A few days on the road pass and soon Cindy and Tony find themselves just a few miles from the city. While pressing forward he notices Cindy falling behind. He turns back and sees her eyes halfway closed. Taking a quick glance around there doesn't seem to be a secure place to rest. He debates about stopping on the road but soon finds a couple undead trailing them. He takes a knee in front of Cindy which causes her to fall on him. Once he gets a hold of her he stands back up and begins to carry her down the road. She protests a first but then succumbs to her exhaustion. After an hour of walking down the hallway, he shakes his water container and feels it nearly empty. He decides to save it for Cindy. His legs soon start to shake as he continues to stumble down the road.In the distance he can see a couple houses. As he walks towards them Cindy wakes up.

"Where are we?" she whispers, letting out a small yawn.

"Not too far from the city," he replies, pulling her up higher to maintain his grip on her. "How are you feeling?"

"Better," she yawns while rubbing her eye.

She tightens her grip around him but then notices his legs shaking.

"We should stop," she suggests.

"There are some houses up ahead," He lightly groans, searching the streets for one that seems suitable. "We could hole up for a few days in one of them. See if there is anything we could find of use."

"Where are we going," she asks while resting her head on his shoulder.

"Hopefully we find a car, some supplies and then we could head to the coast," he replies.

"Why the coast?" she questions.

"Food wouldn't be much of a problem," he explains. "We find a reliable food source we focus on things like our shelter and defenses."

"Will we be safe there," she whispers, remembering her grandpa and how she thought they were safe on the farm.

"No matter where we go," he responds with his legs moving without any sign of fatigue. "I'll keep you safe."

Cindy pauses for a moment but then presses her head back on his shoulder. They reach a run down neighborhood. As they continue to walk through it she notices white two story house with a shattered window at the front.

"That place looks as good as any," she comments, pointing to the house. "Always wanted a two story house."

He sets her down then pulls out his knife from his waist band. She notices him banging on the door then waiting for a few seconds. After nothing pop outs, they carefully sneak throughout the house. Once they clear each room they head back down and Tony pushes one of the couches up against the door. Cindy lays down on the other nearby couch while Tony picks up a fallen picture frame. Once he flips it over he recognizes the people in the picture.

Oscar, he thinks, crumpling up the picture and tossing it aside.

Cindy's stomach grumbling catches both of their attention. She quickly covers her stomach with an embarrassed look. She digs through their bags to make breakfast while Tony walks into the kitchen and looks around the cupboards. The floor creaking at his step catches his attention. He kneels down and presses his hand against the white tiles on the floor. One of them tilts out of the floor and beneath it he finds a stash of canned food and a can opener. He pulls out some canned peaches then walks back to Cindy who's practically unpacked everything. After opening the can he hands it to her.

"Where did you find these," she asks while pulling a slice of peach out and eating it. "Oh that's good."

"Hidden underneath a floor tile," he replies. "Guess we aren't the first ones here."

She picks out another slice but then pushes it against his mouth.

"You need to eat too," she smiles.

He opens his mouth and she inserts the peach slice. After eating a few more slices he goes to explore the back yard and she quickly follows after him. A sudden chirp makes him look up at a bird sitting on a power line. As he lowers his head and notices his hand instinctively hovering over his knife. He stuffs his hand into his pocket then continues searching around, checking for any openings along the fences.

"Look at this," Cindy says while pointing to trash bins piled on top of each other. "Who stacks trash bins like this?"

She moves the trash bins off of each other and then finds a plastic wrap tied down. After removing the plastic she finds what seems to be a storm cellar locked with chains.

"Found something!," she yells but then quickly covers her mouth.

Cindy reaches for the locks but Tony stops her then bangs on the doors a few times.

"It's locked from the outside," she mentions, wondering if he's checking for people. "I don't think any-"

"I've seen them is weirder places," he responds, pulling out his knife. "They tend to lurk and wander around if nothing attracts their attention."

"So you knock to see if there are any in there," she asks. "You must know a lot about them."

"Not much to learn," he replies, leaning against the doors. "They usually rush to any little noise. If any do come knocking then we see if we can handle them or run."

Upon hearing no banging coming from the other end, Tony grabs a nearby shovel and breaks the lock off. He opens the doors and they both carefully head down some stairs. At the bottom of the stairs they find an Assault Rifle hanging on a wall. Tony picks it up from the wall and starts inspecting it while Cindy wanders around. She spots some boxes in the corner of the room that catch her attention. Inside she sees a couple bags with the word MRE on the front.

"Look I found food," Cindy gasps, pulling one out. "I'm good luck! This one's Macaroni? Ooo I want this one!"

If you had these then why didn't you say something, Tony ponders, thinking back to his earlier days when he was with another group. You kept this for yourself didn't you. Of course you did. You never cared about the group.

"You know how to use it," Cindy asks, staring at him holding the gun.

"You pick up a few things when you're out here long enough," he replies as he sets the gun down.

After a few trips they manage to get everything into the house. Tony does some patrols ensuring the area is secured while Cindy figures out the MREs. With the sun setting they use what they can to cover the windows and light a couple candles. While eating she notices Tony's exhaustion showing. He continuously rubs his eyes but when she says anything he denies it. When night falls Cindy lays down on the couch while Tony sleeps leaned against the wall with his ear near the broken window. While turning off the candles she grabs her blanket and heads to lay it on him. He wakes up startled at Cindy covering him with the blanket.

"Hey it's okay," she whispers, trying to calm him down. "It's me."

He rubs his eyes then peeks out the window. Outside some of the dead are shuffling around. He tries to get up but Cindy stops him down.

"They'll be there in the morning," she continues, helping him up to the couch. "You need your rest."

"I've had my fill," he counters, pushing himself to get up.

"We have more food than we could carry," she argues, pushing him back down. "We're not going anywhere for a while."

"If we find a car tomorrow we might hit the road," he yawns.

"And if you're gonna be the one driving," she responds. "You're gonna need your rest too. Can't have you falling asleep at the wheel."

To showcase her determination she lays down on him and covers herself with the blanket. At first he disproves of it but the longer she remains on top of him the sleeper he gets. Eventually he falls asleep holding her. In the morning he's the first one to wake up and finds her sleeping on him. She opens her mouth to yawn then rubs her eyes. She then rests her head back on his chest. Upon hearing his heartbeat she presses her head harder into his chest. She opens her eyes then notices him staring at her.

"Were you watching me sleep," she asks while rubbing her eye again. "That's kinda creepy haha."

"I just woke up," he yawns.

She lays on top of him a little longer but then eventually gets off.

While eating more of the MRE's she says, "Tony?"

"Yeah," he responds, finishing his packet.

"You told me everything from getting kicked out of your other group to the point where I met you," she begins, taking a spoonful of food. "But if you're this good at surviving then why did you get kicked out?"

"Well I told you I was voted out by the majority," he replies. "After that I had to leave."

"Why," she continues. "I guess in a sense what did you do?"

"Well that's the tricky part," he sighs. "I got voted off for looking out for the group."

"That doesn't make any sense," she responds.

"I guess I should tell you the whole story," he exhales. "For a while we were doing good. There was a shopping center nearby and we managed to scavenge a lot of the food there. As time went on our runs became less successful. We were running low on food but we were losing it at a faster rate than before. I found four people stealing rations for themselves. While calling them out a fight ensued. When I brought it to the attention of the group they didn't believe me. They sided with the 4 all because they were popular before things went down."

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

"That's unfair," she replies. "And kinda stupid. Who cares if you were popular back then?"

"That's life," he lightly laughs. "Someone once said we want people we like to be right. That's why all the popular kids are stupid. I didn't think much at first but I guess it takes the world going to shit to understand some things."

He peeks out the window and notices less dead walking around. He grabs his knife and prepares to go outside but as he goes to move the couch a gunshot goes off nearby. He quickly looks out the window to the dead turning but more gunshots go off and kill them.

"Upstairs," he orders in a hushed tone while grabbing the rifle.

Cindy grabs what she can of their stuff and heads up with Him. They run up the stairs into a bedroom. He points for her to get under the bed then quietly closes the door before joining her. He positioned the bed sheet to cover their view while subtly leaving a hole for the barrel of the rifle to be aimed at the door. From downstairs they can hear two people conversing while banging against the door.

"It feels like it's boarded or something."

"Fuck don't tell me someone found this place."

Once the voices reach his ears Tony instantly recognizes one of them.

At the sound of glass breaking Cindy whispers, "They got in."

He raises one finger to his lips. She covers her mouth with both of her hands as foot steps can be heard slowly creaking up the stairs.

Before the steps could reach their room someone calls out, "Hey I think it was a girl that was holed up in here?"

The footsteps quickly retreat back down stairs.

"The food is still warm too," the voice continues. "She must've ran when she heard the gun shot. She shouldn't be too far. By the looks of this she had some melons. Aye if we find her I call first. All the girls we have are used up by now."

The sound of the couch falling over is followed by a door opening. After a few seconds Tony emerges from beneath the bed then checks down stairs. When he sees it's clear he rushes back up to get Cindy. While they hurry to get the rest of their belongings, they notice a bra on the couch. She quickly stuffs it in her bag then they both head out. When crossing the door she hesitates for a moment.

"Are you missing something," he asks, keeping an eye out.

"My bear," she whispers, pushing for him to keep moving.

"I'll get it," he responds, heading back. "Keep moving I'll catch up."

He heads back in and grabs the bear laying on the couch. When he rushes back outside he crashes into Cindy.

"They're coming back," she shrieks.

He grabs her hand then pulls her back into the house.

"Go back under the bed," he whispers, offering her the bed. "I'm gonna deal with them down here."

"Please be careful," she pleads, taking the bear. I can't lose you too.

He gives her a nod then she heads upstairs where she hides beneath the bed again. Tony hides behind the open with his knife ready to ambush whoever walks through. Hearing two voices he had to wait to catch the second off guard then deal with the first. Given the close quarters he believes the Knife is the better option. One person rushes in but Tony holds his position. His heart beats in his ear as he anxiously waits for the second person.

The second person comes barging in panting, "We saw you!. We're not gonna hurt you if you come out now. We'll find you eventually. It'll be easier on you if you come out now."

As they slowly creep around listening for any noise Tony notices the handguns at their side. He extends his hand towards the second person's it but then the ceiling creaks.

"She's upstairs," says the first person, going toward the staircase.

Before the second person gets too far Tony lunges forward, stabs him in the throat while grabbing the hand gun, then shoves the blood gushing body into the first person. The first person turns around reaching for their gun but stops once he sees the end of a barrel at his head.

"Holy shit Tony?" he gasps, raising his hand up. "You're still alive?"

"It's been a while Oscar," Tony replies, keeping the gun steady. "Small world isn't it?"

From the stairs Cindy descends once she hears the conversing. At the bottom stair she see's the person Tony has at Gunpoints. Dark hair similar to the lifeless body near the stairs. They looked to be the same height as Tony.

"Is she yours," Oscar chuckles, turning his head back when he hears someone come down them. "She is a beauty. Getting kicked out was probably the best thing that happened to you huh? You know everyone's been regretting sending you away. if you come back especially with her we'll-"

Tony cocks his fist back and slams it straight into Oscar's face. The blow knocks him out and Tony ties him up then leaves him on the stairs. While searching their pockets he notices Cindy staring at him.

"Yeah," he sighs.

"Nothing I just never seen anything like this," she responds, gathering the rest of the stuff. "Didn't think it'd be this intense.

"Yeah," he replies while pulling the gun out of Oscar's side. "Sorry you had to see that."

"It's okay," she assures him. "After your first few runs on the farm I asked Grandpa whether or not you'd run into people. He shrugged off most of my questions but one night you came back holding your side and leaving a trail of blood. I thought you were bit but after Grandpa checked you out and said it was a stab wound I was curious how you got it. Before I went in to check on you he explained that some people could be worse than the dead."

"He's got that right," Tony exhales. "The dead kill you. The living do everything but."

As he pulls a granola bar out, he hears a jingle in Oscar's pocket. After searching some more he finds some car keys in Oscar's pockets.

He looks back at Cindy who gasps, "Can I drive?"

"Have you driven before," he asks, getting their bags

"I drove the tractor once," she replies with a smile as they begin to head out.

"Tractor" he repeats, confused. "I don't remember any tractor."

"Probably cause I sorta maybe crashed it," she nervously chuckles while twiddling her fingers.

They find the car then load their into the back. When he gets into the driver seat he notices Cindy tapping her index fingers together.

"Can we make a detour," she hesitantly asks.

"Where," he inquires while gaging how far they could go with the amount of gas they have.

"You heard them," she whispers. "Wherever they are they have...captives. We should try to save them."

He hesitates in responding to but she adds, "You'd come save me if I was trapped right?"

He lets out a soft sigh then nods his head. They carefully maneuver their way along the streets weaving in between the dead cars on the road. He turns sharply at the end of a street then drives slowly through a neighborhood. He parks beneath some trees then turns off the car.

"Where are we," she asks, looking around.

"Down the street is the school I used to attend," he replies, while getting out. "The group I was apart of. That's where they are."

"How are we gonna break in," she questions, getting out of the car to follow him.

"You're staying here," he answers. "If I get caught in there they'll kill me and throw you in with them. I'll sneak in during the night. Most of them fell asleep on watch and I doubt that changed. With that big fence around them they did nothing for days while I was out scavenging."

"So we wait till night," she exclaims while pounding her fist into her palm.

"Right and wrong," he responds while getting out of the car. "Like I said you're not coming.

He hops the fence of a nearby house then knocks on the door. A few seconds pass and nothing happens. He kicks the door down but then hears the fence jingle. He turns back and finds Cindy trying to hop the fence. Her ankle gets caught in between the bars and she starts tipping over. He manages to catch her before she hits her head on a rock. He picks her up then gently removes her ankle from the bars.

"Careful," he warns as he sets her back down on her feet.

"What are we doing here?" she asks.

"They probably won't be able to run or move so we could hide here," he explains, searching the rooms.

"Isn't this a bit too close?" she questions. "Wouldn't we be caught?"

"The one thing they aren't is bright," he grunts while lifting a shelf. "If I can create a big enough distraction they'll think it was another group and they won't know how to react."

"Maybe we could use one of these," she suggest, holding out a small green object with a pin

He turns to see her holding a grenade.

"Where did you get that?" he asks, surprised quickly taking it from her hand.

"Oh there were a couple in a box beneath the wall of guns," she answer with a smile. "Honestly for half a second I thought they were avocados...kinda bummed they aren't. I've been craving an avocado."

When the sun sets they sit by a window staring at the school while eating.

"Oh that reminds me," she smiles while searching around her. "I made you this."

She presents to him a black cloth.

"It's a mask," she smiles. "So you could hide and sneak around like a ninja."

"Thanks," he replies while putting on the mask.

She helps him center it and when he opens his eyes she backs up a little. His eyes alone evoke a sense of danger and determination.

"Well it is scary," she nervously giggles. "I guess that's good."

He moves it below his mouth then asks, "You know the plan if things go wrong?"

"Try not to crash the car got it," she replies, not liking the idea of having to leave him alone.

"Good enough," he sighs.

A few more hours pass then Tony heads out. As expected the guards are asleep. He quietly climbs over the fence then sneaks past the sleeping guards. He takes a look inside and sees three people asleep in the front office. Instead of going in he uses the rails of the stairs to climb a wall then up to the roof. On the roof he finds bones scattered every where.

What did this place become, he thinks, overlooking the apparent graveyard. I don't think I can kill them all but I don't like the idea of letting them live.

He finds the door that leads inside and to his surprise and it's open.

"Of fucking course it's open," he whispers, angry that he even tried to help this group survive.

After sneaking down stairs he starts looking through the window of each classroom door. He eventually finds one guard standing outside a classroom. The guard starts to nod off and Tony seizes the opportunity to rushe the guard and stab him in the neck. He gently guides the body to the floor to prevent noise and strips the guard of his rifle and ammo. Once the body falls to the ground he peeks through the window and finds people blind folded in the corner of a candle lit room. When he opens the door they all flinch.

"Shhh," he whispers, making his way over to them. "I came to help but the only way we're getting out of here we is quietly."

He removes the blinds folds from four captives.

"Can you move," he asks, cutting their ties.

Each of them nods in response. They sneak past a few still awake guards. Once he gets back to the door leading to the roof it's locked. As he approached the front office one of the captives pulls his arm.

"There's no way we can sneak by there without waking one of them," she whispers.

From down the halls shouting can be heard.

"Looks like we're doing this Cindy's way," he sighs while pulling out the grenade. "Pretty sure this is a war crime."

He pulls the pin then tosses it into the office. They back up then once the explosion goes off they rush through the front office out of the door. He slices the throat of a guard standing outside, steals their gun then shoots the anther one. After helping the captives over the fence he climbs over himself then nearly gets shot by more people coming out of the school. He dives behind a car before returning fire. In between shots he orders the captives to head down the street. Thanks to the noise, soon the undead stumble by. Tony stops shooting to prevent them from heading his way then they start piling on the fence. With their escape covered everyone heads down the street toward the safe house Tony and Cindy made. Once they reach it Tony finds Cindy in the back of another car. Before any questions could be asked he feels something heavy hit the back of the head. Despite his hardest attempts to stay conscious he passes out.

.

.

.

.

When he wakes up he finds himself tied up in a metal shack. He pulls on his restraints before realizing Cindy isn't in the cell with him. He feels something cold spread across his body originating from his chest. The thoughts of where Cindy could be and what could be happening to her sends him into a frenzy. He begins tugging on his restraints so intensely to the point where he succeeds in breaking them but not before he causes some damage to his wrists. Regardless he heads straight for the door and starts banging on it. Each bang seems to be stronger than the last as the metal seems to start bending. Seeing his fists aren't cutting it he starts slamming his body against it. Just three hits then the door comes flying off. Now outside the sunlight catches him off guard and momentarily blinds him. Once he adjusts a fist rams straight into his face sending him stumbling backward. A girl with pig tails on the side of her head swings at him again only this time he manages to dodge it and returns a swing of his own. The blow connects to her stomach causing the girl to hunch over. Her blue eyes glistened beneath the sunlight. With her down Tony goes in to grab her but she pushes past the pain and she lunges at him, tackling him to the ground. With her on top of him she raises her fist ready to punch him again and others soon surround them armed with spears pointed at Tony. Despite her advantage the girl can't help but feel in danger at Tony's eyes staring seemingly directly into her soul. She could tell he was determined and despite being surrounded he didn't seem to even car.

Before the next move could be made everyone turns to the sound of "Andy Enough!"

The voice belongs to a girl with long dark hair, and green eyes with an every so slightly pale skin. Behind her is Cindy in new clothes.

"Tony," she gasps, noticing the injuries on his hands while rushing over to him.

Cindy and Tony's worlds were about to get a whole lot bigger.