A.N: I suddenly realised that stories won't show up for 24 hours unless it gets updated so, because I'm impatient. Here's chapter two. Hopefully you can see it now and then tell me what you think. Please?

Disclaimer: I'm happy to just own Sophie, Danny and, soon enough, Joe.

Danny's POV

Chapter Two: The Washington Hotel

I hate when Sophie gets scared. When we first met, she crawled into a ball, her back against a wall and shook the night away. I tried to comfort her by talking but she hissed at me that she needed silence. At first, I couldn't understand it; she'd fight the infected face to face if she had to and I had seen her do it. Eventually I asked her to explain.

"It's not the infected I'm scared of," she admitted. "It's being helpless, feeling vulnerable and claustrophobic. I'm scared that they'll come out of the unknown and kill me. I'd be useless to stop them."

I think I vowed to protect her silently at that moment and I knew I'd never leave her to them no matter what.

"I found some clothes for you both if you want them – yours look worse for wear," Robert says. Sophie takes hers numbly and heads for the bathroom. We leave to give her some privacy.

"Hey, Robert," I call him back as he starts to head downstairs. He pauses and looks back.

"Thanks. For looking after us like this."

He smiles. "No problem."

I get changed faster than Sophie and join Robert downstairs. He's examining a map with pen marks across it.

"How is she?"

"Sophie will be alright now," I tell him.

"What was wrong?"

"She's just terrified. When we first met, she told me her parents and her were hiding in their cellar. It was really dark down there but the infected broke in. Because of the damp and leaking water – she said they never did get round to fixing it – they didn't find them but by dawn, the cellar was infested with infected squatters, sleeping even in the same room. She told me she spent two days in the dark down there with them, not knowing if she was going to survive or not, terrified that they'd hear her breathing. On the third day, they decided to try and escape before they starved to death. They made their way out, Sophie as their only daughter going first. She nearly made it out when her father fell and the noise woke the infected. Almost instantly, they attacked and killed him. Sophie made it to the surface and into the sunlight but her mother didn't. They killed before pulling her back into the darkness."

Robert shakes his head. "You didn't have to tell me all that."

"I just thought you'd want an explanation about why she felt so insecure all of a sudden."

"The experience must've shaken her, huh?"

"Yeah."

"What you did for her… you must have really been through a lot together."

"We're dependent on each other, I suppose. I help her get through the fear at night and she keeps me going through the day."

"I could tell."

"You and Sam depend on each other in the same sort of way, though?"

"Yeah," he replies before tickling his faithful companion's head. "We do."

"So," Robert asks suddenly. "Do you want to stay in today or go out?"

I blink. "I've spent so long on the boat, I have no idea anymore."

"Didn't you say something about looking for your brother or something earlier?" Robert asks. I'm surprised he remembered.

"Yeah, do you know where the Washington Hotel is?" I ask. "That's where my brother was last. He was staying with my parents for a spelling competition."

"I know where that is," he replies. "So you want to look for him?"

"Yeah."

"I don't think he's still alive – or your parents, Danny," he tells me, soberly.

"I know," I whisper. "But he was always there for me. I need to know what happened to him."

Sophie comes down later, fully dressed. Sunlight shines through the door and catches in her golden hair. The navy-blue top and jeans that Robert gave her, really suit her. She looks breathtaking. As she steps into the room, Sam greets her and a small smile lights up her features. I have to drag my eyes away before she looks up. Of course, Robert notices the flush in my cheeks and smiles mischievously but he doesn't say anything about it.

"What would you like to do today?" Robert asks Sophie. She looks a little off-put as if she wasn't expecting the question.

"Uh, whatever you guys were planning?" she suggests. I like that about Sophie – the way she puts anyone else's plans before her own and gets dazed when she's caught off-guard.

"Danny wants to go to the Washington Hotel," Robert replies. "And there are a few other things I need to show you. Anything else you want to do in particular?"

"No."

"Alright, then," he claps his hands. "We'll leave in half an hour; once you've had your breakfast. Once again, you'll have to excuse me – science waits for nobody."

Sophie smirks and sits down to eat with me.

I can tell Sophie is thinking hard by the way she twirls her fork in mid-air. I'm pretty sure that she isn't actually seeing the painting that she appears to be staring at too. I don't disturb her – she gets frustrated if I do that. The toast and egg is delicious but breakfast passes in silence until Robert returns.

"Hey," he says. Suddenly, Sophie looks up at him, drawn out of her thoughts.

"How is it going?" she enquires.

He sighs. "Same as always. If it works on rats, it doesn't work on infected humans."

"How would you know that?" I ask, sharply, before Sophie can.

"There's one in the cellar? But don't worry, it's heavily sedated and locked up. I wouldn't even have one if I didn't think it 100 safe," he tells us. "Now, are you ready to hit the streets of New York?"

We speed through the streets of New York, heading north. I sit in the front so I can read the map for Robert. Every so often, I glance in the mirror and see Sam's head on Sophie's lap. She is looking at the landscape, learning to recognise which way she's going. I smile before Robert catches my eye and I bury my hot face in the map. Robert chuckles to himself and turns on the radio. A reggae tune starts up and I feel myself nodding to the beat. Some man starts to sing and Robert murmurs the words too. I start to grin.

"You like Bob Marley?" Sophie asks.

"Yeah," Robert tells her.

"Cool."

We pull up outside of the Washington Hotel. A green banner has its name on so I see it instantly. The building is dark but there doesn't look to be any infected inside. Then again, it could be crawling with them. Sophie leans over my seat so her head is nearly leaning on my shoulder. I can smell her skin, scented with some soap, she must've found. I nearly moan aloud. For nearly a year, I've known I'm in love with Sophie but I hate that I can't do a damn thing about it thanks to the infection. My palms start to sweat but no-one notices thankfully.

"The Washington Hotel, huh?" she asks. "I would ask if you're sure about this, Danny, but I think you are because it's all you've been sure about since I met you. However, you could prove me wrong."

"No, I'm good. Who's going in?"

"I'm not missing out on this," Sophie tells me, determined. "We've been getting here for two years – there's no way in hell that I'm backing out now."

"And I'm not leaving you two alone."

"You don't have to come with us Robert," I offer him. "We've got guns and if something happens, you'd be in danger…"

"Listen," he interrupts, his voice full of authority. "I am a trained soldier, a scientist and a survivor, okay? I live my life, dealing with the infected. I am going in with you."

"Thanks," Sophie mutters.

"I can hardly leave two young adults alone in an empty hotel, can I? Who knows what you might get up to?"

"Ha ha, very funny," I remark sarcastically. Sophie just laughs.

The entrance to the Washington is no problem. The light from the windows illuminates the marble floors without casting shadows. Robert ordered us that he goes in first with Sam, Sophie next and me covering the back. Sophie wasn't very happy about the arrangement but she didn't say anything because Robert was only looking for the best option possible and Sophie, when tested, has really good sense for movement out of the corners of her eyes. She told me it came from being stalked when she went shopping. I wasn't really surprised because I might've turned to being one of them if this was the old world.

"What room was he staying in?" Sophie asks.

"Room 145," I reply. I memorised all the information I could before we left England so that when we got here, I wouldn't have to think twice. Sophie goes behind the counter and takes the appropriate key whilst we cover her. She also steals a couple of other keys; the one for the staircase and the one for the back door.

We make our way upstairs, treading carefully. It's incredibly dark in the corridors and I can sense Sophie's fear building. She keeps a handle on it though and says nothing. The only light is from Robert's gun and he keeps shuttering it. I can sense his apprehension too. At some points, the wide corridor narrows and sometimes, it widens again. This would have been a very nice place if it weren't for the dark-fear-abandonment vibe.

Fortunately, we encounter nothing and no-one on the way to the room. We make it to Room 145 with no trouble at all. Inside, light filters through the poor black-out curtains. Robert rips them down and tells Sam how great she was. Sophie hugs me too, in relief, which makes me feel a lot better on the whole. We shut the door and feel safer because any infected would burn in the daylight. I hope that this hotel isn't infected.

We stand in the middle of the living room. It's big, expensive and deluxe. Joe sure was living it up before the infection hit. I'm glad he had a comfortable room. Mum and Dad, I don't care about. They left him alone, trying to save their own skins. I couldn't care less what happened to them. I hope they got eaten by a particularly old and frail infected, and that it didn't manage to kill them straight out because it was so weak. I hope they got eaten alive.

Sophie heads towards a door in the corner and she and Robert open it. It's an empty bathroom. She sighs in relief. Sam sniffs around her, happily. I almost smile but the realisation of where we are and what's happening prevents me. There's a kitchen in the corner and a fancy dining table with dead flowers in a vase. Sunlight reflects the dust on the counter but I can see how sparkly-clean everything was.

To my left, there are two doors. I head for the first. This has to be a bedroom; either Joe's or my parents'. My hands are shaking. The other two step up beside me. Robert aims his gun for the door in case something unwanted is lurking inside. Sophie puts a hand on my shoulder to show support and points her gun too. Slowly, I open the door.

Nothing is inside to half my relief. This must've been my parents' room – there are their passports on the bedside table. They fled very quickly, taking off like kicked dogs. Clothes lay strewn on the floor because of quick packing. They took the necessities and got out. I shake my head and Sophie hugs me again.

"Your parents' room?" she guesses. "Look on the bright side; at least we know where he is now."

I hug her back.

"Are you ready for this?" she asks. "Or do you want us to look for you, first?"

"No," I reply, numbly. "I owe it to him."

"Alright."

Sophie opens the door this time with us backing her because my hands are too shaky. There aren't any of the infected within and the whole room is lit from the big window. There's a skeleton on the bed behind quarantine curtains. Sophie covers her mouth and Robert leaves to give me some privacy.

"Come on, Sam," he says.

I feel very numb as I walk up to the bed and push away the white material, Sophie two steps behind me. I sit beside the skeleton. It's wearing the chain necklace I bought for Joe on his last birthday. It's my brother – or the remains of him. He died of the infection. There's a phone by his pillow and he's holding it. He'd called me with it, to tell me what was happening. He must've known he was dying at some point but he didn't tell me. Maybe he was going to but it was too late for him to even pick up the phone. Did he know he was dying when he called? Probably not – he would have wanted me to stay in England rather than look for him so he would have told me. He didn't think of it as serious, he had said. He was too busy joking about the spelling competition.

I cry silently as Sophie wraps her arms around me. Why didn't I go with him? Why wasn't I there, holding his hand when no-one else was? Why did I let him die alone? I know why; my stupid parents didn't want to have to pay for any more tickets than absolutely necessary. They didn't want me tagging along. Did he call out for me? Did he think about me as he lay there? Did he die hearing the screams of the city around him? Was it a quiet, peaceful death? Did he care that he'd been abandoned by his parents? He never told me, but he might have. Was he scared at night, unable to do anything? I don't know the answers to so much and I crave knowing. I want to know what happened to him, more than the outcome.

"Danny, look," Sophie whispers. She leans over, across the bones and picks up something. "It's for you."

She puts a yellowed letter in my hand. On the front, is my name scrawled in ink. He left me this. Slowly, I tear it open.

To my big brother, Danny Phillips,

If you survive this infection, I know you'll come here. You'll find me, Danny, I know it. As you know by now, I'm long dead. Don't worry.

The infected haven't come for me yet but it's only a matter of time, I think. It shouldn't matter – I'll be dead by sunset. I can hear them screaming all around but I don't care anymore. It doesn't matter.

I'm alone. As you know, Mum and Dad have left. I don't care about them either. They can do as they please and I forgive them. They knew there is no hope for me so I can't blame them. Please forgive them, Danny. They were only doing what they could. I don't know what happened to them; they just left when I was asleep. Mum left me a note. It's under my pillow if you want it – the other one. I made sure you could get it if you want it.

Danny, I know you. You'll blame yourself for this. Don't. This wasn't your fault. I'm glad you were in England and not here. I don't think I could have died if you were with me and if this had gone badly and I turned into one of them, I would have hated that I'd turn on you first. I hope you live a great life. Hey, you'll have to say 'hi' to Natalie and tell her that I think she's the most beautiful girl in the world. I wish I'd have been brave enough to ask her out.

The light's fading so I'll have to wrap this up. Danny you've been the best brother in the world and there's so much I want to tell you but I don't have time – both the Sun and I are failing fast. I want to call you but the line is down because of the panic. It's peaceful – like nothing can hurt me because of the numbness. I'm probably being naïve. It feels like you're almost with me and perhaps you are. I miss you.

Keep smiling and don't mourn, Danny – the world's already done enough for you. Be yourself and if you ever see that girl you were going on about, go for it. Be happy – you deserve it.

Love Joe.

x.x.x.x.x

I'm crying so hard I can barely read the words by the end of and I end up falling into Sophie's arms – something I would normally be embarrassed or very happy about. She hugs me tightly like I do when she's on the other end. It's comforting to know she's there for me but it won't bring Joe back. Then again, nothing will. So why am I crying? He asked me not to. I try to force myself to stop crying and after a long time I do but only because Robert comes in and I don't want to feel weak in front of him.

"We need to be leaving soon," he says. Sophie nods and pulls me to my feet.

"Come on, Danny."

I let her lead me out of the room, pausing only to take one last look at my brother. There's no way I could take his bones out or that I could come back to see him so I know this is the last time we'll meet. I would have liked to bury him but that isn't possible.

"Sophie, wait," I say. I return to my brother and take Mum's letter from under his pillow and the bracelet my aunt got him when he was little. Now I have something from both of them. I also touch my brother's skull. "I'll always be with you and you'll always be with me," I murmur. Then I turn away for the last time.