Time until the military arrives: 92 hours, 33 minutes and 56 seconds.

Nick thought April had already crashed out. The moment they got in, she flopped herself onto the makeshift bed, pulled the covers over and then didn't make a sound. He couldn't blame her for being tired, today was another busy day. When he came back to her, however, she was gone. He was starting to panic until he found her on the couch, watching some headlines on the news. It was like she was hypnotised. Even when Nick was near her, she seemed completely unaware of his presence.

Nick sat next to her. "You alright?"

"Yeah." She continued to stare at the screen.

"...Anything you wanna talk about?"

"Maybe."

"April, you can share anything you want with me, I won't judge you."

It was at this point that she looked at him. "Promise?"

"Promise."

"Okay..." She took a deep breath. "I think I may have killed someone."

"We all do that in a zombie outbreak-"

"No, not in the outbreak, when I was really young."

"What happened?"

"I think I was 3 at the time. I remember visiting this person, my memory fogs up when I try and remember who it was. I found this small box, full of little sticks with red on the ends of them, I didn't know what they were at the time so I started playing with them. And, by sheer chance, one of them caught fire. I stared at that glowing small stick in amazement, thinking I was a witch or something. Then, the person who owned the house came in, and saw me with them. "Put them down." He said firmly. But I didn't want to. It looked so pretty. Then he started yelling "Put them down!" In fright, I accidentally dropped it onto the carpet, and it caught fire. The rest is a blur, but the fire must've spread to the rest of the house. I remember running down a hall covered wall to wall in flames, trying to escape with the man shouting after me and with the fire licking my skin. I was frightened I was going to die in there, because everywhere I went was just... fire. My Dad smashed through a window and saved me before I was burnt alive. I think the other man died in that fire. It was eventually put out, but I still remember that tragedy. It was my fault that it happened, and I can't forgive myself for doing that..."

Nick put a comforting arm around her shoulder. "You can't blame yourself entirely, you were only a small child."

"I still wish I didn't kill him. If I just hadn't touched those matches, he would still be alive today."

"You can't change the past, none of us can, blaming yourself more is just going to make you depressed. I've had to kill people I didn't want to in Los Perdidos. I'm a little better with it now, but I always try to find another way. Some people call me a coward for that... But I just don't want to become some heartless monster, who murders people without batting an eye."

"You wouldn't be able to, Nick." She ruffled his black hair and laughed. "You're way too friendly to become a psychopath."

Nick couldn't help but smile at her. "Yeah, I know." He gave her hair a friendly ruffle. "You and Annie are the only reason I'm still sane."

The words "NEWSFLASH" dominated the screen, and a sharp looking woman appeared.

"We have received news that the tank en route to Lydonhole has now been fixed."

Now their attention was fully towards the television.

"General Vandon once again stresses the importance of chipping. He states that new chips from Phenotrans will house a more advanced Zombrex formula. He laments on the sadness of General John Hemlock's death-"

"Oh shut the fuck up." Nick turned it off. "Hemlock deserved what he got."

"No one actually knows how Hemlock died. Some say he got zombified, others say looters got him-"

"I kicked him into a giant fan."

"..W-What?"

"I kicked him into an airplane fan."

"...Oh my god, seriously?"

"Yep." Nick was surprisingly deadpan. "He killed a lot of people, he deserved to be kicked into a fan by me."

"Y-You... Nick, do you realise what this means?"

"What?"

"Kilduff could have your head for that!"

"Who?"

"John Kilduff. He's the new head of security. He took over after you kicked Hemlock into a fucking fan." She said. "My Dad and him are acquaintances, but Kilduff doesn't like me apparently, so my Dad stays away from him."

"Well, I can't imagine a guy called Kilduff being good with kids."

"I need to go out. The closer they get, the less time we'll have." She stood up and started walking to the door.

But Nick grabbed her by the arm, making her stop and turn around.

"Nick, I'll be fine-"

"Give me the keys to the surveillance room."

She shot a surprised look at him. "What?"

"I know I can't stop you from going out there and risking your life. So at least let me keep an eye on you and help you find survivors. If you're attacked, I'll see it and come running."

With no hesitation, she pressed the keys into his hand and threw her arms around him. "Thank you Nick. I promise I'll be back."

"I know you will." He said, hugging her back tightly.

She separated from him and ran out the door.

Nick stared at the shiny keys in his hand. "Alright, where the hell is that room?" He went out the door and closed it behind him.

April had only just got outside when her transceiver started ringing.

She picked it up and put it to her ear.

"Nick?"

"Hey."

"Did you manage to find the surveillance room?"

"Yeah, I'm just chilling in it right now. I can see you."

"Where exactly?"

"Behind you."

She spun round and saw a not so hidden camera flashing at her. She gave it a big wave before going back to the transceiver.

"I waved back." Said Nick.

She giggled a little. "Thanks for that." After a small pause, she turned to more serious matters. "Do you see anyone?"

"Not right now. Just you, and lots of zombies." He replied. "It could take a while before a survivor shows up, and I don't even know if these cameras cover the whole town."

"I'll start looking around. Maybe they're holed up somewhere."

"That could actually be the case. Some survivors I've encountered have locked themselves into small rooms or places they think are secure. Try looking in some of the stores, maybe someone's sealed themselves in there?"

"Alright." She started running towards the high street.

As she ran, she wondered what about the Los Perdidos outbreak had broken Nick. It was clear that he used to be a happy person beforehand, but something had turned him into a more mature man.

She quickly got out her transceiver again. "Nick?"

"What's up?"

"What exactly happened in Los Perdidos?"

"...A lot of stuff."

"Like what?"

"Stuff that I wouldn't want you to see... Or any human to see for that matter. Let's just say it's taken me a while to accept that it really happened, and that it wasn't just an awful nightmare."

"It's not just Diego, is it?"

The transceiver was dead in her hand for a moment.

"...No." Nick said finally. "No, some other shit happened." He paused. "...Look, can we talk about this some other time? It brings back bad memories when I think about that... That hell..."

"Man, it must've scarred you so badly..."

"It did. I saw a lot of terrible, corrupt things happen before my eyes. I don't know how I kept my sanity intact during it, maybe it was because of my crush on Annie at the time?"

Sensing his sadness from the other side of the line, April changed the subject. "You love your girlfriend a lot, don't you?"

"With all my heart."

"What are you going to do when you get back to her?"

"I'll probably hug her and stuff... You know?"

"You sound unsure."

"I'm not exactly used to this whole boyfriend thing yet... I still get nervous when I talk to her sometimes."

She chuckled. "Oh my god Nick..."

"Come on, this is my first relationship, cut me some slack."

April continued up the street. There seemed to be less zombies than last time, and the ones lying on the ground, truly dead, had bullet punctures on their bodies.

"Nick, I think Augustus's unit have been through here, there's more zombies mowed down with bullets than there is live ones."

"Shit... That's not good. They're probably looking for us throughout the city."

Outside of a small convenience store, dead bodies were all sprawled on the ground, zombies and survivors alike. They had all been shot mercilessly.

"Holy shit, that's a corpse party if I ever saw one." Nick exclaimed in horror. "If these were recent, that means they could still be around."

April looked up from the bodies and saw a wounded man inside the store. She immediately rushed inside.

The body of the store owner was laying facedown on the ground. Her clothes were bloodied and ruined.

April turned back to the man and knelt beside him.

"Are you okay?"

The man had a bullet wound on his arm. He held it as he moaned in pain. "Please... Help me..." He begged.

"H-Hold on, I'll try to find a first aid kit for you." She called Nick again as she looked around. "Nick, there's a man, but he's hurt."

"I can only see half of him from the camera outside, he looks familiar to me..."

The man continued to grunt and moan. "P-Please..."

Her transceiver started ringing again.

She picked it up. "What's up, Nick?" She asked as she kept looking.

"Kill him." He said firmly.

She stopped. "...What?"

"I recognise that guy. He's with the ZDC. Kill him."

"But he doesn't-"

"April, I don't want you getting hurt. I gave that man Zombrex back in Los Perdidos, because he was about to die. But now that he's caused this outbreak..."

"Nick, we don't know if he-"

"He's ZDC, we can't afford to trust him. Kill him, now."

Overhearing the conversation, the man looked at April in fright, slowly shaking his head.

April clicked her gun before taking careful aim. It shook in her hands.

"April, I know this is hard for you, but you're doing the right thing." Nick assured. "Kill him." He said slowly.

April stared at him. The man swallowed and stared back, ready to accept his fate.

"Play dead." April mouthed at him.

The man looked puzzled.

She fired at the wall, just inches away from his head.

Now understanding the words, the man went limp against the wall, head bowed and arms at his sides.

She slowly lowered her gun.

Nick's voice crackled through the transceiver again. "That's one less ZDC agent to worry about."

She didn't reply.

"...Trust me April, I know it was difficult for you, but at least you're out of danger, right?"

"I was never out of danger in the first place." She replied harshly.

The small piece of tech was silent in her hand for a moment.

"...I know I've pissed you off, but I just want to keep you safe."

Her expression didn't change.

"...I'll leave you to cool down for a little while. Maybe I could start work on the car and such."

"Nick, I've just killed someone who could've helped us." She snapped. "And you're just happy to go and pretend it didn't happen?"

"April, it was better to kill him than to let him hurt you-"

"Well what if he didn't want to hurt me? Huh? Would you still want to kill him then?"

"I don't want to risk-"

"Risk what!? The guy was wounded! I could've easily disarmed him!"

"Just listen to me! I need to keep you safe! I'm the adult! And you're MY responsibility! The last-"

"Stop treating me like a child!" She yelled. "I don't need you or anyone to babysit me!"

There was a long pause between them both.

"...Ugh, fine. Go and get killed, see if I care." He spat back, and cut off.

April had half a mind to break the transceiver completely, but she knew better than that. She waited a few seconds before ripping off some cloth from the corpse's clothes and wrapping it round the man's arm.

"Who are you?" She asked him.

Nick stormed out of the surveillance room, slamming the door behind him.

"Who the fuck does she think she is?" He muttered as he went through the corridor. "Selfish little..." But he stopped himself. "...What am I saying? I can't call her stuff like that... That's childish."

He fell onto the couch and stared at the ceiling. Thoughts of Annie snuck into his mind. He hoped she was still outside the town with her Dad, waiting for him. She was probably worried sick about him. Before he could stop himself, his eyes shut and he fell asleep.

He awoke again to find himself in a dark room. One light was shining down on him, but everywhere else was an abyss.

"What the hell?"

"Nick! Nick!"

"Rhonda!?" He sharply turned to the direction of the voice.

"Nick!"

He turned again. "Kenny?"

One by one, more and more familiar voices started calling his name, to the point where it was nothing but noise.

Nick looked in all directions, but couldn't see anyone.

Suddenly, all the voices stopped.

Nick looked around. "What's going on?"

"Nick!"

He spun round and his eyes went wide.

In front of him, strapped to a probing table, was Diego.

"...D...Diego...?"

"Nick!" He yelled. "Nick help me!"

After his sentence, a laser pierced his body and he let out an agonising scream.

"No..." He whispered. "Not again... NOT AGAIN!" He screamed.

Worms forced their way out of Diego, tearing the poor man apart in the process.

A faint chuckle came from behind Nick. "Come on Nick, I thought you'd be used to this by now."

He turned around.

Standing there, was Annie's ex, Red. He had a forceful grip on April, who was squirming around and trying to get away.

"Red? But... You..."

Red laughed. "Surprised to see me? I'm back from the grave. And I've got a little cutie right here."

"Let her go now!" Nick rushed towards him. But as he got close to Red, he hit something and fell over. "What the..." He stuck his hand out. "...Glass?"

Red just laughed. "Gotta watch that temper, Nicky boy."

Nick felt his way around. He was trapped in a glass box! He banged his fists on it. "Let me out!"

"It was a mistake for my girl to choose you. Just seeing you helpless and trapped really makes me happy. Even Annie would be laughing at you now."

"You're wrong!" He punched the glass.

Red just simply gave him a sly smile. "I told you Nick, I'm a realist. My girl's gonna break up with you, and regret ever crossing me. She's not into wimps who cry when their shitty best friend dies."

Nick felt more enraged. "You take that BACK!" He kicked and punched, but to no avail.

"Well, I'm just gonna take this cute little girl. Nice talking to you." Red flung April over his shoulder and carried her away.

"Nick! Nick help!" April struggled, but Red's grip on her was far too strong.

"April!" He yelled. "APRIL!" He growled as he punched the glass some more. "APRIL!"

He awoke again, and sat up. His whole body was shaking and coated in cold sweat.

"I-It was just a dream..." He said. He folded his arms around himself. His face screwed up. "It was just a dream, Nick..." He bowed his head.

After a moment, he started sobbing quietly. He covered his face with one of the cushions and cried into it.

Nick was a lonely person. The only friends he had were Annie and April. Him and Annie's Dad weren't on good terms yet, and Dick had run off. Because of Nick, Annie and her Dad couldn't stay in the same town for too long, lest they got caught. He didn't have any other friends, and he couldn't make any because he was constantly on the run. Nick felt that everything that was happening was his fault. If he'd just turned himself in...

"...I..." He wiped his reddened eyes. "I need to go find April... Where was it that she liked to hang out? The forest, wasn't it?" He studied the map April had left on the table, and noted a green block north of the city. "That must be it. It's pretty big..." He added with a worried look.

Nick went down the stairs and out of the building, taking a few weapons with him.

After a while he came across the forest. The only problem was that it was at the bottom of a large crater, and a ragged cliff face lay beyond the fence in front of Nick.

"How the hell am I going to get down there?" He searched around for stone stairs, or at least something that would make his descent easier.

A branch stretching out over the fence caught his eye. It was a little thin, but nevertheless looked stable enough to hold a man. But was Nick really willing to put his trust into something that could crack and break? Besides, he didn't even know how heavy he was.

Nick took a deep breath, and put one foot onto the branch. Nothing. He pulled himself further on to it. Still nothing. It made a creaking sound after Nick had his whole body on it, but nothing else happened.

"Oh my god..." He breathed. The height was making him feel dizzy. He crawled up the branch.

Suddenly another loud crack came from below him.

He looked down to see the branch beginning to bend and snap.

"Oh sh-"

Before he could finish his sentence, the branch gave way and Nick went tumbling down. He hit a few more branches on the way, which further wounded him, and after hitting the ground with a loud "THUMP" he fell unconscious.

He fluttered open his eyes again. The sky was now a rosy pink, and the orange leaves above floated gently onto the ground like petals.

His body felt numb in some areas, he discovered this as he tried to sit up.

He noticed a small campfire beside him before a hand pushed him back down.

"Rest." Said a voice.

"Who the fuck...?" Nick was too dazed to string together his words. "Why am I... What the fuck..."

"Just lie down."

"...April? Is that you?"

After blinking a few times, he felt relieved when he saw her face.

"You really need to stop hurting yourself." April pressed something warm against his forehead. "You tried to climb that tree, didn't you?"

"What gave it away?" He replied. "...Why are you wet?"

She shook her soaked hair. "I went swimming in the lake. Needed to cool off after... That."

"...Listen, I'm sorry. I didn't mean what I said to you. I was just being a dick."

April ignored him and placed his hand on his forehead. "Hold it there." Then she went over to campfire.

"April are you even listening to me?"

"I am."

"Well, why the cold shoulder?"

"I guess I'm still a little shocked. What prompted you to say that to me?"

"I don't know. I just wanted to make you feel bad about making me angry."

"...Nick, that's really.."

"Selfish. I know. But I was wrong and I'm sorry. I just want to know if you forgive me or not."

"I want to forgive you. But you need to explain something to me..."

"What?"

She held up a document to him. "What is this? And why are you referred to as Lisa Jackson?"

"Let me see that." He took it from her.

The document had "12. Lisa Jackson" written on it. In brackets beside the name was "(Name changed for protection)". A photo of a small Hispanic boy was pasted on. He looked pretty miserable, not a trace of a smile was on his face.

"...Oh shit, I remember this! Well, just barely. The only thing I can remember was this guy telling me to look at the camera."

"How come you have a girls' name on this document?"

"I honestly don't know..." He replied, scratching his head.

"It has all the details about you... Your birth date, your height, your weight, everything. Are you that important?"

Nick shifted his eyes a little. "I guess I am."

April turned his head to the side. "Yeesh, you've got a big bruise on your neck."

"How bad is it?"

"It's practically purple."

"Oh, that explains why my voice is kind of croaky."

She shook her head and handed Nick an apple. "Eat this."

"No thanks. I'm good."

"Nick, you fell out of a tree, a big one at that, you need to eat and regain your strength. The heist is today, remember?"

"Oh yeah..." He tried to sit up, but recoiled in pain.

April held him up. "Just relax, we don't need to rush. It's only 6."

They stared at eachother.

"...I feel like this should be the other way around."

"Well... It does look a bit weird. But that's because you're bigger and older than me." She said.

"Thanks for helping me... Even after our argument."

"Don't get me wrong, I'm still a little mad at you, but I would never leave you to die." She shined a friendly smile at him. "Now go on, eat. You need it." She offered him the apple again.

He took it and April sat him up. He was hunched over slightly because of his injuries, but at least he wasn't dead.

He bit into the ruby red apple as April checked him over for more injuries.

"Does swallowing hurt?" She asked.

"A little..." He replied, holding his throat.

"Take it easy for now. You've bashed yourself pretty badly."

"How can I do the heist like this?" Nick gestured to his cuts and bruises. "I can't believe I've whacked myself up so much..."

"We'll just have to bandage you up and hope for the best. I need you for this, there could be tons of agents in that building."

"Yeah I know.."

"...Oh! Nick, can I ask you something?"

"What?"

"U-Umm..." She looked embarrassed as she avoided his gaze. Suddenly, she whipped out a notebook and held it out to him. "C-Can you sign this?"

"...Huh?"

"I-I'm... Collecting signatures... Heh heh... And I thought... Since you were a famous survivor... I could have yours."

"...You want me to write my signature? I mean, I'm not famous like Frank West or..."

"You survived the Los Perdidos outbreak! That alone is enough to grant you fame! Well, in my eyes anyway." She opened up a page in the notebook. "Come on, do it for me. Please?"

He looked at the book, then at her, then at the book again. "...Alright." He took it. "But don't expect anything fancy."

He turned away from her and started scribbling. April tried to peer over his shoulder, but she couldn't see anything without getting too close for comfort.

"There." He gave it back to her. "I hope you can read it at least."

The signature was a little bit scratchy, and the writing was wobbly. But she could still make out the words "Nick Ramos" on it.

"I didn't learn how to write until I was 16." He explained. "I'm trying to get better. But I still need help spelling some words, or writing stuff out."

"That's okay. I've got your signature at least, I don't mind if it's wobbly."

He turned his gaze to the sky, where bright blue was starting to emerge from beneath the pink. "Should we head off?"

"Yeah. Town Hall's a pretty long way from here."

After April stomped out the campfire, they left the clearing and started trekking through the endless labyrinth of trees.

End of Chapter 9