Chloe was running wildly. All the infected in the area seemed to have honed in on her presence. The more I listened, the more I heard her screaming for help, ironically making the situation worse. She was over half the property away from me with over a dozen infected between me and her.

Leave her.

I turned towards the car, my hand on the driver's side door.

But I couldn't do that. That would make me a horrible person and I cared for Chloe. I reached in and turned the engine off, but left the keys in the ignition. The last thing I need would be for them to slip out of my pocket. I had roughly ten bullets left in my gun and one extra clip that we had found, loaded in my backpack. I fished it out and stuffed it into my pocket.

The door slammed louder than I hoped it would have when I shut it, drawing some attention. I started my jog towards Chloe's location, using the less populated path. Luckily most of the infected's backs were facing me, all intent on getting to the screaming girl.

I wanted to yell at her to stop screaming, but then the attention would be focused on me and make this rescue attempt harder. Dodging the grabbing arms and confused infected, I managed to gain some ground. I really wanted to avoid using my gun until I absolutely had to, the noise would draw them to me like moths to a flame. I was too focused on in front of me that I didn't see the one bounding towards me from the side.

We were knocked down from the collision and I rolled away as soon as I felt the grass on my skin. A badly decayed hand wrapped around my ankle, using me as leverage to pull its emaciated form closer. I tried to dislodge it by wiggling my foot, but it was on their good.

Seeing no other option, I pulled out my gun and shot it between the eyes. Well it was more like in the upper left corner of the forehead, but it worked all the same. Dark, viscous blood sprayed onto my leg and I grimaced. The body went lax and I was able to pull my leg free.

All red and milky eyes were on me. I had just rung the dinner bell with that shot. It appeared I had also got Chloe's attention, who was now sprinting towards me. Into the horde. Shit. I gained some speed and started to shove over all of the nearest infected, knowing I would have more success with that, than with my gun at the moment. I felt like a quarterback running the football in for a touchdown. I hated sports.

"Bailey!" Chloe screamed my name.

I reached her in the middle of the chaos. She latched onto me and I had to pry her off.

"Come on."

With her hand in mine, I lead us around the infected. Steering her away from the relentless bodies, I was forced to pull out my gun. The gunfire had formed into a continuous popping succession. Bodies were dropping, but it looked like I had used all the bullets. Then more gunfire sounded off into the distance.

Chloe looked at me, us both knowing that came from one of our group. I elbowed a pre-teen infected out of the way and they flopped against the trunk of the car, bouncing right back up.

"Get in the driver's door!" I yelled out of breath.

Chloe didn't have to be told twice as she opened the door and scrambled into the next seat. The infected that I had elbowed was by no means done. I swiped out my left leg, hitting it behind the knee. It fell back against the car again, sliding down this time, its arms flailing in the air. It reminded me of when a cartoon character would dramatically slip on a banana peel.

I hurried in after her and slammed my door behind me. Hands were groping on the sides, looking to get it. The rest were heading right for us.

"Go!" Chloe's high pitch scream made my temples throb.

I turned the key and the engine roared to life.

"Seatbelt!"

Chloe quickly strapped in and so did I, right before I hit reverse. The tires spun up dirt for a second before we actually started to move. The infected that had started to lean on the sides, suddenly found themselves sprawled out on the dirt path as we backed up. I had my head craned to look out the back window, once I found a patch clear of infected, I turned the car around.

Now we were facing the open gate and numerous infected. I punched the accelerator and played yet another round of dodge-the-things-in-the-way. The seat belt was twisted in Chloe's grip as she held the scratchy fabric between her small hands. Once we cleared the gate, I chanced another look back. None of our friends could be spotted, if they were still here. There was no way Ethan would have left without Chloe, so he must still be somewhere out in the woods looking for her.

Now I was torn. I hadn't seen him in the flesh, but Ethan was more than likely out there somewhere. We had heard that gun shot in the distance, but in all the confusion I had no idea even what direction it had come from. I had a choice to make. Did we go back and look for him? Or did I keep going with Chloe?

I wanted to scream at the unfairness of it all.

"Chloe, what were you doing out there by yourself?" I asked, once I urge to scream passed.

"I wanted to see where John kept goin'," she said in a small voice.

"So you followed him out there?"

She nodded.

"Did you see anyone else?"

She shook her head and started to sob,

"Ethan's got to be back there. We have to go back!"

Tears were running down her face and she was starting to get those heaving breaths that accompanied crying.

I had made my decision, "We can't go back Chloe. If we go any further out we will just get bogged down with the infected."

I knew her next move before she even had time to think it through clearly. Her hand reached for the door handle and I quickly hit the childproof lock button. She rattled the door all while crying profusely.

"Let me out! I have to go back for him!" She wailed and then turned on me full force.

Her little fists wouldn't do much damage, but I was swerving the car all over trying to subdue her.

"Chloe! Settle down!" I yelled, in the most adult voice I could muster.

She wasn't stopping so I shoved her back into her seat, not hard mind you. Chloe blinked at me, surprised that I had done that, and then started bawling again. I felt like an asshole, but she needed to settle down. I was having a hard enough time driving in this as it was. The right turn was up ahead and the herd had thinned out, the majority of them surrounded the cabin.

"Chloe, I know you're mad, but I need you to answer me. Did you see who took the truck?"

She sniffed and took in some short breaths, "I dunno, I never saw the truck leave."

Damn. My best guess was that Zoe and Darren were driving to who knows where, while John and Ethan were out in the woods. Ethan must have realized Chloe had sneaked away and went after her, probably getting trapped in the horde. And for all I knew, John had walked right into them, depressed about Taylor.

I had to stop this train of thought; it was making things even harder. It was like when you heard a noise in the middle of the night and your mind immediately began picturing all the horrible things that could be waiting for you outside of your blankets.

Speculating wasn't helping; I needed to get us to safety. I now had someone other than myself to look out for. I was responsible for another human being; that knowledge was daunting and hit me like a ton of bricks. Goddamn them for not watching her closer. I smacked the steering wheel yet again, and Chloe flinched at my outburst. Again, I felt like an ass.

"I'm getting us out of here," I announced, more for my sake. I felt like I needed to convince myself.

The main road that lead back to the highway was peppered with infected, but nowhere near as saturated as the cabin had been. I had apparently done an appalling job on my perimeter run. Maybe if hadn't left, things would have turned out differently. Maybe we would have all escaped together. Was this my fault? Guilt was gnawing away inside me, like a parasite eating its way out.

We were flung to the left as I swerved around the remnants of a tall, male infected, who dove out in front of the car. I peered at the gas needle; it was sitting at half a tank. I wasn't sure how long it would last, especially with the crazy driving I had to do. Nor did I have any idea where I was going, so I was just burning gas until a plan formed itself.

Chloe had stopped her crying and was peering out the window. I slowed the car and eventually stopped.

Chloe turned to me, "Why did ya stop? Are we going back?" Her voice was laced with a lethal dose of hope, making my next words even harder.

"No, we're going to find somewhere to hold up until I can figure out what to do. If we go back into that, we probably won't get back out. Did anyone ever mention a muster point?"

"A what?"

"Like a meet up place if we were to get separated?"

No one had said anything to me, but maybe Chloe heard someone talking about going somewhere else.

"No." She wore a look of intense concentration. "Wait, I forgot. When ya'll went on your supply run, we caught some words on the radio. The voice mentioned a safe place, we couldn't make it out too clearly, but I think they said somethin' like Hargrove?"

"Is that a town?"

"Dunno. It was real static-y."

I don't remember a town named Hargrove from the few times I glossed over the maps. Maybe it was a building? If it even was a safe haven.

"Did Zoe or Darren say anything about this Hargrove place?"

"Darren said it was probably a recordin'."

Then why hadn't we heard it before? There was no need to voice my doubt and get Chloe's hopes up. The sound of skin dragging along glass made me jump in my seat. I turned to see an infected with its jaw missing, banging at my window, like he was bumming for change. The tendons that once held his jaw were now dangling freely, resembling discolored spaghetti.

I fished into my pocket and pulled out my extra clip, replacing the empty one in my gun.

"Plug your ears," I commanded and Chloe fists balled around her ears.

With the window rolled down just enough for the muzzle of the gun, I pulled the trigger. The infected's head whipped back, the smell of rot wafted through the window opening, mixing with the gun powder scent. My ears were ringing from the shot, like someone was banging wind chimes in my head to a bad version of Beat It.

Chloe was mouthing something to me, but I had no idea what she was trying to say. It took a good minute before I realized she wasn't mouthing words, she was actually speaking them.

"That was loud." I heard around the bells in my head.

I nodded, not sure if I would be able to speak without making my temples explode in pain. I started the car again, not having any idea of what the hell I was doing. It was like being back in my first year of college all over again, except I had others to care about besides myself this time around.