A/N: Yay, another chapter out! I'm really feeling this story right now; I love writing it. So, here's another fricken LONG one! We're almost to day seven, too ;) I can't wait until these day are done, just like you guys.

And real quick, before the chapter begins, I just want to have a quick shoutout to RedVelvetPanPan and Shadow knight 1121 for reviewing these last couple of chapters! Thank you guys so much :D Since no one else has left a review lately, I'm assuming you're the only two reading this, ha. But that's okay with me; you two are on one hell of a ride!

Update as of 5/10/19: Two other people have reviewed since! awfulwaffel and Stef! Thank you all so much!

I try to fall back asleep, I really do, but it seems like I'll have another sleepless night on the Abigail. I'm frustrated and pissed off, but it doesn't change the fact that I'm unable to rest. So I try the next best thing.

Quietly, I pad up the steps to the main deck, quickly finding Alycia resting on the floor. The comforter tightly curls around her and covers most of her head; only her eyes and nose barely peak through. Nick rests beside her, still in his old man outfit, both looking up at the stars.

"Room for one more?" I quietly ask.

"Take a seat, Pete." Alycia answers, shuffling in the comforter to gesture to the side of her. I take the answer happily, flopping on the ground and letting my hair fly around in a messy halo. Then I focus my eyes on the stars. Bright, shining, twinkling. Wonder if I can find the scorpious constellation Chris was talking about. My eyes search for a curved line and pitchfork-like end, but to no avail. But that's fine; the stars give me comfort anyways.

It's something I need tonight; comfort. And this is as close as I'm gonna get to it.

The next day rolls around, and at breakfast I grab coffee instead of my normal tea. It's absolutely disgusting and bitter, even with sugar and cream added, but I need caffeine in my system. I try to down it without gagging too much.

My insomnia is starting to show. Dark circles form under my eyes. But in this world, with the dead roaming around, I can't afford that. I have to be alert 24/7. I can't chance anything. I'm not letting these nightmares win.

Strand tells us that the blimp is farther away now, much farther than before, so the second it's gone from view we're heading back to sea. It shouldn't take too long. Barely a day, hopefully.

A few of us head to shore anyway, just to tell George and his family that we should be gone before nightfall. I follow, too, not because of that, but because I want to spend a little more time with Willa and Harry. We're probably the only new people they'll see for a good long while. Let them have some fun with us before they're stuck with their family for who knows how long.

With two quick raps on the front door, I patiently wait for the wood to swing open. Because, y'know, manners in the apocalypse are important.

Melissa answers the door, smiling when she sees me. "Hi, Tina."

"Tina!" Willa exclaims when she hears my name. Her little legs sprint to the door, quickly running over to give me a hug. Her spaghetti arms make their way around my middle, and I chuckle.

"Hey, kiddo." I grin down to her. My hand rests on her shoulder, giving it a squeeze before she pulls away.

"Looks like you have an admirer." Melissa comments. I nod. "That's good—good for Willa. She was always a little shy, so having friends is… It's good."

"Mooom!" Willa whines. "That's embarrassing!"

"It's okay, love." I say. "I'm shy, too. Very shy."

Another face invades my vision, one I'm not too familiar with. I remember his name—Seth, the older kid—but I barely met him last night at our impromptu wine-and-babysit night.

He barely looks at me before striding to the open door, a pickaxe in hand. I try not to stare at the dried blood splattered on the hilt. "I'm going to the fence, mom. You okay?"

"Yeah," she smiles to him. "Yeah, we're good here. Be safe."

"Can do." He throws a hand over his shoulder to wave goodbye before hopping down the steps and trailing off to the left. Nice to meet you, too.

"Why don't you and Tina head upstairs to draw for a bit?" Melissa offers to Willa, turning my attention back down to the munchkin.

I look down to her. "How's that sound, kiddo? I can draw some great stick figures."

"I wanna try and make a dragon!" She excitedly tells me. Her hand grasps at mine, pulling me away from her mother.

I wave at Melissa with my other hand. "I guess I'm being kidnapped. I'll talk to you later!"

She laughs and waves back before Willa and I pass the corner into their living room, and I bound up the steps to her room.

"Alright, so we have dragon on the list, what else do you want to draw?" I ask. Willa pulls out a small, dark blue plastic table from the corner of the room into the middle so we can sit beside it.

"I want to draw a princess, a prince, and even a knight!" She says as she drops to the floor, looking underneath the bunk beds. She sticks her hands underneath and pulls out a plastic container filled to the brim with crayons, colored pencils, and other arts and crafts materials. "Ooh, and a huge pink castle! What do you want to draw, Tina?"

I grab a blue crayon, along with a purple one and a green one. Willa takes a couple papers out of the stack she has on her desk and sets them haphazardly on the table. "I'm thinking… How does a mermaid sound?"

"Mermaids are pretty!"

"Yes, they are. Maybe I'll even draw some fish, and seaweed too." I tap the purple crayon against my chin, looking up to the ceiling as if in thought. Then I look back down to Willa, a gleam in my eye. "How about an octopus?"

"An octopus?" She scrunches her nose in disagreement. "That's weird."

"Ursula was an octopus in The Little Mermaid! And she had eels."

"Eels are even weirder."

"That settles it!" I proclaim, setting the purple crayon to a blank paper. "I'm drawing only octopi and eels today. They will be the best drawings I have ever made, mark my words."

She laughs at my overzealous tone, but shrugs. "Okay, Tina. I'll have fun drawing my princess in her castle."

I laugh back. "Deal."

Two gorgeous (horrid) octopi, a swarm of eels, and an Ariel later, my hand starts to cramp from all the doodles. I set my ocean blue colored pencil on the table, and hold up my drawing proudly for Willa to look at. "What do you think?"

She looks at it for a long time, a hard glare gracing her features. Considering it's only Ariel floating in a sea of water, with a poorly done tail and purple-shelled bra, I'm bracing myself for the worst.

Then she smiles. "I like it!"

"Yay!" I say jovially. I set the paper down neatly, and take the red colored pencil I used for Ariel's hair. "I'm gonna sign it, then." I spell out my full first name in block letters so Willa can read it easily. "Remember Willa, whenever you paint or draw, always be sure to put your name on it. That way people will know who made it."

"Okay. I'm a great speller, so I'll put my name on here right now."

"Good." When she finishes her name, she proudly holds up her drawing. I gasp for emphasis, "Oh, wow. Good work, Willa!"

Granted, she used only crayons so the lines aren't too defined, but she put a lot of work into it. The princess on the left wears a long purple dress, with large dots of yellow on the end to resemble jewels. The castle—which she indeed made pink—has one large pike in the middle, and what I'm assuming is supposed to be a stone wall along the bottom. Her knight has armor made in silver/gray, with his face plate open. He's smiling to the princess. At the very top of the page is her name, drawn in yellow crayon. Towards the bottom right corner of the page is a green blob with a long yellow and green tail, and a frown on the oval-shaped face.

"I feel bad for your dragon. He doesn't look like he's having fun."

"Well, he's a dragon." Willa shrugs, setting the paper down and grabbing another blank one to work on. "He's mean, and he tried to ruin the princess's happy ending. But he didn't, the knight defeated him. Now his happy ending is ruined."

"Don't you think the dragon could try to be nicer, and he could have a happy ending, too?" I say. I always hated that there was never a book where all the characters lived happily ever after as a kid. I loved the dragons, even if they were mean. "Maybe he and the knight could work together to defend the princess and keep the kingdom safe."

"No." Willa shakes her head. "The dragon doesn't think like we do. He couldn't be nicer, even if he tried. It's not how dragons behave. Just like when those sick people wash up on the beach."

I frown at her words, but add no more. It's just a picture. If that's what she wants to believe—and she should think that way about the infected—who am I to stop her? It's best she never goes near them, and if this is the way she keeps her distance, then good.

I just wish she didn't have to think this way. She and Harry should be able to live in a normal childhood, not in a post-apocalyptic shithole.

A slight ruffle from the room next to us pulls me out of my thoughts. I look over to Willa curiously. "Who do you think that was?"

Willa fixes her paper to line up with the edge of the table precisely before standing. "It sounded like it came from my daddy's study. I'll go check."

"Okay." I nod. "I'll stay here and try to draw Rapunzel." It, and The Princess and the Frog, were the last two Disney movies to come out, before the world ended. Willa seemed to enjoy talking about the movie, so I'm sure I could draw something resembling the blonde before my group goes back on the Abigail.

She nods quickly, saying, "Okay!" before trekking off to the next room over.

I make a quick outline of Rapunzel's dress in purple as I listen to the encounter in the other room. "Hi Nick!"

I smile to myself as he joyously says, "Hey! Willa!" I hear more shuffling before he adds, "Where is everybody?"

"Come draw with me and Tina."

"Oh, I-I can't draw. No, no, no." He replies. I can hear the playful air of his tone.

"Draw!"

"Alright. Alright, come on. What should we draw?" The light sound of footsteps gets closer as they walk back down the hall.

"Well, Tina's drawing Rapunzel, and I already drew a princess, a knight, and even a dragon!"

The two are holding hands when they walk through the door. Nick smiles as she lets go of his, scampering to grab her finished paper. She holds it out for him to see. "Oh, look at that! That's a great drawing! You should be an artist when you grow up."

"I want to be," Willa confesses. She and Nick sit on the floor, on opposite sides of the table. Willa's right in front of me, and Nick is to the left. "But daddy and mommy say I need to be the gardener here when I'm older. We need to keep our vegetables and fruits alive so we have something to eat."

I frown again as I add Rapunzel's face onto my paper. My hand circles around and around in emerald green to make her eyes. Poor kid. But I fake optimism as I say, "Well, who says you can't be both? You could draw tomatoes and carrots. Talk about beautiful muses." Willa lets out a small chuckle as she grabs sap green from her plastic box.

"Alright, what do you want to draw now, Willa?" Nick asks. I note he finally changed his shirt from his outfit. Instead of the horrid stripes, he's decided to wear a blue polo from the Abigail. At least this one properly fits him. The other was too big for his lanky form. Besides, I mentally hum in appreciation, he looks good in blue.

"I'm gonna draw frogs now!" Willa exclaims. "Just like Tiana and Naveen from The Princess and the Frog!"

I scoff playfully. "And you call me weird for drawing Ursula and her eel henchmen."

"At least Tiana and Naveen are the good guys. Ursula and her eels are evil."

"My octopi still came out spectacular, at least."

Nick shuffles through the finished drawings we've set aside, and curiously picks one up. It happens to be my first octopus, where I couldn't quite get the hang of drawing tentacles, so they came out looking like purple half-cooked spaghetti instead. I also tried to make it two-toned, so it's in both dark purple and lavender. It did not come out well. He holds it out to me, raising an eyebrow.

"See, Willa, isn't it great?" I nod proudly, barely containing my laughter.

"It's... Unique, Tina." She giggles.

"Ah, unique. That's a great word, isn't it?" Nick says as he puts the drawing back down. "Always comes in handy at a time like this."

"Mmhmm."

"Oh, I dare you two to try and make octopi." I stick my tongue out at Willa.

"Nah. I'm gonna make my frogs now. Should I put a tiara on Tiana?"

"Absolutely." Nick answers. I nod silently.

By the time the three of us start drawing pictures, a long stretch of silence follows. It's peaceful as I finish up my drawing of Rapunzel, complete with her very own frying pan resting on a hook behind her, and a green blob on her shoulder to represent Pascal, her trusty chameleon. I sign the bottom of it, of course, and set it aside in the finished pile. Then I get to work on drawing Mulan in her armor. I want to attempt to create a cherry blossom tree in the background, but I'm not sure exactly how that'll come to fruition.

"Aaaand, done!" Willa proclaims, holding out her drawing for me and Nick to see.

Indeed, the green blobs resemble frogs. She has them sitting side by side on the longer end of the paper. She used yellow blotches on the frogs to change the color of the green in some areas. Not only is the pair in one shade of green, but in three. One for the general body, a second to create shadows on said body, and the third to create a shadow on the stretch of white behind the frogs. However, all the greens were too close in shade to differentiate between them in some areas, but still. Tiana's crown is in pink, of course, barely connected to the top of the frogs' head.

I grin at it; it's a great drawing.

"Wow, Willa, that amazing!" Nick exclaims.

"Thank you." She responds cheekily. "What do you think, Tina?"

"I think it's great! You made really great frogs, love!"

"And look, I even put my name on top! Just like you said I should." She points to her blocky lettering at the very top of the page in the sap green.

"You're a great speller too, huh?" Nick asks.

"Mmhmm!" She nods matter-of-factly. "I'm really good at it."

"Think you could spell something out for me?"

"Sure!"

He leans forward and whispers something in her ear, out of my hearing zone. I have a pretty decent idea as to what he's asking, though. I grin silently to myself and look down at my paper, focusing on Mulan's armor. It's not like I could intervene and tell him to stop. That would break the rule, and I've already done that once.

So I shut up, keep drawing Mulan, and wait patiently for his bloody message to be delivered.

Willa scribbles out a note in blue, her writing large but at least in a line. I try not to peak at the pair.

"Can I put a heart on it?" She asks, trying to be quiet and serious. She even cups her hand to his ear in hopes the sound wouldn't travel. But alas, she's a kid, and hasn't quite mastered the art of whispering.

"Sure, why not?"

"Okay!" She fishes in the bin for a red crayon and quickly doodles one out. Then she sets the crayon back down and proudly walks over to me, handing me the note.

I chuckle quietly as I silently read out, "Day five. From, Nick." on the paper. Right by his name Willa decided to put a red heart with uneven lines. I thank her for the note with a grin.

Then she leans in close to my ear, cupping it as she did with Nick. "I think he likes you," she hisses out with a giggle.

I look over to him then back to her, and I cup my hand to her ear. "I think so, too." In my mind, I flash back to the kiss we shared in Strand's bathroom. I know so, sweetheart. "Wanna make a note for him?"

She quickly nods and I flip the note to the other side and hand her a green crayon.

"Alright, let's start with..." I lean in close to her and whisper, "You."

She scribbles out the word quickly, and I whisper, "Are. A. Dork."

She scrunches her nose at the last word, stalling to write it down. "That's mean, isn't it?!"

"Only if I wanted to hurt his feelings." I explain. "I'm just playing around. I'm his friend; he knows I'm not being serious, so he won't take it seriously."

"If you say so." She finishes the paper and quickly adds, "From Tina," to the bottom. "Wanna add a heart on here, too?"

"Sure." I nod. She scribbles a heart by my name and hands it over to Nick, who takes it with ease.

"Thank you, Willa." He graciously takes the note with a smirk. "Tell Tina I'll treasure it always."

I roll my eyes at him, saying nothing back.

Then he stands from his spot, leaving the note on the table. "Well, ladies, it was fun, but I have to head back to the boat. I need to talk to my mom to see if we're leaving soon."

"Aweee!" Willa whines. "Okay. Will you come back?"

"Maybe. I'm not sure."

"Tina, will you stay and draw with me, then?"

Nick can go down and talk to Madison and Travis alone, so I nod. "Sure, sweetheart."

"Yay!"

Nick waves goodbye to us as he makes his way to the door. "Bye, ladies."

Once he's gone and I can hear his footsteps down the stairs, I turn back to Willa. "Alright. What should we draw next?"

"Willa! Time to pack your bags!"

"Huh?" Willa and I share a look of confusion over the table as we hear her mother's voice. Melissa runs to the room, Harry in tow, and clarifies. "The Clarkes and Tina are gonna take you and Harry for a ride on their boat. You'll get to be pirates for a couple of days, how does that sound?"

I frown at her words. Strand would never agree to that. Madison would, Travis would, but the owner of the bloody boat would throw these kids to the current the second he could.

Which means Strand doesn't know. Madison and Travis are doing this under the radar. Why? The question remains in my head, but I follow along with Melissa.

"That sounds like fun, mommy!" Willa jumps from her spot on the ground. Her little legs take her to her large closet, where she pulls an old, beaten pink suitcase from the back, resting on the wall. Harry trails close behind her, grabbing his dark blue one.

"What's it like living on a boat?" Harry asks me curiously.

As Willa opens up a dresser, I help her find some of her clothes and stuff them into the suitcase. We should be able to fit enough in there to last her a few days. "It's a lot of fun! We eat fish almost every night, but that's because we catch it and make it ourselves."

"Can you teach me to fish?" Willa asks.

"I don't know how to." I say honestly. "One of our other friends on the boat does. Maybe he can teach you!"

Melissa roughly shoves a shirt into Harry's pack as she requests, "Tell us more. What do you get to do on there?"

"Well, mostly we just get to hang out on the deck and look at the water. It sounds boring, but sometimes you can see the fishes and dolphins swimming. It's like a hard game of eye spy. And if we're going slow, maybe we can go swimming in the water."

"Oh, swimming!" Melissa mutters. "Gotta pack swimsuits, right, kids? Oh, and some toys, too. Willa, remember to grab your elephant."

"Of course, mommy. Can we pack some crayons and colored pencils, too?"

"Take whatever you want, sweetie. Whatever you can pack. I just want you and your brother to have a lot of fun out there, okay?"

It's hard to miss her choking back a breath at the end, like she's trying not to cry. Oh, this isn't just for a few days, is it?

"Okay, we have clothes, swimsuits, crayons, paper, your stuffed animals, Harry's game. What else?"

"I think that's it, mom." Harry says.

"Okay." She swats a piece of hair out of her face before she grabs the cases from her children's hands. "Okay. Do you two wanna look around, see if you want to grab anything else before going? And Tina and I will head downstairs?"

The kids share a look and shrug. Willa says, "Sure," for the pair.

I offer to take Willa's suitcase from Melissa's hands, which she graciously thanks. Before we leave the room, she grabs another stuffed animal and a large toy slingshot by the door, clutching to them tightly. Silently, we trek down the stairs with the suitcases, where we're met by Madison, Travis, and Nick.

"They'll be right down."

Travis takes the suitcases from our hands as Madison asks, "Do they understand?"

"Um, I told them they were going on a boat ride. They'd be back in a couple of days. They're excited about it. Tina talked about it, and they wanna try fishing." She laughs nervously.

"We'll take care of them." Madison says earnestly. Her hands go to Melissa's forearms, holding her tightly. "I promise you, we'll keep them safe."

Melissa hands the slingshot to Madison with shaking hands. "Uh, this-this is Harry's. He gets scared at night. He pretends not to, but he ends up crawling in his sister's bed. We've been trying to discourage him from that, but I think it's okay, y'know? If he does that, it's okay."

"And Willa," Melissa blinks away tears as she smiles painfully, "her hair is-she has this hair," she brings her hand to her hair, motioning herself brushing it. "She'll cry if you comb it, so just wait 'till you shampoo and put conditioner in it and it'll be a lot easier. And-"

"What's going on?" A deep voice asks, hidden away from my eyesight. When I lean over to see past Melissa, I see George in the open doorway of the living room.

You didn't know? Strand doesn't know, George doesn't know.

Shit, we're smuggling the kids onto the boat.

"George-" Travis starts slowly, setting the suitcases onto the floor before taking a cautious step over.

George cocks his head between all of us, landing on Melissa accusingly. "What is this?! Melissa?"

"George." She says softly. She opens her mouth to speak again as she takes a few cautious steps in his direction, but she isn't allowed a chance to.

"Why?" He asks, stepping away from us. Pointedly, away from her. "Why?"

"Listen to me. I love you. I love our family. But we have to give them a chance."

My focus twists over to the stairs, where Harry slowly descends. Not smiling, not even bouncing like he normally does. He's staring widely to his parents, brows furrowing and grip tight on the railing. What's wrong, kiddo?

"I can't look at them every day and see nothing for them, I just can't." Melissa continues.

"Mama?" Harry says, softly but full of emotion. Fear?

"What, sweetie?" She pulls away from George and turns to the stairs, walking to Harry. "What's wrong?" He doesn't say anything, but he stares blankly to her. He's not fearful, he's terrified.

Melissa even feels it, and she bends down to look at him. Her hands grip at his as she asks, firmly, "What's wrong? Tell me. Tell mommy."

Harry's eyes look over to George before landing back on Melissa. "Something's wrong with Willa."

Hearing that strikes a chord in my chest. What the fuck happened in the two minutes we were gone for?!

Melissa jumps from her spot, running up the stairs with George in tow. "Stay here. Don't move, Harry. Stay right there."

I immediately walk over to Harry, bending my knees so I can look up to him. "What happened to her, love?" I will my voice not to shake as I ask the question. Please be okay.

Movement from behind me catches my eye, and I turn to see Nick push past Madison and Travis to do the exact same thing.

"Tina's right. What happened, buddy?"

Harry looks straight into Nick's face. "She took her pill."

Nick's eyes meet mine, full of fear, before turning back to his parents.

Shit. Shit!

I bolt from my spot on the ground, pounding up the steps with the three Clarkes in tow. No, please be okay.

I stop when I make it to her room, freezing when I see Melissa on the ground, holding Willa's tiny form. I search the desk, finding an opened globe on top, split in halves, and a ziploc baggie full of huge pills, one half green, the other yellow.

But Willa, oh… She's not dead. Not anymore. She's already turned.

She's barely moving, but I can see the change in her skin. Her normal, soft glow has gone, replaced by an ashy tone. Eyes, unopened but moving beneath the lids. Her form jerks, moving without purpose in her mother's arms.

Melissa's wailing, completely overtaken by grief. I understand, on some level. While she certainly wasn't my kid—and I don't know half the pain Melissa might be going through—I did care for Willa. I really liked her.

She was amazing. And now she's gone.

Madison reaches the room first, sprinting in and panting out, "No, Melissa! Melissa, you can't hold her."

When Willa opens her eyes, I'm just about ready to cry. The whites are almost bloodshot red with murky blue irises. She's gone. If that isn't enough to convince me, her raspy growls and gnawing jaw are.

"No, you can't hold her." Madison repeats, taking generous steps to the pair on the floor. "It's not safe to hold her."

"She knows." George nearly yells. Travis and Nick burst through the doorframe in time to see Willa's undead form lurch forward and sink her teeth into Melissa's neck.

She screams, falling backwards to the floor. Willa bites and tears, grabbing at her mother's form. She climbs over her, gnawing teeth yanking at any form of skin she can reach. George screams, tears forming in his eyes as he watches two girls he loves leave him behind in this world.

"Maddy! Tina!" Travis calls, gesturing wildly for us to get out of the room. I do so quickly, running past him and Nick as fast as my legs can take me.

I pound down the steps, palming away at a few escaped tears as I reach Harry at the bottom.

"Is Willa okay?" He asks me.

I choke back as a sob as I say, "I'm sorry Harry, Willa and your mum are sick. We're gonna go on the boat ride without them."

I don't know how much I should say. How much should he know? He understands that the dead are dead, but should he know that parts of his family have joined the infected?

The Clarkes follow my steps, sprinting to reach the bottom. George isn't with them. I don't want to think what that means.

"C'mon, Harry, let's go to the boat." Nick utters, picking up Harry with ease and throwing him over his shoulder.

Travis grabs at Harry's suitcase, ordering, "Go, go! We gotta leave now!"

"What about my daddy and Seth?" Harry shrieks over Nick's shoulder.

"They're gonna stay here, okay sweetie?" Madison tells him. "Don't worry, we're gonna keep you safe."

We bolt our way down the steps, through the beach, and all the way back to the deck, where Daniel is undoing the tether. Holy shit, great timing. We need to go now.

"What happened?!" He asks.

"They turned!" Is all Travis says. Easiest answer. "We're taking the boy with us."

Nick is the first to hop onto the boat, making sure to set Harry down on the deck as gently as possible. Chris, looking over the edge of the boat, eyes us warily. Don't ask questions.

"I want my dad. I want my momma." Harry mumbles.

Madison hops up the steps and runs over to him, trying to offer some comfort. "I know, I know, but this is what they want. They want us to take care of you."

"What happened to Willa?"

Nick bends down, looking up to Harry as he comfortingly rubs at the kid's arm. "She got sick, okay?"

Daniel tosses the rope tethering the boat onto the deck haphazardly, quickly following it and running up the stairs to get on as well.

Okay, that's everyone. Time to go. Now.

"Come on, lets go inside." I offer to Harry, gently pushing him inside the boat. I take a spot on the couch, letting him sit beside me for some comfort. Nick sits on the other side of him so he feels at least a tad safer. I can't meet Alycia or Ophelia's eyes as they stare at me, the kid, and Nick. I think I'm still in shock from Willa and Melissa.

"Madison!" Strand bellows. He sprints down the curving steps leading into the dining area. "What have you done now?!"

"We're taking him with us. We have room." She tells. Not asks; tells.

Strand points to the kid. "Put him back where you found him."

It's almost comical, the way he says it. In my mind I play, "Put that thing back where you came from or so help me," from Monsters Inc. If only this scenario was as funny as that.

"We have room!"

"We do not. Children are the definition of dead weight."

Harsh, Strand. Subtly, I bring an arm around Harry's shoulders and press my hand to his ear. He doesn't need to hear them fight. Poor kid has been through enough today.

"You're not doing this again!" Madison hisses. "You don't get to decide who lives and who dies!"

"That's exactly what I do."

"There's no debate! We're doing this; now move the goddamn boat!" She stares him down, unwavering in her stance. He stares back just as harshly.

Then a gunshot sounds from the dock.

I jump in my spot as I hear Seth scream, "STOP!" Nick brings a hand to cover Harry's eyes. Whatever happens next, he's right; Harry shouldn't have to see or hear a bloody thing.

Seth pounds his feet on the steps, pointing his rifle to the closest person to the opening of the boat, which happens to be Travis. "Get back! Get back!"

He points his rifle to Madison next, her arms outstretched in surrender. Then he calls to his brother. "Harry. Harry, come here. I'm taking you home."

"No, no!" Madison exclaims. Seth juts the barrel of his gun out further to her menacingly.

"Look, there's no home anymore." Travis says slowly.

"Shut up." Seth commands, flicking the gun back to Travis.

"You don't know what's back there!"

"Shut up!"

"Listen to me-"

"I know what's there!" Seth yells. "It's our home. This is still our home!"

"Seth, your dad doesn't want this anymore." Travis speaks softly, praying the message will sink in. "He told us to take him."

"My father told me what he wants! He taught me!"

"But he changed his mind."

Seth's eyes flicker, conflicted, but his gun stays trained firmly at Travis' chest. "No, no. I don't believe that."

"Come with us, Seth." Madison offers pleadingly. He points the gun back to her. "Please."

Barely visible, Daniel brings a small handgun to the side of Seth's head. Throughout the screaming, he's been quiet, standing to the corner of the room. I hear the flicker of the safety being turned off; the only noise he's made throughout this whole ordeal. Madison warns, "Daniel, don't."

Seth realizes he's trapped, but still, he's unwavering. "I can get at least one of you guys. Maybe more. Is that what you want?" He flicks the gun back to Travis, staring him down. "Hmm? Just let us go home! Just let us go!"

"You don't need to go with him." I whisper into Harry's ear.

"You can stay with us." Nick pleads.

"No." Harry says. "I wanna to home."

I want to scream. I want to protect him, I want to hold him and keep him safe. Most of his family is gone; all he has is Seth. He's better off with us. But, still, that's not what he wants. I can't say no to his wishes.

Harry stands from between us, quietly walking over to Seth. Seth nods encouragingly.

"C'mon, Harry, let's go." Harry hugs Seth's middle tightly, sighing into the fabric of Seth's jacket.

One last time, Seth points the barrel of his gun toward Madison. "You caused this."

"I wanna go home." Harry mumbles into Seth's clothes.

Seth nods, slinging the rifle onto his back. "Yeah, let's go home now."

He takes Harry's hand, the two walking to the edge of the boat. Seth hops off first, and grabs Harry to take him off the boat. I walk to the edge and grasp at the railing with the others, watching in horror as he takes the poor kid back to his undead home.

Just as the two start walking down the dock, a low grumbling fills my ears. One I have become all too familiar with. A dead one.

I look to where the dock connects to land, and it's Melissa, infected and dead. She limply makes her way over to her only two surviving children, slowly but surely.

"Oh, no." I whisper under my breath.

"Momma?" Harry questions.

Seth bends down to look to Harry as Ophelia looks to Daniel. "Can't you do something?"

He shakes his head, passing Ophelia and making his way back into the dining area. "The kid has a rifle."

"I want you to wave bye-bye to the nice people, okay?" I hear Seth ask Harry. "All right, just keep waving."

Harry turns to look at us, away from his mother, and gives a happy wave to the Abigail. Madison waves back, not once stopping as Seth raises the rifle and points it to his mother.

I wave back erratically, and when Seth cocks the rifle Harry almost turns to look over to the noise. I catch his attention, yelling out, "Goodbye, Harry!"

"Bye-bye, Tina!" He calls back, still waving. God, don't stop waving.

I want to turn away; I don't want to watch Seth kill his mom. But I do. It's like watching a train wreck, you can't pull your eyes away from it.

Harry turns around, jumping at the sudden noise. That's when I turn away; when he and Seth walk over to their mom's body, and Harry begins to cry.

When dusk falls and night follows, I'm silent when I head to bed. I get there first before Alycia, quickly changing into some pajama shorts and my black sports bra. I'm hoping I won't have any nightmares tonight, seeing as how I've worked through my shit. At least, I think I worked through it.

When Alycia walks in, her eyes glaze over to me, but she doesn't say anything. Neither do I. It's not a, "talk about it," kind of mood. After everything today, we both just want to pass out and hopefully wake up to a better morning.

So she gets into bed, worming her way underneath her blankets. I fling mine on top of me, and slowly, with the only light in the room being the red numbers on the digital clock, we drift off to sleep.

"Oh, I'm so glad you could make it!" I say cheerfully, my long arms hugging Ophelia.

"Wouldn't miss it for the world! It's not every day a gal turns 25." She tells me, pulling me to an arm's length. "Love the haircut. And the ring! I'll never get over that ring. We need to hang out more often."

"I promise I'll visit you down in El Salvador this summer, okay?"

"You'll love it." She winks to me as we walk further into the room, where most of the party is. My parents animatedly talk to Madison and Travis. Nick, Alycia, and Chris are pulled aside, playing a mean game of cards on the table lined with appetizers. Other friends are lounging about, people I used to hang out with during school. Daniel's standing by himself, resting against the wall with a red solo cup of punch in hand. He waves to me, a small smile resting on his face. "I'll have to show you everything. And we can bar hop!"

"Please don't get me too drunk, Ophelia. If I start slurring my words, cut me off."

"Oh, you're no fun." She bumps her hip against mine as we make our way to the punch bowl. "Anyone else coming?"

"I invited Strand, but that doesn't mean he's coming." I pour myself a glass of the punch. I take a sip and purse my lips at the taste. Oh, yeah, it's spiked.

"Of course I'd come." A deep baritone says from behind me. I turn, seeing him in a pristine black suit. Always wore the finest, even in the apocalypse. "I always keep my obligations, don't I?"

"Nice to see you again, Strand." I grin sweetly. Then I point out, "You weren't at the wedding, so I just assumed you'd send a postcard for this, too."

"Ah, I was indisposed that month." He explains. "Hope this makes up for it." He fishes a small box from his breast pocket, covered in blue gift wrapping, and hands it to me.

"Thank you!" I say.

"Only the finest for Mrs. Cristina Clarke."

I gently tear the paper, open the box, and am stunned. It's a necklace, with two levels of skinny gold chain, and a single heart in the middle of each. The first heart on top is slightly larger than the bottom one, with space to dangle in between the two.

"Oh, my goodness, Strand." I gasp in awe. "It's beautiful."

"I know my jewelry." He smiles to me. He holds out a hand, and I place the box back into his palm. With ease, he takes the necklace out, and I turn around so he can set it on my neck. When he clasps it in place, the slight weight of the necklace sets comfortably on me.

"You didn't have to get me anything, you know." I say, my hand reaching up to my neck and playing with the hearts.

"I know." Strand smirks. "But I am a man of my word. I don't like missing out on obligations, like the wedding. I need to go apologize to Nick, too." He pulls out another small box, this one covered in black velvet, and jerks his head over to the man in question. "Ladies, if you don't mind."

"Of course." I gesture to Nick. "Go. He'll love to see you."

He takes his leave and strides over the three siblings, and I watch him and Nick converse happily.

"Who'd have thought that we'd all be here now?" Ophelia muses aloud. "After everything we've been through, we still get to make it here."

"I know." I say, eyes gleaming happily. "Dreams do come true, I guess."

"Alright everyone!" My dad announces. He's at the table in the middle of the dining room, the cake in the middle with the candles lit. "The cake is on fire, now we shout at her."

No, I immediately think, a rush of fear bursting through me. Not again.

But it's like I can't control my bloody movements. With a skip in my step, I take a seat at the head of the table, and dad gently pushes the familiar cake towards me as he sits beside me. Mum follows, taking the spot next to him with a grin in my direction.

"Alright, everyone, on three!" Dad announces. "One, two..."

Mum begins to cough, her hand clutching at her chest. "Oh, sorry love." She tries to stifle the next cough, almost successfully.

"Thanks Laura." Dad rolls his eyes playfully. "Alright, take two! One, two..."

Mum hacks again, barely able to control the fit. Her hand at her chest balls into a tight fist and she taps harshly at herself, hopefully dislodging whatever's causing the fit.

"You alright, mum?" I cautiously ask.

Her eyes begin to water with the irritation, but she waves at me dismissively. "Just a frog in my throat, nothing to worry about." She lets out a little wheeze at the end, and I frown. Doesn't sound fine to me.

With quick, shaking fingers, she grabs a napkin from the table and coughs into it harshly. When she finally stops, she's looks at it curiously. Blood.

"Oh, dear." She says darkly, dropping the bloody paper like it's on fire. Then, in two seconds, she drops to the floor like a ragdoll.

"Mum!" I screech, immediately bursting out of my seat. The concerned gasps of others fill my ears, most noticeably my dad's right beside me, but I train my focus on her.

Kneeling beside her, my index and middle finger search the side of her neck for a pulse. I've done this before, even pre-med school, so I'm fairly confident in my skill.

But I find no pulse. And I'm terrified. "There's no pulse. There's no pulse!"

Okay, Tina, you're a trauma doctor. You know what to do. "Dad, call 911. I'm starting CPR." My hands meet together above her chest, my right fingers curling around the left ones, and begin to compress deep to keep her blood flowing. My mind is a blur, but I manage to keep myself counting aloud the numbers of compression.

CPR works really well; in fact, patients who receive CPR moments after collapsing have a high survival rate. But not once have I seen it work this fast. When mum jerks underneath my hands after only a set, I'm relieved. She'll be extremely disoriented, and will probably have some amnesia, but she should be alright.

I'm just not expecting her to lurch forward from her spot, opened eyes revealing gray, lifeless irises and her teeth gnawing at the open air.

I try to fly back from her, screaming, but she's too fast. Her undead arms manage to claw at me, holding me in place as her teeth sink into my cheek, ripping at my flesh like its paper mâché. The pain is unbearable. It burns unlike any other feeling I've felt.

She bites at my shoulder, and all I can do is scream.

"Tina, WAKE UP!"

I bolt forward in my bed, just like every other bloody nightmare. Blankets flying, sweaty skin, disoriented mess. This time, though, I'm truly screaming out loud, just like I was in my dream.

"God DAMMIT!" I hiss, bringing my hands to my sweaty face. Alycia's by my bedside again, keeping her distance as I frustratedly groan.

"You okay?" She asks cautiously.

"Do I look okay?!" I bark, then feel the instant sting of regret. She's only trying to help. I sigh. "Sorry, I didn't mean to—I just... I thought I worked through my issues. Evidently not." My tone is bitter towards the end, but I can't help it. I truly thought I fixed my issue.

The door to the bedroom bursts open, Nick standing in the open doorway. His eyes are wide as he searches my bed, landing on me. Shit, I must've been loud.

"Nick?" Alycia asks, her hand gently snaking its way to my back, rubbing soft circles like before. It helped then; it's helping now.

"Are you..." He starts nervously, staring at me. "Are you okay?"

I nod slowly. I'm not, but it's not his issue to deal with.

"She's fine." Alycia says softly. "Go back to bed."

He looks at me, those soft brown eyes telling me he would rather hop into bed beside me and make sure I was as fine as I said I was, but instead he takes a deep breath.

"You sure?" He asks me solely, waiting for me and only me to respond.

"Positive." Oh, I sound pathetic. I sound as far away from fine as I could be. With this hoarse, soft, defeated tone? I don't believe me. "Go back to bed, Nick. I'm fine."

"Okay." He jerkily nods. "Okay." He repeats, pulling away from the door and slowly closing it behind him.

"Ah, shit." I mutter. "Who else do you think heard?"

"You were..." Alycia fails to find a delicate way of explaining it. "You were screaming bloody murder, Tina. I would be surprised if the rest of our group didn't hear."

"Great." I mumble bitterly.

I thought I was done with this. I really thought I let everything out last night. What else could I possibly work through? The only thing I have left is the phone.

…

The phone.

With newfound determination, I stand from my bed and yank my phone from underneath my pillow. Then I trek to the door with purpose.

"Where are you going?" Alycia calls behind me.

I rip the door open and take a small step over the threshold. "I'm getting rid of my phone!"

"Your phone?" She asks incredulously. She has reason to be. It sounds crazy.

"Yup." I pop the, "p," with vigor. "My six hundred American dollar phone! Don't wait up."

She doesn't get a chance to respond as I shut the door behind me and trek through the dark hallway and up the steps leading up to the main deck with vigor.

I pull myself to one of the railings, ready to toss the bloody thing into the ocean. And I try. I pull my arm back behind my head, phone in hand and ready to chuck it far into the water. But I can't. Not like this.

I sigh deeply. Damn my feelings. Bringing my hand back, I click on the screen, then flick through my contacts until I find mum's number.

I bring my phone to my ear, listening to the dials, my mum's message, and then the robotic voice. I smile painfully as I hear her voice. Tears well in the corners of my eyes. Do I really want to do this?

Yes, yes I do.

"Hi mum." I start softly. "And dad, too. I know that if you're out there, or dead, you're there together. I called tonight, because..." I sigh. "Let me restart. This is my last voicemail. I had another nightmare again. I thought, after last night, after understanding all my pent-up anger and grief, I'd get a good night's sleep, but I didn't. I guess I haven't; not while I still have the phone and I can still call you, like right now."

I close my eyes, my voice wavering. "You. Are. Dead. And I need to deal with that, really deal with that. I'm not getting anywhere by calling you. This last message... I'm saying goodbye. I love you, and that's why I need to let myself grieve. You are not here. No matter how much I want you to be, how much I want you to hear these... It's not happening. You are dead. It's painful, but it's true. So consider this your funeral, and this message your eulogy."

With nimble fingers, I pull the phone from my ear, staring at it. The one thing I have left of my parents, and I'm throwing it to the fishes.

"Goodbye, mum and dad. I love you."

And, with a huge weight lifting off my shoulders, I let the phone fall from my fingers and into the dark ocean. The soft PLOP in the water sends small circles to beam out, rippling against the waves from the boat. My eyes follow the movement of the phone in the water, locking on the device until I can't see it anymore.

I sigh deeply, closing my eyes and feeling the breeze billow against my form. They're officially, completely gone. Good. There's a pain in my chest, but it's better than what it was before. I'll properly grieve.

"Can't sleep?" I hear a voice say after a small moment of silence. Flicking my head over my shoulder, I see Strand on the highest level of the deck, resting in his captain's quarters. He stretches his long arms over the railing, staring down to me.

"Something like that." I answer, shrugging. "Why aren't you asleep?"

"Keeping my eye on the radar, making sure our friendly blimp stays gone."

I nod in understanding and stare back up to the night sky, focusing on the twinkling lights. Big Dipper is easy enough to spot; it's right above my head. My eyes trail through the stars, relaxing easy in the soft glow.

Then I look behind the boat, staring at the water rippling, and bringing my eyes to the sky. And I smile.

An uppercase C, a swiggly curve, and a pitchfork-like end. I found the scorpious one. Chris would be proud.

"Have fun with that. Good night, Strand." I say, and trek back to the stairs leading down to my level with less energy than before. Now, I'm just tired and sad. I want sleep. Please let me sleep.

I prowl slowly through the dark hallway, passing the empty doors and the rooms of my friends. I intend to go back to my own, with Alycia hopefully already asleep, but my feet stop me at the door just before ours.

And I think. Would it be bad to wake him up? Probably. He's most likely back asleep. I should not knock on this door.

Knock, knock.

"Come in?"

I should not come in.

But against my better judgement, my hand grasps at the doorknob and lets myself in.

Nick doesn't say anything when I shut the door behind me. He stares curiously, his lower half covered underneath his blankets. It's hard to see in the dark, but I could point out those piercing brown orbs anywhere, staring at me with a softness and curiousness that's uniquely Nick.

"Can I..." Oh, this is stupid. Leave.

Well, I'm already here. Might as well ask. "Can I sleep with you?"

He responds quickly, jerking a nod. "Yeah. Yeah, of course."

I take a few tentative steps toward his bed as he asks, "Left or right?"

"Right."

He readjusts to the left, pulling the blankets out of my way and allowing some space for me to hop in. I crawl over the sheets and pull myself under, letting my head fall backward onto the pillow of this side. He adjusts on his end, so the blankets keep flying, but I don't really care. I can already feel the jaws of sleep pulling me in. I shuffle myself onto my side, so I'm looking over to Nick. He's done the same thing.

"Can I... Can I?" He holds an arm out, gesturing to me.

"Please." I nod, and he gently snakes it around my waist, pulling me closer so we're flushed against each other. I never put on a shirt after waking up, so I'm still clad in my sports bra and shorts. His fingers gently trace circles onto the naked skin of my back, and I try not to shiver under his touch. I'll admit, my face is probably a bit more flushed than before, but I can chalk it up to the blankets and extra body heat instead of sleeping beside Nick.

Once we're settled comfortingly and his head is resting a few inches above mine, he quietly murmurs, "You wanna talk about it?"

"No." I say softly into his chest. My arms wraps around his middle as I add, "I don't want to think about it anymore. I just want to fall asleep in the arms of someone who makes me feel safe."

"Okay," is his response. He tightens his hold on me, gently squeezing before releasing.

Just as my eyes slowly blink, I realize I'm falling asleep. But here, with Nick, with the phone gone, I think I'll finally have a decent night's rest.

A/N: Alright, that was a trip and a half, phew! Two more days. Hopefully no more nightmares. How do you guys feel about all this? Let me know in a review or PM! They seriously make my day :)

Update as of 5/10/19: I am still thirsty as fuck for reviews and PM's. Please val-i-date me!