Riley Sloan woke up as the sun shone through the gap in the curtains of his bedroom. He was immediately freezing cold, but considering he was in New Hampshire in early winter, he had gotten used to it, mostly by wearing three layers of shirts and a sweater, two layers of pants, and two pairs of socks. He stood up as carefully as he could, so as to not wake up his girlfriend Julie Devereaux, who lay next to him. They usually managed to fall asleep by huddling together for warmth, and Riley would not have had it any other way, as she was the only bright spot in the new world that they lived in. Riley had assumed that in the past, before the undead rose, they never would have been a couple: he was forty-one and she was twenty-eight; he was from Massachusetts and she was from New York; and he was a quiet, slightly nerdy looking computer technician while she was a beautiful, fun-loving hairstylist. He had said this to her before, but Julie told him that that was ridiculous, saying that she would have fallen for anyone as honorable as him.
Riley changed into his black jeans and gray sweater, and prepared to leave his room, but he looked over at Julie one last time, admiring the way her light brown hair looked in the sunlight.
"You know you creep me out when you do that," Julie said suddenly, her eyes still closed.
"What can I say," Riley said sarcastically, "I'm a fan." Julie smiled, and Riley opened the door and stepped into the living room.
"Morning Alan," he said warmly to the tall, grayish-haired, fifty-eight year-old former fire chief who sat on the couch, reading an old Clive Cussler book called "Treasure".
"Morning Riley," Alan responded. "There's some soup on the burner."
"Thanks. How's the book?"
"Pretty good actually. You wanna read it when I'm done?"
"I would, but I don't wanna miss my People's Court." Riley smirked; Alan rolled his eyes.
"I'm sure that if I got the chance to watch one more TV show, it wouldn't be some court show."
"Yeah, you always struck me as a Matlock kinda guy."
Alan laughed. "Shut up."
Riley laughed, as he poured himself a ladle's worth of soup. He then took his labeled water bottle and sat on the couch opposite the one upon which Alan sat. Riley looked out the window.
"So," Riley said, "doesn't seem like the lake's gonna melt anytime soon, huh?"
Alan shook his head. "Nope."
"I see two goons out for a walk on the ice."
"Yep, saw 'em earlier."
Their group had arrived at Lake Winnipesaukee in mid-October, and after several boat rides back and forth (the only one they found was only big enough for three people), they made it to Bear Island, the largest on the lake. It was obvious that the island was inhabited for a while after the end, but several houses had been destroyed and there were undead people, which the group not-so-affectionately called "goons", everywhere. The eight people in the house managed to clear the island without incident, but only were able to find one house unlocked and in good condition. The house had only three bedrooms, with five beds, but the group managed to make it work. They knew that with winter approaching, the lake would freeze over, and more of the undead could potentially make their way to the island, but they agreed that it was worth the risk.
"I'll go take care of them in a while," Riley said, right as Melissa, a black-haired twenty-three year-old who at the time of the outbreak was a waitress and recent college graduate, left her room, which she shared with Alan and her friend Donnie. She walked wordlessly to the burner to get herself some soup.
"Good morning Melissa," Riley said nicely.
"Morning," she said coldly.
Riley and Alan gave each other a look, a look they had given many times before when Melissa had previously acted indifferent to the group. Deep down though, they knew Melissa was not a bad person, she just had a lot of pain.
When the outbreak started, she, Donnie, her boyfriend Ryan, and Donnie's girlfriend (and Melissa's best friend) Nicole were on a road trip celebrating their graduation from the University of Connecticut, Stamford, which was supposed to take them all throughout New England, but while in Maine, they were suddenly rounded up by National Guardsmen for "their own protection", a mistake that cost Nicole her life as panic spread through the community center-turned-shelter they were placed in. Many people operated under the assumption that the virus was only spread through contact, but through all the rioting and chaos, they saw people take a bullet in the chest and wake up just a few minutes later, as a mindless cannibal. The trio broke free from the shelter, only for Ryan to accidentally be shot as they ran away. Donnie had had to pull Melissa away from Ryan's body to save her from being eaten. Melissa should have been grateful, but there was always a sort of lingering resentment she had for Donnie, like she would have rather died.
"So, is it just the two of them out there?" Melissa asked.
"Seems like it," Riley responded. "I'll take care of them after I've had my breakfast." Melissa nodded.
Julie finally emerged from hers and Riley's bedroom, right as William, a tall, muscular African-American man, came out from the room across from the room occupied by Alan, Melissa, and Donnie.
"Good morning everyone," Julie said warmly to the others.
"Morning Julie. William." Alan nodded to both as he spoke, and returned to his book.
"Family sleeping well?" Julie asked William.
"I hope so," William responded in his deep baritone voice.
The Carlton family had joined the group most recently, only a few days before making it to the island. The forty-seven year-old handyman had been protecting his wife Theresa, who was forty-five and a former receptionist, and their seventeen-year-old son Jason by hiding in an old house. William tried to do most of the goon killing himself so that his family would not have to, but they had had to do it on occasion, so he finally decided to train them better; he had grown up in a gang and knew his way around knives and even guns (though they did not own one), but he turned his life around, started his business, started a family, and became a modest success. He was proud of his redemption, and hoped that his son would never fall in with a bad crowd. Ironically, this left Jason sorely ill-equipped to handle the new world, and William begrudgingly toughened his son up as best he could.
"So," Julie asked, "any plans for today?"
"Yeah," Melissa sarcastically jumped in, "I was gonna hit the mall and then grab some drinks with all my girlfriends."
"Cute," Riley snarked back. "I was thinking of making my way over to the mainland and searching for some more supplies. We haven't checked the Weirs Beach area yet."
"Probably because it was overrun last we looked", Donnie said sarcastically as he emerged from his room.
"Hey Donnie," Julie said sweetly to him.
"Morning," he responded.
Riley continued. "We've seen that the cold slows them down, and we had a hell of a snowstorm the other day, so some of the goons may be stuck."
"He's right," Julie added, "it might be safer now. I think it's worth the risk. That place was still bustling when everything happened, there could be plenty of food still there."
"Can I go?" Jason asked as he came into the room. "You shouldn't be alone."
"Not a chance," William said. "You're not ready for that yet."
"He's right," Theresa said as she came out of their room. "I don't want anything to happen to you."
"Riley wouldn't let anything happen to me. Right?" Jason looked at Riley hopefully.
"Look," Riley said, "I'd let you come with me, but your parents don't want you to go. I've done this before; I know how to get in and out a little better than you."
"Well how the hell am I supposed to learn?!" Jason was shouting now.
"Watch your mouth," Theresa said sternly.
"How about those two outside?" Alan jumped in. "There's only two of them, and we'll go out there with him, watch his back."
Jason's parents looked hesitant. "Mom," Jason said, "I can do this. At least let me do this much."
"I'll go out with him," Riley said, "make sure nothing happens."
William thought about it again. "Okay," he said, "but I'm going out there too. You do need to get better at defending yourself. Honey?"
Theresa sighed. "Be careful, okay?"
"I will."
Riley, William, and Jason put on their heavy jackets and boots, and stepped out onto the wooden porch. They then made their way down the stairs and onto the dock. Riley started banging on the metal support pole at the end of the dock to attract the two goons slowly shuffling by. The two goons, both male, turned their attention to the three of them.
"Here they come," Riley said. "You ready kid?"
"Ready," Jason said as he lifted his aluminum baseball bat into the air. Riley and William both held hunting knives in their hands. Once the two goons made it to the dock, Jason swung his bat and hit one of them right in the side of the head. It fell to the ground, but was not dead. Jason swung his bat again, and hit the second one in the shoulder, which it barely reacted to. It then reached for Jason on the dock. Theresa, watching from the cabin with the others, screamed in terror, worried her son was about to be attacked.
But Jason was right. Riley wouldn't let anything happen to him.
Riley grabbed the goon by its shirt and pulled it onto the dock. He then stomped on its head, and finally finished it off by stabbing it in the head. The second goon stood up, and William kicked it in the head, making it fall backwards. Riley ran out onto the ice, and just like the first one, slammed the knife into its head.
"I hate these fucking things," Riley said with a sigh. "You alright Jason?"
"Yeah," Jason said, still shaken. "I'm good."
Back in the cabin, Julie hugged Theresa. "It's okay," Julie said. "Jason's okay."
The men came back inside, and Theresa ran and hugged her son. "Mom," Jason said, "I changed my mind. I don't wanna go with Riley anymore."
The others laughed, as Riley removed his coat. "Don't worry kid, I won't drag you along."
"Besides," Julie jumped in, "I wanted to join him." She then winked at Riley; he smiled.
"This is really a scouting mission more than anything," Riley announced. "If we find a substantial amount of goods, we'll go back with more people. For now though, we only need two of us."
A little while later, Riley and Julie suited up for their mission to Weirs Beach, a (former) popular tourist trap, with arcades, mini-golf, and even a scenic train that runs through town. But most importantly, there were nearly thirty restaurants in the area, and they were hoping that at least one of them still had food of some kind. They both took M19 revolvers and their own hunting knives, and Riley took a double-barreled shotgun while Julie took an M9 Beretta.
"We'll be back by tomorrow," Riley said. "If we don't come back, you guys know what to do."
Everyone nodded solemnly, as they did know what to do:
Nothing.
"Bye guys," Julie said. "Don't worry about us." She then closed the door, and they set off for the five-mile walk to Weirs.
"We all know why they insisted on just the two of them going, right?" Donnie said, smiling and raising his eyebrows.
"Shut up Donnie," Alan, Melissa, and Jason said in unison. Donnie smirked.
Riley and Julie made it across the island without incident, and now faced the long walk across the frozen lake to the town. There were no goons in sight.
"That was impressive," Julie said. "Saving Jason like that."
"It was nothing," Riley said, "I just couldn't let the kid die."
Julie grimaced. "You really need to start giving yourself more credit. You're the most heroic, bravest person at that cabin."
Riley smirked. "Don't make me out into a total badass. I ain't perfect."
"You've done alright by us. All of us. It was your idea to go to that island."
"Well, let's just hope a herd doesn't decide to go by."
Julie rolled her eyes. "Take a frickin compliment for ONCE, would you?" They laughed.
"You're right. I'm sorry. I'm the most badass badass that ever badassed."
"THANK you!" They laughed again.
They continued to move cautiously across the ice. Finally, they made it to the pier at Weirs Beach. Once they were on it, they walked straight for the snack bar in the arcade. They rummaged through for a few minutes, but found nothing. After going through a few more places, they found nothing other than two cans of peas and a package of noodles. They were not terribly surprised by this, but they were very surprised that they had not encountered a single goon yet.
Julie sighed. "Someone must have come through, wiped the goons out, and collected everything here."
"Yeah," Riley responded, "that'd be my guess."
Suddenly, a shotgun cocked behind them. They froze instantly.
"Put your weapons on the ground," a female voice called out. "Try anything funny, I'll shoot."
"Okay," Riley said, "we don't want any trouble." He then dropped his weapons on the ground and motioned for Julie to do the same, which she did.
They then turned around slowly, to try and reason with the gunwoman. However, once they turned around, they were surprised at who they saw.
The girl aiming a pump-action shotgun at them was a teenager.
"One wrong move, I blow your head off."