Lazarus

Chapter 1: Elizabeth

My parents always knew that the world would come to an end. Men and women would be tested, but never once did I think it would happen like this. It was the year 2017 and they passed away, I was only 19. My brother was 16 and it was my job to take care of him now.

I was working late when it all happened. Homeless men and women would come into the bar asking for water. They looked like death. I gave them water and called an ambulance. It was the least I could do, I wasn't a doctor. When the medics arrived half of them were at the point of death and they had to call more medics.

The medics had to assess the sick by priority and that's when it all started. "He's not breathing, bring the stretcher!" Then the chaos began. The homeless man started biting into the medic. I grabbed my gun from behind the bar and pointed it at him. He got up and started walking towards me, snarling. "Stop!" He kept coming.

"Stop or I'll shoot!"

"Stop!"

Final warning. I shot him right in the head and he collapsed. People were getting anxious. Some left already getting away with unpaid tabs. "Damn it. Everybody Pay your tabs and get out. Bars closed. You have two minutes." My boss said I couldn't close the bar under my own circumstances, but I do not think he will mind this.

People paid their tabs and got out, but the medics were still arriving assessing the damage. Mounds of homeless people were leaving on stretchers. As long as they were out of the bar I could close. The man I shot was still on the floor. "Don't worry, it was self defense." I looked up and it was a medic. He was gathering up his supplies. "Call the cops and report his death, we will bag him and take him to the morgue." I nodded still a little shaken that I actually shot someone. Years of training could not have prepared me for this, but my father was right. There was an ending to this life and my real training begins now.

Chapter 2: Markus

I just started this job. My first day of training and I had no idea it would be this busy. Multiple calls from business owners about people dying. "We need to get to the hospital right now, we are losing him! Markus put pressure on his wound." I only knew this guy for a day, but he seemed pretty cool. I couldn't believe he was attacked or why that homeless man woke up. He was pronounced dead at the scene and he woke up. Maybe he made a mistake and thought he was dead. Either way I don't think he will make a mistake like that again.

We reached the hospital and it was full of people. Doctors were running all over the place. "All hands on deck. We need a doctor immediately." Clarissa yelled.

"What happened?"

"Homeless man attacked him after he was pronounced dead at the scene. Bite wound to the neck."

They took him off and we went back to the station. Multiple calls were still coming. "Rookie." I looked over and it was Clarissa. "I'm sending people home, I have a feeling it's gonna get crazy tomorrow and we need people rested and prepared for more calls tomorrow. Go home."

It seemed ridiculous, but I wasn't gonna question anyone on my first day, plus I wanted to check in on my family.

I got home safely, but the lights were off in the house. "Mom!" She usually sits on the couch and waits for me to get home, but she was not there. "Mom!" The was a crash in the kitchen. "Mom."

I ran to the kitchen and sure enough she was there, but it was not her. She snarled and started coming towards me. I remembered the bartender after the medic was bit and the homeless man came after her. She shot him in the head and he dropped.

My mom started biting the air, getting closer. I pushed her away and ran to the knife holder and grabbed one of them. I pointed it at her, "Mom stop!" She kept coming. I pushed her again and she fell to the floor. Then I put the knife in her head. She immediately stopped.

I sat there crying on the floor with her in my lap. I heard people screaming outside, some pounded on my door asking me to let them in, but all the voices faded away as I stared at my mother's lifeless body. I started to think about all the memories we had together. She was my caretaker and I was supposed to be looking after her. I failed.

Chapter 3: Gregory

I woke up to the sound of screaming. My alarm clock showed that it was only 12:00. Elizabeth wouldn't be home for another two and a half hours at least. It was hot, but that's Florida for you. I went to go check the thermostat, sure enough it was shut off. In fact all the lights were out too. I heard another scream come from outside. I looked out the window and saw people running down the street. There was a girl on the ground. A man walked toward her and started attacking her. I grabbed my knife and ran outside to help her.

"Get off her." I pushed him away. He did not scream, he snarled.

"Go into that house!" I pointed to my house and she ran away.

The man got up and started walking toward me. He grabbed my arm and I ran my knife through his stomach. He kept coming. "What the hell!" I pushed him away again, but he got back up.

I started to walk back to the house slowly watching the man. He grabbed for me and snarled. His stomach was bleeding out.

"Bang!" A gun went off and the man dropped to the ground.

I looked over and saw my sister.

"I really thought you were smarter than this bro." She shook her head in disappointment.

"What do you mean sis? I saw a girl in distress and ran to help."

She nodded towards the house. We started walking over. When we got in the the girl was curled up in a ball in the corner of the living room. "So you're the damsel in distress. I thought I told you this Greg, in survival there are two things: fight or flight. It is my job to fight and your job to get to safety. There's no such thing as chivalry if you end up dead." She closed the door.

She always babies me. Ever since mom and dad died she thinks its her duty to protect me, but I have been training since I was 10. I looked up at her, "I'm not a baby."

She laughed. "Bunker, now."

Our parents installed the bunker ever since the 2012 end of world threat. Talk about 5 years too late. It was stocked to the brim with food probably too old to digest and water that was even older. My parents taught us self defense but in my mind they were weak. If you have the strength to fight, then why surrender.

"In a situation of fight or flight shouldn't you be fighting sis, instead of hiding? I'm sure mom and dad would be—"

"Well mom and dad are dead and they left me in charge of you. The only way I know you're safe is if you're with me, end of question." She seemed phased. She had more time with mom and dad than I ever did, so she misses them more.

"Radio's." She threw one at me. "This food is so out of date. I know I said I want you close, but it's dangerous right now so speech is as close as we are gonna get."

"What you're going out there without me?"

"Someone has to watch over this girl. Look at her she's afraid. Plus I have a gun genius."

I looked at the girl. She probably had a family that was looking for her. They might have ended up like that man out there. Elizabeth sighed," At least teach her how to use a knife will ya?"

I nodded.

She went up the steps of the bunker. "I'll be on channel 2. If I don't reply I'm in trouble, but I'll get out of it. If I don't get out of it," she stopped and smiled. "I'm dead. If I'm dead you'll be living off of old tuna. You're welcome." Off she went.

It was quiet for a while. "So, uhhh.. where is your family?"

She looked up at me and started crying. "The man chasing me, was my father." She put her head down and started sobbing.

Great first impression of me and my sister. We killed her father and here I thought I would get a kiss for bravery. Rough start.

Chapter 4: Markus

Something told me I wasn't going to be needed at work tomorrow. People were going crazy on the streets. "I should be getting supplies," I told myself because honestly who was I kidding, a knife wasn't going to protect me. They had guns, somewhere I think. I always wanted to help people not kill them. At least I could grab food and water. I went to the store and sure enough people had the same idea almost all the water was gone I managed to get at least two packs.

People weren't even paying. They just grabbed and left. I was running through the aisles when I saw a little girl on the floor crying. I picked her up and put her in the cart, going from aisle to aisle trying to find her mom.

"Mommy!" She kept screaming.

Grabbing supplies along the way, I continued to search for her mom. Nobody claimed her. When I went to the front I asked a manager to hold onto her. Maybe her mom would claim her on the way out.

"We can't keep her sir. I'm leaving. Just take care of her until her mom comes." Then he just left.

"Mommy!" She screamed and pointed.

I looked over a woman was running towards the store, but something was following her. A man caught her and smashed her against the window and ripped into her throat. I covered the girl's eyes. It was time to leave.

I rushed out of the store trying to quiet the girl down. Men and women were coming from everywhere. They looked like my mom, sick. I ran for my car, but one of them was right there I started to push him away. The little girl was hysterical I tried fighting them off, but I had no weapon. "Stupid," I whispered to myself. The world is ending and I forget any means of protecting myself.

Suddenly a car rushed and ran over the sick people. "Get in!" I recognized her as the girl at the bar. I put the little girl in and then went back for the food and water. "Forget the supplies, I have stuff at home!"

"I worked very hard to get this stuff, the more the better." I put the cases of water in and went back for the other stuff, but I saw more sick people coming. "Never mind." I rushed to the car. "Go! Go!" I shouted.

We were off running over sick people that crossed our path.

It was quiet for a while, so I decided to break the silence. "I'm Markus."

"Elizabeth." She was short and brief.

The streets were empty, but people made it very difficult to get through. Men smashing windows and starting fires. "Isn't it funny how the end of the world brings out the worst in people."

She continued to stare at the road and kept driving. "Not much of a talker huh. Makes sense, you didn't talk much at the bar either. You just yelled at people."

She looked over at me, realizing I was one of the medics. "So what you bring you daughter to dog fights too? This really isn't a time children should be out especially with what's going on." Her tone got cold.

I looked back at the girl she fell asleep. Probably tired from all the crying. "That's not my daughter."

She abruptly stopped the car. "You stole a child!"

"No, no. It's not like that; her mother got eaten by one of those sick people."

She started at me for a while and started driving again. "Sick people huh? Ever heard the story of Lazarus?"

"Yeah the story from the bible. You're religious?" I replied.

"Not exactly, I just know that if there is a god, he must be angry." She paused. "Lazarus is a man that god rose from the dead. These people are dying and coming back."

"That doesn't explain why they are eating people." The girl started crying again and reached my hand back to comfort her.

"That's God's cruel joke, but nobody got the punch line I guess." She laughed.

We got to what I assumed was her house. She reached for something at her side. A radio. The more time I spent with this girl the more I realized she was made for this.

"Outside, Unload ASAP. Bring your damsel to help."

I grabbed the little girl who was now asleep again. She had to have been upset, her mom just died.

"That girl can sleep, huh?" Elizabeth said.

I nodded.

A boy walked out of the house with a girl. She gestured for the child and I let her take her. I figured it was probably best to help carry things anyways. I opened her trunk and what I saw I couldn't comprehend. Assortments of blades and handguns. Barely any food at all. "Glad I grabbed water. At least we won't die from dehydration." She came to the trunk and was grabbing knives and stuffed some in her boot.

"I mean I get the guns, but knives don't really help you all that well."

She took out another knife and pointed it at me." You would be surprised with what I can do with a knife." She smiled and handed it to me.

What did I get myself into?

Chapter 5: Ronnie

Alarms started going off in the cockpit. "We are going down, Captain." I had only been a co-pilot for two years now. I never thought it would come to this. I found myself praying as we were heading to the water. "Your god won't help you land this plane. Now do your job and prepare for emergency landing."

It was complete chaos a few minutes ago with passengers getting sick and then all of sudden we lost communication and then all control to the plane itself.

I was not going to die, not today.

After a while of falling, we crash landed into the sea. The cockpit started filling up with water. "Captain!" I looked over and found the captain dead. He must of hit his head too hard on the controls. I unbuckled my belt and started moving towards the door. Something had my foot. I looked back and saw the captain grabbing at me. "Captain! You're alive!"

I went to reach for him and help him out but he snarled and bit at me. "Captain?"

I looked into his eyes and realized they were not the same. He looked dead almost. Someone was banging on the door. I went back to it and opened it.

"We have to get out." It was Irene, the flight attendant. "Captain?" She went to help him.

"Irene no!"

Before she could understand what I was saying, he bit into her arm and continued. She cried in pain. There was no time to lose, the plane was starting to fill up fast. I grabbed her away from him and pulled her out of the emergency exit. I swam her up to the surface where I could see the life boats.

"Help her up, she's been hurt." The passengers helped her into the boat.

After I crawled into the boat the people asked me if everyone made it out. I shook my head.

"We need to get the boats together. At least we have each other to look after now." We started pushing our boats together and tying them off.

I ripped off a piece of my shirt and tied it above the bite wound on Irene's arm. "That should help, but there's not much we can do until we make it to land."

She nodded.

"We need to coordinate shifts to watch for land." A man in my boat said.

"I nominate the captain, since he's the one that got us into this mess!" A woman from the other boat yelled.

"Yeah!" Everyone yelled.

"I'll take first watch." I replied.

After a few hours I found myself not being able to sleep if I tried to. I kept looking up at the stars and thinking about the captain. Why did he attack Irene like that>

"Sir?"

I looked down at a little boy. "Yes?"

"Are we gonna be okay?" he asked.

I wanted to tell him everything was gonna be alright, but I didn't know at this point. "You see that star?" I pointed at a random star.

He nodded his head.

"Well that star will take us home, if you wish really hard on it. Then we will make it safely back to land, okay?" I really didn't want to give him false hope, but under the circumstances I didn't want the boy to lose faith either.

He smiled and curled up next to me and fell asleep in my arms. My mind was finally at peace.

Chapter 6: Elizabeth

I was wondering the streets when I heard a loud boom.

"What was that?"

I looked back and saw Markus. I shrugged. "Another one of God's cruel jokes probably."

"It's not safe out here. You should come back to the bunker."

"I don't like the bunker." That bunker was a lame attempt at my parents being survivalist.

"What's with the bunker anyways? I mean your parents have to be really paranoid or really crazy to actually have that put in." I get his comments were trying to lighten the mood, but they weren't really helping.

"My parents had it installed in 2012. The first supposed threat against the end of the world. They started saving when the terrorist attacked in 2001, but we never really used it until 2012." I remember that year like it was yesterday. That's the main reason I hated that bunker. My dad locked me and my brother in there that whole year. We were home schooled so it was easier. I didn't mind it at first, but everyday I saw my parents come home from another day of work made me realize they were full of shit and slightly overprotective of their children.

I was tormented for years in high school being called mole child. They all called my parents crazy for being survivalist. They are probably dead now.

"What's your story anyways? I've never met a girl that's so fond of weapons."

He was right, most girls my age might learn how to use pepper spray for protection, but not me.

"My parents weren't crazy. They were firm believing survivalists. I was trained at a very young age to protect myself. My parents died a few months ago. I started working two jobs and taking care of my brother. He has been trained too, but I stopped training after they died. I would rather my brother be alive than a hero."

"Seems to me like he wants to be one and you won't let him," he replied.

"Of course I want him to succeed and be able to fight for himself, but he is still my little brother and I will always feel the need to protect him first. After my parents died I thought he might have a better future. Make it through school and go off to college where he would make something of himself. Get away from all the crazy survivalist bull crap my parents taught me."

"So you agree?"

I looked at him, "Agree with what?"

"You think your parents are crazy." He smiled.

I shook my head at him. "You know you are starting to get really annoying. Maybe I should have left you to die at the store."

He laughed. "And abandon our children. How could you."

I smacked him, "Greg can take care of himself, I'm worried about the three other kids I have to take care of now."

He started counting on his fingers looking confused. I sighed. "You!"

He laughed again.

We heard a noise in the distance. "We should get back to the bunker before the street fills with the dead."

I smiled at him,"What's wrong with a little knife training?" There was a dead man walking up the street from behind him. It would take it a while to get up here. We had time to talk more. I knew that if I told Markus he would have freaked out and left, so I kept my mouth shut about it.

He shook his head, "No."

I laughed at his cowardly attitude. "Come on you stare death in the face everyday, you're a medic."

"No I just started today. My mom was my main patient all my life. She suffered from breast cancer. Before I wanted to save lives I would take care of hers." I could see the pain in his eyes.

"Is she?"

"Dead, yes." He wiped the sweat off his forehead. "The one day I'm not there for her and she dies. I guess that's what I get. Another one of God's cruel jokes." He started to cry a little.

"Hey don't cry, she's in a better place now. Be happy."

He didn't say anything, so I kept talking. "Tears are weakness leaving the body. Come on, buck up. She would be happy to see you succeed."

He looked up at me a smiled, "The phrase is, pain is weakness leaving the body, not tears."

I put my hands up, "You say potato, I say tomato. Same thing, they are both vegetables."

He laughed even harder. I didn't get it. I just stared at him waiting for him to stop. He looked at me and stopped immediately. "Wait you're serious." He paused for another moment as if he was expecting a response. "Tomato is a fruit."

My eyes got wide and I started laughing too.

Another sound came from down the street. The dead man was almost behind him, but I don't think Markus heard him cause he was still laughter. My laughter changed to just a smile. "You might be smart, but how fast are you?"

His eyes got questionable and I reached down for my knife and with a quick movement I threw the blade right past his face into the skull of one of the dead. He dropped like a bag of rocks.

"Holy shit!" he started walking in circles. "Are you crazy? You could have hit me! What the hell!"

"Will you keep it down, I wasn't even close to you. I just wanted to make you jump a little. I've had my eye on that sucker from all the way down the street I just didn't want to scare you. We were enjoying ourselves and talking. I didn't wanna ruin the moment."

He stared at me wide eyed." You didn't wanna ruin the moment? You threw a knife at my head!"

"No, I threw a knife at his head." I went to gather my knife. He still looked shocked. "Alright let's go back to the bunker. I've had my fun."

He just nodded repetitively.

We started heading back to the bunker when I heard another loud boom. I looked over my shoulder and saw the hospital up in flames. The world was absolute chaos, but we were gonna be okay because of my crazy parents. Markus looked back and saw it too.

"Yep, definitely not going to work tomorrow." He looked down at his feet. "All those people there, regardless if I knew them or not, are heros. They saw there was something wrong and stood their ground. They helped those who needed it. They saved lives. After all this is over they will be remembered." His voice got solemn. "I should have been there tonight."

"You saved a little girls life, you're her hero."

We walked in silence for a while. Rule number one of surviving, don't be a hero. A moment of glory is not worth your death. My parents told me that all the time, but the worse things were getting made it seem like what this world needs and what these people need is a hero. I just didn't want to be one.

"No but seriously though, can you teach me how you did that knife trick."

I smiled. "Sure."

Chapter 7: Ronnie

We had been drifting for about a day and the people started getting anxious. The rations of chocolate were dispersed evenly among the passengers and we had enough water to last us a few days. Irene didn't seem to be getting better. We kept a bandage over her bite, but it didn't seem good enough. To add to all of that, some of the passengers were sick.

"It could be worse," a woman said.

"How could it possibly be worse Louise? We are in the ocean with strangers and multiple people are sick," a man yelled back at her.

"We could be dead Jim. At least we have our health." Louise replied.

Jim huffed in annoyance.

An older lady chimed in. "At least we have company. I couldn't imagine being stranded alone and listening to your own thoughts."

It was very true. In some cases where people were stranded alone, some would go crazy. At least we have people to keep us company. At least we can be distracted from what's actually happening.

A loud snarl came from Irene. I recognized that snare from the Captain before he bit Irene.

"Is she okay?" Louise asked.

I shook my head. I put my hand to her forehead to check her temperature. She was cold. She opened her eyes and they looked just like the captain's. A loud growl came from her mouth as she lunged for me. She was biting at my neck.

"Get her off of him!" Someone shouted.

Out of nowhere someone hit her in the head with the oar. She fell over for a split second then got up again lunging herself at me.

"Get her off the boat!" Another person cried.

The same person took another hit at her, but this time she went overboard. She struggled a bit trying to stay above the water and then slowly started to sink.

"What was wrong with her?" Louise asked. She looked pale in the face.

"I don't know, but I have a feeling we haven't seen the last of it." I answered.

I decided to tell them about the captain and how when we crashed he hit his head and died, but he all of a sudden was alive again and bit Irene.

"Maybe it's rabies or some other type of disease. It could be why some people are sick, it's probably contagious." Louise said.

"Yeah maybe we should just get rid of all the sick people on the boats then. It would give us a better chance of survival. We shouldn't waste supplies on them." Jim started to walk over to the child I talked to last night. He was one of the sick ones. "Come here boy." He started grabbing him.

"Jim stop!" Louise reached for the boy and held him close to her. "He's just a child."

"He's sick Louise. Same with some of the others on these boats. I don't wanna let my guard down and be attacked by one of those things, because we didn't take care of the situation when we had the chance!"

"Everyone stop!" I yelled. "Nobody is getting rid of anyone until we figure out what this is. It could have just been because she was bit by the captain. We don't know if anything else is the cause of it."

Everyone went silent for a while.

"Let's introduce ourselves, we might as well considering how long we might be stuck on this boat." The old woman chimed in. "I'm Regina. I was travelling to Florida to meet my husband. We decided to retire there."

"Hi, I'm Louise and this is Jim. We were travelling to Florida to see our kids. Our oldest daughter Sarah just had a baby." She looked down at Jim. "Jim aren't you gonna say anything?"

He looked at her for a minute. "Just because we are getting more acquainted doesn't mean I have to be okay with any of you. We may be stranded at the moment, but I'm not gonna sing Kumbaya and dance around the campfire. The less you know the better."

"Jim!"

"No Louise, I'm not doing this stupid shit. It would be easier to get rid of a person if you don't no much about them."

He had a valid point, but it made the others uncomfortable when he said that. Some of them were trying to refrain from coughing. They were afraid of him.

It got silent again, "I'm Ronnie. I've been a Co-pilot for a two years now and... that's it."

Jim mumbled something under his breath.

"Excuse me?" I asked.

"I was just saying, maybe that's why we crashed. Rookie Ronnie over here doesn't know how to fly." His tone was cruel.

"Don't mind him, he just grumpy that he's old enough to be a grandpa." Louis laughed.

She was afraid of him too, but you could tell by her tone she was more familiar with his attitude. She was defending him.

"I'm Miguel, and my mommy got lost in the crash." The little boy started to tear up a little. "I miss her." Louise hugged him and rubbed his shoulders. Louise didn't seem to mind Miguel at all. You could tell she had a natural mothering instinct. Her husband, on the other hand didn't look like the father type, but I could tell he was worried for her. He didn't want her to get hurt.

There were more people introducing themselves and sharing stories about their lives and for a minute I forgot about being stranded at sea. One thing was for sure though; a lot of people were going to be on their toes watching the sick ones. Especially Jim.

Chapter 8: Gregory

We slept all night in the bunker. The girl I saved, Charlotte, was slowly warming up to us. I played a board game with her until she got tired. I got this in the bag. Even the apocalypse couldn't stop me from trying to get a little love action. Some might say I'm ignorant to what's going on outside or even selfish, but in a way I was born for this, literally. Elizabeth thinks I'm still a baby, but I know what I'm capable of.

The little girl this Markus kid saved wasn't adjusting well, but that's to be expected. I mean, she's a baby. I don't even thinks she knows her own name. All she knows how to say is mama.

"I guess we need baby food." Elizabeth said.

"Yeah well that's only because you decided to save this random guy. I didn't know you were into dudes with kids sis." I was resentful. Some would thinks she's brave, but I see right through her, bravery isn't in her repertoire.

She glared at me. "He saved that child and I saw he was in distress so I saved him."

"I thought nobody could be a hero or is that title only saved for you and him, not us children?" She was bending my father's number one rule and she knew it too.

"Yeah well I kinda owe him. He saved a lot of people at the bar that night. He was the medic on the scene when it all went down." She was standing up now as if she was gonna slap me. I saw my father in her eyes.

I looked over at Markus, "Must be a shitty medic then." He looked up at me as if he was hurt. "Tell me why you weren't at the hospital when it went up in flames? Did you run away afraid of what you had seen, or did they just let you go because you are a shitty ass medic."

"Okay Greg that's it! You—!"

"It's okay Elizabeth. I can fight my own war." She looked down at him and nodded. "I wasn't there because they needed more people for today. They knew it would be busy the next day, well they thought it would be anyways. It was my first day on the job, so I guess you could say I was a shitty medic." He looked down at his hands.

A short snort came from across the room. It was Charlotte. She was hiding her smile behind her hand. Her eyes were wide as if ashamed of her laughter.

"I'm sorry for laughing, I don't know why it's funny." She was trying so hard not to laugh.

"She speaks!" Elizabeth exclaimed.

This was my chance not to seem like a douche. I chimed in with laughter too. Pretty soon the baby was laughing too.

Then there was a loud crash from upstairs. and then footsteps. We got quiet.

"I thought I heard talking dude!"

"Just shut up. Get the supplies and lets go, more dead are coming and we need to get back home." Another voice chimed in.

The baby started crying. Charlotte grabbed her and tried to calm her down.

"Do you hear that?"

"Yeah, just grab the supplies and I'll check upstairs."

It got quiet for a while.

"I think their are people in here. They might be hiding."

"Hello, is there anyone here?" There was silence. "We don't wanna hurt anyone, we just wanna talk."

I got up and started to walk towards the stairs.

"No," my sister whispered.

I didn't listen. "Dad would be ashamed to see you cower in fear." I could tell I hit a nerve because her face changed.

I turned back to the stairs and went for the door. I peeked through and saw the feet of the men, but I couldn't see their faces. I waited for them to walk away from the bunker and hopped out. If people find out we have a bunker we would be overthrown.

I pulled out my knife and went into the kitchen where they started gathering more supplies. Suddenly I was grabbed from behind and my knife dropped to the floor.

"Look what I found." The guy holding me said.

The men in the kitchen turned around, "Oh good job Zeke. I guess you could say we found the baby."

They all laughed.

I struggled against him, but he was stronger than me.

"Hey kid, we heard voices. Is there more people here or is it just you talking to yourself?"

I didn't say anything I just stared at him.

"I think we got off on the wrong foot. My names Zach, that's my older brother Zeke, and this is my intellectually damaged friend Aaron."

Again I didn't say anything.

"Huh we got a tough boy here." He smiled, but some would say it looked more like a sneer. "Look kid all we wanna know is whether or not there are people here to take care of you. If not we gotta take you with us. I can't leave a little kid out here by himself, my Ma would kill me."

"He's not alone, now let him go." My sister came out of no where and had a knife to Aaron's neck.

"Hey now don't be rash. This is a hostile moment. We just didn't wanna leave a kid here alone." Zach puts his hands up as if he was surrendering.

Elizabeth chuckled a little bit,"Let my brother go then. Then I'll free your homeboy here."

Zeke let me go and then Elizabeth let Aaron go. We just stood there for a while, silent.

"We heard a baby, I assume yours." Zach said.

"Not exactly, just a responsibility I felt obligated to considering the circumstances outside," she replied.

He nodded. "The streets are loaded with the dead right now. We haven't seen another human since it started. It's nice."

"How many of there are you?" I know my sister likes to hospitable, but I knew she wanted to know that answer for obvious reasons. She either wanted to play the savior again and offer them shelter, which we couldn't afford right now, or see if they could fight us for our bunker if they knew about it. I don't think they did though, they don't seem that smart.

"There's six of us. Me, Zeke, Aaron, his sister, my mom, and another girl named Clara. We saved her from those things on the first night." He paused for a bit. "Sorry to have disturbed you. We will put the stuff back and we won't bother you again." He gestured for the guys to put the stuff back.

"Is it bad out there?" I asked.

He turned to me, "Not a place for someone like you, that's for sure."

"You don't know what I'm capable of." I was sick and tired of people treating me like a kid. I'm old enough to know what I'm doing and trained to kill if I needed to.

"Surely," he said. He looked at my sister. "We will get out of your hair. Put that killer on a leash alright." He ruffled my hair and laughed.

"Here, take this." She handed him one of the radios. "If she gets bad out there let us know."

He smiled at her. "We will." And with a wave they all left.

I looked at my sister, "Great now we will never hear the end of him now."

She shrugged and started walking back to the bunker.

My sister trying to play hero. Just swell.

Chapter 9: Charlotte

Nobody ever really asked me how I was holding up, but I like that they don't. Gregory seemed a little too nice, it almost seems like he has a crush on me. I wouldn't mind that, he is cute, and most guys at my school didn't like me anyways. I was always was the quiet one, and I didn't have many friends. That probably makes this all easier for me. The only person I cared for is dead and that's it.

"Now you hold it here. You wanna keep the blade away from you though, don't wanna fall on the blade now do you?" Gregory was trying to teach me how to hold a knife, but honestly how hard could it be?

"Listen Greg, I get you want me to be able to defend myself, but what about a gun? Wouldn't that be easier?"

"Yes, but maybe another time. Right now I wanna make sure if anything happens you'll be able to stab those fuckers in the head. Other than that I am here to protect you." He smiled and reached out to hold my hand.

He has beautiful green eyes with a hint of hazel in them. His smile was adorable. I just wanted to grab his face and kiss him, but I'm not that adventurous.

"You alright Charlotte?" He looked concerned and held my hand tighter.

You know what, screw being shy. This was a new world with different threats. Anything could happen to anyone here. Now was the time to do what I didn't have the courage to do before all this happened. I wasn't going to be afraid of anything anymore.

"Charl–" I cut him off with a kiss. It was unlike anything I've ever felt.

He pulled back and just looked at me. My face felt red.

"Is something wrong?" I asked. What if he didn't like me anymore? Oh my gosh I ruined everything. What's wrong with me?

He smiled at me. "I've been wanting to kiss you since the first night." He went in for another kiss.

"Mmhhmm." Someone cleared their throat. We looked up and saw Elizabeth and Markus. "I'm sorry, was I interrupting something?"

I shook my head. Elizabeth made me nervous; she was the woman I strive to be and looked up to be.

"Come on Elizabeth, let's go upstairs. Just leave them alone." Markus said.

My face got even more red. I was so embarrassed, I hope they don't think less of me or something.

She was staring at me. Her eyes looked like Greg's, but deadlier in a way. She smiled and than started laughing. "My brother's old enough I guess. Just don't get her pregnant. We don't need another baby."

"Shut up sis!"

"What! You know I'm kidding!"

"Come on lets go, Elizabeth." Markus started walking toward the stairs.

"I'm coming." She started to go and then turned back."Just know I'm okay with this. If my brother's happy I should be happy for him too. At least you found something good out of this crazy shit we are going through. I mean it about the baby though." She smiled and laughed and then left.

It was quiet for a while. The baby was playing in the corner.

"Should we finish where we started?"

I nodded and we continued to kiss. I felt happy for once.