10

A full day has passed from my last encounter with the group. After Jarrett had given me the map, I packed up and drove off. I had my crossbow, a few knives, my sword, a python, and a rifle. I also had my backpack, which had enough food and water to last for a few weeks. That was the highlight. The downfall came soon after. After a full day, my motorcycle has run out of gas. I probably should have filled it up awhile ago, but I had forgotten. I scanned the area I was stranded in. I was pretty close to the neighborhood, which was a relief, considering that I had been driving for a day.

I had not seen signs of Alexa. I really hoped that she was at her house, all safe, and not out here and… a walker. I looked around the few houses. I let out a sigh of relief when I saw a few gas tanks in an abandoned garage. I lifted them and carried them to my motorcycle. I filled it all the way, and took the remaining tank. I placed it in the compartment under the seat, in case I needed it later. I went in the house, and searched around. I didn't find anything useful, aside a can of pop. I drank the whole thing. It would surprise you how great pop tastes in the middle of a zombie apocalypse.

When I had finished, I got back on my motorcycle, and started to drive. Within minutes, I reached the entrance of the neighborhood. Brook Oak. I looked around. It was quiet. Eerie quiet. Something was wrong. I continued driving, looking at the map. I hit a pothole and my motorcycle flipped. I flew through the air, and landed on my back. "Owwww," I mumbled. I looked to my right and saw Alexa's house. I struggled to stand up, and I fell again. The world started spinning, and I felt dizzy. The last thing I saw was a fuzzy shape come out from a doorway. Then everything went black.

I woke up. I don't know if I was out for a hour, or maybe even a day. My eyes opened and I saw Alexa. "Alexa! You're okay!" She spun around and grinned. "Well, you're not." I put my hand up to my head. It came away sticky and red. Alexa said, "I'll go grab a bandage." She appeared a moment later with a strip of cloth. She wrapped it around my head. "Hey Alexa," I started. "You know, when you left, Jarrett flipped out and tried to kill Logan." Her eyes flew open. "Is he okay?!" "Yeah. Jarrett didn't actually kill Logan-" She cut me off. "No! I don't care about Logan! I mean; is Jarrett okay?!" "Oh" I started laughing. "Yeah. He's okay." She smiled. "Good." I asked Alexa, "So, what about your family?" Her smile fell. "I didn't find anything. They weren't here." "Oh. Sorry…" I said to her.

She was about to reply, but we heard a crash outside. Alexa jumped up. She crept over to the nearest window. I followed. She grinned. "It's just one. I can take it." She walked out the back door. I heard a thump and then a crash. I spun around and saw a walker coming at me through a broken window. I pulled out my knife. It ran closer, and I stuck the knife in the front of its head. It fell limp and toppled over. I ran to the window and looked outside. There were walkers EVERYWHERE! They were coming out of the woods. I ran out to find Alexa. I saw her swinging her sword at a walker. Another walker was coming up behind her. "Alexa! Behind you!" I yelled. She swung around and the walker fell.

I ran next to Alexa. She hissed to me, "Follow me!" She ran down a path. I sprinted after her. "Alexa!" I yelled, "If we get split up, meet me at my house! She turned to look at me while running. I saw her mouth move, but I couldn't hear what she said. At that moment, a horde of walkers cut her off. She changed direction, and more walkers came up behind her. "Alexa!" I yelled. The horde closed in, and I couldn't see Alexa anymore. I felt a tear drop down my face, and I started running in the other direction. I was sprinting to my house. If my family was there, then I had to get them out of the neighborhood.

A walker crossed my path. It growled, and its fingers reached out for me. While running, I yanked out my sword and slashed the side of its head. It fell to the ground, motionless. I continued running. Now I was only half a block away. Right in front of me, was a horde of walkers. I spun to look behind me. There were no walkers there. I quickly pulled out my rifle. I aimed at the first ones head. I fired, and it fell. I quickly shifted to the second walker. I fired. I fired off two more rounds, and most of the walkers were dead. I walked over to the remaining walker. I bashed the back of my rifle right in the walkers head. There was a squishing sound, and the walker went limp. I walked cautiously back to my house. I approached the driveway. There was no sound anywhere. The front door was open. That's not a good sign… I thought. I walked in. "Hello?!" I called out. There was no answer. I ran into my parents' room. "Mom? Dad?!" I yelled. Once again, there was no answer. "Mom! Dad! Jack! It's me, Maddy! Why won't you answer…" I fell to my knees, and started sobbing. They weren't here. I ran into the kitchen. Sparty, my dog, wasn't there either. Something caught my eye .

I walked over to the kitchen counter. There was a note there. I picked it up, and started reading. It read: "Maddy, if you are reading this, know we are okay. After the second day of you being gone, we had to get out of here. We took the silver car and we are on our way to New York. They said the cities would be protected. We left you the dark car, in case you and anyone else you find can come. We hope you are okay. We miss you. ~Jen, Shawn, and Jack

PS: We took Sparty too J"

I reread the note twice. They're alive! Or, they were at least when they wrote this. I stuffed the note into my pocket. I walked up the stairs and I walked to my room. I opened up my junk drawer and pulled out my two pocketknives. I stuffed them in my backpack. I continued searching my room for any useful items. I grabbed a few random things: a deck of cards, a pair of scissors, and a screwdriver. I grabbed some books too, in case I would need them. I flopped down on my bed. I wished that I could just wake up and this whole thing would be a dream. I opened my eyes and I heard a thump. I nearly jumped at the sound, and I crept over to my window to see what was happening. Outside, there was a car, and a few walkers were attacking it. I saw some people inside. I sprinted downstairs and out the door, grabbing my backpack on the way.

I pulled out my sword as I approached the car. One of the walkers shuffled around to face me. Its eyes were dark and lifeless, and it started to run at me. I used my sword to pierce it right in the eye. It stumbled, and then fell to the ground. Another walker Shuffled towards me with a moan. With one swipe of my sword, it dropped to the ground in a crumpled heap. I quickly leaped to the last walker, which was breaking the car window and reaching its hands inside. I whistled two notes, and it spun to look at me. Then I slashed its head, and it immediately fell. I hurriedly opened the car door. "Everyone alright?!" I yelled. Then I noticed who the people were. My eyes flew open in shock. "Mitch? Katie? Cole?" I whispered. "Maddy!" Mitch yelled. He crawled out of the back seat of the car, freaking out about the glass shards. Yup, that's Mitch! Then Katie ran out of the passenger door and gave me a giant hug. I returned it. Cole climbed out of the driver's seat. I didn't know him very well, and he kinda just stood there awkwardly. "I'm so glad you guys are okay!" I said excitedly to them. Katie replied with a, "You too!" Then I said to them, "Hurry, let's go inside." I opened up the front door and walked inside, as Katie, Cole, and Mitch shuffled behind me.

"So," I started, "How did you guys get here? And what happened to your car?" It looked like they thought about how to reply, and then Katie and Cole just started staring at Mitch. His face turned red and he began to talk. "Well, we heard that New York was safe… and I read the map wrong and we got lost. The car, well… Thanks to Cole's GREAT driving, we crashed into a building, and then the motor gave out soon after." I grinned. "Nice going guys!" I said sarcastically. Katie started to laugh, and even Cole smirked.

I told them about the group, about all of the people. Katie was ecstatic when she heard that Logan was there. She was glad he was alive. She was slightly less happy when she learned that our only transportation was a motorcycle. "How are all four of us going to fit?!" She exclaimed. Then she added, "Uh oh Mitch, you might fall off!" Mitch's face looked worried. "And," Katie continued, "You'll have to be close to all of us, because we all have to fit on one motorcycle!" Then Mitch shuddered and mumbled, "Germs!" Everyone started laughing.

I nudged Mitch. "C'mon, it'll be fine." He looked at me, and then he crawled on. Cole and Katie followed. I got on the front, and started it up. I looked at the map. "Lots of walkers this way…" I pointed to the spot where I last saw Alexa. "So we have to take a detour… maybe this route?" I dragged my finger over to the high school and around a police station, and finally back to camp. Katie nodded. "looks good to me." Then I started driving.