while Darren and I watched him.  He took a second step back.


    Darren and I followed him.  When he saw that we were both following, he turned and walked forward back to the bikes.


    As soon as we got back to the bikes, Darren whispered, "We have to follow that blood trail.  What if someone in our group is hurt? What if it is my mom or one of your sisters? Or Richard or Maria or anybody?"


    "This is going to sound weird," Hunter said, "but you know how sometimes twins have a connection like one will know if the other one is hurt.  I have that with my sisters even though we''re not twins. It''s stronger with Victory than it is with Grace."


    "So you know it''s not Victory that is hurt?" I asked.


    "Not that exactly," he said.  "I can''t tell if she''s hurt or not.  I can tell that she isn''t in that direction.  She''s that way." He pointed in the direction to the diner.  "Both of my sisters are that way."


    "How far away?" Darren asked.


    Hunter shook his head.  "I can''t tell distances.  Just that she is that way."


    "Hunter," I said.  "Even if she is that way, it doesn''t mean the others are.  Our party could have easily been split when the zombies came.  We need to follow that blood trail to be sure. I need to know Mackenzie is safe."


    "I agree with Lily," Darren said.  "There wasn''t any sign of blood going in the direction Victory is in so we can assume she is safe, but we have no idea about the others.  The only thing we know is that there is a blood trail that goes off that way." He waved his hand in a vague direction of where the blood trail was.  "If someone is hurt and we can help them, we need to. Like Lily said, what if it is her sister or my mom or either of those little boys? Once we find them, then we head to where Victory is."


    Hunter sighed, tilted his head to the sky and closed his eyes.  "Fine," he said. "But let''s hide the bikes and our supplies first."


    We took the bikes into the woods.  I took out a pistol and ammunition from the bag I had collected from the weapons store.  We might need it. I loaded the gun and tucked it away in a holster I had also got at the weapon store.  I still had my ax and would use that first. The gun was only for a last resort. It would be loud and we didn''t need to draw anymore zombies to us.


    Darren collected some knives from the bag he had got from the weapon store and Hunter grabbed a bow and several arrows as well as a quiver.  The rest of the items we left on the bikes. We pushed the bikes into an area with thick bushes, pines and foliage. Then we fluffed up the boughs of the pines and the bushes and foliage to make it look like it had never been disturbed.  Hunter led the way back to where our old camp had been. We skirted around it to avoid the groaning zombies inside.


    Hunter found the blood trail beyond the camp and we followed it.  The slush began to melt away as the day went on and the sun was higher in the sky.  I was worried we would lose the trail once the slush was all melted. Some of the foliage had been smashed down as if something or someone had been dragged over it.


    My heart began to beat a little more rapidly.  If one of our group had been hurt badly enough that they had to be dragged away, maybe they were dead already or a zombie.  I pushed that thought away because I wasn''t sure I could handle it if Mackenzie was a zombie. The thought of it made me sick to my stomach.  It made my fingers tingle and my brain go numb.


    The sounds of the zombies retreated behind us.  The trail led us over the empty freeway and further into the woods on the other side.  I was beginning to think this was a mistake. Our group wouldn''t venture over the freeway would they?  Maybe they would if they were being chased by zombies. I briefly wondered if the blood wasn''t one of our group members, but maybe a zombie itself.  Except from what I had seen, zombies didn''t bleed like normal people did because they were already dead. And zombies didn''t run away from other zombies.  They would chase people, but if that had been the case, the rest of the zombies would have chased after the people too so it must have been a person that had been hurt.This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.


    We continued on through the woods on the other side.  Hunter stopped beside us and tilted his head slightly.


    "What . . .?"  Darren began, but Hunter held up a finger to his lips and Darren instantly went quiet.


    I strained my ears listening, but I didn''t hear anything.


    "Idiots," a voice said.  I froze thinking we had been discovered by a stranger, but quickly realized the voice was too far away to be addressing us.


    Hunter quietly crept forward.  Darren and I followed him.


    A zombie groan made us freeze.  It was somewhere ahead of us.


    "Why did you bring him back?" the same voice that had said idiots earlier spoke again.


    We continued forward using the trees for cover.


    "He''s our brother," another man said.


    The zombie moaned again.  It was just up ahead now. Hunter crouched low to the ground first and motioned for me and Darren to follow.  We did. Through the tree branches and foliage I could see a group of men and one zombie tied to a tree. The zombie''s shirt around his abdomen was covered with blood.  It had dripped and spilled down his pants and shoes. That was probably where all the blood had come from. He probably hadn''t been a zombie when the blood trail had first been made.  It was probably only after he had been tied to the tree that he became a zombie.


    "He''s not your brother," the first man said.  He pointed a gun directly at the zombie''s head.  A gun shot rang out through the woods and the zombie slumped dead in its ropes.


    "Why did you do that?" one of the men asked.


    The man who had just shot the zombie rolled his eyes.  "Tell me how a simple scouting mission ends up with one of you as a zombie?" he directed his question to the two men standing in front of him.  One of the men''s face was horribly red with growing blisters. The other man had a bloody bandage wrapped around his wrist.


    The other men around them were interested in the conversation, but didn''t interfere.  I counted eleven of them, but that didn''t mean there weren''t more somewhere else. I didn''t see any of our group members.  That was a relief, but it also meant we had made the wrong decision based on my idea. We should have just followed Hunter''s lead and gone to where Victory was.


    "That bitch shot him," the man with the bandage around his wrist said.


    "And the other one did this to me," the one with the red, blistered face pointed to his face.


    "You weren''t supposed to confront them," the man with the gun said.  "You were just supposed to get their numbers and report back. Now they know we are out here."


    "No," the man with the bandaged wrist said, "they think it''s just us.  They don''t know about the rest of you. We can still get them. Kill the men and take the women as ours."


    I grabbed Hunter''s leg in our crouched positions.  They had been in our camp. That meant they were talking about our group this way.  They were talking about my sister this way. My fingers dug into the thick material of his pants.  His hand came over mine and squeezed. I didn''t realize at first that Darren had grasped my forearm of my other arm until Hunter looked over at him.  These men were talking about Hunter''s sister and Darren''s mom this way too. And they so easily spoke of killing Richard, Grant and Grant''s dad. I didn''t like Grant or his dad, but that didn''t mean I wanted them to die.  And what was their intention with the three boys. Did they consider them part of the men that should be killed?


    "So how many men?" the man with the gun asked.


    "Three men, three boys and five women," the man with the blistered face said.  They didn''t really just count my twelve year old sister and Hunter''s twelve year old sister as women did they?  I wanted to kill them.


    "And a dog," the man with the bandaged wrist said.


    "And where are they now?" the man with the gun asked.


    The other two men looked at each other.  "They ran off."


    "You let them get away after they did this to your brother?  After you let them know you exist?" The man pointed to the dead zombie with his gun and shook his head.  "Idiots."


    "You weren''t there," the man with the bandaged wrist said.  "The zombies were coming. The one girl threw hot soup in his face," he indicated the man with the blistered face.  "The dog bit me. The other girl shot our brother." Which girl shot them? Probably Monica as she had the gun. So which girl threw hot soup?  She had to have been close to him for his face to look that bad. And Molly. It was good to know we could count on her. It was strange, but I was proud of a dog.


    "It started to snow or rain or whatever the hell that was," the man went on, "and then lightning struck right in front of us."


    Hunter did a sharp intake.


    "Lightning right in front of you?  I didn''t see any lightning last night or heard any thunder.  You better find them again or at the very least, another group just as profitable and when you do, don''t confront them, just come tell the rest of us.  Idiots." The man with the gun walked away.


    Hunter nodded back in the direction we had come from.  We quietly retreated. We made our way back through the woods, over the freeway, skirted around our old camp until we got back to our bikes.  They were safely hidden away where we left them.


    "I never should have gone into that stupid RU in place," Darren said as we retrieved the bikes.  "If I hadn''t, we would have been back at the camp with them when all that happened."


    "Actually," Hunter said, "maybe it''s for the best.  Those men don''t know the three of us exist. As of right now they are underestimating our group.  They don''t know we have more weapons now or bicycles. Let''s get back to the others and get away from here as fast as we can."


    I was all for that.  I couldn''t wait to see Mackenzie and be back on the trail to get to Tanner and Grace.

 Chapter 30 .

    Mackenzie


    It was freezing even with Victory on one side of me and Arthur on the other and the two little boys in front of us with Molly trying to spread herself over all of us.  We had sleeping bags and blankets wrapped around us, but the blankets had got wet in the slush. At least with the sunlight, it was warming up slightly. The previous night had been miserable.  None of us except for Juan and Marcos got any sleep. And I had been scared those men would come back to find us no matter how many times Victory reassured me that they weren''t.


    "Are you going to go look for my sister now?" I asked Richard.  He paced back and forth underneath the trees.


    "I don''t know," he said.


    "Stop pacing," Grant''s dad said.  "You''re driving me crazy." Richard ignored him.  Grant, his dad and Monica sat huddled together. They had sleeping bags wrapped around them too.


    Maria and Darren''s mom had gathered sticks and were trying to start a fire, but everything was wet and the fire wasn''t catching.  We had cold soup for breakfast. The cold soup didn''t taste good, but I ate it because I was starving. Molly didn''t seem to mind it.  She thought it was delicious by the way her tail wagged when we gave her some.


    "But you said yesterday you would go look for them if they didn''t return," I said.  "You and Maria."


    "That was before we knew about those other men," Richard said.  "I''m afraid if we leave to find Lily, Hunter and Darren that those men will come back."


    "But how is my sister going to find us?"  I stood up, but regretted it when the cold washed over me.  I sat back down between Victory and Arthur and wrapped the sleeping bag around me.  Marcos cuddled up to my legs. I patted his head with my gloved hand.


    "They''ll find us," Victory said.  All of us looked at her, but she didn''t speak anymore.


    "Face it," Grant''s dad said, "the chances of them finding us are slim.  We should move on. It''s dangerous to stay in one place too long. Those men might find us, or the zombies.  At the very least, if we get moving it will warm up our bodies a little bit."


    "It won''t be hard for them to find us," Victory said.  "We are following the freeway to the diner. They know that."


    "Fine," Grant''s dad said.  "Then what are we waiting for?  Let''s get moving to the diner. They''ll catch up to us."


    Victory narrowed her eyes at him, but he didn''t seem to care.  I didn''t like all this conflict.


    "Maybe if we keep going," Monica said, "we''ll get out of this slush.  It can''t be good for any of us."


    Richard and Maria looked to Darren''s mother.  She stood up and stretched out her back. "I don''t want to leave yet without Darren here," she said.  "But they do know where we are headed. We can''t stay here."


    "See," Grant''s dad said.  He stood up and gathered up the sleeping bag.  The rest of us followed his example. Soon we were all packed up and walking further away from where we had left my sister and the others.


    We had walked for about a half hour before Marcos said, "I need to go to the bathroom."


    "We should probably all go," Darren''s mom said.


    "Let''s go," Richard said and held out his hand to Marcos.  Marcos hopped to his side and took his hand while Juan and Arthur followed.  Molly followed Arthur. Grant and his dad went off on their own, but not that far away from Richard.


    Darren''s mom led the rest of us in the opposite direction further in the woods.


    "Hey," Monica said to me.  "I know you packed toothpaste and soap and stuff which I think we''re all grateful for."  Maria nodded her head. "You might be too young for this still, but did you happen to pack any tampons or pads?"  Monica asked.


    "Oh," Darren''s mom said.


    "I packed some because I thought Lily might need some and she never thinks about that sort of thing," I said.  I rummaged through my backpack and handed her the pads.


    "Thank you," Monica said and hugged me.  "You''re a lifesaver."


    We split up on our own from there, but close enough we could still watch each other''s backs.


    "Do you need some pain pills?" Darren''s mom asked Monica as we walked back.  She put her arm around Monica''s shoulders.


    "I''m okay right now," Monica said.


    "We have some with the first aid kits if you need some," Darren''s mom said.


    "We should probably save that for when someone really needs it," Monica said.


    "I guess next time someone goes into a town for supplies, one  of us should go with them to pick up these sorts of supplies," Maria said.  "Especially if Lily is just going to forget about it."


    "And maybe," I said, "never mind."


    "Maybe what, dear?" Darren''s mom asked.If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.


    "It''s silly," I said.


    Darren''s mom patted the top of my head.  "Maybe silly is what we need right now."


    "I was going to say, maybe the next time someone went into town for supplies they could pick up face paint or makeup.  My sister is an expert at it and it''s fun. I kinda miss it even though Halloween wasn''t that long ago." I didn''t really get to have too much fun with it on Halloween night as that was the night the world changed and my parents died.  I pushed that thought away before I started to cry.


    "I think that''s a great idea," Darren''s mom said, "and some school supplies."


    We all looked at her like she was crazy.


    "Paper, pencils, crayons," she said.  "Something for Marcos and Juan to do."


    "I miss drawing," Monica said.


    "I wish we could get a flute or a guitar too," Maria said, "but that would probably attract the zombies."


    "Finally," Grant''s dad said when we got back.  Juan and Marcos were running around giggling while Arthur chased them with a wide smile on his face.  Molly ran circles around all of them. Her tail wagged excitedly. Arthur stopped and grew serious when he saw me and Victory.  Maybe he thought we wouldn''t want him playing like a little boy. I didn''t mind. In fact, I wanted to join in too, but Grant''s dad would probably say we didn''t have time for that.


    Monica and Grant smiled at each other.  Monica went back by his side and he put an arm around her shoulders.  Maria rolled her eyes and turned her back to them.


    "Finally?"  Darren''s mom said.  "We went to the bathroom and came back."


    "It took a long time," Grant''s dad said.


    Darren''s mom shook her head, but didn''t say anymore.  She started walking again. Marcos ran to her and took her hand.  Richard took the rear. Victory and I slowed down so we were walking beside him.


    "Do you think my sister and the others are alright?" I asked Richard.


    He smiled and patted my head.  "I''m sure they are," he said.


    "They are," Victory said with surety.


    "How can you know for sure?" I asked her because I wanted to believe her more than anything, but they had been gone for a long time.


    "I just know," she said.


    That wasn''t the reassurance I was hoping for.  The day warmed and the slush melted. I kept looking back hoping my sister would just pop out of the trees behind us, but that didn''t happen.


    Occasionally a zombie would moan somewhere in the distance, but not close by.  Marcos started to sing a song too loudly, but Darren''s mom shushed him. I couldn''t see his face from where I was in the back, but his tiny shoulders drooped sadly.


    "We can sing it, Marcos," Darren''s mom said, "but let''s try to sing it as quietly as we can."


    Marcos perked up and began to sing it with her very softly.  Arthur ended up in the back beside me. Maria stayed in the front so she could help defend the children if zombies or those men showed up.


    Victory stopped and turned around to face the trees behind us.  I stopped and looked, but I didn''t see anything. Arthur and Richard stopped too.  Molly gave an excited bark and ran back. Victory ran as fast as she could following Molly.


    Hunter came out of the trees, riding a bike and guiding a second bike alongside him.  My chest filled with relief, but I was still anxious because I didn''t see Lily.


    Hunter scrambled off the bike when he saw Victory running to him.  She ran into his arms and he picked her up to hug her close even though she was almost thirteen.


    And then Lily came through riding a bike and guiding a second one.


    "Lily," I cried probably louder than I should have.  Everything was right again and the worry I had been holding onto washed away.  I ran to her and wrapped my arms around her.


    "Kenzie," she said into my hair and held me close.


    I felt the brush of wind as something rushed by me.  I looked to see Darren''s mom hugging Darren. And then Richard was there hugging both of them.  Maria reached me and Lily and hugged both of us. And then Arthur was there hugging the three of us and Molly was dancing around our feet.  Marcos and Juan were hugging Darren with Darren''s mom.


    "You only brought back six bikes?" Grant''s dad asked.


    "You''re still here?" Hunter asked.  "There was only three of us. The streets had zombies in them.  How were we supposed to bring back more?"


    "We brought coats for everyone," Darren said.  I was handed a red one. They also had other winter wear and soon we were all snuggled in coats, new socks, boots, gloves, scarves and hoods.  It was almost too warm now.


    "What else did you get?" Grant''s dad ask.


    "Weapons," Darren said.  They started rifling through the bags strapped to the back of the bikes.


    "Good," Grant''s dad said.  "I want a gun."


    "You''re not getting a gun," Hunter said.


    Lily handed me a pistol and some ammunition.  I knew how to shoot it. My dad had taken me to the range a few times.  That didn''t mean I was comfortable using it.


    "You don''t get to dictate what I get," Grant''s dad said.  He got close to Hunter. Really close. Like those standoffs you see in movies when the men are staring each other down.  Hunter didn''t back down from the older man.


    "You don''t get a gun," Hunter reiterated.  He held up a knife. My heart beat rapidly against my chest because I thought he was threatening Grant''s dad.  I wasn''t the only one either because everyone got really quiet. Marcos clung to Darren''s mom''s legs.


    "You get a knife," Hunter said and turned the knife to extend the hilt side to Grant''s dad.  Grant''s dad paused a moment, but took it. Hunter turned back to the packs to distribute the bows and arrows.


    Grant''s dad stared at Hunter''s back with his knife still raised.  I froze because it almost seemed like Grant''s dad might stab Hunter in the back.  But Richard watched Grant''s dad carefully and he had his own knife ready in his hand.  Victory had her bow in her hand and was slowly reaching for an arrow as she watched Grant''s dad.  He noted these movements and then put his knife away and turned away from Hunter.


    "You all seem alright," Darren said.


    "We are," Maria said.


    "While we were looking for you," Lily said,  "we overheard some men talking about a group they had come across.  We thought it might be you. One of them said he had soup thrown at his face and one of them had been shot and the third one had been bitten by a dog."  Lily looked down at Molly.


    "That was us," Maria said.  Her voice went cold. "I threw soup in his face when he grabbed me."


    "And I shot one of them," Monica said.


    I shuddered as I remembered the previous night''s events.  It made me sick to my stomach to think about.


    "And Molly bit one," Arthur said proudly.  He patted her head. Her tail thumped happily.


    "The one who was shot turned into a zombie," Hunter said.


    "Was he bit by a zombie then?" Richard asked.


    "We couldn''t get close enough to tell, but he must have been," Hunter said.  "When we came upon them, they had rejoined a larger group of men. One of those men shot the zombie.  He seemed like the leader. They were only supposed to spy on us not confront us. We need to move faster away from here if we can.  I don''t want them to catch up with us."


    "The good thing is," Lily said, "they don''t know that we now have additional weapons."


    "We can''t all ride those bikes," Grant''s dad said.


    "We might be able to if we double and maybe triple up," Hunter said.  "We can pack them up with our supplies.


    We paired off to ride the bikes.  Grant''s dad driving with Arthur. I didn''t like that.  I worried about Arthur''s safety. Darren and Darren''s mom drove Marcos.  Richard and Maria took a bike with Juan riding with them. Grant and Monica took the fourth one.  Hunter and Victory took the fifth and Lily and I took the last bike.


    Hunter and Victory led the way to the diner.  I clung to my sister''s back glad that we were all together again.  The only thing that would make it better was if Tanner and Grace were with us too.

 Chapter 31 .

    Lily


    "Let''s stop here for the night," Darren''s mom said.  We parked our bikes and got off. I thought my legs were tired after that first night with the zombies, but after riding the bike all day, my legs felt like mush.  I collapsed to the cold ground and tilted my head to look up beyond the boughs of the trees. The reddish sky peeked through the boughs. The sun was setting. The wind rustled the tree branches.  The tops of the trees especially moved erratically.


    Mackenzie sat next to me and placed her head on my shoulder.  "I''m sorry I couldn''t peddle the bike more," she said.


    My sweet sister.  It felt so good to be reunited with her.  I tilted my head so my cheek was on the top of her head.  Her hair tickled and pricked my cheek but I reveled in that moment.  She was alive. I was alive. Neither of us were zombies. We were with a mostly good group of people who would watch out for each other.  Except for Grant or his dad.


    "You don''t need to be sorry," I said.  "I''m too heavy to expect you to be able to peddle both of us."


    "You''re not fat or anything," she said.  I smiled at her trying to console me. I wasn''t upset though.  I wasn''t fat, but I wasn''t model thin either and that was okay with me.


    "I''m really tall though," I said, "and that can add weight and make it awkward for you.  Don''t worry about it. It''s good for me to build up this muscle. Especially if are going to survive this zombie apocalypse.  My arms and legs ached so much after that first night, but I was able to build up muscle to help me fight off the zombies that come our way."


    Maria came and collapsed on the other side of me.  She curled an arm around mine. "Life is so crazy now," she said.  "How did this even start? We''re supposed to be safe at home right now.  Or maybe at a football game? Is it friday? I''ve completely lost track."


    "I don''t know," I said.


    Victory walked along our new campsite gathering firewood.  She was looking under pine trees trying to find the driest sticks and branches.  Juan and Arthur were helping her. Arthur kept glancing at Mackenzie. He might have had a crush on my sister.  Or maybe he was just concerned. It had been a harrowing past several days.


    Monica came over to us and crouched low in front of my sister.  "You have more don''t you?" she asked quietly so no one else could hear.  It kind of sounded like a drug deal, but I knew that wasn''t what was happening.  I had no idea what was happening.


    "Yeah," my sister said equally quiet.  "But we''re really going to need to get more soon."


    "What are you talking about?" I asked.


    They both looked at me, but didn''t answer.


    "I need to go to the bathroom," Marcos announced in his small child voice.  He tugged on Richard''s hand as he said it.


    "All right," Richard said easily and picked up the three year old up in his arms.  He started heading off, but not before he motioned for Darren to go with them.


    "That''s a good idea," Darren''s mom said.


    "Us too," Monica said, but she didn''t say it loudly.  She mainly said it to Mackenzie. Mackenzie nodded and stood.  I missed her warmth by my side.


    Juan and Arthur went with Richard, Darren and Marcos.


    "We''ll go with you," Maria said to Monica and Mackenzie.  She tugged my arm until I stood up.


    Victory, Darren''s mom and Hunter started to build the fire while Grant and his dad went off into the woods in the general direction Darren and the others went.


    Maria and I followed Monica and Mackenzie in the opposite direction from where the boys went.


    "Are you going to tell me what you were talking about?" I asked.  "What does my sister have that you need?"


    My sister rummaged in her pack and handed Monica sanitary pads.


    "Oh," I said.  "I didn''t even think about that.  It''s a good thing you think ahead," I said to Mackenzie.  Mackenzie smiled proudly at the praise. I brushed her dirty bangs out of her eyes.  How long had it been since anyone of us had a shower? We used the water, to wash our face and brush our teeth in the morning and at night, but we should probably find another solution other than our drinking water.  We probably needed to get more water sooner rather than later too.


    We separated a little, but were still close enough we could help each other out if we were in danger.  We finished and started on our way back, but I grabbed Maria''s arm. "Can we talk a minute before we go back?" I asked.  It was clear I meant only me and Maria. Both Mackenzie and Monica frowned. Monica recovered quickly and gave a fake smile that told me she was hurt at being excluded.


    It wasn''t like we had been friends before all this happened.  We knew of each other. We said hello in the halls, maybe had a few casual conversations, but nothing like friends.


    Mackenzie didn''t bother to hide the fact that she was hurt.  "Why?" she asked. "You can talk to her but not me?"If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    "It''s okay," Monica said.  Her voice was not quite the same as usual, but she was trying to not let it bother her.  "It''s not like we are really friends. You saved Grant and me from that house full of zombies and I appreciate that.  You saved my life." She took a step away from us, but paused. "I just don''t have any family left alive and all my friends are dead.  I thought we were friends now."


    I sighed.  "It''s not like that.  Okay, you two can stay too, but you have to promise not to say anything to anyone else.  Kenzie, you can''t even tell Vicky and Monica you can''t tell Grant or his dad." I wasn''t sure I could trust Monica, but so far she had helped us fight off zombies, she had shot one of those men that had threatened the group and helped out in general.


    "I promise," she said.  "I can keep secrets. Ask, Tanya.  Oh. Nevermind. She''s dead. For a moment it felt like we were back in highschool."


    "And I won''t tell Vicky," Mackenzie said.


    We sat down among the brush and foliage.


    "So," I said, "you know how I have a crush on Hunter?"


    "Yes," Mackenzie said.  She rolled her eyes.


    Maria nodded, but Monica said, "I didn''t know you had a crush on Hunter.  Isn''t he gay?"


    "That''s just a rumor," Maria said.


    "It''s not just a rumor," I said.  "He confirmed it. He''s gay."


    Monica reached over and patted my leg gently.  She was nice. Why was she dating Grant? I almost asked that out loud, but that would have to wait.  I wanted to talk about my issue first.


    "Oh," Maria said.  "I''m sorry."


    "Did you confess to him and he turned you down?" Monica asked.


    "Not exactly," I said.  I looked at each of them in the eye.  "This really has to stay between us. It isn''t just about me, but I''m not sure what to do or how I''m supposed to be handling this."  All three of them nodded. "I asked him directly if he was gay and he said he was. Then I asked him if he has a crush on Darren."


    All of their eyes went wide.


    "Darren?" Monica asked.  "The Darren that is traveling with us right now?"


    "Yes," I said.


    "What did he say?" Maria asked.


    "He said yes."


    "What made you ask specifically about Darren?" Mackenzie asked.


    "Just when the three of us were alone together, I noticed how Hunter would look at Darren.  How he would protect him."


    "He protects you too," Mackenzie offered helpfully even though it wasn''t helpful.


    "He does like he would with his sisters," I said.  "Not the same way as he does with Darren."


    "I see why you wanted to keep it secret," Monica said.  "Don''t worry, we won''t let Darren find out."


    "Darren knows," I said.  "There is more." They waited patiently for me as I took in a deep breath.  "It turns out Darren has a crush on me. But I can''t get rid of my crush on Hunter even knowing he is gay.  What do I do?"


    "The three of you talked about all this while you were out there?" Maria asked.


    "Yeah," I said.  "Just briefly. Darren asked what we should do and Hunter said nothing.  He said he should just remain the friends we are. But it hurts. It hurts watching Hunter look at Darren the way I want him to look at me.  And if I''m hurting like this, then Darren is hurting too by the way I look at Hunter and Hunter hurts by the way Darren looks at me. Is there really nothing we can do?"


    "Threesome," Monica immediately said.  Maria gasped shocked.


    "What''s that?" Mackenzie asked.


    "Nothing," Maria quickly said, "because that is inappropriate."


    "Who says?" Monica said.  "We don''t live in the same world we did a few weeks ago and even then, if you''re consenting adults, who''s to say it''s inappropriate?"


    "They''re not adults though," Maria pointed out.


    "Maybe seventeen is the new adult age," Monica said.  "Maybe it''s sixteen. It can be whatever we want it to be.  In case you hadn''t noticed, the world is in ruins. We can set up our own civilization however we want to."


    "I guess that''s true," Maria said hesitantly.


    "What''s a threesome?" Mackenzie asked again.


    "It means all three of them can love each other," Monica said.  "They don''t have to pair off."


    "Oh," Mackenzie said.  "That sounds like a great solution."


    "No, it doesn''t," I said.  "I''m not going to say it''s wrong in this new world or whatever, but it just doesn''t feel right for me, Hunter and Darren.  I can''t even picture it."


    "Okay," Monica said.  "Maybe it''s like Hunter says and nothing needs to change or be done about it.  Maybe once we meet up with your brother and Hunter''s sister and start our own civilization someone new will come along that you can fall in love with.  Maybe there will be someone new for each of you."


    I nodded.  "That would make sense.  Thanks, Moni." I didn''t mean to shorten her name like that.  It just came out, but her smile seemed to light up the quickly darkening woods so I assumed that meant she liked it.


    "Since we are revealing secrets," Monica said.  "Don''t you guys think Richard is kind of cute?"


    "Richard?" Maria asked in disbelief.  "The Richard traveling with us who is overweight and was wearing a Jedi costume when we rescued him from that room?"


    "What''s wrong with his weight?" Monica asked offended.  "He has fought of zombies and stood in front of us to protect us when those men showed up.  And it''s so sweet how he takes care of Marcos as if he was his own son."


    "I didn''t mean anything by his weight," Maria said.  "I''m just surprised. I thought your type was someone built like Grant."


    Monica shrugged.  "I don''t really have a type I think."


    "So are you going to dump Grant and go for Richard?" I asked because I would be all for that.  Maybe we could kick Grant and his dad out of the group then. No. We wouldn''t do that unless they did something truly horrible.  Putting them out on their own would be like a death sentence with how cowardly they both were.


    "No," Monica said.


    "Maybe a threesome," Maria teased her.


    And Monica blushed as her eyes got distant.  "I just imagined it," she said. "I wouldn''t mind it, but I don''t think either of them would like that."


    "No," Mackenzie, Maria and I said at the same time.  Then we laughed.


    I didn''t see or hear her, but suddenly Molly was in the middle of us spinning and licking each of our faces.  I reached up and patted her soft back.


    "What are you girls laughing about?" Darren''s mom asked as she and Victory came walking up to us.


    "It''s a secret," Mackenzie said.


    "You''re keeping secrets from me?" Victory asked.  She was clearly offended.


    Mackenzie sprang to her feet and went to console Victory.  "I can tell her Monica has a crush on Richard can''t I?" she asked us.


    "Kenzie!" I scolded.


    "Sorry," she said.  "It just came out. I didn''t mean to say it."  Why had I told her anything? She wasn''t known for keeping secrets.


    "You have a crush on Richard?" Victory asked.  "But you''re dating Grant."


    "Yeah," Darren''s mom said, "I''m all for you breaking up with Grant and going for Richard instead."


    "I didn''t say I have a crush on him," Monica said.  We all stood. "I just said he was cute."


    "I don''t see the difference," Victory said.


    "Me neither," Mackenzie said.


    "We came out here because it has been awhile since you left the camp and we were starting to get worried," Darren''s mom said.  "We also have to go to the bathroom."


    "We''ll go back to the camp now," I said.  Darren''s mom and Victory continued on their way.  Molly followed them. The rest of us went back to the camp.

 Chapter 32 .

    Darren


    Something shifted next to me causing me to wake up.  I kept my eyes closed as my mom got up. The side of me that had been snuggled next to her was suddenly cold.  Little Marcos whined. I opened my eyes just slightly and saw the small child shivering now that my mom was no longer next to him.  Juan''s arm was around him, but that wasn''t helping at the moment. Both children remained asleep. I put on my glasses. I slid closer to them and threw an arm around both of them.  Juan snuggled into me and relaxed. But my back was cold now. I looked over my shoulder to Richard. He blinked at me a moment before he stood up and went to help my mom get the fire going again.  I pulled the sleeping bag up further on Marcos.


    Maria got up from the other end of our huddled line and started to get cans of soup.  I lifted my head up slightly so I could look at Lily. She was asleep, her arms wrapped around Mackenzie.  Victory was next to Mackenzie. Her arm was hooked with Mackenzie''s as they slept. Hunter was between Victory and Arthur.  Molly was stretched out over Arthur and Hunter. Grant''s dad was next to Arthur sound asleep. Grant slept next to him. Monica was up walking the perimeter of the camp as it had been her watch.  I was pretty sure it was supposed to be Grant''s watch too. We didn''t do single watches and I remembered him saying last night that he would take watch with Monica.


    Molly was awake and watching hungrily as Maria opened the cans of soup.


    "Molly," I whispered.  Her head swung my way and her tail started to gently thump against Arthur.  I indicated for her to come to me. She carefully got off Arthur and made her way to me.  I scooted out of the way and indicated for her to lie down in the spot I had just occupied.  She did and put her head on Marcos''s chest to keep him warm.


    I got up and made my way to Richard.  He was holding the pan while Maria poured the soup into it.


    "Let''s go to the bathroom," I whispered quietly to him.


    He nodded.  I waited for him as he put the soup over the fire and then we went off into the woods.  I hadn''t heard any zombie groaning that morning, but I listened carefully and was watchful.  Even if zombies weren''t around that didn''t mean that those other men weren''t. We separated a little and relieved ourselves.


    I looked around just to be sure no one else followed us before I said, "You know how I have a crush on Lily?"


    "Yeah.  Did you confess?  What did she say?"


    "I didn''t exactly confess, but she knows."


    "So what did she say?"


    We could have headed back, but I leaned back against a cold, leafless tree.


    I sighed as the hollow spot in the bottom of my heart began to spread.  "She has a crush on Hunter."


    "Oh," Richard said.  "But isn''t he gay?"


    "Yeah, but you can''t always tell your heart who to love."


    "That''s true," Richard said.  "I have a crush on Monica, but she''s with Grant.  I can''t figure out why."


    "Since when do you have a crush on Monica?"


    "Since she shot that guy," Richard said.  "But I think I also might have a crush on Maria."


    "Really?"


    He nodded.  "When she threw the boiling soup in that other guy''s face."


    Thinking about Richard''s favorite female characters in film, books and video games, he always did have a certain type.


    "Hunter has a crush on me," I said.


    "Why?" he said as if he couldn''t believe it was possible for anyone to have a crush on me.  "I mean, he''s so cool and you''re . . ." His voice trailed off.


    "Not," I finished for him.  "I know. Do you think if I can make myself be cooler, Lily might start to like me?"


    "I don''t think it works like that," Richard said.  "And even if it did then Hunter will be left out. Did the three of you discuss this together?"


    "Hunter said we should all just remain friends."


    "Then maybe that''s what you should do," Richard said.  "Now is probably not the time for romance anyway. We''ve got to find a safe place to shelter permanently after we get Hunter''s and Lily''s siblings."


    "That''s true," I said.


    "And I really hope my parents made it to the diner and are safe somehow."Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.


    I patted his shoulder.  I couldn''t imagine what it would be like to not know if my family was okay.  My mom was with me and my step dad was dead. All our other friends had died at that stupid party at Monica''s house.


    We headed back.  Hunter, all three of the boys, Grant and his dad passed us on the way.  Marcos held Hunter''s hand. When we got back to camp, Lily was watching over the soup.  Victoria and Mackenzie were off to the side a little and Victoria was demonstrating to Mackenzie how to hold a bow.


    "I want to learn too," Richard said and made his way to the two girls.  Victory was more than happy to show him.


    I sat next to Lily near the fire.  She smiled at me and my heart beat rapidly against my ribs.  This would be so much easier if she felt the same way about me as I did about her.


    "How did you sleep?" she asked me.


    "Okay.  I''m getting used to sleeping on the ground.  How about you?"


    "I slept fine," she said.  She stirred the soup. "Do you want to get out the rest of the spoons.  I went to one of the packs with the camping supplies and took out as many of the spoons as we had.  We didn''t have enough for everyone, but we got used to sharing.


    My mom and the rest of the girls came back into the camp moments before Hunter and the rest of them did.


    "Good timing," Lily announced.  "Let''s eat."


    We all gathered around the soup.  We passed the pan around and each took a bite.  This process continued over and over until there was just enough left for Molly.  My mom put the pan on the ground and patted Molly''s head as she lapped up the soup eagerly.


    "Let''s break camp," Grant''s dad said.


    "Actually," Hunter said, "I was hoping we could spend some time learning how to use ranged weapons.  Victory and I can teach how to use the bow and arrow and Lily and Monica can teach how to use the gun.  I don''t think we should fire the guns though. We don''t want to draw any zombies or unwanted humans with the sound."


    We rolled up the sleeping bags, washed the pan and utensils we used and put out the fire.  As a group, we washed our faces and brushed our teeth. It didn''t take us long to finish packing and then we divided up into two groups.  One to learn about guns and the other to learn about the bows. My mom, Maria, Richard, Grant and his dad went to Lily and Monica to learn how to shoot guns.


    Richard said earlier he was interested in learning the bow and arrow.  I noticed how his eyes lit up when Monica''s name was mentioned to teach about the gun.  And Maria was in that group so both of his crushes were there.


    I wanted to be in the same group as Lily.  For a brief moment, I let myself imagine her behind me holding my arms like you see in movies to help me aim the gun.  But guns frightened me. I went to Hunter''s group. I was the oldest one there besides Hunter. The others were Victory, Mackenzie, Arthur and Juan.  Little Marcos kept tugging on Victory''s pants legs insisting she teach him too even though she was helping Arthur and Juan at the moment.


    "All right," Victory said to Marcos.  She gave him one of the bows. She didn''t give him an arrow.  "Practice pulling back on the string."


    Marcos mimicked the movements of Arthur and Juan as Victory went back to instructing them.


    "Nock the arrow," Hunter said to me as he stood beside and slightly behind me.  "Pull the string back. Your elbows should be like this." He moved further behind me and readjusted my elbows with a light touch.


    "Maybe I should learn how to use the gun," I said.


    He backed away.  "If you''re uncomfortable with me teaching you," he said quietly, "I can get Victory to teach you.  Vicky," he called out to his sister.


    "No," I said and grabbed his forearm as he moved to switch places with his little sister.  "That wasn''t what I meant."


    "What do you want?" Victory asked him.


    "Nevermind," Hunter said.  Then to me in a quieter voice he said, "What did you mean then?"


    "I didn''t think you were trying to feel me up or anything," I said quietly and it just felt really weird to say.  "It''s just that only kids are learning here."


    "Oh," Hunter said and his face lightened and he breathed slightly easier.  "I think it''s a good idea for everyone to learn both the guns and the bows eventually.  You''ll get your chance to learn it and they," he nodded his head to the group with the guns, "will learn the bow."


    "Okay," I said.  I lifted the bow with the arrow again and drew back the string.  "Are my elbows okay now?"


    "Yeah," he said.  We spent almost an hour learning the weapons before we decided to load up the bikes and move on.


    "No," Marcos complained when Victory tried to take the bow away.


    She bent so she was eye level to the small boy.  "I''ll just take it when we are riding the bikes. You can have it back later."


    "But I need one if the bad guys come," he said in his small voice.


    "I''ve actually been thinking a lot about this," my mom said as she came up to them.  "I do think it might be good for him to have some kind of weapon in case we come upon zombies and he is in a situation where none of us can help him."


    "But he''s only three," Juan said.  "He''s going to hurt himself."


    "Am not," Marcos said.


    "That''s why I hesitated," my mom said.  "Marcos, if I give you this knife." She pulled out a large pocket knife.  "Will you promise to only use it if we come across zombies or those bad men and none of us can help you?"


    "Yes," he said and tried to take it from her grasp, but she pulled it away.


    "I mean it Marcos.  Don''t take the blade out at all unless none of us can help you and you need to kill a zombie or those men.  If I see you take it out at any other time, I''m going to take it away from you. Do you understand?"


    "Yes," he said.  This time he didn''t impatiently reach for it.  My mom handed it to him. He held it reverently and stared down at it.


    "Do you know where to stab the zombies?" my mom asked him.


    "In the head and don''t let them bite me."


    "Right," she said.  "What about the bad men?  Where do you stab them?"


    "In the head," he said.


    My mom smiled and patted his head.  "That''s right," she said. "Stab as hard as you can.  In the eye is probably the best spot to stab them okay?"


    Marcos nodded.


    My mom faced the rest of us and said, "The next exit is a super store.  I think we should stop there for more supplies."


    "I can just take a small group of us again," Hunter said.


    "No," my mom said.  "What if those men come back while we are split?  I think it''s best if we stick together."


    "But what about the zombies?" Hunter said as he looked at Marcos.  It would be difficult to outrun zombies with the little three year old with us, even if we were on bikes.


    "The only thing at this exit is the super store.  I''m hoping not too many people were there on Halloween night and there might have already been people that went through there for supplies that cleared out whatever zombies might be there.  We can pick up more bikes, more food, more toiletries, a change of clothes and whatever else we might need."


    "All right," Hunter relented.


    We paired up on the bikes and headed out to the next exit.

 Chapter 33 .

    Mackenzie


    We were all quiet as we rode down the off ramp.  The only noise was the quiet sound of the tires along the asphalt and the sounds of the pedals.  Dark clouds hung low over us and the weather was cold enough we could see our breath. It might snow again.


    I sat behind my sister as she pedaled the bike.  My eyes scanned the area on either side of us and occasionally I would look over my shoulder behind us just to make sure we weren''t surprised by zombies or those men.  We weren''t last. Richard and Maria were last. Richard pedaled while Maria kept a sharp eye out. Hunter and Victory rode in the front.


    As we got closer to the super store, moans greeted us.  It was hard to tell how many there were, but I didn''t think it sounded like too many.  Then I could see them shambling through the parked cars in the parking lot. We had been quiet before, but now we grew even quieter.  I was almost afraid to breathe. I did breathe, but I became conscious of how quietly I was breathing.


    Hunter stopped and the rest of us followed his example.  He and Victory slowly got off the bike and retrieved their bows.  We all got off our bikes and readied our knives. Lily readied her ax.


    Hunter and Victory notched an arrow and pulled back on the string.  Victory let loose first and the arrow soared across the distance and hit the nearest zombie in the head.  He fell to the hard asphalt of the parking lot. Zombie heads turned in the direction of their fallen companion.  Hunter let loose his arrow and it embedded in the head of a little boy zombie. It also fell to the ground. Zombie heads turned frantically now.  A woman zombie finally spotted us. A loud groan filled the chill air a moment before she rushed our group. Victory already had another arrow ready.  It flew across the distance and hit the zombie in the head. She staggered forward, but fell to the asphalt unmoving.


    The other zombies in the parking lot saw us now.  They groaned in one loud chorus of conflicting tones.  And then several more zombies were rushing us. Hunter let loose another arrow and another zombie fell.  Arthur and Juan put away their knives and took out the bows they had been practicing with that morning. Arthur notched an arrow and aimed.  His breath was audible as he slowly let it out and then let the arrow fly. It crossed the distance and landed in a charging zombie''s shoulder.


    Juan didn''t take the time to steady himself as Arthur had.  His arrow skidded to a stop harmlessly at a running zombie''s feet.  They both readied more arrows just as Hunter released another arrow.  It embedded itself in the skull of the zombie Juan had tried to kill.


    Darren stepped forward and readied his own bow and arrow.  His landed in the cheek of a zombie, but it didn''t kill it.  Victory shot that same zombie through the eye. Hunter put down his bow and took out his knife.  Arthur and Juan released another arrow each. Arthur''s arrow landed in the chest of a child zombie.  Juan''s hit the child zombie''s knee and the child zombie lurched forward stumbling. It was only a moment though before it was charging us again.  Monica stepped forward with Darren''s mom. Each had a knife in their hands. Hunter motioned for the others to put away their bows and arrows and then he stepped forward to meet the nearest zombie.


    She tried to bite his arm, but he twisted to the side so she rushed by him, grabbed her neck from behind and stabbed her through the temple.  When he let go, she crumpled to his feet.


    Monica stepped forward, kicked the knee of the oncoming zombie and then stabbed him in the eye when he stumbled forward.


    Darren''s mom stopped the charging child zombie by grabbing the arrow in his chest.  He slowly slid forward along the arrow as he continued to try and attack her. Darren''s mom stabbed him through the temple as a tear spilled onto her cheek.  The child zombie dropped to her feet.


    "It''s okay, mom," Darren comforted her.  He put a hand on the back of her shoulder.  "He wasn''t a child anymore."


    Darren''s mom nodded, sniffed and wiped away the tears with her gloved hand.  I didn''t see or hear anymore zombies.


    "Let''s go," Hunter said.  He got back on his bike. Victory climbed on behind him.  The rest of us got on our bikes again. I got behind Lily.  We rode through the oversized parking lot right up to the sliding doors.  When we got to the doors we got off our bikes. The doors didn''t automatically open as the power was out.  Someone had pried the doors open enough to put a rock in between them so they didn''t shut completely. Hunter looked at Lily and Darren first.  I supposed he trusted them more than the rest of us since the three of them had already gone into town together once before.


    "Maybe someone is inside," Maria offered.


    "If the zombies had seen someone go in, they would have been at the door trying to get in," my sister said.  She was so wise. I hadn''t thought about that. I took her hand in mine. She looked down at me and gave my hand a gentle squeeze.Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators!


    "There were some dead zombies in the parking lot already," Richard said.  "Maybe whoever was here came and left already and killed those zombies on their way."


    "That would make sense," Darren said.  "And then maybe more zombies heard the fighting and showed up or maybe they didn''t kill all the zombies when they left."


    "We''ll go in and check out the store first to make sure there aren''t any zombies or people.  Then we can get the supplies we want."


    "Stick close, Marcos," Darren''s mom said and pulled him close to her side.  Hunter and Richard pried the doors open. We walked the bikes in with us. Hunter and Richard pushed the doors closed once we were inside, but left the rock between them so they didn''t close all the way.


    We followed Lily and Darren through the store.  Hunter and Richard took up the rear. We went down every aisle, checked the bathrooms and the back areas, but we didn''t see or hear any people or zombies.  It did look like other people had been through here. Some of the clothes were off the racks and piled on the floor. Food items were missing from some of the aisles.  All of the spaces where the ramen noodles were supposed to be were empty. Some food items were on the floor. The refrigerated and frozen food sections smelled awful so we stayed away from those areas.  Lily and Darren led us to the bike section. Now we each had a bike of our own. Even Marcos insisted on his own bike so Richard picked one out for him that had training wheels.


    "He''s not going to be able to keep up with us on that," Grant''s dad said.


    Marcos scowled at him.


    "If we need to, we can pick him up and he can ride with one of us," Darren''s mom said.  "It''s no different than it is right now. And he should be learning how to survive in this world now.  He needs to learn faster and be better than he was before."


    Grant''s dad frowned, but didn''t say anymore.  We all went to the camping section and got more bags.  We already had tents, but we hadn''t used them because it obstructed our view and we couldn''t see if zombies were coming.  So instead of getting even more tents, we got tarps. Tarps that we could put above us and below us. We got more rope; more camping dishes and utensils; more cookware; water jugs; canteens; water purifiers; camping food rations; first aid kits; emergency blankets for everyone; more sleeping bags; pepper spray - it wouldn''t do anything against zombies, but it would if those men came back;  binoculars - Juan and Marcos each wanted one themselves so we gave them each one. Arthur acted like he didn''t want one, but his eyes strayed to the one in Juan''s hands more than once. We got compasses. Grant''s dad insisted we also get fishing poles and hooks. It wasn''t a bad idea, but I didn''t remember seeing any streams or lakes nearby. I didn''t know the area very well so maybe he knew something we didn''t.  We got more food items, things like dried soup packets and instant mashed potatoes rather than the canned food as it would be lighter to carry. We took packets of tuna and spam. We grabbed more bottled water. Everything went into the new bags that were now strapped to our bikes.


    It was then that Darren''s mom suggested we split up so the men could comfortably get whatever they needed and the women could get whatever we needed.  So we broke up with the men and boys going one way and we went another way. We weren''t that far away from the boys, but we weren''t on the same aisle at the same time.


    Maria and Monica headed straight to the aisle with tampons and pads.  We followed them. My sister reached passed me and grabbed the same box of tampons Maria had just taken.  She turned it to the back so she could read whatever was written there. Victory came up behind me and lightly played with my hair.  Lily noted Victory''s movements, but then went back to reading the back of the box.


    "You don''t want pads?" I asked Lily.


    "I think these will take up less space in my bag and I think they''ll be more comfortable to run in if we need to run from zombies."  She paused a moment. "I think so anyway," she said. She stuffed it into her bag and moved on with the others to look at deoderant. Victory surprised me though when she reached passed me and grabbed the same kind of tampons that my sister just took.


    "Yours hasn''t started yet has it?" I asked her because as far as I knew she and I were in the same boat.


    "No," she said.  "But it''s going to start soon.  I can tell."


    "How can you tell?"  Lily''s didn''t start until she was fourteen so I figured it would happen to me around the same age.  Maybe not though. I had no way to judge.


    "My hair," Victory said and reached up to curl her finger around one of the white strands of hair.


    "How can you tell by your hair?" I asked.  I''d never heard that before. Especially since she seemed to be referring to the hair on her head.


    "Oh."  She said and her hand dropped back to her side.  Her eyes were wide as if I just caught her stealing the last of my cookies at lunch.  Which had happened before. "You can''t," she said. "I''m just being silly."


    "Do we need to get more bleach for your hair?  Do you want to keep it white like that? And we could get more red hair dye for Hunter''s hair."


    "Oh...um...we just did it so I think we''ll be okay for a few months.  Thanks for thinking about it."


    "Sure," I said.  We walked to where my sister and the others were and grabbed deodorant for ourselves.  When we were finished getting supplies in that area - soap, toothpaste, etc. - I insisted Lily also get face paint so we could paint our faces sometimes for fun.  Darren''s mom took us to the school supply aisle and we got crayons, pencils and paper. We also picked up a few children''s books and my sister and her friends picked a few young adult books.  Darren''s mom took a few romance novels, but she also picked out some survival books and gardening and farming books.


    When we met back up with the boys at the front of the store, Marcos held a teddy bear close to his chest.  Juan and Arthur kicked a hacky sack back and forth between them. Darren and Richard also had a hacky sack they kicked back and forth.


    "We ready?" Hunter asked when we were all back at the front of the store with our bags full and strapped to our bikes.


    "Yes," Darren''s mom said.  "Let''s go."


    "If we can make good time today," Lily said, "we might make it to the diner by tomorrow night."


    I couldn''t wait to see Tanner again and hold him and know he at least was all right even though our parents weren''t.  I also really hoped Grace was all right. I didn''t want to see Victory sad.


    When Hunter and Richard pried the doors open again, light snowflakes drifted slowly to the ground where they quickly melted.

 Chapter 34 .

    Tanner


    I watched Grace as she slept.  Her black and teal hair tumbled all around her.  Her beautiful face was calm and peaceful. There was a small smile at the corner of her lips.  I hoped she dreamed of me.


    It was strange.  We had been friends since we were little.  Me and her and the other group of kids from our neighborhood.  And then she turned thirteen and everything changed. She dyed strands of her hair the teal color it still was.  She had kept up that unique hair color ever since then. She stopped hanging around us. She stopped talking to us.  I tried to talk to her when it first happened. I tried going over to her house to see her because even then I had a crush on her, but she would never speak to me.  Not through middle school or high school. She was on the archery team, but she wouldn''t even speak with them. She would go and practice or go win tournaments, but she didn''t socialize.


    Since she kept to herself, I hadn''t known what college she was going to or if she even planned to go.  I was shocked the first time I saw her in the cafeteria at my university. And she wasn''t alone. She was chatting and laughing with Camila.  She was socializing in a way I had never seen before. Being at the university had freed her from whatever hidden shackles she had put on herself.


    I looked across the camp to where Camila sat alert and scanning the woods as the others slept.  It was cold. Our breaths made little white puffs in the air. Both Camila and I had blankets wrapped around us as well as the coats we had picked up earlier in the day.


    Everyone who slept snuggled close together underneath the sleeping bags to keep warm.  I was on watch, but I sat directly next to Grace. I reached out and gently touched one of her teal strands.


    That first day I saw her in the cafeteria, she had seemed as shocked as I was.  But she was different than middle school and high school. She greeted me warmly and invited me to sit with her and Camila.  From that moment on, we had lunch together everyday. It wasn''t long until we started to have dinners together too. And then one day she casually held my hand.  I had kissed her and our relationship officially began. She hadn''t told her family yet and I hadn''t told mine. I was quiet because it seemed like she wanted to keep it secret.  I didn''t know why. Once we met up with our families, we would tell them everything. She never did give me a good reason why she stopped talking to me when she turned thirteen. She changed the subject whenever I brought it up and I let her.


    Earlier in the day - or yesterday as it was now early morning the next day-, after we had left Dr. Smith and the girl at that weird RU in? place, we had found a super store.  We ran into a few zombies which we had killed, but not many. We were lucky and we knew we were lucky. We stocked up on supplies, got our new bikes and headed out to the diner.


    The sky subtly began to lighten.  If it had been the spring or summer, we might begin to hear birds, but it wasn''t.  It was eerily quiet this early in the morning.


    It was colder and colder with each passing day.  Once we joined up with our families, we should find a safe, warm place to stay for the winter.  I knew Camila and Connor wanted to go look for their families too, but it would be difficult to travel through the snow.


    Camila smiled at me from across the camp as I played with my girlfriend''s hair.  I stopped embarrassed that I had been caught. A low moan sounded nearby. Camila and I froze.  A second moan greeted it. There was shuffling in the foliage behind the trees beyond Camila. Her knife was out in an instant.


    I shook Grace''s shoulder.  I put my finger to my lips to indicate for her to be quiet when her brown eyes fluttered open.  Camila stood and backed up a little. She nudged Dr. Patel''s foot with her own. He opened his eyes and blinked questioningly at her, but as soon as he saw her standing ready with the knife in hand, he woke Dr. Higgins.  Grace woke Todd who in turn woke Connor. By the time the first zombie shambled his way into our camp, we were all ready. The zombie groaned loudly when she saw us. A groan extremely close by answered. Two more groans answered a little further away.  Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    Spit dripped from the zombie''s torn, bloody lip.  The pupils of her eyes glowed that eerie green. Dr. Higgins stepped forward and stabbed the charging zombie in the temple.  She collapsed to her feet as the second zombie broke through the trees. It was an old woman zombie with a hunched back and a large chunk taken out of her shoulder.  She resembled Dr. Smith and I had to remind myself that Dr. Smith was safe - maybe safe - in that creepy RU in? place we had left her at earlier.


    The zombie''s hands were stretched out to me.  Her lips open wide in preparation to take a bite.  Her feet shuffled along the forest floor as she rushed me.  I stepped forward with my bat and swung with all my strength.  There was a loud crack that made my stomach turn before the zombie collapsed dead at my feet.


    "Let''s hurry and pack," Dr. Patel said.  He immediately bent to start rolling up the sleeping bags.  I rolled up my blanket and the sleeping bag Grace had used. Grace had her bow and arrow ready in case anything else entered the camp.  The rest of us scrambled to pack everything onto our bikes.


    The two zombie moans sounded closer.


    "Let''s go," I said to Grace.  Dr. Patel and Dr. Higgins were already on their bikes.  Camila got on hers.


    Connor had his bike by the handles and was about to swing his leg over the seat when a child zombie charged him from the woods.  Connor froze. His body went stiff, his eyes went wide, his gloved hands tightened around the handlebars and his legs went rigid.


    "Grace," I called out.  I wanted her to take care of the little girl zombie charging Connor, but just as I said her name a large, male zombie stumbled out of the woods in front of us.  His right foot was missing, but that didn''t stop him from lopsidedly charging my girlfriend. Grace didn''t hesitate as she pulled back on the string of her bow and let loose the arrow.  It embedded itself in the zombie''s eye and he fell forward dead.


    Connor screamed.  I turned and ran to him as the zombie child bit into the coat sleeve of his forearm.  Connor was finally able to move in his desperation. He grabbed the zombie girl''s head and pulled her off him by the hair while he continued to scream.  Todd was there in an instant. He stabbed the zombie girl in the back of the head and dropped her to the ground when she went limp. She still had tufts of Connor''s coat in between her teeth.  Todd grabbed Connor''s arm.


    "I''m going to die!" Connor yelled out in despair.


    "I don''t think it bit you," Todd said.


    "What?" Connor blinked with tears in his eyes.


    I reached them as Todd said, "Take off your coat."  Connor tore his coat off as fast as he could. It didn''t look like the sweater Connor wore underneath it had been torn.  Todd lifted the sleeve to Connor''s elbow. Connor collapsed next to the dead zombie girl.


    "I''m not bitten," he said.  A small smile touched the corner of his lips as he ran his hand over his unblemished arm.  "I''m not bitten," he said again.


    "Okay, not bitten," Dr. Higgins said.  "We''ve got to get going. Your screaming was bound to get attention."


    "Right," Connor said with tears of relief on his cheeks.  Todd extended a hand and Connor took it. When Connor was back on his feet, he wiped the tears from his cheeks.


    We all got on our bikes and Dr. Patel led the way on.  The route was more difficult in the woods, but we didn''t want to ride directly on the freeway.  It would have been faster on the freeway, but it would have been easier for zombies to spot us.


    After traveling for an hour, we stopped to eat.  We didn''t make a fire. We ate beef jerky and trail mix and continued on our way.  In the early afternoon - it was hard to know exactly what time of day since we couldn''t check our phones for the time anymore - we stopped again.  We hadn''t heard any zombie groans for a few hours. We ate cereal without milk and ate some dried fruit. We headed out once again.


    It was dusk when we heard the next zombie groan.  It wasn''t a groan of urgency. It was just a low groan they sometimes made when they roamed aimlessly.  We slowed our bikes. A second zombie groaned. It was higher pitched, but with that same aimlessness. The groans had come from the freeway.  We stopped and looked at each other as a third groan drifted our way.


    "How close are we to the diner?" Dr. Higgins whispered.


    "Close," I whispered back.  "We might be here."


    "Let''s leave our bikes and creep closer for a better look," Dr. Higgins said quietly.


    "Someone should stay with the bikes," Connor whispered.  "You know, just in case someone tries to steal them."


    Dr. Higgins nodded.  "Okay, then you can stay with them."


    "By myself?" Connor asked in a high pitched tone.


    "I''ll stay with you," Dr. Patel said.


    "Me too," Camila volunteered.


    Dr. Higgins waved a hand for me to lead the way.  I took Grace''s hand in mind as we crept through the foliage.  Dr. Higgins and Todd followed us. We came to the treeline, but didn''t go beyond it.  We stood behind the tree trunks as we peeked out.


    The diner was across the freeway a little further down, but we could see it from that distance.  The freeway was filled with zombies, not just a few, but hundreds. And many of them milled about the diner.  I didn''t see any possible way to meet my family there.

 Chapter 35 .

    Tanner


    We went back to the bikes and reunited with Connor, Camila and Dr. Patel. Several zombie groans spread through the air, but they weren''t focused or alert. It was the same groans they made when they wandered aimlessly.


    "Is it close?" Dr. Patel asked us.


    "It''s just across the freeway," Dr. Higgins answered.


    "Isn''t that good news?" Connor asked. "Why do you all look so down?"


    "Because hundreds of zombies are on the freeway between us and the diner," Grace said.


    "And they surround the diner," Todd said.


    "What are we going to do then?" Camila asked. "Should we continue on and try to find your family."


    "No," Grace said. "We told them we would meet them at the diner. What if we go searching for them and miss them? Then we might not ever meet up."


    "So what do you want to do?" Dr. Higgins asked. All of them turned to me and Grace.


    "I think we should find a way to cross the freeway safely and hide somewhere near the diner. I want to be able to see our families if they are coming to the diner, but stay in hiding so the zombies don''t see us. What do you think?" she asked me.


    I nodded. I didn''t see what other options we had. "Let''s do it," I said.


    "I think we''ll need to backtrack then," Dr. Higgins said. "There are too many zombies here. We need to get far enough down the freeway we won''t be spotted crossing it."


    We got on our bikes and headed back in the direction we came from.


    "What if your family already came here," Todd said.


    I froze and almost crashed my bike. That wasn''t a possibility I had thought of.


    "They haven''t," Grace said.


    "How can you be sure?" Camila asked.


    She shrugged. "Call it women''s intuition." I hoped she was right. She had to be. My family couldn''t have been caught up in that mess of zombies by the diner.


    When we were far enough along the freeway, we crept back up to the treeline and peered out at the freeway. It was empty as far as I could tell.


    "Remember what we talked about last night," Dr. Patel said.


    The previous night, Grace had taken the time to teach each of us a little bit about how to use the bow and arrow. It turns out, everyone was good at it but me. None of them were even close to Grace''s level, but they were good enough.


    "About when to shoot the bows?" Todd asked.


    "Right," Dr. Patel said. "Don''t try to melee attack while people are shooting the bows. We don''t want friendly fire. And remember once zombies are about 25 feet away, stop shooting them and prepare your melee weapon."


    We had discussed all this last night. It was decided only Grace could be trusted with the bow and arrow once zombies got close. I was confident there wouldn''t be friendly fire accidents with her around.


    We ventured slowly and quietly onto the freeway. Our heads darted from side to side as we watched for any signs of zombies. My ears were extra sensitive to the sounds of our bikes, our footsteps, of the zombie groans in the far distance. I didn''t hear anything else. We made it to the other side without incident.


    Back safely in the woods, we started to head to the diner. We got to the edge of the woods that encircled the diner.


    "I think this is a good spot," Grace said quietly as we looked out at the diner and the zombies. There were two cars and one truck parked in the parking lot, but the vehicles were empty.


    "We have a clear view of the diner if our family comes," Grace said, "but the zombies won''t be able to see us."


    "Neither will our families," I pointed out.


    "But we should be able to see them," she said.


    "Unless they decide to stay hiding the woods and watch for you," Camila supplied.


    "Hopefully, at one point we''ll see each other," Grace said.


    "We won''t be able to make a fire to keep warm," Todd said.


    "That''s true," Dr. Higgins said. "We can''t risk the zombies seeing it and coming to investigate.If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    We had just gotten off our bikes when there was a loud scream near the diner. The zombies groaned in one loud, terrifying chorus.


    My family.


    I had my bat in hand and ran into the clearing as fast as I could.


    "No," Grace hissed after me, but I couldn''t stop even as I heard her faint voice say, "It''s not our families."


    A gun went off.


    The zombies on the freeway ran to the diner, tripping over each other in the process. The zombies around the diner ran to the opposite side where the scream and gunshot had sounded from. Around the building ran a familiar looking middle-aged woman and man. They were both heavy set. The man slowed and fired his gun into the head of a charging zombie.


    My footsteps slowed. It wasn''t my family. I was putting myself in unnecessary danger. I left Grace behind. I might get myself killed out here and then how could I protect my family.


    "Come on," Dr. Patel patted my shoulder as he ran passed me. "They need our help."


    It was only Dr. Patel and me. Everyone else stayed behind, but they weren''t doing nothing. Grace fired an arrow. It streaked passed me and into the head of zombie charging the couple. The others aimed their bows at the zombies coming at us from the freeway. That way we weren''t in the crossfire. I ran after Dr. Patel.


    "Let us in!" The woman was at the diner door. She pulled it, but it wouldn''t open. "Please!" she cried. "Let us in!" The man fired at another zombie. Grace''s arrow hit the zombie directly behind that one. The zombies that had surrounded the diner were now all heading towards the front and the screaming woman.


    I reached her just as a zombie reached out for her with his crooked fingers. I bashed his head in with my bat and he fell hard at my feet. Dr. Patel stuck his knife in the next zombie.


    "We have to go," I said to the woman. I grabbed her forearm intending to pull her along with me. The diner had to be empty. The blinds were pulled down over all the windows, but the door was glass and surely the zombies would have broken it if they had seen anyone inside.


    But there was a shadow behind the door. I backed away for a moment thinking it was a zombie, but then a man was scrambling at the lock inside.


    A zombie grabbed me from behind, but before it could bite me, Grace''s arrow struck it in the head. We were going to need to stock up on more arrows sooner than we thought judging on how many Grace had already spent and how many the others had lodged into the charging zombies coming from the freeway. Some of the zombies from the freeway had arrows in their chests or shoulders and they still charged us. There were a few that dropped with arrows in their heads.


    Another zombie reached me just as the one Grace just shot fell away. I hit the other one hard with the bat. I heard the sickening crunch that was becoming all too familiar as the skull caved in.


    The door to the diner opened and the woman scrambled inside. Dr. Patel helped her as she tripped in the doorframe. "Lawrence!" she cried out to the man still outside. He fired the gun again, but nothing happened. He was out of bullets.


    Grace''s arrow hit the zombie that was almost to the man. I grabbed the man''s forearm and started to pull him into the diner as the man who opened the door, the woman and Dr. Patel waved us on to hurry.


    An onrushing zombie tripped over the one that Grace just killed. It reached out and grabbed the man''s leg. The man fell onto his butt and I lost my grip on him. I readied my bat to bash into the zombie''s head, but I was too late. The man screamed and pushed desperately at the zombie''s head as it bit into his ankle. Blood gushed out from the corners of the zombie''s mouth and then a second zombie was there biting at the man''s leg. The man screamed again.


    "No! Lawrence!" the woman screamed and started to exit the diner, but Dr. Patel held her back.


    "You can''t help him now!" Dr. Patel called out, but I wasn''t sure if he was talking to me or the woman. I took a slow step back towards the door as the man''s head tilted back to stare at me. His arm reached out to me pleading me for help. His horror stricken eyes would haunt me for the rest of my life. A third zombie bit into the man''s stomach.


    "Run!" Grace''s scream hovered over the zombie groans, over the panicked voices of the woman and Dr. Patel. I was worried that Grace''s voice would attract the zombies, but the screaming man drew all of their attention. Every zombie out there was running this way.


    I turned and ran to the diner. The man closed the door behind me and locked it.


    One quick look around the diner told me the man wasn''t alone. There was a small group of men, women and children. One woman even had a baby held close to her bosom.


    "It''s too late," I said to the man. "They know we''re in here. They are going to crash through that door and the windows any minute."


    The man''s cries outside quieted.


    "Where is the backdoor?" I asked.


    "This way," the man said.


    Dr. Patel helped the crying woman. The other people in the diner followed me and the man.


    "We couldn''t leave because the zombies surrounded the place," one of the women from the diner said.


    "They are all out front now," I said.


    Glass broke at the front of the store.


    "They are coming. Hurry," I whispered harshly.


    The man opened the back door and we all spilled out. The man closed the door behind us. Snowflakes began to slowly drift peacefully from the sky unaware of the turbulent situation in the diner. Banging started on the inside of the back door.


    I took the lead back to the woods. The others had the bikes ready when we got back.


    The new people with us doubled up behind us on the bikes. The woman who seemed familiar rode with me on my bike. She clung to me. She sobbed trying to keep her sounds as quiet as possible.


    We backtracked through the woods as quickly as we could. The snow continued to fall. When we were far enough away, we stopped. It was then that it hit me who the woman was.


    "Mrs. Anderson," I said as she climbed off the back of my bike.


    She blinked at me for a moment and then said, "Tanner."


    "You two know each other?" Dr. Higgins asked.


    "She was our fifth grade teacher," Grace said.


    "Grace," Mrs. Anderson said.


    "I''m sorry about your husband," I said. "I tried to save him."


    Tears welled up in her already red eyes. "I know you did," she said quietly.


    "What about your son?" I asked. If I remembered correctly, they only had one child and he was just slightly younger than Lily.


    "We were supposed to meet him at the diner," she said quietly. "I think he was traveling with your sister actually."


    "We have to go back," I said. "Our families don''t know what they are walking into."


    "I''m not going back there," the woman with the baby said.


    "We''ll give you some of our supplies," Dr. Patel offered. "You and whoever else wants to can leave."


    In the end, everyone from the diner except for Mrs. Anderson left. We gave them half of our supplies. I gave them my bow and arrows since I wasn''t any good at it anyway.Grace gave them her screwdriver. Now she didn''t have any close range weapon. It was more important for us to stick close to each other. She could protect me with her bow and arrows and I could protect her with my bat when the zombies got too close.


    We started back to the diner and the hordes of zombies.

 Interlude 4 .

    The In


    "Representatives are here to negotiate, Mistress," the underling said.


    "Representatives from where?" the Mistress asked.  Her companions stood around her in the dark room lit only by candles.


    "They say they are from the Canadian government."  The underling wrung his hands together with his back slightly bent and his head tilted in respect.


    "What positions do they hold?  Where exactly are they from in Canada?  Are they representing a small, localized government or all of Canada?"


    The underling shuffled his feet and he twisted his hands together even faster.


    "I''m not su . . ."


    She cut him off with a wave of her hand.  "Send them in."


    The underling scurried out of the room.  A moment later, he reentered with two men and one woman.


    "What would you like to negotiate?" the Mistress asked them.  She stood tall in the middle of the room. A beautiful woman that shimmered to reflect each of the representatives'' tastes.


    "Please end this zombie apocalypse," the taller man pleaded.


    The Mistress looked at her companions.  Each were expressionless, but she knew each of their desires.  They had put away their differences, their petty squabbles, to come together and form the greatest threat against humanity.If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    "Once it has begun, it cannot be stopped," the Mistress said.


    "Then," the woman said, "can you offer us protection in some way?  Restore the power and batteries and everything else that failed with the zombie apocalypse?"


    "How did you travel all this way without vehicles?" the Mistress asked.


    The three representatives turned to the door.  More of the Mistress''s companions entered. These were the companions that had been setup to oversee the situation in Canada.  Companions were all over the world to ensure the success of their plans.


    "We brought them, Mistress," one of the companions said.


    "Protection is possible," the Mistress told the representatives.  "And so is restoring the electronics to the place you specify."


    The three representatives smiled and looked to each other proud of what they had accomplished.


    "What do you offer us in return?" the Mistress asked.


    The smiles disappeared.


    "What do you want?" the shorter man asked with a shaky voice.


    "If you go to our clubs labeled RU in?, they will give you the protection you want.  You may leave at any time and will always have the protection. In return, for everyone of you who receives the protection, one of you must stay in the club.  Forever."


    The three of them looked at each other.  There was no hint of success in them now.


    The Mistress smiled.  The companions smiled.


    "How long must this be for?" the tall man asked.


    "For as long as your people want protection," the Mistress answered.  "When one hundred of you have stayed on a permanent basis, we will restore the privileges you have come to enjoy - your computers, your vehicles, your phones, electricity, running water.  But as I said, if your people want continued protection, you must not stop sending people to the clubs even after the one hundred have joined."


    The tall man bit his bottom lip as he looked to the others.  The short man ran his hands up and down his thighs. The woman shuffled from foot to foot.  Finally, the woman nodded to the two men. The tall man said to the Mistress, "You have a deal."

 Chapter 36 .

    Lily


    When I woke, the sky was beginning to lighten.  Gray clouds covered the sky. It had stopped snowing.  There were a couple of inches of snow on the ground. Darren''s mom and Grant''s dad were supposed to be on watch, but Grant''s dad was curled up at the end of the tarp next to Grant.


    Darren''s mom was stoking the small fire.  Richard, Monica and Maria were all awake and moving about the camp.  Maria poured soup into a pan and put it over the fire. Monica and Richard were checking on the bikes.  Molly happily trailed after them.


    I slithered out from Mackenzie''s arm.  She was holding me tightly in her sleep, but I managed to get free and stand up.  I looked down at my sleeping sister. She should have been home in a warm bed not out here in the snow.  Those men could show up at any time or zombies could walk into our camp. I crouched and touched the back of my fingers to her cold cheek.  I pulled the hood of her coat up tighter over her head. Victory''s arms were wrapped Mackenzie.


    I stood up straight and went to Monica and Richard.


    "Do the bikes look okay?" I asked quietly.


    "I was worried the tires might have deflated a little in the snow, but they seem okay," Richard said.


    "It''s going to be harder to ride in the snow though," Monica said.


    "At least it''s not snowing anymore," Richard said.  "I really hope we can find a place to shelter for the winter.  The snow is just going to get worse."


    We brushed the snow off the bikes, especially the seats, as best we could.  When we turned around to go back, Hunter, Darren, Mackenzie and Victory were awake.  Mackenzie and Victory sat on the tarp. Victory sat behind Mackenzie brushing her long hair.  Mackenzie smiled strangely as she stared down at my sister''s hair. Her fingers caressed Mackenzie''s hair gently.  It struck me that Victory sometimes looked at Mackenzie the same way Hunter looked at Darren. I hadn''t noticed before, but it seemed obvious now that I did.


    Monica and Richard had joined Darren, his mom and Maria by the fire.  Hunter stood a little ways behind Darren. I walked up to him and whispered, "Can I speak to you for a moment?"  I indicated the trees with a nod. He followed me as I led him further into the woods.


    "What is it?" he asked.


    We could still see everyone in the camp, but they wouldn''t be able to hear us talk as long as we kept our voices down.


    "Does your sister have a crush on my sister?" I asked.


    His eyes fell briefly on the two girls on the tarp.  Victory was now braiding Mackenzie''s hair. He looked at me.  "I think so," he said.


    "For how long?"


    "I don''t know," he said.  "I never paid much attention to them before this."


    "I don''t think my sister feels the same," I said.  I sighed. "Is everyone in this group destined to have an unrequited love?"


    "I think Arthur has a crush on your sister too," Hunter said.


    Arthur sat up as if he knew we were talking about him.  He rubbed his eyes with his gloved hands tiredly as Molly bounced up to him and licked his face.  Arthur scowled and rubbed the slobber off, but he rubbed Molly between her ears. Her tail thumped happily.  Arthur''s eyes drifted to Mackenzie and lingered there. Maybe Hunter was right and my sister was more popular than I ever realized.


    "Not everyone has an unrequited love though," Hunter said.  "Grant has Monica."


    "Except she has a secret crush on Richard," I said.


    "Really?" Hunter asked.


    Oops.


    "That was probably supposed to be a secret," I said.


    "I won''t tell anyone," Hunter said.Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.


    "Soup''s done," Darren''s mom announced loudly.


    Grant and his dad were immediately up.  Arthur woke the two boys next to him. We all gathered around the fire and shared the soup.  We saved enough for Molly who happily lapped up what was left.


    We untied the tarp we had set above us to sleep under.  Maria and I shook the snow off it and rolled it up while the others rolled up sleeping bags and the tarp we had placed underneath us.  We packed up our bikes and headed out. We made sure the children were in the middle of our group. I rode up front with Hunter. Darren and his mother took the left side of the group.  Grant''s dad, Grant and Monica took the right side of the group and Richard and Maria took up the rear. It was difficult to ride through the snow, but at least it wasn''t that deep. Richard was right.  We needed to find some place to hold out for the winter because we weren''t going to be able to ride in a foot of snow.


    We stopped for lunch.  We didn''t build a fire.  We ate jerky and trail mix.  Molly went from person to person and everyone gave her some of their jerky.  Except for Grant''s dad. She went around him and he ignored her. He never shared his food with her.  Molly didn''t like him. She never went to him.


    When we were through, we went back to our bikes in the same formation.  Some of us were on our bikes waiting for the others. Grant''s dad, Monica, Darren''s mom and Juan were all we were waiting on.


    A zombie ran from the trees and headed directly to Grant''s dad.  Half of its face was torn off and it was missing an eye. Its throat had been torn out.  Its shirt was torn in several places. Its mouth opened as if it was groaning, but no sound came out.  I was off my bike and reaching for my ax. Hunter and Richard also scrambled off their bikes.


    Grant screamed.  It echoed through the snow topped trees.  Grant''s dad grabbed Monica and threw her to the zombie.  Her eyes widened in disbelief as the zombie grabbed her from behind and sunk its teeth into her coat over neck.  Monica reached out to Grant, but he turned his back to her and looked away.


    I didn''t have time to contemplate my horror and anger as the zombie lifted its head up with a large clump of material in its mouth.  Monica clumsily tried to get her knife out. Tears streamed down her face. The zombies spit out the material and dipped its head down again into her shoulder this time.  Hunter and I scrambled through the bikes to get to them. Richard beat us to her. He ripped the zombie off and Monica''s coat tore as the head was violently torn away from her shoulder.  The zombie stumbled to the ground. Richard quickly dropped down on top of it and stabbed it in the head.


    Monica collapsed to the ground as great sobs escaped her.  She held onto the shoulder the zombie had bit. I was by her side and kneeling in the snow.


    "She''s been bitten," Grant''s dad said without any remorse.  "We have to kill her."


    "Let me look," I said to Monica as I ignored Grant''s dad.


    She dropped her hand from her shoulder, but I couldn''t tell if the zombie had broken the skin.  I helped her take her coat off halfway so it was still on her unbitten shoulder, but not on the bitten side.


    "Your neck isn''t bit," I told her as my fingers gently touched the skin where the zombie had first tried to bite her.  Her shirt had holes in it on the shoulder where the zombie bit, but wasn''t torn like the coat was. I pulled the shirt back away from her shoulder just far enough so I could see the bite.


    "There are some bite mark indentations on her skin," I said.


    "See," Grant''s dad said.  "We have to kill her."


    "But it didn''t break the skin," I said to Monica again ignoring Grant''s dad.  "You''re going to be okay."


    A sob escaped her and she wrapped her arms around me in a tight hug.  I held her close and let her cry.


    "You''re okay," Richard said.  He stood beside me and Monica.  He put his large hand on the top of her head.  "You are all right," he reiterated.


    She broke her hug with me to stand up and wrap her arms around Richard.


    "Thank you," she said into his chest.


    He patted her gently on the back.  She pulled away from him and spun to face Grant and his dad.  I had never seen her face filled with as much hate as she had now.  She rushed to Grant''s dad and slapped him hard across the face. Before any of us could react, she moved away from Grant''s dad to stand in front of Grant.


    "I''m glad you''re ok," Grant said.


    She slapped him even harder than she had his dad.


    His hand rubbed his reddening cheek.  "What was that for? I didn''t do anything."


    "Exactly," she said.  "You didn''t do anything to help me."


    "It''s time for you two to leave," Hunter said.  He extended a hand to me. I took it and he helped me to my feet.  Then turned to face Grant''s dad.


    "What do you mean leave?" Grant''s dad asked.  "You are going to throw us out there by ourselves?  We''ll be killed."


    "We''ll be killed if you stay with us," Hunter said.  "And I''m not going to risk that."


    "You can''t make us leave," Grant''s dad said.


    Monica raised her gun and pointed it directly at his head.  "Yes, we can," she said.


    "Moni," Grant started.


    She pointed the gun at him.  "Don''t even try. I''m done with you."  Richard went and stood directly behind her to support her.


    "Take your bikes and your supplies," Hunter said, "and leave.  I don''t care which way you go as long as it isn''t where we are going."


    Grant''s dad grabbed his bike and turned it back in the direction we came from.  "Fine by me," he said. "You all are idiots anyway."


    He started on his way, but paused when Grant didn''t immediately follow.  Grant slowly took his bike and faced it in his father''s direction. He started to push it slowly towards his dad.  He stopped after a few steps and said to Monica, "You are not coming with us?"


    "No way in hell," she said.  Richard placed a hand on her shoulder.  It wasn''t to restrain her or calm her, but to show she was fully welcome with us while Grant and his dad weren''t.


    Grant''s face fell, but he followed his father.  We watched them until we couldn''t see them anymore.  Then we all got on our bikes and rode towards the diner.

 Chapter 37 .

    Lily


    Streaks of yellow beams from the sun hit the snow through leafless branches of the trees.  The snow sparkled in an array of different colors. I had hoped that the sun would melt the snow, but the biting cold air countered that.  The smell of pine trees refreshed my weary body. There were plenty of leafless trees around us, but there were more pine and fir trees.


    Our bikes left little tracks in the crunchy snow.  It wasn''t easy riding in the snow. When the zombies first appeared, I had thought I was building muscle by the constant running and hacking at them with my ax, but now my legs ached even more.  The sky started to dim as the sun began to set.


    "I''m hungry," Marcos said.  The little boy had done pretty well on his bike with training wheels, but he could only pedal for so long before his legs got tired.  We ended up tying a rope connecting his bike with Hunter''s. Marcos could still be on his bike while Hunter pulled him along. Hunter slowed and came to a stop.  The rest of us followed his lead. None of us got off our bikes yet.


    "How far do you think the diner is?" Hunter asked me.


    "I don''t think it''s far now," I said, "but I''m not sure."


    "Maybe we should stop for the night," Darren''s mom said.  "It won''t make much of a difference if we get there tonight versus the morning."


    "Except," Hunter said, "it might be safer inside the diner overnight than out here in the woods."


    Monica placed a hand over the hole in her coat and shuddered.  We needed to fix that somehow. If we ran into zombies again, she wouldn''t be so lucky if a zombie bit her in that spot that was now unprotected.


    "We don''t know that the diner is going to be a safe place," Darren''s mom pointed out.


    "But my sister and her brother will be there," Hunter said and waved in my direction.


    "And my parents are supposed to meet us there," Richard said.


    I had forgotten about that.  He didn''t bring them up much.


    Darren''s mom softened as she said gently, "Have you seen their car on the freeway on our travels?  I doubt they made it all the way to the diner before the cars, phones and everything else stopped working."


    "I haven''t seen their car," Richard said, "but most of the time we haven''t been in view of the freeway."


    "That''s true," Darren''s mom said.


    The temperature was dropping rapidly as the sun drifted further down in the sky.


    "Let''s keep going," Hunter said.  "The diner is going to be on the other side of the freeway.  We can cross now." He shifted his bike so it was now pointing in the direction of the hidden freeway beyond the trees.


    "The group of men were also on the other side of the freeway," Darren pointed out.


    "Yes," Hunter said, "but we have to cross to get to the freeway.  They didn''t know we were going to the diner. And we''re on bikes now.  Hopefully we lost them."


    "I''m hungry," Marcos whined again.


    "I am too," Juan said quietly.  He stared at the bar handle of his bike as he turned his bike with the rest of us.


    "We''ll eat soon," Mackenzie said to the boys.  "It''s not that much further now."


    When we got to the treeline, Hunter and Darren got off their bikes to peek around the trees.


    "It looks clear," Hunter said.


    "Can you see the diner?" Mackenzie asked hopefully.


    "No," Hunter said.  "I can''t tell how far we are from it, but let''s keep going."


    The thought of seeing Tanner again spurred me on.  Hunter probably felt the same about Grace. I wouldn''t have to be solely responsible anymore for Mackenzie.  I smiled at the thought.The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    When we were younger - Mackenzie five, I was ten and Tanner eleven - we were playing in the park near our house.  Our parents weren''t there because at age ten and eleven, Tanner and I were old enough to look after ourselves and Mackenzie for an hour at the park.  We could easily run home or shout for them if we needed them and it was close enough to our house that they would be able to hear us. Our neighborhood was safe and friendly where most everyone new each other.  That was why the man who had been watching Mackenzie seemed so out of place. I didn''t recognize him. His stare had made my stomach queasy and the hairs on my arms stand on end. Tanner and I gathered around Mackenzie protectively.  She hadn''t noticed the man. When she came down the slide, Tanner grabbed her hand and said, "Let''s go home."


    She pried her hand out of his and said, "I don''t want to.  I want to play some more."


    That was when the man approached us and said he had puppies in his car and asked if Mackenzie would like to see them.  She was shy with strangers then so she hid behind Tanner and didn''t answer.


    "Go away," Tanner said to the man.


    "I''m a nice man.  You don''t need to be afraid of me.  Don''t you want to see the puppies?"


    He tried to reach around Tanner and grab Mackenzie''s hand.  She shied out of his reach. I kicked the man in the shin while Tanner kicked him right in the crotch.  The man doubled over. Tanner grabbed my hand and Mackenzie''s and we ran back to our house where we promptly told our parents.  Our dad immediately ran to the park while our mom called 911. Another neighbor had seen the incident and was already there holding the man back.  My dad joined him and they held the man long enough for the police to arrive. I never knew what happened to the stranger after that, but there was never an incident like that again in our neighborhood.


    We moved quietly across the freeway.  There wasn''t as much snow on the road as there had been elsewhere.  It still crunched beneath us as the tires left little treadmarks.


    We went into the trees on the other side and headed in the direction of the diner.  It wasn''t too long that a strange noise sounded in the air. If I believed in ghosts, I would think it sounded like ghosts on the wind.  But I didn''t believe in ghosts. We slowed our pace, but continued on. The sound became more identifiable the closer we got as a chorus of groans.  Hunter stopped and looked at me from the bike.


    "It''s not coming from the diner is it?" Richard asked.  His voice was just more than a whisper.


    Hunter got off his bike and pushed the kickstand down.  The rest of us followed his lead.


    "I''ll go check it out," he said.


    "I''ll go with you," I said.  I readied my ax.


    "Wait," Darren''s mom said.  "It sounds like a lot of them.  I don''t think we should be separated."


    The children clung together as they watched us.  Mackenzie placed her hands on Juan''s shoulders. She swallowed hard with fear in her eyes.  Victory stood near Mackenzie, but her stance was one of protection. She readied her bow and arrow.


    Hunter looked at me as if I would have the answer, but I didn''t know what to do.  "I think we shouldn''t be separated," I said.


    "Do we take the bikes closer or leave them here?" Maria asked.  She was readying her bow. Monica had her gun out ready. So did Richard.


    "Leave them," Hunter said.  "They''ll hinder our movement.  Let''s take our packs with us though just in case something happens and we can''t come back right away."


    I didn''t like leaving the bikes, tarps and everything else we left behind, but they might hinder our movement and they would make noise.  I wasn''t sure zombies would react to that noise though. They seemed to react more to noise that humans made more than other noises. We each strapped on a backpack.  We weren''t going to give one to Marcos at first, but he insisted so we gave him a light back with some of the art supplies and toys we had picked up at the superstore.


    Hunter and Victory led the way with their bows.  The groaning got louder. It was a horrendous sound that raised the hairs on my arms and sent an electric chill down my spine.  Molly''s hackles were up as she stayed close to Arthur''s side. She bared her lips, but was silent as she traveled with us.


    Before we got to the treeline, we could see the shuffling zombies.  Some were right at the edge of the treeline, but more were beyond the treeline.  I could see the diner now. That didn''t make things better. My stomach dropped with despair.  The door to the diner was open. Zombies shuffled and groaned all around the outside of the diner.  They freely went in and out. There had to be more zombies than even we could see as the cacophony of groans was more than we could account for.


    "Tanner," Mackenzie whispered beside me.  Her face was pale and gaunt. Her eyes scanned over the zombies quickly for our brother.


    I looked over them too.  I searched for his familiar brown hair and for any clothes that might be familiar, but I didn''t see anything.  I shifted my focus and looked for Grace. Her long, black hair might stand out more. The light grew dim rapidly as the sun had almost set.  Stars began to faintly sparkle up above.


    "I don''t think Grace and Tanner are there," Hunter whispered.


    "Dad," Richard whispered.  I looked at him and then followed the direction of his eyes.  There was a heavy set man with his back to us moving in the trees ahead of us.


    "Dad," Richard''s whisper was louder as he called out to his dad.


    The man turned.  It went deathly still as we stared at Richard''s dad.  He had looked normal from the back, but from the front, his stomach was bloody and ripped open.  Intestines drooped out. His leg was bloody by the ankle and he had a large hole in his throat. His pupils glowed green.


    "Dad," Richard whimpered.  A tear fell from his horror stricken face.  He bent over and dry heaved just as the zombie groaned loudly, urgently.  More zombie groans joined it. This wasn''t their aimless murmuring groans.  These were groans with urgent purpose. The crowd of zombies from the treeline and the diner all turned and started our way.


    "Run!" Hunter yelled.

 Chapter 38 .

    Lily


    "Run!" Hunter yelled.


    Darren''s mom scooped up Marcos and started to run back to our bikes, but when groans sounded in that direction, Maria grabbed her arm and pulled her further through the trees to our left.  Molly barked and growled. She bared her teeth. Her hackles stood on end.


    Victory''s arrow flew into Richard''s dad''s eye and he fell hard to the ground.


    "Run, Richard," Hunter called out as he let loose his own arrow into a charging zombie woman.  Richard stood there unmoving. His face was pale as he stared down at his dad''s body.


    Darren and Monica grabbed Richard''s arms from either side and pulled him after Darren''s mom.  Arthur, Juan and Mackenzie ran closely after them. Molly ran with them. She stayed protectively by Arthur''s side.  It had been about a week since the zombie apocalypse began and I hadn''t used my gun yet. I did now.


    As Hunter, Victory and I followed the rest of our group, we fired on the chasing zombies.  Hunter and Victory used their bows. I used my gun. The loud shot echoed through the trees.  It didn''t matter if I was loud now. The zombies already knew we were there.


    Monica let go of Richard''s arm as he finally had his faculties back enough to run on his own.  Monica readied her own gun and fired into the rushing zombies. Darren readied an arrow, but he was having difficulty aiming it while running.  He let the arrow fly, but it landed harmlessly at an on rushing zombie''s feet. I shot that zombie and then quickly fired at another one that was rushing us from behind.


    Maria shot an arrow into the zombie that was charging Darren''s mom and Marcos from the side.  The zombie stumbled as the arrow hit it''s shoulder. It quickly regained its balance and continued its charge.  Darren''s mom stopped just long enough to aim her gun and fire it at the charging zombie while Marcos clung tightly to her neck with tears dripping from his cheeks.  The zombie fell to the ground.


    Monica, Richard, Darren''s mom and I fired our guns freely.  Hunter and Victory killed more zombies with their arrows. Darren and Maria tried shooting the zombies with their bows and arrows, but they rarely hit the head.  Those of us with guns ended up killing the zombies they were trying to kill. It wasn''t their fault. They couldn''t really be proficient with a weapon they had only learned to use a few days ago.  And we were running. The zombies were running. The entire situation was difficult.


    The groans of zombies were all around us except up ahead.  Goosebumps formed all along my arms as I ran, as I reloaded my gun.  The zombies'' pupils glowed green as the sky grew even darker. Their mouths opened.  Spit dripped from their mouths and down their chins. They ran at a speed equal to us and sometimes slightly faster than us.  And there were so many. For everyone one we killed, two more took its place. Hunter met my gaze. We weren''t going to make it.  There wasn''t a house we could run into to fortify ourselves or a place to hide.


    He looked away from me and shot another arrow in a charging zombie.  Dark clouds formed overhead at a rapid pace. A cold wind kicked up. Great.  Just what we needed, a storm to hinder our movements. Except the wind actually helped Darren''s and Maria''s arrows find their marks into zombie heads instead of the shoulder or torso.


    "Keep running," Mackenzie encouraged.  I didn''t realize until then that all three of the children were crying.  I knew Marcos was, but didn''t realize Arthur and Juan were too. Molly barked and growled as she ran by Arthur''s side.  Mackenzie had a hand on Juan''s and Arthur''s backs encouraging them forward. I couldn''t let her die. Even if it meant I died, her sweet self had to live on.  I fired at the nearest zombie. A red hole formed in its forehead. Its momentum took it another step forward before it fell.


    "What do we do, Hunter?" Victory asked.


    "Keep running," Hunter called out to everyone.


    Juan stumbled.  Richard picked him up with one arm and fired at an onrushing zombie.


    "It''s too dark," Maria called from the front.


    It was dark.  The clouds overhead covered any starlight or moonlight.  Trees were just a darker mass among the dark. At least we could tell where the zombie heads were thanks to their glowing, green pupils.


    Mackenzie pulled out a flashlight and turned it on.  She shined it forward to guide Darren''s mom and Maria.  She held Arthur''s hand with her free hand and pulled him with her as Molly ran along beside them.  We were all panting, but stopping to rest was not an option.This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.


    I fired at another zombie.  Hail started to fall from the sky, but it was behind us.  It hadn''t caught up to us yet. Quarter sized hail stones pelted the zombies.


    Lightning flashed ahead.


    "There is a clearing up ahead," Maria called back to us.  "Do we keep running to it, or try to veer off into the trees."


    I didn''t think veering off to the sides was an option with how many snarling zombies crowded in around us.


    "Do you see zombies in the clearing?" Hunter called back.


    "No."


    "Then go forward," Hunter said.


    We broke through the treeline and came into an empty field.  The cold wind whipped at my face. The hail that rained down on the zombies would hit us soon too and the hail stones were getting larger.  They even took a couple of the zombies down. But in that massive sea of zombies running at us, it didn''t make much of a difference. Lightning struck behind us in the middle of the zombies.  Several fell from that blast, but there were more to replace them. And it was only a matter of time before that lightning hit us. Especially in this empty field.


    I fired my gun and took down another zombie as it closed in on Darren.  Arthur stumbled, but Mackenzie kept him upright. I glanced at Hunter, but he wasn''t looking at me.  He shot another arrow into the eye of a charging zombie. He and Victory were running dangerously low on arrows.


    "Hunter," I said.


    "What?" he said without looking at me.


    "Maybe you and I should make a stand to let the others escape."


    "No," Victory immediately said, but Hunter didn''t say no.


    "Okay," Hunter said.  He knew as much as I did that he and I could not survive this horde of zombies, but if it gave a chance for everyone else to get away, I was willing to do it.


    "No!" Victory screamed.  "We can do this together.  We can survive."


    But as I watched the never ending horde of zombies come in closer and closer, I didn''t see how that was possible.


    "There''s a house up ahead!" Maria called back to us.  Lightning struck into the zombies again. I got a glimpse of the house then.  It was huge. A mansion in the middle of nowhere.


    "We can make it to the house," I said.  We had to. It was our only hope now.


    Hunter turned to look at the house.  His steps faltered. "No," he said. "We can''t!" he yelled to the front of the group.


    "Why not?" Victory asked.  When she looked at the house, she stopped running completely.  Hunter stopped with her and together they turned to face the zombie horde fully.


    "What are you doing?" I asked them.  I slowed, but didn''t stop running. The others didn''t hesitate as they continued on to the house.  Molly ran in front of Arthur. If I didn''t know better, I''d say she was trying to stop him from getting closer to the house.  He ran around her.


    And then something happened I never would have imagined.  The zombies slowed and stopped. They groaned and swiped with their hands as if they could coax us back to them.  I slowed as I watched the zombies until I stopped.


    "Do not go to that house!" Hunter shouted, but the others didn''t listen.  Molly''s barks turned more desperate as she ran in front of Arthur again.


    I looked at the house.  It was dark and quiet. There weren''t any zombies near it.  In fact, it seemed like the zombies refused to go near it. The house didn''t repulse me like the RU in? place did, but there was a dark spot in my stomach that grew as I watched it.  Something wasn''t right.


    Another lightning strike hit the zombies.  More hail pelted the groaning creatures, but the storm stopped there.  It didn''t advance to where we were. I looked from the zombies, to Hunter and Victory who held their ground against the zombies, to the house.


    The door to the dark house opened before our group reached it.  Something streaked out too fast for my eyes to follow, but a moment later two men stood between me and the rest of our group.  Molly went ballistic as she hopped between the men and Arthur. She barked louder than before.


    Maria finally stopped running when she realized we weren''t following them.  The rest of the group stopped and looked at us. Maria''s and Darren''s eyes fell on the two strange men and it was like they were hypnotized.  They couldn''t look away from the men even though the men weren''t paying them any attention. They looked at me.


    "It seems you could use some help," the Asian man said to me.


    I couldn''t say why, but they were wrong.  There was a darkness about them. Something inside me told me they were more dangerous than the zombies.  And then I realized that their irises were red. I swallowed and took a step away from them, a step back towards the groaning zombies.  The zombies did not move from their spots even as lightning struck them again and hail continued to pelt them.


    "We will help you," the Asian man said.


    "Come inside," the blond one said.


    The tone of his voice and the danger that spilled off him made me physically shiver.


    The creepy smile that came to his blood red lips didn''t help.  "We will protect you," he said. I took a step away from them and got closer to Hunter''s and Victory''s backs.


    "Come inside," the Asian man said.  "Your dragons are welcome too."


    Dragons?


    I looked to Hunter to see if he knew what these men were talking about.  He and Victory finally turned to us. I gasped as their irises were now the same color of gray as storm clouds.  Around both of their eyes, almost imperceptible, were tiny scales. Hunter''s were red. Victory''s were white. The same red and white as the streaks in their hair.


    "I knew it!" Owen yelled.  "I knew your eyes sometimes turned gray."


    Lightning struck into the zombie horde behind Hunter and Victory and I knew.  They controlled the storm.

 Interlude 5 .

    The In


    "Mistress," the underling said as he came into the room.


    The Mistress turned away from her companions to face the underling.  "What is it?"


    "A coven of witches have given us an ultimatum," the underling said.  The corner of his lips tried to curl up in anticipation of the violence that the Mistress would bring.


    The Mistress scoffed.  Her companions scoffed.  "And what is the ultimatum?"If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.


    "Stop the zombie apocalypse or they will come and destroy us all."  He smiled blatantly now. He licked his lips. His fingers twitched in anticipation of the order the Mistress was sure to give.


    The Mistress laughed, light and airy, but something menacing underneath.  Her green eyes sparked with anger. "Destroy them."


    "Yes, Mistress.  Also, Alvina has sent word that two of her vampires have abandoned her brood and might be nearby.  If we run across them, we are free to destroy them as we see fit."


    The Mistress laughed.  "The others still see us as weak.  They think they can give us orders.  They have yet to understand we now have more power than anyone, any creature or any group.  We''ll play along for now. It won''t be long until everyone will be under our rule."