3 The Journey:

Next moring you awoke in a dusty old room feeling sick to your stomach. The bed next to you is cold. Sitting up and looking around realizing Lizzie wasnt in the room.

Heading downstair you hear a childs giggle and there she and Tommy sit while she draws. Dr.Ivin smiles at you and give you a protein bar for breakfest. "Good your awake. Once your done eatting we need to head out. Long drive back to Fort Howard. Theres a superstore on the way was gonna see if there was any way in so we can get supplies like Food, water, ammunition,change of clothes. Maybe a teddy bear." Tommy says the last part looking at Lizzie out the corner of his eye. She sat up and smiled excitedly. Madie smiled but also was concerned with a trip so in the open what trouble might bring. "Sure thats a good idea? Its so open? What if a herd comes?." She said putting the bar in her pocket.Not waiting for a reply. "Ill save it for later im ready to get out of here." She goes upstairs to grab Lizzies and her things they brought in. Dr.Ivin looks at Tommy and shrugs.

Once everyone was loaded up they headed back towards the compound. Madie seemed quite. More reserved. She was starting to open up and now shes sealed tight. "Anything on your mind?" You ask with caution. She didnt reply just stared out her passanger window. "Okay." Tommy mumbles and turns the radio on to see if there is any transmitions or signal anywhere.

NEXT 3 HOURS:

Was pretty quite. Pulling into the Superstore parking lot it was almost to quite. The front doors were easy to unlock. No alarm was set which meant there were more people here probably. The store was brightly lite. Must be a backup generator. Smells like bleach."Everyone stick close grab what we need and leave." Tommy said. Everyone nodded.

they grabbed a cart and headed to the food section. loading only non perashables. Next Ammo and even a new gun for Dr.Ivin. He chose a shotgun. On the way to the pharmacy there was a loud female scream coming from the back. Everyone froze. "What was that?"Madie asked. "Stay here ill go check it out."Tommy said and then slowly made his way to the back. When he came around a corner he saw something to the left of him run into the stock room. He drew his gun out and walked slowly to the back. When entering it was too dark to see anything. Grabbing a flashlight by the door you shine it down one aisle after another. Then theres a rustle behind you. Right as you turn around you feel sharp pain and blood dripping down your scalp and neck before all you see is nothing.. Darkness.

"Where is he? He should be back now."Madie protests looking at Dr.Ivin and Lizzie. "I should go check it out."She continues. "My dear he wouldnt approve of that. You know him. He will be fine." Dr.Ivin says protesting. "Oh on the contrary none of you assholes are fine." Came a mans voice from behind Madie. whipping around to see a man 6'2 weighing around 180lbs. Madie pulled Lizzie behind her legs protectively. "How dare you come into my home.. Disrupt my fucking peace." The man said spitting alittle as he shouted. "We didnt know anyone was here. We just needed a few supplies. Ill take my husband and lea-"Before Madie could finish her sentence she was cut off by the man shooting his shotgun in the air. "Shut up bitch.. God all you women always opening your mouth when you weren't given premission.. Now put your weapons on the floor and slide them over to me.."He said looking at the little girl and smirking. "NOW!" He shouted looking back at Madie.

You all did as he said. He walked over to the Doctor and hit him in the head knocking him out instantly. Once Dr.Ivin was unconscious he was dragging him to the pharmacy and locking him in. While he was doing this Madie knelt down to Lizzie. "I need you to hide baby. Okay. i need you to run and hide.. I will find you i promise." Madie said hugging her. "Go run." she continued pointing her into a direction. The man noticed, Shouting for the little girl to stop. Then he pointed his gun at her. Madie shoved into him hard and started punching. She grabbed scissors from the counter and stabbed him in his right thigh. He screamed and hit her in the head several times causing her to black out.

2hours:

You awake with a splitting headache. Right eye hard to open. You see a heep in the middle of the room right infront of you. Soon realizing its Dr.Ivin unconscious still. Then to your left you see your husband chained to the floor bleeding from his forehead. Looking down you realize all your clothes except for your bra and panties have been torn off.

"Finally your all awake. The fun can begin." The man says smiling. "Just so you know when we find that little snot. We are gonna feed her to our monsters." He says kissing her on the mouth forcefully. Madie spits in his face to protest. Receiving a backhand from him. "Leave her the fuck alone. You wanna torture someone torture me tough guy." Tommy screams yanking on his chains. "Dont worry i will get to you after i show you how to tame this little bitch." He grabs you by the restrains and yanks you up and over his shoulder smacking your bare ass as he walks away with you. Once in the stock room he throws you down on a pile of wooden pallets and begins kicking you in the ribs and punching you. The next foot to come at you you grab and bite his calf hard drawing blood. "Bitch!" He snarled punching you in the head to get you off of him.

you see a screw driver and grab it, swinging it into the left thigh and kicking him in the balls then the face causing him to fall to the ground in agony. You start crawling away when he grabs you by the waist and slams you to the ground. With a loud smack to the concrete floor your head taking most of the blow, you look over to see Lizzie Hiding in one of the shelves watching. As she seen you smack against the floor she let out a shriek which in turned let the man know where she was hiding. He smiles and begins walking over to the shelf she is hiding in. " Found you." He said. His attention is completely off of Madie now. While he isn't paying any attention to her she gains enough strength to pull her self to her feet quickly and quietly. Finding a razor bladed box cutter and stabbing him right in the jugular. He turns to smack her but misses. "Fuck you." She said while stabbing deeper into his throat cause blood to spray everywhere including all over her face and chest. Seeing him collapse, Lizzie ran to Madie and hugged her tight. Madie wrapped her arms around the shaken little girl and hugged her making soothing "shhh." noises to ease her nerves.

All of a sudden there's a sound like a cage rattling, Coming from behind a wall of stock. You pick Lizzie up careful to not cover her in blood and head towards the noise with the same razor blade that ended this monsters life. When you move around the corner you see a woman with a shock collar on naked in a cage. One dim light above the cage. The woman looks terrified and starving to death. The cage is no bigger than a Large dog kennel. You set Lizzie down and walk over to the cage. "My name is Madie.. I am here to help you. That man the one who put you in here, He cant hurt you anymore." Madie puts her hand to the cage door and unlocks it. It takes a moment for the woman to actually realize this isn't a trick. "There is a Doctor and my husband Tommy out there. We need to get them and get out of here. Is there anyone else here?" Madie Continued pulling her by the hand gently out of the cage and back over to Lizzie. "No. Just me and that man.. There were others but..." The woman's eyes begin to tear up. "Come on. Your safe now." Madie says wrapping the woman in a blanket and an arm around her to give her some comfort.

Tommy was getting restless. He couldn't hear or really see where they had gone. He kept trying to break the chains. and Looking for ways to get them off. "Dr.Ivin wake up.. I need you to wake up." He kept trying to get Dr.Ivin conscious It seemed nearly impossible. He was afraid for the worst.

Tommy slumped down realizing the only way to get free is to break his thumbs to slip out of the chains. Right as he was about to, he sees people walking from the back out them. Its Madie, Lizzie, and another woman. He sighs in relief and horror at the sight of his wife blood soaked and practically naked, and beaten.

Finding the keys to release Tommy, Then bolt cutters to release the woman from the shock collar. Once everyone was up and moving again, Including the Doctor Madie and the other woman went to clean up. Lizzie stayed with the Doctor. Tommy went to the pharmacy to find some bandages and clean himself up.

"Alice." The Woman said in the bathroom looking at the running water in the sink. Madie looked at her then back to the sink. "Hello Alice." She said smiling at her. "Thank you.. For saving me.. For the kindness. Even before all this I never had someone show me compassion like that." Alice said smiling back at her. With that Madie felt a ping of Sadness for her. It didn't take much to know she was mistreated. Hell that's an understatement. She was a fucking slave for that bastard and judging by the scares, was mistreated way before this nightmare started she was someone else's punching bag.

Once everyone was cleaned up and packed up they all headed out of this hell hole and in the direction of the fort. They have enough supplies only thing they will need is gas and then they would be to there.

4Hours later:

Madie was driving and Tommy was in the passenger seat. Dr.Ivin believed Tommy to have a concussion so Madie wouldn't let him drive yet. Madie was quite and it was driving him nuts. He needed to know what had happened to her in there. With that man. He needed to know if.. If he had done the unthinkable to her. Tommy went to grab her free hand and then froze. Madie saw and grabbed his hand letting him know she was fine but that he didn't need to fear touching her. She looked at him.

" Nothing happened other than for being beaten. I was lucky.. Alice on the other hand..." Madie stopped flashing back to her in the kennel. "There are things far worse than those Flesh eating monsters out there.. And they are normal everyday people. Except now they don't have to hide from the world. Its a free for all.. I was so scared when he found Lizzie I couldn't let him touch her.. The way he looked at her." She continued squeezing his hand. Tommy squeezed hers back to bring her back to him. "You saved her baby.. You saved them both." He said kissing her hand. "For the first time in a long time it felt natural. Felt like we were getting close again even with all this chaos." Madie though to herself.

They all decided to stop on the highway instead of an abandoned building. They wanted to stay away from places like that after everything they experienced. Lizzie was asleep in the first back seat. All the Adults were sitting on or around the tailgate of the Hummer. Alice seemed care free. Less worried about being attacked. She was smiling and talking. "So Alice tell us some about yourself. Who were you before all this?" Madie asked smiling. Alice froze for a moment. Looking at all of them and then down. "I was a Secretary for a Lawyer Maxwell Gates. I lived in Illinois for most of my life and even went to a university to become a lawyer myself. I went to Illinois Tech but.. I dropped out and became a lawyers secretary. I was married. His name was Mitch. He promised all the world had to offer. But then like most do He became a devil. He use to come home in these fits and he would beat me for an hour straight it seemed most days. He was bitten though. After this all started I met a few good people wanting to help me or willing to. I'm a city girl I know nothing about guns or survival." She stopped and looked at her hands. Tears forming in her eyes.

"That damn superstore.. It was me and two other women and one man. All we needed was a few supplies. And that horrible man.. He-" She sobbed shaking. " I didn't want to lure you away from your group he said if I did he would let me go." She continued putting her hands and her head In her lap sobbing uncontrollably. Madie got up and went to her. "You didn't know.. How could you have known. We don't blame you at all." She said grabbing her chin and embracing her in a hug. "Come lets get you some rest." Madie continued as she picked her up. "Tomorrow we will be close to Fort Howard and by the end of the day safe in the compound." Tommy looked at Madie as she said that and started loading up. "What are you doing?" Dr.Ivin asked. "I'm getting us to Fort Howard now." Tommy said shutting the tailgate quietly to not wake Lizzie.

7 Hours later:

Madie woke up in the Passenger seat. She saw Tommy was driving. She smiled then looked at the time. It was 8:00am. "Hey.. You been driving all night?" She asked concerned.

"Yeah.. After last night what Alice said. And what almost happened to you.. I. We all needed to be at the compound sooner rather than later." He said clenching the steering wheel tight.

Madie sat up. "Hey.. Let me take over driving. Take a rest. We will be there in a couple hours right?" She asked rubbing his neck seeing and feeling him physically relax at her touch.

"Two hours we will be there. I can finish up." He said looking at her briefly. "No rest now. The boys I am sure will need you when we get there. You'll be no good exhausted. I'll finish up here." She smiled at him knowing she made a valid point. He pulled over to the side of the road and did as she requested.

When the car started moving it didn't take long for him to fall asleep. His head was still hurting from yesterday. For the first time in awhile he felt relaxed. Soon they would be at the Fort and all would almost feel right in the world for once..