I rolled over for the millionth time tonight as the scene from earlier kept plaguing my mind. The problem wasn't that I missed, it was that I didn't. In fact my shot was dead on, which wiped the smirk off of Taylor's face. I remember the infected's head whipping back as a mass of discolored brain matter and blood sprayed out behind him. It was like someone had spit out a mouthful of Campbell's chunky soup. I was mixed up in what I should be feeling; I mean that guy was alive once, maybe he had a family who was still waiting for him to come home.

Was I technically a murderer? Were the infected even alive? I mean no living creature could survive with the amount of damage and decay that guy had.

"Stop rolling around so much," Zoe hissed from the other cot.

"Oh, I'm keeping you up? That's rich," I hissed back.

She mumbled something as she flipped away from me and I assumed it wasn't rated PG. Finally I gave up trying to sleep and decided to get some fresh air. I closed the front door quietly behind me and I was surprised to see Ethan sitting on the truck gate that was folded down. He glanced up at the sound of me approaching and relaxed when he saw it was me and not an infected.

"Can't sleep either?" He asked as I hopped up on to the gate.

"No, I keep thinking about that infected guy," I admitted.

"Me too," Ethan said back.

"You weren't there," I pointed out.

"No, I mean if one got here then how long before more show up?" He said back.

"Oh joy, now there's that to worry about," I sighed and I could see the corners of his mouth lift up.

"You upset 'bout shooting the thing?"

"Wouldn't you be?" I countered.

He seemed to think about it, "Probably."

"Very helpful," I muttered.

"It was bound to happen sooner or later," He shrugged, "And it will happen to the rest of us too."

"It's depressing," I said.

"Yeah it is but it's 'bout survival now so we gotta do what we gotta do," He said with conviction.

"But we live in a society that punishes those who kill, even those who kill in self defense are persecuted in a way," I said back.

"Society changes. It never used to be that way, look at western times compared to now," Ethan brought up a good point.

"Touché country boy, touché," I smirked.

"I did learn a few things down here in the south," He said exaggerating his southern accent with a grin, " 'Sides learning to suck the heads off crawfish."

"That sounds....dirty," I scrunched up my face and Ethan laughed.

"So you gunna be ok on our supply run tomorrow?" Ethan eyed me as I yawned.

"I'll be fine thanks," I said back.

"You can stay here with Zoe if ya want," He pressed.

Zoe had opted to stay here with Chloe and even though he put up a fuss about it, Darren reluctantly agreed to stay behind in case something happened. So our scavenging group consisted of Ethan, Taylor, John and I.

"Geez, you trying to get rid of me?" I eyed him back.

"Naw, just with what happened earlier I thought maybe you would want to," He shrugged.

"The last thing I want to do it sit here and think about it," I sighed, "Plus the more hands the better. We can bring back more that way."

Ethan nodded, not entirely believing me. Hell, I don't think I believed myself but I knew that sitting around here wasn't going to help and we really did need supplies since it looked like a rescue wasn't coming after all. Where was the military anyways? We hadn't seen or heard so much as a helicopter since the beginning of all this two months ago. It was hard to believe we were that screwed; there had to be some sort of military operation somewhere. Maybe we just had to go to them instead of waiting to be rescued. Lazy government.

We made small talk for another hour, staring at the blackened sky. The only illumination coming from the moon and the stars which you could see clear as day. An oxymoron, I know. I said goodnight and trudged back to my uncomfortable cot to try to sleep. That night I didn't dream of zombies but for the first time of my family back home.

We took our turns showering that morning, the lukewarm water was still better than no water. Chloe was quietly bristling in her loft. She was mad that Ethan was going without her and refused to talk to anyone. Zoe was trying to get her to say something but all it earned her was a glare so she gave up. I dumped out my backpack contents and filled it with water, some measly amounts of food and extra ammo. My second pistol was thrown in there, with the safety on, and the other one was secured to my belt; well it was mine now. John had the map spread out on the picnic table to try to route this thing out.

"Ok so our best bet isn't to go back into New Orleans but to hit up a town or city around it," John said, his fingers swiping across the arteries on the map, "I was thinking Gretna since it's on this side of the Mississippi River."

"What's the population like?" Darren questioned.

Even though he wasn't coming on the trip, he still wanted to be part of the planning.

"Decent size. We'll find lots of stores and houses to gather supplies from. There's even a police station we could check out," John answered, "But it's not so big that we would have a sea of infected to go through."

"Zombies," Chloe finally spoke.

"What?" Ethan asked her confused by her sudden word.

"Ya'll keep calling them infected but they're zombies," Chloe said exasperated.

Well she wasn't wrong; I guess we still felt stupid actually saying it out loud.

"Alright, we won't have as many zombies to worry about like we would in New Orleans," John reiterated.

"How far is it from here?" I asked.

"Two hours give or take, dependin' on what we come across," John said.

"How do you always know these things?" I asked, genuinely curious.

John chuckled, "I grew up here darlin', I know the area pretty well and have been readin' maps since before I was five."

Man I couldn't even tell you what direction I was facing at the moment; well at least not without a compass.

"I think we should take my truck," Ethan said, "Even though it's not as quiet as your car, it will carry more."

"Probably a good idea, just in case we run into a group of infected somewhere. Your truck will have a better chance of not getting caught in it," Taylor added and John nodded.

"Ya'll packed?" John looked around at all of us with our backpacks and gear on.

"Looks like it," Zoe said.

We tossed our bags into the back of the truck and tied them down with a tarp and cable ties, which we would need for when we bring all the supplies back. Chloe grabbed onto Ethan and wouldn't let go so he had to basically pry her off. Zoe came up to me and gave me a giant hug.

"Can't, breath," I squeaked out through her squeezing.

"Don't die ok?" She said to me.

"Well since you asked so nicely..." I grinned, "And same goes to you. Use your secret hillbilly skills if need be."

"I knew I shouldn't have told you about the gopher hunting," She shook her head.

Next Darren gave me an awkward, one armed hug,

"Please don't accidently shoot anyone."

"Hey, I've improved!" I said indignantly.

"Just saying," He shrugged and I resisted the urge to kick him in the shin.  

Ethan hopped into the driver's seat and John went into the passenger seat since he was the navigator. Which left Taylor and I to share the back, oh joy. I walked past Chloe and ruffled her hair,

"Don't be too big of a pain kid."

She grabbed my arm to stop me,

"Please take care of my brother."

Her face showed her concern for her brother and how scared she was to have him leave.

"Don't worry, I'll make sure he doesn't do anything stupid," I said, "I know how brothers get."

She smiled a little at that and nodded.

"And make sure you bring me back somethin' good," She added for good measure.

"Barbie's it is," I grinned at the horrified face she made and hopped into the back before she could yell at me.

Ethan gave me a questioning look as I jumped in but I just shrugged in response. With one last wave goodbye, we were off. The sight of the three standing at the top of the dirt driveway slowly faded as we sped away. The bright morning sun shone through the windshield as we headed towards the I-90. We had decided to try out the interstate first because it would be the fastest route but if it was too clogged, we would opt for a detour. John already had a few back up plans up his sleeve.

The overpass we used to get onto the interstate was clear, which I took as a good sign. The road was clear up until we hit more populated areas; that's when the exit ramps became clogged with abandoned vehicles. Some cars had been left on the side of the road, some even in the middle of the road. Since the interstate was multi-lane we were able to get around the parked cars with no problem. As we slowly passed those stopped vehicles we got a better look.

Some were just left, with their doors hanging wide open while others had long dried blood smeared up the windows. An infected, sorry a zombie, launched itself from the inside of a Kia against the drivers passenger window. This surprised us all and I jumped back from the window instinctively, right into Taylor.

"You know he's stuck in there right?" Taylor said as he rubbed his side where I accidently elbowed him when I made my hasty retreat.

"Still, it jumped out of nowhere!" I said back, easing myself into my own seat once again.

The rest of the drive was virtually quiet except for any directions John gave. We passed a few straggling infected, which stumbled after us as we passed. They weren't very fast, it seemed like they couldn't even run and most were in a state of major decay. Their clothes hung off them in tattered rags and all had discolored, scaly skin. One that used to be a woman; at least I thought it was a woman because of the long stringy hair dangling from its scalp, was even missing a major portion of its arm. No blood poured from the wound as she wagged her stub back and forth in an attempt to gain speed to chase us.

I know we were still a ways from Gretna but I saw a sign that beaconed in the distance. It was no longer lit up but I could see it in perfect in late morning light. Wal-Mart.

"Guys, I think we might not even have to go to Gretna," I said as I pointed out the giant, warehouse looking building.

Ethan stopped the truck as he spotted the far away red writing. We all looked at each other and John finally said,

"Best place as any."

"Which exit should I take?" Ethan asked.

"The one labelled Harvey," John said as his eyes scanned one of his maps, "That's the town it's in."

We slowly drove up to the one signed Harvey only to see that an old Dodge was blocking the entrance.

"Come one Taylor, let's push it outta the way," John said as he unbuckled himself from the front seat.

We peered out all the windows to see if they would make it un-noticed but a few of our groupies were still hanging on and closing in on the parked truck.

"You got your huntin' knife?" Ethan turned to me and I gulped.

"Yeah."

"Alright, Bailey and I will take those three out while you two push the truck outta the way," Ethan rattled off and before I could voice my unease, everyone vacated the vehicle.

As soon as my feet hit the pavement I unsheathed my hunting knife that was strapped to my belt and followed Ethan who had a machete now gripped in his hand. I kind of wish I had brought a bat or something else with length so I didn't have to get so close. I saw Ethan hesitate as the first one approached him with its arms outstretched and it let out a loud groan. His adam-apple bobbed as he swallowed and Ethan launched himself at the infected.

The machete came down hard on the zombie's head and embedded itself deep inside its skull. The thing dropped like a stone and took Ethan's weapon with it. He placed his boot on the infected's head and heaved the blade free with a sick, suctioning sound. After waving the serrated blade around to clear it of the muddy blood, he looked at the other two closing in. Well I wasn't being much help just standing here terrified so I approached the next one. Ethan took the one of the left which meant the one on the right was mine.

I saw the infected's teeth clang together in anticipation as it neared me. It once was a teen girl. Too bad she wasn't wearing a Justin Bieber shirt; maybe I would feel better about this. My blood pumped faster and faster the closer she got and I wrinkled my nose at the smell, which was awful by the way. I opted to not let her get to close so I swiped my leg underneath both of hers and she hit the cement hard. Unfortunately it didn't faze her but it bought me time to kneel and bring my knife down into her left temple. The decaying skull gave way to the sharpened blade extremely easily, her movements ceased and her flailing arms dropped beside her.

I sat for a few seconds just staring at the aluminium handle sticking out of her skull. I had just taken out one of the zombies but I felt no better for it, in fact I had the distinct urge to vomit. I breathed through my mouth to avoid the smell and further my need to throw up. Once I centered myself, I wrapped my hands around the hilt and pulled. The blade slipped out of her head slowly at first, then completely dislodged with nasty wet sound. I took a bunch of steps backwards with the bloody knife still in my hands. I saw Ethan motion for me to head back to the truck, the body of the other infected down by his feet.

"You ok?" He asked, his own voice a little shaky.

I nodded in response not wanting to say anything. I heard the Dodge hit the meridian and the sound of metal scrapping against concrete rang out in the eerie silence. John and Taylor ran back to the waiting truck panting,

"We should probably get movin' before more come 'cause of the noise."