A/N: The second part of the chapter! It's a flash back, which I'm not sure about, but I don't know, the idea of Gary as a kid was kind of appealing. It's a lighter point in the story. Anyway, thanks for reading! Please review!

Gary had been watching that curly haired girl and her brother for several days from his window. He was new in the neighborhood and he knew that everyone could see it. He didn't know any of their games and he was nervous. Their friends seemed mean.

When his grandfather let him out because his mother was at work, Gary wasn't sure if he should jump for joy or cower on the front porch.

"Poppop, what should I do if they're mean to me?" Gary whispered, his fingers laced through the holes in the screen door.

"They won't be mean to you, I don't think. They're just kids, Gary. Just introduce yourself and things should be fine." The older man ruffled his grandson's hair, giving him the final push to venture outside.

There they were in a pack, galloping down the empty street. There seemed to be a system for dodging passing cars, but Gary wasn't sure what it was. And then there was the issue of actually joining their game. How was he supposed to get into that tightly wound group of friends? Only one option seemed okay to Gary. Run with them and hope that they wouldn't mind.

As soon as he caught up, they stopped as though waiting for someone. The girl saw him first.

"Are you the new kid? We saw you move in."

"I'm Gary Smith." He stuttered awkwardly. The girl didn't notice.

"I'm Ella."

"What are you playing?"

"Zombie attack! Come on, Peanut's the zombie and we have to stick together if we have any hope of survival!" Ella was a good actress, pretending to faint.

He chased her and the group down the street, learning their names, until he tripped over a stick and went rolling, rolling, rolling while everyone else left him in their dust. Gary had scraped his knee, bits of dirt and gravel sticking to it. He started to sob, feeling alone. He didn't know his way around! How was he supposed to get home?"

"Where's Gary?" Her voice was clear. "Gary! Did the zombie get you?"

He kept crying until he felt Ella's shadow above him. "I-I fell down and I don't know my way home."

"Oh no! Don't worry, my daddy knows about medicine and I can take you home and he'll bandage you right up. He likes to call me Miss Nurse so I can help you too. First we have to clean all this yucky stuff off before we can get you home." Ella carefully picked off pebbles and grime from the cut before getting Gary onto his feet.

"How do you know where I live?"

"You live right across the street from me, silly! But first, we have to initiate proper game protocol." Ella cleared her throat, and hollered louder than Gary thought she could, "PEANUT! I CALL TIME-OUT FOR ME AND GARY AND DON'T YOU DARE TRY TO GET US OR WE WON'T PLAY WITH YOU FOR A WHOLE WEEK!"

"Wow." Gary whispered, as she helped him limp away.

"Yeah, Peanut doesn't play fairly."

"You used a lot of big words."

"Me and Ricky learned them from a movie on TV. We each have a TV in our rooms. Isn't that cool?"

"Yeah. We only have a little TV in the living room and it isn't unpacked yet."

"Well, you can come watch shows and movies with us whenever you want. My mommy and daddy are really nice about things like that. Ricky has Johnny over like everyday."

"Is Ricky your brother?"

"Yeah! He's really cool and also friendly. He's a little older than me though. How old are you?"

"Seven."

"Me too!" Ella shouted, a big smile on her face. Gary had nearly forgotten about his knee by now.

"My mommy is at work. She works at the movie theater. She's a manager, which means she has a really important job. My daddy is a mechanic and fixes cars right in our driveway. So if your dad's car breaks down, you can bring it right across the street!" Ella was a good saleswoman, and Gary found himself liking this new friend even more than before.

"I don't have a dad." Gary admitted, afraid that this would somehow upset her.

Ella shrugged. "Neither do I. Wait, that sounds funny doesn't it? I better explain so you don't think I'm a liar. My daddy, the mechanic, isn't my real daddy, you know? He and my mommy didn't have me. She married him after my daddy left. My real daddy isn't very nice and I don't like him very much. He doesn't even know my birthday."

Gary nodded morosely. "That's not very good. What about Ricky's birthday?"

Ella threw her hands up in the air and now Gary was very afraid he'd done something wrong. "That's an even bigger story! Ricky and I don't have the same daddy! His dad is somewhere really bad that I'm not allowed to talk about. But you won't tell on me, right?"

"Nope."

"Gary, you have to pinky swear promise."

"Okay." He didn't know what that meant so he awkwardly stuck out his hand.

"You don't get around much, do you?"

Ella grasped his pinky with her own, squeezing tight. "So I pinky promised you?" Gary asked.

"Yup! Now I can tell you all about it." Ella said, taking Gary's hand in her own.

They stayed that way until they reached the brick front of Ella and Ricky's house. Gary was nervous, like he was before meeting anybody new.

"He might be in the garage. Come on."

"I can just go home. It's no big deal."

"Don't worry! My daddy is really nice."

"Your daddy who isn't really your daddy but acts like one?" Gary grinned at her, hoping she'd smile back.

She did. "You're a quick learner. Come on." Ella yanked him alongside the house, towards the back yard where bikes and toys were littered. "Everyone leaves their bikes here when we go play. You could leave yours here too, if you wanted."

"I don't have a bike."

Ella shrugged. "That's okay."

There was a light on in the garage, where tools and car parts and other greasy things were located. Ella's father was standing about a sink, washing his hands.

"Daddy? Can you band-aid my friend Gary's knee? He fell when we were playing zombie attack."

He turned, and Gary immediately knew that he'd be fine around this adult. Ella's dad's round face already was beaming, as though he were going to say yes before even speaking the words. Gary liked this family so far, and he'd only met half of them.

"Of course. Don't worry, Gary, I treat many victims during zombie attack. You weren't bitten, were you? Because then we'd have to treat you for zombie-itus."

"I don't think I got bit." Gary looked at Ella for a second opinion.

"Those zombies are tricky. We'd better give you the antidote just in case."

Ella went to rummage around in a drawer while her father gently cleaned Gary's wound. "Ella forgot to introduce us. I'm Mr. P." He leaned in to whisper. "But you can call me Corey."

"Hi. I'm Gary. I live across the street."

"Oh! I met your grandfather yesterday; he's a very nice man. Actually, if you'd like, I can invite both of you for dinner over here, and I can give him a ring and you and Ella can hang out here until then. Sound okay?"

"Great." Ella was right, her dad was really nice. He hoped her mom was too.

"I found the zombie bite cure!" Ella said, handing something round to Gary. "Cherry is my favorite so I thought it might be yours too."

"This is a gumball!" Gary said, looking it over.

"Not just any gumball, Gary! It holds the cure to the zombie bite. Without one of those you'd turn vicious at any moment. Hurry! Before the infection spreads!" Corey was just as good of an actor as Ella was, and Gary immediately started chewing.

"Thank you. You guys are good doctors."

"Come on, Gary, let's play inside in the air conditioning."

"Ella, if you see any other zombie survivors make sure to tell them it's getting dark and they should pick up their bikes before they can't tell them apart anymore. I don't want calls from Johnny in the middle of night asking whether we know if Ricky took his Schwinn by accident."

"Sure, daddy, we'll keep an eye out."

Once Gary saw the Pucino house, he knew that this was a place where he wouldn't mind spending a lot of time. It was small, but filled with stuff that he knew was loved well and hard. The overstuffed couches were just the right size and shape for watching movies and his favorite television shows. Ella's room was also small, just big enough for bunk beds and favorite stuffed animals.

"You and Ricky share this room?"

"Nope! It's for friends to stay over. But most of my friends stay in Ricky's room."

"I wouldn't. I don't know him well enough."

Ella's excitement couldn't be contained. "Well then I guess it was just waiting for you to come around!"