"You're not driving my dad's truck," I interjected to Nick. He made a funny face at me and moved the passenger side. Tabitha quietly sat in the back waiting for us to leave. Jeremy and I got into the truck. I started the engine and drove toward Tabitha's house. Nick, Jeremy, and I were astonished by what we saw as we approached Tabitha's in front yard. Eight decaying bodies laid lifeless in her front yard. I knew some of them, if not all, were cannibals. I spotted the few Nick and I saw a few weeks ago, including Maci's brothers. I peered at her through the rear view mirror as she innocently gazed at her house. I saw Nick staring at me in peripheral, he was just as curious as I was. There was no way she could've killed this many by herself, it was impossible. I stopped the truck at her mailbox and turned my head to her, though Nick spoke before I could open my mouth.

"How did those thing there?"

Her eyes scanned the lawn as if they weren't lying there. "They came on their own."

"Yeah, I'm sure they did. But why are they all dead on your grass?" I queried.

"I killed them."

"No way," Nick responded.

"Yes way. Its not like I killed them all at once. They came on different nights."

I couldn't call her a lair, she did have a gun and we hadn't used ours on any of them. There was no telling how many we could kill if we had shoot from my room. I felt a little relived knowing Tabitha was at least capable of taking caring of herself, on the other hand if things went south between us she would become a problem.

"Don't worry Justin, they're dead," Tabitha said sarcastically, as she unbuckled her seat belt.

I sighed. "I know."

"Well pull into the driveway."

I did as she said, maneuvering around one of the body in the driveway. Tabitha's house looked the same as Mr. Brantley's house and mine, except it was yellow. She ran inside and took her sweet time getting everything she needed for the trip. When she walked out the front door, I noticed she was carrying a brown backpack, a large bow and a quiver filled with arrows. The bow was black and it was just a few inches longer than her torso. Two axels were fixed at both ends and in the middle of it was a three pin sight, it appeared to be brand new. She locked the front door, strolled to the truck and sat in the back seat behind Nick.

"Okay? That bow looks kinda high tech. I'm guessing you're an archer?" Nick asked.

"Yeah. My mother taught me how to use it when I was a six. Never stopped since then. I thought I should bring it, since Justin hasn't given me my revolver back," she responded, leering at me.

"That's cool! Can you teach me?" Jeremy asked.

"Of course, I will," she said, as she smiled at him. I backed the truck out of Tabitha's drive way and headed toward the highway. We decided to stop in our small town, for gas and other supplies, before we got to the highway. The town was empty, not a single soul in sight, not even a dead body. The building windows were all broken, but the buildings were still intact and was covered by dust and dirt, from the explosion. A few street lights, store signs, wire poles and cables rested on the ground. There were a few cars that had been turned over on the sidewalks and streets. I slowly drove around them, looking for any signs of life, or any supplies we could take before we headed to Houston, but it was useless. Our little town, that was usually lively, was now dead. It was frightening to see it like this.

We decided to stop at the pawn shop first. We needed more ammunition for our weapons and it would've been great to find other weapons also. I parked directly in front of the store's door. Nick, Tabitha and I got out and walked into the gun store, leaving Jeremy in the truck to look out for anything suspicious. The windows were busted like every other building and we didn't have to look too long to see that someone had beat us here. There were no weapons nor was there ammunition. There wasn't anything, nothing but shelves and broken glass. We left the gun store and decided to try the gas station next. My father's truck gas meter, was just over the half mark. We needed more gas to make it to Houston. When we arrived at the town's green and white gas station, I noticed it was the only building in town that didn't have shattered windows, though, the roof had collapsed over the gas pumps, so getting gas wasn't an option.

"Let's go inside and see if there's some snacks or food in there. We don't know what those guys in Houston may have," Nick suggested.

I drove as close as I could to the gas station's front door, just as I had at the gun shop. I left just enough space for us to step out of the truck and walk in, from the passenger's side. I put the truck in park, turned off the engine and looked inside the gas station. We saw the inside of the building through its dusty glass windows. It had been raided, just as the pawn shop, but there were still chips on the shelves and drinks in the cooler. We got out, leaving Jeremy in the truck again and pushed the glass double doors open. Once inside, we separated, walking through the aisles, looking for anything we could take. The shelves were nearly full. I was surprised to see the gas station hadn't been raided as bad as the pawn shop.

"Should we take the money from the cash register?" Nick asked.

"I don't think money have much of a value right now," Tabitha responded.

Nick chuckled. "I guess you're right."

We grabbed everything we could and headed for the exit. My hands were full of a variety of chips. Tabitha grabbed sodas and juices. Nick carried two one gallon gas can he filled with water from the soft drink machine. I should've thought about water before anything else. I was actually surprised he thought about it first. Between him and I, he wasn't always the brightest, though he did have his moments, like now.

"Good idea, didn't know you were so smart," I said, smirking at him.

"I'm a decedent from Albert Einstein himself," he replied, as he and Tabitha walked ahead of me.

"AHHHHH!"

One of those things was behind us. I dropped the snacks and turned my back as quickly as I could. As I turned, it launched at me. I stepped to the side and pushed it on the ground. I pulled the Glock from my waistband and shot twice.

"POP!" "POP!"

"STOP!" Tabitha yelled. I had missed it.

"Don't shoot, please don't shoot!" the girl begged. "I thought you were one of them!"

I lowered the gun and saw Maci lying on the floor with a knife in her hand and the other raised up at me, gesturing me to stop. Tears fell from her eyes as she gazed at me, I couldn't tell if she was relieved or sad. She was very dirty, I had never seen her look this bad. Her clothes were bloody and her jeans had holes in them along with her sneakers. She had few scrapes and cuts on her face and arm. Her messy hair had small spots of blood in it and it had grown a little longer since the last time I saw her.

"What the hell? How the hell? Where the hell have you been and what the hell are you doing here?" I asked, shockingly. I put the Glock between my belt and waist, then reached my hand out to her, so I could help her onto her feet. Without my help, she got up quickly and jumped straight to my body. Hugging me, as tight as she could and crying on my chest. Her tears wet my shirt as she cried. I put my arms around head and shoulders and I allowed her vent.

"I don't know. I don't know what's going on. Same day we went to school was the last time I've see my parents or brothers. I haven't seen them since. I came to town for help, but everyone was going crazy, so I hid where ever I could, moving from building to building. I had to kill one of those things to survive," she cried. "I just want my family back! These past few weeks have been so hard!"

"I know," I said softly, trying to comfort her. I glanced at Nick and he looked at me just as quickly as I looked at him. I wasn't sure about Maci's parents, but he and I both knew her brothers weren't coming back. In that instant we locked eyes, we knew we weren't going to inform Maci about her siblings. It would've been better for her and Tabitha.

"Where were you hiding?" Nick asked.

"In the cabinet, under the slushy machine," she sniffed.

"Good hiding place. We're headed to Houston. Says there are safe houses in Canada. Are you coming?" I asked.

"Yeah, Justin. I don't have anywhere else to go," she said, with an attitude. She released her grip around my body and began wiping her tears off her face.

"Well, that's an extra mouth to feed Justin. I don't know if we should bring her," Nick said, grinning at her. "Tell you what? Tell us what kind of panties you're wearing and you can come."

"Shut up you dork!" she chided. "If you want to see some panties, look at your own."

"Can we wrap this reunion up and go?" Tabitha asked, interrupting their quarrel.

"Yeah, just let me pick up the food and we can go," I replied, as I walked toward the chips I had drop. Before I could kneel down to get the chips, I heard Jeremy yell.

"Justin!"

I looked outside and saw a swarm of cannibles running toward the gas station. They were three blocks away and in an instant two. The cannibles raced toward us as if we were the last meal they were going to have. Blood covered all of their clothes and grey skin, many of them were missing limbs and organs. A few of them fought and knocked each other in an attempt to get to us before the others. The sight was terrifying.

"Run!" I yelled, as I ran toward the gas station exit. We sprinted out the gas station and hopped into the truck. I started the engine as quickly I as could. Before I could drive away, three of the cannibles forcefully darted into the truck, nearly tipping it over. I changed the gear to drive as fast as I could and sped off. One of them had jumped onto the windshield, another hung on the driver side door and one was in the back of the truck. They repeaditly beat hands and heads agasint the truck as I raced away from the gas station. The hard bangs sounded as if they were tearing the truck apart piece by piece. If we didn't kill them soon we were going to die here.

"Nick, through the windshield!" I yelled, tossing him the Glock. He picked it up off his lap and started shooting immediately without aiming. The bullets he shot went across the passenger side windshield to the driver side. Cracks spread throughout the window after each bullet went through it. I knew Nick was frightened because he missed every shot he attempted. I saw his arms shaking as he continued to shoot at the cannibal. The last for shot hit the cannibal in its chest, but it barely moved. It was as if the cannibal hadn't felt a single bullet.