The next morning Jesse and I set about sorting through our supplies in order to divide them up, whilst Chloe talked with her friends about what had transpired in the month they'd been apart. I kept catching snippets of her cheerful stories, grinning as my own memories were triggered by her words.

"...She's pretty good at I-spy, yeah, but whenever we played cards I totally beat her and Jesse at every game."

"What is she going on about over there? Anyone would think she was preaching a sermon with the way they're all looking at her." Jesse snorted, handing me a couple of cans. I laughed.

"Who knows. I'm just happy that they're all back together again; it's great seeing Chloe's mind at rest like that." Jesse nodded in agreement, and we turned back to sorting supplies.

"Okay that looks to be about half and half… what do you think, Becs?" I bit at my lip thoughtfully, squinting slightly and tilting my head to the side like a photographer.

"I think so, yeah. Anyway, hopefully it we won't get separated so it won't matter anyway, right?" Jesse smiled and together we packed the supplies back into the two bags, one bag containing half staying in the back seat of our car and the other the back of the truck, guarded by Amy, or as she apparently preferred, 'Fat Amy'.

"So twig bitches like you don't say it behind my back." She winked at me, patting the bag lovingly.

"I won't let anything happen to this, shortstack, I haven't had a decent bite to eat in weeks so you can count on me." She saluted me as I chuckled and backed out of the truck, already searching for Chloe. Most of the others were in the truck now, and I could see that she and Aubrey were the only ones left outside, talking animatedly by the cab. Chloe looked excited about something (nothing new there then), and Aubrey as though she were trying desperately to deny something, but soon after I began watching them they both sighed and broke away from each other, Aubrey climbing into the cab of the truck and Chloe hopping back over to me.

"What was all that about?" her brow furrowed, and she huffed.

"I'm not sure yet, I can't get Aubrey to admit to anything yet. I'll tell you when I know." My eyebrows went up a little.

"Okaaay… Well, I guess we should head out then, huh?" confusion still clouded my tone, but Chloe either didn't notice or simply brushed it off for she just nodded and went to the car where Jesse was already waiting in the back seat. Whatever was going on with Aubrey I figured was none of my business anyway, and according to Chloe I'd find out soon enough. I had no reason to doubt Chloe's weaseling tactics when it came to extracting information, having been subject to them myself far too many times. And so, with one of the sighs that seemed to frequent everyone's lips nowadays I retreated to the car, watching out of the corner of my eye as one of the guys, Donald, slid the doors of the truck closed with a wave. They seemed like a nice bunch of people, but I intended to ask Chloe for a bit more detail on this part of the journey. Prior to meeting them unexpectedly, I hadn't wanted to pry too much in what came to be a touchy subject for her, as leaving the place where her friends had been was hard on her, and yesterday she had been too overwhelmed and exhausted to answer even the simplest of questions coherently, so I had yet to learn much about her friends. All I knew so far was that the girls had all been in an acapella group together in college, and the boys were part of the rival group. Hopefully, today would prove fruitful in terms of information concerning the others.

Twenty minutes later and I was completely clued in, thanks to Chloe, the perpetually eager puppy-dog of a girl who was close to pretty much everyone, or so it seemed.

"Well, Aubrey is my best friend, as you know, and we were rooming together at Barden. As we're seniors, this year we were the co-captains of the Bellas, that acapella group I mentioned. She's amazing, she's so lovely, although she can come across as bossy and cold when she gets too nervous about things. See, her dad was always very demanding of her and it took its toll. But once you get to know her I guarantee you'll love her! Then there's Stacie, the tall brunette and aca-sex goddess. And I do mean that in a literal sense, she's very… active? Yeah. She's sweet though, she's been really great helping Bree out whilst I've been gone. She's a Bella newbie this year, along with the rest of the girls, but she's confident so we've all got to know her pretty quickly. Then there's Fat Amy, who you already know. There's not much else I can say about her except take everything she says with a pinch of salt… Lily. She's the quiet one, quiet but deadly we all say. Don't underestimate her. As for Donald and Bumper, they're… well, they're not bad guys. Donald is nice, Bumper has always been a bit of a dick but apparently since this all began he hasn't been too bad, just irritating." Jesse had sat forward at this, evidently still intrigued by the other guys.

"I just thought something seemed a bit off about them…" he mused, and Chloe shrugged.

"I don't really know either of them well enough to judge on that really."

"Didn't you mention two other girls before?" I asked, and Chloe froze, her muscles visibly tensing.

"I.. uh, yeah. Denise and Ashley. They… they didn't.. t-they-" I realised that she was choking back a sob and reached out an arm to comfort her.

"Hey, hey ssh it's okay. I'm sorry, you don't have to talk about it." I understood that Chloe was sensitive. She hadn't yet been able to take on any of the infected, and whenever Jesse and I discussed anything related to it she would become visibly saddened. She had nearly cried when I had first explained what had happened to our parents. She was definitely fragile and beautifully so, like a flower in the midst of a warzone, somehow untainted by the bloodshed around her. I knew, therefore, that it was my job to keep protecting her, at least until she was ready to face up to her emotions and get tough. Not that I particularly wanted that of her; I couldn't imagine a cold-hearted Chloe, not when everything about her screamed warmth and affection. No, I was perfectly content to shield her for all eternity, if that was how it had to be. I definitely couldn't let anything hurt her, not when I was slowly starting to realise that she was the best thing that had ever happened to me.

The day passed slowly and silently, Jesse complaining of a headache early on that forced me to turn off my music and continue on in stifling quiet. Chloe had been subdued ever since our conversation that morning, and I couldn't find the words to lift her up again. I tried once or twice to coax her into a game of I-spy, but she wasn't in the mood to oblige.

"Sorry Beca, I just don't feel up to it right now." I sighed, plastering as much of a smile as I could muster across my face.

"It's okay, I'm just trying to cheer you up. Seeing you down is kinda weird, it's like seeing the sun reach up and switch itself off in the middle of the day." She blinked at me, and I blushed a little.

"Jeez, listen to me, getting all poetic. You're poisoning me with your English Major thing." This elicited a small smile, and I felt instantly relieved to see it. There was something about seeing that same sun come out from behind the dark clouds again that always lifted my heart, as if I had been afraid that for some reason I would never lay eyes upon it again.

Finally, as the night began to draw in with frightening pace, we pulled over to eat. The truck had been tailing us all day, and so I had become accustomed to its heavy whirring and rumbling, but as Chloe, Jesse and I got out to greet the others, I realised that it was dangerously loud. Aubrey finally shut off the engine and clambered out of the cab, dropping to the floor with a groan as the others began to shuffle out from the back.

"Next time someone is keeping me company in there, that was hell." She muttered, rubbing her neck, and Stacie quickly bounded to her side, smiling slyly.

"I might as well take one for the team. Need a hand?" with a slow, deliberate wink, she gently removed Aubrey's hands and began massaging her neck, causing the blonde to sigh deeply and relax into the motions.

"Woah, get a room." Bumper snorted, brushing past roughly. Stacie rolled her eyes at this and Aubrey scowled at his back. I glanced at Chloe, who shrugged a little as if to say 'I told you so."

We began to sort out what we'd be eating that night, Jesse, Aubrey and I discovering that we hardly had enough to feed the group for the next few days, when suddenly there came that jarring, gut-wrenching screeching sound from off in the distance. Everyone froze instantly, what mild chatter there had been sinking into silence as we stood, ears pricked in the gloom.

"Where did that come from?" Jesse asked, moving to stand by my side. I looped my arm around Chloe's waist and pulled her close into my other side, glancing at her anxiously.

"I… I'm not sure." We waited for another agonising moment, and then it rang out again, apparently much closer than before. I decided to take action.

"Right, get back in the vehicles everyone, now. We have to get out of here." I hissed, already walking back round to the car with Chloe and Jesse close behind. Aubrey stared after me for a moment, brow furrowing, until Stacie took her hand and led her to the cab of the truck and helping her in. The others were all soon safely in the back of the truck, and when we were ready we both started up our engines and pulled away, picking up speed quickly.

"That was too close." I breathed, my heart still racing even though we hadn't had any direct confrontation with the infected. It was enough that they had nearly set upon us whilst we were completely unaware that struck me cold. Chloe was slightly pale in the seat beside me, her hand gripping my knee with a fierce intensity that only such a touch could convey.

"It's okay. We're okay." I tried to reassure her, although I still couldn't seem to shake the fear from my voice. What was it that still set me on edge? Behind us, I could still hear the roar of the truck's engine, and then it dawned on me.

"Oh. Oh god. It's the truck."

"What? What are you talking about?" Jesse suddenly leant forward in his seat, and Chloe turned to face me, eyes wide.

"The truck, we've become so used to the engine noise but just listen; it's so loud it must be drawing in every infected within a 30 mile radius, especially as we're the only moving vehicles on these roads. I couldn't put my finger on what was freaking me out, but now I know, it's the truck. As soon as we stop, whatever's tailing us will catch up and attack. So stopping with the truck is like asking for an attack."

"Oh my god." Chloe murmured, her face a few shades paler than before, her hands trembling.

"What are we going to do?" Jesse spoke with a sense of desperation that made me want to cry, I guess because it reminded me of how much was at stake, and how much rested on me.

"Uh… I… I-" I was interrupted by a body smashing into the side of the car, causing it to swerve dramatically. Cursing, I struggled to bring it back under control, Chloe's shrieks shooting right through my head and making it harder to breathe. Once we were driving in a straight line again, I glanced in my rearview mirror and was horrified to see that the truck was no longer behind us.

"Shit." I gasped, slamming on the brakes and doing a U turn as fast as I could manage. We sped back to where I could soon make out the truck stopped in the middle of the road, a couple of infected launching themselves at the sides as well as the windows of the cab. One of them was latched onto the windscreen wipers and refusing to budge from the windshield, which I guessed was why they had been forced to stop. More of the infected were already loping out from the trees alongside the road to join in, and I could feel myself beginning to panic. Forcing my hands to remain steady, I took out the handgun and loaded it, checking the rounds and making sure that I had spare mags in each available pocket. I handed Jesse the shotgun and spare rounds, and Chloe took a hammer, although I knew she wouldn't use it.

"Okay, here's the plan. Jesse, you take out those infected on the sides, I'll take out the ones on the cab. Chloe, stay here and guard our half of the stuff. Try to stay in the car, okay?" She looked reluctant at this.

"Beca, I know I'm averse to fighting any of these… things, but I hate feeling so useless! I'm not some damsel in distress."

"I know, but you are being helpful by staying here and watching our backs, I promise." She sighed an nodded in resignation as Jesse and I slowly got out from the car, moving so that the hood was at our backs. Then, we opened fire on the infected, quickly clearing those attacking the vehicle.

"Cover me!" I yelled, sprinting across to the cab and hoisting myself up so that I could reach the dangling leg of the infected that had been on the windshield, quickly shooting it a second time straight through the forehead, and throwing its body to the side. I felt a shot brush past me and looked over my shoulder to see another falling behind me that Jesse had just taken down. I grinned at him as I ran back across, and signaling for Aubrey to follow, we got back in the car and started driving again. We drove all night, not daring to stop until finally dawn broke, and I pulled over into a field just off the main highway. Leaving Jesse and a sleeping Chloe in the car, I ran across to the cab and got in before the others could leave.

"What's going on?" Aubrey began, but I just moved to the partition and banged a fist on it, alerting the others in the back.

"Guys, don't get out until we tell you too, okay?" I heard Amy grumbling something in response and sighed, turning back to Aubrey and Stacie, who were looking at me with terror in their eyes.

"Seriously Beca, what's happening?"

"The truck. It's loud and it's drawing in the infected from everywhere we pass. Basically as soon as we stop we're gonna get attacked." Aubrey dropped her head into her hands at this, and Stacie placed a hand on her back in between her shoulderblades, making soothing noises.

"Bree, it's going to be okay. Beca will sort it out." I bit my lip. All these people were counting on me, and I hadn't the faintest idea what I was doing. I hadn't from the start, and come to think of it, it did seem utterly ridiculous that I, the tiny college-dropout wannabe DJ was in charge of this whole group of people. Jesse was a med student for christ's sake, Chloe an English Major and apparently Aubrey was studying Law; so what was I doing leading this lot? They were all on their way to owning little scrolls of paper that they could later frame to prove that they were all way smarter than me, and what did I have to that effect? Well, right now I guess I could shoot well, that was about it. In fairness to myself we hadn't done so badly up until now, but this truck dilemma… I didn't know where to begin with sorting it out. Aubrey and Stacie were staring at me expectantly now, and through the blood-spattered glass of the windshield I could also see Chloe and Jesse's eyes fixed on me, as if the whole world had stopped to stare at me as I tried desperately to set my thoughts into motion. I just needed one little idea to save us all, but I was out of ideas and the weight of their gazes, their hopes and their breathing was forcing tears up into my eyes, which I blinked back furiously.

"Beca?" Aubrey asked in a quiet voice, leaning across Stacie slightly to peer into my face. I shook my head, exhaling loudly.

"I'm so sorry Aubrey but I really don't know what to do." I could feel it coming up again, the horrible wave of pain and terror that I couldn't let them see. With a muttered apology, I turned in the seat and leapt out of the cab, not bothering with the stairs and landing hard on the tarmac in a way that grazed my knees and the palms of my hands. I didn't notice it at the time, however, and as I sprinted off into the trees that bordered the road, I hear Aubrey and Stacie shout after me, soon followed by Jesse's hushed tones and the quiet sound of Chloe crying, which only made my tears fall faster. I ran until those sounds were gone, and then I curled up against the half-hollowed out trunk of a tree and clutching the handgun with my finger grazing the trigger, I collapsed in on myself and let the emotions take hold of me.