slowly climb down until I reach the ground. Once I reach the ground, I turn to look at the person. Their striking gray eyes look straight into mine as if they're looking straight into my soul. They somehow feel familiar-

What am I thinking? I scolded myself. 

“I'm assuming you have been following us,” I say, shaking. 

The person stays silent but after a while they nod. They still have a bandana covering their face. The only thing I can see is their brown fluffy hair and their gray eyes. 

He reminds me of my brother. He has the same features my brother had. 

“You're alone, aren't you?” I ask.

They nod again. I look around making sure all my friends are asleep. I notice the person's gaze on how everyone is sleeping in the tree.

“Oh, we do this so we don't get attacked while we sleep, since the zombies can't climb the trees, it's our safest option” I say. 

The person turns to look at me again. They seem hesitant, their eyes filled with mistrust. 

“How long have you been alone?” I question. 

“A year,” they say silently, their voice hesitant.

“Me too,” I say. “I lost my family to the virus. What about you?” I ask.

They nod, signalling the same has happened to them. 

I share my story on how I found my friends, how I was only a 12 year old girl sleeping in trees to avoid the monsters when Kali found me. I talk about how she took me in with the others. I was the most recent person they have found. The person listens intently as I tell them about my life out here. 

“You know, you remind me a lot of my brother” I say

“Really?” he asks

I nod and feel his gaze stray to my necklace, the one my brother gave me before he died. I see recognition in his eyes when he looks at it. Then his gaze hardens.

“Where the hell did you get that necklace” he asks his voice filled with aggression

I immediately tense up and get defensive at the tone of his voice

“None of your damn business-” I retort

I feel a knife pressed to my throat the moment I say that, the rest of my sentence cut off.

“I won't ask again. Where. Did you. Get the necklace from.” he says, emphasizing his words by a short pause as he presses the knife to my throat.

I freeze up and I can't reach for anything to protect myself or he’ll literally slit my damn throat open.

 Shit, I'm screwed.