I rise from the bed, I felt way better than I have before....hell, anything with a mattress would've made me feel better than before.

Aurei's still sleeping, I sluggishly get out of the bed, walking out of the door to see Jeffrey quickly walking out of the bedroom down the hall, he locks the door then turns around.

"Oh...I didn't see you there." Jeffrey chirps, a grin beginning to grow along his lips, he had a small pistol in his hand. His eyes flickered towards my arm.

"Can you help me out?" Jeffrey whispers, sauntering closer to me, at least I didn't have much of a tense feeling like I did when Joe used to walk towards me. It's still hard to believe that all happened while we were locked in the house with our mother.

"Depends, what are we doing?" I ask, crossing my arms. Jeffrey rolls his eyes good-naturedly then he shrugs.

"Some of those lurkers are trying to get inside, I have to kill them off from time to time so there wouldn't be too much of them to handle." Jeffrey said, I raise my eyebrows, but before I can say anything Jeff cuts me off again.

"And we need to go hunting, for more campsites, we're around one of the places where people tried to wait for help...although it never came." Jeffrey adds.

I didn't know how to tell Aurei this, I couldn't...if I told her that there wasn't any help arriving she would lose all hope....it's best to keep it from her for now....

"Okay..." I said before walking back into the room where Aurei slept at and grabbed my revolver then walked back out and downstairs, Jeffrey nods at me before walking outside.

"Okay, I'll lead the lurkers away, you go towards those group of cars, holler if something happens." Jeffrey instructs before walking at the back of the house, I walk through the woods. Why of all places would they stay in a house near a failed hideout...where most people died?

I keep my gun within my grip, my eyes darting left and right through, walking past trees.

It felt like I was going through a endless maze, then I stop when I see old trucks, rustic cars all grouped up together, my heart sinks when I see a doll, and the tiny clothes were covered in dirt....a child was here....I look inside a car, to see a woman, her eyes wide open, the stench of rotten flesh invades my nose, flies resting on her face. She's dead. I look up to see a bullethole at the temple of her head.

I look down to see a little girl....the same fate happened to her, her clothes were now covered in dirt, her eyes closed, she was also rotting, and she had a large bite on her leg. I kneel down to close her eyes. No child deserved this...

I look at the SUV that had a spray painted sign along the doors:

God Foresakened Us.

I look away, then I peer inside to see nothing but blood stained on the seats and windows. I look down to see a switchblade, I pick it up, grazing my fingers along the blade.

I open the door to the car to find a sheet of paper, it looks like the handwriting of a little girl.

Dear Mommy.

Daddy said that it wasn't safe at home...William got bit by a person at the camp, if you're reading this...please come back soon! I love you!

I close my eyes. Our family wasn't the only one that was torn apart by the undead....

I turn around, walking back towards the house. I could feel the urge to scream, but I squeezed my hand on the blade harder, fighing the urge.

I walk through the neverending trees, past the poison oak and back towards the house. I creep along the grass, listening for roamers but instead I hear  a man's voice.

"Give me the key! Or will blow your fucking head off!" The stranger threatened. I could feel my palms growing hot, then I feel a hand reach across my mouth.

"You're next...if you don't give us the house." A voice that belonged to a woman coaxes, I could feel the raw anger grow inside me.

"No." I responded coldly.

"Then I'll kill you, it'll be quick because you're nothing but a weakling." The woman spat, I could feel her hot breath against my ear.

Are you sure about that?

I jerk my head back, hearing a grunt. The woman was pale, had light blonde hair, blue eyes and wore a huge cargo jacket, she clutches her nose, the blood rushing down her fingers, then she charges towards me with a shard of glass in her hand but I grab her by the collar, pinning her against the wooden house.

"Me and my partner will kill you." She said, I glare at her.

"Then he will rescue me, I will finish you off myself, then we will kill whoever remains in that house." She adds. I gave her the most stone cold stare that I gave when I first met Joe and his men.

She was going to kill Aurei and Lydia....then rob us...no way in hell am I gonna let that happen....

"And I'll enjoy every last second of it." She said with a sick smile on her face.

Before she could scream I clasp my hand over her mouth and got ready to use my switchblade, holding it by the handle so that the blade was pointing at the top of her head, then with one quick motion I stab her quickly, struggling to get it inside her skull but then it went in all the way, her eyes were still open.....

I did it without hesitation. She was going to kill me....although I know that I'm no hero.

The blood begun to pour down her head, I struggle to pull the blade out of her skull by grabbing a fistfull of her hair and flicking the blade over the grass. Everything would've been fine if she just surrendered and dropped the shard.

Although I'm not justifying my actions nor saying that this was right, she was going to kill me.

"Joanna! Did you find anyone?" The stranger asks.

"Please, I-I have a daughter!" I hear Jeffey plead, I creep alongside the house.

"I bet you would just stand there helplessly as I have my way with her wouldn't you?" The man asks sadistically....from that point on, he's a bad man....

I crept behind the man, he had a rifle pointed at Jeffrey who had tears in his eyes, with his hands up.

"Fuck this, I'm gonna kill you all-" Before the man could finish his sentence I stabbed through the back of his neck, Jeffrey's eyes widen, as the man gurgles, I stagger back, with my eyes wide. I know he was going to kill us but I already feel like some sort of monster.

He falls over, and the blood spills all over the grass, I'm a killer....a stone cold killer.....

"You didn't have to kill him Avery!" Jeffrey yells, I slowly nod.

"But he would've found a way to break inside, he mentioned violating Lydia, and he'll probably do the same to Aurei, do you want to take that risk?" I ask, knitting my eyebrows at Jeffrey, he nods.

"You're right...but we should at least bury him..." He said with a bit of sympathy in his voice.

"Jeffrey, I hope you know that I don't like to take lives...but you could tell he was a bad person..." I said, closing my eyes.

I have to watch myself...I don't want to become another Joe....in fact, I don't approve of killing innocent people at all....but these people were different....to me personally....even though I have doubts about killing those two.

"What if...he turns?" Jeffrey asks, turning to me with his eyes wide open.

"Just to be safe," I said, raising the shovel.

"Look away." I said, Jeffrey turns around, his hands on his hips and he'a looking up at the trees as I weild the shovel into the man's skull, the blood oozes out as I see his head crack, I put my foot on his chest to pull the shovel back out.

Then I begun digging, putting my foot onto the shovel to force it deeper into the ground, then I dump the dirt to the side.

"What happened to Joanna?" Jeffrey asks.

"I killed her also....she tried to kill me." I said, closing my eyes. I kept digging until the hole became five feet deep.

"Okay....I have spare blankets...we can wrap the bodies before burying them..." I suggest, Jeff nods before jogging back into the house. I moved towards another space to dig another hole.

What if Aurei overlooks it? What if I did teach her how to shoot and she shot the first person she sees? I didn't want that to be looked in a bad way....but then again, Aurei's smart; a fast thinker, someone would have to be pressing a gun to somebody's head or making convincing threats for her to shoot somebody....but I'll never know what she does....

And if I do become lost in some way, Aurei is capable of running away. And if Jeffrey and Lydia tag along with us, what would they think? Eventually they'll believe that I'm sort of threat then immediately kill me? Anything could happen....

I take a deep breath, then walked over to Joanna's corpse, dragging her by the feet beside the man. Jeffrey walks out with white blankets in his hands.

"Okay, I'll wrap the man.....you handle the woman." Jeffrey orders, I nod then kneel down to close Joanna's eyes.

I put her body on the sheet, wrapping her up and putting her down the hole, then begun burying her. I could feel the anger rising as her face is getting covered by dirt.

Soon as we finish burying the two raiders I walk back inside the house to see Lydia trying to overtalk Aurei.

"You don't care-" Lydia begun, but Aurei cuts her off quickly.

"Shut the hell up!" Aurei snaps, glaring at her.

"Now's not the time to be fighting, just stop....you're being a hypocrite." Aurei said, Lydia glares at her.

"Girls, stop bickering." I snap, Lydia storms off upstairs and into the bedroom on the right, with a loud slam.

"Avery, you're covered in blood...." Aurei trails, walking closer to me.

"We gotta talk...." I said weakly, Aurei puts a hand on my shoulder, giving me a small smile. Whenever I felt moody, Aurei just squeezes my shoulder and puts up with me.

"Bad news." Aurei quickly answers, then she follows me as I walk up the stairs....I felt like a killer....but what scares me the most is what I'm becoming.

Aurei closes the door behind us, then she crosses her arms, I take a deep breath.

"I killed two people today..." I said...being direct. Aurei closes her eyes and takes a deep breath.

"Why?" Aurei asks, knitting her eyebrows at me, I take another deep breath then she forms her lips into a straight line.

"One was a woman, she threatened to kill us all along with her partner. But I made sure that didn't happen, I feel like a killer." I admit, my heart beating slowly.

"She was smiling when I pinned her against the wall, saying that she would've enjoyed killing us...I overreacted...." I said, but Aurei glares at me.

"You're overthinking it, from the looks of it she was far too gone for this world, nobody who is human would smile when killing somebody." Aurei said as she curled her fingers into her arms.

"Another man was mentioning...having his way with you girls, for that, I had to kill him. Joking or not, I wasn't going to take that chance." I said, closing my eyes.

"Avery, stop it. That woman wasn't like that before....so you put her out of her misery, and the guy was clearly a bad man, so you did what you did." Aurei said, looking me straight in the eye.

"You're right, you're so smart." I praise, she shrugs with a small smile.

"I get that a lot from you Avery." Aurei said, then she hugs me.

"Okay...we both know I don't do sappiness Aurei." I joke, she rolls her eyes.

"Did you talk to Jeffrey about the plan?" Aurei asks, sitting on the bed.

"Not yet, I'll talk to him tomorrow." I said before walking over to the window and closing the blinds.