Okay, I'm just gonna see what I type. I've been trying to figure this chapter out for days and have come up with NOTHING!!!! So, I'm gonna shut off my common sense and just let the words fall from my brain, down my arm, to the keys.

Wish me luck…

*_*_*_*_*_*_*Nick's POV*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*

After 'bout two or three hours the plane finally landed. You'll never guess where. Go on, give it a guess. A shopping mall. The military finally found us…and they took us to a freakin' shopping mall. Weren't we just in one of these things fighting for our lives? How are they so STUPID?? Why am I so irritable? Oh yeah, on account of Ellis hadn't shut his trap for the past three hours telling that…chick all about Keith and them nearly killing themselves doing something stupid, Rochelle keept looking at me like I was gonna fall over gasping for air, and Coach kept wandering off to talk to those two little kids.

Why did I have to survive the zombie apocolypse with these nutjobs?

I sighed and leaned against the cement wall of the mall. We were somewhere in Pennsylvania, at least I thought that, and they had us lined up. It's like the doctor's office all over again.

"Guys," Ellis piped up in his annoying accent, "How much longer do ya think they'll be?"

"Dunno Ellis," Rochelle sighed. "I just know that they're gonna be pulling something."

As if they were listening to us, those CEDA jerks decided to go down the line. It was just like when we were at the 'hospital' only they weren't asking any questions. They took your temperature, examined your eyes, then took a little of you're blood and held it up to a light. It all seemed fine really, just stuff that'd happen any time you were majorly sick and they had to figure out what was wrong with you until…

"This girl ain't immune." One of those clowns pointed at the little girl Coach had been talking to. Her older brother stepped in front of her.

"She wasn't bit or nothin'." He pointed out.

They didn't even argue with him. They just shoved him aside and grabbed the little blond girl. They THREW HER against a nearby car and held her down against it.

"Ellis…" Willow whispered, turning away. Her eyes were glassy. She was terrified.

I realized what they were going to do. "Ellis, cover Willow's eyes and don't look. Ro, you make sure the kid doesn't screw it up. Coach, go keep the boy from freakin' out. This won't be pretty." I whispered urgently.

The CEDA's pulled out a small handgun, holding it to the little girl's temple. She was shivering from the fear and pain of being held against the hood of the car. She screamed when the gun metal touched her. I couldn't just watch any more.

"Stop," I didn't yell, I didn't tweak, and I didn't lose my cool. Silence fell amoungst us. All sets of eyes slid to me. Man, I hate being the center of attention… a lot. "Put the gun down."

Then those clowns laughed. Yep, you heard right. They laughed. Those low down CEDA's LAUGHED while they held a gun to a seven year old's head. "Why?" One demanded. "She ain't immune. She's a danger to us all."

I stepped forward. Six guns cocked and aimed at me. I heard Willow growl menacingly and Ellis put a hand against her mouth. "Shh, it's s'kay. Nick knows what he's doin'."

I sure hoped I knew what I was doing. "Just let me talk to her for a second. We're all gentlemen aren't we?"

"Fine. You got one minute."

I nodded and went up to the little girl. The men holding her down let go and shoved her towards me. She stumbled over, still shaking, and looked up at me with wide eyes. She had blue eyes, lighter than the sky and sparkling with tears. She had curly blond hair that reached down her back. Her clothes were a threadbare purple t-shirt that was spotted with blood and a pair of tan cargos that were frayed and torn at the knees.

I knelt down so I was at eye-level with her. "Hey, you okay?"

"N-no, sir. I-I'm not." She whimpered. She wasn't trembling anymore but her voice sure was.

I nodded again. "Do you know what's happening?"

"Th-they're gonna hurt me cause I could be s-sick."

She was smart to. She knew what a gun would do. "What's you're name sweety?"

"Sarah, sir," She looked down at her feet. "Sarah Johnson."

"Well Sarah I need you to listen to me," I lowered my voice. "I'm going to tell you a secret."

At this the little girl looked up, clearly interested, "A secret?"

"Yes ma'am. But it's really important that you listen very carefully okay Sarah?"

Sarah nodded vigorously. "Yes, sir, I won't tell anybody."

"I died one time."

Now Sarah's little jaw dropped, "Really?! How are you not dead again?"

"Well, I didn't die all the way you see, my friend's used a machine to get my heart to start again. And you know something?"

"What?"

"Dying didn't hurt at all." I patted her head gently, "You listening Sarah?"

"Yes sir… what was it like?" She didn't doubt me for a second.

I frowned, trying to remember. "Well…It was pretty fast. Over before I even knew what was happening. You'll be safe okay?"

"Okay. What's your name mister?"

"My name's Nick." One of the CEDA jerks nudged me with their gun. "I gotta go now Sarah. Do you want me to tell your brother anything for you?"

"Tell Andrew I said I would miss him and that god was waiting for me and I'd be okay."

"All right Sarah, you go on. But close you're eyes and hum your favorite song all right?"

"Yes sir." Sarah nodded. I looked away as the men held the gun to the small child's forehead. I didn't turn back after I walked over to my friends. I didn't let myself think as I heard Sarah Johnson begin to hum 'I'm a Little Teapot'. I went numb as Ellis turned Willow away and shut his own eyes. I stood next to Rochelle as Coach hurried over to Sarah Johnson's big brother. I wrapped my arms around Rochelle as the gun went off. Sarah Johnson was plucked off of our planet after I'd only known there was a Sarah Johnson for two minutes.

Rochelle was shaking with sobs as those CEDA clowns covered up the tiny body that once was a living breathing little girl. Ellis and Willow were huddled together, both crying too, but softly and without hysterics. Coach was consoling the young boy who was now alone in the world. I didn't cry…on the outside.

Next thing I knew Rochelle was pulled away from me and the armed men had me pinned to the same hood that they'd just killed a little girl. "Hey! You're gonna break something!" I pointed out. A strong head smashed my head into the hard black metal. My ears rang and I blinked over and over again, trying to focus. It hadn't been the first time I'd been smashed into a car so I recovered pretty quickly. "Geeze guys, if I had a nickle for every time that's happened to me."

"Shut up." The hard butt of a handgun slammed into my spine. "Who do you think you are huh?"

"I think I'm a guy who was worried about a little girl." This wise-crack earned me another head-to-hood meeting. My breath hitched in my lungs as a rifle end smacked into me.

"Are you trying to get us all killed? She could've been infected."

"Yeah, she was just eminating with danger and her eyes were just glowing with bloodthi—"

WHAM!!! By now my head had a pretty sizable bruise on it, my back hurt from guns being smashed into it, and I was starving. But I was still more ticked about them killing some little girl who'd never hurt anything in her entire life then I was about them smashing me up.

"Nick." I recognized Coach's voice and craned my neck to I could see him. His face was glazed over and rigid. "Don't go making an example of yourself kid."

I sighed and let my head rest on the hood of the car. "All right no more shenanigans." They yanked me off of the car and threw me at the cement wall. I crashed into it and then leapt to my feet. I wiped a little of the blood off of my face and scowled at them. They grinned back evilly.

Something told me I was gonna hate it there.

Next thing I knew we were being led into the mall. No zombies were around and it was shakingly quiet. Rochelle was standing next to me as we waited for instructions, still in shock from watching the little girl die. "I told you to look away." I whispered, letting my hand brush against hers to get her attention, "I told you not to watch."

She shivered violently, muscles contracting in an unatural way. "They just…shot her right in front of us."

I nodded. "They don't care what happens to us. We're just cargo. Another name, another number, another life that doesn't matter to them," I sighed, running my hand through my hair. "It looks like there's no place that we're really safe."

"Don't say that!" Rochelle snapped, glaring at me. "Don't you ever say that!! We've risked everything for so long and we've been lost for over a month. Five weeks we've put up with this. FIVE!"

Rochelle's anger fuelled rant was cut short by a man speaking into a loud-speaker-thing. It hurt my head as his voice echoed through the mall's hallways. "Survivors, you have been at war with the Infected for a little over six weeks." All five of us exchanged glances. SIX weeks? What happened? How did we lose track?! "Each of you will have two hours to find yourselves new clothing and other necessities. Your selections will be approved by C.E.D.A. employees and then you will have 20 minutes to shower. From there you will be logged into the charts and sent to your new homes. If you have questions they will be answered there. Thank you for your time."

I glared down at my suit. When we'd gotten to the 'doctor's office' they'd washed my coat for me. My prized possesion had finally been cleaned. Now it had a large red stain on it…the blood of a murdered little girl. I sighed and tried to ignore it, instead watching Ellis and Coach talk to the kid. What was his name again? Andy? No…that's not right. Then I remembered that Sarah said it was Andrew. "Hey Andrew," I walked over to him and put my hand on his shoulder. He glared up at me through tears.

"What?" He demanded.

"Sarah wanted me to tell you that she'll miss you and that she'll be waiting with God for you," I paused, giving his shoulder a gentle squeeze. "Or something like that."

Andrew just stared at me for a second, looking both relieved and hurt. "Why didn't you try and stop them mister?"

I sighed, retracting my hand and looking over at one of those CEDA men. "I did what I could. Sarah wasn't afraid to go after I talked to her and that's all that mattered. Something tells me that there's going to be a lot more of this down the road and that it was better for her to go quietly." The kid kept staring at me like I was some kind of crazy person. Maybe I was who knows? "Just do all of us a favor Andrew, don't try anything stupid."

*_*_*_*_*_*_*

All five of us stayed together. We had started our 2 hours for shopping and started through the mall. I kept glancing over my shoulder to see a couple of armed CEDA guys following us. Probably worried about me making a scene again, not that I care. I'd love to make life a little harder for them. In fact, I wanted to. The only thing holding me back was the fact that I had nothing and they all had RPG's. Come on! Where can a con man catch a break in a zombie ridden world?

"Hey guys," Ellis whispered, "Anyone else notice tha' they've been followin' us?"

"No Ellis," I sneered at him, "We're all completely oblivious to the world around us."

Coach shot me that shut-up-before-I-smack-that-smirk-right-off-your-face look of his that he always gave me when I did stuff like that. "Hush up Nick."

I shrugged, "Fine. I'm just reminding the kid that he's the only one who doesn't notice anything." I got another look from the big coot. Now don't get me wrong, I respect the old guy and everything--He's a man who knows his snacks—but I was still mad. I hated the fact that we'd fought so hard for so long to just come face to face with a bunch of self-righteous military guys who think they own us. I hated that theykilled a little girl. I hated that they took my guns. I hated that they left us to die. I hated them.

Probably always will.

It was quiet. That's weird…it was never quiet when Overalls was around.I glanced to my right to see him carrieing Willow on his back. Her eyes were closed and it looked like she was sleeping. "Yeah, today is gonna suck, but at least you two are happy." I chuckled.

Ellis shot me a look, "Pay attention, Nick." Then he grinned goofily.

I hate that kid.

*_*_*_*_*_*_*Willow's POV*_*_*_*_*_*_*

(A/N I'm gonna do this now so I don't forget. I was just testing myself to see if I could do Nick. Originally I had him narrating this part, but it didn't work out. So, here's Willow's POV instead.)

I rested my head against the side of Ellis's neck as he gave me a 'piggy-back ride' through the place. I didn't know where we were. Everyone was real quiet and Nick seemed mad. I couldn't think. I felt numb and sad. Those men in the black armor hurt that little girl. She wasn't moving whenever they covered her up. I was sad for her. I was sad for her brother too.

I wrapped my arms around Ellis's neck so I wasn't slidding off of him so much. It felt good to not have to worry about my so called 'brothers' and 'sisters'—they were all outside—but I didn't like those men. They had guns. Ellis didn't. I had never seen Ellis without a gun before. Sure on the giant flying machines he didn't have one, but that was before those men hurt a little girl and left her alone.

I didn't like those men.

I realized Ellis was always looking back behind us. I looked too, just to see why he kept looking back. Those men were following us. I shivered and held on to Ellis a little tighter. I was scared they would make him stop moving too. I didn't want Ellis to stop moving. I liked having him close to me too much. What was the word he'd taught me? My brain felt fuzzy and tired. It was hard to think. Love…that was it! Love: That was what Ellis taught me. Ellis taught me how to love.

I loved Ellis.

Ellis made me happy. He was always there whenever I needed him to be. Even when we were scared and alone he kept me safe. Even when everyone else thought they should leave me behind he came back for me. Even when I forgot him he remembered me. He would always be there, I was sure of it.

I loved Rochelle too. Not as much as Ellis though. She was…she was my friend. My friend that would be there forever too—I had always wanted a friend like her. At least, since I knew what a friend was I'd wanted one like her. She was going to teach me how to read, I was sure of it.

I loved Coach too. Not as much as Ellis though. He was my friend. I didn't know if Coach would be there forever. He seemed like he was lonely some how. He didn't act like it, but I knew that he was missing somebody. I hoped he'd find them—wherever they were. He would teach me new things, I was sure of it.

I loved Nick too. Not as much as Ellis though. He didn't seem like he knew what love was, but I know he did somehow. He loved Rochelle; he just didn't know it yet. I know he did because he watched out for her like Ellis did for me. Nick was going to do great things someday, I was sure of it.

I smiled to myself. "Ellis?"

"Yeah, Willow?" He asked. I liked Ellis's voice. It was warm and safe. If I could only hear one thing in the entire world, it would be his voice.

"Where are we going?" I laid my head on his shoulder so I could see his face. He didn't look happy. I didn't like it when Ellis wasn't happy.

He re-adjusted his grip on my knees as he walked. "We're goin' to get some new clothes."

"Clothes," I repeated, trying the word out on my tounge. "You mean like shirts?"

Ellis laughed, "Yeah, and we'll get you a new hood too. How's tha' sound to ya?"

I grinned. I missed my hood. I missed how I could hide from anyone I was afraid of. It let me…be me. I sat up so I could see over Ellis's head. We were surrounded by little rooms with glass walls and shirts all through. "Ellis, can I get down?" I tugged on his sleeve.

"Sure thing; Jus' don' wonder away all right?" He set me down and ruffled my hair. I squealed and grabbed his hat, running off with it towards one of the glass rooms.

I heard Rochelle and Coach laughing while Ellis chased me. I ran all the way to the back of the room, which was apparently a store, and hid behind a counter with some boxes with numbers on top. I pulled the blue hat onto my head and waited.

"Willow? Where are ya?" Ellis called. I could hear his boots on the hard floors of the store as he looked in between the racks and tables overflowing with clothes. I put a hand over my mouth to keep from laughing when he knocked a stand of shiny trinkets over. They looked like the chain I had in my bag with the empty silver thing. "Com'mon! Where'd you go Willow?"

"Ellis!" I laughed, waving to him from behind the counter. He looked over at me, grinning.

"Give me back my hat Willow!" He laughed running over to where I was. I dashed out of the store, towards another one, still giggling like crazy. I hadn't laughed in a while; it felt great to be free.

I ducked into the next store and ran towards the back, through a little doorway. I guessed it was a huge closet or something because there were boxes of clothes on a bunch of shelves back there. I leapt over a few of the boxes and hid in the corner. My heart was racing from doing all of that running and I was panting a little. I heard Ellis again. This time he was moving quietly, probably trying to sneak up on me.

I squished further into the corner as he came closer, still breathing heavily. I pulled his hat off and hid it behind my back. Even if he found me, I'd never let him have it. All of the sudden, it started raining clothes!!!! Shirts, socks, pants, and even a few hoodies fell on me, "Gotcha!" Ellis laughed, holding the box he had dumped on me over his head.

I laughed, digging my way out of the pile. "No fair!" I held out his hat. Fine, he deserved it. He won. I giggled again as he took it from me, brushing one of the socks off of my arm as he did. Clothes were stuck to all of me I realized. A shirt around my ankle, a pair of gym shorts around my shoulders, and socks of all colors were sticking to my shirt.

Ellis pulled the shorts off of my shoulder and grinned even wider, "Hope we don' have ta clean all this up." I could sense a Keith story coming so I brushed off the socks and looked at him expectantly. "One time me and Keith were in a Walmart when we were kids. There weren't many of 'em around so we were real excited the first time we went. We went with his dad. Anyways, we were runnin' a'round, laughin' and knockin' stuff over when he crashed righ' inta one of those big ol' shelves." Ellis threw his head back and laughed that way I'll always love. "They fell like dominoes, oh man. I'll never forget how hard his dad laughed the whole time me an' Keith had ta clean up the stuff all over the floor."

Ellis stopped. He stared off into nothing for a minute. He was sad. I knew he was because his smile wasn't that goofy lopsided one that was legit. No, this one was forced; plastered onto his face awkwardly. "Ellis," I slipped my hand into his, squeezing it lightly. He looked down at me, his eyes distant and glassy. It hurts me still to think of him like that. "Where's Keith?"

That's when he broke down. I'd never thought Ellis even had the ability to cry until that moment. He wasn't sobbing or anything, just real quiet tears ran down his dirty cheeks. "Keith's gone." His voice shook violently. It seemed like the ground did when one of those Giant Tanks went by. His shoulders started shaking too and his hand vibrated in mine. "Keith's gone."

Next thing I knew Ellis had me pressed against him, hugging me like I was all that existed in the world. He didn't make a sound while he hugged me. He just shook. I started shaking too and I snaked my arms around his neck, trying to make the hurting stop. He always made the hurting go away.

I loved Ellis, but I couldn't make the hurt stop like he could.

Ellis started to rock back and forth, slowly as if he were rocking me to sleep. I just let him hold me, still wishing I knew how to make it better. Am I stupid? I always seemed to ask myself that. Ellis was smart. He knew how to make hurt stop.

He let go of me, looking away like he was ashamed of himself. "S'rry." He mumbled. "I'm not like this us'aly."

I grabbed his hand. "Don't be. It hurts, huh?"

"I'm just so mad at myself f'r doin' it. I could've done SOMETHIN' else. Anythin' else." His voice shook again. He didn't look at me.

"Talk to me Ellis," I reached up and put my hand on his cheek, turning his face so he was looking straight at me. "Cry if you need to."

His smile shook on his face as he looked down at me. I felt small standing there, his big hand in mine. But the next words out of his mouth made me feel even smaller. "I killed Keith."

My eyes widened involuntarily as I gazed up at him. "Y-you killed him?"

Ellis pulled my hand as he sat down, bringing me down with him. "I went to Keith's house one day. He'd called me up, complainin' about Amanda—that's his lady—leavin' him. Now, Amanda was at her parents house and she'd only gone 'cause Keith wanted 'er to. So I went to see if he was all righ'." He sighed, pulling his hat off and running his fingers through his hair. Then he put it back on and kept talking. "I must've stood at his front door for a whole ten minutes, knockin' like crazy. I could hear him inside, yellin'. I thought he was on the phone." He laughed bitterly, still not looking at me. I put my hand on his shoulder gently. "I went in. Jus' opened the door and walked in, callin' for him. He stopped yellin' but didn't come out.

"'Keith where are ya?' I called again, headin' upstairs, towards his room, 'Com'mon man, where 'r you hidin'?'" I felt his shoulder shake a little, but stop quickly. "I went into his room and saw 'im sittin' there, facin' the wall. 'Let's talk Keith, you been actin' weird lately.' I told him. He didn't move so I kept talkin'. 'You and I both know that Amanda is comin' back, she jus' went ta—'" Ellis stopped. He looked down at me, eyes still glassy. "That's when he turned around. His face was all covered in blood, runnin' out of his mouth, outta his eyes like tears. He looked at me. I looked at him. Then he growled. I said his name one more time."

I squeezed his big shoulder in my tiny hand. I couldn't make the hurt go away.

"I turned to run downstairs and he jumped me. He…He bit me." Ellis's arms came around me again. He didn't shake anymore. He didn't cry, either. But I could still feel the same hurt he did. "I pushed him off and ran downstairs, grabbing his huntin' rifle outta the gun safe in his kitchen. He chased me. And I killed him."

This time I didn't just let Ellis hold me. This time I held on to Ellis too. I squeezed my eyes shut, begging them not to let tears flow. Seemed like all I'd done that day was cry. "Ellis," I whispered.

"Yeah, Willow?"

"I love you."

That's all I needed to say.

We sat there for a few minutes, just holding eachother. Ellis didn't say anything. He didn't need to. I thought about my picture. I wondered what would've happened if I'd met Ellis before I became what I was. I wondered if I'd ever go back to being the girl in the picture. I wondered if I'd ever get to live like I had then. I hardly noticed when he said it. It took me a minute to realize how much it meant when he did.

"I love you too Willow."

That's all I needed to hear.

*_*_*_*_*_*_*

Okay, well my brain just died. After 7 hours of mindless typing I hope I came up with something good. :)

Bad week… :( Sorry if it wasn't very good. Life is kinda screwed right now. Don't ask why, I'm not talking about it.

Good thing though, got the 'Zombie Survival Guide' and 'World War Z' on my Sony ™ Reader. Both are by Max Brooks and BOTH ARE PAWESOME!!!

Okay, so enough ranting. Bring on some reviews!!!