Chapter 7: Old Goodbye's and New Hello's.

The sky outside remained as blue and empty as the day before. No clouds were seen, birds rarely flew anywhere except by their nests and wooded areas. Absolutely no planes or helicopters interrupted the peacefulness of the sky above.

"What do you want for breakfast?" You ask your friend in the next room.

"Um... Waffles with syrup and strawberries if you can. If not, some canned fruits would be nice." He responds.

"You allergic to anything?" You ask.

"Just latex." He replies.

"So that means you-"

"Can't wear condoms? Exactly. Believe me, it feels really good too, but if I do wear one, I get these red splotches all over my-"

"OKAY! I get it!"

Reaching into your cupboards, you pull out two cans of pineapples and a can of chicken noodle soup. You decide to split the soup, then have the pineapple after for something sweet. You take your can opener out of one of the drawers and crack open the soup can, then you grab two spoons before heading back into the living room. You hand Alex a spoon and the can off soup and he starts eating, but stops about halfway through and hands it over to you. The lukewarm soup didn't taste bad, but warming it up would make a world of difference. After making sure every last bit of the soup was gone, leaving the can almost clean, you place the can on the coffee table and leave to retrieve the can opener again. You open the first can and hand it to Alex, who begins to eat the fruit within. The second can appears to have a little bit more in it than Alex's did.

A thought runs through your mind. Do you keep the extra and eat it to yourself, or do you share it? If you keep it, you'd be getting more to eat, therefore making you a bit stronger, since you'd have a more full stomachs for the day, but on the other hand, if Alex finds out you've been taking more than him, he might get really angry and potentially leave you and fend for himself. Although, if you share, you make him feel like his survival is more important than yours, making him more likely to help you out more often and make sure you survive also.

"Here, take some more out of this, it had a bit more in it." You say to Alex.

"Nah man, you can have it, I've got plenty." He replies.

"You sure? I don't want to feel guilty if you get too hungry later..." You say in return.

"Don't worry, our bodies will get used to having less food, it's natural. So just enjoy the extra while you can." He tells you.

"That was... Pretty profound." You say to Alex.

"Meh, I have my moments. Now finish up, I want you get your brother buried, he's starting to stink out there." Alex says.

The rest of your breakfast passes with the sounds of pineapple being eaten and the remaining juice being drunk straight from the cans. With the empty cans and dirty spoons by the sink, you both grab small travel shovels from you packs and head outside. The smell coming from Brady's corpse is unlike anything you've ever smelt before, since you've never smelt rotting human flesh before.

Your backyard is pretty big, but not big enough to have his body in a super nice spot. Settling on the far side of an old pine tree in the far corner of your yard, both you and Alex get to work digging out a small 6'x3'x4' rectangular hole at the base of the tree. An hour of solid digging and cutting through small roots, with the both of you just having at it yields the best damn grave you've ever dug... Even if it is the only grave you've ever dug.

With the two of you carrying his body over to the grave, you lower yourself into the hole before having Alex lower Brady's body down to you. You make sure Brady's head is at the end closest to the tree before kneeling down and saying a silent prayer to whatever lies on the other side.

Alex just stands in silence at the edge of the grave waiting for you to conclude your funeral ceremony. Without knowing Brady personally, other than seeing him a few times at school a couple years ago, he didn't have any words to stay in his memory.

When you're satisfied that your brother's makeshift funeral is as good as you can possibly make it, you stand up, pick up your shovel, then take the first bit of dirt back into the grave and place it over the tarp covering his head. Alex picks up his shovel and also begins to lift mounds of dirt up and drop them into the grave, covering the body of your deceased brother. When Brady's body is completely covered in a layer of dirt, you climb out of the grave and start shoveling larger amounts of dirt into the hole. A half hour's work was all it took to place the last of the displaced soil back into the hole now holding your brother's body. With the two of you patting the soil down to smooth out the mound now showing the resting place of your brother, you slowly stand and take in your work. From farther away, the mound under the pine looked like the perfect place to lay a body to rest.

"We need to mark the grave." You say to Alex.

"Want me to search for a large stone?" He asks.

"Please..." You reply.

Sitting on the ground next to Brady's resting place, you're mind goes blank from what you take in. You and your best friend buried the only brother you've ever had. You were the one who had to kill him in the first place... Correction, second place. You thought it was just right that you stay at his grave until your funeral for him was complete.

"Will this do?" Alex asks as he returns from the woods.

In his hands lay the smoothest, roundest stone you ever laid your eyes on. It was as if it was meant for Brady's headstone, the forever reminder that someone lived and died and now rested where it will lay.

You cross the yard and enter the basement, then grab a hammer and a large metal nail from your dad's tool box. As you return to your brother's grave, you set to work etching your brothers information into the stone's smooth face.

Here lies Brady. A good friend, brother, and son. Struck down in the wake of the apocalypse, his body now rests on the corner of his former property, an everlasting reminder of his life and untimely death.

November 29, 1990 - May 14, 2015.

Funeral rights performed May 17, 2015 by his brother Allan and his brother's friend Alex.

R.I.P.

"*sniff* that should do it. How does it look?" You ask.

"I don't think I could have done a better job if I tried." Alex replies.

Laying the stone at the end of grave where Brady's head would lay under the soil, you stand up and give your last respects to your fallen brother. Without another word, the two of you return to your house to gather your things before placing them at the front door.

"Today's plan?" You ask.

"What? I'm choosing? I thought you were the leader." He says.

"We need to split up leadership, that way no one gets power hungry, even if it's only the two of us. So today, you decide what we do." You tell him.

"Well... We're going to need food until we die, so we need to get more of that. Then we need clothing that will help us by keeping us protected, as well as warm or cool. Then we might need more weapons," he says before seeing the look on your face, one saying we-don't-need-more-guns. "Then we could try and find some survivors that are friendly. If the houses on this block are mostly clear, then they could come and live here, then we'd have a little community going. Maybe there will even be some hot chicks with us at some point." He concludes.

"Okay... That actually sounds pretty good. I don't think I've ever actually commented on your ability to think on the spot, but it's rather well developed." You tell him.

"Why thank you good sir." He says with an elaborate bow.

"So, where are we going, what exactly are we getting, and who or what are we killing?" You ask.

"Uh, shopping mall, food and clothes, zombies and raiders." He answers.

"First off, no mall, it's going to be infested with zombies. Next, you're on a good track, but we're also going to need medical supplies and entertainment options. Finally, I hope to not have to kill anything, since it might get loud, which could get us torn apart and eaten. Although... I am wanting to see just how destructive these shotguns can be on the zombie brain." You say.

"Well... Okay then. Uh, let's get that car you were talking about and drive off to the nearest... Place. Can we please at least explore a mall? I don't think they'll be too infested, if at all. From the way you described the spread of the virus, everyone who turned did so within the day, hours possibly. Hopefully no one, or very few people were actually able to even get there without being overrun. That could be out chance to take whatever we need or want." Alex explains to you.

"I dunno... It could still be quite the opposite, but hey, you're the leader today, so we'll do whatever you want. Just know, if I get bitten and turn because of you, you'll be the first person I devour." You tell him.

With your packs on your backs, your shotguns in one hand and an ammo can in the other, you head out the front door before turning and locking it. Even though there's practically no chance that anyone will try to break in now, you don't want to leave anything to chance.

Halfway down the road, you stop outside a small house with a Prius in the driveway. After taking out your knife, you ram it into the doorframe and attempt to bust the lock off from the outside. Soon, your knife if wedged and the door barely scratched. Using the butt of his gun, Alex breaks the small window out front and climbs through into the house.

"As expected, whoever lived here was a pot smoking hippie. Bongs and lava lamps everywhere." You hear from inside.

You soon hear the locks open and the dead bolt slide open before grabbing your knife before it falls to the ground when Alex opens the door. The inside of the house is painted with bright neon colors that make your eyes hurt. The room stinks of weed, and the furniture looks like someone took it straight out of the seventies, which they probably did. The basket on the dining room table holds a number of key rings, as well as a solid gold wedding band, probably a man's. You take the keys and place the ring in your pocket, since it looked kinda nice, like something you'd wear.

Only one of the rings holds a car key, so you take the one outside and put it into the car door. When the door clicks open, you toss your bags into the backseat along with your ammo tins, before heading inside to grab some food.

The food plan went horribly wrong when you found out that the hippie who lived here hated anything that wasn't "natural" meaning they didn't have anything that could be salvaged, since everything was fresh, therefore rotting by now. As you're leaving, you notice Alex place a baggie into his pocket before heading outside.

"You took his weed, didn't you?" You ask.

"Well, yeah. It's probably good shit, so I don't want it to go to waste." He says.

You place the key into the ignition and give it a turn, starting the engine. Even though you didn't have your license, you still knew how to drive pretty well. Your hopes for a quiet car come true when you start to back the car out of the driveway and into the street. The only thing you could hear was a slight hum from the engine and the tires rolling over the pavement.

You and Alex maneuver your way through the streets, dodging some zombies along the way; one time actually having to turn around due to a clogged road. You ask Alex to keep track of blocked roads on a map of the city, marking each as you come across them.

Within a half hour, you pull your new car up to the side doors of the largest shopping mall in town. The parking lot was as close to empty as you could have hoped, but there still remained at least thirty vehicles, sporadically placed throughout the parking lot. You couldn't even tell how many were out front or on the far side of the building, but you hoped there weren't too many.

"First thing we need is another radio for you to use." You tell Alex. "That way we can split up but still be in touch."

"Then we need to gather more supplies." He says.

"Plus weapons if we can, and survivors too." You add.

"Then we need- JESUS CHRIST!" Alex yells.

A tall blonde woman had just attacked the passenger side door where Alex sat. She banged on the door and clawed at it to try to gain entry, but to no avail. You climb into the back seat and retrieve your bow and an arrow from your pack before opening the back driver's side door and getting out. The woman appeared to be the only zombie in the lot, but you wasted no time taking her down. As she pounded on the door, you snuck around the back of the car and up beside her to take a point blank shot into her cranium. As her body hit the pavement, Alex stepped out of the car and thanked you. You stow your bow and retrieved arrow back into your pack and sling it onto your back, then you grab your shotgun and an empty duffel bag and sling the bag over your shoulder. With Alex equally equipped, you walk over to the doors and peer inside. The area you look in and see happens to be the food court, where three zombies stand staring into space. Unluckily for you, the security gate has been closed, stopping you from entering the mall at this location, not like you wanted to anyway.

You start off around the building towards the back parking lot to see if you can gain access from a different part of the building. Your spirits both rise and drop when you see a car parked under the raised ladder leading to the roof on the back of the building.

"Shit, are there people staying here? Or are they the dead ones we've seen so far?" You ask.

"No clue, so be careful." Alex responds.

You keep a lookout as Alex climbs onto the car and up the ladder, then he takes lookout while you do the same. The access door on the roof lay open with a broken handle and lock, showing that someone had previously been here. As you enter the building, you notice that there aren't any lights, which you forgot to think about. Taking out your flashlight, you hold it in your hand and peer over the rail down into the stairwell. When you see no movement, you proceed down the stairs with Alex hot on your heels. When you reach the bottom of the stairs, you take a look through the window in the door and see the deserted store area of the mall. With skylights providing the light to the mall, most of the shops are brightly lit, making it easy to see everything in the stores, or anyone wandering around. After a few minutes with no movement, you turn off your light and slowly open the door, telling Alex to keep it open incase you both need to escape quickly. Kicking open the door stopper on the door, you make sure it's firmly held before entering the main body of the mall.

You and Alex both hoist your shotguns to your shoulders and aim forwards as you stroll into the mall. The first thing you notice is the eerie silence only broken by your foot steps. Every store and kiosk lay as dead as can be, no one in sight, and nothing missing. It seems like no one wanted to loot anything while escaping from the undead. The only things out of place were the bags of merchandise laying scattered around the floor where the people who bought them dropped them to escape. Some held toys, others clothes. Some people even dropped their purses while getting away.

"First stop, electronics store." You tell Alex.

With the two of you walking towards the closest electronics store in the mall, you take in the surreal feeling of being alone in such a huge building. With all the stores empty and the sound of your footsteps echoing around the giant hall, you feel almost like you're in a dream, except in your dreams, your not wearing a big backpack and carrying a gun.

You scan the electronics store for any zombies and find it to be clear. You and Alex both search the aisles for radios and come up with a few different options. One was really cheap, so you disregarded that one. The next was really expensive and bulky, plus it could only be charged via a cable, so that ruled that one out. The last was moderately sized and was powered by battery, so that's the one Alex took. He slid his knife out of the sheath and cut open the packaging to extract the radio. He then also opened a pack of batteries and fitted the radio with three AA's before turning it on. The box claimed it had a 10km radius of transmission, so it was more than enough for what you were planning in the future. You set both your radios on the first channel and test them out.

"Can you hear me?" You ask whispering into the radio from across the hall.

"Loud and clear." He replies into the radio.

"Okay, now let's split up and gather more materials. If one finds a large stash of valuable item, radio in and tell the other so we can come and pick stuff up as well. Also, if you fall into some danger, also call and say so to be helped out, okay?" You ask.

"Okay. Let's roll out." Alex says in his best Optimus Prime voice.

You stay in the electronics store to gather some accessories and batteries for your different devices, like mobile battery packs for you phones, extra AA and AAA batteries, and some USB thumb drives for information storing. By the time you leave the store, Alex is nowhere to be found. You take this time to radio in and get his location before continuing.

"Yo, where you at?" You ask into the radio.

"Uh... Victoria's Secret." You hear back.

"Perv, just look for actually supplies." You say. "Don't spend your time here wanking to lingerie."

You walk down the main hall and stop outside a game store. Knowing full well you'll probably never play video games again, you pass the store by and continue down the line.

You eventually come upon the mall's drug store and see no one inside. You proceed to walk down the aisles and put anything worth keeping into a basket. Soon the basket contains multivitamins, bandages, quick clot, headache medications, antibiotics and some syringes. You take the basket back to the front counter before remembering that you don't have to pay for anything, so you simply swing the duffel bag off your shoulder and start to pack your findings into it. While you're there, you jump the counter and use your knife to open the cash registers. You take out your wallet and place as many large bills into it as possible before shutting them and leaving with your supplies. Being a rich motherfucker feels nice, even if it's only useless paper now. Maybe one day you'll plaster your bedroom with hundred dollar bills, that could be cool.

"I've got medical covered, what are you grabbing?" You say to the radio.

"I, my good friend, have found the mother load of weapons. There has to be more bullets in here than people in the city. Too bad for us, they're all behind gates, so I can't get to them, but I can get some guns off the walls and take those. What do you think?" Alex replies.

"I think you're awesome, and you should take what would be useful, like rifles and more pistols, as well as holsters if you can." You say to him.

"I will if I come across any." He replies.

A little ways down the mall you come across a small sports store. You see some jerseys along one wall and balls of many kinda along another, but the center of the store holds the good merchandise. As you enter, you see that the store sold sports clothing, like Under Armor, something that could be of use to you and Alex.

"Hey, what sizes of clothing do you wear? I'm going to grab some good clothes from this sports place I'm at." You say to your radio.

"Uh, can you grab me two large shirts and a 30-30 in pants?" Alex asks.

"Sure thing." You reply.

Opening the duffel bag once again, you put all the medical supplies off to one side and start packing the clothing into the bag. You pick yourself up a couple medium sized shirts and some 28-30 pants as well. As you approach the exit of the store, you see that just below the counter where you would pay holds a massive stockpile of energy bars and protein snacks. You leave the duffel bag on the counter before you climb over to retrieve a few plastic bags and the large bills from the register. Maybe you could use money as kindling for a fire... That might work. You climb back over the counter and start emptying the boxes into two plastic bags, which you then stuff into the duffel Bach before leaving and continuing down your path.

Before now, you never took notice of how heavy all your gear is. A loaded backpack full of survival gear, a duffel bag full of supplies, a pistol, knife, and a shotgun really takes it's toll on you when you're carrying it all for an hour. It's starting to weigh down on your shoulders, causing them to ache.

"Have you gotten any new gear?" You ask into your radio.

You don't hear anything for a few minutes, so you call again.

"Alex? You there?"

"Shh! Keep your voice down! Whisper if you need to, but only if necessary. I've got a bit of a situation here." Alex whispers back to you.

"What's wrong?" You ask.

"You won't believe this, but there's someone else in the mall with us." He says.

"Who? Are they dangerous? How many are there?" You say.

"Only one girl, and I mean girl. She might be a bit younger than us, but she's trying to take some stuff from the store across from me. She's shaking like a leaf in the wind though, she must be terrified." Alex explains.

"Ok, where in the mall is that gun store? I'm going to come by and see if we can talk this girl into coming with us." You say.

"Okay, she's taking her sweet time, so just get here quick. I'm more towards the food court, maybe six stores down from the doors." He tells you.

You take a quick jog back to the sports store to grab another empty duffel bag before taking off quickly towards the food court. As you round the last corner before the stretch off hallway leading to where your friend lay hiding, you drop your bags and take your gun before going any further. You see the gun store Alex said he was at on the far side of the hall, which means the store where the girl is at is on your side. You crouch down and silently make your way to the edge of the store where the girl should be. As you stop and listen, you hear shuffling feet moving quickly and some faint sobbing coming from inside, definitely female. You glance back towards the gun store, which you now see is a hunting store, and see Alex poking his head out from behind a rack of camo jackets. You catch his eye and signal at yourself, a walking motion, then you point into the store before giving a thumbs up with a shrug, basically saying, "is it safe for me to go in?" Luckily Alex understood and gave a nod to tell you you're good to go.

First, you check to make sure your safety is off, then you slowly stand up and aim into the store. Near the back stood the girl Alex spoke about with her back turned to you. The store was a convenience store and the girl was trying to fit bags of chips and some chocolate bars into her backpack, which was rather small to begin with. From what you could see, the girl was no older than you, but by the way she was acting suggests that she is actually younger.

*CLICK CLICK!*

"Oh... Shit... Please don't shoot me." The girl says as she stands and lift her arms above her head.

"Do you have any weapons on you?" You ask.

"No... I was going to try to get one while I was here." She says.

"Ok, turn around and face me." You tell her.

The girl's voice seemed a bit familiar, like you knew her. Before she turned around, you glance back at Alex and notice that he moved, since he isn't hiding behind the rack of clothes anymore, in fact, he was on the opposite side of the store pointing his gun at the girl as well.

Stealthy guy, that could come in handy.

"Allan?" The girl asks.

"Oh my god... Brittany?" You reply.

When the girl saw who you were, she immediately ran towards you and threw her arms around you to pull you into a hug. Alex was about a second from shooting before he noticed you lower your gun and return the hug, even if you were a little hesitant.

"Who's she?" Alex asks.

"This is Brittany, she's my friend's little sister. By the way Brit, where is your sister? Or your mom and dad?" You ask.

"Allan... They're... Uh... Back at my apartment, probably still with that officer." She says.

"Oh good, they're still safe." You say.

"Uh... Not really... They're... They're..." She stutters.

"Oh god... No... Tell me they didn't get bitten..." You tell her.

"Yeah... Dad came home with an officer... They were both bitten... Dad passed out... Then the cop... Then dad... Attacked mom... Then the officer did too... They were biting her all over... My sister tried to get them off, but dad turned and bit her too... I just grabbed my backpack and ran out the front door, then shut it and ran... I came here to get food, then I saw you two drive up and kill that lady, then you came inside, so I followed you... But by the time I got in here, you two were both gone... So I started to get myself some stuff before leaving..." Brittany tells you. Soon, she's sobbing from telling you her story. She drops to her knees and weeps into your chest for a while with you just sitting there trying to comfort her.

"Well, I'll keep looking around while you two... Uh... Bye." Alex says before leaving the store.

"Allan... I... I can't believe you survived... I can't believe I survived either... I've been running around for two days now, running from those things outside... Can... Can I come with you two? I don't know if I'll survive if I stay alone... I've already seen one person get attacked by those things... They couldn't even get out once it grabbed them... I heard them scream... I don't want to die..." She says while crying.

"Hey... You don't have to cry. I've lost my family too, I even had to kill my own brother... But I promise, as long as you're with me, I'm going to make sure nothing bad happens to you." You say to Brittany.

"You said that to my sister... Then you dumped her... And now she's..." She says.

"I know, but I mean this more than ever now. We have guns, ammo, food, a car, and a safe place to stay. So come on," you say as you lift her to her feet. "Let's get going, we need to get you some supplies and get going."

"Do I have to have a gun? I don't like guns... They kinda scare me." She tells you.

"Well, I'd rather you carry one just in case, that way you can protect yourself, but if you really don't want to, then I won't make you." You tell her.

"Well... Maybe a small one?" She asks.

"We'll let you have whichever one you want." You tell her.

"You're trying to act like a gentleman, aren't you? Coming in here and saving me, being all nice an stuff... You're like a knight in shining armor." She tells you.

Before you could leave, Brittany pulls you in for another hug. Right when you're about to let go, she gives you a quick kiss on the cheek and let's you go. Knowing that you had a bit of a thing with this girl's older sister makes you a little uncomfortable seeing as she's two years younger than you, but in the same sense, it made you feel even more obligated to protect her no matter what.

"So... Uh... Let's get you that gun... Over there... Uh... Yeah." You say completely flustered.

Brittany grabs her small bag and follows you across the hall to the hunting store where Alex spotted her. As you look down the hall, you notice Alex pretending to be interested in movie poster deprecating a pretty relevant picture; a zombie apocalypse. As he notices you leaving with Brittany, he turns and walks back to join the two of you.

"You two lovers done yet?" He asks.

You look at Brittany who started to blush bright red before looking away from you and Alex. You simply shrug and continue into Alex's hunting store. You lead Brittany over to a counter that contained a number if different pistols with their respective holsters underneath them.

"I don't know... They all seem really big..." She tells you.

Without skipping a beat, Alex whispers "that's what she said." To which Brittany just laughs.

"How about this one? It's a Glock chambered in 9mm, it holds 15 bullets, so you shouldn't be worried about running out if you need to shoot something. Speaking of shooting things..." you pull out your pistol and aim at the lock on the nearest cage of ammunition. Making sure that the other two aren't too close, you pull the trigger.

*BANG!*

You replace your pistol and open the cage holding the ammunition boxes back. Alex grabs some nearby ammo cans and helps you load one full on 9mm ammo for the three of you to use. The next can was filled with shotgun shells for the two of you. You also go behind the glass and grab the gun you were explaining to Brittany and load it full before having her attaching it to her pants so she have it on her at all times.

"Did you get any other guns down?" You asks Alex.

"Nah, I saw this girl then radio'd you to tell you. I never got the chance." He tells you.

The three of you cross to the wall at the back of the store and start to examine the selection. Alex takes down two bolt action hunting rifles. They're stripped to the bare bones, leaving nothing on it except the iron sights. You ask Brittany if she wanted to have one, maybe a shotgun, but she shakes her head and refuses as if you just asked if she wanted to jump out of a plane without a parachute. The two of you take down your guns and walk around the store equipping your guns with anything you like. From scopes to bullets and slings so you throw it on your shoulder for easier carry, you grab another two ammo cans and load them full of your .308 rounds before exiting the store. On your way out, Brittany spots a few crossbows hanging from the wall. She quickly runs over and takes one down.

"I thought you didn't want anything else." You say to her.

"Well, this isn't a gun, so it's perfect. I'll take two." She says.

"Ok... Well, Alex, can you go grab that extra duffel bag I took? I left it over there, just around the corner." You ask him.

"Oh, uh... Sure. Sure." He says before heading off to where you pointed.

As Alex is walking away, you turn and help Brittany with getting two of the cross bows down, as well as picking out some arrows for both your bow and some bolts for the crossbow, then you take three quivers for the arrows and a new bow for Alex so that you all now have a number of weapons to use. When Alex's footsteps round the corner, you turn to Brittany and get her attention. Seeming to know what you were thinking, she turns and gives you another hug, but this time she pulls you in for a real kiss. A quick but deep kiss before you go back to your shopping. You always found her to be nice and all, maybe even a bit attractive, but you never gave her any real thought because at the time you were dating her sister. Now that you've both revealed your feelings for each other, your drive to protect this girl triples to the point where you would dive into a mob of zombies to make sure she is able to escape alive. As Alex returns with the bag, he hands it to you so you can load all the ammo cans into it before giving it to Brittany to carry. She complains a little about it's weight, but stops after trying to carry the bags you and Alex have. With both you and Alex having your new rifles slung over your shoulders with your duffle bags, your packs on your backs and your shotguns in hand, you leave the store and tell Brittany to go back into the convenience store and grab only the non perishable foods, like canned foods, beef jerky (which you insist she get) and as much bottled drinks as possible. Once all your bags are stuffed to the breaking point, Alex leads you and Brittany back to the stairwell you and him entered through.

"This is how I got in... I thought I was just lucky to find this open..." She tells you.

As you climb the stairs behind Alex, you take Brittany's hand and hold it until you reach the top. You can see her smiling at you before Alex opens the door and let's some light into the stairwell. You take the lead and show the other two to the ladder going down to the parked car. You take off your duffle bag and put it down before climbing over and down the ladder. Once at the bottom, Alex crouches down and hands over the duffel bag for you to take. Next, Brittany drops her duffel bag and climbs over to descend down the ladder. Alex hands over her duffel bag, then his own before climbing down as well. With both your shotguns out and in your hands ready to shoot if the need arises, you both lead Brittany back around the mall towards your car.

As you round that last corner, you see two zombies walking around between you and the car. Neither has seen you yet, so you tell Brittany to stop and get her crossbow ready.

"Why do I have to? I don't want to kill them, you do it!" She tells you.

"You'll have to sooner or later." Alex says.

"I agree, I want you to kill these two. If you truly can't, we will, but I want you to get at least one of them." You tell her.

"You've got to be joking." She says.

Eventually she stops arguing and allows you to show her how to load the crossbow. Soon, both are loaded and all three of you are ready to step out and take down the two zombies. Brittany stays her distance away from the closest zombie so that it won't get her. Once the zombie notices her, she stops walking and takes aim. As the zombie walked towards her, she started breathing really heavy and her hands started to shake. Noticing this, you hoist your shotgun up and get ready to defend her if she doesn't take the shot. With the zombie within seconds of grabbing Brittany, she takes a deep breath and pulls her trigger, sending an arrow through its eye socket and out the top of its head.

The second zombie noticed the commotion once the first hit the pavement. Taking aim, you point your shotgun at the second zombie's head and squeeze the trigger.

*BLAM!*

The zombie's head explodes from the impact of the shot and splatters his brain matter all over the pavement. Once his body hit the pavement, you step on the first zombie's head and yank out the arrow. You hand the arrow back to Brittany and start off towards the car. You toss the keys to Alex so he can get the car started and pop the trunk. You take all the bags and stuff them into the trunk before hopping into the driver's seat and waiting for the other two to get in. By the time Brittany closed her door, the first of the zombies attracted by the gunshot started to enter the parking lot. You start to drive off, dodging the zombies on the way out.

"Why'd you have to shoot? Now every zombie in the city is going to be coming this way!" Alex tells you.

"Good! Then they'll be moving away from my place. Plus, I wanted to shoot one, I don't think I have yet." You tell him.

You floor the gas as you drive down a relatively empty street towards your house. As you pull into your street, you have to drive around the abandoned cars littering the street.

"At least it'll be hard for someone to get here in a car." Brittany says.

You don't bother to pull into your driveway, you just pull up to he curb and stop the car. You push the button to pop the trunk then you turn the car off and leave to take your findings out of the trunk. With the three of you carrying two bags each, your trunk is soon free of gear. You open your front door and lead Brittany in before shutting the door and barricading it again.

"Brit, you can take my sister's room if you like, Alex is already on the couch. Here, help me carry these supplies upstairs. Alex, can you unload the food?" You ask.

"I can do that." He replies.

Both you and Brittany grab a duffel bag and proceed upstairs. You open the door to your sister's old room and plop the duffle bag down on her bed. Brittany comes in behind you and drops her bags on the bed as well. You get down to business unloading the bags, transferring the ammo cans to your room and taking one of the crossbows and some arrows into your room. You hear your door shut behind you and you turn I see Brittany standing against it.

"Allan... Did you mean that kiss earlier?" She asks you.

"Well... Of course I did... I wouldn't have kissed you if I didn't." You tell her. "I've always found you to be pretty attractive."

"Even when you were with my sister?" She asks.

"Yes actually, that's when I first met you." You say to her.

"Well," she says as she walks towards you. "That was exactly when I started liking you. I know, it's a little girl's crush on an older guy, but we're not that far apart, age wise. About a year and a half, my birthday's in a few weeks actually."

"As it stands right now," you say as you pull her in close. "I'll do anything to make sure you stay safe."

Brittany smiles while looking you in the eyes before putting her arms around your neck and pulling you into another kiss. This kiss slowly turns into a make out session with Brittany up against your wall. You only stop when you hear Alex calling to you from downstairs, asking what all of you were going to eat later for dinner.

You give Brittany another deep kiss before stepping back and opening the door.

"Later." Is all you tell her before going downstairs to talk to Alex.

"I think we should boil some water and make some rice with veggies." You tell him.

"Ok, we've got more than enough to do that. And also, I saw that first kiss earlier." He tells you in a whisper. "You sir, are a lucky guy. Meet a girl then you're kissing her five minutes later. Damn, if only I were that good."

"Hmm, let's just say that you'd better give us some alone time tonight." You whisper back. "She seems pretty enthusiastic."

"Lucky son of a bitch..."

"Don't worry, we'll try and find another female survivor for you to screw to your heart's content." You tell him.

"Yeah yeah, now go get your magic fire going." He tell you before handing you some matches.

You holler up to your new girlfriend to come down and outside with you, since you want everyone to know how to make a good fire. Once you're outside, you turn and engage in your make out session again, much to the enjoyment of Brittany.

"You seem pretty happy with me." She tells you.

"I enjoy being able to do this with someone. I thought I'd be dead before finding another decent survivor." You say to her.

"Well then, let's just say that you won't be dying a virgin now." She says to you.

Your mind races a mile a minute trying to comprehend what she just said to you.

"You're that serious about being with me?" You ask.

"Well, it's not happening tonight, but I hope it will some day. Just don't get your hopes up, if you're too clingy it'll never happen at all." She tells you.

With a smile, you give her another kiss before turning to your fire. You get Brittany to replace the platform at the bottom of your fire hole while you gather your sticks. You show her the basic concept of the fire hole and how it works. You show her how to set up the kindling and larger sticks and how to light it, then you tell her how to get the fire really going by getting her to put her head down the hole to blow air under the fire. She fell for your trap because you could have done it in two seconds, but you got her to do it so you could openly stare at her ass the whole time. Once the fire is going and starting to really heat up, Alex comes down with a can of mixed vegetables and two packages of rice, all in a large metal pot with a few bottles of water in it and some dishes and cutlery as well.

Today, Alex takes point when cooking, making sure the rice gets nice and cooked before straining them onto a large plate and putting on the veggies. As Alex works on the cooking, you go into the basement and retrieve three lawn chairs for you all to sit on while eating. Before long, Alex has three plates full of steaming veggies on top of some rice, making their flavors mix into a delicious supper. With your plates in your hands, you all begin to eat. You congratulate Brittany on her kill earlier, asking if it was her first one. She tells you that after she left her apartment, she ran outside and hid in a tree for a few hours, waiting for the zombies (the term you recently taught her) moved away towards other survivors fleeing their homes. She tells you that she slipped out of the tree and ran to the bike path behind her building and followed that until she came out near the mall. She entered the abandoned gas station nearby and shut the doors so no one could get in before taking some food and having something to eat. She stayed in the station for the next day and night before checking if the coast was clear. She was able to see the car parked below the ladder leading into the mall from where she was, so she was able to climb up and enter through a broken door, then go into the mall to grab some stuff before leaving. She saw that someone has already been in some of the stores, since she saw some open boxes in the electronics store, which you told her was from you and Alex. She said that she grabbed the same things you did, the same radio and batteries before packing them into her bag and heading off again. She told you that she also grabbed some more feminine items from the pharmacy and some clothes from stores along the way. Then she said that she felt like someone was watching her, so she went into the convenience store with them intent of grabbing some food and leaving quickly, which is when she met you and Alex.

"Wow, small world, eh?" You say.

"What are the odds of that happening?" Alex asks.

"Pretty damn slim." Brittany replies.

As you're eating your food, you glance up at the sky and see the first stars starting to appear. You all sit by the fire hole, waiting for the last of the wood to burn out before heading inside, the sky being quite dark by then.

"How's about an early bed time tonight. No games, no lighting candles and reading, just sleep." You tell the other two.

"I can - yawn - go with that." Alex says. You and Brittany say goodnight and go upstairs to get ready for bed.

"I didn't want to say this is front of Alex earlier, but you can actually sleep with me if you really wanted to." You tell Brittany.

"Way ahead of you." She says as she starts to undress in front of you.

You sit and stare for a few seconds before going the same yourself. Soon you're both down to nothing but your underwear, laying down in your bed, with Brittany laying her head on your chest. You never thought you'd be getting this close to intimacy before you died, but you soon push that thought out of your head before settling down for some sleep. You wrap your arms around your new girlfriend before slowly drifting off to sleep.

Day three: done. Income: food, medical supplies, clothes, guns, girlfriend.

If you don't survive this apocalypse, you're going to be one hell of an unhappy camper.