"So what's now?" Jeremy asked.

I stood up and shrugged my shoulders. "I don't know. I guess we should just lock ourselves in the house, like the lady on the news said and wait for whatever is going on to eventually stop." I walked around the house, toward the front yard, up the porch stairs, then through the front door. Jeremy dawdled behind me. "Close and lock the door behind you." I entered the kitchen and checked the refrigerator and the cabinets for food. We had enough to last at least a month, not including the meats and can goods we had in the basement. After checking the kitchen, I walked upstairs to Ma and Pa's room. I knew Pa kept his weapons in his room. We would need them if we encountered one of those cannibals again. I checked his closet and found Pa's black bolt-action Remington rifle. I also found the small black Smith & Wesson nine millimeter Glock Pa had brought Ma under their bed pillows and a black forty caliber Glock in the top left draw of Pa's dresser. I continued to search the room for anything else useful I could find, but there wasn't anything else. I thought he would've had more bullets, at least, but there were only fifteen forty caliber bullets in his dresser.

I took the weapons downstairs to the living room and turned on the light. I place everything I found in our parents on the the living room glass table, then I called Jeremy to come down. He ran downstairs from his room then walked to the table where I placed the guns. He glanced at the guns, then looked at me oddly.

"What are you doing?" he murmured.

"Protecting us," I replied. "We don't know what's going on out there and it's too dangerous to keep fighting them with knifes and hatchets. Their stronger and faster than us. I don't think too many will come out here to the country, but I'm not sure."

"I don't know how to shoot a gun."

"I know. I'm going to teach you," I said, picking up the nine millimeter and placing it into his hands. I taught Jeremy everything Pa taught me. I had him unload the nine millimeter, how to line his sights, press the trigger slowly and securely when shooting, and dry firing. I also taught him how to use the hunting rifle, which was a lot easier to use than the pistol. Jeremy was still learning to use the nine millimeter as the sun slowly started to fade from the sky. We hadn't eaten all day and my body was starting to feel weak from hunger and the growl I heard from Jeremy's stomach said he was hungry too.

"What do you want to eat?" I asked. He glanced at me, shrugged his shoulders and continued to practice with the nine millimeter. "Alright, canned beef stew it is."

"That's it?"

"Yeah, that's it. We don't know how long this thing may last."

I walked out the living room, to the kitchen, and prepared our dinner. I didn't know much about cooking, since Ma did most of it, but I knew I could warm up canned beef stew. I opened the can with the can opener, dropped the food into the pot, let it heat for ten minutes and dinner was ready. I made a plate for Jeremy and myself then returned to the living room. He and I sat on the couch as we ate. The television was on, however all of the channels were blank. I wanted to keep it on anyway, just in case an emergency message showed.

The sun left the sky completely as we ate. Jeremy finished eating before I had and he immediately continued practicing with the pistol. When I finished eating, I sat back on the couch and gazed at the ceiling fan and light. I had no idea what we would do if the food ran out. Where would we go? And what to do if more of those canniables came here? Thinking about our possibilities of surviving scared me. I barely stood a chance against one of them, there was no way I could take on two at one time. I glanced at Jeremy, seeing my little brother holding a pistol helped calm me a little and feel unafraid. No matter what happens, whatever I have to do, I will make sure my little brother lives. He wasn't going to die, not as long as I lived.

"Vroom!"

A light flashed across the living room window. My heart began to pound against my chest, someone was in our drive way. Quickly, I grabbed the strapped hunting rifle, placed it over my back and grabbed Pa's Glock. I heard the car door slam just as I put the Glock in my waistband. I was so nervous that I accidently knocked my plate off the table I reached for the nine millimeter bullets sitting next it. Jeremy looked just as nervouse as I was, but he didn't have to worry because I wasn't going to wait to take action this time. I learned my lesson from the previous situation.

"Jeremy, go up to your room, load that gun, and lock the door. Don't open it, unless I say so," I said, as I shoved the bullets in his hands. He nodded, grabbed the bullets and ran upstairs as quickly as he could. I left the living room light on, there was no need to turn it off since the person in the driveway already saw it. I walked halfway up the stairs then stopped. I pointed the barrel of Pa black rifle at the front door and place my finger on the trigger. Whoever it was, I heard them walking up the porch stairs. They slowly walked to the front door and turned the knob.

"KNOCK!" "KNOCK!" "KNOCK!"

Quietly, I sat still on the stairs. I clinched the rifle and slowly squeezed the trigger, preparing for the worse to come. The person knocked again, harder than before.

"KNOCK!" "KNOCK!" "KNOCK!"

"Mr. and Mrs. Bent!" he yelled. I recognized that voice, I couldn't believe it was him. My frightened rapid heartbeats were replaced with rapid heartbeats of happiness and excitement.

"It's me Nick. I need help. Please," Nick said, continuing to knock on the door. Over filled with joy, I jumped down the stairs as quickly as I could. I didn't think I would see him again, after everthing that happened. Swiftly, I opened the door and saw my best friend. The first thing to catch my attention were his clothes, which were covered in dry blood. His face was dirty, his reddish hair had brown spots from dirt and from the look of his baggy eyes it was obvious he had been crying. I hugged him, with the rifle still in my right hand.

"Boy, am I happy to see you," I said gleefully. He returned my gesture by hugging me also. "Come in! Are you alright?"

He shook his head. Nick carried a sad facial expression on his face. I noticed it before I hugged. He wasn't in the mood to play twenty question, but I continued to ask them anyway.

"Did one of those thing try to bite you?" I asked.

He shook his head and wiped his eyes. "No. Me and my daddy came into town this morning from our hunting trip and we saw it all. Everyone in town were either running or chasing other to eat them. My dad didn't know what to do so he kept driving through town, away from the chaos. Dad found a police officer at a gas station a few streets away. He got out the car and told me to stay inside while he talked to him. Dad walked up on the officer from behind and tapped his shoulder. The officer turned around and started attacking him. Dad fought with him, but the officer was too strong. He bit my dad's neck. My dad struggled and cried until he stopped moving completely, then the officer ate into his neck. I was too scared to do anything, I just watched. Honestly, I didn't know what to do. If he did that to my dad, imagine what he would've done to me. Before I could gain the courage to do anything, more of the cannibals began to swarm the truck. They were throwing their bodies into the truck trying to crack the windows. I don't want to die, now here, not like this. That's the only thing I heard in my head. So I jumped into the driver seat and drove away. I tried to call my mother but the phones aren't working."

I hugged him again. "Yeah I know it's hard. My parents are gone too."

"What happened?"

"They turned into one of those things," I replied, lowly. He looked down the hallway as I released him. I knew he sae Ma's blood on the floor. He peered back at me with a disheartened expression on his face.

"I'm sorry for your loss."

"Yours too," I replied. "You should go upstairs, wash up and change clothes. I know you're a little taller than I am, but I'm sure I have something you can wear."

"You should do the same," he said, looking at my shirt. I forgot I had blood on my clothes also. The only thing I thought about after burying Ma and Pa was where Jeremy and I would go if we didn't have any more food.

"Yeah, you're right. Let's talk more after we wash up," I said, smiling at him. I walked to the living room and turned off the lights. I didn't want any other visitors for the rest of the night. I walked upstairs and Nick followed me. I thought more about Nick's story, it was sad, but it didn't make sense. I felt as if he was hiding something. I wasn't sure what it was exactly, but I was going find out.

"Jeremy, it's alright. It's just Nick," I said, as I passed his room door. Jeremy walked out of his room and smiled, he was relieved to see Nick.

"Are you ok?" Jeremy asked.

"Yeah, just a little tired," Nick replied, smiling and rubbing his head. I grabbed some clothes for Nick from my dresser and showed him to the bathroom. He closed the bathroom door and turned the shower on. I grabbed Jeremy and pulled him into my room.

"Jeremy keep your eyes open for Nick. I don't know what happened to him, but he's lying about something. There's no way he got blood all over his clothes and his father died on the outside of the truck. I'm going to take a shower after him. I want you to lock yourself in your room until you hear me come out the shower," I whispered.

"Do you have a towel I can use?" Nick asked. Nick stood by my door, staring at me and Jeremy, he startled us. I didn't hear the bathroom door open nor did I hear his footsteps as he walked through the hallway. Out of all the times for something not to creek in this house now wasn't the best, we looked suspicious.

"Yeah, we do," I replied. I walked to the hallway closet and grabbed a towel for Nick. He strolled back into the bathroom and closed the door. Nick appeared emotionless. Seeing him like this raised my concerns. I walked back to my room and hid the guns. The rifle under my bed and the Glock under my pillow. "Jeremy keep your gun close and hidden." Jeremy rolled his eyes and nodded. His gesture irriated me, however now wasn't the time to be arguing with him.

After nearly fifteen minutes, Nick finished taking his shower and strolled into my room in the clothes I had giving him. Jeremy walked out my room and headed to his room, then he locked the door, just as I commanded. I left the room after Jeremy, grabbed a towel, walked to the bathroom, took off my bloody clothes and showered as quickly as I could. The only thing I could think about was Nick being bitten, that's the only reason why he would lie to me. He probably knew what would have happened if someone got bitten. Nick probably didn't want to tell me because he felt I wouldn'tve let him stay here to night. If this was the case, he was correct. I would not have put Jeremy in danger for him. I thought about how foolish I was for not checking when he first entered the house. I would make up for this mistake soon.

When I finished showering, I dried off, put on clothes and returned to my room. I stood in the doorway and saw Nick sitting on my bed, playing with Pa's rifle. He smiled at me once he spotted. Since he found the rifle I knew he had been searching through my room, it bothered me a little, but I didn't show any animosity toward him. Nick smirked at me then raised his left eyesbrow.

"Is this what you used against them?"

"Against who?" I asked, feeling guilty. I thought he was speaking of Ma and Pa.

"Those monsters."

"I haven't used it yet, but I will, if I need to," I replied. "Nick, are you my friend?"

He looked me in my eyes. "Of course, best friends to be exact." I walked toward my bed and sat in between him and my pillow. Nick sat up straight, placing the rifle behind us.

"Where's the bite mark, Nick?" I asserted.

"What bite mark?" he responded.

"The one you got."

Nick gave me an aggressive glare as her peered into my eyes. "I don't have a bite mark."

"Then how the hell did you get blood all over your clothes?"

"I had to kill one of those things!"

"Stop lying to me Nick! What happened?" I asked, raising my voice.

"I'm not lying! After my father was attack, I drove to my uncle's house. He was the same as them, he tried to kill me. So I had to! He was going to make me just like them. I was scared and I didn't want to die. So I had to!" he said, standing up and raising his voice at me.

I didn't believe him, he and I both know he would've told me this downstairs. I didn't believe he killed his uncle, but I couldn't say he was lying. I just had to check for one thing, for the safety of Jeremy and myself.

"Take off everything, except your boxer," I demanded.

"What? Are you crazy?"

"No. Take them off."

"And if I say no?" he responded angrily, as stood up in front of my bed, clinching his fist. I glared at him fiercely. Nick is my best friend, but Jeremy is my brother. I wasn't going to jeopardize his safety for any reason or anyone. I reached under my pillow for the Glock. I gripped it firmly as it rested in my hand, on my lap. I looked down at the Glock, then I glared at him. I knew this moment was going to damper our friendship forever. I hoped he forgive me for my actions one day.

"No wasn't an option Nick. Please just do what I ask before I'm forced to do something I don't want to."

He stared at me for a moment, disbelief covered his face, but he started to undress. I scanned his body for bite markings or anything marks I thought were suspicious, there were none. I was relieved to know he wasn't lying about that.

"I'm sorry Nick, I'm just trying to protect my little brother now," I apologized, wanting his forgiveness and understanding.

"The funny thing is, that I always looked at you as my little brother," he replied angrily. He sat on the floor and didn't speak another word to me. Jeremy walked in soon after. He walked around Nick and laid on my bed. I got up and grabbed a quilt for Nick from the hallway closet. I tossed them at him. He made a pallet and laid on the floor. I'm knew he didn't want to sleep in a room by himself either. I turned off the lights, closed the door and got back into bed with Jeremy.