The kids and I had been walking for hours on end now. We hadn't run into any more Infected, but we weren't going to take our chances: we needed to escape -fast- and keep moving at least until daybreak. Our feet, however, were tired, and so were we; after all, we hadn't been able to sleep overnight, at least not me.

It was two hours later or so when I heard a loud plop next to me.

"I'm sorry, Philly, but I'm too tired and I really think I need to sleep. Can we take a break now?"

I stopped and looked at Cynthia who was already sitting on the grass and using her backpack as one huge comfortable pillow. Gary chuckled as he sat next to his sister. "Hey, Cynth, were you asking for permission or just stating that you were going to take a break whether we want it or not?," the girl grinned sheepishly. "Anyway...," he continued, "It's dawn already, Phil, so... Let's just chill out."

"What?" I looked at the sky and for sure long gone were the moon and stars: above our heads pink and golden clouds were all that we could see. How come I hadn't notice that it was dawn? Just like the others, I took off my heavy backpack and sat down next to Cynth and Gary, "Okay, everybody, let's have a break."

I heard all kinds of exhausted noises and then watched as my family gathered round next to us and started to settle down. They all wore terrible faces and I assumed it wouldn't hurt for them to lie down and sleep a little. To tell the truth, I wouldn't mind sleeping either. Emily was the only one who didn't sit down with us, "I think I saw a lake before though I couldn't tell 'cause it was too dark, but I'm going to check it out now. Anyone coming?"

I couldn't help but yawn, "Em, I don't think anyone's got strength enough to go exploring."

"I do." Gary said, standing up to meet her.

With that, Gary and Emily left, walking down the road from which we had just come. In the meantime, I turned to look for my diary. I was feeling way too tired and all I wanted was to sleep, but if I really wanted to keep a record of our lives I needed to be constant. And I hadn't written since the other night, to be honest. From my backpack, I took out the crumpled notebook that now had become my diary and a small pencil that I found on our last trip to a city. I chew lightly on the pencil as I thought about what my next entry would be. In my first entry I had been very vague about our situation, so I thought it was best to start at the very beginning. To let the reader -that is, you people from the future- know about ourselves and get to know us, like.. who we were and how we met each other. I wrote about little Em abandoned in a building, siblings Cynth and Gary left by their dad, little Jeff rescued when he was a baby, runaway Tyler, Robert, and myself.
Next to me, Tyler had fallen asleep, same as Cynthia and Jeff. I looked behind me only to find Emily returning from her little trip. Her long hair was dripping.

"I found the lake, Phil, not too far from here. I had a bath and now Gary is doing the same, though he should be here in no time, along with a bucket of fresh, drinkable water." I watched as she grinned brightly, towel in hand. "So, I think it's best for us to take the chance and bathe 'cause I bet we are still reeking of Infected blood and you know that can't be good." Earlier I had told everyone to dispose of every item of clothing that had been splattered with blood, and even though we had 'cleaned' ourselves we hadn't properly showered or anything, so Em was just about right. "And you, Phil, smell," she wrinkled her nose playfully and smiled. "You should go now, or as soon as Gary's back. I'll keep watch in the meantime."

I hate to admit this to you, people from the future, but I was in fact filthy and probably not smelling of roses, so that actually seemed like a good idea. "You sure you can handle being all by yourself while I'm gone?" I teased her.

"Oh, nooo! Please don't leave me alone, Phil, who knows what might happen if I stay alone!" she rolled her eyes as she dropped her backpack next to mine and sat on the ground. She was currently attempting to dry her hair with a towel, our only towel in fact. She threw it at me once she was done and then laid on her back. "Go now, 'cause I won't be able to sleep unless you're back. Just follow the road and eventually you'll find it."

"You're bossier than I am," I muttered as I wrapped the slightly wet towel around my shoulders and began walking towards the lake as told.

I passed Gary on my way to the lake: he was holding two heavy buckets of water and barely acknowledged my presence. It was understandable due to how tired he was. We all were. Even I, your very responsible leader and narrator, could feel my eyelids heavy as my steps became slightly uncoordinated. As it turned out, the lake was less than 5 minutes away. It wasn't very large but it was deep enough to swim, surrounded by a few oak trees and warm grass to lie on. In the morning light, the clearness of its waters as they glowed beneath the sun was a sight worth taking in. However, I was Phil Lester and right about now I couldn't give a damn about the lake and just how beautiful it was: In no time I was stripping down and getting ready for a skinny dip. I dived in as warm water welcomed me and I closed my eyes pleasantly. It was so, so relaxing.

It had been quite a long time since the last time I had the chance to properly bathe. Of course, I didn't have shampoo or anything, but I did have one small piece of soap with which I washed my body. I hummed softly as I let the soap and water do their job. Once I thought I had gotten rid of all the dirt -and even though I was exhausted- I allowed myself to swim. I've never been a good swimmer, mind you, but at least I wouldn't drown if my life depended on it; and I loved to swim. I swam for a long time before going ashore, and when I did, I felt like I was a new man, or man-boy, albeit a pretty tired one.

I dried my hair with the towel and then I ran my fingers through it in a pathetic attempt to make it look decent. Failed. Once I was done, I wrapped the towel around my waist and leaned against a tree. I knew I should go back to where the guys were, but -really- all I wanted was to take a nap. I looked at my backpack, right next to me, and thought about my diary, that one piece of paper held together that would one day tell the world about us. I opened it and began to read.

What the actual fuck.

Was I high when I wrote this? I now understood that no one must -ever- read this abomination again. Not at least until we are all dead and 50 years into the future at least. After that realization I must have fallen asleep, for the next thing I remember is waking up to a pair of big brown eyes hovering inches away from my face.

What.

And I mean it like... WHAT.

I screamed as I pulled away fast. I didn't recognize the person as Emily, Jeff or Gary, but it wasn't an Infected either. It was a guy. He had slightly wavy hair, the same colour of his eyes, shimmering brightly under the sun light. He looked like a teen, a few years younger than me but definitely older than Cynthia. He fell backwards on his elbows, looking as startled as I did. Who the heck was this guy, and most important, what was he doing here? We hadn't met with any other survivors in a long time. Around the time that we got Robert to join our family. If this guy was here then his group was probably around. For some reason that didn't comfort me... I don't really trust other humans, unless they're like... 10 years younger than me. I tried to calm down anyways, assuming that he -probably- wasn't a threat. He was just a boy, after all... I could handle a boy. Therefore, I sat up straight then politely proceeded to ask him who he was and what was going on.

"OH MY GOD, WHAT THE FUCK, WHO THE FUCK ARE YOU?!"

I guess that didn't come out as planned.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you!" He replied, removing his hair from his eyes and raising his hands as in surrender. "I saw you lying here and I thought you were dead or an Infected. I just wanted to make sure you were alive and all that. I... didn't really mean to invade your personal space or anything. Really."

As I remembered the way he leaned towards my face when I woke I thought it was an understatement that this guy definitely had a problem with personal space. Anyway, I shrugged it off and tried to look friendly to make up for my previous outburst. It is a rough world the one we live in so a little sympathy is always welcomed. "Chill, it's okay. I thought you were an Infected when I woke up so I guess we are even. Is your group around?"

All the boy did was shake his head, which meant that he had either gotten lost or that he was on his own. That was weird. No one travels alone these days, let alone a teenage boy (besides Tyler, that is), and that made me a little wary. Was he telling me the truth? He didn't look the survivor type. Not that I looked like it either, but he was so thin, pale and slender that I doubted he knew how to shoot a gun. In fact, it almost hurt my eyes to see how pale he was and how white his teeth were. Like, in case you haven't realized by now, we don't really have toothpaste or anything like that, so... IT ISN'T NORMAL TO HAVE TEETH AS WHITE AS PEARLS. But I nodded anyways. "That's okay, don't worry. We'll help you find your group. When was the last time you saw them?"

"Like, four years ago."

Okay, what?

"I'm sorry, I think I misheard. Uh... What?"

The guy shrugged slightly. "I didn't have a group but I used to live with my dad before he disappeared. After that... well, it's only been me."

"And you've been living all on your own since then?"

"Well, sorta. I mean, yes, but I guess it's not like you imagine. I'm just not like you... Travelling all the time, never settling in one place... I don't do any of that. In fact, I've been living in the same place for a good twelve years now, which is... pretty much all my life if we consider than I'm only sixteen."

Now, believe me when I say that nothing is surprising these days, not when you've been living the Apocalypse for so long, so, to say that I was actually astonished by this guy's words was something to speak of. "Don't judge me but I'm not really following. What?"

The guy with brown, dishevelled hair grinned. "I guess this might be a bit overwhelming. What if I tell you my name first? I'm Daniel, in case you were wondering. I don't really like my full name so it's okay if you call me Dan. I live around... kinda. And you must be Phil."

Okay, I'm not prone to paranoia or anything, but I was about to stand up and run. "Were you following me? Us?"

"No. Not really. I didn't intend to, at least. I mean, not until today. I saw your friends earlier, Emily and Gary, and—"

"Stalker alert!" I cried loud as I stood up quickly and turned away, ready to run if needed be. "I don't know who you are or how do you know this but I'm leaving! I don't want to see you again so, please, DON'T follow us!"

The guy with wavy brown hair, Dan, looked down in embarrassment. "Fine, I won't but... Phil? Your... Your towel kind of fell."

I looked down only to find 'little Phil' uncovered and I turned bright red. I really don't want to admit this, people from the future, but I may or may not have screamed like a little girl. I had completely forgotten to put on a new change of clothes before falling asleep. "Oh my God; don't look, DON'T LOOK!" For someone who has lived with a bunch of people for twelve years having little to no personal space, I was highly concerned when it came to nakedness. I don't care if you're a girl or a boy, YOU WON'T SEE ME THE WAY GOD MADE ME. I bent down and grabbed the towel from the ground, making sure to tighten it around my waist.

"Okay, that was awkward." I muttered under my breath as I looked around for my backpack. Quickly, I grabbed it from besides the oak tree and closed my hand around the first shirt and trousers that I found. No pants for me as it seems. "Would you mind turning around for a minute, kid? Or are you going to keep on stalking?"

Sheepishly, the guy did as told, facing the other way and closing his eyes. "The name´s Dan, and I'm not s stalker, I told you! I… I was surprised, that's all. I hadn't seen other humans in so long… I was a little curious. I… I'm sorry."

I sighed as I tried to put on a clean-ish white shirt and a pair of brown, patched up trousers. In a way, I felt like I couldn't trust him. I had just met the guy, for God's sake! And he already knew our names, which is scary. But… what if he was telling the truth? I know how it feels like when your parents never return. I could relate to that, honestly. Once I was done and looked decent, I sat next to him once again. Maybe we had just started off wrong.

"I know you already know this but… Hi. My name is Phil."

The guy was shocked when he turned to face me and saw that I was actually extending my hand over to him in a formal greeting. Nervously, he did the same. "Hi, Phil… I'm Dan. Nice to meet you?" I'm not sure of what was I expecting, but I definitely wasn't expecting his hands to be so soft. I mean, my family and I… We are fighters. Our hands are calloused and tanned and strong. But Dan's hands were soft and pale and delicate. It was so weird. When his hand came over to meet mine and we touched… I felt like he wasn't even human, and for the first time I really looked him in the eye, those deep brown eyes...

Then I mentally smacked myself for it.

I barely knew this guy and for all I knew he could be a spy abut to kill us for food or something. I retrieved my hand then bit my lip, unsure of what to do next. "So, Dan… Do you have somewhere to go? I mean, I do, but… I mean…"

Dan looked at me inquisitively. "Are you asking me to go with you?"

"No! I mean, yes, unless you have something better to do. You told me that you don't have a group, right? It must be hard to be by yourself. My family and I are camping a little to the South, five minutes away from here, in case you want to join. At least for the day. We got supplies and water and a few cans."

What was I doing? Why was I telling this really weird guy to just come over and have brunch with us? I didn't trust him, did I? Yet, I felt like it was something that I needed to do, despite him being a stalker and basically a stranger with no sense of personal space. If he killed us in our sleep then that would be on me.
"Actually, I… I do have a place to go to. But I'd be on my own, so I guess it wouldn't hurt if I go with you. I haven't met with anyone else in ages! And Jeff looks like a cool kid, same as Cynthia and Tyler. I haven't met them yet. I haven't met Emily or Gary either but–"

"Okay, you're back in stalker mode! How do you know that?! Are you a psychic or something?"

"I… I think I might have read your diary… It was on the ground when I found you and I picked it up. I didn't know it was your diary and I swear I was about to put it down when you woke up. I didn't mean to invade your personal space or anything. Really. At least not again…"

"Again?!"

"Oh. It's just that I may… or may not have been looking when you were in the lake. I'm so sorry! I won't do it again, I promise."

I was about to flip out for real this time. I closed my eyes, trying not to follow my instincts and choke him with my own hands. I breathed in, breathed out. Clasped my hands together. "You know what? I don't even mind. Let's pretend that never happened and I promise I won't murder you right as of now. "

"Okay… that sounds like a threat but okay."

"Just let me pick up my stuff and we'll go," I muttered whilst definitely trying to not look him in the eye. Em was sure going to be mad at me for taking so long but, with any luck, Dan would be enough of a good excuse to make up for my delay. It's not every day that we find a gorgeous-looking guy astray.