Sharon rushed to get Caroline. "Come on, sweetheart. We need to go."

The young child yawned and rubbed her eyes. "I'm sleepy."

"I know, but it's time to go. You can sleep in the car." Sharon gathered her in her arms, and they joined the others in the living room before putting her down again.

"You still have the keys?" Karl asked.

Sharon pulled them out of her pocket, holding them up. "Yes."

"Thank God. Do you know how to drive a stick?"

Sharon raised her head towards the ceiling and groaned. The only time she had ever drove a manual transmission was when her dad taught her to drive. Since then all she has ever driven was an automatic. And the last thing they needed was for her to stall the vehicle when zombies were chasing them.

"Now you tell me," she replied.

"Can you or can't you?"

"I'll figure it out. I couldn't find anything for you to use as a cane, except this long umbrella, hope it helps. Between that and you using me as support, we should be able to make it to the car. Heather, hold the kids hands."

Heather glanced out the window. "Mom, we gotta go," she said, opening the front door. She rested the crossbow strap across her shoulders and took the kids hands. The three kids stepped onto the porch and waited for Karl and Sharon.

"Let's do this," he said, flipping the umbrella in his hand so the top faced down.

Step by painstaking step, they crossed the yard and neared the front gate. She'd been so focused on keeping Karl on his feet that she didn't hear the shuffling until they stopped to open the gate.

Sharon's head whipped up, and she saw the herd half way down the block. "Crap, we gotta move."

She pulled out a large knife and readjusted her hold on Karl, then they proceeded through the gate and onto the street. Another shuffling noise came at them from the other direction where a few stragglers were making their way over.

It was going to be a close race as to who reached the car first. Heather could move fastest. "I need you to run with the kids and get in the car. If we can't get there in time, you need to take the kids to Grandpa's house yourself. Do you understand?" Sharon asked.

Heather stubbornly shook her head. "I'm not leaving you."

"Promise me!"

"Fine," her daughter said, stomping her foot in frustration, "but you better move your ass so I don't have to."

"Heather!" Sharon admonished.

Karl squeezed her shoulder. "We're alive, that's all that matters right now," he whispered into her ear.

He was right. And she had to stay focused on that. It was dark, with only the moon leading the way. With her jaw set, she helped Karl towards the car. She sighed in relief when Heather yanked the door open and helped the kids inside. Nothing looked as beautiful as when the kids disappeared out of sight into the safety of the vehicle.

"Hurry, Mom!" Heather yelled frantically as the herd descended towards them.

One zombie approached them on her left. She swung the knife into it's temple and it got stuck, making her lose her balance. "Stupid serrated edge."

Karl grabbed her arm to steady her, almost making both of them fall over. As she fought to get the weapon back,he pulled her forward. "Forget about it."

Fixing her place by his side, they limped their way towards the car, reaching the hood just as the creatures reached the car that was two car-lengths ahead of theirs.

Her nerves blew up like a balloon, sending her heart into overdrive. They couldn't die. Not now! They habe been through too much to have it all been for naught.

Heather jumped into the driver's seat and fired up the engine. "Get in!" she yelled.

"I'll drive," Sharon said as Karl scooted into the back seat with the kids.

"No time to argue, just climb in," her daughter ordered.

"You don't have your license!" Sharon argued.

"So what! It's not like anyone is going to pull us over."

Knowing they were running out of time and her kid showed no signed of moving, she jumped into the passenger seat, and held on tight to the arm rest as the vehicle jumped into motion with a jerk.

"Sorry!" Heather said sheepishly. "I'm a little rusty." Her daughter stepped on the gas, executed a U-turn and zipped away from the zombies.

"Boo yah!" her daughter yelled out the window at the receeding herd.

"How'd you learn how to drive a stick?" Sharon asked.

Sadness filled her daughter's eyes, barely noticeable in the dark. "Craig taught me on his car. Hang on," she cried as the car hit a zombie, bouncing it off the hood.

A sharp pain in Sharon's chest made her gasp. Her grip tightened even more on the arm rest, squishing the leather cover as she prayed desperately for them to survive. Holding her breath, she squeezed her eyes closed as they zigzagged their way through the scattered zombies on the road.

"Mom?"

She half-opened her eyes to look at her daughter.

"We did it, Mom! We did it!" Heather pointed ahead at the highway sign.

Sharon looked out the windows and saw that they were free. And suddenly it was like she finally remembered to breathe as she released all the pent up air that had gathered in her lungs in one quick swoosh.

"We did. We really did!" she cried as she leaned over to give Heather a side hug, patting the legs of each of the back passengers."Off to Grandpa's house we go!"

To be continued...

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Hi guys,

I hope you've enjoyed the story so far. As you have noticed, this doesn't follow my usual format of tying up all the loose ends, but that's because I'm writing this in an episodic format, and it will continue on in the next episode/story.

What do you think will happen on their journey to Grandpa's house? Will their romance blossom? Will Caroline make the trip more difficult because of the infection?

Only time will tell...