As night slowly crept on us, I laid down on top of my jacket that I set as a pallet on the floor, staring at the ceiling while Bre had laid right next to me on top of her jacket. We both couldn't sleep thanks to the undead moaning and groaning outside.

      "Hey Aurei?" She chirps, breaking the silence. I rip my gaze off the ceiling and focused it on Bre.

      "Yeah?" I answer. My voice is tone deaf like my sister's, a lot of people I know would say I look and sound like her.

      My mom always said that I had eyes that could kill, I'm pretty sure that's just a silly metaphor...well....I hope it is.

      "What if there was a cure?" She asks me. I've wondered that myself from time to time but I keep reminding myself: if there was a cure, it wouldn't have been like this for so long. Bre rested her arms behind her head.

      That's completely impossible. If there was a cure....things would be a bigger mess now. But there is no cure. None.

      Especially since the roamers took over the world. Dead remains dead and whoever lives just lives.

      I could care less about civilization or the government, they didn't really handle this situation the best they could.

      Even though I miss the good things that we used to have before the fever broke out...

      "We wouldn't be in this position right now." I respond honestly, having my arms folded behind my head, imitating Bre.

      "I would have my sister and my mom..." I went on, "And I would still be nicer.

      Bre grows silent, she sighed sadly.

      Bre had always been the inquisitive one, I think it's because of the trauma she went through in her past. It was always what if or we should when it comes to her. Unlike me, Bre has more of a imagination.

      She had the eyes that would question you, she could smell bullshit from a mile away if she felt that you were going to harm her. That's when she questions you silently...and whenever she jumps to conclusions, most of the time she's spot on.

      And I'm glad to have her as an ally...and a friend. God knows where my sanity could've went if I hadn't met Bre.

      "Aurei...how come you're so cold?" She asks me, a bit of pain in her voice. I look at her eyes, I was only focused on surviving...making it to actually regard my own feelings, my feelings are irrelevant to these certain situations.

      "A lot of bad things happened to me." I confess.

       Bre reaches over, poking my arm.  "Can you tell me?" She asks, her tone getting softer everytime she speaks.

      "I feel like we're drifting apart Aurei...you get so defensive when it comes to your family." She confided, her eyes glistened as the sounds of the undead grew a bit louder.

      "You can tell me anything y'know...remember that." She promised.

      I take a deep breath, it wouldn't be fair if I had kept secrets from her when she had been open to me.

      "I had to kill my sister." I said casually, looking her directly in the eye.

       Completely disturbed, her eyes widen, she sits up almost instantly. She looks down at me, trying to see whether or not I was joking.

      "She was bitten wasn't she?" Bre assumes, her voice getting a bit high pitched.

       I let out a deep breath, feeling my head rush. "Yeah I was fourteen when it all happened...I was looking for her...after this gang known as the Vipers had separated us....when I finally found her....it was too late."

      "I'm so sorry Aurei." Bre whispers.

      The last thing I need is to be pitied by my fellow companion. "Bre. Don't apologize for things you can't control." I say sharply.

       I close my eyes, feeling my chest rise as I exhale, "Her name was Avery." I continued.

      "She made me promise that I wouldn't lose myself." I explain.

      "That I would stay strong, mature, brave and kind..." I went on.

      "But..." I paused. "I'm not as nice as I used to be." I lamented, my trembling hands traveling their way to my shoulders, hugging myself. Everytime I talked about how I shot Avery, I relived that moment....that entire moment.

      The reason why I'm alive.

      Was gone.

      It's the fact that I have to navigate life without my sister-my own flesh and blood. I have to navigate my way through this hellish world knowing that I shot my own sister.

       Bre breaks me out of my guilty trance. "Hey...I won't let you change." She piped in, scooting herself closer beside me so that our shoulders were touching.

      "I'd kick your ass." She jokes with a light punch to my arm.

      I laugh a little, then I lay back down. Not a day goes by that I don't appreciate Bre for her crazy, sister like antics.

       I cough, trying to change the subject. "We should get some rest...we have to find another spot tomorrow morning." I suggested as I roll over to my side, my back now facing Bre

      "Yeah," Bre chirps. "We're wastin' daylight here." 

--

      I open my eyes to see the bright sun shining it's way through the barricaded and broken windows.

      Rising and stretching my arms, I look down to see that Bre was still sound asleep.

      I let a yawn escape my lips before getting up and traveling my way towards the bathroom.

       As I entered, all I could see was that the mirror was shattered, but I could still see my reflection. My dark  hair was in a low ponytail as usual, my hair was frizzy but it was longer...I would cut it whenever it had gotten too long. The bathroom is rather small, the tiled floor was chipped beneath my feet, the walls that were painted green were starting to chalk up.

       As I examine the mirror, I could see my dark brown eyes had grown a bit lighter...they always do that when it's around summertime.

      I raise my shirt, there were several scars that had came from my bullies back when I was eleven, when they tried to carve their names onto my stomach.

       "The scars were here for a purpose."

      Something my dad would always say....right about now...I wish he was here to watch me grow up. He wouldn't have let all of this stuff happen to me.

      I've survived...for four years I survived.

      That's usually an achievement...

      "Why didn't you wake me up?" I hear Bre ask from down the hallway.

       I gaze over my shoulder through the door I left open. "Thought you would appreciate a couple more hours of sleep." I lie, trying to hide the scars that were across my stomach.

       Bre finally joins me in the bathroom. "I'm good now, should we find a car?" Bre asks, she was all geared up and ready to leave.

       I shrug before walking back down the hallway to gather my things. "Yeah...if we can't find one, a bike would be suitable." I went on.

      Soon as we grabbed everything, we both meet at the front door that we barricaded yesterday.

      "Well...let's go." She says, gesturing her head at the door.

      Suddenly a bang ran our ears. It sounded like someone slamming a door to a car.

      Bre looks through the peephole of the door. Bre's eyes widen.

      Her body grew stiff.

      "Oh shit!" Bre hisses, crouching down before me.

      "What?" I ask, crouching along with her.

      "A group...they're coming this way." She whispers.

      My eyes widen, Bre and I start to creep away from the door. Our only outing will have to be the window down the hallway.

      "Check the place, don't forget the rules." I hear a muffled voice command.

      It's always a man. I glance over my shoulder at Bre who's mouth was covered by her own hand in shock, as if she's trying to steady her breathing.

      "Let's go." I mouthed to Bre.

      She nods and she follows me as I crawl down the hallway towards the window. I quickly stand up, slipping my fingers under the crevices of the window and pushing it up with all the strength I could muster.

      "Go first." I whisper over to Bre.

       Bre violently shakes her head. "My ass is waaay too big for that window..." Bre tries to protest but I sneak a glare her way.

      My heart beats harder as I hear the doorknob turn. They're coming in. They're going to get in. We need to get the hell out of here.

      "Shit! The door's locked!" I hear a man yell from outside.

      "Throw your weight on the door!" Another person commands. Suddenly there were loud thumps coming from the front door, the man must be doing as he's told.

      Bre draws in a deep breath before crawling out the window, right as she does that, the door swings open as a man tumbles inside with a small revolver in his hands.

      Before I can move he turns his head right down the hallway at me. I couldn't see him well since he isn't close, but he had black hair that was combed over to the side, a tall frame with a light brown leather jacket with nothing but black underneath.

      Suddenly....he lowers the gun. He mouths the word go to me.

      "Johnny! Do you see anything?" A young woman's voice asks.

      "No, all clear Angel." The boy who appears to be Johnny lied.

      I mouth a thank you to the young man and immediately climb out the window, Bre glares at me as my feet hit the grass, drawing the attention of several roamers nearby.

      "Let's bail." She hisses at me.

      I nod quickly then we start running the opposite way towards the woods....we're less likely to be seen there.

      We kept running, my legs ached, beads of sweat ran down my forehead and to my eyes, blurring my vision as my shirt became doused in more sweat. My calves felt like they were on fire as my lungs felt like they were being repeated squeezed.

      Every second passes and we keep going deeper into the woods, hearing the branches and twigs crumble beneath our feet as we run. Some of the trees scratched our clothes as we continued running.

      The tall maple trees had blocked some of the sun that had beat down on us for the past couple of minute and we slow down, stopping to catch our breath.

      "What...the hell....stopped you?" Bre asks between pants. Her hands rested on top of her thighs as she hunched over. Her top clung closer to her body due to the excessive sweat as her sily hair was now sweated out and frizzy, nothing compared to mine. Her skin was red thanks to the hot weather and being out in the sun.

      "A man saw me." I uttered out, clutching my ribcage as my lungs burned with every breath I struggled to take in.

      It took me only a millisecond just to recognize that we're in a clearing of the woods...and back out in the sun.

      "But...." I continue through panting. "He didn't rat me out....he told me to go..." I explain. Bre snaps her head up to look at me, her mouth hanging open while her eyes wide as saucers.

      "Well...he's a real gentleman isn't he?" She says between giggles.

       I ignore her. "No...but something tells me that the group wasn't so keen on strangers." I remind her and myself. That had to be true.

      "It's over now, let's find another road and go from there." Bre suggests, moving her sweaty bangs from her forehead.

      "Let's go to the river." Bre says as she gestures her head to what appears to be the middle of nowhere...

      I chuckle.

       I shake my head. "How did you know there was a river?" I ask with a wide smug smile.

       I look down to see a collection dead frogs, they led all the way up to several bushes at the end of the clearing. There had to be some river ahead.

      "Not so smart huh?" Bre asks wryly with a smirk. I roll my eyes before brushing past her.

      We begun to travel down the woods again, the sun begun to beat down on us.

      Bre stops all of a sudden to clutch her waist, I rush over to her and put my hand on her shoulder.

      She raises her head and nods at me. "I'm good." She reassured me with a big toothy smile. I'll question her about that later...

      I had my dagger out, walking through the woods once more with Bre, I could hear a fast current growing louder, we jog over to see a river behind a group of bushes. Perfect.

      "I'll be back." I say while pulling out a handkerchief Roxanne gave me since I got beat up a lot, I use the handkerchief to wipe the sweat off my forehead before putting it in my back pocket.

      It had a faded Native American pattern on it, I mostly use it to clean my dagger and to wrap around my face whenever I'm dealing with herds of roamers.

      Once I finally reached the river through the loads of bushes, I drop to my knees, peering down at the fish that were moving along with the fast current. The water sparkles as the sun shone.

      I could hear a faint rustle in the bushes, my gaze never broke from the river as Bre appears from behind me.  My eyes focus on my reflection, I never thought I would possess some of my own sister's features.

      I really do look like her.

      "Shall we camp here mistress?" Bre jokes, pretending to curtsey. I roll my eyes before ripping my gaze from the river.

      Right. We haven't had a good meal in days, this would be a good chance to catch some fish.

      I quickly stand up, dusting myself off as Bre purses her lips at me. By all means we'll have to find something to catch fish with. I begin to start off at the woods.

      "Where are you going?" Bre asks me from behind as I start sneaking off.

      "To find something to burn, you should keep an eye on the stuff." I answer her quietly but loud enough for her to hear.

      "Good thinking." Bre comments. I nod before walking off into the woods, I could hear Bre start off in the opposite direction.

      As I kept walking, my eyes wander around the ground, there was a trail of dead frogs. I begun to follow the trail, making sure that I also kept an eye out for bear traps. The birds lightly chirp in the distance as the twigs crunch beneath my feet.

      I quickly step back as my front toe hits something solid.

      There was a dark book before me, I hesitantly pick it up, opening it to the first page.

      There was nothing but dried crimson spots on it, but my eyes were focused on the messy words written in ink.

      Watch out for the Road Angels. They reject all apologies.

      Road Angels.

      That sounded like some sort of gang, I probably should hold on to this...just in case something happens later. Regardless of whether they are still running or not, they sounded like trouble.

      They're most likely dead by now, it is the apocalypse after all.

      But I had a bad vibe from these "Road Angels" already.