Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

10k’S POV

The pungent stench of burnt bodies polluted the air. It was a smell I knew all too well, and I doubted that there was any person alive today who didn’t. When the mass graves back in the first years of the infection were ignited across the country, they smoldered for days, millions of the dead turning to ash, pillars of smoke rising far and deadly into the sky.

I had heard two men in military uniforms talking about this place, while I listened from above in a nearby tree. They said that there was food here to be found. So I went. It had taken me awhile to get to this school, I had no mode of transportation and was forced to walked the long distance on foot. By the time I arrived here earlier this morning, the makeshift camp had been overrun. I was forced to retreat from an overwhelming horde, and found myself on the roof. I’d figured I would just wait until the hoard thinned a little, then take out the remaining Z’s, and be on my way.

Over on the far side of the building the Z’s were attracted to something. From what I could see something was huddled in a cage. ‘Maybe it’s a dog, I’ve always wanted a dog. But I wouldn’t it be barking? Unless the dog is dead. A zom-dog?’ I stood up, intending to investigate whatever the Z’s were so intent on getting.

The low rumble of a car swiftly caught my attention. All plans momentarily halted as I watched a group of seven or so people pile out. I ducked behind an air conditioner unit, not wanting to be seen. People always meant trouble, even those who didn’t look particularly hostile. A lot of people these days are worse than the Z’s

I moved nearer to the edge of the roof, it was quieter here without them talking. About 10 minutes later three members of the group wondered within my sights, so I kept my rifle trained on them. I felt vaguely like I was stalking them, and I felt a bit guilty. They didn’t look so dangerous, but that didn’t necessarily mean they weren’t. I had learned long ago not to trust appearances.

Two men and a women wandered around the parking lot. One of the men looked old, maybe in his mid fifties. The other two looked just a little older than myself. They were scavenging the already picked over lot. The eldest of the group reached down to grab a knife out of a zombie's chest. The monster woke up, immediately going after him. His companions started to yell, unable to pry off their friend’s undead assailant.

‘If they kept on screaming like that, they’re going to attract more Z’s’, with that thought in mind, I steadied my aim. I waited until the man stayed still for a second, then I pulled the trigger. I added one more to my count. And as satisfying as it was to see the Z fall, my cover had been blown. The people got over their shock, and started to scan the roof to see who saved their friend. Yup, it’s time to leave.

As quicker as I was able, I picked up my gun and bag. I ran out of sight, blood rushing in my ears. I sank to my knees and threw open the hatch that led into the school. First lowering my stuff and then jumping in. My feet pounded on the ground as I dashed through the corridors. I took out four more Z’s during my escape. Whispering my count as I went along. I skidded to a stop as I faced the door that led outside. I peeked my head out, looking for signs of the group. They were standing outside, looking forlorn. They must have lost someone inside the building. I slipped around the corner, no one noticed me. I made my way to the road. Now there was probably even more zombies coming, I sighed.

My rifle was slung comfortably across my back. I could tell that there was only a few hours of sunlight left. Not enough find somewhere to stay the night and find food. My stomach grumbled loudly, unnecessarily reminding me that I hadn’t eaten anything today. A beaten down truck stopped by my side, the window was rolled down and the old man who I had saved was sitting in the driver seat.

“Hey. Hey there. You’re that sharp shooter who saved my ass, aren’t you? Oh man. I want to thank you. Do you need a ride?” The man sounded expectant. I actually considered it for a moment. I was tired and very hungry, they probably had food. But people have always made me uncomfortable, even before the apocalypse. Besides traveling in a group never seemed to work out with me for some reason. I shook my head negative. The man looked disappointed, but he nodded.

“Well, thanks anyway.” He shook his head again. The man started to drive, before he called out the window “AND NICE SHOOTING!” I snorted to myself, and the other car passed me. They honked their car horns twice as i watched the cars barrel down the road, with a smile I turned towards the forest. I sighed again as I realized that tonight I would be sleeping in the trees. Again

Chapter Text

“Where’s my sunshine” Tobias demanded gruffly. The large man didn’t even bother to look at the two figures that approached his sides. Instead he focused on intermittently watching two individuals. Through his binoculars he spotted a young red-headed woman and black-haired boy. While the girl was in a group of others, the boy seemed to be alone. He saw the young boy jump from rooftop to rooftop as graceful as a cat. He smiled to himself, ready as always to expand his family. There is always room for others.

“Bitch gave me the slip” Tobias’s smile fell as he moved his arm instinctively, bitch-slapping his subordinate. That’s not how you talk to family. He glanced back at the boy, formulating a plan. His sunshine and the other girl were in the same group, it’d be easy to grab them both, welcome them into the family. The boy might be harder…..

“That’s your sister you’re talking about
We’ll find her soon enough.” He pauses between his sentence, gesturing to his two young prey. His men looked at the indicated directions, wordlessly nodding in agreement. They turned to look at each other, sinister smiles mirrored in their faces, undoubtedly thinking the same thing, fresh meat.

“Meanwhile some opportunities have presented themselves.” The men smirked to themselves, raising their fists to their chests. A quick round of rock, paper, scissors followed suit. The victor nodding his head to the direction of the girl. The loser of the game turned face the boy, who was looking around on a roof. The two men crept over to their respective targets, both prepared to do whatever it took to bring them in..

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10k’s POV

As much as I didn’t like big cities, they were the best, practically only, places to resupply. Most of the bigger cities got overwhelmed quickly during the first months, so there were always things left over. I never liked cities much, back Pre-Z there were too many people. Now there’s way too many zombies. But I suppose, zombies are everywhere. There has been talk of a huge horde moving south on the New York side, and that had been almost a week and the remainder of my bullets ago. So I entered Philadelphia in pursuit of ammo, water, and hopefully, food.

My footsteps echoed loudly through the empty streets. I was surprised that there were no zombies up and walking. I passed two zombies sleeping on a bench. Well not sleeping, I don’t think zombies sleep. But they weren’t conscious. I pulled out my knife, jabbing the closet one though the eye. The other woke up due to the commotion, with a snarl it lunges at me. I dropped my knife in surprise, my hands reaching out to hold the undead women back. She tried to gnaw on my arm, I reached into my sleeve and pulled out my screwdriver, thrusting it into her temple. It practically slid in with a slick thunk. I grimaced as the body fell down.

“1256”. I slid the edge of the screwdriver in her shirt. Putting my knife back in it’s sheath I got the feeling of somebody watching me. The fact that the city looked completely vacant did nothing to help ease the feeling. I was hyper-aware of my surroundings, mentally trying to disarm whatever was leaving this sinking feeling in my chest. No good. I passed an abandoned looking department store, trying the door I was surprised to find it was unlocked.

I looked the door behind me, it looked untouched. All the clothes tidily folded, mannequins were everywhere. Faceless effigies parading as cheap imitations of long dead customers. No one was clean anymore, or had the comfort to wear sandals. For some reason seeing it made me angry, as quickly as I could I found the roof. There hadn’t been a single zombie in the building, but on my way up I found some unopened bottles of water and chocolate bars that were way past their sell by dates. But food’s food, and I haven’t eaten since a very unlucky pigeon early yesterday morning.

I leaped to a nearby roof, after discovering nothing of interest on the department store's roof. As soon as I landed in the next one, I heard growling. Zombies banging at the chained door. In the middle, there was a huge blood stained part of concrete. Though there was no other signs of life, or more accurately, past life. However, I did find a crimson brown splatter duffle. In it it contained 3 handguns, a few boxes of ammo, and most importantly, a box of stale Cheeze-Its. A win, if ever I saw one.

I was just grateful to be off the street. All of those buildings towering over me fidgety. Not to mention the ever present feeling of being watched. I jumped to another roof, scouting around the area. Looking for buildings that looked abandoned or like they would have something useful. A car! Should probably look for a car while I’m at it. How hard can driving be anyway?

A flicker of movement on the streets caught my attention. Wisps of bright red hair coming from a police patrol car. I raised my rifle, looking though the scope. I was a little bewildered as I realized that it was the girl from the old high school. I looked around her, she didn’t seem to have her group with her. Though I could hear her voice echo through the streets. I layed down on the roof, steadying my rifle and waiting for a zombie to come by.

There was something stirring in the distance, I held my breathe, waiting. It was a human, looked like a man who approaching her. There’re probably in her group, he was walking up to her with a purpose. Maybe he needs to talk to her or- Nope. He’s ah, he’s tasing her. Op, she’s unconscious. Oh no! Oh god, this isn’t good. Ooooh I should probably help, yeah. I couldn’t deny I was a little rattled, but I had to save her. I steadied my aim, it was hard to get a clear shot, he was holding her near his chest. The last thing that I wanted was to accidentally shoot her, or miss the guys head and turn him into a zombie.

The sound of footsteps on metal forced me turn around before I could get a shot. An angry looking man was staring down menacingly at me. Before I could get a word in edgewise, he smashed my head into the floor. Slightly dazed I could only stare blankly as blood rushes out my nose. Coming out the haze soon enough to avoid being tased. I kicked him as hard as I could, he went flying backwards. I struggled to pick myself up, standing shakily in my knees I realized how bad an idea it was, feeling profoundly dizzy. I tripped over a slight raise in the ground. I covered my face for the fall, heaving out throaty gasps.

The strange man was on top of me before I could catch my breath. I tried and failed to buck him off, him tying my hands as he ignored my questions of why? And who are you? Eventually, he must have gotten sick of my panicked yabbering, because he pulled out a taser. He pushed the button, it’s hissing sounded terrifying. I instantly quieted, but he shocked me anyway. The pulsing electricity coursing through my body was the last thing I felt before I fell unconscious.

Chapter Text

It wasn’t a jarring realization. The moment I woke up I knew I had been captured. They, whoever they were, covered my head with a thick bag. The taste of old cloth filled my mouth, ew. I felt the crinkle of the bag as I shifted my head. My hands instinctively rose to take off the bag, no surprise they were tied down. For a second I actually forgot to breathe. It seemed as if the room temperature raised dramatically, it was so hot. I struggled to take deep breaths through my nose. I was trying to convince myself that I could breathe. This really isn’t looking good. To my right I dimly registered whimpering and crying. It must be the girl from before.

I felt completely useless, unable to help her or speak any words of comfort. But I was struggling with my own panic. Why did they take me, who are they even? I didn’t know. I never liked to go into a situation without knowing. Focusing on my surroundings, I heard people breathing and whispering among themselves. I had no way of telling how many people there was. I strained my arms, pushing and pulling my bonds hoping they would give way.

The presence of someone behind me made me tense. Not knowing what was happening was the worse. I felt the person grab the bag over my head, pulling it off in one fluid motion. Immediately I was plunged into blinding light, I stared at the ground waiting for my eyes to adjust. The whimpering stopped.

The girl was glancing around like a trapped animal, I don’t think she recognized me. She looked momentarily shocked to see another person tied up, and just a bit relieved. I knew the feeling. I would hate to be alone in this situation.

“It’s okay you’re safe now. Nobody’s going to harm either of you.” A large man spoke slowly, like he thought it was comforting. He wasn’t. I twisted my head to see a man stroke the red-headed girls face. That’s not creepy at all….

Almost simultaneously the pieces of cloth that acted as gags were removed. I spit out the foul taste. The man across the table raised his eyebrow.

“Touch me and I’ll kill you.” The girl sounded a lot less afraid now. Both of us were relieved when he put his arms up in surrender. She gave me a quick once over before turning to the man, apparently the leader, and he began to speak.

“Sweet child, that won’t be necessary. The last thing we want is for either of you to be harmed.”

“My friends are looking for me. And when they find me they find me they will kill you! They will kill all of you!”The girl shouted the last part. I couldn’t help but hope it was true. These knots weren’t getting any looser and I got a bad feeling about the man who was talking.

“Who are you?” I asked, he turned to look at me for the first time. He looked irritated for a moment, his eyes glazing over with a crazed look, but then he smiled. Standing up and gesturing to the table and the people who sat around it.

“I am Tobias Campbell. This is our family. You look upset young man, understandable. I to, would be upset if I were brought here against my will.” The man killed the head of the women he stood next to, she had dead people eyes. Then he walked over to an organ in the back corner. He started to play. I glanced at the girl, and she shrugged. Why was he playing the organ, I don’t know? It’s very unsettling.

“What do you want from us?” The redhead spoke again, we both looked anxiously as Tobias. He stopped playing and turned to look at us.

“I know you’re not ready to hear this, but I’ll say it anyway, I’m sorry. But when the family comes across strangers necessary… precautions must be taken.”

“That didn’t answer the question” I tried to keep my tone as non-aggressive as possible. Though fear made it sharper than I would have liked. Tobias was obviously crazy, I knew enough about people like him to try and not make him irritated. At least not now when I was defenseless and tied down. He ignored my comment anyway, offering us food as a diversion.

“I’m not hungry.” The girl had malice in her voice, starring Tobias down. I nodded quickly, something didn’t feel right about this. The man tilted his head back, and his goons untied us.

“You will be.” Tobias said ominously. As much as I wanted to jab him with one of my hidden knifes, there was too many people right now. I glanced to my fellow hostage. She looked like she wanted to kill him to.

“Until then, why don’t you go with Moonshade and Stormy? Ladies, be so kind as to find some fresh clothes for our newest members,” He said to the women who were approaching us. Nope, I am not about to join some creepy family.

“Whoa, no one said anything about joining your family” My voice stayed as steady as it could, considering the circumstances. I met Tobias’ eyes as he gave a little laugh.

“Oh, I’m sorry I didn’t mean to be presumptuous. It’s just once people see the love and bounty we share they never want to leave us. Ladies?”

They took us by the arm, surprisingly strong considering how skinny they looked. We were led into a crappy looking trailer. The girl holding my arm, Moonshade, opened the door and pushed me in. I stumbled on the stairs and landed on the couch. The redheaded girl sat next to me as Stormy stood in front of us. The other women was rummaging in the bedroom. She came back with handfuls of clothes, plopping them in our laps. She told us to put them on, then she and the other girl left.

We looked at each other for a second, before investigating the cloths. Well, I can’t say these are practical…

“I’m Addy.” I nodded at her. It took me a second to realize she wanted a name from me.

“10K.” Why did I say 10K? What kinda name is that? Addy accepted it in stride, going to the bedroom to change. I guess I’m 10K now.

Through the door we told each other our stories, at least parts of it anyway. She was in a group with six others. They were trying to get a guy named Murphy to California. I told her about why I went in the city, she nodded.

The clothes they gave me were all black. Tight leather pants and a tight black vest. When Addy came out, I stared at her in disbelief. She watched me out of the corner of her eye, then sighed in exasperation. Under her breath she said something about Mack.

Moonshade and Stormy knocked in the door, they entered with a box. Stormy started to do Addy’s makeup. Moonshade winked at me from the table. I blushed and squeezed myself tightly into a corner, wishing I was anywhere else. Finally, they were done, and I quickly left the camper. Addy glanced at herself in the reflection on the window and snorted.

“I looked like a post-apocalyptic stripper.”

“No, you looked like Bait.” Stormy said, a twinkle in her eyes. I frowned, bait for what? Tobias was staring, said something about setting a table before turning back to the grill. I wondered off, hoping to find something useful, and hopefully my rifle. There was a bunch of propane tanks behind a shed, I picked it up. Shaking it around I smiled when I heard it was full.

Shouting echoed from the back by the main portable, where Tobias and Addy were. I bolted across the camp. Tobias was holding Addy close as she sobbed and yelled. Confusion and fear struck me, why was she so upset? Did someone do something to her?

“It’s dinner time.” Tobias practically sang it. Addy shuddered, which only confused me more. It was an odd scene, all of sitting at a table. Addy had tears streaming down her face, and everyone just kinda ignored it. I tried to make eye contact with her, but she wasn’t looking at me. She just stared straight ahead.

I looked around the room, and I saw my gun, along with a bunch of other weapons leaning against a wall by the door. As much as I wanted to grab it and run, I knew I probably wouldn’t get far. Plus I didn’t want Addy to get in trouble.

A piece of meat was placed in my plate. It smelled good. And as hungry as I was, I didn’t pick it up. Tobias sat at the head of the table, saying grace. Addy stopped crying, staring at the meat in horror. I hope it’s not cat. After everyone finished saying grace, they shoveled the food in their mouths. God I hope it’s not cat. I picked it up and sniffed it.

Addy slapped the food out of my hand, she looked disgusted and angry. She frantically shook her head, then Tobias slammed his hand on the table loudly. I looked at him in shock, then back to Addy.

“What? What’s wrong.”Tobias opened his mouth to answer my question, but Addy cut him off before he could.

“They’re cannibals,” her voice was filled with hate, “they eat people.” I pushed the plate away from me, suddenly feeling queasy. Everyone was quiet, some of the people looked down guiltily. Not one person said anything. I just looked at everyone’s plates in horror, people?

Snarling howls from zombies rang throughout the room, breaking the uneasy silence. Whatever spell that was cast of everyone was gone, their guilt gone. Now there was only hunger on their faces. One man stood up, making his way to where the sounds were coming from.

“Fresh meat.” The man who stood up sounded excited, he had a bounce in his step as he walked to the zombies. I was right, people really are worse than Z’s. They have an excuse. They lost their humanity unwilling. I heard talking, a voice that was unfamiliar to me. But Addy perked up, so it must be one of her friends.

After a few brief, tense moments, Tobias suddenly grasped Addy by the neck. I jumped out of my chair, trying to push him off. He punched me in the face. The blow sent me flying into the ground, I tripped over the chair, it clattered down with me. By the time I could make it to my feet, everyone but the women with dead eyes was gone. I looked at her, waving my hand in her face. She didn’t even blink.

I went back to where I saw the guns and was surprised to see them there. Why would they leave me unattended with these weapons? It didn’t really matter, though it was time for me to make my escape.

I reached for my rifle, and I also grabbed a couple of handguns for back up. There was also a strange looking weapon, a baseball bat with spikes. Cool! I took it to. If it came to it I’d drop if I really needed to. At the sound of a machine gun, I dropped and rolled under a piece of plywood. I looked over to where Tobias had taken Addy, a man was on the other side of the fence. I had to act fast.

I was always a good runner, even back Pre-Z, when I wasn’t that strong, I could run.

All of the cannibals were focused on the front of the camp. So nobody saw as I crept behind the guy on the machine gun, he wasn’t expecting anyone behind him. I slammed my knife in his temple, gently lowering his body to the ground.

When I looked over to the fence using my scope, there was a girl right outside the perimeter. She looked pretty calm, Tobias turned his attention to her. Addy was loud enough that I heard her begging not to go. I frowned in confusion, Who was this girl to Tobias?

Shaking my head,I located the cannibalistic leader, keeping my rifle steady I zeroed in on him. As soon as the gate was open, I shot him in the head. The man outside the gate automatically shot one of Tobias’s men who had a gun. The girl grabbed Addy by the hand, and with the man they ran behind the hills.

Tobias’s family was in shock, seeing their leader taken out so suddenly. Nobody stepped forward, or even raised a gun at the retreating figures. I climbed the nearby fence, hauling myself over the edge. Through the links I saw the family as they just stared at Tobias’s body in horror and disbelief.

I felt a bit of guilt for killing Tobias. These people really loved him. But they were cannibals, they made their choice, hadn’t they? Without thinking I made my way to where Addy and the others ran, not really focused on my direction. But for once, it felt like something I had to run to.

The next thing I know I’m on the ground, head pounding. Above me stood an angry looking woman, holding a gun menacingly over my head. I put my hands up in surrender, why had I thought it was a good idea to follow them?

“Who the hell is that?” I turned my head and was met with varying looks of suspicion. The man who spoke looked afraid, cowering behind the women who had a gun to my head.I was allowed to stand, but the others drew their guns too.

“Wait, that’s 10K! He’s not a cannibal.”Addy spoke, she seemed happy to see me. She reached over to hug me, I shifted back. I didn’t like physical contact. She looked hurt for a second. She looked down to see what I had dropped, and her eyes lit up.

“My Z-Whacker! Nice.”Without a word I passed it to her, who swung it around for a second. After that the group relaxed, and everyone lowered their guns. The man from the gate and women looked at each other for a second, before she nodded.

“I’m Charles Garnett, and that’s Warren. You’ve met Addy already, and beside her is Mack and Cassandra. You’ve got Doc over in the truck,” The old man poked his head out the window and waved. “And that’s Murphy. We’re on a mission to take him to California, and we could use your help.”

I thought about it, they all seemed nice enough. So I nodded my head in agreement, and that was that. Next thing I know I’m in the bed of the truck, getting filled in on what was going on with Murphy. I gotta admit, being immune sounded pretty cool.

Through the small window I saw Murphy looking at me. After a moment of me observing the man, he must have noticed me looking, because he turned away violently, pretending to go to sleep. Biting my lip, I turned to the sky, ignoring the sudden heat that burned my cheeks. Pretty cool indeed.

Chapter Text

The road was completely empty, devoid of any cars or humans, neither humans nor zombies to be seen. By my count, it has been six days since any of us had anything to eat. A dinged up can of beans that was unevenly heated and shared among the eight of us. And even then I hadn’t eaten much. I’d never like beans anyway, so the majority of my share went to Murphy. If only to shut him up.

I haven’t seen a single animal cross my path. Maybe it was the biting frost of last winter that killed everything off, probably just the zombies though. I did wish there was something though, if only to distract me from the hunger. This empty road only served to remind me of how hungry I was. Murphy had resumed his endless complaining a few days ago, despite Warren telling him that everyone was hungry. He still kept at it. At this point I’d prefer the Z’s.

To make our bad situation worse, the truck broke down three days ago. No amount of duct tape could have fixed it, so we were forced to walk. And if I had called our progress slow before, then I don’t know what to call it now. We’ve barely made it out of Pennsylvania, despite our near constant walking. The hunger, sore feet, and lack of killing were starting to take their toll. Frustration and exhaustion warred internally, and I felt ready to drop. But no matter how bad I wanted to stop, I wouldn’t say anything. I was all to aware of how young I am compared to the rest of the group, and I refuse to slow them down.

I looked to the sky in exasperation, only to see the silhouette of a small bird come into my sights. Automatically I pulled my slingshot out of my jacket pocket, fluidly releasing the river into the air. And even though my hands shook, it dropped from the sky lifelessly. In front of me I saw Murphy as he looked up to the bird falling, he reached his hand out and grabbed it before it hit the ground. Murphy turned to me, shaking the bird in his hands, he rose an eyebrow.

“ DINNER TIME!”, he called to the others, who turned to look at him, faces full of hope. Then he snapped the bird’s neck and tossed it to me, I caught it with my empty right hand. Though I wanted to be annoyed, I couldn’t help the smile reaching my face. Food! Doc’s exclamation of “Kid! You’re a God!”, did nothing to quell my smile. The general feeling of despair had lifted, and everyone looked to the bird in my hand with hunger.

“Good job 10K, let’s make camp here for the night,” Charles said, it was already getting dark, “Do you know how to prepare it?” I nodded.

“Great, get on that. Doc, get a fire started.” The old man nodded, giving a salute. “Alright, me and Warren will patrol around. Mack, Addy, Cassandra, see if you can find some water. Murphy, stay here. We’ll meet back up before night fall.” Everyone nodded their agreement, then the dispersed into the woods.

Murphy stayed close, sitting on a fallen tree log. He just watched me as I plucked the bird. Doc started talking, about some movie that I’ve never seen. I nodded absentmindedly, when he asked me questions, I hummed in agreement. That seemed to be enough for him. By the time the bird was roasting in the fire, Doc and Murphy were talking about some old tv show and their favorite actors.

Frantic rustling came from trees in the distance. It sounded loud, but the other two didn’t seem to notice. I drew my gun, alerting Doc, who started to say something, but I held my hand up so he’d be quiet. He gave me a questioning look, but otherwise didn’t say anything. He motioned for Murphy to get back. Murphy’s eyes were wide as he stepped back, he looked ready to bolt. I breathed in, trying to steal my nerves as the noise of rustling leaves came closer and closer.

Whimpering started to come from the trees, but Zombies don’t whimper. That was weird, maybe it is a person? I stepped further into the woods, trying to catch a glimpse of what was coming. I saw a flash of gold flying at me, that was all I saw before I was on back on the ground. Whatever was on me isn’t human, or at least I hope not, because it started to lick my face. Gross.

I pushed the creature off, watching it closely. It’s a dog, it looked pretty thin too. You can see it’s ribs under it’s dirty coat. I’ve always wanted a dog. It looked half golden retriever, and something else. The dog sat in front of me, it’s tongue out as it began panting. I scratched behind its ear, and it started to lick me again.

I saw that Murphy approached from where he had retreated behind the fire sometime during the attack. He looked confused and a little embarrassed, turning away when he caught me looking. Doc started to speak to the dog in a weird voice, “Hey there! Where did you come from, huh? You know you gave my friend a real, scare. But you’re a dog aren’t you, huh? Aren’t you? Aren’t you boy?” The dog have a happy yip, it’s tail wagging. I glanced at the cooking bird, the poor dog must be hungry.

I walked over to the fire pit, and the dog followed closely behind me. I sat back down where I was, and it stared at me with it’s big brown eyes. How could I deny it food? Picking a fairly large piece of it, I gave it to the dog. Ignoring Murphy’s indignant shout of “HEY!”, I fed it half of what my share would be. The dog was still hungry, but I couldn’t really spare any more food. It must have sensed that, because it layed down in front of the fire. Doc sat next to me, taking his portion of the bird.

“So, kid. What are you going to name it?” I wondered that too, I didn’t even know it’s gender. But I guess it didn’t really matter either way.

“Now hold up, it’s bad enough he even fed the thing. Now you want to keep it? Have you forgotten about the mission, how do you expect to take the dog across the country! Huh!”

“Aw come on Murphy, it’s just a dog. And I thought you liked dogs anyway?” Doc already seemed attached to the dog, but Murphy may be right… We already didn’t have a lot of food.

“I do. But right now I say we—“

“Is that a Dog?” Addy instantly lit up. She deposited the gallon of water she held on the ground as she and Mack started to pet the dog. She cooed at it as she stroked its face. Cassandra came closer, putting a hesitant hand in front of its nose, allowing it to sniff before it started to lick her. She snatched her hand back, Doc just laughed.

“Not a dog person?” She shook her head.

“Cats.” Doc nodded, launching a story about a crazy cat he had once, that would always put dead birds into his shoes. Everyone sat around the fire, laughing and petting the dog. Even Murphy warmed up to the dog, giving it a piece of bird when he thought no one was looking.

“What is that?” Warren said, pointing at the dog as she came out of the trees. I was dreading this, she might not let us keep the dog.

“Her name is strudel.” Crap, I panicked. God I need to stop naming things. Strudel? Seriously? They all started at me, I looked at the fire. At least the dog had a name now, Strudel. It was quiet, only the crackling fire could be heard. After a few seconds, I felt the need to justify myself.

“I like Strudel.” That was a lie, I’ve never had it.

“Okayyy. You know we can’t keep...Strudel, right?” Warren said uncertainty, glancing at Charles for support. By the look of her face, he didn’t agree. Immediately the others, mainly Addy, began to protest. Even Murphy stepped in, “Let the kid have a dog.” he said. Which was funny, considering twenty minutes ago he was trying to get rid of her. Anything to contradict Warren, I guess.

Charles whispered something in Warren’s ear. She glanced to me, then the dog, then back to Charles. She sighed, “Fine, you can keep the dog. But I’m not going to be cleaning up after it, got it?”

I nodded my head in agreement, and she did the same. They grabbed their bird, then we gave Strudel it’s picked over bones. Strudel put her head in my lap, and fell asleep. She snores lightly as I thought to myself, ‘I’ve always wanted a dog

Chapter Text

“Stop playing with the zombies, Murphy!”

He shot me an irritated look, One that didn’t improve when I shot the Z’s that had gathered around him. There were only three, but the chain link fence separating them from Murphy didn’t look particularly sturdy. No matter how freaky Murphy’s getting lately, he won’t get eaten on my watch.

“I wasn’t playing with them.” Murphy replied petulantly. By god, he looked down on the zombies with something akin to regret. That was another thing that confused me about Murphy, it seemed like recently he forgot that to kill a z was to give the person it was before, mercy.

It wasn’t like I was the only one worried about Murphy either. Warren and the others were afraid he was gonna turn before we made it to California. I was just afraid I was gonna have to be the one who put him down, don’t know how I’d deal with that.

“Whatever, lets go check out that car.” I motioned towards where it was parked, about 50 feet away. It was an ugly red van, but looked in relative good shape. Hopefully we can find something useful in it. If it has gas, then that’s even better. Pointedly I ignored how Murphy cast a final, regret filled look at the fallen Z’s, and then followed. Strudel followed closely behind. Making periodic circles around us, almost like she was checking in.

She never barked. I guess she’s apocalypse trained.

Inside the van, there was no sign of its former occupants, save for a pair of pastel pink heels abandoned on the passenger side.

“Oh look, it’s your color!” Murphy said with glee, holding one up for my inspection. I snorted, but my comeback was forgone in favor of checking the back seats. A dingy green blanket covered a promising pile of potential supplies. And for once it did not disappoint.

One twenty four pack of water bottles, three boxes of 12 pack MRE’s, and an industrial bag of beef jerky. After a brief moment of hesitation, I ripped open the pack of water bottles. Food hasn’t been that hard to find, the biggest threat nowadays was dehydrated. Well, zombies too I guess.

I threw a bottle to Murphy, who downed half of it in a total of three gulps. Strudel was slightly panting, but without a bowl I had to make do with what I have. I got down on my knees, and with one hand I poured water into the other for her to drink. The entire process was messy, water being flung in all directions, but mostly on me. By the time she was done less than a third of the bottle remaining. I scratched behind her ear, and her tail was wagging so I guess it doesn’t really matter.

With a groan i managed to pull myself up. My everything ached, but that’s just part of life in the end. Pulling the driver door open, I plopped down. Pulling a screwdriver out of my pack, I began to try to Hotwire the car. By the time I managed to take of the plastic covering and strip the wires, Murphy was shaking a bottle insistently, mentally I cursed as I lost my concentration.

“Pills?” I asked hopefully. My back was really starting to kill me.

“Better. Mints.” He’s right, that is better. I held my hand out, he dropped two into my palm. After a second I threw them in my mouth. An intense wave of peppermint flooded my mouth, I sucked on them slowly as opposed to biting them. Who knew when the next time we’d have mints? I reclined in the seat, taking a brief moment to enjoy the breath-freshening luxury. Too bad Murphy had to ruin it.

“You’re doing that wrong” He said, motioning towards the tangled web of wires I pulled from the port. He might have had a point, if he wasn’t Murphy.

“No I’m not” I reply swiftly, grabbing for the wire that I was (pretty) sure was the ignition.

“That’s the wrong one!” He moved for the wires, I pulled away, looking him in the eyes, defiant. He sighed, rubbing his face like I was the one being difficult.

“Listen kid, do you want to be electrocuted? Cause that’s how you get electrocuted. Who taught you to Hotwire a car anyway?,” I’ll never admit I read it from a book. “Just let me do it, ok?” He looked oddly sincere, for Murphy anyway. I got out of the drivers side. While he got the car started I helped Strudel into the back. When I finally made my way to the passenger seat, the car was running and Murphy looked more smug than usually.

I closed the door, maybe, slightly, harder than strictly needed. We hadn’t moved for thirty seconds when I turned to Murphy, who was looking at me all sorts of serious. I rose an eyebrow.

“Seat Belts.” He said sternly. I looked at him, wondering if he was joking. He himself was buckled up, but stil… like for real?

“I’m not going to drive until you put on your seatbelt.” Jesus, he is serious. With a sigh, I buckled up, facing the window to avoid him seeing my blush. What’s wrong with him? Treating me like a kid.. When he started laughing, it was all I could do to remind myself that he is the savior of humanity.

We drove back in uneasy silence, back to the library where we have been camping out the past few days. There was relatively zombies in the area, and Addy was trying to use any equipment there to contact Citizen Z.

The moment I saw the library, I knew something was wrong. The door was open, why was the door open. In a flash I was unbuckled, opening the door I jumped out. Miraculously I landed on my feet, not that Murphy was going very fast anyway. He was a safe driver, who knew?

Something bad definitely happened here, the bloodstained tiles prove it. When I walked into the inner part, I could see that all of our bags had been ransacked, so it wasn’t zombies then. A low groan emanated from a pile of overturned books and a toppled bookcase. Knife in hand, I moved forward, cautiously and slowly moving books out of the way. Murphy stood a good few feet behind me, curious but cautious.

I managed to swallow down a gasp, but I was unable to mask my surprise. Doc? The old man had a head wound, he really look good at all. We managed to pull him up on a chair, gently trying to figure out what happened in between attempts to give him something to drink. Finally, after many tries, he managed to croak out. “There’re gone, All of them, gone.” Before passing out.

I looked to Murphy, concern etched in my face. To my horror, he just shrugged helplessly. Freaking Murphy.

Chapter Text

Warren’s POV (3 hours earlier)

We’ve been here too long.

Something is off about our current situation. It’s been too quiet, too calm. Something about this town made my skin crawl. From the look in Charlie’s eyes, he felt it too. Whatever’s going on, I want us on the road by dusk.

“Alright people, Listen up! We’ve been here too long, and we need to get on the road by dusk. So we’re going spread out, and look for anything useful. All of us needs to get back here in under no more than three hours, got it?” Everyone nodded their heads in conformation, I even got some casual salutes and “Yes ma’am’s. Unable to keep a proud smile from rising, I nodded my head back.

“Ok, lets move out!”

Cassandra and Doc Recently bonded over some old books. I took a look, but it seemed like just another Harry Potter wannabe. But they couldn’t stop talking about it, and when they walked off, they walked off together.

Which meant that 10K would be stuck with Murphy. If I felt bad about that, then all it took was one look at Charlie’s smirk to forget. Not that 10K really seemed to mind, oh well.

_____________Cassandra’s POV________

Somebody’s following us. Whoever it is, they’re good. The only reason I noticed was because of the shifting shadow I saw when I bent down to pick up a discarded leopard print wallet. Were it a zombie it would’ve attacked by now. And animals don’t move like that.

Making eye contact with Doc, I inclined my head to where I last saw the shadows. Though I can’t say that I felt any sense of relief when Doc went rigid, increased his pace, and spoke just a little louder. He saw, there was someone following us. For the next 200 feet we were in a tense stalemate with our stalker. Stalkers? I couldn’t tell.

When we passed St.Johns road, we took an abrupt right turn and broke out in a sprint. Immediately more footsteps joined our own on the otherwise empty streets. There was definitely more than one.

Animalistic squealing and howls resounded from behind us. It sounded so real that my head whipped behind in shock, and I was able to get a good look at our pursuers. Four figures clad in all black, except for the masks they wore. All farm animals; A pig, chicken, cow, and cat. Confusion hit me like a bus. When I tripped over my own feet in panic, the floor hit me like… a floor.

The moment I made impact with the ground, my bag of scavenged supplies spilled on the floor. An overwhelming amount of panic consumed me as I tried to shovel what I could back into the bag. When a hand clutched my forearm, I grabbed the knife out of my boot, and raised it to the attackers throat.

“Easy, it’s me!” Doc yelped, and I flung the knife away from his throat and back in my boot. “Leave it, Leave it!” He pulls me up, and we continue to run. The horrific animal calls were now a lot closer. The pig was loudest, it’s ear piercing squeals made my ears ring.

The library was in sight now, not to soon either. Lack of water made me dehydrated, and the sharp stabbing in my side was getting more and more difficult to ignore. I slammed against the thick glass door of the library, wrenching the door open and flinging Doc inside. I followed in after him and locked the door. Seconds later, the pig appeared. Stopping itself just before it rammed into the door. The three others were closely behind, standing just short of pressing the masks noses to the glass. The four stood poised, ready for anything.

“What? What do you want?” I said, louder than intended. At least I didn’t stutter.

The pig tilted its head to the side, but didn’t say anything. They were just… watching us. Great.

I turned to Doc, who was still trying to catch his breath. After a few wheezes and coughs, he pulled himself off the floor. With a mutter of “I’m getting too old for this shit”, he walked to the back of the library. Presumably to check the back door and windows.

I pulled a chair from a nearby table, and sat down examining the masks. They were very detailed. Not like the store-bought ones, they looked custom-made, they looked real.
When Doc came back he brought with him a quarter empty bag of stale pretzels. He pulled a chair alongside my own, and shoved the bag into my side. I took a handful of the pretzels and ate them, keeping my eyes on the farm animals as I chewed.

“I don’t have any bullets left. You?” Doc shook his head negative.

“I gave the rest of them to the kid,” he sighed, “Look, Warren and the others will be back soon anyway, right? So all we got to do it wait.”

He’s right, of course. Doc often is, even when I don’t like it. It’s not like they could burst through the doors, for a library this place is very sturdy. With bullet proof windows and heavy doors, it is practically impenetrable. But still…

“I still think Will should have been a Knight.” I said before I popped another pretzel in my mouth, ignoring Doc’s derisive snort.

_______Mack’s POV____________

There is nothing in this town. Every single house and store we’ve checked by now have all been almost completely gutted. I have to stifle a sigh of impatience when Addy, looking equally frustrated, came downstairs empty-handed.

“Anything?” She asked hopefully. I shrugged, and she muttered a curse before flopping on the muted yellow couch. I moved to sit on the matching armchair.

“Should we just head back?” I asked.

“I don’t know, it’s not like we’re going to find anything out here I guess. Then again, it's only been like what, two hours?” She frowned, considering it, “Ok, fuck it. Lets go”

We walked back to the library, more than just a little on edge. Put off by the sheer amount of emptiness of the town. Just as they library came into sight, I saw something strange. People dressed in all black, right outside the library door. I racked my brain to remember if anyone was wearing black today, No one was, unless they changed. But you don’t get this far into the apocalypse by ignoring your instinct, which, now, was telling me to run.

“Hey, hey, Addy, hold up.” She twirled around, eyes narrowing as her grip on her Z-Whacker tightened. I motioned for her to be silent, pointing at the library, then myself. I took her hand, leading her behind the bushes. Addy let out a curse when she took in the scene ahead of us.

We could now clearly see Cassandra and Doc trapped in the library, as at least three unknowns blocked their path out.

“Let’s go find Warren” Addy whispered, I nodded in agreement. It’s not like we had any ammo left, still, I don’t like the idea of leaving them. Addy didn’t move, neither did I. We didn’t know who these people were, what they wanted, or how armed they were.

A sudden gunshot cracked through the air, shattering any illusion that we were hidden. I hurled myself down, Addy did the same. She screamed out my name, please god don’t let her be hit. After my ears stopped ringing enough for me to raise my head, I saw her, She was fine, but I couldn’t spare the time to feel relieved. Because, ahead of us, stood two figures. Dressed in all black, with except for their masks. Slowly, I raised my hands in surrender, Addy slowly behind me. The one with the Cat mask was growling, and I glanced back at Addy to see if she was seeing what I'm seeing.

_____________Warren’s POV____________

The gunshot came from where the library was. Charlie paused ahead of me, his sentence cut off mid-way, as he tried to analyze what we heard.

“10K?” He asked. I considered the possibility for a second. Maybe, but when is it ever that easy? I shook my head, and he nodded solemnly.

“Yup, when is it that easy?” He drew his gun, as I did, even though they were both empty. Doing so was a habit, a thing of comfort as much as out of necessity, nowadays. I held the gun in my hand as we ran through the streets, silent as possible. I raised it every time i crossed an alleyway, the way children would when they would wander their houses at night, before, when they were afraid of the dark for what it was, and not for what it held.

By the time we got to our base, it was a complete mess. Addy and Mack were being held at gunpoint, and we saw Doc and Cassandra run outside, only to get surround by two other hostiles. There looked to be four of them, and they were all armed. I drew my gun, it's not like they knew I was out of ammo anyway, and rushed forward, ignoring Charlie’s frantic whisper of “Wait!”

I sneaked up t and pressed my gun to who I assumed the leader was, the tallest and biggest of the group. My hostage turned its head fast, a sickening crack followed, and I was face to face with a… pig? No, someone in a pig mask. How had I missed that?

Still, I kept my gun level. I heard Charlie come forward, is own gun drawn as the other masked figures took a step back. Because they hadn’t shot yet, I felt it safe to say that they didn’t want to necessarily kill us. I’ll reason with them. Doc and the others huddled close to me and Charlie, and slowly we started to inch our way back to the Library.

Abruptly, the pig let out an enraged squeal, and moved towards us.

“Run!”

I don’t know who screamed it, but the effects were instantaneous. Almost as if we were one person, we turned and sprinted towards salvation. The pig let out another soul-shattering squeal, and took yet another, albeit hesitant, step forward. Acting on instinct, I pulled the trigger. Both me and the masked figure cringed when nothing happened, and I knew the farce was up.

We practically flew into the library, one by one. Mack, the last one, had barely passed the threshold, when the cat threw it’s foot into the closing door, letting out an inhumane screech when it slammed almost shut. They wrenched the door open, socking Mack in the face, and clearing the way for the others to enter. The chicken made a grab for Cassandra, effortlessly flinging Doc away when he tried to help, into a bookcase, which tittered uncertainty for a moment, before toppling over the old man. Addy made move to help. But stopped when a gun she got a gun shoved in her in her face.

“Doc?” I called out, watching in horror as we were quickly surrounded and subdued. Guns are pointed in every direction, and I feel the cool bite and hear the clink of handcuffs as they are secured on my wrists. Similar sounds resounded throughout the room, and soon everyone was bound, but Doc hadn’t gotten up yet.

The chicken moved to pick him up from under the mound of boxes, “Leave him.” Came a young, authoritative voice. The bearer of the cat mask stepped forward, removing the mask. Long, blonde hair spilled out, and a young woman in her late teens was there smirking, her cold eyes roaming over all of us. “He’s too old, leave him.” The chicken nodded, and backed off.

“Ok,” said the girl, “Off we go!” She put her mask back on, and started to howl, until the others joined in. She led the way out, we followed in a single file line.

I knew something was off about this town.

Chapter Text

10k POV

    That is the creepiest thing if I’ve heard… all month actually. It’s been a long apocalypse. But seriously? We have a group of humans, running around in freaking animal masks, capturing people. It’s not even Tuesday.

    I don’t know if Doc has a concussion, but he doesn’t look so great right now. I grabbed the remainders of our supplies, while Murphy, surprisingly, helped Doc into the back of the truck. I threw the bags in the bed of the truck, and jumped into the passenger seat. Strudel laid her head down on Doc’s lap, and he started to absentmindedly pet her. Murphy started the truck.

     “So… any idea where our “friends” were Shanghaied to?” Murphy asked, with a dramatic flick of his wrist. I would have laughed, if not for the severity of the situation.

     “They weren’t shanghaied!” .

     “Taken to be eaten then? Hostages? Target practice?! Does it even matter?? Point of the matter is that we need to find them, any ideas?”

     “No.” Doc said, starting to look somber.

     Murphy sighed in exasperation, and I was just surprised to see him actually trying to find the others. I know he doesn’t really like how they treat him. I felt some heat rise to my cheeks, and I looked out the window trying to think of a plan.

     “Maybe I should wander around until they try to grab me, and you guys follow where they take me?” I threw out there, even though I knew it was a crappy plan at best, deadly at the worst. Doc let out a slight groan when Murphy hit a speed bump, but Murphy didn’t say anything.

     Well I don’t feel stupid for suggesting that plan. I chewed at my lip, and started subconsciously bouncing my knee as the silence in the car got louder and louder. I saw Murphy turn of the street we were just on, before I sighed and opened my mouth again.

     “Stop Murphy, you’re just driving around in circles. Look if you have a better plan then I’d like to hear it.” I knew I sounded childish, but really what was I supposed to do?

     “That is not a plan,” he scoffed, “What are we supposed to do if they do take you, huh? In case you haven’t noticed, you’re the badass here, Not me. Besides, Doc can’t fight in his condition, and do you really think I could storm a building by myself and save you all?”

    “Murphy!” I tried cutting him off, but he kept going.“And another thing, let’s say you do go, and die. Then what? What would I do then?!?”

     “Murphy!” 

     “You have a dog to take care of you bastard!”

     “Look, it’s one of them!” Doc said happily, drawing Murphy out of his weird trance.

     I didn’t hesitate, I jumped out of the truck, and sprinted towards the masked figure. Ignoring the shouts of “kid!”, behind me. I tackled the person, who was wearing a pig mask. Breathing hard I dragged my capture back to the truck. Shoving them into the back the truck, I sat beside them and took my pistol, placing it to their temple.

     “This just got fun.” Doc said sardonically, before groaning in pain as Murphy hit the same speed bump.

     “Murphy!”

—————————————-

Warren’s POV

     We were led one by one inside a shopping mall. The type of place that must have been a death trap when the outbreak first started. The girl hadn’t said another word to us since the library, and those who still wore their masks were making their animal sounds again. As they passed their people in the mall, even those who were unmasked, made animal sounds. I wonder if they were doing that just to syke us out. I hope so.

     Two teenage girls ran past us wearing flowing evening gowns. It didn’t look like they were part of the animal group, but they passed by unmolested. Half of the shops in the mall had broken windows, and fires in trash cans were the only things bringing light to the complex. Trash littered the floor, and things I’d rather not think about stained the floor.

     A jolt of panic filled me when I noticed a group had formed behind us, following behind as they began chanting something. But it didn’t seem like English. We were led down a nonfunctional escalator, and in front of the JCPenny. They formed a semicircle around us, still chanting in their strange tongue.

     “What are they saying?” I asked the girl, who seemed to be the leader. She looked at me angrily, before rubbing the back of her head.

     “They...They’re talking about the parents. Our parents, they’re in there.” She motioned to the store, before continuing. “Look I’m sorry about your friend, but he’s still alive. We need to give our parents mercy. But…” She looked away.

     “Listen, just kill them and you guys can leave. Please? It had to be this way. You wouldn’t have come any other way. It had to be this way.” She said again. I looked at Charlie. This… wasn’t what I was expecting. They were still just kids. Stupid, armed, and violent. But kids all the same. I felt myself nod slowly.

    “Ok,ok. But we need our weapons back ok?” I said softly. The girl glared at me harshly, before nodding to some figures on her right.

    “We have weapons to. If we see you guys again, we’ll kill you. And don’t even think of trying to shoot me, we have snipers.” Charlie nodded, then opened his hand expectantly, me and the others followed suit.

     Slowly the metal fence opened, and we stepped inside, the door closed behind us. I turned back to look at the girl, she shrugged.

     “There’s an exit to your left!” She yelled out, causing zombies to suddenly appear. Bitch. But she was right, and after we killed about twenty or so zombies, we exited the building.

    “Hey, look!” Addy said. It was our truck, and Murphy was driving? After we hugged and told our stories, and let the pig masked kid go. I got in the driver's seat, and looked back up at the mall. In the corner of my eye, I saw the girls in dresses standing on the roof of the mall, just staring at us. As soon as they saw me looking back at them they turned and started running. I started the car and started to drive. Rule 6. Of the Apocalypse, don’t ask questions.

     Speaking of which, I looked in the rear view mirror and smiled. 10k was in the back as usual, but this time he was asleep. And his cuddle buddy was none other than the next best hope for the human race, the savior, Murphy.

Chapter Text

10K POV

      We stopped along the road in the middle of nowhere on our way to Province Town. Murphy took this opportunity to hit the head. The rest of the group moved near where Strudel and I were sitting, and started watching him. Which isn’t creepy. At all.

     “No Zs in sight,” Mack said, before jumping into the bed of the truck.

    “Anybody else worried about Mr. Sunshine out there?” Doc asked.

     “I know. He’s looking worse.”

      “Yeah, he was pretty creepy to start with.” Jesus, Warren. That’s a little harsh. To be fair, he was bitten by like, eight zombies.

     “Come on, guys. Give him a break. It’s the Apocalypse. None of us look our best.” Addy cut in, always the sympathetic one. “It’s like one long bad hair day.”

      “Speaking of hair, what’s with all those bald patches.”

    “Maybe that vaccine is like zombie chemo.” Cassandra suggested.

      Mack rose an eyebrow “Or maybe that vaccine isn’t working.”

     We sat in silence for a moment. It’s not a good thought, if the vaccine only slows down the infection. That Murphy is slowly turning Z. What would we do if Murphy turned one day? Almost as if he heard my thoughts, he turned around, making eye contact with me. He slowly faced back around.

     “What do you think Doc?” Garnett asked.

     “I’ve seen Zs look better than him.”

     “Will he make it to California?” I asked, entering the conversation. I felt Addy’s eyes boring into the back of my head. Doc’s face softened as he looked at me, before he shrugged.

     “If we haul ass.”

     I stopped listening to the conversation, focusing on Murphy. If he did turn Z, I hope it won’t be me who has to Mercy him.

     “What?” Murphy asked.

     “Pit stop’s over. Let’s get moving.” Garnett called out.

     “I have a ginormous Bladder. Sue me.”

     Rolling my eyes, I stood up and leaned over the cab of the truck. He won’t be turning Z today, and when, if he does we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it.

     My count grew to 1554 when I shot two zombies, well a Zombie and a Zombie head. But it’s the brain that counts, so I gave myself the whole.

     Around thirty minutes later we pulled into a place that had roadblocks. I had to re-read the sign twice.

     “Surrender all weapons?” I asked, “Are they Serious?” I looked down to Addy.

     “Looks like.” Mack said. I felt uneasy at the idea. I haven’t been without a weapon… since before the apocalypse.

      Three armed people came out of the shack. Sure, they get guns. The lady in a blue bandana started shouting.

      “Stop right there. This is a private compound. I’m gonna have to ask you to turn around and go back the way you came.”

     Garnett got out and asked to see the general. After they talked for a little bit, the guards lowered their weapons. Next thing I know were all getting out of the truck, and giving up our weapons. The major had stopped me before I went in.

      “You’re going to have to leave the dog out here to, son.” I looked to Garnett and Warren, who nodded. I patted her head, before tying her to a post.

     I had to give up my guns, knifes, hammer, slingshot, gears, and chain to the guy behind the counter. I figured I could keep my sharpened wooden stakes, you never know what you might need.

     I laughed internally at bandanna lady’s face when she checked Murphy. I wonder if he even knows how to fire a gun.

      Three young people were at the gate, begging to be let back in. The Major allowed it and told us about the cult that got kicked out of the compound. My hand instinctively went to where my gun should be. It was never a smart move to let people like that in. I’ve had more than enough run ins with cults to know that, in the apocalypse, members never leave. I made eye contact with the girl, and I could tell something was off.

     Murphy and I walked in the back of the group at Maj. Williams explained the no weapons policy. When he said the place was Zombie-proof, I had to hold back a snort.

     “Ever here of the Titanic?” Murphy asked. He has a point.

      Finally we made it to the cafeteria. I filled my plate with grapes and apples. The cult girl left the cafeteria though the side door. I took off after her, when I saw she put the door stopper in, I knew she was going to do something. Running ahead, I saw her take a knife out of  her cross necklace, and stab herself in the stomach. She walked to the fence, then collapsed. Bandanna girl was about to open the fence, before she turned. I used her cross knife, and gave her Mercy.

    “You’re not supposed to have that!” Bandanna women told me. I rolled my eyes. I just saved her life.

     We heard screaming from inside of the weapons shack. A man was calling for Luke, but by the time bandanna lady got there, it was too late. She shot the two new zombies, then looked at me.

    “I need my gun back” I said. She shook her head. “There is still one other guy, and this was obviously a planned attack.”

    “Fine!” She growled out. “But find the general!”

     I nodded and ran back inside the cafeteria. By the time I got there, the other guy had already turned, and things were quickly turning to hell. I raised my gun and shot.

     When everything called down, and my count was 8 higher, I caught up with the others. I gave Addy and Mack and Cassandra my wooden stakes, Doc took the other cross knife

     “Where’s Murphy?” I asked

      “Dammit Murphy!” Doc said, “Ok, Mack, Addy, you guys go get the truck. Cassandra and I will find Murphy. Kid, when you find Warren and Garnett, get them outside.” We all nodded.

     I went to the room that Warren and Garnett were staying in. Looking around, it didn’t seem as if anyone in the hallway knew what had happened yet. I knocked on the door. I heard loud whispering and a few curses, along with rustling of clothes. Warren poked her head out thought the door, glaring at me.

     “Boy, I ought to kick your a-“ “Zombies!” I said loudly, a blush on my face. “Um, there’s zombies in the perimeter.”

      Garnett open the door, holding a lamp as a weapon. “Let’s find the general.”

      As we walked through hallways, it was eerily silent. No humans or zombies to be seen. I looked out the window and sighed, “Found him!”

     The general and the others were all on their knees, as some preacher looking guy was waving his hands. I don’t see Murphy, though.

      “Damn.” Warren scowled, before pointing to me. “Get to the roof, I’d feel a lot better with you covering us.”

     “What about you?” I asked

      “We’ll district him, now go!”

      “Wait,” I said, before handing Warren the cross knife, she nodded to me, an I ran the other way, as they opened the doors.

     By the time I got to the roof, they had been tied up to. The preacher, Jacob, was holding a knife to Garnett’s throat. I was about to pull the trigger, when suddenly everyone was staring at the cage. Looking on horror, I saw Murphy stepping out of the cage.

      On the plus side, everyone was distracted. I shot Jacob in the head. Warren cut the rope binding her as I took down two of his followers. Warren stabbed the last follower in the chest, then the head as Murphy started to release everybody. I stayed on the roof, making sure no threats came upon them. Mostly. I was also staring at Murphy. Why didn’t the zombies bite him?

     After a good five minutes of nothing happening, I went back inside the compound. There were still people walking about, so I guess the cult people weren’t able to get inside the compound after all. That was good, at least.

      The Major looked tired, but otherwise fine. Bandanna lady ran up to him, she and the other guy had managed to subdue a good number of Jacob’s flock.

     “It’s thanks to him,” she said motioning to me. “It could have been a hell of a lot worse than it was.”

     The Major nodded, before asking, “How many dead?” Bandanna lady looked to the other guy before speaking, “We think at least twenty. It’s still a little crazy in there.”

     “We should be on our way.” Warren said to the Major, “Good luck.”

      “If you’re ever in the area again, your welcome here.” He said, before saluting Garnett. He returned the salute.

     We loaded into the truck, me, Murphy, and Doc in the back. I kept looking at Murphy, at what point will he be more zombie than human?

      “Didn’t anyone ever tell you it’s rude to stare?” He asked me. I looked away, and he leaned in, his voice lowered so Doc couldn’t hear. “I won’t bite unless you ask me to.”

    My head shot up, and Murphy winked at me. After that, I refused to look at him for the rest of the day.