~o0O0o~

Roncey hissed as she gestured to the others to drop to the ground. She was pissed off, they'd been working this tiny strip mall in this one horse town all day, slowly drawing off walkers a little at a time to kill them out of sight of the road. Now when their goal was in sight a jerk on a motorcycle shows up making all kinds of noise like he's ringing the dinner bell. He'll just take what he wants and leave them the mess just like they always do. Well not this time! She needed whatever medicine she could get her hands on for Missy back at the camp, another winter was coming and damn it, she wasn't going to lose another one to a GD cold!

She checked her sidearm and although she had a silencer, she was running dangerously low on ammunition and knew she needed to save it for a last resort.

"Think Roncey, think." She muttered to herself as she shook her head.

He's faster on his bike she thought, but chances are good she'd be faster on her feet, she knew the layout of the store and surrounding area. She figured she could get in, get out and then disappear in the backwoods where his bike can't go.

She waved over to Toby up ahead and Scar behind her to meet up at her location. They'd had a lot of practice this past year and didn't make a sound as they slowly made their way to her.

'Yo! What's up?" Scar asked quietly as he squatted down beside her with his dark hoody drawn over his head, his blond hair peeking out from under the cap he was wearing underneath it.

It wasn't that he was cold, this wasn't winter by their standards, it was more of a fashion statement. She was convinced Scar saw himself as a Jesse Pinkman type. Secretly she thought it was cute but she drew the line at the swearing. You can take the teacher off the school bus but even in a Zombie Apocalypse there were standards. It came down to respect. Just like how they agreed to refer to each other by where they were from instead of their names, something from one of those Zombie movies, the one with all the rules. They were from Toronto up in Canada and Scar was from Scarborough, an east end suburb with a reputation for being a little rougher. Toby, was from Etobicoke in the West end, just past the Humber River but not as far as Mississauga where the airport was, which was where Missy was from. She was from Roncesvalles, in the downtown west end which made her Roncey. It was a stupid name, she knew it but if it made the kids happy what did it hurt.

Toby dropped silently on his haunches next to her, he was a little older than the others and if things were normal he'd be off at university on his pre med scholarship. He was one of those pedestal students, the kind that was always at the top of his class in a way that didn't earn him friends. It wasn't that he was a Sheldon but even without the green lantern shirt he was wearing, there was no disguising that he was a nerd.

Roncey nodded in response and then explained in a low voice.

"Guys, we can't risk this guy taking what we need for Missy, I don't need to tell you what's at stake. We're not strong enough to take him on unless we have to so we'll have to be quiet. Sorry no shopping on this trip. Antibiotics and we're out. Hopefully we can come back, but no promises."

They both nodded in understanding, although the disappointment was clear on their faces. They'd been in the woods for a while and were running low on supplies. That and Scar was always on the look out for candy, that one sure had a sweet tooth that lightly seasoned rodent did not replace.

"OK, Scar I need you to watch the rear and Toby keep an eye on the road. As soon as I give you the signal we'll take off through the backwoods like a bat out of hell. Hopefully, he doesn't even see us but if he does, we shouldn't have anything he wants and he should just go on his way."

She made a point to look like a boy these days to avoid any of "all that." Something she'd learned in the year since the soccer tournament that had brought them to Atlanta. She watched them get into position before she made her move, feeling fiercely protective of them. They had started out as 20 when they drove south and were down to just 4 from the original group, plus the three more they'd picked up along the way.

The head coach and his assistant were among the first to go when things got weird on the field last year. She had reacted instantly, grabbed who she could, ran for the bus and then drove off as fast and as far out of town as she could. You don't have to be a rocket scientist to know it's not normal for people to tackle others to the ground and rip their throats out with their teeth. She didn't care if it was bath salts or a George Romero film shoot, they could thank her or laugh at her later when they watched it on the news.

Only it didn't happen that way, and they haven't stopped running since. That first day they lost more half of their people, she saw eight of the team get ripped apart right in front of her as she drove the bus and she just lost track of the other four. She hoped they got away but there'd be no way to know. After that it was all just a blur or people running and screaming. She felt bad that she hadn't stopped to help anyone and had just floored it all they way out of town, she should have gone to the CDC, the police, Fort Benning something, but she didn't. She just drove until they were in the middle of no where and out of gas.

A year later they were still in the middle of no where and she was damned if she'd lose anymore people, not today. With that thought she strengthened her resolve and crept inside the small town drug store grateful that her runner's legs could handle the squat walk that was required, as she made her way to the back of the store. She was glad to see the biker dude was on the other side of the store as she made her way towards the pharmacist's section. Based on his interest up front it looked like there wouldn't be too much problem as she made her way behind the counter and grabbed the bottles of penicillin and anything else ending in "illin" that she recognized and stuffed them in her backpack as quickly and quietly as she could. She was feeling pretty good about getting ready to make a getaway until she heard a car pull up out front. Oh damn. Of course he's not alone. Who goes grocery shopping on a bike? She heard the door slam shut and the footsteps of someone enter the store.

"Hey, why didn't you wait?" A male voice asked a little peevishly.

"It was empty. No sense wastin' time." The biker replied nonchalantly.

"So did you find anything?" The second man asked, not taking offense as he walked over to him.

"Yeah, there's lots of stuff here." He said with a chuckle. "Better get some baskets and load up the car. I'll see what else they got." The second part sounded much closer as he walked towards her position.

Oh shit, she thought to herself...looking for somewhere to hide. Anywhere. Backing herself to the storage area she wondered if she could risk it. That section hadn't been cleared and it could be full of zombies. The other choice was to stay where she was. Either way she didn't like her odds.

~o0O0o~

Just a dream I had that begged to be written down. I'll keep writing the other story but I had to get this out of my head to free up a little space. Let me know what you think.