Lukas's POV

"OOF!" was the sound that Petra made when she hit the leaves. My ears were still ringing from when I hit the ground. Petra just laid there, motionlessly. I cautiously poked at her.

"Lukas?" she asked, her voice muffled.

"Yeah?"

"Why are you poking me?"

"Er, sorry, just making sure. Your name is Petra, right?"

She sat upright and looked at me funny.

"What?"

"Um, sorry, that came out wrong," I corrected, "I mean- "

"No, I think I get it," she said, "I got hit with the arrow, didn't I?" she said.

I nodded.

"I wonder where those arrows are coming from and why anyone is targeting us," I said.

"Well, wonder no more, dear friends, because I just found our ticket back home!" exclaimed Jesse as she leaped down from the tree branch, landing on her feet. And that's why she's the lead- wait, I said that already, didn't I.

"You found the flint and steel?" asked Petra.

"Over there!" she said, pointing behind Petra and me. I looked, and saw a walker slowly making his way over to us- with the flint and steel in his hands!

"Boy, I've never been so happy to see a walker in my entire life!" I said.

"Touché," Petra replied.

"Come on!" said Jesse as she ran over to the walker, pulling out her sword. I don't think she noticed that Petra and I weren't following her. I watched Jesse kill it from a distance and grab the flint and steel. She picked it up and thrust her arm into the air.

"Got it!"

"Now, all we have to do is find the portal and- "I began.

"-and get lost in the portal hallway all over again," Petra finished my sentence. All three of us groaned.

"I just wish there was some way we could know exactly which portal is the one that leads home," Jesse remarked as she walked back over to us.

"We'll just have to keep searching through portals until we find it," I said, "Let's wake up Aiden and Maya."

After Aiden and Maya were awake and out of the tree, we made a plan. Maya would stay behind to take care of Aiden so we can look for the portal faster. When we found it, I would go back to get Aiden and Maya so we could take them directly to it. Maya didn't seem too fond of the first part for some reason but agreed to go along with it.

We said our goodbyes, then separated.

The three of us strolled through the peaceful woods as I thought to myself what we should do if we found the portal. I mean, how would we not get lost again in the hallway? There had to be some way to tell how to get home, right?

"Maybe we should build a boat," said Jesse as we approached a river.

"Should I go get Aiden and Maya while you do that?" I asked.

"Sure, that'll work," said Jesse. She and Petra began to cut down trees while I vanished behind trees.

I walked across the orange and yellow leaves with my thumbs in my jean pockets. I didn't really feel comfortable with walking alone in the woods during a walker apocalypse, but I was halfway there and I had a sword on me, so I guess I was safe.

"Hey, you," I heard someone call. I looked back to make sure there was no one behind me.

"Yeah, I'm talking to you, stripes!" it called again. Huh, stripes. That one's new. "Where do you think you're going?"

A boy approached me. My stomach dropped once I saw who he was. He was the kid who chased me and Maya away- and tried to shoot us. I gulped and stepped back.

"Uh, nowhere," I said. Assert yourself, Lukas! I realized how vulnerable I must have looked. I stepped closer and asked as confidently as I could, "What's it to you?" I puffed out my chest a little. The boy just sighed. I think I nailed it.

"I don't have time for this little song and dance," he said plainly.

He punched me in the face. Hard.

Everything went dark.

--------

When I awoke, I found myself in a dank cell with some sort of collar around my neck along with Aiden and Maya. My hands were chained to a wall.

Aiden's POV

"Look, he's waking up," Maya whispered to me. I looked over to where Lukas was chained. He was slowly opening his eyes.

"Alright, everyone's awake. Let's get this over with," said the boy that chased Lukas and Maya with a gun. I flinched, I honestly didn't know he was standing there the whole time.

"You can call me Carter," he began. I couldn't help but notice how disheveled he looked, "and I have one very important question for you." He pulled out what looked like a remote control from his pocket.

"Which one of you started the walker apocalypse?!"

"What?" asked Lukas, "Oh, come on? You aren't serious are you?!"

Carter said nothing, just held down a button on the remote, which sent electricity through Lukas's body.

"GAAH!" Lukas screamed in pain. The electricity just kept going.

"You're... INSANE!" Lukas cried.

"Tell me who started the apocalypse!" Carter demanded a little louder this time. I was pancaking. First of all, I have no idea who started the apocalypse, and I know for sure it was none of us! But, he was killing Lukas, my best friend, right before my eyes, and if I said nothing, he would definitely die. So, I said the first name that came to mind.

"Jesse!" I blurted. Carter let go of the button.

"Good boy," Carter said, "I guess I won't get to use his corpse for target practice, then. Come with me." He opened the door and escorted me out. I looked back and saw Lukas, who shot me a "Lukas will remember that" glare, then he rolled his head back and closed his eyes.

"Lukas!" Maya shouted and rushed over.

"Come on," Carter said again as he pushed me down the hall. Ouch, my leg.

Maya's POV

I held Lukas's head in my hand as a gently ran my fingers through his golden hair.

"Lukas?" A whisper was all I could get out.

Is he... dead?

His face when blurry, then I realized my eyes had filled up with tears. I sniffed, then pleaded,

"Please don't die."

It felt like an invisible sword was jabbing me in the chest, or something had just fallen out of me.

Lukas coughed at little, then tried so gasp, but he choked instead and fell back asleep. 

He wasn't dead!

I gasped, I knew what I had to do.

Petra's POV

Jesse and I had already built the boat, and now we were just sitting around waiting for Lukas, Aiden, and Maya. The sun already started going down, but he hadn't come back yet.

"Jesse?" I groaned, "Lukas isn't back yet, can we please go see where he is?"

"No, he'll be fine," said Jesse, "it's just taking him a little longer."

I sat on the ground, whittling our wooden planks into sticks with my sword to keep me busy. Nervous habit.

The clouds in the sky began to pull in, and they were a very dark gray.

"Jesse, it looks like it's going to rain soon. Can we please go check on Lukas?"

A light rain began to drizzle on us. Thank you for an excuse, nature.

"Fine," said Jesse, getting up. I happily followed her into the woods where Lukas went.

"Ha!" I exclaimed.

Aiden's POV

"Stay here, I would lock you up in a different cell, but that's the only one I have. Stay in here if you want to live. And don't touch anything!" Carter demanded as I limped over to someplace to sit. Carter left the room he put me in, locking the door behind him.

The room I was in was filled with potion bottles, chests, and weapons. I just sat, blankly staring off into space, thinking about what just happened.

Lukas is probably dead, Carter will be looking to kill Jesse, Maya's in jail too, and my leg is crushed.

When I just couldn't hold it in any longer, I put my head in my hands and cried in spite of myself.

What have I done? I thought.

I cried for Lukas, I cried for myself, but mostly for Jesse. I told Carter that she started the apocalypse, now he was probably going after her now.

My eyes burned and salty tears ran down my hands. I quivered a little thinking about what had happened. It felt like everything was just crumbling at my fingertips.

I'm not sure how long I cried, but when I got a hold of my tears, I looked up. There was a girl in front of me. She looked my height, and her skin was pale blue and her hair was lavender. She emitted a slight glow, like an enchanting table. She wasn't standing, though, she was floating. She looked into my eyes with concern and asked,

"Why are you crying, brother?"

I just looked at her, shocked. She was very beautiful, although there was something about her that I recognized. She didn't look like some kind of a majestic magical being, in fact, she was dressed pretty normally. Her medium length hair was styled in a high ponytail, and she wore a normal tee shirt with cargo pants. She just floated there, waiting for an answer.

"I...," was all I managed to get out.

"Oh, I'm sorry, let me introduce myself to you," she said, "My name is Katcha, and I'm your sister. I'm a miscarriage, though, so I died before you. And would you please stop staring at me like you just took a dump in your pants?"

"You're... dead?" I asked, "But how is that possible?"

"Well, I've been your guardian angel your whole life," she explained, "Basically, I've been keeping you safe your entire life. I was sent down to you because of how serious the situation is, so I'm here to help."

"It's too late now," I said, "I just did something irreversible."

She came over and sat next to me.

"What happened? You can tell me," she said with a smile.

Jesse's POV

"LU-KAS?!" I called.

"LUU-KAAS!?" Petra echoed.

We were wandering through the woods trying to find him. The sky was darker now, and the rain had gotten much worse. We had to yell really loudly in order to just hear our own voices. Now I was worried for him. I haven't seen any signs of him so far.

"JESSE!" a voice sounded through the dark.

"LUKAS?!" I called back.

"My name is Carter!"

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Mwahaha... CLIFFHANGERS!!

So, what do you think of Katcha and Carter so far?

Funny story, my friend named Carter came up to me one day and asked if he could be a character in this book. Your wish has been granted.

Okay, I think that's everything. Come back next week! (The next chapter will be posted the day after episode seven is released!!! *FANGIRL SQUEEEE*)