Remain

"Make sure your grip is firm. When that recoil hits it can create more problems," I directed as I assisted Andy in holding his handgun properly. "Align the sight and be ready. If you shake even the slightest, you'll miss your target."

Andy held the mm 19 in his shaky hands. His friend wasn't lying — he really doesn't know how to shoot a gun.

"How do you know all this stuff?"

I stared into his dark eyes for a moment before responding, "doesn't matter. Just be happy I'm teaching you and relax your shoulders or you'll never hit anything."

Truth is, I was always interested in guns but never had the time to practice my shooting skills. Vick taught me a lot of what I know now and it's probably saved my life more times than I can count on both hands.

Bang!

The shot narrowly missed the bottle that stood almost twenty feet away from us. It whizzed by and left the bottle standing proudly.

"Oh, c'mon. You can do better than that." I commented.

"No, I can't. John couldn't teach me so you sure as shit won't be able to."

I turned to him. "John? Is that the guy Vick killed?"

"Yeah —"

"Vick taught me how to shoot and we see who won that gunfight," I hissed back defensively. "Your shoulders can't be boxed. Relax them."

He turned to me with both shock and anger on his face.

"Shouldn't talk shit to a man with a gun."

I chortled. "You gonna use it? You can barely shoot the goddamn thing!"

Bang!

Within seconds, his sight was aligned with the gun and a bullet was sent through the air. The glass bottle that sat lone on the tree stump feet away from us exploded from the impact. Shards of glass now covered the ground.

"That's what I'm talking about!" I exclaimed, "I knew you had it in you!"

He immediately turned around to head back to Hillandale. As he wandered away, he made one last remark.

"Shouldn't talk shit to a man you just taught how to use a gun."

_

"I think we can stop tying him up at night now, Vick." I stated in a hushed voice. "We've done a lot for that man in the past couple weeks. He knows we'll kill him if he tries anything."

"You know how Courtney and Christie feel about us bringing strangers into this development. Do you know how badly others would want this place if they found out? The military barricaded and put down this fencing before they were chased out. This used to be a street, not a community."

I had a hunch this wasn't always a community. The street ran straight through and only part of it was fenced in. The homes we've been staying in are placed on a street named Hillandale.

"I know that, Vick — he's only one man and he's barely a man." I objected, "we can't keep him tied up like a prisoner."

"He's safe and that's one thing that can't go unappreciated in this world."

Vick was bent down tending to his homemade garden when Kara exited the home and approached us. She was dead set on Vick and walked quickly and assertively.

"Vick..." her voice trailed off. "We got a response on the radio."

What?

"Who?" I interrupted anxiously.

"I don't know who it is. They claim to be far away from here," Kara explained. "The catch is that they're claiming this place is going to be gone soon."

"This place?" Vick questioned curiously.

"They're saying that the major cities of this state and states around it will be bombed, starting with Cleveland, Dayton and Columbus."

"How would they know that?" I hissed, "no fucking way are we letting anyone run us out of here. Not after all the effort we've put into rebuilding this place."

"I don't believe it." Vick objected firmly, "but it's better off that we store some things to the side. Make sure the suburban has some extra food and water just incase. We should probably form an escape route."

"If we get bombed, we're not surviving. Flat out." I argued, "no escape route is needed. Going out there for such a thing would be dangerous."

"He said he's from the military. He was one of the ones that formed safe zones around here until he was warned about the bombings. They're claiming it's a cleansing process."

I scoffed. "Bombs won't get rid of the zombies —"

"It could be one of Andy's friends trying to scope this place out when we leave." Kara suggested skeptically, "we can't risk going out for long periods of time. We'll have to keep the scavenging trips short for awhile."

Vick planned, "We're going to head to the rv lot on the edge of the city. We'll have to prepare a small portable storage vehicle just to be on the safe side. If they bomb the place, they'll set sirens off a few hours before it goes off."

If this place was bombed, where would we go? We'd die out there.

"We can't leave Courtney and Christie here alone." I acknowledged firmly, "we'll have to leave someone back here just incase shit does go South."

"The walkie talkies I found in one of the Hillandale homes," Kara's eyes lit up. "We can use them to communicate with whoever stays back."

"We?" I questioned, cocking my head at Kara. "I think you should stay back, Kar. What if they are watching and they try something the minute we leave?"

"Oh, no," she objected. "There is no way in Hell you're leaving me here to babysit. Jake, I'm not letting you do this. Not without me."

Vick finally interrupted, "Andy can stay back."

We both turned our gazes to Vick who had his lips pressed tightly.

"Andy?" I questioned curiously. "Why? We could use him out there. I taught him how to shoot, I need to teach him how to fight —"

"Because I know Barry's girls won't let him out of their sight. That way he won't go running off and telling his people anything."

I added, "that's assuming he has people."

"You have to assume the worst." Vick argued, "set the walkie talkies up. We'll head out in an hour."

When the plan was explained to Christie and Courtney, as expected, Christie was skeptical.

"If I have to babysit the fucker, I'm tying him up." She hissed, "I don't trust him and I sure as hell won't let him roam free around my sister."

"You do what you have to do." Vick assured, "just don't hurt him. Not unless he tries to hurt you."

He shouldn't have to be tied up. He's proven he's on our side. We're basing our plans on a false pretense, a theory that he has people somewhere hiding out and watching us. I guess this is what needs to be done.

This is how the world is now.

_

On the Road

"Remember when we used to stay up all night, go to sleep at eight in the morning and wake up to your grandma making us breakfast sandwiches?" Kara reminisced lightheartedly. "No matter what time it was — even five in the afternoon."

I chuckled, "Oh I remember alright. I'll never forget those breakfast sandwiches."

"I could go for one right now. The cheese was always so melty."

My stomach grumbled in agreement. We've been laying off of the rations as much as possible incase we have to leave on a whim.

Vick added as he drove, "we still have some sausage patties in storage. Doesn't sound too bad. I expect one of you to throw 'em together now that you mentioned it."

All three of us chuckled. God, I miss those sandwiches.

Vick made a sharp right turn, parking near a fenced in lot containing the mobile homes we're in search of. "A'right, Jake. Remember you're the one driving the suburban back. I'll drive the rv, god willing."

As we got out of the car, I immediately noticed the lingerers inside of the lot. Not too many but enough.

"Watch the street, Kara. Make sure they're not comin' from any other angles." Vick directed as he scooped out the entrance to the lot. "I'm going to have to rattle this damned thing around."

Clink.. clink...

The gate rattled, attracting the nearby zombies on the other side of the fence. One infected woman approached, ankle and foot dragging on the ground behind her. She grabbed the fence in between us, shaking it and growling viciously.

I took aim and it worked. I stabbed her through the fence, sending her sailing to the ground.

"Try to get 'em while we have the barrier in between us." Vick advised, seemingly satisfied. "Good thinking, kid."

Kara stood nearby, eyeballing our surroundings for any visitors. More zombies revealed themselves from in between the motor homes on the other side of the fence. One infected man dragged himself on the ground in our direction. Another trudged from behind and Kara took care of him quickly.

She called out, "Any luck, Vick?"

Seconds later, Vick jumped up in celebration.

"Got it!"

"Go, go, go!" I rushed Kara inside before shutting the gate behind me.

Grrrgghhh.. grrrhhh..

More zombies. They approached from seemingly nowhere with some revealing themselves from underneath the mobile homes that surrounded us.

Whack! Whack!

Both Vick and I swung at the same time. I sent the infected woman sailing to the ground. Vick successfully put down the zombie man that approached us.

"Second round?" Vick called out questionably.

"What —"

I skimmed around to notice more zombies. At least four this time with more revealing themselves by the minute.

"Should we go?" I called out in a panicked tone.

"We can take 'em," Vick called back reassuringly.

Kara went in swinging and put down one before moving onto the next. They attempted to swarm her when Vick and I moved in for the kill.

We did it.

The small building had less zombies than the lot. Keyword: less. There was still quite a few of them lingering inside. Somehow, someway, Vick found the keys. When we picked out our ride, I became nervous once more.

"You gotta drive the suburban back. Handle her with care, a'right?"

I gulped. "Vick, I don't know. I haven't driven since everything started. The roads are filled with —"

He patted my shoulder. "You'll be fine, kid. I believe in you."

Before I knew it, I was driving Vick's suburban with Kara in the passenger seat.

"Feels weird, huh?" She questioned, finally breaking the stale silence between us. "We haven't been in a car just the two of us since we left the lover's retreat."

I huffed in agreement. "Driving just reminds me of what used to be here. The people, the events — the life that surrounded us."

She reached over to place her hand gently on my thigh. Her blue eyes held both sadness and understanding.

"There's still life, Jake. It matters now more than ever."

We drove by the outer edge of the city on the way back to Hillandale. It seemed as though the major cities just kept getting more infested with those monsters. They clogged up the streets in humongous groups with more heads than I could count.

If they do end up bombing the cities, I think I'd be happy to die knowing they're all gone too.

_

We approached the entrance of Hillandale and were surprised to find nobody watching the gates. I hopped out of the suburban to open them. As soon as the gate slid open, I noticed movement on the other side.

"Christie! What the Hell are you doing?" I shouted in panic.

She had Andy pinned to the ground. Her dark eyes were set on him as she pushed his face into the cement.

"He tried to get out! The fucker isn't with us, I told you!"

My gaze shifted to the seemingly shaken guy that was being pinned down. He immediately came to his own defense.

"She won't even let me go to the bathroom, man! Wouldn't even untie one of my hands to let me piss!"

I turned to Vick with a confused expression on my face.

"Let the boy piss, Christie! C'mon." Vick scolded harshly, "your dad would've wanted to help him the same way he helped us."

"Yeah, the fucking reason he died was because he doesn't know how to say no!" She argued, keeping Andy pinned on the pavement. "Well, guess what? I'm not stupid like him! I'm saying no."

She pressed the tip of her knife against the back of his neck. My eyes widened and I realized I have to do something.

"Christie, it wasn't our fault he died. It wasn't our fault Alex or Milo died — we weren't around when they got bitten. We just needed help and your dad gave it to us. What's it worth if we don't use that to help others?"

She shifted her firm gaze to mine, holding the tip of the knife against Andy's skin. Her grip tightened as she uttered her response.

"Nothing. In the end, none of us will remain regardless."