"You've got to be kidding me," I said with a sigh.

The car key fell out of my pocket. Maybe I didn't properly pocket it? That maybe is the cause. Fuck! Way to go Murphy.

No, I can only blame it on my carelessness. I climbed up on top of an abandoned car " Hey you fucking stinkhoes! Come here! I'm a meal to die for!" I shouted at them. Making sure they deviate from their route so I can go around them and grab the key. Bennie is killing some of the unclean that turned around due to the garage door crashing down. A good chunk of them are ignoring the gunshots now. Being lured by the moans of the ones we are fighting.

Wait. There are no gunshots anymore. Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! I tried to ignore it right now. She's alive. She's got to be. She needs to be. I don't know what would happen to Bennie if she died. I know they just met a few days ago but one thing that would keep us from just dying is a reason to live. Right now, Abby is one of the reasons Bennie is fighting hard. If he fights better and more stable for us that would be good.

Bennie's gonna get overrun! He can't fight a horde that many if the second group manages to get to him. Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! I cursed internally. "Come here! You fucking faggots!" I screamed at the top of my lungs. Not caring if more show up now. I just wanted Bennie to live at least. I need to grab the key but he is gonna be swarmed at this rate. I need to lure more than he can fight. I need to do it before the unclean overwhelms me too.

I can't grab the key while it is being trampled around by the unclean. I need to be fast. I tried to shout as I jumped up and down when another thing happened.

The car alarm of the car I was on went off. My heart sank. As if time slowed, Nearly half of the numbers that went for Bennie's position went to me instead, 7 unclean ones tried to claw their way to me. Luckily I can still see the key. I could just climb down but as I looked around me, another group of unclean was heading towards the car. They probably came from the outlying buildings. I was surrounded. There are not many but they will be soon. I can abandon the key. But what's next after that? Abigail would get overwhelmed too.

Bennie looked at me, I couldn't hear what he was shouting. I can get the key but I will be swarmed and get bit. Maybe. But I can get the key and throw it at him. It's better than both of us dying. I tried accepting my fate, yes. I can accept that knowing Bennie will live and probably Abby too.

I was about to look at Bennie when a loud crash stopped my train of thought. The car window was cracked by a thrown rock I think.

"... u got!"

What? I didn't quite hear that. I looked at Bennie while he was stabbing an unclean with the bayonet.

"Is that all you fucking got! You fucking retard of a man!" Bennie screamed out over the car alarm looking at me with a frustrated look. I stopped what I was thinking, looked at the key and the horde stumbling towards me. There is still time. The car is being hounded by the unclean now but not enough to be a horde.

I took a deep breath and stepped back carefully. An unclean nearly grabbed my ankle but I wasn't bothered by it. I took two steps running forward and jumped. Without thinking of what will happen.

~~~~~~~~~

One look of my good eye, at the person looking at me, was all it took to say it wasn't one of the unclean. Its stare was alive and scared.

*thud.

The pounding on the door took me back as I checked if it was still secured. Still secured. I looked back at the cabinet but it was closed. I slowly came near it and knocked as I was kneeling.

"Hey. It's okay. I'm not here to hurt you." I said in a calm whisper. No answer.

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"My name is Amber. What's your name." I said in a soothing voice. I ignored the pounding at the door and was slowly being pushed back.

This time a little girl slowly opened the cabinet "Amy." She said in a trembling voice. As I look behind Amy. I saw empty food cans and water bottles. I can also see bottles with yellow fluid and the smell of what's clearly human waste emanating from the cans in the corner.

"Did you kill my dad?" She asked with a whisper while clearly holding a sob. My heart ached. How long did she live like this? Being trapped with her father, her former father. "No, honey. Your dad was so sick that he didn't want you to get sick too. That was probably the reason why he left you under here. He had to keep you safe from him. He didn't lock you inside did he?" I asked.

"No. He told me to not open the cabinet no matter what happened. He made me promise." Amy said to me while sobbing.

I slowly opened the cabinet and hugged Amy in my arms. I never knew the love of my parents. I remember them sure but never felt the love that a child needs. My father was a drug addict, and my mother was a gambler. I remember being beaten when I was a child until I was old enough to go to the army. That has been my life. I used the military as an escape. I never cared for them not even now. The only thing I was a bit thankful for was that they never cared. Even when I ran away from home. they never looked for me. My heart was numb even now. If this was widespread, I wouldn't even care if they became the unclean.

"It's okay hon. We will get you somewhere safe." I said to Amy while holding her with my good left hand. "M-kay." she muffled a response.

I don't know if I possess a mother's instinct but every being inside me, in pain or not screamed to get Amy somewhere safe. To give her a chance in life even at the expense of my own.

"Will daddy wake up?" Amy asked while looking over my shoulder. " I don't know hon. But I got to keep your daddy's promise for him." I paused. Amy knew her father was dead. She's not stupid. She knew something was wrong that's why she kept hiding there for God knows how many days.

"I'll get you somewhere safe," I said casually with more conviction in my steps.

Amy just hugged me tightly. She didn't look like she was a bit. No blood from her dress. She was a bit light for a 9 or 10-year-old. She stank of piss and shit. We both do but I didn't care.

"Hold onto me tight honey. We need to get out of here or those monsters are gonna get us." I said soothingly to Amy.

As I walked towards the bedroom, I looked back one last time to Amy's father. Thanking him for his sacrifice in keeping his daughter safe. Even if he knew he was going to die. Giving his daughter a chance to live. " I'll carry your torch. Until it lasts anyway." I said to the unmoving dead.

I opened the door to the bedroom. Seeing that it's clear. "Do you have a mom Amy?" I asked. "No, it's only me and my dad," Amy replied while I moved closer to the window and saw that a few unclean were starting to converge on the first floor. "What's your dad's na.." I was going to ask Amy about her father when a loud crash resounded at the back door of the kitchen. I turned around and saw the unclean had broken through. Some fell but others took their place, looking for me, wait, for us now.

I closed the door as I saw more stumbling towards us. A rhythmic thud resounded again. That is not going to hold. I was about to let down Amy so I could open the window but the door got knocked down faster than I expected. Probably because the doors leading outside were studier than the ones used on the inside.

With no time to put down Amy, I sprinted towards said window intending to crash it. With a painful grunt, I jogged and bashed through, my shoulders first.