I stand here, trying to process all that is happening in this moment. Sam and the others were taken. Whoever took them knows my name. Who would do this?

"Jade, we need to go now!" Jake says.

I can hear the zombies outside searching the rooms. It's almost like they are looking specifically for us. They might have tracked us from Eric's bunker. Alex opens the back door. We make it outside. Sarah blocks the door with a dumpster.

"What the hell are we going to do?" Clarissa asks.

"We are going to get them back no matter what," I say.

"How? We are five people, three are kids. We have four guns with barely any ammo, and you're suggesting we take on a group with who knows how many people?" Sarah says.

"You're saying we just let whoever took the others keep them? I made a promise to Elizabeth when she died, that I would protect her family, and I intend to keep that promise. She trusted me to keep them safe," I say.

"You want to save Henry and Susan after how they treated you? How they treated Clarissa and I? They wouldn't have cared one bit if Steven shot you yesterday, and you know it," she says.

"Jenny, Hannah, and Sam were also taken. It's not just Henry and Susan that needs us. I will not let two kids be taken," I say.

"One of these days you're going to get yourself killed trying to save everyone you meet," she says.

I can't live with myself, if I don't at least try to get them back. I see a store in the distance.

"Let's check in there. Maybe we can find something inside," I say.

We make our way towards the store. I look at the note that was in the hotel room. Who wrote this? Could it be one of Dave's group? We reach the store. One of the windows is bashed open. I can hear someone inside.

"I'll go in. The rest of you stay out here," I say.

I pull out my gun. I climb through the window. I see someone bent over, looking through a box. I have my gun pointed right at them. The person turns around. She has a gun in my face. She has short black hair, and blue eyes.

"Put it down," I say.

She looks behind me. She sees something. I don't dare to turn around.

"Don't move," The woman whispers. Now she's threatening me?

"Don't even try to..." She cuts me off.

"You need to listen to me. I can see a sniper on the building across from us. He has his gun on you. Any sudden movements and you're dead," she says like it's nothing. Is she warning me or threatening me?

"What are you..." She cuts me off again.

"I'm trying to help you," she says. What about everyone outside?

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"I have people outside. Will the sniper shoot them?" I ask.

"If the sniper could see them, he'd shoot."

The door behind the woman opens. The others walk inside. I hear a gunshot. I jump behind a shelf. More shots ring in my ears. The sniper missed all of us, thankfully. The woman is hiding behind the shelf directly across from me.

"If I can make it to the roof, I can take the sniper out. I'm going to need you to help me though," she says.

Eight months ago I would have never trusted a stranger to help...a lot has changed since then. She is the only one who can help. I just have to trust her.

"Go, I'll cover you." I say as I shoot at the sniper.

The woman sprints to the back door. Five minutes later all the shooting stops. The woman returns.

"Who are you?" I ask.

"I'm Karla. The five of you look like hell," she says.

"You don't know the week we've had," I say.

"I live not too far from here. I have food and water. You guys could come back there with me," she offers.

We just met and she's offering to let us stay at her place? It's too risky to go with her. We can scavenge our own supplies like we always have. Like we always will. I don't like accepting help from people, because afterwards they can hold it over your head and make you work for them.

One time while Jack, Iris, and I were still living in the bunker a small group found us. At that time we had run out of food and had only two days worth of water left . The group offered us enough supplies for a few weeks.

Desperately, we accepted. Two weeks later they forced us to gather supplies for them in the most dangerous of places. From then on I refused anyone else's help.

"No, we're fine," I say.

"Actually, we could use some help," Sarah says.

Why the hell would you say that?

"This way," Karla says before going out the back door.

This store is empty. Whatever was left, Karla probably took.

We move through gift shops that line the streets. We come across a chain link fence with barbed wire across the top. Karla starts climbing it.

"What are you doing?" I yell.

"I'm climbing it," she says.

"My friend once got cut by barbed wire. He got a horrible infection and was pretty close to dying. Get down now. If you get cut, I'm not helping you," I say.

She throws her bag over the fence and continues to climb it. I pull a thick blanket out of my bag. I toss it over the barbed wire. I tell the kids to be extremely careful. I toss my backpack over the fence. As it lands, the bag's zipper pops open. All of my things fall into the dirt.

I scale the fence. I jump down, once I get over the wire. I start collecting my things and putting them back in the bag. Clarissa stands next to me. She stares at the photo of Jack, Iris, and I. It's the last thing I have left to remember them by.

"That's Iris and Jack, isn't it?" she asks.

"Yeah..." I say. Wait, I never told her about them.

"How do you know them?" I ask.

"I...Dave had me...spy on you before we met. I know everything about you. I know what happened in your past, the bunker, all of it. Dave knew what you were and he thought that maybe you would join the group," she says.

"How long? How long were you watching me?" I yell.

"About seven months," she replies.

"Were Lauren, Chris, and Emily sent by Dave?" I ask.

"No, we never did that,"

"You didn't ever think to mention this before I took you in?" I say.

"If I said something earlier, you'd still be mad at me,"

"You watched me for seven months, of course, I'm mad! I just wished you would have said something before I trusted you," I yell.

"Can we please take this somewhere else?" Karla says.

We continue on. Was Clarissa telling the whole truth or did she lie about a few things? At this point, I think we have to kick her out of the group. She's Dave's niece and I can see some of his traits in her. Who knows what she is actually capable of.

"You shouldn't be so hard on her," Sarah says.

Maybe I am being too hard on her. Dave could have given her no choice and forced her to spy on me.

Karla opens the door to an apartment building. We walk inside. I step into the stairwell.

"Are there other people here?" I ask.

"It used to be me and my two sisters but...they were taken," Karla says.

"By who?" Sarah asks. Karla stops.

"The group I was with took them," she says.

"Some of our people were taken, too," Sarah says.

"The group isn't what it was a year ago. Ever since the new leader took charge of the place, the group has been kidnapping and trading people. I tried to leave. In retaliation, they took my sisters. That's probably who took your people," Karla says.

As we walk up the stairs voices grow louder.

"I thought you said it was just you living here!" I say.

"It is just me. Whoever is in there is not with me," Karla says.

I walk towards the door where the voices are coming from. I open the door an inch. I see three people walking down the hall. Two men, one woman. I close the door.

"There are three people. They might be zombies," I whisper to everyone else.

"Might? Did you look at their eyes?" Karla asks.

"Their eyes don't always tell you if they are zombies or not. We encountered zombies with normal eyes not that long ago. The virus is mutating. Some zombies have red eyes, some have dilated pupils, and a few have eyes that look normal," I say.

I pull out my gun. I open the door all the way. Karla, Sarah, and I step out into the hall with our guns drawn. The kids stay hidden in the stairwell.

"What are you doing here?" Karla asks.

The three people also have their guns drawn. Their eyes look normal.

"We were just looking for a place to stay. Just let us leave," The woman says.

Karla lowers her gun. Really? You're going to trust them that easily?

The woman takes a step towards us.

"Don't move!" I yell.

"We don't want any trouble," the woman says.

One of the men shoots at Karla. I duck behind a wall.