We stood there with a blank expression, wondering what was to come next. I finally managed to get a whisper out, "Get down. Everyone stay quiet." the man outside was pale with foggy eyes. His clothes were bloody and he had scratches all over himself. There was also what looked like bite marks on his upper torso. What happened, I kinda felt bad for "him". "What are we gonna do?", Jonathan whispered. His brother was scared, everyone was scared shitless. His younger brother was crying softly into his mother's shoulder, trying to keep him quiet. The man was now by the window, staring inside. "He's gonna attract more if he doesn't go away. We have to do something.", Charles whispered. "Well, let's find a way to make it leave.", Alex always sounded sarcastic which was a little off putting. I hesitant for a moment. Than I spoke, "I got an idea."

Everyone looked at me like I was a teacher of some sort. "Everyone go to the backyard except you.", I glanced at my brother. They nodded their head and crouched as they left towards the back. "Okay; Rock, Paper, Scissors." The only way we could settle something fairly. My brothers face had confusion after the words left my mouth. "Are you fucking serious? For what?", his he exclaimed. "Just hurry and I'll explain." We played and then I came out as the loser. "Okay so here's how this is gonna go down. I'm going to let him in, assuming it's a regular zombie it'll follow me to the backyard. You're gonna be right next to the backdoor entrance and swing whatever as hard as you, try to aim for its head as I pass by. Got it?" I was unsure of myself, unsure if this plan was going to work or getting killed in the process.

We were ready, everyone in their position anxious about what would happen next. I go to the front door and got the man's attention. I wasn't ready to open the door, not quite yet, not till it got closer. I swung the door wide enough were it could see me and our eyes met. His eyes were white and dead. I started walking backwards giving it my full attention. We passed the living room and towards the back. He started to pick up his pace so I had too as well, nearly tripping over a chair. The door was about three feet away and then it happened. I tripped on my fucking shoelace. When I hit the floor I fell on my back trying to picked myself up immediately. He was in reaching distance of so I pushed him back with my legs. I got up and ran out of the back door as fast as I could. "Now!", I yelled making my way outside. Then Alex swung the axe with all his might, missing me by inches. I heard a loud crack than his body hit the floor. "I think we did it.", a sigh of relief left Alex's mouth.

I looked at body on the floor examining it for what it was, wondering if they all looked like that. The axe was still lodged in his head, caught in both eyes. Dark blood surrounded its head then started to spread a little wider. "Did it get you?", Alex looking at me. I was panting, scared but yet I had a slight adrenaline of my second time coming close to death. "No, but it got close." too close. "Are we just gonna leave it there? Or are we gonna take it somewhere else?", my grandpa interrupting my thoughts. We glared at the body not really sure what to do with it. "I think we should take it to the back alley." Charles chimed in, "I'll help you boys out." We walked to the lifeless body, uneasy about the situation. I grabbed the legs, My brother and Charles grabbing the left and right side of the body. It was extremely heavy when hoisted it above our hips. I guess that's why they call it dead weight. I chose not to say so because now wasn't the time for making a joke. But in this new world what could be considered a good time to crack any type of joke. When we finally made it to the alley we just tossed it aside. Charles spotted another one so we got inside as fast as we could.

When we were in the house none of us knew what to say about what just happened. Little did we know that, "that" was going to be out new life. It was the afternoon time and we still haven't eaten yet so I cooked for all of us. Luckily the utilities were still working so it didn't feel so apocalyptic. Not just yet. We sat at the table,silence filled the air until Nate decided to say something. "You guys were so cool!" "Yeah, that was pretty awesome what you guys did.", his older brother added. My brother and I both looked at each other and grinned; Charles than giving a nod of agreement. Everyone was in need of a shower, so Charles managed to retrieve their belongings from what was once their car. My brother and I closed all the blinds in the housr so they couldn't see in. While we let the other family use our shower first. After all, they were our guest. When I finally got in the shower the a little bit of blood of the man made its way down the drain. When I've gotten out it was close to evening, the sun close to the horizon. My life was changed over the matter of hours, it was a lot to process. I just sat on the couch until my grandpa walked in and sat across me.

"Are you okay?", he asked. "I'm not sure… I mean we did just kill a man. How do you just… like, get over it?", my voice came out more unsure than I meant it to be. It was hard to comprehend what happened that afternoon, it felt wrong. "You don't think about, well try not to.", his voice was comforting. "The fact of the matter, it was either him or us." He was right. In this new world, that's the best way you can put things. Charles walked in with his family, they always stayed together. Maybe that was a good thing this time around. "So do you have a last name Charles?", my grandpa asked. "I know it sounds funny but It's Xavier.", he chuckled. "Nah, that's pretty cool actually. Your parents sound like they knew what they were doing.", a smile grew as I spoke. My brother than caught my attention from the across the room, signalling to come to him. We both walked out the back door than he said the words I always love to here. "Wanna get blazed?" as he pull out a joint.

We were on the roof halfway done with our token of happiness. "That was crazy. I didn't think that I would ever had to do that.", his voice a bit shifted. I was pretty sure that he was dealing with his own mental uncertainties. The mere thought of taking a life left a shiver down my spine. But he was already dead, a soulless entity if you will. It was always a good thing to get blazed with my brother. It was how we bonded, how we put our bullshit aside and just actually enjoy each other's presence. Especially in times where killing someone was as easy as losing someone. By the time we got off the roof and made it back in side, everyone was heading to bed. My grandpa gave the Xavier family blankets and pillows so they could sleep in the living room. We told them goodnight and my brother and I went to our rooms. I layed on my bed staring at the ceiling with my headphones in. Are we just going to stay here? Is there any place else that is safe enough? All these questions lingered in my head but the big question still stayed fresh in mind. What about my sister? All of my relatives were the ones I really worried for. I couldn't do anything thing to see if they were alive to say the least. It angered me to think that at least half of them could be dead. I tried not to think of it too much, so I tuned out my thoughts.

I was the first to wake up the next morning, along with Nate. It felt weird, thinking that everything was going to be alright. It felt weird to even consider that everything was going to be… okay. We ate cereal together than a while later his brother joined us. I didn't know what to say to them or even know what to talk about? We only known each other for a day and they were years younger than me. What could I say to two younger guys. Thankfully, I didn't need to say anything because their dad walked in. "I think we should discuss a few things.", he didn't look to sure of himself when the words left his mouth. I was sure this was important, something we should talk about as a whole. I woke up my brother, after 100+ tries, then called my grandpa to the living room. We all sat on the couches in a circle, kinda like a council. Charles stood at the front beginning his reason for this meeting.

He put it like this to say the least; it was safer if we left, safer if we didn't stay to close to the city. We all agreed about his conclusion, well most of us. My grandpa was a stubborn man, not so much of a man to "go with the flow". "You guys can go if you want, but we're staying", voice had a firm tone. I didn't think it was a smart idea of us sticking around. Sooner or later we wouldn't be able to handle the number of zombies. "This is my house and if it come to it I'll die in my house.", my brother and I both knew that we had to leave; it was the sake for our survival. "Where are you heading to?", checking if they were heading remotely close to Mesa. "We have family In Gilbert that we need to check to see if they're okay.", Charles seemed unsure about if they were even alive. "Can we come with you?", my grandpa's eyes darted at me as I finished my sentence. "If you'd lik-", Charles was cut of by Victor. "What? Why are going to leave?", a bit of anger was heard within his voice. "I need to make sure that Mari is okay. She just lives a hour away from Gilbert.", I tried not to argue with him. "We need to make sure.", my brother added. "I'm going if you're going. You think i'm just going to let you go it alone?", he smiled. "Fine, but i'm still staying!", Victor walked out of the living room. Deep down, I figured that he thought that we made the right choice, finding our sister. I just think he was mad that we were possibly leaving him to his death. I had to push those thoughts aside because after all, it was his choice of staying.

We had to find a new car or something that could take the six of us. Then after that we had to go into the city before we went on our journey. "We're going to need food and other things that might be essential to our survival.", it seemed like Charles knew what he was doing. "I know there's a truck about a block away, I hope the keys are nearby. Come with me so we can go check it out.", then made a motion to follow. The three of us stayed quiet through the streets, not causing attention. When we got to the house we had to break the door open with an axe, still having blood on it. As we continued we stayed as quiet as we can be, unsure if anyone was still in the house. "Wait by the door Jacob. Make sure that we're not surrounded.", he softly commanded. They kept going till they disappeared into the other rooms. It took a good ten minutes till I finally heard the jangle of the keys. We all headed out ready to leave this ghost town, excuse me Zombie town. Alex and I decided to walk back to our house rather than to drive with Charles. "Do you think we can trust him?", Alex breaking the silence. "He trusts us. It wouldn't hurt if we did... Besides, he is taking us to go check if Mari is okay. Well at least getting us closer to her.", optimism heard in my voice. By the time we got there, the Xavier family had most of their stuff ready so we rushed inside to get our things for the trip. I had a backpack filled with about three pairs of clothes, two portable chargers, hygiene stuff, and a knife with a four inch blade I always kept. My brother packed the same things but had our weed stuff with him. After all we need some type of uplifter on our journey.

We were all set, ready to go out into the new world known as Hell. Our grandpa was in the living room when my brother and I were heading out. "You can still come with us you know.", Alex trying to persuade him. "There's nothing for me out there. You guys were the only ones that made my life something.", his voice starting to crack, "But you're right. You need to see if your sister and her family is okay. I'll be fine here. I got Lil' Anne with me to keep me safe." motioning to the rifle on his lap. We chuckled than gave him a hug for the last time till we would see him again, if we saw him again. "Thank you for taking care of us, thank you for taking us in when we had nowhere to go." Alex cleared his throat to keep his voice from not cracking, "It means a lot even if you don't think of it as so." "We'll make our way back when we find Mari, so make sure the house is clean.", a smile on my face. He laughed then let out a tear from his old wrinkled eyes. I blinked to fight back my tears but sadly a drop escaped. We gave him one more hug than we headed for the door. "Wait!", then my brother and I halted. "You guys might need these for those shit faced monsters out there." then he walked to his room and came back with a Beretta with a whole case of bullets. "Be careful and only use it when you need to.", then placed it into my brother's hand.