Hello everyone, sorry for the long delay. Had a lot going on in real life. But this story will still continue and will probably be my top priority while the other stories that I've planned to continue are either canceled or postponed indefinitely. In the meantime, here's chapter 10 and I'll see ya next year for Chapter 11 hopefully.

I can also be found on Twitter here at soul_killer13 for any updates on my stories.

Stan closed his eyes, placed a palm on his forehead, and attempted to control his breathing before giving a soft sigh and continued walking among the rest of the group on a concrete walkway. The floor was cold and wet and they have to be careful in order not to slip. The sewer water flowed nearby along with dozens of garbage and plastics and if Stan can concentrate enough looked like a hand floating nearby. Dozens of them floated around the water and they silently dread adults are lurking in the shadows. It did not help that it was eerily quiet, only the sounds of water flowing and Stan's silent cries filled their ears. Stan wanted to cry but wouldn't risk getting unwanted attention from nearby adults. But he lost his friend, he lost Jeremy. He and him were really close when they were little. Now he's gone, he risked his life to save him and the others.

The voice inside Zeke's head wouldn't shut up.

Kill

Kill

He peered at his weapon which was a hammer and examined it. It was a claw hammer with a wooden handle. A weapon that the religious teen will inevitably use on someone. Zeke made sure not to make a scene but these voices just makes him wanna hit a wall. He almost made one back in the church last week, oh how embarrassing that was. He screamed at the voice to get out of his head while banging his said head against a wall multiple times until one of the teens tried to pull him away from getting a concussion. Everyone but Mary looked at him like he was a psychopath. Mary was the only one who tried to reason with Zeke about the issue but even he knew she wouldn't be of any help.

Looking around he spotted Luna. He walked towards her hoping that talking to her would ease out all the screaming in his head.

"Hey," Zeke said to her.

Luna tensed a bit before calming down "Hey,"

He crossed his fingers tightly. Trying to figure out what to say to her. Then he remembered this girl is a Loud and the first person that came to his mind was Lisa.

"So tell me about Lisa," Zeke said much to Luna's confusion.

"Uh, why do you wanna know about her?" A hint of suspicion crossed her face.

"Just curious,"

Luna stared at him before replying. "Well she's really smart there's no denying that,"

Zeke just nodded. "And how smart exactly?"

"Smart enough for Einstein to get a run for his money," Luna joked but when she saw the neutral look on the religious kid's face implied her to act a little more serious. "It's really hard to explain, ever since she was born, she was already learning mathematical equations, building all kinds of robots, and creating scientific experiments that sometimes if not always end in disaster," She made a scoff at that last sentence. At the same time, Zeke was just listening to her explanation.

"Interesting, can't wait to meet her, I'm sure she is a great scientist,"

Luna scoff if only he knew. "Well, you should have seen all the experiments she made,"

Luan held Benny's arm throughout the walk not letting him go.

"You alright?" Benny asked her.

"I think so," Luan answered. "What about you?"

Benny glanced his eyes at the scratches on his knees from the previous attack. "Eh, could be worst, I might get mauled by one of those things,"

Benny tried to make a joke out of that sentence but the uneasiness in the loud's face sort of failed. They didn't say anything after that until Luan spoke again.

"Hey, thanks for saving me back there," Luan gave a small smile with Benny giving his own.

"I would never let you get in harm's way," Benny told her.

Cooper peered down at the damp floor with unease. He looked at Lynn who was staring intently at the ahead while muttering something along the lines of "Not scared"

He fastened his pace to get himself right next to the sport-loving loud. The latter ignored him and just continued walking.

"Slow down Lynn the floor is a little slippery,"

Lynn gave a sigh and slowed down a little. He was right, the floor was slippery. "Whatever,"

Cooper took a small breath before saying. "That was messed up back there,"

"Can you specify that for me?" Lynn remarked still not making eye contact.

"Well…all of it. The adults gathering bodies, Jeremy being bitten, the fact that we had to leave him."

"Hey, he told us to leave while he deals with the adults, there was nothing else we could have done," Lynn told him.

"Yeah but it still doesn't feel right," Cooper felt his stomach twist with guilt. He looked at Lynn who was now staring at him with a sympathetic look.

"I really hate that we had to leave that poor kid, but I didn't see you trying to stay and help him either."

Cooper couldn't think of anything to say.

"There were way too many adults," she continued. "we were outnumbered. And besides, even if we did take Jeremy with us, he was just going to bleed out before we got back to the elementary school."

Cooper looked back down at the ground.

Lynn sighed. "We're not bad people, Cooper. We're just kids, we can't be expected to make good decisions."

Cooper looked back up at Lynn and was about to say something when he yelped and disappeared.

"What the fuck!" Lynn screamed.

Everyone looked at her.

She hurried to the edge of the walkway and saw Cooper being dragged underneath the dirty sewer water by dirty, rotten arms.

"Help!" was all he could say before he was submerged.

Everyone stood around screaming about what to do before Lynn yells at them to shut up.

"The fuck are you all shouting at for?! We gotta help him!" Lynn demanded causing the others to look at each other with unease clearly not wanting to go do a suicide mission. I mean who would blame them after the church incident? I sure as heck wouldn't. But to Lynn Loud, she would just go all out and take it. The sports-loving loud swore before gripping her fist tightly and facing the blackened water. Her body tensed up, the sight of the water below gave Lynn the chills but knew she has to rescue her friend. She took a deep breath. I'm not scared. Gripping her Louisville Slugger tight, and jumped into the dirty water. The last thing she heard was the shouts of everyone including her sisters as she swam downwards.

Lucy, Sasha, and now Sally sat together forming a triangle with Lucy on the top. Sally read her book before placing it on the floor giving off a tired sigh. She glanced at Lucy and stare at her black hair. While it was just as black as her hair. She's had a tad bit of brown on it just like Stan.

"Did you dye your hair?" Sally asked the goth girl.

Lucy stared at her book before answering. "No, I was born like this not sure why but It just happened,"

"So you're destined to be dark, scary, and gloomy," Sally told her with a smile.

"Perhaps," Lucy replied. "You two look very similar you know?"

"What do you mean?" Sasha asked.

"Well, you both have black hair, same head shape, same eye colors, etc. You guys are practically twins,"

Both children looked at each other and examined their appearance. She was right. They do look the same it almost looks uncanny. Like twins. Twins. Suddenly, Sally felt a feeling of emptiness. She had a twin once though she was still very young and couldn't remember anything that happened to her before the age of 3. But Stan told her she used to have a brother and she could remember vivid pictures of her playing with a black-haired boy in the backyard. When she asked Stan where he went he would tell her he is somewhere taking a nap.

Must have been a very long nap.

Silence consumed the air once again apart from the few kids laughing and chatting at each other from the other side of the bookshelf and Lucy.

"This is boring," Sally groaned.

"Where do you want to go?" Sasha asked her a bit annoyed.

"Anywhere from here,"

"Well, we can't, don't you remember what Duke said?"

"Well I don't like him, I don't know why he would be friends with my brother,"

Lucy pondered for a moment then asked the two girls. "Do you guys want to see ghosts?"

They turned to the goth girl with surprise. "I heard there was a janitor here that died back in 2004 and Norm replaced him soon after, rumour has it that he died inside a basement and his ghost still lingers to this day," Sally gave off a smile while Sasha was a little uneasy.

"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go!" Sally chirped while standing up.

"Hold on guys," Sasha stepped in. "Are we sure we should go? I mean that is the place Duke told us not to go,"

"Are you scared?" Sally asked.

"A little, I'm not really a fan of ghosts," Sasha explained.

"Don't worry, Sasha I'm sure it's alright beside you have me by your side," Lucy assured her.

"Come on let's go!" said Sally as she and Lucy dashed through the door. Sasha quickly followed them still reluctant.

Lincoln kept peering his head repeatedly towards the gym door waiting for Lucy to come back. He sat quietly on his chair with one leg propped onto the other. His friends went off into the school roof to relax, he told them he will catch up in a bit. The doors flew open hoping to be Lucy but it was just that bratty kid holding a cup of water and some cookies. He really wished he had gone with them and watched them carefully. He knew not to trust those older kids hanging out in the hallways. He should really think of leaving the gym and finding her.

The fear for Lucy caused another reaction inside the white-haired boy. He felt his body jolt and everything went slow for a few moments. He blinked and wondered what happened. He's been having this for quite sometimes especially whenever he felt fear.

That's when the doors were open and an older kid was leading a child into the room. The child, in particular, had her eyes covered by her palms and her sobs hitched many times.

It was only a backward red hat and blonde hair that made him recognize who the crying child was.

"Lana,"

Lincoln quickly rushed his way over to his little sister and placed both his hands on her shoulder.

"Are you okay?" He asked in concern.

Lana didn't say anything and instantly wrapped her arms around him.

He turned to Marco and asked him what happened.

"It's fucking Grease Monkey," The teen replied coldly with a darkened face.

Lana continues to hug Lincoln tightly while the latter was listening to Marco's explanation as well as the other teens who stood nearby.

"We seriously need to get rid of Grease Monkey. I literally saw him through the window, taunting Lana holding up her dead animals and take a bite out of them just to scare her,"

Hearing that made Lincoln's blood oh so boil. Like before that same feeling was happening again.

"Well, what do we do? Every time we go out there he just runs away like a pussy. We'd be lucky to even get 10 feet away from him," Told one of the teens.

"Then will just chase him this time,"

"Are you kidding me, man we don't even know where he could lead us, it could even be a trap,"

"I want him dead," Lincoln turns to see Lana's red-colored face starring intently on the floor. "I'll even do it myself if I have to,"

"Easy now Lana," Lincoln told her while stroking the back of her head.

"I don't have to go out there. I could go to Tom the boy scout he could teach me how to craft a bow and I could just take out Grease Monkey by an arrow to the face,"

"That's not a bad idea, we could gather wood and some craft bows,"

"Well, what are we waiting for? Come on!"

"Woah, Lana your too young to fight," Lincoln told her.

"Hasn't stopped me before, I've already taken one up close so there's no denying I can take them out in a distance. In fact, you can help me take Grease down I even saw you shooting that adult with a gun,"

"Really?" Asked Marco.

Lincoln felt uneasy being reminded of the first infected he ever killed. You could say his first kill was Myrtle but no, turns out she was alive and someone else killed her.

"Hey Marco, you don't happen to see Lucy don't you?" Lincoln asked.

"Lucy? I think I last saw her going to a library with Stan's sister and this other girl why?" Marco answered.

Lincoln slowly nodded. Of course, she had to be there and she's with Stan's sister huh? It could be Sally. He just hoped they come back quickly.

Darkness engulfed Lynn like ablaze as she felt her foot kicking the dirty waters on different sides. She almost regretted jumping in as she couldn't see anything due to a bit of particle catching her eyes making her blind. Her heart race through her body and her arms are now falling all over and it won't be long before she runs out of breath.

Keep it together Loud, where's your team spirit? Cooper needs your help. She tried her best to calm down and tried to come up with a way to find Cooper without being able to see. Her arms and legs were no longer thrashing and calmed down a little. That's she heard some water splashing from the left along with gurgled screaming. If she concentrates enough. She could tell it sounded like Cooper. And right she was. She swam in that direction and extend her arms, the screams became louder and more vivid. Once she reached her destination, she felt the back of someone's head ramming against her face.

Gotcha!

She used her arms to scan the person's head and figure out if it really was Cooper. Because it was so dark, Lynn couldn't tell. As soon as she figured out it was him she grabbed him by the waist and swam upwards.

Once she made it back to air, she quickly catches her breath. Glad that she finally got Cooper. She could hear her sisters and the others scream at something she couldn't make out. She opened her eyes and it was still blurry but slowly getting normal again.

"LYNN" Luna shouted.

"Don't worry guys, I have him," Lynn said confidently.

"THAT'S NOT HIM!" Stan shouted.

"Huh?" At that moment, Lynn's vision was normal again, and found what she was carrying. A blonde man with blood oozing from his mouth.

"Oh, shit..." The adult lunged towards Lynn pushing her back into the waters. She struggled for air as the adult pushed her through the very bottom of the sewer. She knew it wasn't Cooper the moment how heavy he was when she was carrying her. He grabbed both of her cheeks and tried to bite her but she made sure to grab both of his arms to not let him go near her face. Lynn's legs kicked the waters again but now at the adult before her. This went on for a while and Lynn's grip on the man began to loosen fast. When everything seemed hopeless, Lynn felt another presence emerging to the water and grabbed the adult, lifting the weight of the adult off of her.

What was that? Lynn thought. Wiping her face with her forearm, she turned and spotted Luna holding the adult back with all her might; she held the adult on a chokehold. The adult violently thrashes against the rocker's grip. She saw Lynn and was both relieved and annoyed to see her.

"Hurry the fuck up and take him out!" Luna shouted.

"On it!" Lynn shouted back. She brushed her mace and charged at the grown-up hitting him in his chin before landing a blow to his skull cracking it as a result. No longer moving, Luna grabbed the side of the adult's head and twist it backward. She let go of the adult who sank back into the waters.

Both sisters looked at each other. Lynn gave a thankful look while Luna gave a more irritated one. Clearly upset that Lynn had to go through all of that to try and save someone. Then Lynn remembered. Cooper. Before Luna can swim close to Lynn and punch her for being so reckless. Lynn took a deep breath and swam back into the waters much to the rocker's shouting.

Lynn almost winced when the water catches her eyes, remembering there were dirt-covered waters she had to close her eyes again. It didn't matter, her sense was more important. Once she did sense something, she extended her arms and grabbed something, and lo and behold it wasn't him, it was another adult. Not wanting to deal with this, she used both of her arms and yeets the adult into the surface.

Kill him for me, Luna!

She swam further below and sensed something moving near her; a person drifting in the waters. She grabbed it and swim back to the surface to find Luna along with Sam fighting off the adult Lynn just threw moment before. When Luna saw Lynn she glared at her.

Lynn didn't saw her as she couldn't see anything at all. She coughed up any water that seeped through her mouth and opened her eyes. Making sure what she grabbed was Cooper. And she was happy to say it was indeed him.

"Way to go Lynn!" Jake cheered.

"Not a good time," Zeke told him.

Lynn checked Cooper's face and found he wasn't moving. She rushed back to the group and placed Cooper gently on the floor. She looked at them with furrowed brows. "Don't just stand there help me!"

Luan and Benny rushed towards them. Stan stood there emotionless, Zeke watched Sam and Luna taking out the adult before going to help Lynn while Jake and the rest looked around with unease.

Lynn put an ear on Cooper's chest then began to do chest compression and mouth to mouth. The rest watched with tense expressions while Luna and Sam made their way back to the group to witness the event unfold.

"Come on wake up damn you!" Lynn shouted not wanting to be heroic for nothing. If he died she would be really mad that she had to go through shitty sewer waters and fight an adult for no reason. Just as it looked like it was over, Cooper began to cough up water.

"Hell yeah!" Lynn cheered.

"Ugh fuck!" Cooper cringed at the taste of sewer waters that he coughed up more and more.

As soon as Cooper was done spitting up sewage water he looked up at Lynn. She was being illuminated by a flashlight which made her look like an angel. Even though she was soaking wet with the sewage water.

"Thanks," he said as soon as he caught his breath he soon started coughing.

"Don't mention it," she responded. "I only saved you so I could beat you at basketball when we get back."

Cooper couldn't tell if she was joking or not. Regardless, he couldn't help but chuckle.

"Uh now that you feel okay, there's something else we should be dealing with," Luan said to them before pointing at the darkness behind them.

"Huh?" Cooper asked before they all turned to find a barrage of adults emerging from the shadows with red eyes and bloody mouths and fangs. This caused everyone to panic as most of those adults were those who attacked the church earlier.

How the hell did they get in? Stan thought in fear. I could have sworn I closed it tightly. Zeke meanwhile was beginning to sweat, his head spun a little. Voices were talking in his head. Things like There they are, Kill them, I want that one, No I want it was happening all at once. He placed both his hands on his forehead to try and calm down. Mary saw him and immediately went beside him and stroked his back.

Cooper moaned in pain and felt something painful in his stomach. His body shivered slightly before sneezing which caused Lynn to look back at him and notice that the boy looked much paler than he was before. He was sick she thought. He couldn't blame him since the water literally smelled like blood and shit. But there were more important things that will be dealt with. Putting a hand to his shoulder.

"Are you okay to walk?"

"Yeah, I think so,"

"Good cause I'm won't be carrying you around while you're sick,"

Lynn picked up her baseball bat as they all hurried down the path, away from the approaching danger.

"We really need to find a way out of here," said Luna.

"No shit," Lynn muttered.

"This one!" Jake said pointing at a tunnel. They ran through it and were met with complete darkness. "On second thought go back," He said again.

The group ran for several minutes through the underground maze and each time they ran through every tunnel they could find. For all they knew, if they kept on running, they'd be circling around the globe.

"There!" Luna pointed to an open manhole cover

"Luan, you and Benny climb up first and then we'll let the younger kids go up and you can help them once they reach the top." Both teens nodded quickly climbed up into the ladders. Luna then looked at Lynn, Stan, Jake, and Zeke.

"We need to stay behind and fend off the adults while the kids climb up."

Now Stan spoke. "Why the hell are you giving orders, missy? I'm the leader of this expedition."

"Then step up," Said Luna, clearly not liking Stan's sudden change of tone but she wasn't going to tell him off, it was bad enough he'd just lost his best friend.

"I will, I'll step up and kill all these fuckers. There won't be any left once I'm done."

The voice inside Zeke's head continues to echo through his head and apparently, they know him very much. Kill Kill Kill

Zeke's heart beat fast. Whoever those voices are coming from. They are certainly driving Zeke mad. If he can try and communicate back to them. Maybe they'll shut up. But could he say? Please whoever you are, I'm trying as fast as I can. Please don't rush me. As if his prayers have been answered. The voice stopped.

Thank the Lord in heaven. Zeke thought in relief. He was so relieved in the fact that he hadn't notice Stan waving at him.

"Hey, you fighting or not?" Stan said to him. Zeke stared at him with unease then back to the adults. Being born in a very religious family. His parents strictly thought him to be very kind and forgiving to others. When the adults became blood-thirsty creatures. He just couldn't help but feel very bad about these creatures. He knew they were monsters whose primary objective is to kill and consume the innocent. But the big part of him almost made him want to hug these poor things, cry for them. Pray for them.

Growing impatient Stan told him to go help the others climb up the manhole to which Zeke immediately did so.

"Look here they come!" Luna shouted.

Meanwhile, Luan and Benny were helping the rest of the group climbed up the hole. Sam and Simon helped Cooper up the ladder who was still tired from getting submerged in the water.

"I need to help them," Cooper said in a shaky voice.

"Luna saw the adults emerging from the dark now visible due to the light from the open manhole emanating the blackened place. One-by-one their appearance gets worse. Their green faces were covered with blood, their hands were thrown out and clutched full of grass. One had the greater part of their forehead torn away with their brain protruded.

It was a miracle that she hadn't vomited from this sight.

Stan, Jake, Lynn, and Luna all charged at the approaching adults. Stan managed to get a striking blow on one of the adult's heads, knocking a piece of flesh from the adult's face and making him fall into the water out of balance. Jake pierced his long-bladed machete into one of the adult's stomachs before flinging him into the water as well. Lynn struck one adult and landed head first in the water. She felt her arms getting sore from all of the swinging.

"My goodness," Zeke said as he looked on in bewilderment at the sight of adults getting killed.

"Get out of here if you don't want to help," Lynn shouted at the religious teen who jolted and ran to the other group.

With an unnaturally fast reflex, Lynn swung her bat against an approaching enemy surprising her briefly. Now her arms began to ache even more now. She grunted. The others were facing the same problems. Stan couldn't keep up and just ran from the approaching hoard. Jake on the other hand still has a few energy left in him, seeing the others were beginning to grow tired he raised his right thumb in the air signaling the others to flee.

"You guys go I'll hold this fuckers off," Jake spoke with a low growl at the last sentence.

"Good luck," Luna told him as she, Lynn, and Stan ran towards the ladder. Lynn quickly climbed first almost slipping from the wet metal. Luna nodded at Stan to go first but shook his head and offered her to go first who didn't have any second thought.

At least it would make me look brave when I go last. Stan thought.

Bright sunlight glared at Luna's face once she reached the surface with Sam making her way and helping her get up just as Stan popped his head. How long were we there? She thought. Well, whatever the case, at least I'm away from the shitty place. She looked around the empty buildings, she hoped this was Royal Woods, they were running for like hours down there. She looked at Sam holding Simon tightly with her then at Stan who was staring down the sewers calling to Jake who told him he's coming.

She then looked at the group who were looking in the other direction. All huddled together in a defensive stance. She was confused.

Luna asked Sam what they are looking at and asked if it's another hoard. Sam told her it was another group of kids.

More confusion was drawn on the loud's face. Stan stood up leaving one last look at the manhole, hoping Jake will come out soon. He like Luna was also confused about what the others were looking at. Was it another hoard? Pushing past them with Luna and Sam following him they saw just a few yards away. Stood a group of fifty or so kids most of which were teenagers. Most of them sport light blue jerseys with white numbers printed on them while others were inverted colors; white jerseys and blue numbers.

Luna wondered who they were, Lynn would definitely know who was studying at the group with slithered eyes while Luan stood behind with a worried face, Benny comforting her.

She looked back at the group; sporting a hard, curios, and vigilante face. Each had different sets of weapons like a baseball bat, machete, club, etc. All holding it at ready, daring Luna and the group to make one wrong move.

Finally, it was Stan who did something. He held up his hands and spoke. "Hello."

Dead silence.

"Can we help you?"

One of the groups walked up to him. He was a tall and slightly buff appearance wearing a dark blue shirt and light khakis with some bloodstain on them. What was striking was that the teen wore a football helmet so it was hard for Stan to see his face but he could see a faint of blue eyes inside. Speaking in a mild southern accent he spoke.

"Yeah,"

Stan inhaled and exhaled calmly. He asked him what they can do.

"Want you to tell us where Royal Woods Elementary is,"

Stan jolted slightly in confusion. "Why do you want to go there?" Stan asked.

"That's none of your business." The kid said matter of factly.

"Actually, it is our business."

"How so?"

Stan debated on whether he should tell this kid that they were from elementary school. He continued to look at the group. A lot of them looked tough, but some of them looked scared. He also noticed some younger kids among the group. If this group was comprised of nothing but trouble makers, then surely they wouldn't have little ones with them.

"Because that's our home." Both Luna and Lynn told him.

Stan ignored them, continuing to stare at the kid lowered his weapon, and his eyes beamed with interest.

"Mind taking us there?"

"Why?" Stan asked.

"I know a guy who's really close to me, kinda like a brother from another mother," The teen said longingly.

"Alright, your looking for someone now can you tell us who you are?"

The kid placed his weapon on the ground and took off his mask. There, Stan could have an exact detail on the kid's face. With was filled with dirt and acne. His dark yellow hair swept sideways. His face is awfully familiar like he has seen him before but from a different person.

"My name is Ethan,"

"Ethan?" A voice called asked.

Ethan craned his head to where that voice was coming from and it sounded very familiar.

They all looked to see Jake with his hands all bloody from all the smashing of adults.

"You know this guy?" Stan asked.

"Yeah, I know this guy from somewhere," Jake told the other as he stepped forward causing Ethan's group to tense up but he raised an arm signaling them it's alright. He remained at his place.

"Ah, so we meet again," said Jake.

"You know I'd find you eventually, just didn't expect it was at this moment," Ethan said.

Both groups continued to stare at the two and just as a fight was thought to be happening was instead met with hugging and jumping with excited giddy.

"You thought you can get away from me you son of a bitch. I've been looking everywhere for you, you little bastard," Ethan told Jake.

"I thought you were a goner,"

"Eh, it's gonna take more than that to kill the big E," Ethan said jokingly.

"Seriously man you gotta call yourself that it's stupid," Jake laughed.

"Eh screw you man" Ethan replied and they both laugh.

While Ethan's group sighed with annoyance and giggle. Luna and the rest of her group looked very confused.

"Uh, who's this guy?" Lynn asked walking up towards the two.

"This is my cousin Ethan from Louisiana," Jake replied.

"He and I have a strong bond." Said Ethan. "He's like a brother from another mother." The both of them high-fived.

Lynn just stared with eyes rolling to the side. Oh brother.

Ethan squinted his eyes at the young loud. "And who are you supposed to be?"

"What's it to ya?"

"Hey just saying, no need to be all Mrs. rude pants here," Ethan said which made Lynn growl at him.

"Wanna say that to my fist?" She told her. Luna and Luan yelled at her to stop but she ignored them.

"Now I don't usually hit girls," Ethan slightly threatened.

"Well, perhaps I'm an exception," Lynn threatened back.

"Well there are no rules anymore in this world," Ethan said looking like he was about to throw hands.

"Careful there Ethan," Jake said putting raising both hands between the two. "I know what this girl can do, she might beat you in seconds,"

"Well, If I can't beat her then maybe she can," Ethan replied and pointed to a tall blond girl whose hair is long on the left and no hair at all on her right. She gripped her double-headed axe tightly and was ready to attack.

"Come at me. I'm not afraid of you- or her. I'm not afraid of anything." Lynn almost stuttered during that sentence. Thankfully no one noticed.

Ethan seemed slightly taken aback by her comment.

"You're ain't afraid of anything?"

"No."

"Guess you're just stupid."

Lynn was the one taken aback and felt a rush of anger across her body. Nevertheless, she remain where she stood. Jake felt uneasy with the rising tension and thought he should intervene but Ethan told him it was good.

"I'm not stupid, I'm brave,"

"Being brave kills a hell of a lot more people than fear. Fear is natural in the human evolution so there ain't nothing to be ashamed of,"

"What about you, are you afraid?" She told him. Keeping her best to not get any of the attention.

"Damn right I'm scared, scared of those adults, scared of dying. Hell, I was even scared when I saw you kids climbing up the sewers. But now I see you ain't no threats. Your just kids," Ethan said.

Lynn felt her cheeks burn with embarrassment. She was scared indeed but she wouldn't admit it due to her extreme stubbornness. Taking a deep breath, she calmed down. Not today.

"So what were you guys doing down the sewers anyway?" Ethan asked.

"It's a long story. Why don't you tell us more about yourself?"

"Well, my name is Ethan Flecks you already know that. My friends and I have come a long way from South Bend, Indiana," He saw the young Loud examining his and his group's clothing which made a grin from Ethan.

"Oh, this? These are just Colt Jerseys. Even naming our group after it. The Colts. You know them? Their football team," Lynn gave an exasperated expression.

"I know who they are, football team part of the ABC. Used to be called like the Baltimore Cults before changing it during the 80s,"

"Not bad, I like girls who know and love sports," Ethan grinned.

"Meh, they're good but not that impressive," Lynn retorted.

"Really?" Ethan said giving a dismissive stare. "it's better than being a Lions fan."

"At least the lions were good before the world turned to shit,"

"They lost sixteen times in the past 10 years," Ethan smirked.

"Whatever I'd pick Michigan over Indiana any day," Lynn snorted.

"Oh, really well what does Michigan have? Lighthouse? Lakes? Michigan Dogman?" Ethan retorted.

"What does Indiana have? Corn?" Lynn clapped back.

"Alright, guys let's take it easy," Came a short boy with dark hair. "There's no reason to fight, It's bad enough we had to walk our way here after getting into a scuffle with a few hoard. We don't need to kill each other,"

Lynn and Ethan sighed and calmed down.

"Ain't he a funny dude? He might act tough but he'll grow on you," Jake said almost giving a chuckle from their little argument.

"I guess," Lynn grunted.

"Indeed, anyway my name is Norman. Norman Hulls," He raised a hand and Lynn silently raised hers greeting him stoically. "Now that Ethan got his cousin back, will any of you take us to the Elementary school? Were tired after fending off adults and we have little children with us," He tilted his head to see dozens of children ranging from 6-12.

Then, Stan stepped up. "We can take you there, but in terms of how long is not up to me,"

"Why?" Ethan asked.

"Long story,"

Ethan shrugged, turn to the other cheek, and nodded at a kid from behind the corner of a building. The kid nodded and ran out of sight before coming back just a second later with two horses carrying a big wagon that held some kids with supplies,"

"What the shit?!" Stan yelled in surprise.

"Woah," Said Jake.

"Cool," Said Lynn.

"Clydesdale horses, ya like em? Forgot to mention to you guys that we traveled here by wagon," Ethan said with a sheepish grin.

"Cool,"

Lisa and Darcy walked together on the opposite end of the hall the former talking about the main points of particle theory while the latter trying her best to listen. They reached the science lab and Lisa craned her neck to Darcy with her usual stoic features.

"This is my destination, thank you for your assistant Darcy you're allowed to go back to the auditorium. I need to get working on cloning food and body parts," The young prodigy told her. Ignore that last part. But Darcy was reluctant. So far Lisa was the only person she could actually trust, she had no one, her family is dead at this point and she doesn't really like the people in this school and found the teens running this place as a bunch of a-holes.

Lisa saw the uneasiness in her friend's eyes. She remembered when she told her how it was like in here before she and her family came here. But she knew she could not have someone touching and breaking things and Darcy is known for touching her equipment unintentionally kinda like her siblings. Don't get her wrong, she liked Darcy and greatly considers her as a friend but she is a little bit of a trouble maker if you will. All kids around her and Darcy's age can be trouble makers.

Lisa tells her to go back to the auditorium and said, "Make sure to never talk to any of the older kids,"

"I won't," Darcy left but not before giving Lisa a hug then she walked back. The young prodigy waved at her before giving a sigh. She was glad she wouldn't get to see Bob.

Yeah, Darcy never went to any rooms other than the library and Auditorium and she never asked why she and the other younger kids couldn't go in that room.

As Lisa went inside she saw Bob had his head lowered down and his palms calmly pressed against his boney green tighs. Weird, he's been like that recently. Brian and the rest didn't think much of any and assumed he was asleep or died of starvation but from Lisa's case, however, that isn't likely as Bob was still making faint movements.

Little did Lisa know, Bob found a way to escape but he wasn't going to attack all so quickly. He already has a few adults and one teen doing that for him. He will only attack when the latter fails to do his job.

After some unexpected meetings. The group continues on as they head back to the elementary school. Jake and Ethan were chatting like they haven't done so for a long time and Stan just casually listened in.

"When we go to the elementary school, I wanna show you what those kids made in the cafeteria,"

"Lol,"

"You know, Duke will be angry that we brought 50 kids and two horses with us," Stan said to Jake.

"Pshh, let him, It's bad enough he has to treat us like we're his slaves," Jake scoffed.

"This Duke guy bothers you eh?"

"You have no idea,"

Stan rolled his eyes in amusement. He kinda also wanna see Duke's face when he sees 50 kids right in front of them. But he didn't wanna think about that now. He peered his head towards the right and saw Mary holding the hand of a thin little boy. He and Mary met a few months ago and became friends. He walked up to her who smiled but he remained neutral despite how beautiful she was.

"Hey thank you back there for letting us stay at your school. I was starting to get tired of sleeping at the seats,"

"I only agree to take you guys where we live, I didn't say how long," Stan said blankly. Mary's fell and her brows furrowed to indicate she was sad by his remark. For the first time since Jeremy's death, he kinda felt bad for someone. Letting his stoic face aside, he walked closer to the dark-blond girl.

"S-sorry, I just got a lot going on,"

"It's alright, sorry about Jeremy. I think it wasn't right to just leave him,"

"Tell that to them," Nodding his head towards Luna and her sisters whom the former was talking to Zeke. Mary just nodded.

"It was nice to see you again, Stan. I almost thought I wouldn't see you again,"

Stan just chuckled.

Mary could feel a soft tugging on the side of her shirt, she turned and see a little boy staring at her. "You alright?" The boy nodded.

"This is Matt, my brother," The boy just hid his face. "He's quite shy,"

Stan gave another chuckle. "He's just like my sister, she's 6"

"Really? So as Matt, maybe she and Matt could hang out later. What's her name?"

"Sally," Stan told her. "We're very close,"

"That's sweet, any other siblings," What Mary didn't realize was that she unintentionally reopened an old wound. Stan's face fell and sighed sadly. Mary saw this and quickly realise what she said.

"S-sorry if it was personal,"

"No, it's cool. I had another sibling; a brother. Samuel or Sammy."

"Oh, he didn't survive?" She asked in a sad tone.

"I thought you might think that but no, he died long before the world ended," Stan said.

"Well, do you wanna talk about it?"

Stan took a deep breath, he never really talk about this to anyone other than Jeremy and Duke and even though he knew Mary a few months ago he never talks about his personal life. But seeing as though Mary looked kind and reasoning he wouldn't see why not?

"Many years ago, when Sally was just a baby she had a twin named Sammy. My dad went on a hunting trip, he loved hunting; I didn't. I hated hurting animals so my dad went by himself. When he came back a few days, he looked tired but okay. But after a week he started acting strange. I told him what's wrong but he said it was nothing. Didn't sound like one. Later that night, I woke up to find him near the wall attacking Mom, she was holding a rifle and threatened to shoot him but he grabbed it and threw it away near me. I grabbed it and pointed at him, threatening to shoot if he won't let go of Mom. However, I was too scared to shoot him since he was my dad and when he shoved her away-knocking her unconscious- and went towards me. I ran into Sammy and Sally's room,"

Mary could notice the tears emerging from Stan's eyes she wiped them off and he nodded.

"I hid in their closet while they slept soundly on their cribs. Just as Dad barged in and grabbed Sammy since he was closer. He didn't wake up. I shot out of the closet and threatened to shoot him again. He didn't listen as he was busy lifting Sam up, I screamed at him just as he bit down his neck. He woke up. I screamed and shot him multiple times killing him,"

"But that didn't matter. Sammy was dead. Sally woke up crying in confusion and Mom came just in time to see me hugging my dead brother," Stan was now crying. "If only I wasn't so stupid he might still be alive,"

He then looked at Luan talking to her sisters and Benny right beside him. He thought back to a few hours ago when she was too scared to fight a single adult and forced her to kill one. He knew he was being harsh towards her but she had to know how to fight before it was too late. He just wouldn't wish the guilt he felt over the death of his brother on anyone.

Mary had her mouth agape while placing her mouth over it. She was shocked and devasted at what she just heard.

"Oh, my god. I'm so sorry you had to go through that," Mary said. Now she felt like crying.

"It's fine,"

"But wait, how did your Dad turn crazy?"

"He had rabies, turns out he when he was hunting, he got attacked by a pack of Coyotes, and since he was drinking he was too drunk to notice," He looked at the ground with unease. It was very unsettling how his Dad acted the same way these adults do. Mental and attacks anyone who is not sick. If his body was painted in green he would pass on as one of them.

Green. Green.

"Don't blame yourself for what happend. He was your dad, I would be in your shoe if my dad acted like that,"

"That thing wasn't my dad, it was a monster, like all these adults,"

Mary just nodded. Stan felt bad explaining his sad story to her. He had a similar reaction to Duke and Jeremy. Giving a small smile. "Hey let's forget about that and tell me about what you've been doing in the church?"

"Well after running from high school. I went to the elementary to find Matt. Just as I saw him standing in the middle of the road crying. I grabbed him just as a truck came by and ran as fast as we could. Soon a few kids were running in the same direction as we are and that's when a huge adult holding a brick came and attacked us. Killing one kid. We screamed and ran the other way. We kept running and looked on our left and saw Zeke and a few kids standing outside a church, shouting us to come in, we quickly did and the adult lost us,"

Mary swallowed a lump in her throat.

"After that, we settled in the church for a month, only going out for food and supplies. However, there was one particular moment that I still couldn't understand,"

"What?"

"You see Zeke right there? He was acting weird during that time. Saying some really strange stuff, he said he keeps hearing voices in his head, he would often lash out and at one point he made an outburst saying "be quiet!" "shut up!" "stop talking!" He slammed his head against the wall multiple times, everyone but me was too scared as everyone thought he was going insane. After that he calmed down, he never talked about it since,"

Stan's eyes widen and his brow furrowed. What was wrong with Zeke? He was never liked this. He peered his head towards the religious kid. Whom the latter was staring right back at him before slowly turning away. That was creepy Stan thought. Was he listening to us? I might have a little talk with him later.

Zeke looked away from the two with a neutral expression and gave off a tired sigh.

"You okay?" Luna asked.

"Indeed, just thinking of something,"

"You heard them talking about you huh?"

"You knew?"

"I heard," said Luna. "You hear voices in your head. What's that all about?"

"I don't even know myself, I've heard these voices ever since the world ended," Zeke simply said to her.

"Do they appear often?"

"No, thankfully. They come out from time to time," Luna nodded. Must have been hell if it was the former.

"What do they say?"

Zeke paused. Kill her. She knows too much.

"A lot of incoherent screaming,"

"You think it might be God talking to you,"

"Goodness no, I don't think God would ever yell deep insults at me," He was this close to saying God would never allow someone to take a life. To him, this wasn't God. It was something evil.

Luna pursed her lips. Trying to think of something that can get from him.

"Why didn't you help us fight off the greens?" Zeke hummed in question and Luna repeat her words.

It took Zeke a few seconds before answering.

"I couldn't, they were just humans after all,"

Luna pursed her lips. She wasn't convinced that was the case there was definitely something else.

If the virus only affects adults and according to Lisa you have to be 16. So naturally, everyone 16 and older screwed. But that's where Zeke comes in, he said he's been hearing voices since the world ended and he for some reason wouldn't touch a single adult. Luna cursed at having to brainstorm this whole thing, can't imagine the author having to deal with this.

The only question is.

"Hey, Zeke?"

"Yes?"

"Is it okay if I ask how old are you?" Luna felt bad asking someone for their age but she had a very good reason for it.

"I'm 16,"

Luna stared at him with wide eyes. Zeke is 16. How is he not like these adults? Is he special? Is he immune? She almost wanted to scream but won't risk causing a scene amongst the group. Though, then again, he could have turned into the eponymous age after the green mist. This raises more questions.

"When were you 16?"

"May 22,"

The day of the blast. Okay, that clears it up sort of. But wait, so if Zeke is 16 and he heard voices from his head after the world ended. Then these adults.

"And you said you keep hearing voices?"

"I'm not sure what you're getting at," Zeke just looked at her before looking away. In reality, Zeke knew about it. The voices told him.

"This might far fetch but, what if those voices you hear. Could be those adults?" Now Zeke felt a slight fear. She knows.

He remained calm and agreed that it was far-fetched.

"Look, my little sister told me about bringing someone over the age of 15 for her to study at. Since your 16 there is hope that we won't turn into those sickos,"

Zeke's eyes jolted for a split second, he remembered there was Lisa. The voice returned saying Kill over and over. He has to kill Lisa.

"Sure thing, dear," Zeke whispered.

"We're here!" Stan called out.

They soon arrive at the elementary school. Hoping to relax after their adventure in the outside world but what they didn't know more danger will come even back home.

Chris grabbed a bottle of Jack Daniels and a glass and pour the alcohol into the glass and drank it like he was stuck on a deserted island for 3 days and finally found water. He yeets the glass landing on the corpse of a dead child before grabbing another bottle.

"Fuck, I'm getting dizzy." Chris slurred then continued drinking more before throwing the bottle onto an open fire. "Now what's the next town to stop by?"

Since phones are deemed useless because of no electricity meaning no wifi which was fucked since he had a whole stash of porn saved on his laptop. Luckily, he has a map of Michigan with him, originally used to find cities where there are many kids he can steal.

"Hazeltucky, Huntington Oaks, Belton, Midland, Saginhawk, Royal Woods, Bayville, Great Lakes City, Detroit. So many places I can go without anyone getting in the way.

Anyway, it was going to be a long road to go to these different areas and Chris will make sure every one of these cities belongs to him.