Switching Safehouses

Night had fallen, everyone was asleep except for Greg. He had been keeping watch outside for a while, making sure none of those infected freaks were near the house. They weren't, but, the growling and the sound of teeth chewing on flesh grew louder every day.

He decided to head back in, since nothing was in sight. He heard a few guns fire off some bullets and the growling get somewhat weaker, but, it wasn't close enough for him to be worried. He sat down on the couch and looked at a pocket watch he kept on him. "Two more hours," he whispered as he watched the windows. The silence grew louder on him, and all he could think about was what he lost. 'Mom, Dad, Jason, Brandon, Aidan.' He shed tears.

Jay slowly woke up, hearing Greg cry. She walked out to where he was, watching him. 'Whats happened to him?' He sat by him. "Greg?"

He looked over at her, after wiping his eyes. "Jay... What are you doing up?" He asked.

"I couldn't sleep." She kicked her feet up onto the couch, resting them on Greg's lap. "And I heard you crying out here. What's wrong?"

Greg sighs. "I was just thinking about everything that's happened. Everyone who died from this stupid apocalypse." He shed a tear.

Jay looked at him, she was surprised by the fact that he was crying. 'I didn't think he was so empathetic...' she thought. 'I mean, I knew he was, but, i didn't know it was to this degree.' She moved closer to him, putting her hand on his shoulder.

Greg stared at her, his eyes glossy and full of tears. "Jay, what are you doing?" He asked out of concern.

Jay moved closer to him, laying her head on his shoulder. "I need something comfortable to lay on."

Greg snickered a bit and laid down on the couch, he checked the time. "I still have to keep watch for about an hour and a half." He sighs.

Jay nods and sighs. She lays down slowly, smiling. "Well, at least let me sleep out here?"

Greg smiles and nods. "I won't leave this room." He looks around for a bit.

He'd never admit it to the others, but, he had a crush on Jay for a while. Unfortunately, he gave his chance up when it was presented, because he was too afraid that she wouldn't reciprocate his feelings. That still haunted him to this day. It was one of the many things he hated himself for. Sure, he could get over the fact that he didn't have a chance with Natalie after so many years, and the fact that he lost Alicia soon after he moved. But, this girl, Yadira, came up to him at school and actually spoke with him. He wanted to, but, he also found out that she had a boyfriend at the time, and, that's when his mind went to the worst. He was upset, yes, but, more than anything, he was terrified. He didn't want to end up in the same situation again like last time, so he didn't take the chance.

Well, weeks later, after that whole situation, she met his friend, Kobe. He wasn't a bad guy, sometimes didn't know what the hell he was doing, but, still a good guy in a sense. They started talking, and soon after, they started going out. Now, Greg, at the time was happy for them, even though he wanted her, he still was happy for them. But, after a few months, they had gotten into so many arguments and fights, she just kept complaining about him. Sadly, he couldn't be there because he moved to Washington D.C. right after they got together. He had heard through phone calls and messages their conversations, which were less than pleasant.

'Pathetic... even after all this time, I still want her... what's wrong with me?' He thought to himself as he stared at her sleeping. He checked the time again, it was his time to sleep now. He got up slowly to go wake Guillermo up. He stepped away from Jay for a bit, only to hear her mumble in her sleep.

"Greg.... I..."She tossed and turned a bit.

Greg couldn't make out what she was saying, but, he was also too exhausted to listen closely. He went into the room where Guillermo and Star were sleeping, trying not to wake them up. He shook Guillermo slightly. "Hey, Bro," he whispered. "It's your turn to stand watch."

Guillermo got up slowly and checked the time. "Great... All right, you go to bed, I'll head out there." Guillermo walked out and stood by the windows. Greg went back to where Jay was and fell asleep, holding her in his arms.

Guillermo saw this and smiled. He had been worried about Greg ever since he shot Alicia after she came back as a zombie. Guillermo walked over to him, watching him sleep soundly. Whenever he couldn't sleep, he'd go into Greg's room to watch t.v. while he slept. More often than not, he'd catch Greg up a few times or tossing in his bed, grunting and crying. 'Good to see you at peace, somewhat,' Guillermo thought as he walked back to the windows. He looked out the glass, seeing a few pale bodies shuffle by the road. His eyes grew wide as they passed, since he couldn't tell when they were gonna turn. So far, how they looked, they didn't notice that he was in the window. Which was odd, because he was standing right smack in the middle of it, just watching. Maybe they didn't care, maybe they couldn't... hold on. "If I'm right about this..." He kept watching as they shuffle like the dead people they are. They passed by like nothing bothered them, not even a glance in his direction. He sighed heavily out of relief and sat down in one of the chairs at the table. He checked the time and slowly closed his eyes. 'It'll be okay for tonight.'

Morning arose, Natalie woke up and walked out to grab something to drink. She saw Guillermo asleep at the table, and snickered. 'Last one on watch, eh?' She thought. But, that laughter soon ended after she looked over at Greg, who was sound asleep with Jay in his arms. She shook her head, 'Ridiculous... why would I be mad about this?' She went into the kitchen and got a drink.

Greg slowly opened his eyes and looked at Jay, who slowly woke herself up as well. He looked at her and smiled like a lunatic. This was what he wanted all these years, just him and her, asleep in each other's arms. He was kind of a hopeless romantic in this sense.

Jay looked at him and smiled. "Did you stay with me all night?" She asked.

"And if I did?" He smiled. "I mean, you seemed like you were sleeping well."

She laughed and embraced him. "Thank you.." she got up and grabbed a drink from the kitchen. She seemed pretty happy about Greg sleeping next to her. She walked back out, smiling brightly and sitting at the table.

Natalie and Elizabeth dragged their feet across the floor and sat at the couch. Elizabeth checked her phone and browsed through Facebook, just to see if anyone in Florida was still alive. No status updates... from anyone. Not even people from outside of Florida. "Nobody's on."

Greg sighed. "Elizabeth, zombies are roaming all across Florida, you can put Facebook down."

"Greg, nobody has said anything. Not even people outside of Florida. And don't tell me nobody would've covered this by now," Elizabeth panicked a bit.

Greg looked at his phone as well, seeing if she was right... she was. "Oh, shit." He got up. "We need to move, now."

Guillermo got up and looked around. Something wasn't right... they were missing one person from the group. She would've woken up by now. "Guys... where's Star?" He walked to where she was sleeping, expecting to find her in the bed, but, what he found... He couldn't even describe.

"Guillermo!" Greg called as he walked over. "Did you find.... What the hell?" Not even Greg could hide his surprise. What they found, it wasn't something that could be spoken about for a while. Knife marks were in the sheets, and blood stains were on the walls. Guillermo couldn't help but panic, the love of his life is missing, and there's blood everywhere. "Where the hell is she?!" He shouted.

Greg looked around a bit. "I don't know." He keeps searching, but, he finds nothing. "There's no traces anywhere... nothing." It seemed hopeless that they were gonna find anything that would lead them to her.

But, they found it.

They found the one thing that was out of place with the room... the windows. They were open, and there was blood on the end where you open it. Guillermo saw this.

"Greg, I think she got out." He pointed to the open window.

Greg stared at the window, analyzing the blood pattern. He had taken some classes in college that had to do with forensics. He loved those kind of subjects since he was a kid, and the common substance he analyzed... was blood. "It's dried. And there's no trail leading out... It wasn't her blood," he said as he peered out the window.

Guillermo ran outside to the same window, he tried to find anything on the ground that would be a clue as to where Star went. He couldn't find anything... "Where are you?" He asked out loud.

Then, Guillermo was tapped on the shoulder. He spun around, aiming his gun right in between the person's eyes. He then stopped in shock and put his gun away, it was her. "Star? What the hell happened?" He asked, as he looked her over. Her clothes were covered in blood.

Star embraced him tightly. "I'm glad they didn't get you." She sighs. "One of those cannibals came in to the house, he went straight for you."

Guillermo nodded and hugged her. He didn't care about the fact she told him that he was almost murdered and eaten. All he cared about was that she was still alive and uninjured.

Greg came outside and stood near them. "Good. At least she's okay." He pulls them to the side. "Okay, here's the deal. They know where we are now."

Star stopped him for a moment. "No, that's impossible. I disposed of the one who came in. There was no one else," she looked around.

Greg shook his head. "I know these kind of organizations. They usually send somebody to tail them, in case they don't make it back alive." He says as he points at the truck that just drove by. It was beaten up and had a rusted front end. It did nothing, except drive off. The fact that they didn't try to attack any of the three worried all of them.

Guillermo held Star. "I'm afraid he's right... They know where we are. We need to leave..."

Greg nodded. "Everything is ready to be transported. We just need to get everyone together." They went back inside.

Jay and Natalie were in the living room, trying to see if they could get any channels on the tv. Nothing but static on all channels. "This blows," Jay said in anger.

Natalie agreed. "I'd blow this tv up if it weren't so damn expensive," she said. She looked at her gun, sighing heavily as she checked her clip. It was full. "Jay... did Kobe ever keep you from moving on?" She asked.

Jay shook her head. "We never really spoke about that... mainly, he said if he were to die to not mourn him..." she sighed.

Natalie looked down. "Not to mourn... she said the same thing..." she sighed and got up. "I think it's time I move on... Miranda wouldn't have wanted this..." she walked to the kitchen.

Elizabeth marched out and sat at the kitchen table. "I can't stand just sitting around here." She got out her pistol, it was a magnum, but, she rarely used it. "But, I don't want to leave..."

Guillermo grabbed all his necessities and sat on the couch. All he could think about was how he wasn't there to protect Star. She didn't blame him for it, because he didn't know, but he still felt responsible. He didn't know what to do... but, he would have to figure that out later.

Greg stepped out of where he was, and he wrapped a piece of gauze around his left hand. It was covered in blood, but, it was dried out. Everyone looked at him like he was nuts.

"Greg?" Natalie asked. "Why are you wearing used gauze?"

Greg sighed. "I'm wearing it as a symbol... It's for Madison." He says as a tear sheds down his eye.

Natalie looked at him. "Why on your hand?" She asked as she put her hair up. "I'm doing my hair, because she loved it when I did this."

Guillermo ripped his sleeves off right where they meet at the wrists. His shirt seemed like it had been riddled with bullet holes, and then cut up with knives. "I'm letting her know that I'm not gonna stop because of her death. My clothes resemble change, at this point."

Greg laughed. "Right, like you need to 'change' your clothes?" He sighed. "Sorry, just seemed like something she would say." He smiled.

They all smiled and laughed a bit.

Elizabeth sighed. "I didn't know her, but, I'm gonna be a better help to everyone." She got up.

Jay stood up and holstered her gun. "It's time for me to start being brave." She got up and stepped to the door.

Matthew came out from wherever he was, no one could remember. "Matthew, where were you?" Greg asked.

"I had been in hiding. I was in shock from all that's happened," he said. "But, I've been hearing you all. And, I think Madison wouldn't want me to stay in hiding... It's time for me to help." He stood with pride, and he held his pistol by his side.

Jay pointed at Greg's left hand. "What's yours for?"

Greg smiled and held it up. "This is so that her life isn't forgotten." He stood with pride. "This is to remember that she gave her life so that Jay and I could live... so that we could all live." His hand shakes. "It's a reminder of the blood she shed for us..."

Tears were in everyone's eyes at this point. Everyone loved Madison, they still do. She was one of Natalie's best friends, she was Star's friend, she was Guillermo's friend, Hell, they were all friends. The only difference with Greg, is that they dated a bit. Sure, it was awkward and they didn't speak much, but, it was still something that Greg cherished. He couldn't tell her that now, but, he had a feeling that she knew.

It had gotten to be close to sundown, and they started loading up the truck.

"It's time to go," Guillermo said, as he got into the drivers seat. It was his turn. They all loaded up, and stared at the house, as if saying one last goodbye to it.

They drove in dead silence, nothing but the growls of the undead to fill their ears.