Ponyboy woke up to his world rocking. His half-lidded eyes drifted towards the dark mop of hair, hands shooting towards the gun, but it wasn't there. He blinked in confusion, panic settling in, before he realized that the person who was carrying him was Darry.

"He's awake," Two-Bit said. Heads turned to the youngest who was let down from the Darry's back.

"How do you feel?" Darry asked, worry etched in his eyes.

Ponyboy remembered what had happened before he passed out and looked at the ground. "I'm fine."

Ponyboy must have not been out for that long because, the gang were just now arriving at Laurel. Laurel itself wasn't all too big, but it was big enough to be a hassle to build a wall around. Towering stakes stuck out of the ground in random directions, some stabbing into chompers who were still trying to break in, and others skewering chompers as if Vlad the Impaler had risen from the grave to set an example.

The gang all found themselves swallowing their thick saliva as they approached. Their skin tingled at the grumble of chompers.

"Hello?" Darry asked loudly at the door. There was no answer. "Is someone there? We would like to take refuge here."

"This is Laurel, right?" Two-Bit asked after no response.

"Well, unless someone just put that sign there…" Steve trailed off, gesturing to a sign that was about to fall off the wall.

Johnny stepped forward and tried to look through the cracks in the gaps, but the safe-zone seemed to be empty. He lightly pushed the gate open. "It looks abandoned."

"It can't be…" Ponyboy muttered, taking a closer look, but Johnny was right.

"Maybe they're deeper in. You know, having a meeting, or something?"

"Maybe. Are we going in?"

"Yeah," Darry answered, "but we have to be careful."

The gang entered the safe-zone, closing the gate behind them. This was going to take them forever to search. The gang passed by every window, making sure to look through each of the buildings. They were all empty for a short while, until they reached a particular home.

Ponyboy peered through the windows, catching movement deep inside. "There's someone in there," he informed, walking to the door.

"Hold on," Darry said, stopping Ponyboy right before he could open the door. "Let one of us go in before you."

Even though he was upset that Darry would still treat him like a kid, Ponyboy complied, backing away from the door.

Steve opened the door, letting everyone waltz in right after him. He walked to the back of the house where Ponyboy saw the movement. They all felt bad about going in the house and knew something was up, but they had to continue their pursuit just in case they were wrong.

As soon as Steve made it to the back, a chomper popped out from behind the corner, making them all jump backwards. Steve cocked his shotgun, and, without thinking, shot it in the head.

The loud noise attracted walkers from all around the safe-zone. The first chomper that hit the window of the house, brought all of them to attention that this safe-zone was no longer safe, but infested.

They ran back to the front entrance before any more chompers could appear, slamming through the door. There were dozens upon dozens of walkers scattered around, making it almost impossible to walk around.

"Come on!" Dally yelled, pulling them deeper into Laurel. He shot a few that got too close, but as the hoard grew denser, they had to retreat into a hospital. Not the first choses choice of refuge, but in these circumstances, the worst place could be the best place.

They barged into the hospital, blocking the door with anything they could find in the area. The chompers pounded against the door, but couldn't break in, at least not yet. The gang spun around to take care of the chompers that were already inside the hospital, bashing their heads in with the guns.

They ran deeper into the hospital, stopping only when they reached a chained door. The words: DON'T OPEN, DEAD INSIDE," was written in red (what the red was, they didn't want to know). The door opened, only to be stopped by the chains. A small gap was left between the doors, and chompers' rotting hand reached out, clawing the door.

The gang continued through the hospital, passing by many chained doors along the way. They ducked into a room for a breather and to figure out their next step. Two chompers turned their heads towards the gang, their bodies torn apart, leaving only a trail of blood from their lower half to the top half. They dragged their bodies closer.

"What happened here?" Two-Bit asked, eyeing the chompers that were inching towards them. "I thought this was a safe zone."

"It only takes one person to be bitten for disaster. Everyone wants to survive, so they end up not telling anyone. The walls enclose everyone in, so that no one can escape the surprise," Dally hypothesized.

"What do we do?"

"Well, first of all, we gotta beat it out of here."

"Yeah, but how?" Steve asked.

There was only one way out of the hospital and that was through the hoard of chompers. "We have to go through."

"You're crazy," Darry said.

Ponyboy stirred in his spot, eyes casted to his feet. His hands clenched tightly, narrowing his eyes as he remembered about Soda. "Out of your mind…" he whispered.

"What?" Johnny asked.

"Nothing…"

"We need to go now. We can get through a back entrance; loop around," Steve said.

"What if we can't fend off the chompers?" Ponyboy asked.

"We need more firepower," Dally agreed. The gang all looked at Ponyboy with uncertainty and distrust. They didn't want any chances of him killing anymore. They didn't want him to kill the living. Ponyboy was surprised that even Dally was reluctant in letting him use a gun.

"We're not giving him a gun," Darry rejected. "We can stay here until the chompers spread out."

"We'll die if we stay. Look, I don't care if you take the gun away later, but we need to get out of here."

Darry finally nodded, letting Dally hand Ponyboy a handgun and some extra bullets. Two-Bit swung open the door and the gang rushed out of the room, closing the door in the chompers that resided in the room's face.

The gang rushed down the corridors, pushing through the chompers. Their clothes were grabbed, but they pulled away. The gang shot their guns, not even accounting where their bullets were hitting. Adrenaline pumped through their veins as they jumped over carts and wheel chairs. It was hard to see where they were going with what was going on around them.

Dally shoved a chomper back before shooting a bullet in its head. Getting through was becoming significantly harder. They burst through the hospital, and somehow made it to the gate. They pushed open the doors and was about to close them when Two-Bit was pulled back. He let out a surprised yell as a chomper's teeth came dangerously close to his arm.

The chomper's head swung back, falling to the ground, and Two-Bit pulled away. Ponyboy lowered his gun. "Come on, let's go," he said.

o-o-o

Replies:

Guest: I think you mean, the gang xD

Cookieswafflesandfanfic: Yeah, at least. At least they practically forgave Ponyboy now too ^^;