~ Luke ~

I awoke the next morning to voices outside the room. After rubbing the sleep from my eyes, I rested up on my elbow. The sky was bright and sun rays danced along the floor as it shone through the trees outside.

Lucy wasn't in the room which freaked me out a bit. After throwing the covers off, I instantly hated myself. I had a splitting headache and my body was even more pained than yesterday. I had to lay back down for a few seconds to catch my breath.

"Yup... that wasn't the brightest idea I've ever had." I slowly made my way out of the room.

Annie, Lucy, Randy and Chris were standing in the room we all were in last night, packing.

"Good morning Luke. How'd you sleep?" Annie said, clearly eyeing my sore posture.

"He slept like a rock." Lucy responded and they both laughed.

Randy acknowledged my presence, but there was still one more. I walked up to Chris and tapped his shoulder.

"Hey... I'm sorry about last night."

Chris didn't bother to look, instead he clenched his jaw.

"Whatever." He said and flung a backpack strap over his shoulder. After grabbing two more bags he walked out the door.

"He'll get over it eventually I suppose." Randy said, I didn't even know he stood as close as he was. "Have you thought about what you're going to do?"

I sighed and nodded. "Yes I did. If things are as bad as you say they are, then Lucy's protection is my top priority. I'm not 100% sure I can guarantee that to her if we travel alone. If you'll take us, I'd like to accompany you." Trying to sound more like an adult than a kid was annoying.

Randy grinned. "That's very mature of you Luke. Yes, we would love to have you along. You can start taking bags out to the car. We are leaving here soon. We've heard the infection is spreading fast so we don't want to be here when it reaches the outskirts."

I hurried the bags out to the van.

Lucy stopped me on the last trip. "Did you decide?"

"Yes. We are going with them. Things aren't safe here and we're all we have at the moment."

She looked down. "What if they're looking for us, right now? And if we leave with these...these strangers... what if we never see them again?"

I hated seeing my sister cry. Too many tears have already left her eyes as it is. "Once we get safe, we'll look for Ma and Pa." I said, hugging her.

"Promise?"

"Promise."

Lucy sniffled and held out their backpack from the house. "It's got good supplies in there I think."

My stomach growled at the thought of food. She laughed as it happened. "There's food in there also." We regrouped with the others.

"And by the way," I said while stuffing the bags in the van, "You guys going to get your bear traps out there in the woods?"

Annie laughed. "You found one last night?"

"One? So there was more out there?" Relief and panic washed over me, knowing I had only seen the one.

"Thirteen maybe? Stretching from the main road to the house." She shut the back hatch.

I couldn't even speak, I was too appalled.

"These people are crazy!"

★★★★★

The van was packed. Chris drove the car that Lucy was taken in last night, Randy drove the van. Lucy and Annie sat in the second row of the van, and I sat in the back in a tiny free space between a hard suitcase and a black trash bag full of who knows what.

The ride was long and cramped, but the scenery was a sight for sore eyes. The bright green leaves waved in the wind, the colorful flowers speckled the ditches with oranges, reds, and purples.

I would've enjoyed seeing this side of nature, but nature also had an ugly side, about human size with other human meat between the teeth. The beautiful side looked inviting and most likely smelled wonderful. But the ugly side smelled of decay and guaranteed death.

A suitcase dug into my side with every bump and turn in the road. I tried my hardest not to drop my handful of stale Fruit Rings cereal. I normally wouldn't eat this kind of thing, but I admit, it was pretty good. Probably because I was super hungry, but whatever.

After what felt like years, but really was just two hours, the van rolled up to a tall chain link gate. The fence it was connected to was just as tall, surrounding the houses and buildings within the enclosure. Atop of the fence were, what I assumed to be, scouting perches. Men and woman stood in them with binoculars.

"Probably scouting for trouble, smart."

"This was a military safe zone not long ago. They made this a safe area and protected the civilians here." Randy spoke as he looked at me in the rearview mirror.

I was attentive now. "They knew about the virus and everything here?"

"We guess so. We never heard much from the ones stationed here, but that is probably the best bet." He followed up with.

"Where are they now?" As I looked around, I didn't see any people in uniforms.

"They all left. Those selfish cowards abandoned the people here to protect themselves." Those harsh words came from Annie who had been quiet the whole car ride.

"I came here, created stability and gave people hope. Chris would say I'm the Top Dog around here." Randy laughed at his own Chris impression.

That surprised me, I gotta say. Randy seemed too nice to be a leader over many people. When I picture someone leading, I imagine someone cold and stern, like Chris.

"Guess things aren't like normal when the world goes to Hell."

The gate slid open and people gathered as they pulled in. Women, children, men, elderly, and dogs too. All of them were in there. It was a little community, like dead people weren't coming back to life and gnawing on living ones.

"How many of you are there?" I asked as we passed through the crowd.

"47. Well, 49 now since you guys came along." Randy said as he put the van in park. We came to a stop by a building that seemed to be in the middle of the community.

"Everybody out!" Randy said enthusiastically.

One by one, we all got out. Well, I had to be helped. I was kind of stuck...

A tall, broad shouldered man strolled up to Randy."Welcome back! Glad to see you're back safe." He looked over at me. "And you brought guests, Welcome!" He hung his hand out and I took it in a firm grip.

"The name's David." The tall man said.

"Luke." I said with a smile.

"And this must be your sister, welcome!" David held his hand out to Lucy. She took it hesitantly, but smiled.

"Her names Lucy. She's shy sometimes." I answered for her, noticing her insecurity.

"Stop scaring them Dave." Randy tapped his shoulder. "Here, help me unload the van. You two, go with Annie and she'll get you feeling at home." He nodded to Annie.

She straightened up and flashed us a smile. "Right this way please."

She led us through the maze of people. I didn't see many different expressions. Everyone seemed to have the happy and excited expression. They acted like the things occurring outside the gates weren't in fact happening.

We got a few stares, but nothing too bad. Mostly we got "Welcome's" and such.

I quickened my pace to catch up with Annie.

"Maybe this is my chance to get to know her, maybe she likes me... ew why would she like me?... Oh shut up and try it you big baby..."

My inner self was annoying sometimes.

"So um, hey Annie."

"Smooth. Nice way to let her know you have no idea what to say."

Annie joyfully turned her head my way. "Hey Luke."

"Okay, now what? Right now you probably look like a tomato and about to stutter."

"H-how long have you been here?"

"Called it! And 'How long have you been here'?! Nice one there Casanova. Might as well add ' What's your favorite color?' into the mix."

"Well, Randy is my grandfather. So since the beginning I guess." She said as she exchanged a smile with a passerby.

"Oh wow. I never would've guessed." I scratched my head out of nervousness.

"I wonder if she has a boyfriend... if not she wouldn't choose you. Look at her. She's gorgeous and you're... You... hush, you got this. She's all yours! Show her your abs!"

Okay, my inner self was really annoying.

"So, I was wondering..." I trailed off.

"Hm?" She was looking at me and waiting for me to spit out what I had to say.

"I was just wondering if..."

I was cut off from her sudden change in facial expression.

"Jeremy!" She ran by me and wrapped her arms around some guy.

"Hey, Baby." Jeremy hugged her. He looked at me. My chest tightened.

"Got your hopes up, and look what it cost you. You looked like an idiot... it was worth the try though! ... But was it really?..."

"Whoa, who's the one who looks like he went to Hell and back?" Jeremy walked away from Annie and over to me. I must've been quite the spectacle considering everything I've endured over the last 24 hours.

Jeremy gave off that "jackass jock from high school" kind of vibe. His brown hair was in that stupid looking haircut all the cool guys had, and with way too much hair gel. He wore a school leather jacket, so I guess the jock part wasn't that far off. He probably was a football player or something popular like that. Something I didn't have much experience in anymore. His green eyes pierced through mine as he approached.

"That's Luke. He and his sister are new here." Annie said from behind him.

"Is that so." Jeremy got close and took my hand and pulled me near.

"Annie's mine, you hear? I don't want to see you coming onto her again." He leaned back and smiled and patted my shoulder in that "it's harder than it looks" way. And of course it was my sore arm, so it hurt even more.

I winced a smile.

Jeremy walked back over to Annie and wrapped his arm around her waist, showing a fake grin at Annie like nothing happened. I sooo wanted to wipe that shit-eating grin off his face.

"I get it. No need to rub it in pal."

*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*

~ Annie ~

"This is the place you guys will stay in. It's big enough for the two of you" I said stopping in front of a small single story house.

"Two bedrooms, two baths, a kitchen and living room." I added.

"A whole house? For us?" Lucy asked.

"Most of the people you see already lived here, so they stayed in their own homes and had their friends and family stay with them. The owners of this house didn't want to stay, so you are free to call it your own." I smiled at Lucy, then to Luke, but he looked away.

My smile softened.

"He was just smiling a second ago..."

"Thank you for showing us." Luke picked up his backpack and walked up the sidewalk and the front stairs. He turned the doorknob and walked on in.

I frowned and watched him leave.

"I wonder what changed his mood..."

I sighed, "If you need anything, I'm 3 houses down, or the only bright, yellow house."

Lucy walked up and wrapped me in a hug. She whispered to me, "Thank you for making him smile. I haven't seen him happy like that for a while." She followed Luke into the house.

"Why shouldn't a guy like him be happy...?"

I thought awhile. I shrugged it off and walked off to Jeremy. He welcomed me back by wrapping his arm around my waist.

*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*

~ Luke ~

The house was a cozy little place. A single story, cape cod house with charcoal colored siding. Small shrubs were on either side of the steps alongside the front of the house.

I set the backpack down on the floor beside the front door and looked around the living room. The furniture was still there, but the walls were bare.

"They must've stripped the family photos and took them with them. Which makes sense, I guess."

The furniture must've been a set. The couch, the recliner and the love seat were a turquoise color with the same diamond pattern. The rug in the middle of the room was dark purple with gold lining and held a wooden coffee table. A decent sized TV on a wooden stand was in the corner of the room. The windows had dark purple curtains, probably to match the rug.

"This place is really nice!" Lucy exclaimed as she ran out from the kitchen. "The bedrooms are good sizes and the bathrooms have tile floors and stuff!" She sat on the couch.

I took a quick spin around, taking in all the colors one more time. "This all seems too good to be true." I stood next to her, "But for now, this is home."

Lucy wrinkled her nose.

"You have certainly smelled better." She said as she slid over to the next cushion on the couch.

I lifted my arm, took a whiff and sure enough, I desperately needed a shower.

"I'll go wash up. Can you unpack... what little we have anyway?"

Lucy put a hand on her head in a dramatic pose.

"I don't know if I can handle such strenuous activity. Yes, I can unpack. Go clean yourself up already." She laughed.

I pulled a fresh set of clothes out and headed to the bathroom. I took my time walking down the hall. After passing the first bedroom, I guessed Lucy would have since it's walls were a pastel pink. Off to the side of the kitchen there was another hallway, lined with a few doors. My bedroom was the door in the back, and what would be my bathroom right across the hall.

The door opened quietly into a decent sized bathroom. A pearl white toilet sat next to a standing shower with frosted glass walls. The black and white tiles of the floor glistened with a hint of purple as the light shown through the curtain on the window.

I sighed and pushed the door closed behind me and flicked on the light switch. I placed my clean clothes on the back of the toilet and snuck a peek into the mirror above the sink.

I looked horrible. Dirt and blood covered my clothes. Some blood was still caked on my hair and face from the wreck last night. I had a nice dark purple bruise on the side of my face. In fact, I was speckled with bruises. My arms and hands were all red and scabby with scratches and gnashes.

Now that I remembered, my wounds seemed to throb. My head pounded, not as severe as yesterday, but it made sure to remind me that I didn't limp away empty handed.

I basically peeled off my old clothes and set them in the corner. The blood and dirt acted like a funky glue.

"I should just throw these away..."

I stepped in the shower and closed the glass door. The rest of the room looked like it was fogging up with steam through the frosted glass, but I hadn't turned the water on yet.

I turned on the water and the showerhead spat a few times before coming to life.

"Woah, jeez!"

The rush of cold water that had been the first to touch my skin startled me. I gave the knob a few little turns and felt the water heat up.

"Much better."

I stood under the rush of water and leaned forward a bit, pressing my hands against the wall of the shower and tilted my head down. The water ran over my head and seemed to follow a path on my face; Off my hair, over the temples, under the eyes and met at my nose, where it traveled to the tip and dripped off. Some even made it to my lips, but I pushed air out and blew the droplets off.

The water that surrounded my feet was a dark red. Water mixed with blood and dirt. Besides the sight of the bloody water swirling around the drain, the warm water felt good on my stiff muscles.

It's funny how the shower can get one's mind thinking.

"I hope Pa and Ma are safe... For both our sakes, I hope we find them soon... We can't lose our family twice..."

"I hope I did the right thing by dragging Lucy along with these people." I closed my eyes and finished the shower in silence.