Z and I spent the next 4 days just resting. I could already see her begin to gain a little weight and my arm had begun to scab over, finally starting to really heal. I watched more of Mallory’s vlogs but most were just of her daily life. The people she met and interviewed. She was kind and her laugh was beautiful. Just from how many people came up and talked to her first, I could tell she was a good person that people loved. Her music taste was awesome, oldies, pop, rock, classical. She had it all. Wait what are you thinking? You don’t know this girl you’ve never met her in your entire life! I put my hand over my face and lay on my bed remembering the video I had left off on last night. Someone had taken the camera and was asking her questions instead. 

   “Hello Mallory how are you today?”

   “Oh I’m good I guess.” She laughs nervously and plays with her hair.

   “I want to ask you about the disaster. Why do you think it happened and where do you think the shadows came from?”

   “Oh, um, well I’m not really sure where they’re from but I can take a guess at why it happened. The world was so full of hate and violence. I think maybe it happened to bring the people together, you know? Like a common enemy. Maybe they were made to be invincible so we would always have a common enemy instead of winning and reverting back to hurting each other.”

   “Well, that was a different way of thinking. Most people say it’s judgment day and that we were meant to die. Anyway, next question. Do you have anyone you want to see again?” She looks shocked at this question but takes a breath and answers.

   “Well ya, doesn’t everyone? For me, it’s my parents and my sister. I lost them the day it started. The thing I hate most is I don’t know if they're dead or somewhere out there alive, waiting for me.” She looks so sad saying this but turns her eyes directly to the camera. “Zozo, I don't know how, but if you ever somehow see this. I love and miss you so much, and I promise with every fiber of my being. I will find you no matter what and I will keep you safe.” Her sad eyes turn to determination and my heart feels like it had been run through with those very words, like a sword of guilt. I so desperately wished I could say the same thing to my sister. 

   “Well, um, I think that’s good for the interview of your thoughts.” The video ended there. I’m brought out of my thoughts when I hear Z talking.

   “Hey Miles, this is pretty, is it for me?” I look up and see her attempting to clasp my sister's unicorn necklace around her neck. I immediately jump and snatch it out of her hands.

   “Don’t touch that!” I had taken it off to clean it and hadn’t put it back on yet. I realize what I had done and instantly regret it when I see Z’s face. She looked like she was about to cry so I quickly apologize.

   “Z, please I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to snap or scare you. It’s just this is really important to me. It belongs to my sister and it’s the only thing I have left of her. I don’t know what I would do if anything happened to it.” She sniffs and wipes her eyes, trying her best to calm down.

   “Ok, I’m sorry I touched it. I should have asked first anyway.” She pauses not sure of what to say next. “What happened to your sister.” I sit on the couch not sure if I was ready to actually say it out loud. We sat in silence for a long while before I spoke.

   “She died because of me. Because I couldn’t protect her.” I’m cut short by a very disturbing sound. BOOM BOOM BOOM. I could hear loud knocking coming from the room directly above us on the 11th floor. As a precaution I wrote the wrong floor on the paper for Z’s dad. If anyone did find the letter I was almost certain it wouldn’t be her dad, and I didn’t want them finding us without a heads up. The knocking stops for a moment and then continues. 

   “Wait, isn't that what you told dad to do?” Z’s face lights up but I shush her grabbing my machete and baseball bat. She’s confused but when I tell her to quietly follow me she doesn’t hesitate. We slowly go up the stairwell and come out of the door as quietly as possible. When we reach the corner of the hallway I stop and peek around. I zip my head back around the corner in an instant after glimpsing who was waiting in front of the door. The biker guy we had seen a couple of days ago was standing there with the paper we had written for Z’s dad. I wasn’t paying attention and didn’t realize that Z had walked out into the hall. My entire body filled with icy terror as she spoke before she even saw the guy.

   “Dad is that.. you.” She trails off as she sees the man, knowing what she had just done. I dart out watching as the guy pulls out a taser completely focused on her and smiling. Picking her up I run to the stairwell, stumbling down the stairs as fast as I could. As we come to our floor I make a split second decision. I set her down and tell her to go and lock herself in our room. I wouldn’t risk her getting taken if I was somehow knocked out or killed. I saw the look in his eyes and I didn’t like it. He was willing to kill.

   “But Miles, he was way bigger than you. He was scary. You can’t go by yourself! I won’t hide while you are by yourself!” I laugh at how similar she acted to my sister in that moment. But I wouldn’t make the same mistake twice. I knew it would probably hurt her but I put on my scariest most angry face.

   “NO ZOEY! You are going to go to the room, I’m not asking. I need you to be safe. You couldn’t help me even if you tried!” She looked hurt and defeated. Good. “Now go.”  She doesn’t put up another fight and runs down the hall to the room. I sigh in relief and begin back down the stairs. Listening for his footsteps I make sure the guy was following me before I go any further. When I hear him pass the tenth floor the race begins. Two, three at a time I take the steps, stumbling and almost falling more times than I can count. He seemed to be keeping up as I heard his footsteps just a floor above the whole way.  I couldn’t let him know that I no longer had Z. 

   I finally reach the bottom and open the door to the lobby. Stopping I raise my baseball bat and wait just outside the door for an ambush. I was tall, but this guy was taller and much, much bigger. He easily out weighed me three times over. If I was even remotely going to win I would need to get at least one good hit starting out to disorient him. 

   I hear his footsteps coming and he opens the door. I wait two millisecond for his head to come into view and swing the hardest I could. I hit something and hear a crack. Looking up I see he had blocked it with his arm. He cries out in pain and swings his other arm at me. I back up just in time to avoid it and stand ready with my bat. 

   “Haha, your smart kid, doing what you did. You know your no match so you figured you’d get the first blow in, am I right? Thanks for that, think you might of fractured something.” He says as he rubs the arm I had hit. “Ha, that little brat, her dad wasn’t this much trouble.” My anger rises at his words. He was the reason a little girl didn’t have her dad. “Oh don’t be mad, I was simply doing him a favor by looking for her. He promised to give up the location of his supplies if we took care of his precious daughter. And I plan to take goooood care of her.” He smiles the most wicked smile I’ve ever seen.

   “So, you have her dad?” I try to keep him talking. I needed to come up with a plan to beat him, there was no way I was taking him head on and winning.

   “Oh ya, he just got put on the cross yesterday. A fighter that one, but being starved for a week isn’t good for anyone’s strength. I’d say he’ll be dead in a couple days. Not many survive the baiters for very long. I have to say I was surprised to find your note especially after seeing that gaping hole in the door, thought the beast had ripped her to shreds.” Wait, the door was completely ripped open? So it was just coming because it thought we were still in there. My mind races wondering if it was still hunting us. “But I was even more delighted that you had put where you were and that ‘Miles has food’. Don’t you know it’s dangerous to tell people where you live, even more so in the apocalypse.” At the end of that sentence he rushes me. I swing for his head but he ducks and shoulder slams me in the stomach sending me flying backwards. “Miles, Miles, Miles. You're going to have to be stronger than that to survive in this world. You're going to have to be stronger than that if you don’t want me to take that little girl. I really don’t want to hurt you… oh wait, who am I kidding, haha!  I would love to hurt you!” He kicks me in the side, sending me flying again. 

   Coughing and curling in pain I ask. “Why are you doing this? Why do you have to hurt and kill people? We’re already dying enough as it is because of the shadows!”

   “Haha! Don’t you get it kid! There is no more humanity. The world is meant to burn! I’m just having fun on my way to hell.” He begins to kick me over and over again but is stopped by something hitting him in the back of the head.

   “Leave Miles alone!” Z stood at the doorway to the stairs, slingshot and a pouch of metal balbarings in hand. My stomach drops and my heart speeds up. No no no, what are you doing here you idiot! You're going to die! I reach out to her but I’m stuck on the floor in pain.

   “Well, if it isn’t the princess I’ve been hunting. Nice to finally meet you face to face my dear.”

   “SHUT UP! You hurt Miles, it’s not nice to meet you!” 

   “Well aren’t you feisty? Just like your daddy.” He slowly walked towards her. She readies another ball and lets it fly, this one hits his chest with a thump. “Ya, that’s not going to work on my deary.” She backs up against the wall, fear beginning to fill her eyes. He pulls out a taser and turns it on for a moment. The buzzing sound sends a burst of adrenaline rushing through me. Stumbling to my feet I wince at the immense pain that he had given me with just a few blows. I realized what needed to be done. This man was pure evil and I could not take him down, even with a baseball bat. 

   I quietly unsheathe my machete and mentally prepare myself for what I was about to do. It’s for her, this is the only way I can save her. It’s my fault he’s here anyway. Come on you coward! You’ve killed things before! They were just… never human. Z screams as the taser goes off again. I rush forward with every drop of strength, swinging the hardest I possibly could, and push with all my might for it to continue on after it made contact. I had aimed for his throat and the blade had gone all the way through, only stopping right as it hit the spine. He stumbled backwards, making wet choking sounds as his hands raised to his neck. When I looked at his face I saw something that would probably haunt me for the rest of my life. There was no fear or pain in his eyes. Instead he had the biggest grin on his face I had ever seen and once we made eye contact, he winked and mouthed “strong”. An instant later he fell over and continued struggling to breath but soon stopped motionless. Blood was spilling out and I was staring completely horrified at what I had just done. When I hear a small sob I snap out of it and crouch down to Z, covering her eyes.

   “Don’t look, please don’t look.” I expected her to pull back or slap my hands away. But instead she latches on to me in a hug and begins sobbing into my chest. I hesitate to hug her back but finally decided to hug her tight and let her cry as long as she needed. 

   We sat there for a couple minutes after, her soft sobs the only sound in the piercing silence. Slowly I picked her up making sure she wasn’t facing the man on the ground and walk back up the stairs. As I slowly make the assent careful not to trip, I feel how shaken she was. I wasn’t sure if it was from being threatened or the fact that I had killed a man right in front of her, but I suppose it didn’t matter. When we make it back I set her down on the bed and hand her kangaroo to her. She immediately grabs it and hold on for dear life. 

   “Listen Z, I’m going to have to go back down there for a bit. I know it’s scary but I’m going to have to leave you here where it’s safe ok?” She stares off into space for a while before it registers and her eyes come to focus on me. 

   “Wait, why do you need to go back down there?” Her arm shoots out grabbing onto my hand desperate for me to stay.

   “I need to get my stuff back and also hide his stuff so no more bad guys know we’re here.” I decided to be honest instead of making up some fairytale. After all death isn’t part of a fairytale. I decide to take the phone and put a soft calming song on loop. Putting that in her ears I tell her to focus just on the song as best she could. When I get up to walk out the door I’m stopped by Z tugging on the back of my shirt.

   “Please be careful, and come back. Please tell me you’ll come back. Daddy said he would, but he didn’t. Please don’t leave me alone again.” Her eyes were so wide and scared, her please so desperate. That’s when it really hit me, this little girl was depending on me. She had lost everything. Her world, her childhood, and what was left of her family. She was hanging on to the only comfort, the only safety she had found since she lost everything. I take her hands and look her directly in the eyes.

   “I promise with every fiber of my being, I will come back and protect you.” Mallory’s words came to me as if they were being said to exactly who they were meant for. She stares at me as if she was testing my promise and finally nods her head letting go. I rush out with no time to waste. I only had an hour to get this done and be back up in the room before dark.

   When I reach the man his eyes are open and stare off into the distance. Now that I really look at him I realize that without Z’s distraction, I would have probably died. I attempt to pull my machete out but it was stuck. It finally took me having a foot on his chest to get it out. I had never hidden a body before and it was a sickening feeling of how cold and limp he was. 

   It was no easy task but twenty minutes later I had hid him at the next building over in the storage closet. This makes me flash back to the mall. It made me feel like I was no different from the shadows. I promised to him under my breath that I would come back and give him a proper burial. It was only fair since I took his life, even if it was in self defense. 

   The bike was another story. If anyone that was in the gang past by they would surely recognize it. So in an attempt to keep it out of sight; I roll it into the hotel all the way to the back and cover it with blankets.

   Walking back up the stairs I think about what the man said. He had said that Z’s dad was a baiter. If he was just put up yesterday, there was a chance he was still alive. I made up my mind before I had even reached the door. 

I will save Zoey's father.