"Zoe is my friend too. There's no way I'm not goin'," Ethan said firmly the next morning.

We were standing outside by the cube van. The sun was barely up in the sky and the air was just a little chilly. Back home this would have been considered summer weather, but in Louisiana, this was cold.

"Ethan, you're still injured," I said.

"So are you!" He pointed to my leg.

To be honest, I had completely forgotten about being shot-well, grazed. Between the events at Hargrove, worrying about Zoe and her rescue, and having to find food or risk starving, I had paid no attention to my physical condition. The truth was that I was tired and hurt pretty much everywhere. Once I get Zoe back, I will be locking myself in one of the hotel rooms and sleeping for days. Until then, I couldn't afford to "take it easy." I scowled at Ethan for bringing it up.

"Plus, Crystal said I was fine," he added.

Crystal was with us, her arms crossed. "That's not what I said. I said that you are more than likely okay if you're still standing today. That doesn't mean you should run off and go to war." Sheri was nodding in agreement, but it was kind of hypocritical of her. She didn't take as easy as she should have when she got shot in the kidney.

The thought of Ethan coming with us made me nervous, but I couldn't stop him. If I were in his shoes-hell, I have been-I would have insisted on going as well. My wounds were physical, his extended past that into the brain with his concussion.

I bit at my lip again for the hundredth time this morning. John had already added to my stress when I had explained the flimsy plan to him last night by voicing his extreme concern. I had asked him how his plan to rescue me from the hospital was any different and he gave me that disappointed parent look. But I had been right. Only the two of them had come after me when Wyatt had spilled the beans about where I had been taken. For all they knew, Wyatt was lying-exactly what John had accused Lucas of.

This siege would be different. We would have more people coming along. Myself, John, Lucas, Rose, Leo, Sheri, and now Ethan, made seven. I was no idiot. I knew it was going to be dangerous as we were not only dealing with infected. There was an armed militia out there of really bad men. But that was precisely why I couldn't just leave Zoe to them. It would be easy to cut my losses and count her for dead, but that was one thing I couldn't do. John hadn't done that to me and I won't do that to Zoe.

Colin interrupted by inner pep-talk. "I want to go too. Zoe was hot."

I rolled my eyes. "You sure as hell aren't coming."

"I survived by myself all that time, you really think I can't handle this?" He was actually angry.

"You can barely stay awake!" I said, then immediately regretted my words.

"Plus you're a kid," Roses added some dirt to the wound.

"Screw you guys," Colin said through clenched teeth. He stormed off, forcing people to move out of his way.

We already had Ethan to worry about, I sure as hell wasn't taking another person who would be more of a liability than an asset. And it really wouldn't be good for him. I didn't know how much time he had left and I didn't want to be responsible for cutting it even shorter. Selfish, I know. But a person can only deal with so much at once. One thing at a time.

"You think the kid will listen?" Rose asked.

"I don't know," I said. I starting biting at my lips again. At this rate, they were going to be shredded to bits.

"We should get movin'," Johns said.

Everyone had a weapon. John even hesitantly gave a pistol to Lucas. The look he gave Lucas as he handed over the gun conveyed that should Lucas try anything, John would kill him. It was a chilling look that I wasn't accustomed to seeing on John's face. Lucas quickly placed the pistol in his waistband, still opting for the crowbar at his side. I was given an AR15 and a metal bat in addition to my Beretta. I shuffled from foot to foot. We were practically clearing out the guns and ammo, leaving the others with very little.

Henry and his sidekick had a shotgun and another automatic gun between them and a few more handguns were given to those old enough and skilled enough to carry. We were putting them in danger by leaving-and taking most of the weapons to boot. It made me more nervous thinking that Chloe and Amanda would be left here, but Crystal ensured me that she would look after them with her life.

Chloe was hanging onto Ethan, afraid to let him go. She kept glancing between Ethan and I, like a confused puppy. She was no idiot. She knew something had changed between Ethan and I; she just didn't know what. When she spotted me looking, she unlatched from Ethan who was currently exchanging some words with John, and came over to me, her face downcast.

When she finally reached me, she looked up. There were tears in her eyes. I kneeled down and placed a hand on her shoulder. "What's up with you?"

She looked over at Ethan before answering. "I don't want him to go. I don't want you to go." Her voice was barely loud enough that I could hear.

"Chloe," I said. "We have to get Zoe back." I didn't want to scare here with the details.

"But those men are dangerous!" she said with a few tears crawling down her cheek. "And Ethan is still injured. And so are you."

I couldn't blame her for being worried-I was.

"I promise to look after him. I did last time, didn't I?"

Chloe nodded remembering my promise to watch out for Ethan when we left the cabin for the first time.

"But you two are fightin'," she muttered.

"Family fights every now and then. It's just how it goes. Doesn't mean I'll let him do anything stupid."

"Family ..." she trailed off. "Is that what we are now?"

"Of course." I ruffled her hair lightly.

She didn't glare at me this time for doing it. Instead, she lunged at me and wrapped me in a big hug. My eyes stung from unshed tears. I didn't want to start the waterworks before we left. We clung to each other until I had to finally push her away gently.

"Ever heard of a comb?" I said, referring to the mess I'd made of her hair.

She gave me her signature glare and patted down her locks.

"You ready to go?" John asked.

During my exchange with Chloe he must have wandered over. Chloe took off back to Ethan.

"Yep."

Our extra supplies where secured into the bed of the truck we were taking, while the seven of us worked out the truck cab logistics. John would be driving, but Lucas would also be upfront to give the directions. And of course, I would be in the middle of the two. Leo, Rose, Sheri, and Ethan would be sharing the back-bench seat. Leo and Ethan chose the ends while Sheri and Rose were stuck in the middle.

Sheri was the wildcard. The only time I had ever been out of Hargrove with her was for the gun training and she had gotten shot, so I didn't know how she would handle herself. She took the gunshot like a champ though, which was reassuring.

Once we all crammed in, Henry opened the gate for us. John lurched the truck forward and we were off. I was already uncomfortable sitting in the middle. Thankfully this was an older truck so it didn't have the center console like the newer ones did. And even better, this one was an automatic with the gear shift on the steering column. No awkward reaching near my legs. Not that there was room to. My AR15 and bat were sitting between my legs and John's automatic rifle was resting against the side of my left leg.

I snuck a peek at Lucas. He had the map out, but didn't seem to be looking at it. I had a feeling he knew his way around and was only using it as a prop. I wondered how his shoulder was doing. As much as I hated to admit it, we needed him in top shape. He was useful. Until he's not. I gave my head a shake to dispel my thoughts.

"Take a left on this right," Lucas said when we came to the end of the warehouse district.

"Should I be lookin' for anythin' in particular?" John asked.

"Anythin' that says I10," Lucas answered.

John was pretty good at avoiding infected. I was glad he had drove rather than Lucas. He would be more cautious. It turns out, the east warehouse district we were in was relatively close to the interstate, which made sense. It would be easier for the trucks carrying cargo.

"Take a right here on the 610," Lucas instructed.

We continued down the multilane interstate. After a bit, we came up to an area surrounded by green and ancient trees.

"What is this?" I asked.

I could see the tops of huge oak trees. It looked like a nature reserve.

"City park," Lucas said like it was no big deal.

"In the middle of the city?"

"We're not in the middle of the city, more like north."

There went my confidence in my directional abilities. Everyone stuck their noises to the windows to watch the beautiful green life pass by. It was like I was transported back to the cabin. We had traded in a cement jungle for a real one. Then as quickly as we had spotted it, the vibrant green was gone, sending us back to our modern landscape-the barren interstate.

"Just keep goin' straight. This road merges into the I10," Lucas said when he noticed John scrutinizing the signs.

For a while, we couldn't see anything past the interstate noise barriers. Tops of houses every now and again, but mostly just cement. Anytime there was an overpass the road got more congested. There were multiple lanes, yet we still had to squeeze the truck around the blockage.

John took us through a rather small opening. My teeth clenched as the sound of metal scrapping reaching my ears. The passenger mirror flew off, but John kept going until we were clear of the traffic jam.

After another ten minutes, I asked, "Are we still in New Orleans?"

"The very west part of it. Should be comin' up to the airport soon," Lucas said.

He was right. First there were signs telling us the airport was near, then we spotted the telltale air-traffic control towers in the distance on our left.

"Ho-ly shit," John said absently. He slowed the truck to a crawl.

I pushed myself up in the seat and craned my neck to see what he was looking at out his window. Planted face first into the ground was the remnants of a huge passenger plane. It had missed the runway by a wide birth. Debris was everywhere, it even looked like it had reached the interstate. Half burnt seats and suitcases littered the area.

"John!" Sheri screamed.

John slammed on the breaks. We came to stop a foot away from the back of another vehicle. Everyone sat still for a second. At the speed he was going, we wouldn't have damaged the truck much, but every little bit counted.

"Sorry 'bout that," John said sheepishly.

We had all been gawking, so no one could blame him.

"Looks like we can't squeeze through this one," Lucas said. "We need to clear a path."