“Don’t use me like that again,” I snapped out and spun around, handgun aimed right at Michael’s forehead. He crossed the rocks and stood on the same side, while the rest of the group watched across the river. “You told me once, not to fuck with you. Well, don’t play with me, again.”

Michael nodded slightly. His eyes moved to the ground around me and I didn’t miss his shock. I followed his gaze and took in the mess I made; blood painted the snow red. With a quick glance, I counted eight fuckers, two undeads and six mutants. Shaky fingers covered in ooze, unlocked the guns chamber and revealed two bullets. My skills sharpened along with my strength in such a short time. A power still coursed through my veins, leftover from the transformation.

With the group still behind, I tried to scrape off the black from my hands, but it was like dye. I took out my gloves and placed them on for the first time. “Call everyone over, more will come once the smell reaches the wind. Also, I want the bow and arrows strapped to Miriam’s back,” I demanded and left Michael to stand in the filth.

By the time, I reached the clearing, my haze was gone and I felt exhausted. Sage poured gas in the tank with one hand, his gun in the other. Like before, he paused once he caught sight of me, but didn’t say anything. I approached the van with only one thing on my mind, rest.

Michael came out next and issued orders to get the rest of the stuff packed. I climbed through the passenger door and hopped over the middle seats into the back row. I watched as everyone had their job according to a rehearsed plan, even Violet. Jasper tied up duffels to the roof, the girl helped the doctor fill up the truck with weapons and water jugs. Michael and Miriam stood at the hood of the van, arched over maps and compasses. I made out a few words, overheard names which I assumed were cities, before they both nodded and everyone climbed in.

Violet jumped over the seats to sit next to me, while Jasper squeezed in through the passenger rear door. Dr. Marab and Sage took up the middle row, while Michael got behind the driver seat. His co-pilot was the last to enter, her body turned so everyone could see her actions. Confident fingers reached into her satchel and pulled out another handgun, similar to Sage’s and all black military style. I watched as she popped out an empty cartridge, and replaced it with loaded one. A smirk crossed her face as she looked back at me. You’re dead, were the words she would utter if she could, but Michael held all the power amongst this group; she would never cross his wishes.

I filed away that little information when our stare down ended. I watched her face forward and placed the seatbelt on. Slowly, I felt a rub against my shoulder, a comforted touch and turned to Jasper. He sent me a slow smile, more of a reassurance, but I wasn’t convinced. Mentally, I still had one foot out of the van.

Michael maneuvered the oversized vehicle with haste and determination. His turns were precise; his sense of direction perfect. We made it out of the mountainside within four hours.

Everyone had succumbed to exhaustion, except for me. Even drained, my mind wouldn’t shut off. First thoughts were about Violet and Jasper’s unspoken words. She was another experiment, just like me, but there was something different; there had to be or Karen would’ve stopped. What did they plan for her?

So pale, her skin was almost ultraviolet. Blue veins appeared as spider webs underneath her skin, and her eyes were the clearest blue I’ve ever seen. My fingers played in her hair, transfixed with the near white strands intertwined with my coffee skin. She was only eleven, nothing more than a child… a child…

Immediately, the words brought back visions from a day ago; visions that woke me from the tranquilizer. I turned to Jasper, ready to tell someone of the dream, however he was sleep against the window. I closed my eyes, and there they were; a hooded man, with a tawny girl beside him. ‘I’m sorry, mother…’ she whispered, and her words played in my mind like a requiem.

“We should reach the city within thirty minutes,”  Michael’s deep voice echoed through everyone’s slumber. Slowly, people rose, head bobbed from their askew positions.

The van crept to an interception and stopped. The geographic had changed significantly. With the mountains and its chill behind us, these outgrown, deserted roads promised warmer weather, not by much, but a climate more manageable for the undeads. I took a break from scanning the dirt road and overgrown trees to look in the rear view mirror, and like a magnet his eyes were drawn to mine.

“You have to make a right,” Miriam directed. She took his attention away only to replace it with her eyes in the side mirror.

“How can anyone trust her?” I whispered, knew that Jasper was up and alert.

“Who?” He asked as the van followed Miriam’s words and continued on forgotten country roads.

“Miriam,” I answered, and glanced at the mirror, her eyes were on the scenery now.

“She’s just a military rat, however if you don’t trust her, than you shouldn’t trust the Seal, either,” he spoke, honestly. While Jasper never liked the idea of Michael, I was curious of his distaste.

“And why is that?”

“Because they knew each other before the war, many years before. And he’s hiding something about her, something she holds against him.” I swallowed down a growl of jealousy at his words.  A fight over his affection after everything changed would never happen, however, I would be lying if I said I don’t care about him.  

“Everyone be on the lookout for Zs or others. If you spot something, tell us,” Miriam demanded, without giving anyone a second’s look.

Sage picked up his hand gun, while the doctor held up a knife. Jasper had the rifle cocked and ready, while our dictator held up another pistol. Michael kept both hands on the wheel.

The van crept along at a much slower pace than up at the mountain. A light snowfall left the ground wet with puddles scattered around. At first glance, the outskirts seemed deserted, left to nature, but as we got closer to the town, it showed differently.

Abandoned cars lined the streets, rusted and ransacked, while some were left with brown streaks across the window. Sage mentioned stopping to salvage for gas, but no one felt safe enough.

“Keep straight, the town center is there, but we should turn off before we alert anyone…”

“…or anything,” Sage interrupted.

Like everyone else, I thought it was best to be on the lookout. I dove deep within myself and called for a little bit of the creature inside. I sniffed the air, but I couldn’t get passed the smells from the group. I strained my ears for sounds; any noise that interrupted nature’s way of life. However, my efforts were deafened by the van’s dying engine.

“I don’t like the sound of that,” The doctor muttered as the van let out a loud pang.

“Michael, we don’t have much time,” Sage piped in. I moved forward to help direct, when Jasper’s nostrils flared.

“You smell something?” I asked, suspiciously.

“It seems like Zs and blood; nothing fresh,” Jasper whispered. I sniffed again, but I smelt nothing.

I strained against the window to identify any movement. I traced the streets quickly in my head, outlined key areas if things went wrong. I made mental notes of what streets to avoid, instead over grown weeds on the smaller streets seemed like the only cover.

“Violet,” I whispered closely in the girl’s ear, but she didn’t move. I called her name again, this time provided her with a little shake. However she was still sleeping. “Violet’s not waking,” I snapped out to the group, but no one showed signs of worry.

“She tends to sleep heavy. Might be out through the night?” Dr. Marab answered and turned in his seat to look at her.

“Sleeps heavy…might sleep through the night? What kind of doctor are you?” I responded and then went on a tandem. “What if we need to desert the van? Are you guys just going to leave her?” I smacked his hand away from the girl as a thought became prevalent. “Oh, since she’s not the chosen than she expendable. You guys are fucking wack jobs…”

“Celeste, I would never let that happen,” Jasper said next to me and pulled my face into his. I saw his honesty and even courage and milked it all. “Believe me,” he whispered, spoke to my soul. My head nodded of its own accord.  

Suddenly, the vehicle stopped. Michael was the first to open the door and hop out the car; Miriam came next. In this time, I realized we had reached our destination.

The winter’s evening came fast and light would leave us within an hour, so the tight alley way was a perfect place to hide the car. However, there were too many places for other things to hide as well. We were parked close to the city center behind a row of stores. Ironically, it was familiar to the place where we found Michael. For the night, it would provide more cover and escape routes than an abandoned home.

Sage and the doctor quickly joined the first two, as Michael surveyed a couple of buildings. “Jasper, I’m going to need you, man.” He called into the car as he approached the van’s back door. “Celeste, stay in the car with Violet.”

“I can help,” I offered but he stayed deadpanned, his eyes didn’t even reach mine.

“You chose how much you wanted to be involved back in the mountain.”

“I, also, chose a bow and arrow,” I remarked, and instantly, he reached into the passenger seat and grabbed the automatic bow. He threw it on the middle row, produced one arrow, and turned away without another glance.

Jasper took this time to climb over the seat. “Use it wisely,” he advise and then told me he’ll be back soon. I watched him jump from the van and walked up to Michael.

“Miriam, you stay here as well. Make sure nothing comes near the door, or the van.”

Finally, Michael picked a building, the one we sat right behind. He turned toward the back door and checked the exterior. With his gun held high, he looked toward Jasper, whose rifle was pointed and ready. He approached the door, his hand on the knob, and paused. There was caution, especially when there were no signs of what waited beyond the door. Even, I moved closer to the window; my breath made marks across the glass. Surprisingly, Michael’s eyes found me and captured it for a moment. He’ll be safe, I knew this, but in his look he promised to keep us all safe, too.

The boys counted to three, before Michael gripped the door open and tapped his gun on the door. We waited. My fingers gripped the bow when I caught the smell.

“Look out,” I whispered, at the same time an emaciated Z ran out of the building. Jasper didn’t miss a beat, and sent his right fist into the Z’s head. It fell with a thump, right at the door. Sage broke formation to move the Z out of the way of the guys, before they all entered the building. The door closed behind them.

Suddenly, I couldn’t breathe. Violet was still unconscious as I laid her down on the floor of the vehicle.  I covered her with a thick blanket, before grabbing my bow and exiting the car.

“Where are you going?” Miriam asked, her arm shot out and halted me in my tracks.

“Someone needs to gain higher ground. We don’t know what’s waiting on the other side,” I stated and went to move, but she blocked me again.

“You heard what Michael said. Stay… in… the… car.”

“Fine, then you go,” I snapped before a whiff brought my attention behind her.

At the end of the alley, something moved. “Don’t move,” I whispered and slowed my breathing. Wide eyes searched beyond her head as a Z slugged on, not picking up on our scent. I watched as my fingers tightened around the bow with familiarity and slowly I loaded it. The creature slugged on, as I raised the weapon and aimed for its head. However, I didn’t take the perfect shot, no…because another one came into view.

 “Fuck,” I whispered as a cluster of twenty slugged after the first, their paces quickened by the seconds.

Miriam’s eyes widened at my reaction. “What’s up?”

“A shit ton, possibly more behind it,” I whispered and watched as the cluster crossed the path and disappeared. Only after thirty seconds, did I move and that was to the snatch the arrow bag.

By the time, I fastened the satchel to my back, Miriam put everything together and reached for Sage’s black duffel.

“We have to warn them,” she spoke as a plan formulated. I watched as she quickly undid the zipper and pulled out a silencer. Her fingers made quick work attaching the piece and then grabbed two more cartridges.

“We can’t leave Violet.”

“Then I’ll go, you stay here. If they spot you, start it and move. We’ll meet at the first intersection out of town.”

Damn, I thought. Even though I would kill her in a heartbeat, her plan was one of my own. Jasper and I had used this technique several times, and it proved effective when your own survival was the ultimate goal.

“Okay,” I agreed, no matter how I felt about leaving them. Jasper would find me, it’s the others I was uncertain about.

Quickly, Miriam moved for the building’s door. She looked back at me with annoyance. “Get in the car and be ready!” she hissed, and disappeared through the door.

“Come on,” I whispered, repeatedly. We didn’t need these people…I tried to convince myself from the driver’s seat. I looked down at the quarter tank of gas on the gauge and pulled out the map Miriam left in her back pack. As images aligned with words and roads on the map, the building’s back door busted open; Sage crashed through first.

“Move! Move! Move!” Doctor Marab followed. Jasper came next and nearly flew into the van. Miriam followed close behind, red smeared across her face and her gun was missing, while Michael had yet to exit.

“Start the car!” Jasper yelled and jumped into front.

“Where’s Michael?” I asked.

“He’s...he’s…” Miriam started.

“Start the fucking car, Celeste!” Jasper yelled, but took it upon himself. He turned the ignition as I stared at the door; the smell of Z’s overwhelmed my nostrils.

“We can’t leave him,” I whispered as Miriam yelled the same thing. I watched as she moved to jump out the car, just as the building door opened again.

“Thank god,” the doctor whispered, as Michael ran straight for the van.

“GO!” he yelled, and a series of roars signaled the impending terror. “Go!”

With that, I changed gears and stormed off.