The bus came to a sudden stop as the driver couldn't stop coughing. He was coughing up blood, and fell out of the driver's chair, his face purple, spattered with blood. The rest of us on the bus were all feeling horrible, but I knew that it wouldn't be long before we died. And turned. Unless I leave. I weakly manage to stand up, grab Ashley and Connor from the back of the bus, and leave the bus through the back door.

"Shouldn't we get our stuff, Alex?" Ashley asked me, not really knowning where we were. The flu was causing her-no, all of us-to become delerious.

"We can't, Ash. Too risky." I manage to croak out. She doesn't put up much of a fight as I lead her and Connor down the road, past a sign that says "Hitchhikers may be escaping inmates" and I smile weakly. Yeah, we sure are inmates. After that Governor dude rolled up to the Prison and destroyed it, when we hightailed out of there on the bus, I felt like an inmate breaking out of jail.

I don't know how long we walk for, but we're far from the bus when the sun starts to set, creating a beautiful pink, purple and orange streak low in the sky. Too pretty of a sight for such an ugly world. Connor spots a small house a little ways back into the woods. I don't even know how he managed to see it; I had walked right by it. The flu is probably messing with my mind more than I thought.

The thought of some sort of protection for the night boosts my moral a little bit, but when I approach the house, I hear walkers inside. Damn! We don't have anything to kill them with. I pull at the sleeve of Connor's shirt and start walking down the road again. I hear Ashley start to cry as we start moving again. I don't blame her. How are us three teenagers supposed to survive out here? We don't have any food, water, weapons or shelter. And we're all sick.

We get lucky. About 20 minutes after walking past the house, we find a gas station. Old rusty cars sit parked in the stalls, waiting for gas that will never come. More cars wait behind them, forming a several lines of cars that stretches out into the road. This place must have been chaos.

I have Connor and Ashley wait in one of the old cars while I head inside to scavenge. I'm two years older than Connor and Ashley is too sick to help, so I have to search alone. Inside, I find 3 weathered corpses, all neatly placed on the floor. They're so old they don't stink anymore, and I avoid them as I look through the empty shelves.

I score a couple stale bags of chips, a bottle of grape soda, and a couple full packs of mint gum. They'll just love the gum. I slip 3 pieces in my mouth all at once, and make a satisfied sound as my mouth fills with an overwhelming minty sensation. The back of the store doesn't have much else that I can use, except for a crowbar laying next to a broken window. At least I have a weapon now.

I'm about to go back out when I see a safe built into the wall right next to a desk. Probably where the owner kept all their money and everything...but maybe there's a gun in there? I've seen plenty of videos on the news where somebody breaks into a gas station and the clerk has a gun and everything...

I find the key to the safe in the desk, thank god, and as I open the safe i'm nervous. Inside, a couple stacks of money lay, with heavy dust coating them. Behind the money I find what I was looking for: A pistol! I have no clue what kind of make or model it is, but who cares?! It's a gun! There's even a full box of ammo with it!

I'm giddy with joy as I call for Ashley and Connor to come inside so we can take cover for the night. We feast on stale chips and mint gum, and share the warm grape soda. Halfway though the "meal", Ashley gets an asthma attack, and I have to calm her down, having her breath into a paper bag.

"It's okay, Ash, it's okay. We're safe here. None of the walkers can get to us. Just calm down.." But it's not working. She continues to wheeze and gasp for breath.

"Just think of the library at the prison. You LOVE the library, right?" I ask, and she manages to nod. "Did you bring any books with you, Ash? Connor, can you grab her bag for me?"

Connor looks down at the dirty floor awkwardly and rubs the back of his head. "We left them on the bus." He says shyly.

I groan. Of course, I had them leave their bags on the bus.

"Book" Ashley whimpers. She's calmed down now, well, sort of. She's shaking like a leaf and crying, again. God i'm such a horrible guardian. I can hardly get my own siblings to shelter and barely feed them, and I can't do a thing as my sister cries her eyes out.

Well, I can do something.

"Connor, watch over your sister, K? I'll be right back." I instruct him as I grab the pistol and load it.

"W-where are you going? It's dark out."

"I'm gonna go get our stuff from the bus."

Connor's eyes go wide in fear. "But you can't Alex! It's dark and you can't leave us alone in the dark and there's walkers out there and..oh..you just..CAN'T!" He sputters as tears start to flow freely down his face.

Oh my god. I'm such a good protector.

I look outside, and realize I don't have a flashlight or anything to help me see in the dark, and I would probably get lost.

I sigh. "Fine, i'll stay here. But tomorrow morning I'm going back to the bus for our stuff, okay?"

Connor sniffles, and looks up. "Okay."

Dammit, I really want to go out there and get our stuff. But I can't. With no flashlight with me, i'd get lost or eaten or a thousand other things.

Ashley has fallen asleep now, and I lay on the ground, knowing I won't sleep at all tonight. Connor curls up next to me instantly, and I guess I manage to get some sleep, because the next thing I know it's light outside, and there are walkers moaning outside.

I'm up in a flash, pistol in hand and aiming out the smashed window. There are 3 walkers shuffling along, unaware of us in the gas station. I keep my pistol pointed at them until they're out of sight, and finally relax. It's probably gonna be another couple hours before either Ashley or Connor wake up, so I decide to make the station a little more "homey"

Venturing into the woods immediately next to the gas station, I bring in several armfuls of sticks to use as firewood. Once they're stacked in the corner, I go back out and haul up 7 or 8 heavier logs, and pile them in the doorway. Only if I had a hammer and some nails...then I could keep Connor and Ashley safe in here, while I go out and get our stuff.

Oh, and we still don't have any food, either...

I hear a gun click behind me, and freeze.