Author's note -

Sorry I haven't updated for so long, I've just been so busy. Hope you like this chapter, please leave reviews? :)


Chapter three
Dead

Claire couldn't believe her eyes. For a moment she froze but she quickly went into action mode - something that was now instinctual thanks to Morganville - when Riley stood up and took a step towards Ethel. Or what used to be Ethel, anyway. "Wait," she grabbed hold of his arm to stop him. "Riley, that isn't your grandmother anymore. You saw what they're like, at school and outside. She will kill us if we go near her. Wake the others up, we have to get out of here."

Riley nodded once, coming to his senses from her words but still shaking with emotion. He quickly rushed over to wake up the girls and John, leaving Claire to face Ethel on her own. The zombie was staring at her, lips pulled back over her teeth in an ugly grimace. And then she pounced, rushing at Claire who moved backwards, ending up backed into a corner.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Riley ushering the mother and daughter and John out of the shelter, telling them to go up the ladders. She turned her attention away from them and back at Ethel. The zombie was now close enough that she tried to bite Claire but just in time, Riley grabbed Claire's arm and pulled her away sideways. There was a kitchen knife lying on the floor that John had brought down to protect his family and Riley picked it up, thrusting it into Ethel's chest as soon as she started advancing on them.

But the knife didn't even slow her down. In fact, she acted as if there wasn't a thin stream of blood dripping from the wound and carried on towards them. Her fingers clasped down on Claire's left arm but before she could bite, Claire elbowed her in the face which gave her the chance to slip free from Ethel's presence.

"Quick!" Riley shouted in a gasp, grabbing Claire and leading her out of the bomb shelter, leaving the door wide open behind them. He pushed her towards the ladders and she grabbed hold of the metal rungs and started to climb them, Riley just below her. "Do you think she can climb up here too?"

"I don't know," Claire wheezed, breathless after the attack. "But let's not give her the chance to show us."

She heard him muffle an agreement. The trapdoor leading outside was already open and Claire pulled herself up into the garden, Riley following her lead. It was dark outside but the sun was starting to rise, indicating it was early morning. She clambered to her feet just as Riley closed the trapdoor and slid a bolted lock shut to make sure Ethel couldn't get out. Knowing that they were finally safe from her, Claire sighed in relief a moment before she heard the sobbing.

Expecting it to be one of the girls, she turned around but saw that it was John crying. "John," the blonde woman - the mother - said. "John I'm sorry for your loss, but you need to pull it together. We need to find someplace safe. What about your cottage?"

"It's not big enough for all of us," Riley answered her, shaking his head. "Besides, it's not safe. Especially if zombies already attacked you around here and bit Ethel, they might still be hanging around in the house."

"My Ethel," John cried. "Oh, my sweetheart. Are we just going to leave her down there? Oh, how is that right?"

Claire saw Riley gulp, clearly trying to hold down his own emotions so as to look strong and supporting for John. He wrapped an arm around the older man's shoulders and said, "Grandad, that wasn't Grandma anymore. She's... She's dead. Gone. She wouldn't want you to break down; we all need you to stay strong. Please, Grandad."

It took a long few minutes but finally, John composed himself and slowly nodded, wiping away his tears on the sleeve of his shirt. "The shelter was probably one of the safest places in the town," he said quietly. "We can't go back down there now, can we? Oh god, we don't stand a chance living on the streets! This is Morganville- everybody focuses on protecting themselves, nobody else. Nobody will take us in if they think it might be dangerous to them. We have nowhere to go."

"Yes we do," Claire answered as a solution came to mind. "We do have somewhere to go."

"Where?" Riley asked.

"My home. The Glass House. Shane, Michael and Eve will be alive still, I know they will. If anybody is going to survive a zombie apocalypse it's those three. The house is big and it's secure. They'll let us in, keep us safe."

"Are you sure they'd let us in?" John asked, a frown marring his face. "They're Morganville natives which means they'll know not to trust strangers."

"Once they know it's me, they'll let us in. They'll trust me that you're decent people that we can trust," Claire replied, knowing that was the truth. "You all know where the Glass House is, yeah?"

"Yeah. Suppose we better set off then before any zombies find us," John said with a grimace.

They set off to the house, Claire and Riley walking slightly behind the others. They took back roads, taking the long way round to the house, and were luckily not running into any zombies that wanted to attack them. They saw a few that were having a 'meal' - that was the only way Claire could describe it without saying they were eating a screaming person - and managed to pass by unnoticed. The sight of the zombies eating people made Claire think about her friends. She had no doubts that they could fight and protect themselves and each other, but what if they were so outnumbered that they were now either dead or zombies themselves? Was that what she would find when they got to the house instead of finding them waiting for her? The thought made her want to break down crying but she managed to hold herself together. She was still furious with Shane about how he treated her and spoke to her yesterday morning but of course she still longed to see him, to know that he was okay. She didn't want to think about this anymore.

She looked ahead of her and saw the mother and daughter leaning into each other as they walked, whispering amongst themselves in what looked like a heated discussion. "What's their problem?" She asked Riley.

"Ah, that's where this may get a little complicated..." He said awkwardly, running a hand through his hair, a gesture that showed he was uncomfortable. "They're probably nervous about going to your house, worried about what will go down there."

"Why? Because they know Mike's a vampire? He's not like the others, I promise."

"No not that," Riley shook his head and then sighed. "Those two are... That's Anne and Alyssa Collins."

Claire stopped walking and looked up at Riley in complete shock. "Shane's mom and sister? But they disappeared. Seven years ago. Everybody, including Shane, thinks they're dead."

"I know. Come on, don't stop," he said, motioning for her to continue walking. As soon as she did, he began to explain. "Anne got sick of Frank beating her up because he was drunk all the time. Frank was abusing Shane too and Anne didn't want him to start on Alyssa as well, so they left town. Amelie gave them permission to leave but obviously didn't tell anybody that."

"Why didn't Anne take Shane as well? Why leave him behind when she knew how horrible Frank was?" Claire asked in horror. Knowing that there had been a chance for Shane to get out of that life and it hadn't happened saddened her.

"I don't know," he shrugged. "They came back to town about two weeks ago. Anne's my aunt on my mum's side of the family so she isn't related to my Grandad. But Anne's dad had been friends with Grandad, so he and Grandma said that her and Alyssa could stay with them. They've been lying low for a while, Anne wasn't ready to see Shane again yet. I bet her and Alyssa are just worried now about how Shane's going to react to seeing them again, whether he'll freak or not. I told them yesterday that you live with Shane by the way, but they think you're just a friend, not his girlfriend. Just so you know."

Claire was silent. She could fully imagine Shane freaking out and he would have every right to but if she knew him as well as she thought she did, she didn't think he would 'freak out'. Shane had a vulnerable side that he liked to keep hidden - a side that Claire very rarely saw, in fact, she knew that she'd probably only seen a small part of his vulnerable side - and he was especially vulnerable when it came to matters about his family. Seeing Anne and Alyssa again... Well, Claire was scared it was going to break him. But she knew that if it did, he would do everything in his power not to let anybody see that, not even Claire.


Shane sat on the sofa, staring into space and not knowing what to do with himself. Eve was in the kitchen with Michael, letting him drink some of her blood - a fact that he found disgusting but knew was necessary to keep Michael from going psycho on them.

There was a framed photo of the three of them with Claire on the cabinet next to him and he picked it up, looking at the four smiling faces. His eyes lingered on Claire's face. He would probably never see her face again, he thought to himself. She was probably dead, knowing that his last words to her were him telling her to fuck off. He shouldn't have talked to her like that and he regretted it the moment she stormed out of the house and he realised what he had said. He was just angry at the time- Claire was trying to get involved in his business and that was dangerous for her. He didn't want her involved; he was doing it all to protect her! She couldn't find out what he had been up to, that was the only reason he had gotten so angry with her.

He sighed, wondering if he, Eve and Michael would ever look as happy as they did in photo again. He doubted it, especially if they found out that Claire really was dead. Shane knew that Claire was strong, that she knew how to fight and protect herself, but she also had a tendency to be too nice. It wouldn't surprise him if she'd tried to help somebody instead of escaping on her own and ended up getting killed in the process. He didn't want to think that she was dead, of course he didn't, but he wasn't stupid. He knew what her chances had been and he knew it wasn't very likely she'd managed to escape from a university packed with bloodthirsty zombies.

A loud banging broke him out of his thoughts and he jumped, his ears focusing on listening. The banging was coming from the front door, as if somebody was knocking on it as hard as they could. Shane didn't move from his seat on the sofa. All the doors and windows were boarded up from the inside so there was no chance of anybody getting in. If it was zombies at the door, they'd have to go and find somebody else to eat. And if it was people they'd have to find their own damn safe house, he didn't trust strangers so there was no way he was letting anybody in here.

Eve and Michael came in from the kitchen. "Is that somebody at the door?" Mike asked in disbelief.

"Yeah," Shane shrugged. "Just ignore it, it's not worth the risk." The banging stopped. "See, they've given up now."

But they hadn't. A moment later, the banging started again but this time it was on the living room window, incessantly pounding away to get their attention. "Open up!" They heard a voice shout. "Come on guys, there's zombies across the street and they've noticed us! Open up!" The voice sounded familiar but still the three of them didn't move. Until the person identified themselves, confirming Shane's suspicions of who it was. "It's me, Claire! It's Claire guys, come on!"

Shane, Eve and Michael all rushed towards the window at the same time. Shane's heart was pounding in his chest and he felt slightly dizzy with euphoria to hear her voice again. She was alive! Somehow, she'd beat the odds and she was alive.