Hello everybody! Here's a new chapter for you all to read after almost a week's worth of waiting. At least these updates are starting to become somewhat fast now. Being that my quarter in college is almost over, the professors have become somewhat lenient in giving out homework. That leaves me with more time to work on these stories. Conversely, this also means that I have to spend time studying for the upcoming finals. So in essence, my time to work on these stories haven't really changed at all. Still, I will work on this as much as I can.

By the way, I also posted a Thanksgiving special in respect to Thanksgiving Day three days ago. It's called "A College-Style Thanksgiving". I admit that it's not a great title, but it's my way of spreading the joy of the holidays. It's based off of the Young Avengers universe, and it's also a short story. So don't expect that story to be as long as some of these chapters here.

Anyway, let me stop ranting here and let you all start reading this new chapter. But first, let me thank all of you who have left reviews for my story, especially to DimancheOtaku. They are really helpful in keeping me going and also letting me see how this story is being received by you as readers. After all, I do find it important that a writer must have some connection with his readers.

And as a side note, I've finally read the Young Avengers series, or at least the very first series where they debut in. I've finally got some concrete details as to how our heroes' attitudes really are. It seems like I got Teddy's attitude somewhat correct, the nice guy who won't hesitate to fight to protect who he cares. Just a nice big "Teddy" bear who seems to dote on Billy in terms of safety! :)

Billy seems more, for lack of a better word, hardcore than how I portrayed him here. However, I kind of see my somewhat hesitant Billy as a result of 'what if he never met the Scarlet Witch' scenario. I see that making him still rather shy around people he's not familiar with and not very good with verbal confrontations. Kind of like how what happened back in chapter four in the cafeteria. And I've never seen him as a wimpy person when his life was on the line. Glad I was right on that. That and I really like Wizards. They just have such cool powers and can like control the elements to their liking!

And Greg... Well, let's just say that despite wanting to make a quick buck in the comic, there's a lot of room for maneuvering. I mean, he can't really be thinking of money-making schemes now with the world all zombified. And it's a plus that I learned he's really a canonical character despite such a small role! And to think he really was meant just to be a character of my own design.

I was also surprised as to how some of the other characters really acted, some either stronger or more mellow than I imagined. But I've also done research on the House of M series and noticed that none of the Young Avengers are really highlighted. Maybe I'll make a story with the Young Avengers based on this section of the comics! That way, I won't have to worry too much whether or not they're in character; they're not in House of M to be cross-referenced with! :)

With that aside, please don't forget to leave a review before you move onto the next story that you want to read. They are always very helpful to me. Until the next update to this or any of my other stories on here everybody!

Chapter 10: The Border Town of Suffern

Despite having suffered through a traumatic day filled with many frights and near-death experiences, the three teens somehow managed to achieve some semblance of a good sleep. As suggested, they traded off with the guard position every two hours with Greg's hourly beeping watch serving as their time guide. However, no zombies had seen it fit to try and take them out all throughout the night. And as was discussed, they had woken up around eight and dug into their respective piles of food that Greg had separated last night before closing the distance between them and Suffern. That and they needed to keep moving to avoid any unnecessary trouble with wandering zombies.

It had been five hours since they continued on with their trek. In that time, they had made their way out of the woods and have been walking down the main road ever since. While the trip by foot normally did not take as long as that, they were forced to take lots of roundabout routes so as to avoid unnecessary standoffs with large groups of zombies in their way. Because of this, they were quite tired and currently taking shelter inside an abandoned gas station store that was situated in the outskirts of Suffern.

"I can't believe this place was just abandoned like this," Greg murmured as he dug into a box of Animal Crackers. Luckily for them, the store was pretty packed with snack foods and juice that allowed for them to reload their stocks and eat a bit more than what he had suggested last night. "Whoever worked here must've figured bailing would be better than hanging around. At least we're pretty safe from the zombies outside. Definitely got to give it that much. And we're lucky enough that there's a lot of food in here to eat from and to add onto our food supplies. That's definitely a plus!"

"Even if it's really all just a bunch of junk food," Billy added with a groan as he opened up his third small bag of pretzels while eyeing the small pile of other snack foods and candy they had compiled and left on the clerk's counter. "Still, I guess we can't complain seeing as how we don't have to worry too much about food now. Here's to hoping that we'll be able to hold onto it this time around."

"And we now have something else to drink besides water," Teddy responded happily as he took a swig from his can of orange soda that was taken from the refrigerator section. "Oh yeah, that's the sweet taste of a good soda! I don't mind water, but this is definitely better. You don't know how I needed something like this to help me relax after having to go through such a hectic day yesterday."

"You always drink soda whenever you get stressed or nervous," the raven haired teen stated in annoyance despite the grin of amusement making its way to his face. He then drank from a box juice before continuing, "It never fails. At least you're not chugging the thing like you do in the minutes before your karate or baseball championships. Those were never pretty sights to watch."

"Nobody ever told you to watch me drinking like that," the blond simply stated as he downed the rest of the can's contents before setting it to the side. "And while we're on the subject about pet peeves, you're one to talk. Having to hear you rant about whatever's on your mind whenever you're stressed or angry isn't something I look forward to. Those are real moments of torture for me."

"Alright, let's not morph this into an argument," the third teen quickly cut in as he stole a quick glance out the clear glass windows. They were sitting just out of sight from outside prying eyes, but Greg was seated in a position that he only needed to shift his body a bit in order to see outside. "You don't want it to get out of hand and accidentally alert some unwanted company here, do you? That's the last thing we need.

"But yeah, I think we've stayed in here long enough," he quickly added before moving towards the counter and grabbing ahold of a plastic bag resting on top. "Our family isn't going to just sit around waiting for us while we're taking shelter in here busy stuffing our faces. If we want any chance at trying to find them here, then we better get a move-on. So you guys better help me take as much as we can before we go. I want to try and keep all the food we've got on us this time around."

Without saying a word, the other two quietly complied as they took off their backpacks and started stuffing them with food and soft drinks. They also packed up some more medicine that they had managed to find, although it was not a lot since it seemed the shop was in low supply. Nevertheless, they took what they could if only to keep from having to suffer Greg's rant about taking whatever they could find.

And much to Billy's surprise, he found another handgun lying behind the clerk's counter when he went over to pick up a few bars of candy he had knocked over. He quickly showed it to Teddy and Greg, one being happy to have another gun in their arsenal while the other not so much so. After checking to see if it was loaded, he took note that it used the same bullets as his current gun before carefully placing it into one of his backpack's secondary compartments. He then continued on with the stocking of food.

In a couple of minutes, they had finished packing everything up and were ready to leave. Greg and Teddy held onto their crowbars tightly while looking out of the glass windows to see if the coast was clear. Billy had taught himself during their trek here how to reload his gun and was checking to see if he was comfortably loaded. He then patted at his pockets to see if he had all his ammo clips that he obtained back at school in the delivery truck. With two guns using the same ammo clip, to lose even one would severely hurt his gun availability.

"Let's go guys!" Greg practically commanded as he exited the store with his weapon at the ready. The others quickly put on their backpacks and followed suit. While they did not want to fall behind, they also wanted to make sure that their unofficial leader did not end up trying something potentially stupid and land in the middle of trouble.

Now back on the road, they made their way deeper into Suffern. Greg had told them earlier during their trek to the gas station that his cousins lived in the Montebello area. He also said that Suffern High School happened to be in the same general direction. In essence, they would be able to check on Greg's family and look for Billy's brother at the high school at the same time. It sounded like they were going to have an easy time achieving what they had come here to do.

Of course, that was not taking into consideration the zombies that they most likely would have to fight through or dodge around. Naturally, they had chosen to avoid fighting altogether both to conserve energy and because of uncomfortable numbers. However, things seemed to be different this time around. They were standing a few yards away from a small group of four monsters upon entering a residential part of town.

"I think we can take on these sons of bitches," Greg stated with a confident grin as he readied his crowbar for a fight. "It's not like there's a whole bunch of them this time. What do you say, Teddy? You think you're up for it?"

"…I guess it's better than just letting them follow us," Teddy replied with a shrug as he tightened the grip on his crowbar. "It's not like we can just hop into these backyards and avoid this. I prefer sticking to places where we can make easy judgment calls. Billy, cover us from here in case one tries to sneak up on us. And don't forget to keep a watch of your surroundings in case more decide to show up."

"Got it!" Billy responded as he cocked his gun and was ready to serve as back-up. "Just make sure you don't do anything stupid."

"As if what we're doing doesn't already constitute as something stupid," the third teen said sarcastically before running towards the zombies. Teddy quickly followed suit and was just in time to strike one of the monsters in the head at the same time as his partner. "Hey, that one was mine!" he exclaimed with a competitive growl escaping his throat. "Go and get your own target, buddy!"

"Geez, sorry," the blond half-heartedly apologized as they both went and took out differing zombies. They both made quick work of them with strong and swift blows to their heads. Teddy then shifted his weapon so that he was holding onto it in backhand fashion in preparation to take down the fourth that had wandered uncomfortably close to him. Without hesitation, he delivered a quick uppercut that took it completely by surprise. After it stumbled backwards a bit from the strike, the blond then swung the same arm away from his body and let the weapon slam into the side of its head.

"That takes care of that," he said with a sigh as he looked over and saw Greg raising his crowbar up in victory. However, that was short-lived as the sound of a bullet rang through the air and forced their attention back to where Billy was.

"What is it?!" Greg exclaimed as he saw Billy aiming his gun towards one of the houses. That was when he saw zombies coming out to the streets, more than the three of them could possibly handle. "Oh, for the love of…!"

"Those weren't the only four here, guys!" the raven haired teen exclaimed as he let out another shot well-aimed shot at a zombie head before looking around him and seeing the monsters coming from different houses and backyards. "There's no way we can handle this many by ourselves!"

"This wasn't what I had in mind when I heard this place was safe!" Teddy stated through clenched teeth as he observed the new situation. "Looks like the town's going through the same problem as Southfields!"

"I thought the mayor said that the military had everything under control here!" Billy shouted as he quickly made his way to the other two and kept his gun aimed at the growing horde of zombies. "That's the last time I trusted a politician's words. We better do something before we become a free meal!"

"Come on; we got to get to the Montebello district!" the third teen commanded as he ran in the direction that would lead him further into town. "That's our best bet in finding our family there. That's also where we'll go ahead and plan our next move."

"W-Wait up, Greg!" the blond shouted as he and the raven haired teen followed closely behind their leader. They had no idea where they were going, but they knew anywhere was better than here.

For the next passing minutes, the three kept with their fast pace and dared to look behind them at the growing zombie horde. Even when it looked like they had outran the monsters and was now safe, they still kept on running. Greg kept leading them down streets and the occasional alleyway when the need arose to go around pockets of zombies. He had checked every street sign they passed and made quick judgment calls as to where they should go next. It was not until they reached the corner of Mayer Drive and E. Mayer Drive did they finally stop to catch their breaths.

"This place…was supposed to be safe!" Billy panted as he took a seat on the ground with the streetlamp on his back. "How are zombies…roaming around in here?"

"That's because…there isn't anywhere safe…anymore!" Greg replied as he frantically looked up and down the streets for any signs of more zombies. "It's moments like this where…you can't count on finding a safe place. That's what zombie movies always teach you; nowhere is safe!"

"But the mayor wouldn't have suggested that people head here if he didn't think it was safe!" Teddy explained as he had quickly regained his composure while kneeling and leaning his weight on his crowbar. "That must mean he had contact with the military who told him at the time that they had everything under control here. Maybe this part of town isn't a part of their protection plan."

"That's some pretty wishful thinking on your part, Teddy," the other replied as he took a deep breath and shouldered his crowbar. "But let's just say you were right in that we're not in the right place. Where exactly would the military choose to prioritize? We don't exactly have the time to be wandering around like a couple of lost dogs."

"Maybe we don't have to wander around lost," the raven haired teen quickly suggested as his mind came up with an idea. "How about we head to one of the schools? Right after we left our high school, two cops came by saying that the school was a designated safe zone. Isn't it a good chance that the school's here would also serve as shelters?"

"That sounds like a pretty good idea," the blond agreed with a nod of his head. "Maybe the military here had a better time securing the schools here. That should also mean that Tommy is in good hands," he added as he took note of the look of relieve appear on his best friend's face. "Still, I rather we not stay in this town any longer than we have to. How far is it from here to Suffern High, Greg?"

"From what I remember, it shouldn't be that much farther. It's about ten minutes' walk from here, probably be less than five if you belted it. I can't be too sure since I've only been there twice myself with my cousins. We just need to head east down this road until we hit Mile Road. Then we take a left and keep following the street. It should be in our sights the moment we're on that road. And if you two are right, there should be a bunch of men in army suits surrounding the place.

"But that's going in the opposite direction from where my cousins' house is located," Greg added with a slight growl in his words as he took out his cell phone and started feverishly pressing the numbers. "They live on Henry Court which happens to be in the opposite direction of this street. Knowing my uncle, he'd probably just stand his ground before leaving his house. He's the type of guy who'd fight tooth and nail against anything that threatened him and his house. Guess you could account that for his time as an army man. But it doesn't look like the phones are working right now. Still, I can't waste time going in two opposite directions in case my cousins really are still at their place."

"But what if he was convinced to go somewhere safer? Heading to his house might end up constituting the waste of time you're trying to avoid. Going to Suffern High is the best course of action we can take."

"That's what you say, Teddy; but I know my cousins better than you and Billy combined. I don't care what either of you say; I'm going to their house and check up on them! You two can do whatever you want."

"B-But that's suicide, Greg!" Billy exclaimed as he saw said teen turn around and begin to make his way down the western expansion of E. Mayer Drive. "Going our separate ways should be the last thing on our minds! Wouldn't it be better if we stuck together and kept watch over each other?"

"Not if it means that you two are going to hold me back in searching every possible place for my parents! Look, you know how I feel about my family being here since your brother's also here. You don't see me trying to stop you from trying to find him, so do me a favor and respect my wishes."

"…Then how about we come up with a place where we'll meet up?" Teddy suggested as he got to his feet and shouldered his crowbar. This seemed to stop Greg in his tracks before he moved any further. "Regardless whether or not we find anybody, we need to know where it is we're going to reunite. Since you're so set on us splitting up, we should have a good meet-up plan set up in order to offset the insanity of this."

"… …I guess you have a point there," Greg admitted with a sigh before turning to face the two teens. "How about this? Once you're done checking out the school, head south past the freeway and to the Good Samaritan Hospital. If it's too dangerous to wait in there, then just wait up somewhere nearby. Just keep taking the southern-bound roads until you hit a street called the Nyack Turnpike. Then make a right and the hospital will be right in front of you. Is that a good enough plan for you, Teddy?"

"As good as it'll ever be considering what we're about to do," the blond agreed with a small smile on his face upon hearing his friend willing to go along with their plan. "Just please promise us one thing before you go."

"What is it now, Teddy?" the third teen asked with clear annoyance as he was clearly more than eager to get going on his way. "We don't really have time to keep exchanging ideas and other useless crap."

"Promise us that you won't do anything stupid no matter what you end up finding at your cousins' place," he said with complete seriousness written all over his face, so much so that Greg actually flinched a bit upon seeing it. "Remember that you need to survive no matter what so that we can get out of here the same way we came in, together as a group. If I don't see you at the hospital, then nothing's going to stop me from going out to find you whether you're alive or dead. I'll be damned if I just left you out here on your own without knowing what happened to you!"

"Of course, I'll make sure he'll wait around for at least a few minutes before going on a suicide mission to find you," Billy added as he shot a stern glare at his best friend's statement. He then added in a more somber tone, "And I'll go along with him to make sure he doesn't do anything crazy himself. Like him, I don't want you go die after all we've been through. We came in here together, and we're going to leave together. With our family!" he added with extra emphasis on the last sentence.

"Ha, as if I have any intentions on becoming zombie fodder!" Greg simply said with little concern despite his shoulders tensing up a bit at the concern being sent to him. "But yeah, I'll keep that in mind. And if you can, just call me on my cell. I'll make sure to turn it on when I get to my cousins' place. I know Teddy has my number, but that's depending whether or not the cell towers are still being overloaded. Still, it'll be better that you at least try that before just blindly go looking for me.

"If you guys are done demanding things from me, then let me get on my way," he added before turning around and making his way down the street. He shouldered his crowbar and kept moving his head around to see any incoming zombies.

"Do you really think he'll be alright on his own?" the raven haired teen asked as a frown of concern approached his face. "I mean, this is the first time we've split up. The two of us are still together, but Greg's on his own now."

"I'm sure he can handle himself just fine," Teddy responded as he saw Greg's form become smaller before disappearing down another street. He then added in a slightly unsure tone, "At least, I think he'll be fine. I mean, I know he can use that crowbar pretty well, but I don't know if he knows how to fight if he ends up somehow losing his weapon. That's only if it comes to that, of course!"

"In other words, you don't know," the other stated with a small groan at his friend's sudden uncertainty and fidgety behavior. "Isn't this great? We might've just sent him to his death now."

"Oh, I know for sure we didn't do that to him," the blond said as his tone quickly changed to a confident one. "I may not know how well his combat skills are, but I know he's not stupid enough to let himself be caught off-guard by these zombies. Don't you remember how a good portion of the things we've done were based off of his suggestions? He's the zombie movie junkie; it goes to reason that he knows how to deal with this better than the two of us combined. He may be on his own right now, but I know he's far from being your typical zombie victim that he'd just panic himself to death."

"I really hope you're right on that. I know I haven't been around him long enough to be considered his friend, but I don't want him to die because of something we agreed on. I don't think I'll be able to live it down."

"Don't worry; he's not going to allow himself to be taken down by zombies here. Not when he's gotten this far to look for his family. And I'm sure regardless of what he finds at his cousins' place, he'll meet back up with us. After all, I'm sure he sees you as a friend like me and wouldn't want to disappoint us with his idiotic death. He may look and act tough, but he really hates disappointing his friends or family. I just hope he's prepared himself for whatever it is he might find at his cousins' place.

"But yeah, we better hurry and make our way to Suffern high," Teddy quickly changed subjects just as Billy was about to ask about it. "The sooner we can get there, the sooner we can get your brother out of there and meet back at the hospital. Military or not, I don't really trust them to hold out their position long before they run out of supplies. I guess you can thank Greg for making me feel doubtful about how much the military can do. So come on; let's get a move-on and find your brother!"

"…Alright," Billy replied with a sigh as he let the previous subject about Greg go as he followed closely behind Teddy who had begun walking towards the direction of the school. His gun rested firmly in his hand and was ready to down whatever zombie dared to get in their way. "Let's hurry up and get this over with."

He was honestly still curious as to what the blond meant if Greg was prepared to discover whatever he might find at his cousins' house. However, he had a slight suspicion as to what he meant, a thought he apparently did a good job blocking out since it did not immediately occur to him. With a small shudder at the thought, he was hoping that if Greg did find something, it would be the sight of his family alive and not either dead or worse. But like said teen had said earlier, that was some pretty wishful thinking on his part.

Well, that's it for this new chapter. It looks like the group has decided to go their separate ways if only for a little while. Boy, are things going to get interesting now that Greg's on his own while Teddy and Billy still have each other. Here's to hoping that the loner can survive on his own and that the duo and make way without any expert zombie advice.

But yeah, it also looks like Suffern isn't doing too well. So much for this place supposedly being a nice shelter from the zombies. But they only just entered the town. There's still a possibility that they're simply not in the part of town the military deemed to be secured. Maybe they'll find safety at Suffern High school.

Whatever is going to happen, there's no doubt that trouble is always going to wait for them. However, we'll all have to wait until the next chapter to see exactly what kind of trouble is waiting. Until then, please hold tight while I work on the next chapter while also juggling my school work and studying for my upcoming college finals.

Please don't forget to leave a review before you move onto the next story that you want to read. They are always very helpful in keeping me wanting to write this story and thus keep you on your feet as to what's going to happen next. Now I'll leave you with the funny outtakes from this chapter. Until the next update to this or any of my other stories everybody!

Outtakes:

Greg: Look at all this food! (Starts gathering food from gas station shelves)

Billy: Uh, but it's all just junk.

Greg: So?

Billy: Is it really going to keep us going long?

Greg: Hey, food's food. Now stop complaining and help look for more stuff.

Teddy: (In a whisper) Something wrong, Billy?

Billy: ...I hate junk food.

Teddy: (Facepalms) Oh, for the love of...!

/

Greg: Oh yeah, we took out those sons of bitches!

Teddy: It was just four zombies, Greg. No need to get all excited.

Greg: Hey, that means four less zombies walking around. That's good!

Billy: Not when there's more coming to avenge those we killed! (Fires gun at approaching zombies)

Greg: Oh, so their friends wants some of the action. (Runs at horde with crowbar ready) Time to kill some more!

Billy: (Stares in disbelief) ...Is he crazy?

Teddy: No, he just...really likes reenacting Grand Theft Auto killing sprees whenever he gets the chance.

Billy: ... ...What?

/

Billy: Are you sure it's okay to let Greg be on his own?

Teddy: (Watches Greg walking away) I'm sure. He can handle himself pretty well.

Billy: But what if he gets surrounded by zombies?

Teddy: No way that's happening. He's too careful about his surroundings.

(Greg suddenly falls to the ground with a yelp as banana peel is seen flying in the air)

Greg: (While struggling to get up) I-I'm okay!

(Teddy and Billy both sweat-drop at the scene)

Billy: You were saying, Teddy?

Teddy: (With small groan) Now I'm worried about him.