Bill pulled open the door and we paraded into the building. I limped with a purpose, straight to the pharmacy.

"Pills here," my voice echoed through the abandoned supermarket. This reminded me of Dawn of the Dead, except they were in a mall. We're in a friggin' supermarket. There's no where to hide. I dumped a whole shelf of Advil into my messenger bag. "No first aid… Seriously?" I complained to myself. It was extremely inconvenient, especially after a run-in with a Tank. Typical horror movie. I heard Louis' voice ring.

"Weapons here!" Score! I followed the reverberation of his dulcet tones and found the mothers of all weapons: the auto-shotgun, the sniper rifle, and the assault rifle. Fabulous.

"Now this is a shotgun," Francis said with a smirk. I grabbed a sniper rifle. I had the best eyes in the group; this would be the perfect weapon for me. "Zoey, you're gonna be deadly with that thing," he commented.

"I sure hope so." Then, I heard Bill say the three words that could've changed my outlook on life at that moment.

"First aid here!" I worked myself into a full trot to where Bill's voice had come from and my face lit up at the sight of the tiny red backpack that could save my life. He tossed one to me and I tore it open like a starving person tearing open a loaf of bread. My hands were shaking as I wrapped a bandage around my right arm. I cringed a little; the Tank must have sprained my arm or something. Blood was already soaking through the gauze as I tucked in the last corner. I opened my bag and took out a bottle of pain pills. I took the cap off and shook two pills into my hand. I dropped them into my waiting mouth and downed my last bottle of water like a savage.

"Crap," I said, realizing that now I'd have no more water until the indefinite instance that we'd find more.

"Hey, no sweat," Francis chimed in as he walked toward me. "Whenever you need some, just ask." I soaked that in for a few seconds.

"Thanks, Frannie," I joked, using my newfound pet name for him. He playfully punched my arm. I coughed and spoke. "Did anyone look for food yet?"

"Nope. When Bill announced the presence of first aid, we all bee-lined for our savior." Francis smiled. I smiled along with him, and left the room in search of some tasty snacks. I first checked the refrigerated section. There could've been power after the outbreak, and some edible food. I hadn't had milk in a good week, let alone cheese, yogurt, pretty much any dairy or meat product.

"We've got some frozens!" Louis yelled in relief. We'd had stale breads and cold soup for more than a week, whatever we could find.

"You guys pick out our dinner. I'll look for an oven," I said, and I started off towards the back room.

"Not without me, kid," Francis jogged over to me. "Thirsty?" He took his water bottle out of his belt and held it out to me.

"No, I'm good," I said, shaking my head. "Save your water." I turned my head forward again. He pressed the bottle against the side of my face.

"Come on, there's tons of water here. It's a supermarket!" He knocked the plastic cap on my head.

"Ouch! Fine, Francis!" I seized the water bottle and took a long, huge, satisfying sip. "Happy?"

"Delighted." And idea popped into my head.

"What if we just found a microwave or a grill and plugged it in to cook stuff? There's obviously power."

"Brilliant, darling." I laughed at my nickname. We did a U-turn and searched the aisles for the ones labeled "outdoor cooking" or "kitchen appliances."

"Outdoor appliances. Really?" We strode down that aisle. I suddenly felt an urge building up inside me. It captivated my thoughts, and controlled my actions and words. Suddenly,

"This one has a nice color, but I'm not sure if it's big enough for all of us. But it's the least expensive…" Francis raised his right eyebrow at me. "Sorry… Just my girlish urge to shop."

"I'm guessing you're the kind of person that wants a big family." I brushed an imaginary lock of hair behind my ear.

"Well, I was just an almost-college-dropout. I didn't really plan for the future."

"You still could've hoped. And after this stupid apocalypse… You must feel like a lump of goat cheese."

"Actually, I've never felt more important in my life. For all we know, I'm the last woman left on the planet. Who knows how far the infection has spread, or who didn't know they were infected before they went on vacation to England, or if the infection came from England, or—" Francis covered my mouth.

"Grill. Got it?" I nodded, and he removed his hand from my face. "So, what are you hoping they pick out for us to eat?" He asked while he picked out the lightest grill to carry. I could tell this conjuring-of-small-talk was awkward for Francis, so I cut him some slack.

"Haven't had hamburgers in a while. But steak would be great… With potatoes… We could make potatoes in a microwave… Mashed potatoes! Yeah, and there are probably tomatoes and broccoli in the fridges, which would—" Francis covered my mouth again. "Grill." I licked his hand. "Ugh, Zoey!" He snatched his hand away. I punched him playfully on his arm.

"Got it." I smiled wide, bent my knees, and lifted the nearest grill. I wobbled, but didn't fall.

"Come on, Zoey, let me help you…" I rammed the grill box into his torso and teetered my way to the end of the aisle. "Seriously, darling, I'll take one side."

"Find a microwave," I grunted. One step at a time, I slowly made my way to the food aisle. As soon as Louis and Bill caught sight of a struggling 18-year-old girl carrying a huge grill box, they rushed over to help the damsel in distress.

"How did Francis let you carry this all by yourself?" Louis said just loudly enough so Francis could hear from wherever he was.

"She wouldn't let me help!" We heard him yell back from the other side of the store. I laughed at him and the three of us gently set the box on the ground and Francis came running back with a microwave in his arms.

"What's with the boxes?" Louis said.

"We could just hook these up to the power."

"That's a lot harder than finding one."

"But what if we happen to find a Tank with the magical oven." Louis sarcastically mouthed the word "magical." I shook my head. "Whatever. You guys look for one, and I'll wait by this wall for him to fling you at it." I smiled. "Go. I dare you three."

"Well, I can't pass up a dare," Francis said with a grin.

"Zoey, this is a stupid thing to do," Bill warned, but he started walking towards the back room. Francis followed. Louis hesitated.

"Zoey, come on. We can't afford you to have another little run-in with a special." I shook my head.

"Go, Louis. If anything happens, I'll call you guys out here. Okay?" He shrugged, but followed Bill and Francis into the back room. I sat there, trying to act as smug as possible. I heard a weird cough. It sounded like someone who had just inhaled a bunch of helium. I figured it was just Francis trying to be funny, so I continued with my façade when I heard a louder cough. I thought I was going crazy, but it sounded like it was coming from behind me, outside of the store. Zombies don't cough, I told myself. Then, heard the sound of a slingshot being snapped, and a slimy rope wrapped around my body. Before I knew it, I was being pulled along the ground towards the door, defenseless.