Tyler keeps his gaze on me as I'm still trying to process all of this information. "Mom was hired by an organization that was working against the government, that had the intent to kill off all Americans. She must have known what she was doing was wrong."

"They could have blackmailed her."

"But how?" I ask, lifting my eyes to Tyler. I can feel his warm breath on my face.

"I don't know. Maybe they knew she had a family, and maybe they threatened to kill you guys."

"My mom would tell us. Like I said, she can't keep a secret." I mumble.

"Couldn't."

"What?"

"Never mind." Tyler keeps his arm around me and rubs my shoulder. "Maybe they were watching her."

"Or they just told her that they were. My mom was pretty paranoid about this kind of stuff." Every time Tyler's fingers brush my shoulder, I get chills. I haven't felt this much comfort in I don't know how long.

"You think that these people were terrorists?" Tyler asks.

"They could have been." I think about it all in my head, the enemy's plan we never saw coming. This group of people contacts my mother, begging, or threatening, for her help. She agrees, whether willingly or not, and creates this disease with the intent to wipe out the human race. But then what? I think about it until my mind starts to dull. "But that doesn't make sense. In her planner, she sounded happy to be helping these people."

"Maybe she was happy to help them."

"But how?"

"Maybe it was someone she knew."

~ ~ ~

The drive to Leeside was longer than I wanted.

Justin said it would take about five or six hours to get there, and then joked "Depends on the traffic."

Madison kept herself busy by reading some small chapter books that Jenny had brought for her. Tyler slept. I drew, and read. Jenny kept up with the map, while Justin kept his eyes glued to the road.

After three and a half hours of riding, we reach a sign that says "Welcome to Leeside!" in beautiful font. Leeside is on the border of South Carolina and Georgia. I had grandparents that lived on the outskirts of Leeside, of course, they died during the outbreak.

Justin mentions that we could stop by their household to collect supplies before we rode into town, considering we don't know what we are dealing with.

We pull into their driveway, the lake just across the road. I smile. This place hold nothing but happy memories. Baking cookies with Nanny. Shooting my bow and arrow with Pawpaw. Our family Christmas full of laughter and light.

But now the house looks as dead as the rest of the world.

"Maybe you and your brother should do this. I know you haven't been here since this all happened. Just go a head and bring back what we need." Jenny looks back at me and smiles.

I nod. I climb over Tyler to get out of the car, and quickly slip on my face mask before exiting all the way. Nolan hops out of the car behind us. He comes up to me and gives me a hug. "You alright?"

"I miss Nanny and Pawpaw. I miss Nana and Papa. I miss Dad. And God, I miss Mom." I feel a tear slip down my face, and I quickly wipe it away, in fear of looking weak.

We walk up the walkway leading to the door. Nolan tries to open it, but it's locked. Nolan reaches over and grabs a rock from the walkway.

"What are you going to do?" I ask.

"Break in." Nolan replies, holding the rock in front of him.

"What? No, we ca't do that."

"They're dead. I don't think that they will care that much." Nolan says and smashes the rock into the glass at the top of the door. It shatters, sending broken glass flying everywhere. Once it is broken, Nolan reaches through the door and unlocks it from the inside.

I turn the door knob, and an awful smell greets us at the door, one I sadly know all to well. Rotting flesh.

I let Nolan walk in first, but I follow closely after him. I have to hold my nose because the stench is too strong. As we walk into the living room, I see my grandmother and my grandfather. My Nanny and Pawpaw. They were holding hands when they died. Nolan walks closer to them, but I turn away. I hear Nolan pick up something. I turn back around to see what it is.

"It's a note." Nolan says after he reads it. He hands it to me, and I take it. I let my eyes skim over the words, but it gets harder and harder to read due to the tears that fill into my eyes.

Dear whoever finds this,

We couldn't do it any longer. Frank and I, we tried. We really did. But it was only getting worse. We don't even know if anyone we know is still alive. It has turned into hell on earth, and it's only going to get worse. We took pills. Together. We couldn't bear living without each other. To whoever is reading this, take whatever you need. Pantry has some canned goods. Some weapons are under the mattress in the master bedroom. Take them. Use them. Stay alive, please. For us.

- Betty

I take a deep breath. Nolan is already in the kitchen, filling up plastic bags with canned goods and water bottles. I look back at my Nanny's body. She was wearing the necklace I gave her for her birthday one year. It's a simple necklace, with a heart full with small gems, above it, a halo, and angel wings on each side.

I take a step closer to my Nanny. Hot tears rain from my eyes. Why didn't we get her to live with us? Why couldn't we have invited them to stay with us before they killed themselves?

I take two more steps closer. I reach over and remove the heart necklace from her neck. My fingers brush her rotting corpse, and I nearly throw up. I grip the necklace tightly in my palm. Nolan calls me over.

"I need you to go get the weapons from under the mattress." Nolan says as he stuffs a can of green beans in the bag.

I nod, and go into Nanny's room. I reach under the mattress, pulling out my grandpa's old pistol, and a couple of knives, one of which my dad gave to my grandpa for Christmas. I stuff that knife in my pocket, and carry the pistol and the knives into the living room. I go back into the bedroom, and open a drawer by the bed where I knew my grandpa kept his bullets. I take the three boxes that were left in the drawer, and carry them into the living room. 

"Should we move their bodies?" Nolan asks.

"They've been like this for nearly three years. I don't think they care that much." I mumble and hand Nolan the bullet boxes.

Nolan shrugs. "Yeah, I guess you're right." He sighs. "You ready?"

I nod.

"Good, grab these bags of food." I walk over and take the food from him. "Mr. Baker said that maybe we could sleep under the carport downstairs."

I nod. I stick Nanny's necklace in my pocket as we walk out of the house. The others are already downstairs setting up camp.

I set down the food, and then walk over to Tyler, who's busy laying out his sleeping bag.

Once Tyler notices I'm watching him, he turns to face me and smiles. "Hey, you're back."

I nod and smile.

"You know what we should do?"

"What?" I ask.

"You should show me around. You used to tell me about this place but I've never been here." Tyler keeps a smile wide on his face.

"Yes! Definitely! Let's do it." I smile.

Tyler comes over and I take his hand, and I begin leading him off to the rocks by the lake.

~ ~ ~

"Tell me more about your life before all of this." Tyler says as he sticks a stale Oreo in his mouth.

We are sitting, watching the sunset by the lake. The rocks were a bit sharp, but perfect for sitting and watching the wakes hit the shore softly.

"Well, I was only twelve when this started."

"Yeah, I know. Tell me more."

"What more do you want to know?"

"Did you ever date anyone?"

"No, of course not. For one, I was twelve. For two, I was the nerdy weird kid no one wanted to hang with." I brush a piece of hair from my face. I am tougher now. I wouldn't let the bullies get to me anymore.

Tyler laughs softly. "Yeah, I guess so. I had one girlfriend. She was a jerk, though. I never liked her."

"Then why did you date her?" I smile at him.

"I just wanted to feel loved."

It goes silent, the only noise is the lapping of the wakes.

"Oh."

"Yeah..." Tyler mumbles softly.

"Did you ever kiss her?"

"No."

"Do you want to kiss me?" I ask, turning towards him.

"Wait, what?" He seems shocked by my outburst.

The shy and nerdy and weird Tessa wouldn't do this. But I've grown. I've seen things no fifteen year old should ever see.

"We don't know how long we are going to live. Tonight could be our last night alive."

"So you want to kiss me?"

I nod.

"Good, because I want to kiss you too." Tyler says, and scoots closer to me. In an instant, his lips press on mine. His lips tastes sweet, like the stale Oreo he just ate. They are soft, and nice. I smile softly.

After a few moments, he pulls away, and stares at me. His eyes are a slight Hazel from the reflection from the water. He smiles again.