We walked for hours, waited for dusk to provide cover when we hit the highway. Neither of us spoke during the journey; our hearing took a slow path to normalcy. Jasper took charge, with his compass and that old map we carried for the last two years.  While we moved east, his goal was to stay in the trees when we were on foot, and migrate toward the roads in search of a vehicle. Here and there, we stepped out of the trees to investigate a car, but every time it was a lose situation; either empty or filled with Z juice. So, Jasper kept us trekking; I could care less where we ended up at this point.  

As the moon rose and cast strange silhouettes through the lifeless trees, the wind carried away any warmth left from the day. We bundled up in whatever we had, which was almost nothing for Jasper since his jacket was left behind. Michael offered him a thermo shirt, but he refused and stayed a distance away. I strained to stay in the moment, but from my bruised ribs and the near deaths we had, everything took a toll on me. I began to rethink the positives of our mission.

“Are you alright?” Michael asked, interrupted my thoughts. I lagged behind the two, melted in the shadow of the tall foliage.

“Yes,” I answered but really I wasn’t. My legs cramped, my head hurt and my heart heavy. Tears threatened to slip out miles ago, but I swallowed the sobs. We were all injured, I reassured myself, so I wouldn’t fall far from the others, but each step grew harder. Michael’s footstep imitated my own and soon we were in our own rhythm.

“How good are you at hand to hand combat?” He questioned and I wished for more of an idle topic. However, no one ever spoke about nonsense anymore. 

“I picked up some tricks from watching others,” I answered, but kept my eyes on Jasper. However, Michael moved closer to me.  

“and Jasper?” this caught my attention. My head tilted in inquiry.

Regaled, I smirked at his sly ways. “The same, not much to offer you.” My suspicions were on display, and he was close enough to observe them. It wasn’t fair that he chose to follow us, especially, when we had nothing to give to him. Slowly, I wondered if this was a part of his plan. “Actually, we probably need you more than you need us,” I lied, leaked desperation to see his reaction. Yet, he smiled.

It was a shy smile, attractive but insecure; the glow of the silver moon illuminated his face. “Umm…I’d say you have it all wrong. Actually…” he looked at Jasper; his eyes scanned the environment, and then came to me. “…well, beside you two, I haven’t had a real conversation with anyone in over a year.” I paused and he chuckled awkwardly. He had more secrets than I thought.

“Well, I wouldn’t call talks of combat, or weapons, or anything depressing to be a real conversation. I long to hear about dreams…” I responded and smiled awkwardly at my own optimism, but Michael turned away. If it wasn’t for the closeness of our bodies, the night would have swallowed his words.

“Then prepare to live a very short life,” his torturous voice etched itself across my heart. By his words the depths of despair ran far deeper than what I’d experienced.

“You’re not intentionally alone; who did you lose?” I asked suddenly.

Deep eyes stayed on the path ahead, his voice still a whisper, “That’s a story far too long to relive for this journey.” Once again, we fell into silence.

Jasper kept us on task for two more hours. Unlike the ease when we stood under the sun, the air was filled with unrest. Michael no longer walked beside me; he gravitated toward the outside of the group. Jasper seemed conflicted with maps and his own strength, stopped several times to take short breaks, and me…well I contemplated the luxury of death. At our lowest, I feared we were left vulnerable.

“There’s a building.” The slight uplift in Jasper’s voice pulled me from my stupor. He pointed off to the north of our path. True to his words, a huge square shadow stood a couple yards away, with its high pointed roof as an invitation. It was probably some church, and the world knew to avoid those.  They were havens for the undead since so many people came there to pray during the dark months. “Looks like a cathedral.”

“Nope,” Michael spoke, his eyes went to the map Jasper held and then looked back. His face void of any emotion, which scared the crap out of me. “ Well, shit, that’s not a church, it’s a school; a private military school.”

Immediately, I caught chills from the tone of his voice and interjected. “It’s late, far too late to explore some school, Jasper,” I pleaded with him but his eyes were big with intrigue. “Don’t make the same mistakes we just ran from.” I encouraged him to get back on course by pointing to the red star on the map.

“Why don’t we get closer, see what the outside looks like and assess our options,” Michael added, and Jasper nodded, but I stood my ground.

“Well, we know there Zs and it’s night, so the only safe bet…” my voice should have been reason, but the boys wanted nothing of it, especially Jasper, who cleared his throat. We all stood in a triangular formation, but I moved back after Jasper’s dismissal.

“There are no more safe bets, Celeste,” the man snapped. “We’re out here in the fucking cold, freezing to death. Who knows how badly we’re hurt from the explosion. We never stopped to assess our injuries, what if we’re bleeding. Frankly, if we crossed a mob of anything, I’m done.” He pointed to his leg, “ and you are too,” he lectured, and looked at my ribs.

“Of course, I was stupid to think our chances out here in the cold would be safer than in some fucking school. Think about it, Jasper. No matter how hurt we are, this is like the hospital,” I spat out and forced him to remember. It was only by the kiss of luck that we escaped and I never want to be that close again.

“You take over this one, Michael?” Jasper resigned, and silently I cursed. We all knew what the militant would choose, and shelter wasn’t such a bad idea, the bad idea was the beings that lurked everywhere.

“We should go find a hideout and leave tomorrow. In and out,” he spoke confidently.

“Great,” Jasper said and started on, left us two.

“What are you thinking, Celeste?” Michael asked, but it didn’t matter anymore. When I looked up and saw Jasper behind him, a crazy thought entered my head. These two would prevail, they were strong and confident and fearless. Who was I to burden them with my insecurities?

“It doesn’t matter what I think anymore. I already had my chance to make decisions and look where that’s got us.” I shot down any retort from him and followed behind our ringleader. Hopefully, we’ll only cross a few and then get out of there.

Bow and arrow raised, I trailed after my longtime friend and tried to keep distance from Michael. He would say something to try and make me feel better, but I wanted to deny him, yell at the world, and then take a machine gun to everything. Instead, I opted to take one step at a time.

An overgrown football field was the first thing we approached. The massive cement stands, and blue color still held true to the nature of the stadium. Amidst the crisis of the world, there were few buildings that became monuments of the past. Watching Michael take in the high flying blue and white flag told me that this was one of them. “Do you know this place?” I asked him.

“Yes…” before he could add more, Jasper order us back to formation. As we ventured closer to the main building with the steeple, we stayed within the shadows of the bleachers.  Weapons high, now Michael took the lead, and we sped to cover the space. “Weapons aimed,” he whispered back as we approached a barrier.

A dense population of trees spread ahead, but we didn’t stop.  Quickly, our eyes to strained in the sudden darkness. I followed the sounds of Michael’s combat boots, made sure to avoid as many things as possible. I kept an ear out for Jasper who brought up the rear, however he was a quiet runner, able to sneak up on anyone without detection.  We continued in this pattern for close to ten minutes before Michael came to a stop at the break of trees.

“The Citadel, Military College of South Carolina,” he said, our eyes tailed his gaze.

In immaculate condition, the three story white stone building was nothing short of a beast. It oozed intimidation not only from its grandeur in size, but also from the medieval towers that sat at increments along the roof. High arched windows became the soul of the façade, dark paned glass showed an eerie emptiness through the bones of the structure.

“Holy shit, dude. This is not what I expected from that tower.” Jasper was right. This was a fort.

“It was a military college, one of the best in the country. I went here for two years, but got deployed. At the start of the war, the government announced mandatory evacuation of every military school, with most trainees sent into battle.”

“So why are we here now? “ I voiced negatively.

“I know this place well.” Michael answered. “The campus is larger, but we only need one building. The Administration office sits at the center of the Parade field, with a hidden bunker underneath. That’s where all the supplies are held.”

Suddenly, Jasper revealed other intentions. “What about a radio?” he inquired.

“There must be one. I mean this school had all the latest technology and I know they didn’t take everything. Who do you want to contact?”

“Don’t know. Heard there were communities, safe havens, for those still alive. We could just send out a signal.” He shrugged.

“What about the cabin?” Michael looked confused. He looked between the two of us, and we both looked away. The cabin would always be our destination, but it was never an end point; just a place to by us some much needed time.  

When silence continued, Michael dropped the subject and pulled out a set of binoculars. He looked up and down the patch of grass in front of us, and searched the windows of the building before delivering a plan. He thought it would be best that we crossed the parade field and enter the building through a service door. Since we were at a west facing structure, it was key that we make our way around it fast.

“I’ll go first, cover me. When you hear my Sparrow, come over.” There wasn’t any room to argue. Michael was confident and he was the only one that could navigate us safely.

As planned, he made quick work of the grass area, and disappeared around a wall. Once his bird noise filled the air, Jasper signaled that I go next, and him last. By this time, I was slow and tired, nearly crashed into Michael when I rounded the corner. Jasper came seconds after I arrived, looked alert and ready. He was in the moment, mirrored Michael’s determination.

Michael signaled us forward, closer to the courtyard, only to stop abruptly. “To the wall,” he snapped. Within seconds, we squatted behind shrubbery.

“Pick up your feet, Celeste,” Jasper, instantly, grilled me. Shocked, I berated him with my eyes, but turned away when Michael looked at us.

“Are you okay, Celeste?” Michael asked.

“Yes…” I snapped out.

“She’s tired, but I’m not repeating what I did in the hospital. Hold your own,” Jasper added and I grew defensive.

“Are you fucking kidding me right now? I just went through hell and back this last week, you are chastising me? I’m sorry for being stupid and making stupid decisions about that town, but you thought it was heaven until problems arose. And now, you want me to be ready for a fool’s plan. You worry about yourself and I’ll keep up. Get…the fuck…over yourself.” With Jasper in the middle, Michael moved forward to look at me, yet I turned away, ashamed of the tears that slowly spilled. My body was exhausted. I felt it the moment we escaped from the hospital. But it was natural, especially after 2 years and a taste of rest at the farmhouse.

A light breeze brought over the stench of Zs. Their sounds seemed muffled behind the concrete structure, so we had no idea the number. “What do we do about the fucking Zs, man? You’ve just led us into a trap, goddamit!”

“Cool it, Jasper,” I responded. He cursed on last time before sank back against the stone. I kept my eyes to the right, in case a Z decided to come around the corner, however, a snap brought all of our attention to the left.

Through the light of the moon, shadows played across the grass. I inched closer to the bushes, hoped that it provided enough shelter, while the stench and gnawing noise grew louder. Jasper tensed up beside me and his mind formulated a plan. I prayed that Michael had a one as well.

“There’s an underground pathway which leads straight the main hall, the only problem is that it’s designed like a maze. Only certain people know that way...”

“Please say you were one of them.” Jasper shook, his adrenaline boiled over.

“Yeah…I was, but that was five years ago.” Michael’s eyes found mine, asked a thousand questions, but only one mattered. “I’m sure we can find our way,” I answered and Michael nodded.

We all took one last look at the imminent mob and sprinted around the corner. Immediately, I gasped at the sight. Running away from the mob seemed small compared to the amount already in the courtyard. Michael kept us hidden among the shrubbery, but you could still see the hordes beating against each other. Michael moved quick, Jasper right at his heels, I brought up the rear, kept my eyes on Jasper’s boots.

“In here,” Michael hissed. There was a loud creak of metal and I looked up to see him hold open a small wrought iron door. Jasper immediately ducked through without any hesitation. Yet, when I approached the four foot opening, there was a pause.

“Celeste…move,” Jasper barked, but something had me trapped to this spot.

“Celeste, I really need you to move.” This time it was Michael.

“Are you sure you know where you’re leading us?” I broke down, fear overwhelmed me.

“Nothing is positive in this world, but I’m pretty confident I do.”  A reassuring smiled appeared across his lips and his eyes softened. All I could do was nod and with a nudge to my back, I stepped inside.

By time Michael entered and secured the door shut, Jasper came right at me. He grilled me for my sudden anxiety, sent threats to leave me if I ever did that again, and then handed me more bullets. “…for when you decide to stay behind.” And with that, he moved away from me and walked in the direction Michael instructed. I strapped my bow around my back and pulled out my handgun.

I was fucked. I don’t know when it happened or if I was going mental, but something changed. The fire of living was gone, yet I had no desire to put myself in danger. Even in the shadows of the underground walkway, my trigger finger slapped the clip of my gun twice. I was terrified and it scared the shit out of me. Uncertain, I put my gun away and pulled out my bow and an arrow. I kept a steady aim and listened for whatever moved differently than our foots steps.

As Michael predicted, it was a maze down there. Dark stone walls enclosed the area, with slits of moonlight from ceiling grates. A stench of rot and mildew filled the air, while our boots slushed through wet floors. With flashlights clipped to our weapon of choice, we stayed in close formation, yet we weren’t prepared for the circles.

We stood at the crossroads of four tunnels, two we already explored, which lead us back here. While Jasper aimed his flashlight down a tunnel to the right, I aimed my bow at a tunnel on the left. The light attached to my weapon, small and red, shined dimly compared to Jasper and Michael’s but it was excellent for less detection. “Which way, SEAL?” Jasper snarled, and suddenly, did this weird twerk with his neck.

“Just be on the lookout, let me think.” Michael snapped back, his tone even and calculated.

I felt someone approach my right arm and caught a glance of Michael.  “Remember yet?”

“Yeah, I was right the first time, but something’s different. Someone changed it.”

“What do you mean?” I whispered. He looked at me and then looked off in the distance.

“Well, nothing’s blocked; no gates, no traps. I mean, this bunker was made to be used by people who knew it, everyone else would have been destroyed by now. Even when I was here, there were several places we couldn’t stand without a gun being shot at us.”

Doubtfully, I wanted him to emphasize. “How do you know its changed?”

“Because Jasper isn’t dead right now.” Immediately, my eyes flew to Jasper to see him pacing between three entryways like a mad man. His rifle was at eye level and his flashlight bounced all over the walls. His sporadic movements and slight tick gestures were abnormal, something was different.

“I don’t know what’s wrong with him…with me.” I offered before he could ask. “We’ve changed somehow. I’m a nervous wreck and he’s, well, look at him. He’ll leave me, Michael. For the first time, I know that he will leave me.”

“I won’t.” Michael answered, but was he enough. I looked at Jasper, who’s slight limp and frantic movement reminded me of a Z. He was right, we should have looked at our injuries, maybe that was a clue to who Jasper was becoming. “Let’s go this way one more time.” Michael’s voice filled the space loudly, almost too loud. As Jasper approached, Michael shined his light in the guy’s face.

Bloodshot eyes, pale skin, and sweat beaded across his brow and upper lip. Jasper was sick, I could tell before I saw him, he held a stench. “Jasper, are you okay? Were you hurt at the house?”

Attentive eyes shot to me and I froze. Instantly, Michael took a step forward, blocked half of my body from Jasper. “Why would you ask me that? You’re the one that’s slowing us down,” he responded defensively.  

“Answer her question,” Michael ordered, he meant business now. By his stance you wouldn’t suspect much, but from behind, Michael slid out his hunting knife.

“It’s fine, Jasper. Let’s go so we can leave this place,” I interrupted.  Quickly, I moved around Michael to grab Jasper and gasped at the heat. He was burning up. I composed my shock right away and told Michael to lead the way before he could notice. Jasper was hurt, but I hoped he wasn’t infected either.

This time, Michael made haste of the pathway and stopped only when he noticed the difference. Near a sharp turn in the tunnel, he walked up to a wall and shined his light all over it. He searched the whole surfaced, while I kept an eye on Jasper. Michael began to move around, looked for other things, before he approached me. “Someone built a wall there, and it’s our only way into the building. Now, Celeste, we have two options; either we go through this way and face what’s holed in, or we go back outside and face what’s trapped out.  It’s your choice…”

But my decision never came. Immediately, the hall was filled with loud gunshots and the sound of stone exploded. I ducked down and covered my head, hoped that I was spared. Seconds later, a scuffle went down across the tunnel. Expecting the worse, I shined my light on the source of the noise and seen Michael tackle Jasper to the floor. Jasper yelled and cursed, his body writhing around wildly.

“Celeste, were you hit?” Michael yelled at me, longed for an answer.

“No.” Frantically, I shined the light on myself and patted my body. Besides my ribs, I didn’t feel any other pain. I turned back to the boys.

“Okay, since Jasper is not able to handle weapons right now, I need you to tell me where he hides them. As soon as I slide it toward you, retrieve and hold on to it.” At this Jasper sputtered threatening statements, but soon Michael’s knee shoved his mouth into the dirt floor. “Now, Celeste, please.”

Harsh breathing and teary eyed, I observed my crazed friend. There was nothing I could do to save him, and Michael’s plan was best. Quickly, I rapped off every spot I knew him to carry a weapon, and soon I held the rifle, his hunting knife, his gun, and two Chinese throwing stars he stole from a corpse. “That’s all.” I weighed an additional fifty pounds from the items. That stunt he pulled would alert anything and every one of our whereabouts. However, I would never leave a man unarmed.

Michael adjusted himself and I hoped he didn’t feel the box cutter that Jasper kept in an inside pocket of his pants. I hoped that given the time, Jasper remembered it was there too. Michael stood and brought Jasper up with him. I watched him wrap something around Jasper’s mouth and arms. “What’s that for?” I asked of the restraints.

“Because I don’t trust him and neither should you,” Michael responded bluntly, pulled Jasper up from the rubble.

With Michael’s hold on Jasper, we ran as fast we could through the new opening; I followed with apprehension. This was too easy, too simple, I thought. Even with the miniature explosion, nothing was after us…or, wait…

“Did you hear that?” Michael stopped suddenly in the small four by four space.

“What did you hear?” My eyes searched the tunnel behind us and listened hard, but nothing registered. Just as I was about to respond a shadow danced across my light.

“What the fuck was that?” Michael turned and projected his light down the hall and immediately covered it off. There was something…some things down there, a large mass of them. Slowly, he moved backward, right into to me. Instead of saying anything, he continued, taking me with him. I said his name, but he shhed me before the first syllable was out. Step by step, we moved back until we were about fifty yards, and then Michael turned, and we ran. We ran so hard that our footsteps created echoes along the stone walkway, dust blew up in the air, but the importance of survival beat the importance of silence. However, our race didn’t last long.

Michael stopped again, about fifty feet down from our hole in the wall. He turned off his light, as well as Jaspers and took my red one. “There’s a grate that leads to the upper level, look for it.” He demanded.

Jasper was the one who found it along the top of the stone wall. Immediately, he pulled out his Letterman Tool and began working on the screws, yet his shaky hands were no help. “Let me do it,” I whispered; my hand covered his. Finally, he let go and slumped along the wall beside me. At my height it was hard to reach, and asked for the light to illuminate the ceiling. A couple of water pipes sat right below the opening, which could assist with climbing. If it was sturdy, it would provide great leverage. I didn’t need to say anything before Michael hoisted me high enough to grab on. I used the wall for footing and swung my legs around the pipes. Quickly, I pulled out the tool and worked fast. Down below, a menacing hum ignited through the space and the boys quickly went on alert. We only had seconds left.

Sweat poured down my face from the pressure, but I kept going. I made quick work of the first two screws, and went on to the third. In my rush and underestimation, the letterman went straight for the wall and slipped through my fingers at contact with the metal. “Fuck…” I whispered as the silver tool clanged all the way to the ground. Shocked fueled a silence amongst us, a quiet that gave way to our new danger. A roar filled the tunnel from the direction of the cluster of beings. They were awoken.

“Cover your face,” Michael yelled up at me. With safety mode off, Michael positioned his Glock and then…bang, bang. Two shots right at the grate. The lid flew off and Michael yelled for me to get in the duct. Next, he climbed up and in.

I ran over to the opening with him with a huge sense of déjà vu. This time I wasn’t sacrificing anyone. “Jasper, reach up!” Michael yelled as the overwhelming smell of death filled the tunnel, and the grinding sounds of their teeth became a soundtrack. I looked down the hallway for a split second and saw mutilated bodies; pale skin dripped off from ivory bones and dried muscles, bare fleshed faces, and gnawed limbs and anger eyes. They pushed and fought to be the first to the reward.

“Jasper!” I yelled and pulled out my handgun. I started unloading on the first line of them, yet there was another line to take its place.

I looked at the boys who were just a couple of inches short of each other. “You have to jump man, “ Michael yelled to him.

“Fuck…I can’t. I have no energy.” Jasper swayed for a second and then looked at me.

“Get your fucking ass up here, Jasper, or I will leave you,” I screamed as tears came. And in the dim light, I saw the twinkle of his watery eyes. “Please…,” I begged. My voice struck a chord, and I choked. I kept shooting, traded weapons with Michael to keep the hunger demons away, but they moved too fast. I sent one last plea to Jasper, and prayed that he would listen.

“Shoot!” Michael ordered, and I went back to task. Shot, after shot, the bastard’s fell, but it was too dark to see how many continued toward us. At the same time, Jasper leaped with all the strength left. Michael let out a loud roar and the duct shift wildly, as two Zs leaped at the Jasper. “Fuck you!” I screamed and shot as Michael pulled up.

“Ahhh!” with a loud bang, the Zs did a pileup below and the boys were sprawled across the floor of the duct; Jasper was the image of death.

“Are you okay?” I crawled over to them, and helped Michael to his hands and knees. When I approached Jasper, his eyes closed and sunken, while his breathing was raspy.

“We need to move. It’ll only hold us for a bit.” Michael looked at me, desperately.

“Jasper…?”

“Come on, let’s go,” Jasper said suddenly, bloodshot eyes opened and he got on his hands and knees. I brought up the rear, as we were led through a maze. We past more grate openings; I noticed that we still moved above the tunnel, hundreds of Zs clustered and mangled below. Their growling became a motivation to move faster, a symbol of what we fought against. 

After ten more minutes, we exited from the damp dungeons into a deserted hallway. Most of the bulbs were knocked out, however red emergency lights bounced off the linoleum floor and illuminated everything. Michael helped Jasper up, while I pulled myself out and picked up Jasper’s rations.

“We should be in the main hallway that leads to the administrative side. That’s where the radio will be.”

“Good,” Jasper shivered, and struggled to speak.

Once again, I brought up the rear while Michael led through the hall. With an empty gun, I shifted my bow around and aim the light forward. Jasper was offered his machete, but he was too weak, so Michael carried it.

Slowly, we passed empty classrooms, as neat as if school was still in session. We continued on pass white center block walls and blue emergency lights. More glass doors showcased undisturbed rooms and I began to wonder if was occupied. Then we hit their smell.

Like a stone wall, the scent turned my stomach and I gaged. It was much stronger, mixed with animal piss and dog feces. On alert, Michael stopped ahead, about ten feet away from a four way interception. He listened, and I did the same. Instead of the shuffle we recognized, there were sharp taps on the ground. With every second, the smell intensified. We began to backtracked, our eyes never left the entryway.

Slowly, two snarling dogs rounded the corner, a blood trail behind them and two nasty Z bites along their belly. We paused, waited for the dogs to respond. I thought there was a chance to ambush and kill the beast, but four more walked up behind the two.  

This time fight was out, we had to run.

The grimacing pack leader sent out one bark and immediately the others ran toward us. Everyone spun around quickly, and took off. Limbs burned, but I kept moving; even Jasper’s footsteps matched Michael and I. However the latter man had a plan. Jasper and I were to round one last corner, a door would be at the end of that hallway and we could shoot our way to a courtyard. Michael would hold back the pack and lead them away until we met on the other side of the door. It was perfect, but it never played out. Once we separated, Jasper went down, the struggle to survive vanished.

At first, I didn’t notice. With tunnel vision, I saw the door and relief washed over me. A small chain kep the doors together, but they were easy to get through with a two barrel rifle. Of course, I never thought about what was on the other side, but it had to better than eaten alive by starved dogs. I pulled harder, ran faster. Halfway down was when I only heard one pair of footsteps across the linoleum floor. I ran alone; Jasper was gone. Immediately, I spun around to see him on the floor about thirty feet away. He was covered in sweat; his shirt stuck to his body. We still had time to make it, I thought. I ran to my friend and crotched down by his side. “Get up!” I screamed, but all I got back were dead eyes. He was feverish, and his cracked lips, dehydrated as well. “Jasper, get up now and once we find a room, you can lay down there. I promise…please,” I begged.

“Go…” his harsh tone returned and he pushed my hand away. “Go, now!” he spat and slumped lower against the wall. His hand went to his side and for the first time, I saw his injury.

What appeared to be a sweat mark was a wet blood spot. He lifted his shirt and exposed it. A smell unlike the Z’s rose and pus oozed from the bloody wound. Something sharp stuck of the center and I cursed at our luck.

“Why didn’t you say anything!” I screamed at him. This whole time he walked with this wound and never said a word. “We have supplies; we could’ve stopped in the woods, anything…” I cried my hands flew to his skin. He hissed as I applied pressure to the wound to slow the bleeding but there was no use. There was no denying his future; he was going to die. “You bastard!”

As soon as Jasper closed his eyes in resignation, two arms wrapped around waist and picked me up. “No!” I screamed as I was lifted onto broad shoulders and carried away. “Jasper!” I fought against the weight of the hands holding me in place as the dogs round the corner. “Let me go!” I fought harder as their red eyes zeroed in on Jasper.

My arms flew out to him, reached for him, as gun shots echoed through the hallway. Misery kept my eyes glued to Jasper as the first dog approached him and then the next, and one by one all of them were on him.

And steel doors shut, blocked out the view of my dear friend.

My fight gave out and so did my survival instincts. My spirit was locked away with my friend. Even when I was readjusted on a strong shoulder, my body was limp.

It seemed like I was carried forever, before we stopped short and the overwhelming smell of Z’s descended on me. We spun, surrounded by all sides. I was put down, my feet barely supported me as Michael’s blue eyes came into focus. “I’m sorry,” he whispered, my head in his hands. He caressed my tear stained cheeks and laid gentle lips on my forehead. He brought me in close, arms encircled me, and shots began to fire. He shot at them, kept them at bay, but there weren’t enough bullets. I shrieked at the sound of an empty chamber and Michael threw the gun aside. His head came back down on mine and he apologized again. We were going to die. There was nothing left. 

I reached for my waistband and pulled out my hand gun. I pulled away from Michael and opened the chamber. Two. I looked around the Romanesque courtyard, which would become my crypt as Z’s pour out from almost every door. My eyes fell to the signature red and white checkered floor as tears fell, the weight of the hand gun ten times heavier. “I will not become one of them,” I told him and he nodded. “There’s enough for two.” There was no argument, no objections, he understood. He reached inside his shirt and exposed a long chain necklace; a beautiful silver cross reflected the moonlight at the end. His eyes closed, steady hands brought it his lips. His quick, silent prayer was the most heart wrenching moment and I knew I had no strength to deliver the task.

When Michael opened his eyes again, I knew that he saw my weakness and immediately he stepped closer. He took the gun from my shaky hands and moved my face into his chest. With a hand on my back and my face shielded from the hungry, vicious predators, the echo of the locked chamber ranged, and then his arm moved.

With blurry vision, I closed my eyes and counted…

One…

Two…

Three…

BANG