Author's Note: I'm so happy about all of the positive feed back that I have been getting on my previous chapter! Seriously! It's so delighted, so as a gift I decided that I would stay up late until 2 in the morning writing non-stop, so I could get this chapter to you guys early! I hope you enjoy this one! HAPPY READING! ^_^

The drive was quiet…nobody knew what they should do or say to each other about what happened. Cliff drove the car with Meg quietly sitting in the passenger's side. Rocky, Gracy, Tum Tum, and Colt were all crammed in the back seat together with Colt sitting at one end and Rocky on the other. Every now and then Rocky would glance down in Colt's direction to see him doing the same thing he had been doing since they left the shop. He'd just blankly stare out of the window with angered expression on his face, but at the same time you could see that under all that anger Colt was still grieving over the loss of his closest friend. Gracy noticed Rocky staring at Colt and took his hand.

Gracy: "You alright?" She said trying to keep her voice down

Rocky took one more look at Colt again and sighed.

Rocky: "Yeah…I'll be fine." He said lacing his fingers with hers

Gracy smiled lightly at him.

Gracy: "Good…Please don't ever leave me…"

Rocky: "What are you saying? I would never leave any of you. You know that." He said taken back by her words

Gracy: "I know…It's just…with everything that's been happening…and after what just happened…"

Rocky began to firmly squeeze her hand harder.

Rocky: "I swear I won't let anything happen to you. You hear me?"

Gracy looked carefully into Rocky's eyes and quietly nodded. Rocky smiled back at her.

Rocky: "Good."

Gracy let her head rest on Rocky's shoulder and began to close her eyes. Rocky began to cup hold Gracy's hand with both of his as he tried to make her know that he wasn't going anywhere. As he stared at his hand holding hers, he suddenly heard Cliff's voice.

Cliff: "Hey Rocky."

Rocky suddenly looked up.

Rocky: "Yeah…?"

Cliff: "Oh. Sorry. I don't mean to interrupt or anything, but do have any idea of where that kid might be?"

Rocky looked at Cliff in the rearview mirror.

Rocky: "The boy? You mean Aaron?"

Cliff: "Yeah him."

Meg: "So you still plan on finding the him Cliff?"

Cliff nodded.

Cliff: "We made a promise to that girl that we'd find her brother, and I'm not one for breaking promises."

Rocky quietly thought to himself.

Rocky: "Um…No…I honestly don't." He said becoming disappointed

Cliff: "Well…we'll find him nevertheless. He's around in this city somewhere." He said while keeping his eyes on the road

Meg: "Rocky?"

Rocky: "Hm?"

Meg: "Didn't Melissa give you a picture of her family?"

Rocky: "Oh yeah!" He remembered

Rocky let one of his hands go of Gracy and began to quickly dig into his pocket. He fumbled around in his pant pocket a little bit, and finally pulled out the picture that Melissa had given him just before she died. He pulled it out and handed it to her.

Meg: "Hm. So this is what he looks like." She said examining photo

Cliff: "Here. Let me take a look." He said holding out his hand

She handed it over to him and he quickly examined it because he was driving.

Cliff: "Yep. That's him." He said quickly handing it back to Meg

Tum Tum: "Can I look?" He asked curiously

Meg looked back at Tum and smiled.

Meg: "Of course. Here…" She said offering it to him

Tum Tum took the picture and saw the young brunette wearing a handsome dark suit for his family portrait. He looked a bit younger than six years old. The picture must have been old.

Tum Tum: "So this is him?" He asked Rocky

Rocky: "Yeah, and we have to find him. He's probably all alone in the city somewhere, and I'd imagine that his sister is all he had left."

Tum Tum: "Oh."

Suddenly, Tum Tum accidentally dropped the picture on the floor.

Tum Tum: "Whoops." He said reaching down for it.

Then Tum Tum noticed something on the back of the picture.

Tum Tum: "Hm…? Hey Rocky."

Rocky: "Yeah Tum?"

Tum Tum: "What's this on the back?" He said holding up the picture

Rocky: "What is what? Let me take a look at it."

Tum Tum handed the photo to Rocky and examined the back of it. Gracy soon began to wake up from her short nap and suddenly noticed a small smirk appear across Rocky lips.

Gracy: "Rocky. What is it?" She said after noticing his grin

Rocky: "It's their home address."

Cliff eyes went wide as he shot Rocky a look in the rearview mirror

Cliff: "What did you just say?!"

Rocky: "There is an address on the back of this picture." He said still studying the back of the photo

Meg: "Are you positive?" She asked

Rocky: "Well what else could it possibly be?" He said hunching his shoulders

Rocky leaned forward and handed Meg the picture again. Meg began to read the address to herself silently.

Meg: "Cliff. Could this be our first lead?" She said handing him the photo

Cliff took it from her.

Cliff: "Well where ever it is, that's where we're headed next." He said after remembering the address written on the back of it.

He handed the picture back over to Meg. She then turned around in her seat to face the kids.

Meg: "Okay. Aaron's home is our next destination. Is that clear everyone?"

Rocky: "Yeah."

Gracy: "Sure."

Tum Tum: "Got it." He nodded

Everyone but Colt answered. He was still staring out the window.

Rocky: "Hey Colt…you okay with that…?"

Colt: "…Whatever…" He said blandly while still looking out of the window

Rocky and Gracy exchanged worrying glances not sure about what to do about Colt.

Cliff: "Okay. Just give us some time to get down there. I'll have to take the longer way to avoid the more populated areas of town. Until then just sit back."

Tum Tum: "Okay."

Rocky looked up at Gracy again.

Rocky: "Hey Grace. How's your ankle now?" He said trying to see it

Gracy: "Um…It's okay. It looks like the swelling and pain went down a bit, but I still can't put any pressure on it."

Rocky: "Oh okay…How about you Tum? How are you holding up?" He said leaning forward to see past Gracy

Tum Tum: ….

Tum Tum didn't answer Rocky because he was in his own world as he stared off into space.

Rocky: "Tum Tum?" He asked again

Finally, Rocky reached over with his hand and nudged Tum Tum's shoulder.

Rocky: "Tum Tum."

Tum Tum: "Huh?!...Oh…What?" He said as he snapped out of it

Rocky: "I asked if you were okay. Are you?"

Tum Tum: "Um…" He hesitated

Rocky: "Tum?"

Tum Tum: "I'm uh…fine!" He stuttered

Both Rocky and Gracy gave him a questionable look. He didn't sound convincing at all.

Tum Tum: "Really! I am!"

Rocky and Gracy then looked at each other.

Gracy: "If you say so…"

The car ride continued for about 25 minutes until they reached the neighborhood in which the boy, Aaron, was supposed to live. This neighborhood looked no different from the three boys' neighborhood when it trouble started. Everything was a mess as Cliff slowly drove through the area scanning for the residence.

Meg: "Cliff…This is awful…"

Cliff: "I know…" He said looking at the tragedy

Rocky suddenly spoke out.

Rocky: "Cliff. I think that's the house over there." He said pointing to the black and white two story home

Cliff: "Yep that's it. Okay everyone we're here." He announced as he pulled into the long driveway

Cliff put the car in park and turned off the engine. He then turned around to face the kids in the back seat.

Cliff: "Listen. It still might not be safe, so I'm going to go in and see if the coast is clear. You guys got that?"

Rocky: "Yeah, but are you sure?"

Cliff: "Positive. Just wait here okay?"

Everyone nodded except Colt. He just didn't seem to care.

Cliff: "Okay…I'll be right back." He said pulling out his gun

Cliff got out of the car and carefully made his way onto the doorstep. The door was already broken off its hinges, so Cliff just quietly let himself in. Everyone watched him from the car as he disappeared into the home. There was silence…

Tum Tum: "You think he's gonna be alright?" He asked

Meg turned around to face Tum Tum

Meg: "Of course he will. Cliff knows how to handle himself." She answered back

Tum Tum: "So Rocky?"

Rocky: "Yeah?"

Tum Tum: "Has the plan changed?"

Rocky: "Plan?" He said giving him a questionable brow

Tum Tum: "You know. Are we still trying to get to grandpa?"

Rocky: "Oh yeah." He said rubbing his forehead as he began to remember "Sorry Tum. So much has happened since we left home that I just kind of lost it. Yeah we are still going there."

Meg: "Wait. You said "we" are going to your grandfather's?"

Rocky: "Well yeah. If you don't mind going there."

Meg: "Why your grandpa, and where in the city does he live?"

Tum Tum: "Oh he doesn't live here. He lives way out in there in the near all the forests and mountains and stuff."

Meg: "Oh really?"

Rocky: "Yeah. Our original plan was to go there because there's a chance that this epidemic hasn't reached out that far yet. At least…that's what we hope."

Meg: "Hm…I see."

Gracy: "Meg. What was your plan with Cliff? Where are you two supposed to be going?"

Meg: "Us…? Actually we honestly don't know. Our goal was to come back and find survivors…We never really actually thought of where we would go after that. It was somewhat of a last minute decision on our part."

Tum Tum: "So why not come to our grandpa's cabin with us since you have no other place to go to."

Meg: "That doesn't sound like a bad idea Tum Tum, and I'm sure Cliff won't mind it either."

Cliff: "Mind what?" He said walking back to the car

Meg: "Cliff. It's empty?"

Cliff: "Yeah…no sign of Aaron either, but we should still search the house for any clues that may help us."

Meg: "Okay. You hear that kids? We should head inside now."

Rocky: "Alright. Come on Grace." He said taking her by the hand and helping her up on his shoulder for support

Everyone made it inside the house and began to settle down in the living room.

Gracy: "So where should we start searching for any clues?"

Cliff: "I'll find the parents' bedroom or their dad's work office. There's bound to be some answers in this house somewhere."

Meg: "Where are those rooms Cliff?"

Cliff: "Upstairs if I remember correctly."

Meg: "Fine. I'll go with you."

Cliff: "I'm okay with that."

Rocky: "Okay." He nodded

Rocky stood up from the couch.

Rocky: "We'll search around downstairs then."

Cliff: "Okay. Just be careful."

Tum Tum: "We will." He said standing up

Rocky: "Tum. Could you just stay here with Gracy while I'm gone."

Tum Tum: "Huh?"

Rocky: "Don't worry. It's nothing personal. I just need someone to stay here and watch her. I shouldn't be long."

Tum Tum: "Sure. I'll stay with her." He nodded

Rocky: "You coming too Colt?"

Colt let out a long drawn out sigh and responded.

Colt: "I guess so." He said getting up of the sofa

Colt began to walk past Rocky until he grabbed Colt's arm.

Colt: "What is it now?"

He didn't even turn around to face Rocky.

Rocky: "Colt?"

Colt: "What? I'm listening."

Rocky: "Listen…You're…going to be okay…"

There was short silence between the two brothers as they stood there. Colt finally responded

Colt: "Yeah…" He said in a dull voice

Rocky let go of his arm and Colt left the room to search around.

Tum Tum: "Rocky?"

Rocky: "Yeah Tum?" He said still looking at where Colt exited the room

Tum Tum: "Is Colt gonna be alright?"

Rocky turned around and smiled.

Rocky: "Of course he will…Just give him time. He'll come around."

Tum Tum: "Oh…okay…" He said letting his eyes drift towards the carpet

Rocky came to Tum Tum and took a knee down in front of him.

Rocky: "Hey listen. Colt's going through something very hard right now…we all are, but that doesn't mean things can't get better. You know what I'm saying?"

Tum Tum looked up from the floor and at Rocky.

Tum Tum: "Yeah…I guess so…"

Rocky: "Hey keep your head up." He said putting a hand on his shoulder. "We'll be alright. I promise."

Tum Tum: "Okay…I'll try my best."

Rocky: "Good." He smiled. "Now wait here with Gracy. Okay?"

Tum and Gracy both nodded.

Rocky: "Okay…I'll be right back."

Rocky stood up and finally left the room.

Meanwhile, Meg was upstairs searching through the father's work desk searching for notes, files, or anything that can clue them into what's going on. As she flipped through pages and pages of notes, she still couldn't find anything out of the ordinary that could actually help them.

Meg: "Come on. There must be something." She said to herself while searching

She continued to go through the papers that were now scattered all over the desk. She suddenly heard a knock on the open door. She looked up to see it was Cliff.

Meg: "Cliff. Did you find anything useful in the bedroom?"

Cliff regrettably shook his head.

Cliff: "(sigh) No. Nothing. How about you?"

Meg: "I'm coming up empty. All I've came across was a bunch of bills that he and his wife probably went through together. This is just a normal house Cliff. All of the important answers probably aren't even here."

Cliff: "You're probably right, so what now?"

Meg: "Well…If we can't find answers then we should just look for Aaron."

Cliff: "I hear ya, but right now that sounds easier said than done at this point. We have no clue where this kid could possibly be, or even if he is still alive. "

Meg: "True…,but maybe we can search for any clues that might let us know where he likes to go. You know. Places like the park or a mall. There could be a clue like that somewhere in this house."

Cliff suddenly began to silently think to himself.

Cliff: "Hm. That's fine with me. I'll go re-search the parents' bedroom again, and you keep looking in here. See if we come up with something."

Meg: "Okay." She acknowledged

The search continued…

--

Colt opened a random door inside the house and ended up inside of what clearly appeared to be a girls bedroom.

Colt: "This must be Melissa's bedroom." He said peering inside

Pink was everywhere, and Colt was already beginning to hate it.

Colt: "I guess the words "Tone it down" wasn't in this girls mind when she decorated." He said looking around the room.

Colt continued into the quiet room and noticed the mirror that hung over her tall light-pink dresser drawer.

Colt: "Hm." He said walking over to it "She sure does have a lot going on over here."

Colt looked at the top of the dresser to see all kinds of jewelry and makeup scattered everywhere along with a few small picture frames of her and her family together. There were also pictures of her and her friends all over the mirror along with a few pictures of her and the same guy over and over again. Actually there was more than a few of her and that boy. There were loads.

Colt: "Must be her boyfriend." He said while looking at the photo

Colt continued to look around the room. Then he stopped himself.

Colt: "Man…Why am I still in here? I don't even care about finding clues." He said just getting tired of everything beyond this point "…I'm outta here…"

Colt finally began to walk out of the room and as he turned around to turn off the light he noticed something inside the room.

Colt: "Huh…What is that?" He said squinting his eyes a little

It was a little black book that sat alone on a pink bookshelf. It literally stood out like a sore thumb. Colt slowly made his way back into the room and picked up the black book.

Colt: "Is this a…diary?" He asked himself while looking it over again "…Yep…definitely a diary, but…should I read it? I know it's her private thoughts, but one peep couldn't hurt." He said as he began to pry it open

Colt began to briskly read through the pages of her diary mumbling words as he went along.

Colt: "Dear diary…I met the boy of my dreams today…Dear diary…My girlfriends and I blah blah blaaah…Dear diary…I've had the worst day today…Dear diary…I know he's the one for me…blah blah blah…Dear Diary I feel so bad for my little brother Aaron…Dear di…Wait a minute!" He said stopping himself "Aaron? That's the kid we're searching for right? Maybe…there's something in this thing that can actually help us. Well…only one way to find out."

Colt went and sat on the fluffy pink bed and began to read the passage.

Dear diary,

I feel so bad for my little brother Aaron. Today, Dad had to bring home little Aaron again because he's afraid of riding the school bus home, and of course dad got angry with him because he had to leave work early again. His boss keeps making him take Aaron home because of the work atmosphere. He's too young to stay at the lab unsupervised while dad is working, but he always seems to go there when he's scared. Poor Aaron. Those damn bullies at school really beginning to get on my nerves! Why can't they mess with someone who is their own size? It makes no sense! Well tomorrow is the day I go straighten out this nonsense once and for all. I need to talk to the principle, the teachers, the parents, someone that will put an end to this, and if they don't listen, I'll take matters into my own hands. I will always protect the ones that I love.

Colt finished reading the entry, and closed the diary up.

Colt: "He goes to where his dad works when he's scared?" He said to himself "That's it!"

Colt hopped up and rushed out of the pink decorated bedroom.

--

Cliff: "Well did you find anything?"

Rocky: "Nope. Nothing. What about you two?"

Cliff: "No good. Their dad doesn't seem to keep any important documents in his home anywhere."

Meg: "Well it's probably for a good reason. He might not want his family getting involved in his business like that."

Cliff: "Ah that might be it."

Cliff then notices that someone is missing.

Cliff: "Hey Rocky." He said while scanning the area

Rocky: "Yeah?"

Cliff: "Where is that brother of yours?"

Rocky: "Hm? I think he might still be looking around…, or maybe he just wants to be alone."

Meg: "Well…I can't blame him…after what happened to Lita…"

There was a still silence until Colt finally entered the living room.

Colt: "Hey guys. I think I found something useful." He said walking in

Everyone turned around and saw that it was Colt.

Gracy: "Colt."

Rocky came up to him.

Rocky: "Hey. Are you okay?" He said with concern

Colt: "I'm…I'm fine." He said trying not to get all mushy in front of everyone. "Listen guys. I found something that I think might help us out."

Tum Tum: "You did?"

Colt: "Yeah. This." He said holding up the diary

Rocky looked at the book and glanced up at Colt with a questioning look.

Rocky: "Um…Colt? This is just a diary."

Colt: "Now before you think that I've lost my mind, take time to listen to what I have to say first."

Meg: "Okay Colt. We are all ears."

Colt: "Thanks. I read in this page that when ever Aaron got scared he would go to the lab where his dad works. It said he did it because he is often bullied in school and on the bus, so his dad always had to leave work to bring him home early."

Rocky: "Interesting." He said taking the book from Colt and reading Melissa's exact words

Gracy: "So…do you guys think that this means…?"

Cliff: "Yeah. Aaron could be at the lab. I mean if there's a time for him to be scared now would definitely be that time."

Rocky: "Yeah you're right. Great job Colt. Now we have a real chance in finding Aaron." He said patting his shoulder

Colt: "…It was nothing really." He said letting out a small smile

Tum Tum: "Yuh huh! It was something!" He said getting up off the sofa. "You're awesome!"

Gracy: "Yeah…what he said." She added

Colt's smile began to get a little bit bigger and then he became a bit flushed.

Colt: "…Thanks guys."

Everyone finally smiled together for the first time in this entire tragedy. Rocky finally began to speak up.

Rocky: "So Cliff. Let's get going."

Cliff: "That wouldn't be wise."

Tum Tum: "Huh? Why not?"

Cliff: "The sun's gonna set very soon. The last thing we need to do is go out at night. We're at a high disadvantage."

Meg: "But Cliff. What about the child?"

Cliff: "We won't make it to the kid because the streets are swarming with zombies by now, plus we won't be able to see half as good. It's too risky."

Gracy: "I hate to say it, but I think Cliff's right. We should stay here."

Everyone began to understand what Cliff and Gracy were getting at.

Cliff: "We stay here for the night. Is that understood?"

Everyone silently nodded.

Cliff: "Good. You all should get some sleep then. I'll stay up and keep watch."

Rocky: "Okay. Let's get some sleep guys."

Everyone headed off for some well deserved sleep.

End of Chapter!

I know this one was kind of short, but please leave me some reviews anyway. I think you guys will like the next chapter a lot better. HOORAY! :-D