Riley and Julie kept their hands over their heads, hoping to talk the gun-toting teen in a pink winter coat and black beanie down before she pulled the trigger.

"It's okay," he said, "we don't want any trouble. My name's Riley. Riley Sloan."

The teen just stared and kept aiming.

"And I'm Julie," Julie added. "Devereaux."

"We're not bad people," Riley continued. "We're just looking for some supplies. We live in a cabin on Bear Island with six other people and—"

"Seriously?" The teen was incredulous. "How could you stay on that hell-hole?"

"It's not too bad," Julie said. "We've got shelter, it's secluded, and not a lot of goons make it there. And when the ice melts in spring, there won't be any at all."

"Goons? I've always heard them called 'walkers'."

"Yeah," Riley jumped in, "I never liked that name. Regular people walk too, it's very non-indicative."

"What happened on the island?" Julie asked.

The teen paused. "You guys aren't from around here, are you?"

Riley and Julie shook their heads.

The teen continued, and lowered her gun. "When everything started, everyone and their mother thought it would be a good idea to go to the islands. They thought it'd be safer." She paused. "It wasn't."

"When we got there, the place was overrun with goons," Riley said. "How'd it happen?"

The teen sighed. "The people who lived on the island beforehand didn't like the place being overcrowded, and the new people weren't willing to leave. So they fought for the place. Only, when it was over, nobody won."

Riley and Julie were in shock. "We knew something happened," Julie said, "but seriously? THAT is what happened?"

The teen nodded. "Apparently they didn't know, like I didn't know, that no matter how you died, if your brain wasn't fucked up, you came back. People were getting up and eating the person who murdered them."

"How do you know this?" Riley asked. "Were you there?"

"I lived on the mainland, overlooking the lake. I tried to ride it out there with my parents, and we saw the whole thing happen. My mom didn't want me to watch, but I couldn't look away. I couldn't believe that people could turn on each other so quickly."

Riley looked solemn. "Panic is probably how everything collapsed like it has."

Julie nodded. "What's your name?"

After a pause, she said, "Emily."

"Nice to meet you Emily." He paused for a moment. "Is this whole place picked clean?"

"Pretty much," Emily said. "I did find a huge box of food. It had canned goods, some cheese and crackers, and even some jerky." She smiled. "Sorry, but that last one is LONG gone."

Julie chuckled. "Is there any chance of us making a trade?"

"What are you offering?"

Julie grinned. "How about a good shelter? With us?"

Riley smiled. "Sure, the others would welcome you with open arms if you came bearing food."

"Besides," Julie added, "we have a pull-out couch and an extra air mattress. You and your parents could stay with us until we can get into some of the other houses."

Emily looked down at the ground. "They're dead."

The smiles dropped from Riley's and Julie faces. "I'm really sorry," he said.

"Since they died, I've just been wandering around, place to place, trying not to die. I really didn't wanna shoot you guys before, since I'm down to three shells."

"Well," Riley said, "if you don't want to come to the island with us, we'd be willing to trade weapons for food."

"We would like you to come though," Julie jumped in. "We won't feel right about leaving you behind when we could spare the room."

"You don't need to worry about me," Emily said.

"Come with us, you won't have to worry much anymore." Riley nodded in agreement.

Emily thought it over. "Okay."

"Great!" Julie said enthusiastically. "Where's the food?"

Emily then led Riley and Julie to a garage and lifted the door. Inside was a huge box still seated on a cart, and surrounding it was empty cans and wrappers. In the corner was a sleeping bag resting in front of a duffel bag that Emily was using as a pillow.

"How long have you been staying here?" Julie asked.

"About a week now," she responded. "It ain't much, but it's a place to sleep at night. I was planning on moving on as soon as the amount of food got low enough for me to carry."

"We'll get as much as we can now," Riley said, "and if there's any left, we'll come back."

…

Back at the cabin, Donnie sat on the porch, covered head to toe in winter gear, keeping an eye out for anyone, alive or undead, that may come their way. Alan then exited the cabin, holding his telescope.

"So you're breaking that thing in again?" Donnie asked.

"Tonight," Alan said, "is the first clear night we've had in five days. And I was tracking a comet last time, so here's hoping I can still see it."

"I still don't believe you on that," Jason said, joining them. "I don't know how you could tell."

Alan smirked. "I've been doing this as a hobby for almost fifty years now. I raised my kids knowing what to look for up there." He paused for a second. "Hopefully, they're still looking up there."

"Where'd you say they lived?" Jason asked. "San Francisco?"

"My son's in San Fran, daughter's in San Diego," he responded. "I keep feeling that things are better there. I feel like I once heard before the broadcasts stopped that things were better out there."

"Yeah," Donnie said, "I think I heard that too."

Donnie was lying. One of the last broadcasts he saw showed footage of San Francisco being firebombed. He knew that there was still a chance that Alan's son was alive, but he did not have the heart to tell Alan what he saw.

"Shit!" Jason said. "Goon."

"I got this one," Alan said. He picked up a bat, and he walked down the stairs. The female goon looked at him, and he raised the bat and swung it down on her head, knocking her to the ground. She was dazed, but not dead, so Alan swung one final time and cracked her skull open. Jason frowned, wishing that he was half as skilled as Alan against a goon.

Back inside, Theresa looked at Jason through the window. "He's just a boy," she said to William. "He shouldn't have been out there."

William sighed. "I know, but he has to learn how to—"

"Not like that," Theresa interrupted. "That was way too dangerous."

"You know I wouldn't have let anything happen to him."

"I know but…" She teared up. "Look it makes perfect sense, but I'm his mom. I worry about him whether it makes sense or not."

William wrapped his arms around her. "And that's why you're a good mom."

Back outside, Donnie heard rustling in the woods, so he quickly raised his hunting rifle and looked through the scope.

"What is it?" Jason asked.

"Can't tell yet," Donnie responded. He kept watching, and soon deduced that there were three figures. He kept his finger just above the trigger, until he recognized two of the figures.

"It's Riley and Julie," he reported, "and some girl."

"The fuck?" Alan was confused. "Do they know she's there? Is she following them?"

"No, she's walking WITH them."

Jason knelt down. "They're seriously bringing someone else? There's eight of us and WE barely fit."

Donnie kept watching, and soon noticed something else about them.

"They've all got huge bags. They must have hit the mother lode."

"No shit…" Alan said, impressed.

"We come bearing gifts!" Riley shouted. "We got some supplies, and enough food to last us the rest of the winter."

"Not bad," Donnie said, "but two of you left and I'm seeing three. And I finished the booze off a month ago so I'm not drunk, so who's that?"

"You're right," Emily said to Julie, "he DOES have a bad sense of humor." Julie laughed.

"This is Emily," Riley said. "She agreed to share the supplies in exchange for shelter."

"Hi," Emily said awkwardly.

"Okay…" Donnie said, dragging out the word. "Come on in."

The three of them climbed the stairs, and Emily looked at Alan and Jason. They smiled and waved, and she waved back. After that, they entered the cabin.

"Hi everyone," Emily said to the three people in the cabin, "I'm Emily."

"Hi Emily," Theresa said warmly. Unfortunately, the sentiment wasn't unanimous amongst the cabin residents.

"You brought somebody else in?!" Melissa was in disbelief. "We're overcrowded as is, but you two thought it'd be a good idea to bring some stranger in?"

"She's like fifteen," Donnie said as he entered the cabin. "She won't be a threat."

"Shut up Donnie," Melissa snapped. "We don't have enough food for US. With this girl here, we're just gonna run out faster."

"Well," Julie said, "thank God she had these." She then took her bag off of her shoulder, unzipped it, and put it on the ground. "There are two more bags like this, and there's even some left in town. We're covered for the winter at LEAST."

Melissa was silent, wanting to say something else in anger but drawing a blank.

"Look," Emily said, "I'm willing to help out however—" Before she could finish, Melissa stormed back into her room.

"I'll talk to her," Donnie said with a sigh as he went to their room.

"Look," Emily said quietly, "I don't wanna cause trouble. If you guys want me to go, I get it."

"Don't worry," William jumped in. "Melissa can get angry at times, but she's not a bad person. Give her time, she'll come around to you."

"Possibly," Alan snarked.

"Don't worry about her," Riley said. "We are kinda getting sick of speaking to the same seven people every day." He and Julie laughed.

"You're welcome here sweetie," Theresa said. "And you're surrounded by good people."

"Yeah," William added, "we look out for each other."

Emily smiled. "Thank you."

"Now," Riley announced, "I don't know about you folks, but there is a canned ham in my bag begging to be eaten." Everyone's faces lit up.

They cooked the ham over a fire pit on the deck. They were all grateful for the tastiest meal they had had in months, and they took the opportunity to get to know Emily better.

"So how old are you?" Theresa asked.

"I…don't know actually," Emily said. "I've lost count of the days. I'm either fourteen or fifteen. I'll know in spring."

"Today is January 17th," Julie said, smiling. "We've kept track."

"Oh," Emily said, caught off guard. "Well then, I'm fourteen for another twelve days."

"And to think," Riley said, "if we hadn't found you, you'd have spent your fifteenth birthday in a cold, dark garage."

"For that, I'm eternally grateful." Emily and the others laughed.

Melissa even ultimately joined in. "Still mad at the new girl?" Donnie asked. "I haven't eaten something this good since that Mexican place in Augusta, remember?"

Melissa gave him a death glare. "I really don't like thinking about before."

Donnie rolled his eyes. "Could you MAYBE stop being such an ice queen and just join in on the fun?"

"Fine. Sorry." She still looked unhappy, but Donnie was done trying.

For the next hour or so, the group talked, and laughed, and made Emily feel welcome. Alan even showed her some of his celestial maps, and after spotting it again, showed her the comet he had been tracking.

They kept the fire low, but a faint glow was still given off. Fortunately, any passing goons were more interested in the far brighter moon and ignored it. However, the fire did get some unwanted notice from across the lake.

"Got you now, bitch!" The stalker clenched his binoculars in vengeful satisfaction.