Jackson was staring at them with his mouth open. Thomas couldn't blame him. Even he was surprised.

"Medical attention needed." Kelli calls. "She's been bit."

A couple of people gasped and even some stepped back. Everyone stood where they were. A few people stepped outside of the tents. Kelli looked around at everyone

"Come on! We could save her!" Kelli tries.

"Kelli-" Thomas cuts in.

"We've got to try!" Says Kelli.

"Kelli!" Thomas says, a bit louder.

"C'mon! Some-"

"KELLI!" Thomas yells. That gets her attention. "There is nothing we can do."

"But we should try! It might be different." Kelli says, hopefully.

"No, by tomorrow, she is going to be infected." Thomas says.

Tears start streaming down Ali's face and Kelli pulls her into a hug, but Ali pushes her away. Ali stands up and looks at Kelli's face, as if to study it. She then ran off into one of the tents, but almost immediately got pushed out. She ran away and cowered under a tree.

"What was that Thomas? Why would you say that?!" Kelli shouted at him.

"She's gonna turn Kelli, it's just the way things are." Thomas says quietly.

"What if it was your sister? What if it was me? Would you give up on me like that, Tom?" Kelli whispers to him, on the verge of tears.

"That's differ-" Thomas began.

"How is that any different Thomas?! What if I was bit, you'd leave me? You'd forget about me?" Some tears had escaped the corner of her eyes.

"Kelli, I didn-" Thomas felt awful. He was just tired of seeing people turn, and it makes him sick that he's so use to it. That he accepts it.

"Just forget it Thomas." Kelli turns around and walks toward Ali's terrified figure, still shaking under the tree.

Thomas felt his heart ache, he wouldn't forget her, he'd stay. He'd be with her till the end, probably even die with her.

Thomas watched Kelli trying to get Ali to talk with her, without success, she left frustrated. Thomas started heading over towards Ali.

"It's no use." Kelli snapped. "She won't talk"

Thomas didn't care. He was going to try. Thomas walked over to Ali, still cowering. He sat down next to her.

"Hey." He tried. Nothing, just more tears. She squeezed her arm where the bite was.

"G-go away." She whispered.

Thomas thought for a second. "No. I want to help."

Ali looked up, her blue eyes surrounded with red from crying. "Y-you don't understand. I-I-I can't, I can't turn."

Thomas looked at her, she was Calmer than anyone else he had seen. "It's okay. You're gonna be alright."

"Y-you just don't understand." She looked down. "J-just go away."

"Ali, please help me understand." Thomas pleaded with her.

"I-I'm not like y-you." Ali whispered as she stopped sobbing, only silent tears streaming down her face now.

Thomas couldn't comprehend what she meant. "Ali, I want to understand."

"I-It doesn't m-matter." She hiccupped. "You w-will eventually throw m-me out just like those other p-people did." A shudder ran through her small body.

"You said you were looking for your brother..." Thomas said and Ali freezes completely, knowing she's been caught. "Why would you lie?"

"P-please don't tell the o-others, they'll think I-I'm a spy." She started trembling again.

"I won't. You know Kelli right?" Thomas asks gently.

Ali nods her head slowly.

"She only wants to help, in fact, without her you wouldn't be here right now." He explains softly.

"I wanted to tell her, I just didn't know how." Ali sighs sadly. Thomas still doesn't know what the girl meant, but at least he's gained some of her trust. He hopes.

"So can you trust me enough to tell her?" Ali ponders this but nods mutely, staring blankly ahead.

Thomas gets up slowly and goes to search for Kelli, but Jackson grabs his arm before he can get very far.

"That girl isn't safe. Hope you know what you're doing, getting so close to that thing." Jackson said evenly, and Thomas did everything he could not to punch him. It was a lot harder than he thought.

He shrugged Jackson's hand off and continued to look for Kelli.

He finally spotted a familiar head of brown hair inside one of the medical tents and stepped inside.

Kelli was sitting and talking with a wounded group member, Alex? Thomas couldn't remember very well.

Alex looked better than his injuries were, a few cracked ribs and a minor concussion, but he kept a smile on his face because of whatever Kelli was telling him.

Seeing them together made Thomas feel as if he had heartburn, while his fists clenched unconsciously.

"Yes, Thomas?" Kelli asks, breaking him out of his reverie. He'd been standing there, staring at them angrily.

"Ali wants to tell you something." He says simply before spinning on his heel and stalking out of the tent. Thomas walked towards an empty tent. Night was falling upon the makeshift camp.

Jeryn and Jackson interrupt his alone time and close the tent flaps behind them. "Please tell me that while you were moping in here by yourself, you came up with some sort of plan?" Jeryn speaks up bluntly.

Thomas ignored her taunting statement and stared at a map of what used to be San Francisco. "Yeah, we could send a scouting party towards the beach hotels. See if there's anything useful." He looked up.

Jeryn walked over to the table that he was standing by. "It's almost like the zombies are attacking in a pattern."

Jackson scoffed. "Oh please, zombies don't use their brains. Or emotions. They're just like predators that humans use to hunt. They feel nothing." Jeryn elbowed Jackson in the side harshly to get him to shut up.

Thomas ignored Jackson's mini rant and looked to Jeryn for approval. "I guess that's our only option. The scouting party leaves before noon tomorrow. Thomas, Kelli, and Emma plus myself makes four. We will have to pack enough supplies to take with us and bring some bags to carry stuff back as well."

Jackson quickly interjected his opinion after Jeryn finished speaking. "I don't want to babysit. When there is finally action, I'm left behind. Plus I'm not staying here with the infected girl." He explains.

"Fine, Ali will be apart of the scouting party also. Hopefully she won't turn. Maybe a miracle will happen." Jeryn suggests halfheartedly.

"I don't believe in miracles. I'll look after the camp tomorrow. Good luck." Jackson nods curtly, storming out of the tent.

Jeryn turned to Thomas. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, it's just-" He sighed. "Ali, and Jackson won't let it go."

"You've never acted like this about anyone else." She looked at Thomas.

"Well, she is, what, ten?" Thomas asked.

"Yeah." Jeryn looked down at the maps. "You should get some rest."

"Yeah, maybe I'll wake up and this will be all one bad dream." Thomas stood up.

"Good luck with that." Jeryn laughs.

Thomas left the tent, letting the flaps close with a satisfying thump. He walked past some medical tents, not daring to look in them. After walking for a few minutes, he came upon a campfire, laying at the edge of the light was Ali, curled up into a ball with just a simple blanket to cover her. Thomas felt both sorry for her and angry at Jackson. He must have spread the word, forcing Ali to sleep out in the cold night with barely anything to cover her with. At least she chose to lay by the fire. That would keep her slightly warm.

Thomas found his tent and stepped inside. As he did so, his heart broke. Thomas's tent had a little desk, a candle on the desk and a small palette complete with two rows of pillows and a heavy comforter. He stripped back the heavy comforter and underneath was a blanket. Not like the one Ali had. He thought for a moment before grabbing a pillow and the comforter taking them outside to Ali.

Ali was fast asleep and didn't wake up when Thomas raised her head a bit to put the pillow under it. He then covered her with the comforter. Thomas heard a sigh of comfort as he walked back to his tent.

Even if it's her last normal night before turning. He thought. Make it comfortable.

Once Thomas got into his tent, he zipped up the tent and undressed, getting into his night clothes.

Thomas blew out the candle and crawled under the covers. His last thought before drifting off to sleep was what might be waiting outside the tent when he woke up.