-11—

Denzel's P.O.V.

"What the hell are we going to do now, buddy?" Travis's insistent whine broke through Denzel's thoughts. "The vending machine is completely drained. If we're going to eat, we need to ransack the houses! You can lead the way!'

"No! It isn't ours!" Denzel protested. The real reason he was adamant against breaking into houses was that he was afraid of the undead inside, but he wasn't going to admit that anytime soon.

Travis scowled, jabbing him in the chest. "Just because you don't have any guts doesn't mean the rest of us have to starve! I don't even know why Dan made you leader in the first place. Ever since you started bossing us around, everything's going downhill!"

Denzel winced as the accusations struck home, then glared at Travis. While his accusations may not have been entirely baseless, what right did this runt have to tell him what to do? A black rage grew in his chest.

Travis, oblivious to Denzel's darkening expression, ranted on. "Now what am I going to tell the kids? We're going hungry for lunch again? You really are a useless sack of-" His words ended in a bloody gurgle and he stared down at the iron spike protruding from his throat in disbelief. Denzel gripped the handle and shoved it deeper into Travis's throat, grinning as the other teen choked and sunk to his knees.

Denzel grinned sadistically and twisted the knife in Travis's throat, drawing it out slowly as the floor turned red. Travis croaked and fell to his knees, staring sightlessly ahead.

Leaning down, Denzel wiped the knife blade clean on Travis's shirt, then spat on Travis's face. Another boy came in and screamed as he took in the scene.

Bridging the distance between them in a single stride, Denzel hit the boy so hard his knuckles jarred.

"If anyone asks, Travis slipped. Now get rid of the body." The boy scrambled to obey, jaw hanging loose as he stared at Denzel with a mixture of fear and loathing. Denzel paid him no mind. I know you're coming back, Dan. And when you do, I'll be waiting.

-Dan's P.O.V.—

"Uuurgh!" Dan moaned as some unknown force yanked the warm comforters off him. Then his legs were grabbed and he hit the floor with a thud.

"It's 9 am, Dan, you have to-" Tracy stopped and blushed as she registered the fact that Dan slept in his underwear. Then he snored and she realized he had fallen asleep again in the space of 7 seconds.

Alonzo burst it, ceramic knife at the ready. "WHERE IS IT AT?" He hyperventilated.

Tracy rolled her eyes. "It's nothing. Dan here tends to groan like an undead when woken up." Alonzo lowered the knife sheepishly, then ran to the toilet, a wicked gleam in his eye.

Dan mumbled something in his sleep. Sunlight filtered in through the curtains, the birds were singing, it was a perfect time for a nice morning nap-

And then his brain was bombarded with the agonized screams of billions of nerve endings as the frigid water registered on his skin.

Dan jolted upright, gasping and sputtering, as his 'friends' doubled over in laughter.

"Not funny!"

"Oh it is," Chloe said, then mimed a surprised goldfish. "Ahhhhh!' She screamed, drawing more gales of laughter.

"Let's go," Alonzo cut in anxiously, knowing from years of experience what happened when his friend was tipped over the edge. Dan gladly obliged.

Dan pulled on a worn white T-shirt and jeans, covering up with his last thick leather jacket, similar to the one Marc wore. Then he pulled his hammer, Bludger, from under his pillow. Chloe stared as she tried to imagine sleeping on top of a hammer.

They walked out the front door, Alonzo smashing in the head of a nearby walker as they walked by. Despite seeing this countless times, Dan still grimaced and turned away. That thing used to have a life, friends, maybe a family.

"Dan, let's GO!" Chloe snapped, seeing Dan lag behind. Dan walked faster. Best not to brood on what had been done. Still, the ease and familiarity with which they dispatched once-humans irked him. Never gets any easier, his right mind reflected. Humans adapt. It's what we do, his left mind rationalized.

Getting a good look at their neighborhood through fresh eyes, Dan couldn't help but marvel at how beautiful it was- or how it used to be. Palm trees lined the pool edge, and the condominiums were decidedly chic, going for a glass-and-steel look. Lush greenery carpeted the meadows beside the tidy footpaths, aside from the bloodstains, of course. Alonzo noticed the group's reaction to the posh neighborhood, and sniffed.

"I always thought the residents here were rich, stuck up bastards," Alonzo growled, then his eyes lit up as he spotted a vending machine beside the pool. "Sweet! Guess those prigs thought they were too good for junk food!" He turned to Dan. "Gimme your hammer."

Dan handed over the instrument as requested. "What do you want it for-WAIT, NO!" Alonzo smashed the glass of the vending machine with a ear-rending smash.

"What? That wasn't so loud, wasn't it?" Alonzo's voice was drowned out by the sound of a siren. The few undead roaming around the pool stiffened, then turned to the vending machine as one. "Oh."

"What do you think this is, GTA V or something?" Tracy hissed as she stabbed a meat bag in the throat, then pushed it into another. "You don't break anything unless you have to!"

"We've got to get out of here. The undead outside the hood will have heard it too." Chloe intoned, her voice cold and calculating. Tracy turned back to their block. Dozens of undead stared back at her as they stumbled towards her. "Block 42 is the closest block and it seems relatively empty. Plus, there aren't any fires in the windows." Chloe looked around. "Where's Dan?"

Dan spun like a dervish, tripping the two zombies in front of him as Bludger cracked the skull of the zombie that had crept behind him. The thing collapsed on the floor, the death gurgle in its throat. Through a red mist, Dan dimly registered that he had distanced himself from the group. And he didn't even care! Laughing hysterically, he jumped onto the two ghouls squirming around on the ground, shattering their skulls like rotten watermelons. The shouts of his group resounded from far away, and he snapped out of his bloodlust to worry. What are we going to do? Then his saw a empty shopping cart, rusty from lack of use, next to the stairwell of a nearby apartment building. Dan grinned maniacally. He had an idea.

"Shit! There's too many!" Chloe cursed as she sliced a grinning cut across the throat of a ghoul as it leaned forward to take a chunk out of her. Tracy paled. If Chloe was swearing, things were getting serious. They had tried to clear the way to Block 22, but with no protection from zombie bites, they had no way of moving forward. And Dan was nowhere in sight. A group of zombies was converging on their flank. It would take a miracle to get them out of this fix.

A screech of protesting metal, a flash of grey, and suddenly the zombies, unstable to begin with, were bowled over like so many bowling pins. The thing ground to a stop, Dan behind it gasping for breath. "Get…In…!" He commanded wheezily. The others didn't hesitate.

9 jarring stops and countless mutilated zombies later, they managed to reach Block 22. Dan tipped them onto the floor in a quivering heap, then thrust the cart at the undead teeming behind them, temporarily blocking them. Alonzo held open the staircase door, and they all piled into the stairwell and up the stairs.

"Which level do we stop at, hero boy?" Tracy asked Dan teasingly as they ascended the stairs two steps at a time. Dan, too winded from the shopping cart endeavor to answer, simply held up 4 fingers. Tracy frowned. "Why 4?"

Dan stopped at the level in question, then shrugged. "I've always had a good feeling about the number 4."

Alonzo grunted assent. "We're not in a position to deliberate on which floor to stop at. I'm all for 4!" His mouth twitched as he looked around to see if anyone got the pun. Simultaneously, the group groaned and started throwing dirt and snacks from the vending at him. Dan smiled. It was good to relieve the tension, even if it was just for a few moments. Drawing his leg back, he kicked open the door to Level 4, weapons at the ready.

And stared in shock. The balcony was lined with heads- undead heads, to be sure, but still…

What sick bastard would do such a thing? Dan wondered. The heads stared vacantly back at him. They weren't offering answers any time soon. Alonzo stopped behind Dan, eyes wide.

"Damn! And I thought my Black Santa collection was weird!" He quipped.

The girls stopped behind Dan, staring at the grisly trophies. Dan straightened.

"Whoever did this, it's a good bet that he-or she-is in the house. Are you sure this is a good idea Dan?" Chloe muttered.

"Yes. We need a larger group if we're going to get through this till the government comes around. Besides, from the looks of it, whoever is in there has some experience killing meat bags." Dan replied uncertainly.

Dan knocked on the door. No answer from within.

"We're just fellow survivors! We won't hurt you! I'm coming in now, don't attack!" Dan pushed the door open.

And a 1 meter blade pressed against his throat.