The twilight on full display through the windows, he stared at it with hard eyes. And it stared right back. All to be heard was the mocking sound of quiet and he took a deep breath. And then another. He couldn't leave the bed; not yet. They had to be sure.

He peeked over at his sister. "Hey, Win?"

"What?" she asked, frowning.

"How much longer are you thinking?"

The girl shrugged. "Soon, Forest, soon. Maybe another few minutes."

He swallowed hard. Everything was just too silent. Too eerie. Looking outside, he just felt that something was off. But what was it?

"Does something seem weird to you?" he asked in a small voice.

"I've had that feeling my whole life." Winter sighed and sat up. "You ready?"

"As ready as I'll ever be."

With that, the siblings slipped out of bed and gathered their belongings. The boy grabbed Autumn's bag since he had lost his own long ago.

Tiptoeing over to the ladder, he paused. "Should we bring guns?"

Winter nodded, clinging to her backpack straps. "Yeah, but only shoot if you have no choice. I ain't planning on either of us dying tonight."

The boy set his jaw. "Yeah, we didn't survive this long just to die."

In a likewise reluctance, the siblings climbed down the ladder. They carefully viewed the room and shared a look of relief. Everyone was out cold.

On quiet feet, Forest crept over to the wooden table and collected his uncles' rifle. When his sister had found a gun for herself as well, the two went for the front door.

Winter gave one last glance around before turning the knob.

A whisper of a breeze blew past the siblings when they stepped outside. Immediately after closing the door, they were swallowed whole by the dark night. Wasting no time, their flashlights were turned on and they could breathe.

But it had only just begun.

"They could be anywhere," Winter said in a low voice.

"The cougars or our sister?"

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When she said not a word, the boy shivered.

Forest didn't know for the life of him how his sister could be so confident. Did she not realize that any moment could be their last? That eerie feeling came back with a vengeance and it never left. Something was just off; like there was somebody lurking in the shadows.

The kids kept their footsteps soft and quick as they neared the woodlands.

"I'm sorry."

Her brother's heart dropped. "What?" he asked, alarmed.

"I've been a horrible sister to you. I'm sorry."

"Win, of all the times you could have said this, you say it now?"

"Yeah," she said, taking an uneasy breath. "I may not get to tell you later."

Forest shook his head and let out a nervous laugh. "You don't get to do that. Don't act like we're dying tonight. This isn't you."

"I know... but it's what Dad would have wanted," Winter confessed. "Not long before his death, he told me that I should be nicer. If I'm dying today, I want you to know that... I don't hate you."

"So, you love me?" he asked.

She glanced at him. "Baby steps."

They continued forward in silence. While one would cast their flashlight on the ground ahead, the other would look everywhere else. This went on for several minutes until somebody spoke up.

"What if they discover we're missing?" Forest asked in a whisper.

"They'll find out either way," she said, and paused. "Either we come back with Autumn and Holly, or not at all."

"Winter, we're going back. Let's just hope we find them before we do. This isn't a suicide mission."

"I know it isn't. You and me - we'll get them and head back. It's simple."

But what if we don't find them? The boy opened his mouth to speak when something caught his eye. "W...Winter?"

"What is it?" she questioned.

He stopped walking, and she did the same.

"Answer me, Forest."

Forest shined his light on what lay ahead, and there was a heavy pause.

"Are those-"

"-yeah," he answered.

In a daze, they neared the horror that awaited them. Each of the bodies were next to one another, and it couldn't have been more clear that they were deceased. The soil beneath them was stained red; blood everywhere from the bullet wound in their chests'.

No.

"You know what this means, right?" Forest's words were low and disturbed.

After a long pause, Winter gave a shallow nod. "We're being hunted... by humans."

They stayed where they were, frozen over the three lifeless people on the ground. No words needed to be said. They knew who they were and that they needed to get out of there immediately. Yet they didn't move; they couldn't.

But then Winter nudged him, and the boy released a shaky breath. "What?" he asked.

She shined her light on a nearby tree and he read the single word carved into it: Run.

And so they did.

Despite not knowing which direction they were going, it didn't matter. At least they were together. Their flashlights on the earth ahead, the kids pointed them nowhere else. They didn't stop for anything; not when they bumped into a tree, not when they tripped, and not when Forest dropped his rifle.

All the while, the boy told himself that everything was going to be okay. But that feeling never left. He remembered his nightmares and how they warned him of the mob of walkers; but this was different. There wasn't really anybody lurking in the shadows, right?

When Winter yelped, his thoughts were interrupted and he offered a hand. She had stumbled over a tree root for the third time. Only, before his sister could accept it, she cried out in pain. It was in that moment that his whole world collapsed and would never be the same again.

Without warning, a walker appeared from the darkness and bit Winter's arm.

That's when his flashlight went out.