HELLOOOO!!! Yes it is me and yes I am still alive! I know it has been forever since I gave you all an update and for that I am sooooo sorry…on my knees sorry! I've had all kinds of crap going on in RL and I needed to take care of them first (some excuse huh?) lol! Anyway, I've gotten numerous comments on this story and to all of you, THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!! First and foremost, we've had a death in the family…my XBOX 360 Elite was diagnosed with the Red Rings of Death a couple of days ago, so we had to put her down! I had just bought the new L4D2 game and played all of two parts of one campaign when it went red on me! I was NOT happy, but last night we went and bought a new Xbox 360 so I'm all good again! Okay, so the new L4D2 game….good things, I love the new infected, freakin kicks ass!! I can't say too much about the game because well I haven't played it all that much, so let me know what you think about it. I have to say that I'm kinda not liking the new characters….I know, I know…but I like my old one's…Francis/Zoey..duh!! I'll get used to them though, I know I will….I do however like Nick, lol!! Oh, and not sure that I like that the witch moves around…there was just something about her on her knees crying, kinda felt more sorry for her than I do now…weird I know! Lol! Anyway, enough talking and on with the story…this chapter is more slow and just about how they are coping with things around them. I've had some people tell me that I haven't had a lot of Louis interaction in the story so for all you Louis lovers here ya go…….

Zoey walked along an unknown path, as if she were being led by some unseeing force. She could hear the wind blowing all about her and smell salt in the air. She realized there were no shoes on her feet and they were digging into something soft and wet with every step she took.

Confusion set in as she tried to focus on seeing anything around her. It was a lost cause, for the fog and mist covered everything. She wasn't afraid though, which was more confusing than anything. It was as if she knew this place, as if this place was safe. She thought about that word for a moment. Safe…it had been over a month since she really felt safe. Yet here she stood in the nothingness that was this place and felt a feeling of safety that she had not known in some time.

Zoey felt someone was here with her. Her first thought was to run, but something stopped her. It was the smell in the air. The salt smell that she had noticed at first slowly began to turn into a new smell. Apples and honeysuckle assaulted her senses and Zoey gasped. The sweet sweet smell was enough to knock Zoey to her knees. Her breath came out in short, shallow breaths as her knees dug into the surface below.

Her eyes focused on her hands and noticed they were covered in brown grit. Puzzled, Zoey grabbed a handful of whatever it was beneath her and brought it to her face. It only took a moment for her to understand what was in her hand. It was wet sand. Was she on some kind of beach? It made no sense, the last thing she remembered was diving into the safe room. How did she get here?

As if she spoke it out loud, the mist and fog slowly started to break up. The smell of apples and honeysuckle grew stronger with each breath that Zoey took and she felt fresh tears assault her eyes. That smell reminded her so much of…

The roar of the waves came crashing down upon her like a full blown orchestra at the height of a passionate piece. The water rushed over her hands and legs yet did not wet them. She looked upon this in amazement as she tried to comprehend what was happening. One wave after the other swept upon her and left nothing in it's wake. She felt like laughing but did not dare for she would feel like she was going insane.

"Zoey" The wind carried the whisper towards her ears and all thoughts vanished at the owner's voice. She knew that voice as well as she knew her own. It had soothed her nightmares as a child. It had scolded her when she had done something wrong. It had made her smile and laugh again after her first heartbreak. But it could not be who Zoey thought it was. It was impossible.

As if someone pulled the curtains back letting light shine through a darkened room, the mist and fog disappeared all together leaving rays of sunlight so bright Zoey had to cover her eyes. Moments past and finally the world came into complete view.

Zoey looked around her in wonder as she saw the most beautiful beach she had ever laid eyes upon. The dry sand was a perfect shade of stark white. The ocean, with it's huge waves were clear and the bluest she had ever seen. She had a feeling that she had been here before, yet the place was completely different and new to her.

Standing on her feet again, she slowly turned in a circle to take the magnificent scene in. As she turned to her left, she immediately came to a stop. Everything around her in that moment melted away as her eyes widened. This was a dream it had to be because what she was seeing could not be possible. Zoey had no idea when she started to cry but now she could feel the wet tears sliding down her cheeks.

It all made sense to her now…the smell of apples and honeysuckle…the voice, so low yet loud enough to be recognized…and this place. She knew this place even if it was different somehow. She knew this place because this is where she had spent many summers with her parents and brother. This was their home away from home and she smiled despite herself thinking of the wonderful memories.

Her eyes focused on the scene before her as she tried to take a step towards it. She found that she could not move. Fear overcame her and she fought hard against it. She tried to speak and found that she couldn't even breathe.

There, sitting twenty yards away from her on a fallen log was the outline of her mother. The wind was blowing at her back, causing her hair to hide her face. Zoey was so afraid to see her mother as an infected that she wanted to be swallowed by the wet sand below her. She could not bare to see her mother in that state. Taking her eyes off of her mother, Zoey looked down at her hands and noticed they were pale white. She had them balled up into fists so tight that trickles of blood where starting to seep through her closed palms from her fingernails digging into the soft skin.

Taking a deep breath, she squeezed her eyes closed before raising her head in the direction of where her mother sat. Time seemed to all but stand still as Zoey's brown eyes stared into one's as blue as the ocean itself. There was a sound, as if someone gasped and she realized it came from her.

Her mother sat looking at her with a bright smile upon her very human face. Brown-wavy, chestnut hair blew slowly in the breeze as her mother's smile grew wider. It seemed, to Zoey, that her mother was younger than she remembered.

Without realizing it, Zoey was standing in front of her mother, as she watched her pat the log beside her, inviting Zoey to sit with her. Zoey awkwardly sat down beside her mother, not taking her eyes off of the woman.

Both women sat for a moment in silence, lost in the beauty that they found themselves in.

Turning towards her mother, Zoey reached a shaking hand towards the woman's flawless cheek and gently touched it. The skin felt as warm as the rays of sun shining down on her. She bit down hard on her lips as a sob rolled through her stomach towards her throat. She watched as her mother slowly closed her eyes, reveling in her daughter's touch.

"What is this? It has to be a dream…your dead mama," Zoey whispered miserably.

Zoey's mother reached up and took her hand in her own. Turning towards her daughter, she spoke softly, "I'll always be with you Zoey."

"I miss you so much mama! I miss dad and I miss Jamie," Zoey cried.

Zoey fell into her mother's arms as she sobbed for her family. Her mother tightened her embrace as she too cried with Zoey. Planting kisses on her young daughter's head, she whispered softly into her ear, "If there is one thing that I have learned Zoey it is that there is always light in the darkest of situations. There is always hope in the most dire of circumstances and this is something you must remember. I know you are in the fight of your life my love but you are not alone. Nothing ever lasts, even this evil."

Zoey raised her crying eyes towards her mother. She did not want to leave from her arms. She felt safe, at peace. Her mother reached up and wiped the falling tears from Zoey's cheeks as she smiled lovingly at her.

They sat there for what seemed like an eternity to Zoey. The sun was slowly setting in the horizon as it shown it's last beautiful rays on this dream world. She was still curled in her mother's protective arms as they slowly rocked back and forth.

"Zoey, sometimes our decisions can be hard to make, and yet they must be made. You may be faced with such a decision soon my love." Zoey sat up and looked into her mother's loving eyes. She wasn't sure what her mother was talking about. "I…I don't understand," she said slowly.

"When the time comes, you will." Her mother said gently.

With that, her mother looked past her and the bright smile was back on her face. Such love and devotion shown through the woman's face that it made Zoey think of Francis. Zoey turned to see what she was looking at and saw nothing.

Turning back, her mother was gone. Zoey stood up abruptly and searched around frantically for her mother. She was no where to be found.

Wide, brown eyes flew open in the darkness of the room. Zoey's breaths came out fast and furious. For a moment she didn't know where she was. The feeling of strong arms squeezing her tighter brought her back to reality. She was in the safe room with Francis, Louis and Bill. Zoey wasn't quite sure how long they had been there, her mind was still reeling from the dream.

Slowly, as to not wake Francis, Zoey climbed out from under his arms and stood. She was a little wobbly on her feet but she managed to take a few steps. The room was small, with a even smaller bathroom built in the side of it. There really wasn't much room to walk, but Zoey needed to get her bearings. She felt as though she had been knocked in the stomach.

She came to the metal door and leaned her forehead on it as she closed her eyes. The dream was too real, even though her mind was slowly starting to come back to itself and realizing that that was all it was…just a dream, and yet it felt as though it was more than that. Her mother's words confused her. It was as though she knew something was about to happen and came to warn her.

"This is silly, Zoey get yourself together. It was just a damn dream," she whispered to herself.

"Zoey, you okay?" Louis' soft voice cut through her mental war.

She turned around and gave her friend a smile, though it didn't reach her eyes.

"Want to talk about it?" he asked kindly.

"There's not much to talk about Louis, just a weird dream that's all."

She wasn't sure that that was all there was to it but what could she say. 'Yeah Louis, I just had a dream of my dead mother and I think she was trying to tell me something but I'm not sure what. So, how has your night gone?' No, that wouldn't come out right at all and she would end up looking like she was loosing her mind, which at this point she wasn't so sure that wasn't the truth.

Louis didn't speak for a few seconds. Zoey was starting to feel uncomfortable under his watchful stare. She had a strange feeling that he was trying to see straight through her.

"Okay Zoey, but if you want to talk about it you know I'm here," he said.

Zoey shook her head in understanding and breathed a sigh of relief that he wasn't going to push it. The last thing she needed was for the guys to think she was losing it.

"Having trouble sleeping?" she asked after a few moments of silence.

"Yeah, Between Bill's snoring and Francis' wheezing I can't get any kind of rest," he said with a chuckle. Zoey shared his chuckle as she watched the two men who were the subject of their discussion.

"We had a close call didn't we?" she said in a low voice while staring at Francis.

"Too close."

They stood there in silence, letting the darkness soak in their memories of the horrible experience they had just had.

"Let's make sure we don't have to go through that again okay?" Louis said.

As much as Zoey wanted to agree to that, she knew that she couldn't. There were no guarantee's in this life now. The reality was that something like that could easily happen again without the happy ending.

Louis saw the answer in her eyes and sighed heavily. "You could at least say it to make me feel better," he said with a sad laugh. Zoey's heart broke for the man standing in front of her. For the first time since this whole mess started, she saw the vulnerable side of Louis. He wanted her to tell him everything was going to be okay, even if that was a lie.

Without a word, Zoey closed the gap between them and embraced Louis in a hug. He had become something of a kindred spirit to her. Louis wrapped his arms around her and held on as if his life depended on it. Not a word was spoken, none needed to be. Zoey and Louis held each other in the darkness of the safe room as the sounds of the infected floated in from the outside.

Louis sniffed a few times and then released Zoey, walking towards the barred up window on the safe room door. Zoey walked the few feet to stand besides him as they peered at the room in front of them. The room was not lit very well for the emergency lights were slowly dying. Still, it was an eerie sight to see the infected walking around in the pale green light. The color of green that shown down upon them made them look more sick, more dead than they already were.

"Zoey, do you think any part of who they used to be is still in there somewhere?"

Taking her eyes off of the room before her, she slowly turned to look at Louis. His eyes, big round brown orbs, bore into her own as if her answer could somehow give him renewed life in the face of death.

"I don't know Louis." She whispered sadly.

"It's been going through my mind the past couple of days, each time my finger pulls the trigger I wonder if the infected I'm killing deep down inside really knows what's happening. If the human is still there, fighting to regain control."

Zoey closed her eyes as Louis' voice cracked on the word control. She had never thought about it like that. How could any of them think that there was any chance that the infected still had some humanity left in them. It would be impossible for them to survive this if that was their state of mind, yet her heart betrayed her now that Louis had said this out loud.

"Louis, all I know is that every time we come up against one of them, they attack. Their only thought is to kill us. It is kill or be killed these day's my friend and to humanize them is to sign your own death certificate. Any ounce of humanity in this world was lost the day this shit started happening." Zoey wasn't sure who she was trying to convince, Louis or herself.

Turning towards the green colored room, she whispers, "All I know is that I want to survive. I want you guys to survive, and if that means killing every last one of them then that's what I'm going to do."

"I'm tired Zoey, I'm so god damn tired," Louis whispered heartbreakingly.

A dark cloud was starting to form over the inhabitants of the room and Zoey felt her heart restricting. She reached over and grabbed Louis in a hug again and desperately searched her brain for a way to get them back on track before they both succumb to the helplessness of the situation.

"There is always light in the darkest of situations Louis," Zoey whispered her mother's words. It burned her soul to remember her mother's beautiful face.

"Will we will find that light Zoey," he asked desperately.

"I hope so my friend…I hope so."

They did not release each other from their embrace and yet the air seemed to lighten a little. Zoey would hold her friend as long as it took for him to be able to stand on his own. That is, after all, what family does for each other right?

"Should I be worried at all that your tryin' to steal my woman Louis?"

The absurdity and the way that Francis was looking at them had Louis and Zoey bowed over in a fit of laughter. Francis sat against the wall as he watched the pair as if they had lost their minds.

"What?" he asked as if he were left out of some joke.

"No Francis, I assure you…that I'm doing… no such thing," Louis said through laughter.

Tears were streaming down Zoey's face from laughing so hard. When she finally got control of herself, she walked over to the now sulking Francis. Dropping to her knees, she reached out and touched his cheek. "You have absolutely nothing to worry about Francis. My heart belongs to you and you alone," she said softly.

He's sulking instantly turned to pride as he took in the beautiful girl and her words.

Zoey looked around at the three men, Louis, settling back down to get some more sleep…Bill, deep in sleep himself and Francis, looking at her with concentration as if trying to read her thoughts, she knew that she would protect them at all costs. Their chances were not good but from the beginning it had always been that way and yet they were still alive and still moving forward.

"You okay?" Francis asked in a low voice.

Turning her eyes towards his, she gave him a small smile and shook her head yes. She couldn't find her voice to speak, afraid her dam would break and she would be powerless to stop the helpless feeling from overtaking her.

She laid down beside Francis and sighed as his strong arms wrapped around her.

Later that night, Zoey slowly opened her eyes. Something had awoken her but she wasn't quite sure what it was. Laying very still, she listened for the sound…any sound.

She could hear the guys sound asleep and for a moment she thought she was just going crazy. Maybe she had dreamed it, but she was sure that she had not.

What seemed like an eternity passed and as she strained her ears for the sound, she finally heard it.

Getting up again, she walked towards the door's window to peer into the green lit room. There wasn't much movement but every once in a while she could hear a moan and dragging of feet. That was not the sound that woke her up though.

A few minutes passed and then the noise could be heard. It was like the wind carried the noise to her ears. She decided that it was not in the green lit room but beyond it. Beyond what her eyes could see. This made her feel uneasy because she wanted to see what was making that noise. She had heard it before and something told her to walk away. Now, her curiosity was getting the better of her and she wanted to know what it was.

The longer she listened to it, the more it saddened her. The noise was gut wrenching and she wondered for just a moment if the owner of the noise was feeling the helplessness as well.

"Zoey, you okay?"

Turning around, Zoey looked at a sleepy Bill. He was starting to get to his feet, as he rubbed his eyes to clear them of their drowsiness. His face showed concern as he looked at Zoey. She turned back around and looked out, as if her eyes would let her see past the room.

"Someone's crying."

Alrighty, you guys know what to do!! Review, review, review!! I know this chapter wasn't action packed but I needed to have just a slow chapter to kinda show what's going on in their heads. To show the toll this whole mess is taking on them. I wanted to show the moral battle in Louis' head and Zoey's as well…how even though it is a fight for survival, they still wonder if the infected can be saved…if they are still human somewhere inside themselves. Anyway, the next chapter will be filled with action I assure you!!!! Let me know what ya think, Review!!