Killing was never something that Lillian and I hesitated toward, and this case, though it was so close to home, didn't phase us. The boy who laid tied up before us shared schools with us before the outbreak occurred. His name was Dominic, or just Dom for short. He was a linebacker on the football team, and even though that usually meant he was popular, Dom had a big enough mouth for people to dislike him. I never thought he was annoying, however I understood why people had a certain distaste for him. He talked far too much, and worst off, he talked about things that never interested anyone.

As he laid there on the super market floor, he glared at us with a look that was so full of worry, I thought he was going to puke. He probably was. We had found him looting through the weapons supply that the store kept in the sporting section. Unfortunately for him, it was already picked clean, meaning he had no way to defend himself from... Certain dangers. When we first saw him, he seemed relieved to see us, and we played the part, acting like we were still the friendly, do-no-harm kids that we were in school. Once I have him a brief hug, I threw him to the ground as I felt that same devilish feeling rise in my chest. It felt good. He screamed in protest as I used my knee to pressure his head against the ground, much to his dismay. He didn't scream as much as other people did, perhaps he though we were just checking him for bites or making sure he was unarmed, therefore he did not protest very much. He never was smart. Once Lillian began to tie his hands behind his back, that's when the panic begin to ensue.

"H-Hey! What are you doing? Lillian?" He struggled to keep his breath steady. I remember Dominic and Lilly having a strange relationship back in school. He would constantly be all over her in attempts to get her to go out with him, however she would politely tell him no.

"Shut up, Dom." Lillian growled and tighten the knot behind his wrists.

I smiled and took my knee from his temple, kneeling down next to him. "Did your parents survive, Dom?"

"Uh.. Y-Yeah. Why?"

I pursed my lips languidly shrugged. "Just wondering."

"W-What's going on? I thought we were all friends. Remember high school."

Lillian grabbed him by the rope around his wrists and pulled him to his feet. What she lacked in height and brawn, she made up for in rage, which she used sparingly, thankfully. "Get the fuck up." She began to shove him towards the back of the store. "Leith, go tie off the doors to the milk carts."

I raised an eyebrow before subtitling agreeing, not too sure what she had in mind. I used the thin rope that I always kept hooked on my waistband and tied all the handles of the three glass doors that opened up into the empty shelves where the milk used to be stored. I stood there awkwardly, waiting for Lillian to return to me. It was her turn to deliver the killing blow, meaning that for the time being, she was in charge of what I did. It wasn't long before I saw her and Dominic reappear inside of the fridge through a large metal door. I saw her shove Dom to the floor and exit again. Was she trying to freeze him? It was certainly creative, but the store had no power. After another five minutes, I began to worry. Almost as if on queue, I saw the door open again, expect this time, Lillian was behind a stocky, large walker. She had control of it behind holding onto both of its arms and forcing it lean back as she pushed it into the cooler. Dominic began to scream, however I could hardly hear it through the glass doors. Lilly quickly left the room. She ran to my side with a mischievous and excited smile.

"You're fucking crazy." I said, slack-jawed.

She just let out a proud sigh and pulled me into a hug. "I wanted to get creative this time."

I turned and saw Dominic running around the small fridge, trying to avoid the clawing hands of the walker as it chased him. "Hmm." I frowned. "Maybe we should've tied his legs, too."

"Nah." Lilly shrugged. "Makes it more interesting."

"Why'd you have me tie the doors together?"

As I asked this, Dominic tried to use his body momentum to force open the doors, but thankfully, my ropes held them closed, keeping him inside. I laughed hysterically and nodded. "Okay... That's smart."

Lilly motioned sarcastically for me to calm down. "Hold the praise, I'll be here all week."

"I applaud you, madam." I bowed towards her.

Dominic was shoved into the glass right in front of us by the walker, and for the first time, we finally saw the full, amusing panic on his face, eyes filled with tears. The walker grabbed his face from behind and inadvertently hooked its fingers inside of the boys mouth and began pulling them apart. We watched as his cheeks stretched to unreal proportions. The screams were loud, but nothing that we hadn't heard before. All while this was happening, Dom somehow kept eye contact with me, to which I just smiled in amazement. The walker eventually bit off the side of Dominic's head, sending the boy to the floor in a shock of pain. After that, there was only groans and twitching coming from our victim.

"... Lame." I sighed in disappointment.

"Yeah." Lillian scratched the back of her neck in embarrassment. "Sorry, I kinda thought it would last longer."

"You think anyone's gonna be missing him?"

"Eh.. Probably... Who cares?"

"I dunno." I glared at the walker as it feasted upon Dominic's corpse. "Hey I was thinking." I asked, the darkness in my heart subsiding as it usually did after we killed.

"What's up?" She asked innocently.

"I wanna move somewhere nicer, somewhere north."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah."

"Where to?"

"My uncle owned a house, well, a mansion, just north of here. It has a pool table."

"How big of a mansion are we talking?" She asked and wrapped her arms around my neck and smiled.

"I think it'll be better for you to see it first, you know?"

Lilly opened her mouth and made an excited squeal. "I never thought I'd be seventeen years old and already living in a mansion."

"Yeah, hopefully the mortgage isn't too high." As I said this, a bloody hand slammed against the bottom part of the glass door. I looked down and saw Dominic's pleading, desperate eyes staring back at me as he was still being eaten, pinned helplessly against the cold ground. I scoffed and grabbed Lilly's hand. "Looks like the fun's over. Come on." We walked towards the doors of the market.

"I wonder how he got the rope off of his hands."

"Did you tie it off properly?"

"I thought I did... Just need some more practice I guess."

We forced the automatic sliding doors open and stepped out onto concrete walkway just outside. "We should get a dog." She says happily when the afternoon sun hits our skin. The town we were currently in was perched in between three large mountains that seemed to watch over the valley in an ominous way. The parking lot was empty aside from a few abandoned vehicles that have been there for months.

"A dog?" I asked.

"Yeah. I love dogs. I haven't seen many since the outbreak happened."

"We'd have to be pretty lucky if we wanna find a dog that's still alive."

"It'll be worth it. I have a soft spot dogs."

"You?" I raised an eyebrow. "Didn't think you had any soft spots." I put the key in the ignition and turned it over. The engine sputtered as it usually did before it began to rev.

"I have a soft spot for you." She said sweetly, a worried look on her face.

"I'm fuckin' with you. Besides, I-"

A loud, roaring engine came rolling into the entrance of the parking lot. A large armored truck began to swiftly drive right towards us. "Shit..." I sighed upon seeing the insignia on the metal plated doors that matched the ones we saw yesterday from our balcony. "It's the Brotherhood."

Lillian leaned her head back and groaned. "Ugh... Whatever."

We both opened up our doors and stepped out. Usually, this would be a dumb idea, especially with how aggro people are now a days, but the Brotherhood were notorious for advocating peace and helping others. When the truck came to a stop twenty feet from us, I glanced and my partner. "Just act innocent."

She nodded and hugged my side, trying her best to look afraid. I wrapped one arm around her and raised the other to show I was unarmed. All four of the doors swung open, and five armed men exited. The one in the passenger seat stepped forward in his military camouflaged outfit and smiled. "Well hello there." He gave a low wave.

"Listen man," I tried to sound as fearful as possible. "-we don't want any trouble, alright. We were just passing through."

"Oh, we aren't bandits, trust me. Our intentions here are only peaceful."

Lillian loosened her grip on me and peaked at the four men in front of us. "W-Who are you?" Of course, she already knew who they were, but we had to place the part.

"We're part of a group, I'm sure you've heard of us. We're the Brotherhood of Eden."

"The Brotherhood?" I replied. "I thought you were set up down south in Cleveland."

"We were- Well, we still are, my platoon was dispatched to come here with the mission of liberating this city."

"Why?" Lilly asked.

"Well, Cleveland, for the most part, is clear. Lansing was the closest major city for us to claim and set up another command post, and with the military in such strong number in these parts, it was the perfect option."

"How're things going here? Like how's your progress?" I inquired, hoping he would say something about how they trying to evacuate everyone, or even that they would move onto another city as this one was just too dangerous.

"It's been good." The man said, much to my displeasure. "We've joined forces with the local quarantine zone just a few miles south of here. You're welcome to join us on our way back. We just need to find one of the boys from the QZ. He's suppose to be in this market running for supplies. My name is Ignatius, by the way."

I held back a laugh, and from the corner of my eyes, I saw Lillian do the same.

"What's so funny?" One of the other men said in a deep, gruff voice.

"Oh... Nothin'" I replied. "It's just that... These parts are so dangerous. People go missing around here constantly. It's probably not a good idea for you to send anymore people around this part of the city."

"Ah, yes." The passenger continued. "The military informed us about the killings. The 'Highscores'"

"The what?" I asked with a raised eyebrow.

"That's what the residents of the QZ call the killers."

"The Highscores?" Lillian asked and glanced up to me, shrugging."

"Yes..." Ignatius sighed. "Those murderers... It's like killing is a big game to them. We have no idea who they are, or how many there are."

"That's awful." I lied. "Is there anything we can do to help?"

"Well... We could always use extra survivors who are willing to work for a better tomorrow. Back at the QZ, we have men, women, children, all living happily away form the dangers of the world. It may not be perfect, but it's about as close as we're gonna get to normal now a days."

I furrowed my brow and sighed through my nose irritably. "This 'community'." I quoted with my fingers. "How big is it?"

"Two thousand people, last time I checked."

I nearly choked on my own breath. That was far more than I expected.

Ignatius mistook my shock as surprise and smile. "It's great, isn't it?"

Lillian forced a smile and nodded. "That's amazing. We'd love to join you."

I shot her a unsure look. "Uh..." Was all I could muster. She reached a hand behind my back and used it to pinch some of skin right on my hip. I winced. "- I mean! Of course we would like too, who wouldn't? We would need to get some of our cloths and supplies from our hideout though, could we get a map so we make our way there later tonight?"

Ignatius smiled. "Absolutely. Shea, get them a map."

"Yes sir." The man furthest to the right exclaimed with a funny accent that I assumed to be European, but I couldn't pin point exactly what part. He reached into the truck and pulled out a folded sheet. "Here." He handed it to Lillian.

My partner pocketed the map and gave the four men a smile. "We'll get there as soon as we can. Thank you so much."

"You're very welcome. We won't hold up any of your time." He said and turned to his soldiers behind him. "Alright gentleman, let's go get Dominic." The four began to walk towards the entrance of the store.

Lillian turned to me and laughed softly into my shoulder. "W-W-We gotta go." The cackled out. We quickly got into our car and took off before those assholes could find out that we had killed their friend. Actually, maybe they won't even put two and two together. After all, the walker is the one who killed Dominic, not us. After lots of joking, laughing, and driving, we finally made it back to our home. Immediately, I had this cold shiver run down my arms. It was certainly strange, however, I din't let it phase me. "Do you feel that?" I asked Lillian, who was still trying to stop giggling after I had joked with her.

"Huh?" She wiped her eyes and let out another chuckle.

"That... chill... did you get it too?"

"No."

"Hm... must be the adrenaline." I muttered. There was a long straight of road in the middle of the neighborhood that led up over a hill. As usual, I tried to go as fast as I possibly could in attempts to get a surprised gasp from my friend. As we approached the top, I saw the speedometer hit seventy - A new record. My triumph was short lived, as once the front of our car reached the flat road at the top of the hill, I got a glimpse of something utterly terrifying. The first thing that I noticed was the girl. She was young, probably no older than seven. She had long blonde hair, kind of like Lillian's. The young girl was running from a herd, but not just any herd, this one was larger than any I had ever seen. How on earth this girl had attracted a group of walkers this large to her was beyond me, but the fact of the matter was that the child was leading the herd directly to our vehicle.

"Go back!" Lilly yelled.

"What about her?!" I pointed at the girl, who was now a mere twenty feet from us, the walkers not much further.

"Who the fuck cares? Just go!"

I let out a frustrated grunt and swung my car door open. "Get the fuck in here!" I yelled. The young girl ran a little faster towards us. She quickly climbed into the car, over me, and slipped into the back seat.

"Now just fucking go!" Lillian screamed.

I threw the car into reverse and slammed my foot on the gas. The slope behind us gave us enough momentum to easily escape the pursuing infected. "What the fuck are you doing out here, kid?" Lillian yelled at the little girl who sat fearfully in the back seat. "You could've gotten us killed you little shi-"

"Lilly!" I interrupted. "She's a fucking kid. Chill out." I noticed that the strangers eyes were watering. I didn't blame her. "What's your name?" I asked as I took a left out of the neighborhood, towards the

"M-My name... My name is... Valentina."

Lillian bit her bottom lip and rocked back and forth subtly. "Why are you out here alone? Where're your parents?"

"They- They were captured."

My face scrunched when I heard this. I thought there were no more bandits in the area, as Lillian and I had taken most of them out. "Captured?" I asked. "By who?"

"The people who live in the sewers." Valentina whispered, as if she was afraid that if she said it too loud, she too would be taken.

Lillian and I glanced at each other through our peripherals. "Leith." My partner asked. "What do we do about her?"

I shook my head and loosened my grip on the steering wheel. "I don't know... She's just a kid. We can't..."

She nodded, silently agreeing. "I know... I don't want to anyways."

"What're you guys talking about" Valentina asked.

"N-Nothing." Lilly defended. "We'll just... We'll look after you for a few days until you find out what you wanna do, then its your choice. Regardless, you can't stay with us for too long, okay?"

"Oh. Okay." The little girl responded.

For the first time in a while, I felt bad for someone that wasn't Lilly. This little girl was still so innocent, yet at the same time she was still a stranger. Lilly and I killed strangers, however we knew that this was a special case, we at least had that much humanity left. "How long have you been by yourself?"

"Two days."

I shrugged, trying desperately to reason with myself that this girl was a burden to me and my friend, however deep down I knew that was untrue. "Well. You better start learning how to take care of yourself. When people go missing around here, they usually don't come back."

Valentina dipped her head and took deep breaths. What I said was cruel, I know, but it was the truth. There was no reason for me to sugar coat it. At least now she had people to take care of her, even if it was just for a few days. We'd have to return to our home after the herd leaves so we can get our supplies that we had left, then we would move our hideout to my uncles old mansion on the north side of the city. It was going to be a long week, but, that's every week, isn't it?