I wrote this yesterday. It's an okay chapter.

I've decided that I always fuss over the length of chapters rather than quality. So I'm not going to worry about making it to 1000+ words anymore. I'm just going to write the chapter best I can, and the length doesn't matter anymore. :)

Enjoy!

13 DAYS IN

Josh nudged Alex's arm with his elbow, holding his gun at the ready as they walked down the street of the small town they had come across. "That drugstore looks untouched."

Alex spotted the building ahead and chuckled. "Except for that jet that landed in it."

"It should be safe," Josh murmured.

"Where are all the Creepers?" Alex asked, looking around warily. "Everything's so quiet."

"They're probably in the drugstore," Josh joked.

"Well, with our luck," Alex shrugged.

Josh and Alex stopped in the middle of the street, observing the semi-truck that was crashed in front of the drugstore. Alex walked up to the truck, tucking his pistol into the waistband of his jeans, and grabbed onto the ladder attached to the side of the truck's trailer. Once he was on top of the trailer, he motioned for Josh to come up as well.

"The front doors are back here," he said.

Josh rested a hand on Alex's shoulder to steady himself once he made to the top of the ladder.

A blood curdling scream caused both of them to jump out of their skin before they could move on.

"What the hell was that?" Alex hissed.

Josh stared at the street where a woman had run out from a building a few blocks away from them. The Creepers that had been hiding in other buildings began shuffling out into the street, attracted to the screams of the woman.

"Can Creepers scream?" Alex questioned, squeezing Josh's wrist.

"No, she's just a girl."

"Please," she shrieked, looking around at all the zombies surrounding her. "Somebody help me! Help!"

"We need to help her."

Josh stopped him with an arm across his chest as a Creeper crawled up to the girl and bit into her angle. "Too late."

"Put her down—"

"No, she's a good diversion. She'll be able to buy us time," Josh said, tugging on Alex's arm.

Alex reluctantly followed Josh down the hood of the truck and to the front doors of the drugstore. They quickly spread out in the room, grabbing all the supplies they could find and stuff into their backpacks. Josh pocketed several clips of ammo from the plane that had crashed into the ceiling just as the girl in the street suddenly fell quiet.

"We don't have much time before—" Josh's head snapped around to look at the side entrance when zombies began pounding on the door.

"Before that happens," Alex finished.

"You done?"

"I've got what I found," Alex mumbled, pulling his pistol out as the Creepers burst through the door. His heart leaped into his throat.

"Come on, we have to get back to the highway," Josh led the way to the front doors and they climbed onto the hood of the truck.

Alex gagged when a Creeper managed to hook its fingers into the collar of his sweater, pulling on him roughly.

Josh turned quickly, grabbing for Alex's hand and shooting the Creeper in the face. He pulled Alex up onto the truck and their eyes met instantly. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," Alex answered shakily, scrambling to the top of the trailer.

"Well, now we're even; you've saved my life and now I've saved yours," Josh smiled, climbing down the ladder.

Carefully, they made their way past the last few zombies in the street. Alex stared, horrified, at the girl that they had left behind as a distraction. She had been torn apart by the Creepers, her blood pooling around her body, staining the concrete, as she lay there lifeless.

Alex bit the inside of his cheek to stop himself from bringing it up, and he and Josh continued on to the highway. The once busy roads were deserted, cars parked and wrecked as far as the eye could see.

When they were a good hour away from the town, Alex stopped walking. "How could you do that?"

Josh stopped a few feet ahead of him and sighed heavily. He turned and cocked an eyebrow. "Alex—"

"She wasn't much older than us. She was in trouble. We could have helped her. I shouldn't have let you walk away. We could've done something."

"She was out of range—" Josh began.

"That doesn't make it okay—"

"Alex, I regretted it the moment I turned my back. But you saw it happen. She was bit—there was nothing we could have done. Forget about it."

"But, Josh—"

"Forget about it," Josh ground out and started walking again.

Alex rushed forward and gripped Josh's shoulder, forcing him to look up at him. "Promise me that won't happen again."

Josh didn't reply.

"Promise me that the next time something like that happens and we can do something, we will. We'll put ourselves second."

"You don't survive a zombie apocalypse putting others before yourself, Alex."

"Did your video games teach you that?"

"As a matter of fact—"

"This isn't a video game. You don't get a second chance if you fuck up. You have to hold onto your humanity. Letting someone get ripped apart by the living dead just so you can last a few more days is going to lead you down a very dark path and I don't want to see you lost. You're a really good guy." Alex said. "Promise me."

Josh clenched his jaw. "I promise."

I'm thinking about changing my username again: pageslearntothink. Thoughts?

That's a lyric from Black Ink Revenge by Automatic Loveletter.

"Everybody's gonna make mistakes, but everybody's got a choice to make. Everybody needs a leap of faith, when are you taking yours? What are you waiting for? You gotta go and reach for the top, believe in every dream that you got. You're only living once so tell me, what are you, what are you waiting for?" -What Are You Waiting For?, Nickelback

-Rachel