The ride was silent as Officer Jackson drove the pickup truck down the road. I think about a couple hours passed. Nash hadn't said a word ever since we left the town. He just stayed in the back of the truck staring at the road.

Jessica was staring out the window silently, and so was I. In fact, none of us barely said a word ever since we escaped the riot.

Officer Jackson broke the silence by using the radio attached to his shoulder and attempted to contacted someone. "This is Officer Lucas Jackson calling all units. What's your status? I repeat, what's your status? Over."

All we heard was static. "Dammit..." he frowned, then tried again. "Again, this is Officer Lucas Jackson calling all units. Anybody read me? Over."

Again, just the sound of static. Jackson sighed and was prepared to hang up when we heard a voice come through the static. "This is Deputy Linda Rodriguez. I hear you. Over."

Jackson perked up at that and quickly answered the message. "What's your status? Over."

"Currently, reports say that there have been infected sighted in the area. What about you? Over."

"Well, I just got out of this town where a riot was taking place. They ended up wrecking my car, but I have three kids with me. I'm taking one of them to find her grandfather. Over." Jackson replied.

"What's your plan after that? Over."

"I was planning on finding a place to take the other two to hunker down until the situation is handled. Over."

"And if that fails...?" the woman asked. The question made me feel a bit worried.

Officer Jackson was silent for a few moments before he pressed the button on the radio again. "Then I'll get them to a safe zone. Deputy Rodriguez, you be careful out there. Over."

He then hung up, focusing his attention on the road again. I couldn't help but think about what he said just now. Would this thing be handled? Would the infected get taken care of?

Jessica then sighed, bringing me out of my thoughts. "What are we gonna do about that kid back there?" she questioned, gesturing to Nash in the back of the truck. "He's gonna have to stick with us for right now. At least until we find his parents." the police officer swiftly replied.

I didn't know what to think when I heard that. Nash was staying with us? Great...

"Hey, kid, I'm... sorry about your uncle." Officer Jackson said to Nash. "There was nothing we could do..."

Nash only stayed silent again, still staring out at the road as we drove while holding his knees to his chest. Jackson then asked, "Do your parents live close by?"

"... no." Nash finally spoke.

"Then where are they?"

"... I don't know..."

Jackson was silent for a moment, then said, "Well, kid, until we find your parents, you're going to have to stick with us. Now, Anne, are we getting closer to your grandfather's?"

I looked out the window to see where we were. I could see a couple familiar houses as we passed by them, as well as some familiar trees and shrubs. I sat up, nodding. "Yeah. We're almost there." I confirmed. "Make a left..."

The truck turned to the left as we went down another road. I felt a bit anxious now that we were getting closer. We were almost at my grandpa's! I hope he's okay...

We passed by a couple more houses until I finally saw it. "There!" I suddenly exclaimed as I leaned forward and pointed towards Grandpa's house. It was a two story white house with a porch, a porch swing, and a gray roof.

Officer Jackson pulled into the driveway and as soon as he stopped the truck, I rushed to open my door.

"Whoa, Anne, slow down!" Jackson told me.

"He's probably already dead, anyway." Nash muttered. I shot a glare at the bully for that before getting out of the vehicle and rushing up the steps. My heart was pounding and felt like it was beating out of my chest as I reached the front door.

I knocked on the door, waiting a moment before knocking again. "Grandpa? Grandpa! It's me! It's Anne!"

I waited again for a moment, but there was still no answer. It was then that I noticed some muddy footprints on the porch that seemed to lead inside. I rose an eyebrow with suspicion as I knocked one more time. "Grandpa...?"

When no one answered, I cautiously opened the door myself.

What I saw nearly made my heart stop.

The inside of the house looked like a hurricane hit it! Some photo frames were thrown on the floor and shattered, there was a few overturned chairs, there were muddy footprints in the living room and kitchen, drawers were open...

Did somebody break in?!

I ran inside and started searching the rooms. I could see more things were tossed around and the kitchen had several cabinets opened with some food left in them. I tried checking out the backyard as well. I even found something that looked like a bit of blood on the corner of a wall. My eyes widened, fearing that something happened to him while I ran up the stairs.

I nearly tripped on my feet as I reached the top. I quickly started checking all the rooms upstairs, even the bathroom and closet. No one was there either!

There was one more room I haven't checked yet: Grandpa's room. I threw open the door as soon as I reached it. "Grandpa?!"

No one was in here. Grandpa's bedsheets were thrown all over the place, the drawers were pulled open, anything that was important to him was missing...

I let out a yell of frustration before sitting down on the bed, holding my head in my hands. I felt my eye water.

What happened here? Where is he?! Why wasn't he here?!

A tear rolled down my cheek while I heard footsteps approaching.

"He's not here?"

I looked up, seeing Jessica standing in the doorway, looking a bit surprised at how trashed this place was. I shook my head sadly as a couple more tears fell.

"No... No, he's not." I answered.

"Maybe he got out and headed somewhere else?" Jessica suggested.

I hope he did..

"Look, we need to tell Jackson this." Jessica told me. "You ready?"

I wasn't, really, but I nodded and reluctantly got off the bed, wiping away a couple tears. I headed back downstairs with Jessica, trying to ignore all the wreckage as we stepped outside, finding Officer Jackson waiting outside the truck.

"Her grandpa's not here, officer." Jessica told him.

The officer frowned a bit. "Well... this complicates things." he said before looking down at me. "Anne, do you have any idea where he might have gone?"

I shook my head as I glanced down at the ground. "No..."

"Maybe he ran away cause he knew Cyclops would come crying to him." Nash rudely grumbled from the truck. I glared at him, feeling angry at that comment.

Jackson frowned. "Enough." he told him before he crossed his arms. "Anne, I'm afraid you'll have to stay with us for a bit longer."

"Where are we gonna go...?" I questioned, trying to ignore Nash's remark.

"Somewhere that we can rest. Then we can find a place to stay until the infected are taken care of. If that fails, then we can find a place that's well guarded."

I didn't know about this... What if Grandpa is still out there?

"Guys!" Jessica called, pointing in a direction. We turned around and saw several of the infected stumbling our way.

"Shit. In the truck! Now!" Officer Jackson exclaimed. Jessica and I scrambled into the pickup truck as Jackson started the vehicle up.

I quickly got my seatbelt on as the engine roared to life. Nash held onto the side of the pickup as the officer slammed his foot down on the gas. He pulled out of the driveway with the tires screeching against the pavement and drove away from my Grandpa's house.

I turned back to look out the window. I felt sad seeing the house fading in the distance as a couple of the infected stumbled around it.

Turning back around, I leaned my head against the window and silently watched the passing trees and shrubs.

I just hoped Grandpa made it out of there...