Gloria POV

Valarie woke me by gently shaking me. I woke feeling groggy with crusted eyes. My legs were sore but my feet were aching. I could've wept in frustration. Being old isn't easy, and in this case it wasn't easy for everyone.

My mother - God bless her soul - didn't raise a fool. They all thought I was baggage - except for Valarie and Will. I saw the glint of frustration in that Logan boy's face and the look of sympathy I got from Elizabeth. Those looks didn't bother me. I couldn't care less. If they want to say something I wouldn't stop them, I'd encourage it. But not even God can help them if they dare.

"We have to start walking again while we still have daylight. Can you do that?" Valarie asked gently.

I scoffed, "Then why are we still here?"

"Wake Matt up", Valarie spoke to Will blandly. I looked behind me and was met with a subtle kind of shock. Will was on Logan's lap, comfortably leaning against his shoulder. I could've gushed but kept my mouth shut, it's too early to fangirl I suppose. Will tensed at Valarie's request - I knew for a fact that Valarie noticed but she kept her poker face. I looked over to Logan and he simply smirked down at Will. I narrowed my eyes in suspicion. What game was he playing with poor, romantically oblivious, Will?

When Will made no move to get out the door, Logan took a deep breath of what I thought was triumph and Will moved slightly from Logan's chest expansion. It's easy to forget how small Will was due to his calculating and merciless manner.

Will hopped off of Logan's lap and Logan moved to the last seats right at the back. I don't know what he did to poor Matt but he flew right up with a gasp. Logan sat down before Matt could focus his vision on the perpetrator.

"What's going on?" Matt asked sleepily.

"Time to leave", I said gently. He nodded with a kind smile. Valarie opened her mouth and I was getting tired of her harshness so I beat her to it, "Please wake up the doctor next to you."

Slowly we all got out of the car and in the distance I saw rain clouds. I smiled in relief, maybe the heat would break. But then again, it might be a false alarm. When you could die anytime, one should admire the small things - in my opinion.

We immediately began a steady walk down the highway. Twisting between cars, ducking under one that had managed to get half stuck on another car and sometimes having to go around the road all together because the cars were too close together. It's eery seeing all these empty vehicles with no owners in sight. Where did they all go? It didn't help everyone's paranoia - no doubt they were wondering the same thing that I was.

Would the owners return, not as owners, but as hungry monsters.

We were close to the city now and most of us were gasping for air. Well except for Will and Valarie. How they managed to survive in such thick clothes, I had no idea. The cars were less on this part of the highway, which led me to believe most of the occupants were out of the city when they were attacked.

The sign above that welcomed us to the city was rusted and looked like it was about to fall off. It added a sense of dread. The setting sun gave me anxiety, I never liked the dark but now that there were actual monsters in it made that fear much worse.

All the windows in the first skyscraper we saw were out. Maybe that was an over exaggeration, most were. There were dead bodies lined up on the ground below, covered in flies. The sound was so loud, the constant buzzing. I held my nose at the foul, acrid smell that burnt my nostrils.

"We're losing daylight, this building should do fine", Valarie nudged her head to the skyscraper.

Everyone trudged toward the building. There was no way around the dead bodies. They had piled around the front entrance, leaving a pool of crusted, dark blood. I fully covered my mouth and nose as we all stepped between the gaps the bodies allowed.

The problem with Cannibals is that they hardly move. They only breathe. So we were all surprised when Elizabeth screamed as a Cannibal, we all thought was dead, grabbed her ankle. Her uncovered ankle. I was still in shock. But Valarie moved first, she rushed to the cannibal that was dragging the screaming Elizabeth toward it.

Then Valarie stopped right by them. She stopped and watched, then folded her arms, "Kill it."

"Valarie! Help me, please!" Elizabeth screeched.

Valarie remained unmoving, "Stop screaming. Use the steak knife I gave you and kill it."

Elizabeth gave Valarie a wide eyed look of panic and my heart broke slightly. She fumbled nervously at her belt and retrieved the knife. She turned on her back and kicked the Cannibal on its head. It's grip moved lower but still remained. I heard from the scouts at the camp that the Cannibals have a strong grip. She retrieved her foot while crying and struggled to her knees. She lifted the blade above her head and slammed it down on the Cannibal's head. Then she did it again, and again...and again. Weeping the whole time she got shakily to her feet and wiped her nose. She looked at Valarie with a pale expression.

"I could've died", Elizabeth said softly.

"But you didn't, let's go", Valarie said coldly.

I looked toward Will who was smirking ever so slightly with his arms crossed. We all walked inside the building with Will and Valarie leading the way - unaffected by what just happened. Elizabeth was silently crying the whole way - shaking in fear.

"I'll lead the way, you take the back", Valarie told Will. He simply nodded and moved to the back of the group as we made it to the stairs. I preoccupied my mind by praying that once we make it to a safe floor we wouldn't have to leave anytime soon. My feet were throbbing. Matt and Will were at the back and I subtly noticed how Will's body was very tense. Matt didn't try to speak to him but was equally as tense.

About fifteen minutes later, with a lot of huffing and puffing from both Matt and I, we made it to the tenth floor. The windows in this floor were all broken. And this time it wasn't an over reaction. The office chairs were piled in the corner of the room, some kind of old barricade. Blood splatter was on the wall and a small pools of dried blood adorned the navy blue carpet.

No one went near the corner.

I pulled out one of the few available chairs and plonked myself down with a soft sigh. Relief, finally. I rested my feet on the desk and closed my eyes.

Will spoke up, "Logan, Valarie, we should probably make sure there aren't any left in the building. Let's go", and so they returned to the stair way. Matt was hugging the weeping Elizabeth.

I bit my tongue but couldn't hold it in much longer, "I don't agree with her methodology but her reasoning is right, sweetie", I spoke gently to Elizabeth.

She turned a vicious leer on me, "What the hell to you know you old cow?! She has never forced you to kill on-"

"That's because I actually know how to kill one. How do you think I survived in my house the whole time!" I hissed at her.

"I heard the rumours you know", she took a menacing step closer to me, "about your murderous son. You're a horrible mot-", I jumped to my feet and ran at her.

I tackled her to the ground and slammed my hands on her face, "Don't you ever talk about my son you little bitch!"

"You're baggage and everyone knows it!", she screamed back at me while covering her face. Matt yanked me off of her and held me back.

"I'LL KILL YOU", I shrieked at her. That caught her off guard. In a world where we were at constant threat, a sentence like that wasn't taken lightly. I had no doubt that my eyes portrayed my venom, they were dripping poison instead of tears. Lethal poison.

She swallowed slightly while I thrashed in Matt's arms, "Calm down Gloria", Matt urged me. I stopped struggling and took a deep breath. Matt released me and I returned to my chair. I didn't wipe my tears, I wanted them there.

Then I heard Elizabeth cry. I looked behind me and saw Matt hugging her. Then, to my utter surprise, she kissed him. He pulled away almost instantly, "Elizabeth, I'm flattered but I like Will..."

So Matt didn't notice how close Logan and Will are. Especially this afternoon. This smells like trouble. Elizabeth slammed her lips against Matt's again, tears streaming down her face. Matt seperated her, "Elizabeth, stop", he said firmly.

Valarie came in first, and I tried to, subtly wipe my eyes. But of course she saw it. She marched over to me, "What happened?"

"Nothing", I said firmly. Matt better keep his mouth shut if he cares for Elizabeth at all.

"Gloria and Elizabeth just had a little...misunderstanding", Matt said, placating.

The most hateful look took over Valarie's face. She walked stiffly over to Elizabeth who seemed to cower back against the wall.

"Do you think you're tough?" Valarie asked heatedly. Elizabeth remained silent and dropped her eyes to the floor. Valarie's left eye twitched in anger.

"Now we're all a little tired, maybe we should just rest a little", Matt said uncertainly.

Valarie simply shoved him and he fell on his back, gasping in pain. She returned her glare to Elizabeth, "What did you say?"

Elizabeth's eyes welled with tears, "I'm sorry...", She said softly.

"I asked you", Valarie unsheathed her sword slightly, "what you said."

Elizabeth clutched her hair in panic, "I called her a horrible mother", she gasped in air, "I called her baggage, I'm so sorry!"

The air got thicker, even I was struggling to breathe as Valarie glared at a weeping Elizabeth. Will and Logan emerged and stopped dead in their tracks.

Valarie grabbed Elizabeth's throat and threw her against the wall. Elizabeth slid down to the floor and covered her face while shrieking. Will ran between the two and stood firmly in Valarie's way. They simply stated at each other before Valarie sheathed her sword again and walked to the window. Then she sat down calmly and stared outside.

Will looked down at Elizabeth with a glint of pity and a tinge of satisfaction. I suddenly felt sorry for Elizabeth. She certainly wasn't making friends. And so everyone sat in silence. Matt sat with Elizabeth - who had fallen asleep on his shoulder. Will and Logan sat next to one another, Logan looking at Will from the corner of his eye and Will playing with a knife - oblivious to Logan's looks.Valarie sat by herself, looking out the window.

There was a flash of lightning and I all but jumped in my seat. It was so bright and spooky.

And so we fell asleep that night with rain pattering down and the occasional thunder.