Execute Chapter 1

I watched Travis climb a tree nearby. His small arms were eager to reach the top. I wiped the slick sweat off my forehead and continued my watch. Jeremy had been gone a few hours and I was starting to let my worries get the best of me. He was on a quick supply run. We were only a few miles away from town and it shouldn't take him more than an hour or so to get there and back.

I anxiously twisted the ring around my finger, willing a silent prayer to pass through my mind. "Casey I see him!" Travis shouted.

I knew I should've told him to keep his voice down, but the relief that filled me silenced any warnings. My eyes followed Travis' pointing finger and then I saw him. Baseball bat in hand and a well stocked backpack hanging on his shoulder. His dark locks were pressed back by his blue ball cap.

A smile rose to my face and I ran to him, my arms wrapping around him fiercely. He held me back, tighter than ever before. I felt Travis crash into us and cling on for dear life. It had been weeks, maybe even months since we started living in the woods, and yet separation never got any easier.

"What took you so long?" I asked, pulling away to look him in the eye. He looked tired. There were heavy circles under his eyes and his face had grown pale. I reached out with the back of my hand, pressing it against his forehead. "Are you sick?"

He didn't need to answer; the burning skin that touched my hand was answer enough.

"Travis go to the creek and get him some water," I ordered, willing the panic to stay out of my voice.

Travis ran off without question, practically skipping on his way. His brother was back, that's all that mattered to him. That's all he noticed.

I took the baseball bat and backpack from Jem, resting them against a tree. Then I helped Jem to sit, his back resting against the bark.

"What happened? Did you run into any of them?"

"Case don't panic," he warned, his voice careful even while his breathing was heavy and strained. "I need you to be strong, for Travis, and for-." His words broke off and he started to shake, tears streaming down his face. As long as I'd known Jem he'd never cried. He'd never flinched. He was stronger than anyone I'd ever known. This terrified me more than anything else I'd seen so far. My hero was crumbling.

"Jem what is it?"

He flipped his wrist over and rolled up his sleeve. Blood soaked his arm and in the center of it all was gnarled flesh, a bite mark clear and tauntingly starting up at me. My hand flew to my mouth to hold back the scream I wanted so desperately to release. My mind instantly went into future mode. What would life be like without Jem? How would I take care of his baby brother all on my own? How long would we last?

A warm hand, too warm, found my face and brought me back to the now. His golden brown eyes focused on mine. "He can't be here when I k-kill…" He stopped but I didn't need him to say anymore.

"Okay. I'll send him to get more water-."

"Case I don't want you here either."

I felt a lump forming in my throat, lodging my words back down. Tears spilled down my cheeks. I leaned forward and kissed his lips lightly. "Not a chance in hell."

"Casey-."

"In sickness and in health," I choked my eyes filling to the brim.

"Til death do us part," he finished for me, pulling me to his chest.

Leaves crackled behind us and my fingers wrapped around the baseball bat, swinging it around. I was filled with a new fury and I would kill every last one of the undead even if it killed me.

But standing before me wasn't a murdering brainless shell. It was a boy. Eyes wide and knowing, heart sunk and filled with led. He'd dropped the can of water at his feet. And his tear ducts were making a mess of their own.

"Jem?" He fell to his brother's side and I walked away from them, clutching my stomach, trying to keep my eyes clear and on watch.

Once the sun started setting I knew it was time. Travis was still clinging to his brother and Jem's breathing had grown even more erratic. It wasn't always just the three of us. Jem and I were on the road with Travis when it happened. They shut down the freeway, forcing us to flee for cover from the bombs they were dropping. They were trying to take out this coming apocalypse all-collateral damage be damned. We partnered up with the couple in the car beside us.

Only a few days later Chloe had been bit. Her boyfriend Quinn had sat beside her and watched her condition worsen. She had difficulty breathing, but it was the pain that was the hardest to watch. She cried until there were no tears left, and then she moaned. Her face contorted into a tortured sadness so severe I had to look away. It took two days for it to kill her, and then only two minutes for Quinn to kill himself.

I wasn't going to let Travis watch his brother suffer. Bending down beside them I pressed my hand against Jem's head. His eyes cracked open and his lips tipped up slightly in the best smile he could muster. "Travis remember what I said about listening to Casey? Don't you ever leave her side," he told him, his words quiet but firm.

"I won't," Travis agreed; his brown eyes found mine. "Not even to pee," he said with a smirk. Jem laughed at that. My heart tore straight down the middle when I heard it. I briefly wondered if that was the last time I'd ever hear it.

"Travis go get me some water, will ya?"

He nodded and jumped to his feet.

"Here, take this," I said, holding out my knife.

We never let him leave our sights when it was almost dark out. I hoped he wouldn't think too much into it. He took it from me with a serious nod, then disappeared into the trees.

Jem's hand found mine, our fingers intertwined perfectly. "Casey, keep him safe."

I nodded. He reached up to the brim of his cap and took it off. His curly black hair was soaked with sweat. It reminded me of his baseball games. If his team didn't win he would come right up to the fence where I was standing, take off his sweaty cap and place it on my head saying, "No loser gets to wear this cap." It seemed like the world was playing some huge comic joke when he reached over and placed it on my head for the last time.

"Casey keep my wife safe too." Tears dripped from my eyes. "And don't be a hero. I know you see something that needs to be done and you do it, no matter the cost. But, there is a cost now.

"If you die, he's alone," his hand lifted in the direction his brother had gone. "You don't have to kill every one of the undead that you see, sometimes running is the best option. Sometimes asking for help is too.

"Casey you are an incredible, strong woman and I know you can survive this world. But, don't get over confident. For me. For Travis. Stay strong. Stay smart," Jem's lips started to quiver.

"It's okay," I whispered, resting my forehead against his.

"No it's not," he replied, pushing me back gently, no weakly. "It's not okay. It's never going to be okay. You need to find more people. You're safer in a group."

He pressed his lips against mine one last time, and then pulled the gun from its holster. "As soon as this gun goes off get him out of here. They'll be attracted to the noise." I nodded once more and reached out to stroke his face. Then I leaned in closer.

"I love you Jeremy Walter Jones." I whispered in his ear.

"I love you too Cassandra Whittaker." The lump lodged itself in my throat once more when I heard him use my maiden name.

He put the gun to his temple and I watched his hand shake. His bloodshot eyes filled with tears. It fell to his lap. "I c-can't do it."

Jeremy's family had always been very religous. Even when the world turned to Hell he stuck strong to his beliefs. Killing the undead was one thing. Killing himself was a sin he wasn't ready to commit.

I picked the gun up from his lap. His eyes widened. "Case I don't want this on your conscience." I knew what he was really thinking: these next few days of hell were worth seeing me again in heaven.

"Who knows what else I'll have to do before the end? I'll do anything to keep Travis safe. I'll do anything for you."

His fingers wrapped around my wrist. "I don't want you to. You don't have to."

I pulled away from him, and the lack of resistance twisted my heart.

"Yes I do." I lifted the gun to his head, and pulled the trigger. His golden brown eyes once warm and filled with comfort were now cold and empty.

I pulled my knees up to my chest and started to rock back and forth. I needed to get up. I needed to find Travis and run. I needed to look away from Jem's lifeless body.

I needed to do a lot of things. But all I could do was reflexively pull air into my lungs and push it back out.

"Jeremy!" I heard Travis scream.

Hearing Travis was exactly what my body needed to kickstart back into survival mode. I jumped to my feet and wiped the tears off my face. I removed Jem's holster and wrapped it around my own waist, fitting the gun into place. Next I removed his jacket, crumpled it up and stuffed it into the backpack. Travis would need a bigger coat eventually. I slipped into the backpack straps and grabbed the baseball bat; running into the woods in Travis' direction.

He was not going to see Jem's body. No way in hell. The image was already imprinted on my memory. That was enough.

Travis was still screaming his brother's name, and from the rustling in the woods I knew the undead heard him too. He was running towards me, towards Jem, and I intercepted him my hand latching over his mouth.

His eyes were huge, brimming with tears and teeming with betrayal. "I'm sorry Travis but we have to go now." I knew he wanted to argue, break away from me and run after his brother, but Travis was a smart ten year old. He nodded and held his hand out for me. I grasped it and we ran.

The rustling grew louder and it became apparent that we were surrounded. We came to a stop and I wracked my brain for any ideas to get Travis to safety. There was nothing around us but trees and dirt.

My eyes lit up. "Travis climb a tree and don't stop until you're at the top. Don't come down until daylight, no matter what you see or hear."

"Casey I'm not leaving you, he told us to stay together." I could feel Jem glaring daggers at me for even suggesting it, but I was too heavy to successfully climb these dainty trees and I needed to save Travis first.

"I'll stay by the tree, now go!"

I dropped the bag by the tree and lifted the baseball bat.

"Casey," I spun around. "Take this." He handed me the knife.

"Thank you, now up!"

The tiny monkey of a kid was up that tree in seconds. I lifted the knife and thought about Jem. He was one of the best people in the world, and he was gone. Nothing about this world was fair. I thought back to the bite mark. All the way back to the bombs being dropped on the city. Anger bubbled from my core and I gripped the bat tighter. Swinging it forcefully against the first skull I found.

All I saw was red. Swing after swing, stab after stab. Red leaked into my eyes. I pushed one of them to the ground, swung at the one behind me and then bent and stabbed the one on the ground in the face. It went the same way for a long time. Swing push stab. Swing swing stab push. My arms shook and I knew I was growing weak, but then I'd remind myself that Travis was up in the tree and there was no way I was letting any of them get to him.

Blood had splattered my entire body. I was drenched in blood and sweat, and my arms were still shaking. I couldn't do this anymore. Instead of keeping up the same circular pattern, making my round on the mess around me, I focused on one direction only, pushing and hitting my way through. They followed after me. The grotesque sound of their limbs dragging combined with their moans filled the air.

When it was clear, I ran. I ran until my legs became more tired than my arms and I kept running long after that. Relief flooded my veins when I saw a river. I jumped in without a thought and struggled to wade across against the current. The cool water was refreshing and stimulated my brain.

I chanced a glance back at the mob behind me. They splashed in after me and were quickly pulled downstream. When I made it to the other side, my arms screamed as I pulled myself out. Then I burst into another run. I knew that your mind gave up long before your body. I was seriously starting to wonder how long it would take for my limbs to crumble too.

I ran down the edge of the river and when the undead were far enough away I jumped back in, wading back the way I came. I had run miles away from Travis, and I needed to get back there before he started to panic. I pulled myself out of the water once more, but this time I couldn't run.

I moved as quickly as I could, but I knew it was going to be a slow walk back. Please let him stay exactly where I left him.