50: Megan

"Ummmm boss?" Paul asked, his voice filled with worry. I turned around to see one of the 'bosses' walking towards us. Well, limping is more like it. "Shit I forgot!" I whipped my gun out, the one with the blade duct-taped to the front, and lunged forward, the knife piercing him in the neck. He fell with a moan. I flipped the gun and smashed the butt of it into his head.

"They're all coming back!" Simon yelled. "What do we do?!" Paul screamed. I drowned all of the background noise out. Clearly Luke wasn't wrong about these two never shutting up. I squatted and stuck out my gun, the knife part sticking out to trip another one of the 'bosses'. He walked right into it and fell, but before he could get up my knife was in his skull. I got onto my knees and sniped one of the female bosses, shooting her right in the eye as she got closer. She fell loudly with a thump onto another male boss. I smiled victoriously as I decapitated him. This was easier than I thought. I looked up and let out a small squeal. The last male boss was right over me. I shoved the gun up and pushed hard into his jaw. A crunching sound filled the air, and I pushed harder, causing him to fall before his jaw would break. He crashed to the ground, and I stood up and slammed my foot down on his head. The final boss approached me. I picked the gun up and shot her in the head. I wasn't really sure if I actually shot her, but she was still. I kicked her for good measure and let out a long breath. All of those people were dead. Killed twice by me. I smiled. I haven't felt this good in a while. Nor have I killed so many times by myself.

"What...how did you do that Megan?" Luke said as I turned. Before I could reply, Simon was jumping up and down in front of Paul. "I told you that they'd come back to life!""Well why didn't you tell us!?" Luke questioned. "We could have all died!"

Simon and Paul completely ignored Luke. "So what?!" Paul retorted. It's not like you had any proof or anything until now." Paul said, crossing his hands over his chest. "Yeah I did! if you guys haven't realized already, once you're dead you come back as a lamebrain." Simon said simply. "Everyone is infected already."

"Yeah." I nodded. "Simon is sadly right. No matter what the cause of death is, as long as your brain is unharmed, you will come back as a walker." "See, look who's right Paul!" Simon yelled as he made a face at Paul. Paul ignored him and turned to me. "Walkers?" He asked.

"Walkers, zombies, lamebrains. Same thing." Luke replied. "Now please shut up.""But-" Paul cried. "Just shut up Paul." "For just a bit." I replied, touching his arm. "No problem Megan!" He said immediately. "So they listen to you and not me." Luke mumbled so only I heard.

"Anyways what did you want to say Luke?" I asked, using my old tank top that had a hole in it to wash off the blood from my gun and knife. "Where did you learn to do all that?" Luke asked. "Well, there's a first for everything." I shrugged. "The fighting, I had to learn. If not, I probably wouldn't be here. My old group was always on the move."

"Group?" Luke asked. "Yeah, I was in a group before I got here. I might still be in it, as long as they let me bring you guys back." I sighed. Looks like it will be a night for stories. "Let's eat. I'll tell you about them."

"Ugh but I want to tell my story!" Paul complained. "Fine. Tell it to me. What happened right before I got here?" I said as I sat down and looked at the food.

"Well, this happened when I was in class. We go to the same school, and I've seen you around, but Simon and I are two grades above you. You know that." He gestured to me. "So anyways, my class wasn't so lucky. The walkers came right in. Our teacher tried to protect us, because she thought that the man was on drugs. He bit her neck, and then we knew he was a zombie. The class had seen enough zombie movies in their lives to know what was going on. They started panicking. The class bolted to the door, trampling Simon. I yanked him off the ground and I started going for the window. Tomas-you might not know him Megan, he was held back three times-but he was a troublemaker. He ran over to me and Simon, and yanked a pocketknife out of his backpack. Obviously, he wasn't supposed to have it with him, but he was off his meds, and he was insane. So anyways, he sprung to the zombie, and stabbed it in the neck. Once he killed that zombie, he kind of let the shock wash over him. Within seconds, he was turning to Simon, and lunging for him."

"It's true." Simon interrupted, muffled by a mouthful of sandwich.

"Shut up Si, I'm telling the story." Paul snapped at him. "So Tomas swung at Simon, and I tripped him before he could stab him. I let go of Simon and slid over to Tomas. He rolled over and then cut up my arm." Paul pulled up his sleeve to show scars on his arm, right above his elbow. "And then I flicked my blood into his eyes. Yeah, it was gross, but he couldn't see, so it worked. Then I climbed on top of him and snapped his neck. Then I took the knife, went back to Simon, who was still out of breath from being trampled on. Then we climbed out the window and bosses captured us."

Paul paused. "So... about today, in the morning bosses sent Simon, Crowley, me, Luke, and Jacob to go kill this group. They had been staking out at a hospital we were set to move to next. Not only did they do that, but we allied with this other group over at our high school, but they went over and joined them. Their leader never explained why. But if we didn't kill them all, we would be killed as soon as we got back." He said. "Bosses WERE NOT accepting a failure." Paul paused to grab another handful of chips. I watched Luke, Paul and Simon scarf it all down. Clearly they haven't had this much food since the apocalypse started. Paul inhaled the chips and continued.

"So we set out and went to the town. Trust me, it is about a days journey to get there by foot." "Actually it is an 8 hour trip to be exact." Simon put in.

"Anyways, when we got to the department store, there was a RV. Bosses had warned us about their cars and stuff and they said that if we see this RV then part of their group is definitely nearby. We were glad, because it meant that we wouldn't have to trek all the way to the hospital, and we could just gun them down just a mile away from camp." "Actually, it's only a quarter of a mile, Paul. You exaggerate a lot." "Shut up Simon!" Paul laughed. "They weren't too hard to find, they were in the department store. We snuck around and then we began to shoot as through the windows as soon as a person was down there." Paul said.

"Now, we didn't want to do this, but yet again we would be killed by the bosses if we failed." Simon butted in. "Oh and the person we saw was a girl wearing some jeans and a smiley face cut off shirt."

I felt my face go red. That girl was me. "Then they began shooting back. We thought it was just the one girl, but there were more people upstairs. They came down, firing everywhere. They looked so cool, all defensive and ready to be shot at. They ended up killing Crowley and Jacob but we ran off, hoping that we killed them all, because they stopped shooting at us. But none of us remembered actually shooting anyone down." Paul said. "I still feel horrible though."

"You okay Megan?" Luke asked looking at me. "That girl was me." I said immediately. "What?!" Paul spit out his food. I opened my jacket, revealing my smiley face t-shirt. "That was my group, and the girl you saw was me. No one died but you did hit one of our people." I replied.

"Oh. So no one is dead?" Paul asked. "Nope." I simply said. "Well I don't feel as guilty now." Paul said with a sigh. "Wait why are you here? Shouldn't you be with your group or shouldn't they be here?" Luke spoke up.

"Why I'm here? It's a long story, but I left my group. They won't follow me." I said. "Well, we've got the time. Tell us your story. We will share ours after." Luke said.

"Well I guess we do have time." I said, looking at the sun setting. It's not like we could leave before sunrise anyways. So then I told him my story, skipping some minor details but adding them in when they asked to. Which was a lot. Well at least from Paul and Simon. Luke hardly spoke the whole time, mostly commenting on the people I mentioned that he knew. There was something odd about him not speaking up, normally he was talking and smiling or even laughing.

"And that's how I ended up here." I said once I finished. "Wait so this Alexa girl is your new found enemy?" Paul asked. "Yes Paul. Alexa reminds her of someone who picked on her and stole her friends in 4th grade. She is trying to take Maddy who is her best friend. She is here to prove that she is dependable and still Maddy's best friend." Luke said simply. "Weren't you listening?! And now she doesn't want to go back because Alexa is there. But us three are going to make her go back, with us. We will prove that we are going to be the best members, and we will make her jealous because Megan has me, and she's still single." Luke explained, sounding a lot more like himself.

"Yeah!" Paul cheered, splashing a bit of water out of his water bottle as he fist-pumped the air. "Dang, I thought I was the smart one. But I agree!" Simon smiled. "You guys we don't-" I protested.

"Oh come on Meg, we are going back. Once we get some new clothes from that department store. And some weapons. Oh, and some zombie killing." Luke smiled. No, not his fake smile. The genuine one that melted my heart.

"Alright." I said with a smile. This caused all the boys to cheer. They all smiled. I couldn't help but smile too. "But only after I hear your stories tomorrow. We need some rest."

"Ugh we're not tired!" Paul complained, stifling a yawn. "We're fine really Megan." Luke complained. "Yah!" Simon said. He yawned right after it. "Or not…" "Yeah you do!" I said back. "Never!" The boys screamed at me, a gleam in their eyes.

"Yes!" I hollered back.
"No!" They retorted, laughing.
"Yes!" I laughed.

We burst out laughing and it felt good. This is seriously the best I've felt in a while and clearly the same with them. They smiled and slapped the table as they tried to catch their breath. I sighed a bit. If only every day was like this. Slowly we all got our breath back. Luke whispered eagerly into Paul and Simon's ears.

"We will go to sleep." Luke declared. "Good, now go-" I was cut off. "Once you kiss me." Luke said with a smile.

I stared at him. Kiss him? I know I've done it before. Plenty of times. But now it felt a bit weird. He had pulled away from the hug but now he wanted to kiss me? I looked confusedly at him.

"He needs to remember!" Paul said.
"He needs to feel love again." Simon said, his eyes sparkling, with a silly grin on his face.
"Are you sure?" I asked.
"Of course." Luke replied.

I stood up and he did too. I smiled at him. He leaned forward as did I. My eyes fluttered closed as I got closer to him. Suddenly I felt his lips against mine. He pulled away. He stared at me. I was worried. What if he didn't love me anymore? Then he pulled me close and kissed me again. And again.

"Gross!" Paul screamed, laughing. "Hey guys we should put the fire out now. It's getting dark." Simon said. "And we've seen enough kissing for today." Luke pulled away and smiled. "Alright."

We put out the fire and pushed all of the sleeping bags we now had into a row. Simon and Paul were both curled up in their sleeping bags, chatting. Luke sat by me. "Are you sure you want to keep watch?" He asked. "Of course! You guys need some major rest. Anyways I rested a lot when we driving to the store." I replied. "Alright. Well thanks for saving us," Luke said as he touched my arm, sending goose bumps all the way up it. "You really saved us and you made me myself again." "I know." I said simply. "Now go rest up!" I said with a laugh.

Luke nodded but before he got up, he leaned forward and kissed me. "Hugs and kisses are way better than punching and kicking." He said as he walked over and curled up in a sleeping bag. I walked forward and sat on top of a log. With my customized M14 on my lap, I searched through the woods for any zombies. I couldn't help but listen to the boys talking as they fell asleep. It had also begun to snow which really sucked. But Luke had given me his hoodie before he walked away.

"Luke you were so right." Paul yawned. "She is really hot."
"And nice." Simon added.
"And fun." Paul added.
"And smart." Simon said after yawning.
"And kind." Paul yawned in the middle of 'and'. "And now she's pretty kick butt."
"You're lucky man. You've got a girl in this apocalypse." Simon let out a laugh-yawn.
"I know I know." Luke sighed. "She is amazing isn't she?"

They were quiet after that and I could only assume that they finally fell asleep. Those compliments filled my mind and I smiled. They had said that about me and they have only known me for a few hours. No one in my old group had said anything so nice in forever. Nor have they laughed and joked around like these guys are. Seriously my best day in the apocalypse. Well maybe not the beginning but without I wouldn't have found them. I kept watch, shivering in the dark.

The sun was getting close to rising. I shivered. Still pretty darn cold out here. Suddenly I felt something slip over my shoulders. It was a sleeping bag. I smiled and looked up. Luke. "Go rest. I'll get everyone up when the sun is fully up." He said. He looked rested and like himself. Well, he needed a haircut and some clean clothes but that could be fixed today.

"Alright. Thanks." I said with a yawn and stumbled over to the row of sleeping bags and curled up inside of one.