Chapter Nine

Where It Doesn't Stay The Same

Things didn't get better as they traveled through Cody's city. It took nine days to reach the outskirts. Courtney was too physically drained to hot wire anymore cars, though she had tried. None of them started. Cody had been pretty useless in that department too, though he had tried (apparently his dad had been a mechanic as a day job and only collected weaponry in his spare time), and Gwen had no clue what to do. They ended up on foot, which was dangerous enough when they were on their own, but a group of three really did draw some unwanted attention. They went through a lot of bullets and managed to create a system where they would split up and find a safe house.

Courtney had packed a few candles and Gwen had a lighter, which she begrudgingly gave to Cody. The deal was that Cody would find a safe house within a reasonable distance, deem it safe, and light a candle in the window. Courtney and Gwen would also split up and lead the zombies away from Cody and the safe house.

However, it didn't always end up as good of a plan as it sounded. Courtney still refused to hold a gun and stuck to her baseball bat, but that did mean that she had to be close to the zombies to kill them off.

She ran down the over crowded street, dodging cars and hoping over discarded items. There was barely any room for her to actually run, but Courtney kept going. The zombies were getting fast and she couldn't risk slowing down.

She turned down a side street, tripping over a discarded lid from a trash can. The face of her watch scratched against the asphalt as she clambered to her feet unsteadily. She could hear the groaning only a few feet behind her and she set off running, not even noticing when the wristwatch fell away completely.

Courtney could feel herself slowing down and she still had no idea how to ditch the zombies. She had seen the candle in the window, but was still being chased. She'd planned to circle back around the block of houses, but that seemed impossible with the growing hoard of infected that continued to follow her.

There was only one thing she felt she could so. Sucking up a brave breath, Courtney came to an unexpected halt at the junction at the end of the street. She swung around, hitting the first zombie across the temple. It fell to the floor with a thud, but she barely had any time to recognize it before the second one tried to attack. She swung and swung and just when she thought she was done, one more lunged for her throat. Courtney swung her bat, but not before it's spiked claws had sunk through the right strap of Courtney's backpack. The bag fell slack against her lower back, but Courtney didn't really care. The tears that fell down her face, the ones from over tiredness and the pain of killing others, got in her way. She hastily rubbed her eyes before moving herself back down the side street, careful not to step on any of the now possibly dead infected.

She found the safe house easily and, rubbing her eyes one last time, knocked on the door. Three fast, two slow. Gwen answered almost immediately, pulling Courtney inside and embracing her as Cody re-bolted the door behind them.

"Where have you been?!" Gwen demanded, wrapping her hands around Courtney's upper arms and shaking her before pulling her back in for another hug. "I was so worried about you."

Before she knew it, Courtney was crying all over again.

"I-I couldn't shake them," she sniffled. "I-I got them, though." Gwen wrapped her arms tighter around Courtney's shaking body, not wanting to let go. Cody left the room to snuff out the candle upstairs, giving them some privacy. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay,"Gwen assured her. "I was just so scared that you were hurt. You wouldn't answer your walkie and-"

"I turned it off, I'm sorry," Courtney replied. "I-I didn't want it going off while I was sneaking around and-and I just..." But she started sobbing all over again. The older girl ushered her over to the couch, where they sat, Courtney still crying softly into Gwen's shoulder. Cody brought them some food from Courtney's torn backpack, but didn't say a word. They ate in silence, too.

Cody offered to take the first watch of the night and the two girls let him without any arguments.

Courtney laid down on the left side of the bed and Gwen tucked her in, reaching to give her a peck on the forehead. The brunette moved her head, catching her with her lips instead.

"Courtney," Gwen warned as she abruptly pulled away, but Courtney had her grip on the back of Gwen's head, forcing her forward again. They would have been lying if either of them said they didn't enjoy kissing each other. It felt as natural as walking and as easy as their shared ex-boyfriend.

Gwen caved quickly, lowering herself onto the bed beside Courtney. She treated her as fragile, but Courtney didn't want fragile, she wanted rough, she wanted to forget all about Duncan and Scott and Alejandro, she wanted Gwen to help her forget.

Courtney made room for Gwen, rolling onto her side and hitching her right leg over Gwen's hip. Gwen was almost nervous to touch her, but Courtney grabbed her wrist to place her hand on her thigh. They stayed connected at the lips, Courtney refusing to let go for breath. Slowly but surely, Gwen warmed up to the idea and started running her hand along the full length of Courtney's leg, rocking their pelvis' together. Courtney let out a low moan, letting Gwen bite down on her lip before she slipped in her tongue into Courtney's mouth. Gwen took the lead, rolling Courtney over so that she was on her back, allowing herself to straddle her.

One by one, pieces of clothes came away, abandoned on the floor. Courtney noted that Gwen's shoulders still held a purple tint from the bruise she had given her from the first time they had met, but it didn't seem to pain her anymore.

Their hands traced patterns against each others skin, their mouths leaving their mark. They relished each others bodies long into the time they should have been sleeping, because this was something they were happy to lose sleep over.

Courtney woke up alone. And naked. The bed was warm, but Gwen's place was cold. She had gotten up to trade off posts with Cody, letting Courtney sleep through the whole night. After the shaky encounter with the infected, the other two felt that she deserved it.

The curtains were drawn and only when Courtney looked at her wrist did she recall her watch breaking. She hadn't had it very long, only something she had found while raiding a house, and at Gwen's request she had worn it.

Gwen.

It was cheesy and clichéd, but a dopey smile spread across Courtney's face as she remembered last night. She rolled out of bed and inspected the hickeys on her inner thighs. They were sore, but worth it. Checking her reflection in the mirror she found her shoulders to be fairly scratched up, too, which only went to show how much Gwen needed to file her nails. It was nothing that a few items of clothes couldn't hide, to which Courtney was grateful. With Cody's crush on Gwen, she didn't want him finding out about this. Cody's wrath did not seem like a fun one when she remembered he was a gun expert.

Courtney got dressed in a plain black t-shirt she found in the bedroom closet and her jean shorts that she had been wearing all week, before heading downstairs. Gwen and Cody were making plans over the island counter.

"Good morning, sleepy head," Cody grinned as she entered the room. Gwen turned around in her stool to give her a smile as well. "We were just gonna come wake you. I'm making waffles." He turned back to the stove, whistling to himself. Courtney bit back a smile as her attention went fully to Gwen who gave her a wink before turning back to her notepad. She had been scribbling down a plan for the day, but got sidetracked and ended up doodling pictures along the edge instead.

The three went over the plan that Cody and Gwen had made. They'd let Courtney sleep in until mid-afternoon, so they weren't going to get much walking done today, but that wasn't a bad thing. They were going to spend one more night in this city before they could reach the next one, which meant they would have another run in with infected. The less walking they did, the more energy they would have for running away.

"Here, you can have this." Cody handed Courtney a tool belt that he had found while rummaging through the house. It was the perfect substitute for her broken backpack.

Gwen and Courtney sat on the living room floor, swapping all of the food into Gwen's backpack and letting Courtney take the necessities in her tool belt. They both felt safer letting Cody carry the weapons.

"Why?" Gwen asked, holding up the ribbon Courtney had taken from the house they had been staying in when the survivors showed up. "When are we ever going to need this?" Courtney rolled her eyes. She had done this for nearly every item, including: a single sock, an empty mini deodorant bottle and a bouncy ball. Courtney had taken everything away from Gwen and put them into the divided pockets of the tool belt.

It wasn't until they were almost ready to leave that Courtney stopped Cody in the upstairs hallway.

"I want a gun," she told him. He nodded his head and handed her one from his backpack. She looked at him curiously, having been expecting more of a fight, but Cody just shrugged with a closed mouth smile and walked down the stairs to Gwen, who did eye Courtney suspiciously when she saw the gun instead of the baseball bat, but held her tongue too.

And so they set off a long few hours of walking.

"I think my feet are going to fall off," Cody complained. He was slumping behind the two girls, who just rolled their eyes at his whining. They had been walking for four hours straight, not even breaking for a snack. The sun was starting to set over the horizon and they knew they didn't have long to get to a safe house. The only problem was that all of the houses in this particular neighborhood were not safe to stay in. Windows smashed, doors broken down, an unusual smell of piss everywhere they walked.

"Not much further now," Gwen told him, though she was starting to feel the burn in her lower legs too. No matter how long she had been travelling for, her feet never got used to all the exercise. The only one who did enjoy the long walks was Courtney, who had always enjoyed most outdoor activities.

However, Gwen was wrong. They walked well into sunset, as dangerous as it was, but they still hadn't come across a safe place. And by the looks of things, they weren't going to either.

They rounded another street corner and came up short. Cody stumbled into the back of Gwen as she stopped too suddenly. He was about to start complaining again, but Courtney slapped her hand over his mouth.

Up ahead, at the end of the street, was a gang of infected, about thirty or so. They were all searching through trash cans, fighting each other for the best prize. Gwen's eyes widened as she tried to calculate a plan, but there wasn't any smart moves she could have made. Slowly, she pushed both Courtney and Cody behind her, walking backwards until they were back around the corner they had come from. She shoved Cody through a broken window, making him hide behind the wall.

"Stay here for a while, until you're absolutely sure it's safe. Head north, towards the posher side of town," Gwen instructed. Cody nodded his head. He was shaking from fear, but everyone ignored it. They were all scared. "We'll meet you there in one hour. Find a house."

Gwen turned to Courtney, squeezing their hands together for comfort. The older girl walked away first, rounding the corner. Courtney followed and they both raised their guns, shooting off as many as they could to start with. It caused a riot among the zombies. They started inching towards the two girls, faster than the other infected had before, but still slow enough that Courtney and Gwen could keep shooting as they stepped backwards.

Before long, Gwen turned around and took off down the street behind them. Courtney quickly followed, leading all of them away from Cody. Gwen would have much preferred it be Cody being chased than Courtney, but she knew that Courtney would cut her down if so much as suggested it. Courtney liked being in on the action.

"Turn left!" Gwen instructed Courtney as they ran away. She did as she was told, turning down another side street, but quickly noticed Gwen hadn't followed. She had continued to run straight down the same street, leading the majority away from Courtney. However, some did follow Courtney. She didn't slow down and continued to run. The zombies were a lot faster now, gaining speed the more they chased. Courtney threw a glance over her shoulder, and it wasn't too hard in the low light to make out the shapes of the once human beings.

Not looking where she was going, she tripped. She scraped her hands over the gravel flooring, but it was hard to get a grip to stand up. Courtney had momentarily forgotten about the infected, until she felt the searing pain shooting through her left leg. It was as if someone had pressed a white hot poker to her ankle, branding her for life. She withered in pain, reaching for her fallen gun and shooting the zombie squarely in the forehead. It had broken out of its pack, but the rest weren't far behind. Courtney tried to shoot again, but she was all out of bullets.

Kicking the zombie away, she got to her feet, continuing to run despite the pain. She willed her legs to be faster than the infected as she rounded a few corners straight after the other, confusing them. She ducked behind a pair of dumpsters down an alley way, silently sending up a prayer that she wasn't found.

There wasn't any noise for a long time, and Courtney took it as a good sign. She popped open one of the tool belt pockets and pulled out a dirty bandage. It was covered in grime, no doubt having been used several times before, but it was all she had.

For the time, she inspected the wound. Blood was pouring down her ankle and into her shoe, she could feel it, but she couldn't see it. The moon was blocked by clouds now and there was no other source of light around. Going on a whim, Courtney wrapped her ankle up tightly, hissing in pain as she tied the knot tighter, keeping it in place.

Finally letting out a breath, Courtney gagged as the stench of blood was much heavier wedged between the dumpsters. Her hands finished wrapping the bandage tightly around her ankle. It wasn't perfect and ten months ago it would have bothered her, now she was just glad she could find a bandage.

Slowly, she stuck her head around the side of the dumpsters. Looking both ways, there was no one there. Praying it would stay that way and the ones that had been following her had gone, she made a break for it. Two streets she managed to make it before she saw another infected. Swallowing her breath, she ducked down behind an abandoned car. Courtney hear it groaning deeply as it rummaged through the metal trash cans.

She slid herself under the car, keeping low to ground and evening out her breath as best she could. She reached one hand behind her, pulling her walkie-talkie from her tool belt and turning the volume off. The last thing Courtney needed was any noise distraction, no matter how much trouble she got in with Gwen because of it. The only plan she had was to search her pockets for any sort of item that could be used in this situation, now that her gun was gone. Stale gum? No. Pocket knife? No. Bouncy ball?

'It could work,' she told herself, thinking it over. She slid further along the floor, glad it was not gravel. Courtney couldn't make out much as the sun had set around an hour ago, but she hoped she could see where her aim was going. Carefully, she reached her arm out from under the car, bouncy ball in hand. Gathering her strength she threw it, quickly retracting her arm before the infected saw her.

She waited, unable to see the face, but the grunts had ceased. Courtney kept her eyes trained on what she assumed were its legs, watching until it shuffled away, in the exact direction she had tossed the ball.

'Ha,' she smirked to herself. 'And Gwen said it would be useless.'

Courtney couldn't wait to brag to Gwen about it, but knew it would have to wait until she found her and Cody a the safe house. Courtney figured she would be the last one there again, but that would just mean more worried cuddles from Gwen.

The teenager managed to get herself out from under the car without too much fuss. Shaking her head free of all the thoughts of Gwen, Courtney hobbled along the streets, her throbbing ankle starting to act up. She tried to ignore the pain, hoping that if she forgot about it it would go away.

At the end of the street Courtney could see the low glow of a burning candle in the top floor window of an abandoned house. She moved faster, trying her best to ignore the burning she felt spreading through her lower leg. It was starting to spread and she needed to rest soon.

She reached the door and looked around for any sign of zombies, but when she drew up short she knocked on the door. Three fast, two slow.

The door swung open and Courtney was forcefully dragged inside towards the darkness.

"Shit, Cody!" The brunette hissed, her ankle rolling beneath her weight.

"What?" The innocent kid asked, and though she couldn't see his face, she knew he was pulling that face. The one that made him look like an angel that could do no wrong. When, in reality, he was their weapon supplier.

Courtney took a guess of where he was and threw her arm around his shoulders, leaning on him for support. Cody wrapped his arm around her waist and guided her towards the staircase.

"I was bit."

"You were bit?" Cody almost dropped Courtney in shock, but she kept a tight hold on him. Feeling her way in the dark, Courtney took a step on the edge of the stairs and started scooting herself upwards one step at a time. Cody's shallow breathing was in front of her, so at least he hadn't run off in fear of getting infected himself. "How did you get bitten? How did you get away? Are you feeling funny? Do you need to lie down? Should I get out of here? Are you going to eat me?" As helpful as Cody was, Courtney learnt he could also be one of the most annoying people she had ever met- and she had met quite a few annoying people over the past few months; infected included.

Courtney ignored everything he said and felt her way along the hallway to the room with the candle glowing in the window. Cody continue to follow her and she collapsed onto the double bed. She could feel the dust clouds jumping around her.

Cody sad down on the end of the bed, taking Courtney's bandaged ankle in his lap. The bandage was already starting to turn a dark crimson color. The blood had overtaken the dirt. Carefully, he unwrapped it, inspecting the wound as best he could with such little light.

"Courtney..." Cody gasped, lifting her leg up by the ball of her foot. "This is disgusting." The outline of the teeth was hard to make out through the blood stains. Courtney was lucky to be alive. "I-I think it's infected," he continued to babble on. "Your leg looks a little green. Maybe we should try to stitch you up-"

"You're not a doctor. I don't trust you with a needle and thread anywhere near my leg," Courtney quickly snapped at him. Cody stared her down, chewing on the inside of his cheek, something he often did when trying to decide what to do.

"What happened?" He asked, still inspecting the ankle. There wasn't much he could do but look.

"After we separated I was chased down the avenue. I tripped over something- I think it was a car part- and it got me. Sunk it's teeth into my ankle before I could shoot it in my head. Used up my last bullet...but I lost my gun anyway, so it doesn't matter." Courtney swallowed hard as another wave of pain hit her. "I managed to hide from the others down a side ally behind some dumpsters and I wrapped myself up there."

Five knocks on the door. Three fast, two slow. Cody quickly abandoned his post as Courtney's doctor and ran down back down the staircase. Courtney rolled her eyes. Cody would rather play doctor with an uninjured Gwen than with a dying Courtney. She could hear them whispering downstairs, no doubt in her mind that Cody had already told the tale of how she had gotten bitten.

Courtney peered down at her ankle. The blood was thick and sticky, marking the bed sheets. It was starting to slow down, though, and would most likely stop within the next hour, if she could keep it bandaged up. She tried to bend to get the bandage she had been using previously, which Cody had dropped on the floor in his quick escape, but the pain that shot through her leg was too much. Even in the faint light that she had, it was obvious that her the veins in her leg had already started to pop out, turning sickly green in color. It was the first sign that she was turning. Courtney hit her head on the pillow, willing herself not to cry anymore when another teenage girl burst into the room.

Gwen's skin was luminous even against the background of the dark house, like she had never seen sunlight. The rest of her was hard to make out until she had jumped onto the bed beside Courtney. Her eyes were full of worry as they swept over Courtney's body. So far it was only the one leg, but it would spread, there was no doubt about it. Gwen laid a shaking hand on Courtney's forehead and Courtney couldn't hold back the tears anymore. She started to sob.

"Just do it," Courtney sniveled. "Just shoot me already and be done with it." Gwen shook her head and Courtney could feel drops of tears falling onto her forehead. "You don't have a choice!"

"I'm not letting you go this easily," Gwen choked on her own words, but she was struggling for things to do. "We've come too far for it to end like this. I am not giving up on you."

"Gwen-" But the sudden crack from downstairs silenced her. Another and another. Something was trying to break down the door. Gwen rolled off the bed and ran to the window to check. She snuffed out the candle, but it was obvious that they had been found.

"I thought you said you lead them away!" Cody yelled, gathering his things into his backpack.

"They must have followed me." Gwen grabbed the bandage from the floor and quickly wrapped Courtney's ankle back up. "They're getting smarter."

"What are you doing?" Courtney asked over the noise. "Stop it!" She wiggled her ankle out of Gwen's grasp, but it was already re-wrapped. "Just leave me here!"

"No." Gwen's voice was stern enough to stop Courtney from arguing. Gwen was rarely a serious person, but this one instance made her more determine than ever to reach to island and get Courtney the help she needed. "I've already told you, I'm not letting you go this easily." She turned to Cody. "Make a distraction, I'll get Courtney out the back door." Cody nodded his head and started rifling back through his backpack for something useful. Gwen hooked one arm under Courtney's back and the other under her legs, picking her up and rushing towards the staircase. "You're gonna be alright," she whispered, but both girls knew that she was lying.

And now we're all caught up to the prologue