I'm gonna say it right now,I'm not going to get anything right about where they're at,I only know Pennsylvania,which is where I live,so don't yell at me in the reviews or Pm's about how,"This area is like this not this,dumbass." Try to be nice about it please and I'll fix it in editing. This is like a banter chapter.

We were currently going down a long highway on the way over to Vegas,I didn't know the name of the highway or town and I didn't care for right now. And there is a very good reason for that.

"Zoe,I gotta take a leak."

She turned to me in the passenger seat. "Seriously? Dude you went like a half hour ago."

Joe chirped up,"I need to go to the bathroom too,and I'm tired...and hungry."

"Zoe I need to pee." Nyssa chimed in,who was currently sitting on my lap.

"Zoe Zoe Zoe Zoe." We all chanted.

Zoe gritted her teeth and gripped the steering wheel so hard her leather gloves made tiny crinkling sounds."FINE! We'll look for a house to bunk in! Just stop whining,You'll wake up Dylan."

"Yay!" We cheered.I for one,was in agreement with Joe and Dylan on the sleep aspect,the sun was starting to go down,if I had to guess it was around 7 PM,and at the start of fall the sun started going down earlier,so in an hour we wouldn't be able to see anything and the lights from the car would attract too much unwanted attention,both from the dead and alive.

"SHUT UP!" I'm trying to sleep back here!" Dylan mumbled from under his thin blanket,"Joe you're back here with me and I will kick your ass out of this truck and all over this highway if I don't get some damn shuteye."

Joe snorted and pantomimed shooting Dylan in his sleep.

"Why is Dylan so grumpy when he's tired?" Nyssa grumbled,pouting.

"Cuz he's an ornery old man,Nyssa." Joe practically yelled,trying to rouse Dylan into a fight.

It worked.

"I'll show you ornery you asshole!" Dylan said,turning out of his makeshift bed and swinging at Joe,missing.

"That's enough!" Zoe screamed,slamming her foot on the brakes.

Since I put the seatbelt over Nyssa,me and her were fine. But Joe and Dylan were launched into the front of the truck,their faces smashing against the glass and Joe's face managing to crack it.

Zoe took her seatbelt off and swung around to face them."Everybody is going to shut the hell up! Or I'm going to kick ALL of your asses black and blue! Is that understood?!"

Joe couldn't hear her,because he was unconscious and bleeding from the forehead. Dylan heard her just fine though,and glared at her through the glass,nursing his bruised cheek.

Zoe huffed and I just tried not to crack up laughing,Nyssa was silent,cuddling her teddy bear.

"It's Zoe music time!" She declared.

Dylan groaned after he put Joe in a position so that he wouldn't fall out of the truck."Zoe your "music" is too loud.I won't be able to fall asleep."

Zoe yelled at him,"Not my problem!" while rummaging through her collection of music dvd's,because obviously radio didn't work anymore.

Dylan groaned louder and grabbed a piece of thick cloth and wrapping it around his head,then proceeded to lie back down.

Nyssa looked back at me,"What's wrong with Zoe's music?" She asked.

I shrugged,"I'm not the one ask,me and her actually have pretty similar tastes."

Zoe looked back at me for a second,"I'm playing INK which album do you want?"

I thought about it for a second,"Every trick in the book,and skip over to Communion of the Cursed."

Zoe nodded and popped the disk in. The whirring of electronics filled the car and soon we had Ice Nine Kills blaring in the car and in a couple seconds we were singing at the top of our lungs.

"So where's your savior tonight?!" As angels fall from the sky! His idle hands let me insiiiiide."Zoe started.

"WHERE I CAN NOT BE CRUCIFIED!" I screamed with a grin,finishing where she left song then led to an instruments only part,where I started finger drumming all over the car and Nyssa covered her ears. "Forgive me father I have sinned,who gives a fuck how long it's been! Just let this Holy War begiiiin." Me and Zoe sang together continuing on like this for the rest of the song,and by the time it was done,we had left out onto a side road,looking for a house that caught our eye.

Around halfway through Bloodbath and Beyond,I pointed out a brick house on the corner of a street.

Zoe nodded and kept singing but turned and drove onto the front lawn.

I shut off the radio after taking the disc out carefully.

Nyssa uncovered her ears and said promptly,"Dylan was right,your music is loud."

I shrugged,"Just the way I like it."

Dylan,who apparently had not fallen asleep,yelled at us."Every zed on this whole block must know we're here!"

Zoe shrugged,"Better get inside quick then. Wake Joe up." She said,packing up her CD's and throwing them into her backpack.

I unclipped the seat belt holding me and Nyssa to the car and opened the door."Thank you." She said,jumping down and stretching.

I got out after her and shouldered my bag,"Mhm."

I looked around us and noticed about 10 slow zeds trudging towards us,luckily they were spread out with about five feet in between them.

"Hey,we got company." I said,pointing them out.

"I told you!" Came Dylan's annoyed response,"Too damn loud!"

"AGHH! I SWEAR IT WASN'T ME MOM!" Joe screamed,jolting upright. He wiped his eyes and looked around at us,"What? Do I have something on my face?" We all just stared at him.

"I don't even want to know." Zoe mumbled,pulling her knife out."Joe and Dylan,take Nyssa and the supplies into the house,actually wait,don't let her in without searching the house and Dmitri will take care of the zeds."

Dylan said heatedly,"Better,it's your fault they know we're here."

Joe frowned,"How is it your fau-...you played "music" again didn't you?"

Zoe said nothing,just pulled her gun out in her other hand and walked over to the small horde.

I shrugged and waved Joe over to the house,taking out my sword.

I jogged over to Zoe,"No guns,don't want to attract any more." I whispered to her.

She huffed and said,"Fine." Putting her M9 back in it's holster,she lifted her knife up higher."You're in front ."

I nodded and stepped in front of her,10 feet away from the nearest zed and lifted the blade up. It was a long thinnish black blade with an elongated diamond-shaped tip.(Think of it like a black version of Dark Repulser from Sword Art Online,yea I know I'm a weeb or Otaku or whatever you want to call me. Bite me.)

I took my knife out of my sheath and held it up to my chest level,the blade facing the bottom of my fist. I lashed out at the first one,pushing the tip of my sword into his head,I used my sword to push him to the side and push forward,stabbing my knife into another zeds temple,she went down quickly. I stepped back after the remaining 8 started trying to converge on me.

Zoe stepped up and stabbed a zed in the head,who was trying to grab me. I stepped forward again and swung my sword in an arc,separating the head of one and opening the throat of another. Blood spewed everywhere,splashing onto my shirt and Zoe's jacket.

'5 down,5 to go.' I thought to myself,kicking a zed away."Almost done." I said to no one in particular,and watched as Zoe stabbed another zed in the head,making it an honorary unicorn for a second,she pulled out and spun,kicking the zed out of the way and stabbing another in the same manner. Both crumpled to the ground and I lunged forward,pushing my sword through the head of a zed behind Zoe. I swung to the left,throwing the zed into another,tumbling it to the ground. I calmly walked over and stabbed in the head,watching with satisfaction as it made its last movements.

I turned back towards Zoe,and watched as she dispatched the last one.

"Done!" She said triumphantly,kicking the head of the decapitated corpse.

It lifted into the air,sailing towards me and I hit it with the flat of my blade like a baseball,slamming it 50 feet away from us,corpses were a lot lighter after they died.

"Aaaand it's gone." I said with pride.

She smiled at me,then hurriedly turned to wipe the blood off of her knife on some chicks used-to-be white dress.

After wondering about her sudden shyness,I did the same for my knife and sword,having to use two zed shirts because of how long the blade was.

Once they were all clean,I put them in their 'homes',and jogged to catch up with Zoe,who had started walking to the house."Hey,you ok?" I asked,looking ahead at the house,seeing Joe drag out a body,then Dylan following up with another.

"Hmm? Yea I'm fine. Why?" She said,her voice slightly higher than normal.

"Your voice cracked." I noted.

"Shut up." She said,a light pink dusting her cheeks.

"But-" I started but Dylan cut me off by calling over to us.

"They have running water here!" He said happily.

Zoe immediately brightened up,"I got first shower!" She called,running inside and upstairs in a flash.

"No hot water though!" He yelled over to her,but she had already slammed the door to what I assumed was the bathroom."Ah well,she'll figure it out in a minute." He said shrugging,then he waved me inside.

I scoffed and walked inside after him,looking around at the house we were sleeping in."Any other zeds?" I asked,looking around at the nicely decorated house.

"Nope." He said,throwing his bag next to a black leather couch. I did the same,placing my guns and sword next to the bags leaning against the wall.

"KYAAAAH!" Came a high-pitched feminine scream from upstairs."COLD!"

Joe,who was sitting in another room at a dining table taking his shotgun apart,cracked up.

"That idiot! HAHAHA!" He continued like this for a couple seconds,rubbing tears out of his eyes.

Dylan smiled and I chuckled."Where's Nys?" I asked Dylan.

He pointed below us,"She had to go to the bathroom,there's another one downstairs." Right on cue,the little girl ran upstairs,holding a flashlight in her tiny hands,her eyes as wide as quarters,"Who screamed?" She asked concerned.

"Zoe," I told her,"She got in the shower and didn't know there was no hot water."

Nyssa gave me a toothy grin and turned to Dylan,"There's books downstairs,but I can't reach you help me?"

He grunted and rubbed his eyes,"Sure but after that,I'm going to sleep. In the master bedroom." He said with finality.

Joe,who was greasing a spring from his gun,replied "Don't nobody care,you do you boo-boo.I'm eating before I sleep,and I'm probably gonna sleep downstairs,Nys is there a bed down there?" He asked the little girl.

"Mhm," She nodded,tugging Dylan's hand so he would go downstairs,"A big one,c'mon Dylan I wanna read." She whined.

"Okay okay." He said,suppressing a smile,"It's strange to see someone so young who enjoys reading."

"I enjoy reading!" Joe protested.

"Playboy magazines don't count." Zoe said,walking down the stairs,carrying a scent of apples with her,dressed in her usual attire,ripped jeans,black tee shirt and open leather jacket. She scowled at Dylan,"You didn't say there was only cold water."

"Yes I did,but you were already in the bathroom." He said,finally going downstairs with Nyssa,who had kept complaining about wanting to read. "Ok girl,I'm coming I'm coming!"

I looked her over,"Doesn't getting back in dirty month old clothes defeat the purpose of a shower?" I asked her,grabbing my M25 and sitting at a separate table from Joe so our gun parts wouldn't get mixed up,which ended in disaster the last time it had happened.

She punched my shoulder and said,"Did somebody already call the master bedroom."

I grunted,"Dylan."

She swore,"Damn it,Downstairs bedroom?"

Joe raised his hand."Occupied already."

She sighed,"Theres 1 other room upstairs but that goes to Nyssa."

I looked over at the only other possible place to sleep,at least for picky Zoe,"You can have the couch,I'll make myself a bed with quilts and stuff."

She smiled at me and gave me a quick one armed hug,"Thanks,although you didn't really have much of a choice."

"Mhm." I said,focusing on greasing my gun.

Suddenly there was a scratching noise at the door.

"Rrrrr." Came a low growl from the other side.

I sighed and pulled out M9."I'll get him."

"You sure? I can get him,I just finished putting Pumpy back together." Joe offered resting the barrel of his eyesore of a gun on his shoulder.

Zoe's eye twitched,"Really,Pumpy? It's bad enough you made it pink but now you gotta name the damn thing?"

I shook my head and swung the door open raising my gun and pulling the trigger in the face of a zed.

BANG

I looked past him and immediately slammed the door,locking the deadbolt and other locks on the door.

"Help me move the couch." I ordered Joe,who got up and walked over with a confused expression.

"Why?" He questioned setting his shotgun next to my M4.

"Just do it." I ordered,putting my hands on one end of the couch.

Zoe looked at me then put her head through the blinds,looking out the window. She made a choking noise and came back,"What the hell! There's like 40 of them!"

Joe nodded and put his hands under the other end of the couch,helping me lift it into the air and moving it in front of the door. We lowered it to the ground and it made a soft thud noise.

Dylan and Nyssa came running back upstairs,the latter happily clutching a stack of thin books."Who shot somebody?" He said.

I raised my hand and pointed outside,"There's a large horde of zeds on our front lawn."

"How many?" He demanded.

I held up both hands,fingers stretched,then looked down at them,"Hey Zoe,Joe and Nyssa,hold your hands up." I said,and they obliged."About that many." I informed him.

He shook his head and started walking upstairs. "Screw that,keep the door closed,and don't wake me up unless they're busting the door down."

After he receded to upstairs,we all went back to doing what we were doing,I put my M25 back together,Nyssa started reading 'Green Eggs and Ham' and Zoe and Joe started rummaging through the cabinets and fridge,looking for edible foods.

"I found a bunch of snacks!" Joe yelled from the kitchen,then said even more excited,"AND Soda's! Sweeet!"

I looked up from my gun,"They're bound to be expired or just plain warm as hell."

Joe walked out with a box of Pepsi cans,examining the box for details on expiration,"Best by a month ago. Oh well." He said glumly.

Zoe then yelled out from the kitchen,"Get me one,soda doesn't actually expire unless they're opened. They're fine to drink. That's why it says 'Best By' not 'Expiration Date'

Joe cheered and opened the box,"Hey Dmitri,catch."

I turned and caught the can,pressing the tab and chugging the sweet carbonated beverage."Aaah my old friend. How I've missed you." I said,drinking more of the only slightly flat soda.

Joe opened up one of his own and chugged the whole thing,"Now I just need a burger and I'll be set."

"Agreed,god it's been so long since I've had Mcdonalds." I mused wistfully.

Zoe poked her head out from the kitchen,"Actually we still have some deer meat left over from the one we caught two days ago. And most houses like this have a grill that's either propane or charcoal,you guys find it and I can make us burgers,no cheese but oh well."

I looked at her,"I got four questions about that plan."

She walked out and sat in one of the chairs,popping open a Pepsi,"Shoot."

I inhaled,"Ok,first of all,how are we going to go outside to look for a grill with those idiots waiting?" I asked stabbing my thumb over my shoulder over at the door.

She shrugged,"Check the back. It's fenced off."

"Okay,second of all,what about bread?"

She nodded over to the kitchen,"They had bread stored in an airtight container,and it looks relatively new,like a month old. Homebaked,so the owners probably made even gonna be stale."

I nodded,"Ok,well where are we gonna cook it,that's going to take like 30 minutes to cook,and I'm not standing outside that long,not with them."

She said easily,"We can bring the grill inside and keep the door open to let the smoke out."

I shook my head,"Ok fine,and lastly,since when could you make hamburgers,or cook at all."

She blushed slightly,"I used to work for a burger joint around the corner where I lived,I made them all the time."

I thought about it for a few seconds,"I don't know,it's a bit of a risk just for a burger."

Joe looked at me with puppy eyes,"Dude come on,I haven't had a real burger in forever! Nyssa wants one too,don't you?"

Nyssa just stared at us,"Burger? What's a burger?"

We stared at her in shock,"Excuse me what did you say? I must not have heard you right." I said slowly,"Did you say what's a burger?"

She nodded,confused."My parents were vegetarians. They said meat was bad for you."

I shook my head,"Ok,Joe help me look for a grill,we're making some burgers. This is a matter of national pride. This girl is getting a burger tonight,or I'm not living to see tomorrow." I swore.

Joe nodded seriously,"This is inexcusable,we are having burgers."

Nyssa looked at us in confusion,"What's the big deal? I don't understand."

Zoe just shook her head with a small smile,"Boys. They take their food so seriously."

I flicked her on the head and walked away from the living room,pulling my knife out and slowly opening the glass door that led to the back yard from the kitchen. I looked around and saw out of the corner of my eye,a zed facing away from me,completely oblivious to me.

I snuck up on him and grabbed him by the hair,pulling his head back and cutting his throat out before he could make any noise. He fell limp in my hands,and I gently laid him on the ground.

Then I looked around the yard and spotted my target,a small black grill,with a bag of charcoal and can of lighter fluid next to it.

I rolled it inside,and grabbed the bag. "Found it." I said to Zoe,who was already flattening chunks of deer meat.

"Good,can you grab me salt and pepper from the cabinets?" She asked me,using her palm to smash the meat.

I grabbed her the items and brought them back to her,"You got matches in your bag?" I asked the chef,gesturing the bag of charcoal to her.

She nodded,"Yea,but your not going through my stuff."

She looked around the kitchen and pointed to one of the counters,"There's a lighter right there,use that."

I nodded and grabbed it,opening the grill,taking the top off of it and dumping the used charcoal out into the yard.

Then I dumped some new charcoal into the bottom. I sprayed some lighter fluid on top,then put the metal bars back.

I pressed the little button on the lighter,watching the little flame bounce to life on the end of the tool.

I lowered the flame to the grill,and the flames quickly spread,heating the area around it.

At the sound of rustling metal,I looked over at Zoe,who was looking through the drawers for a spatula. With a shout of satisfaction she lifted the metal cooking utensil and walked over to the grill,pushing me out of the way.

"Go back to the living room,I won't be able to cook good if you watch me." She said,waving the spatula in front of my face.

I sighed and walked back to Joe and Nys,who were on the couch and talking about the book she was reading.

"I love ,he's awesome!" She exclaimed to Joe.

"Is he now? How about J.K Rowling or Rick Riordan? Heard of them?" I asked her,grabbing two soda's and plopping next to her on the couch.

I opened one of them and drank a bit,"I've heard of them,my mommy always talks about them,but she says I'm too young to read any of the books." She responded.

After she was done,I opened a pepsi and gave it to her."That's a shame,Percy Jackson and Harry Potter are amazing,personally I think Percy jackson is better,but Harry Potter is a work of art."

She looked at me weirdly,"Mommy or daddy never let me have soda,'rots out your teeth' they said."

I nodded my head,"If you have too much yea it does. But a couple won't hurt you,go on. Drink up. God knows we're not gonna be seeing them for a while again."

She looked at the drink,then hesitantly brought it up to her lips and drank a sip.

Her eyes widened and she greedily took a couple more gulps. She brought it away from her mouth and said excitedly,"It's delicious!"

I nodded and Joe gave a low chuckle. Nyssa then drained the rest of the can,and frowned when it came up empty.

Soon after that,the sound and smell of sizzling meat came in the room. Nyssa took a sniff and opened her mouth slightly,a bit of drool showing,"It smells so good!"

I laughed and marveled at the smell,sinking back into the couch and thinking,'Other than the flesh addicts outside,everything feels...normal.' I smiled,until i was reminded by my other half,'If not for you,everyday could be like this...all across the world. But your greed ruined that.'

I scowled at the ground,and Joe must've seen it."You okay Dmitri? You look pissed."

I glanced up at him,"Yea I'm fine,I'll be right back,I need to take a piss." I lied.

Before he could ask any further questions,I ran upstairs and walked into the bathroom,shutting the door and locking it behind me.

I walked over to the sink and turned the water on,letting it pool in my hands before splashing it onto my face.

I looked back up at the mirror above the sink,and glared at it.

'If not for you,Nyssa's parents would still be her,tucking their little baby into bed. Joe would still be at college. Zoe would be walking her little sister to school. Dylan would be kissing his daughter goodnight. All their families would still be alive. It's all your fault! You did this! All because you couldn't stand his death!'

I punched the mirror in anger,fed up with having to look at myself.

A couple seconds of silence,then,"Dmitri?" Zoe called up,"Are you ok? What happened?"

"I'm fine." I croaked,despising having to lie to people I considered family."Mirror fell and broke."

I looked at the shattered remains of the mirror,wondering when I would have to face the music,and when they would find out my real name. When that day came,and it would come. I don't know what I would do.

I flushed the toilet and walked out of the bathroom,running downstairs to find everybody eating delicious looking burgers.

"Oh come on,you guys started without me?" I whined,good,joke around keep them I might not shatter like the mirror.

Joe shrugged as he tore into his dinner."First come first serve."

I frowned and sat next to the chef,who had taken her seat on the couch,"You guys better have saved me one."

Zoe looked at me strangely,then said,"Don't worry,ya big baby,everybody gets one." She said,pointing to a big plate with more burgers on it.

"Excellent." I said,picking one up and taking a large bite out of it.

My eyes shot wide open and I stared at the burger in shock.

Zoe fidgeted next to me,"What? Is it not good?"

I looked at her in amazement,"You,Madam..are an amazing chef!"

She sighed in relief and took another bite out of her burger."Scared me for a second. And it's not that great."

Joe coughed,"Zoe please,this is easily better than any burger I've ever had."

Nyssa nodded vigorously,"It tastes amazing!"

I nodded in agreement,ripping another chunk out and devouring it."I want a Zoe burger at least once every two weeks for the rest of my life." I exclaimed.

She flushed and turned away,"Can't. We'd need bread."

"I'll learn how to bake bread." I promised her,taking a sip of my pepsi.

We continued eating for a bit,talking and bantering for a bit,when Nyssa yawned and said she was tired.

Zoe seemed to take that as a cue,"Come on everybody. Bedtime,I want us up and out by midday! Go on. Go on." She said,ushering Nyssa upstairs and Joe downstairs.

I listened to her,to full and tired to argue with bedtime. I threw a couple blankets on the ground,then a pillow,and right as I was about to lay down,Zoe tapped my shoulder.

"Hmm?" I said sleepily,"Whaddya want?"

"What happened earlier?" She demanded,arms crossed.

I tensed and thought back to the bathroom incident. "I told you already,the mirror fell."

Zoe glared at me,"I can tell when you're lying."

My eye twitched and I sighed,"Of course you can."

She stared at me more,"What happened?" She asked again.

I stared at her,"Nothing,I swear,I just got mad and punched the mirror." I lied,diverting my eyes from hers."

She glared at me more, then surprised me by crushing me in a hug.

I stared at her,"Zoe-"

"We're family,Dmitri. You can tell us what's wrong." She said softly.

I slumped,then laughed humorlessly,"You'd be singing a different tune if you did know why I was pissed earlier."

She pulled back and looked at me,"We've been through too much for that." she said. "Please tell me."

I looked at her dejectedly and shook my head,"Maybe one day Zoe...but not today. I can't. I'm sorry."

She looked at me in disappointment,"Dmitri,family needs to trust each other."

I clenched my fists,why did she have to push so much? "I trust you guys with my life,but I can't tell you this. And believe me,you don't want me to." I said,pulling myself from her grasp gently. "I'm sorry. Goodnight Zoe." I said with finality,light enough to not hurt her,but firm enough to let her know I wasn't gonna talk about it any further

I laid down,put the covers over myself,and let the first tear fall as she said,"Goodnight Dmitri,sleep well."

I choked back a sob as she laid down. She could never understand. None of them could. They would kill me if they found out.

Chapter 2 down. I already have chapter 3 halfway done as well,it's gonna be a short one. I'll post chapter three next wednesday,or the wednesday after that. Still deciding :/ I hope you guys enjoyed this,and I am working on chapter three for this and The dual Wielder Shinigami. That'll probably be up in like 3 weeks,maybe earlier,maybe a bit later. If you liked this,favorite and follow it/me and leave a review. Later!