A/N: I want to thank Doppelganger of Milk, and lostnumb for their reviews. This is the longest chapter I've written for any story and I'm excited because I manage to incorporate one of my favorite songs into it (bonus points if you can name the song and band it's by). I hope you guys enjoy.

Once again, the character's other than Taryn, Libby, and Grandma and Grandpa Anderson, do not belong to me. They belong to James Gunn, Zack Snyder, and whatever company released the movie (too lazy to go look)

Cherry wood Estates was everything Taryn had feared on a day

like this. Bodies littered the streets, fires raged in homes. The

infected chased down what few survivors there were. She let the

car run in front of her grandmother's house. She was pretty sure

zombies."Stop it." She thought. "We're not using the zed

word."…These things didn't know how to drive. The open front

door did not bode well for her fears and her heart pounded in her

chest as she pushed the door open far enough to see.

A scream welled up and died in her throat at the sight that

greeted her. Her grandfather lay on the floor, gasping for breath.

The large cavity in his chest was empty. Taryn's grandmother and

Libby were hunched over his body. Libby looked up at her older

sister. An evil grin revealed red stained teeth over cracked lips.

Blood dripped slowly down her chin. Taryn's eyes welled up with

tears, but she blinked them back rapidly. Libby snarled and leapt

over their grandpa's now still body.

Taryn tried to get out but she tripped over the rug. She fell

backward, hitting her head on the doorframe. Stars exploded in

front of her eyes and the room swam. Libby landed on her with her

full weight and Taryn groaned. There were two large holes in her

cheekbones where her grandfather had tried protecting himself.

With one hand Taryn held her sister back by the neck. While, with

her other hand, grasping for a broken broom handle that had fallen

by her grandpa's side. She took it firmly, wincing as she realized

what she had to do. Libby's mouth was wide in a scream of fury

and Taryn, putting her full weight behind it, shoved the stick

through Libby's mouth up into her brain. The child fell limply on

Taryn. Taking a ragged breath she pulled the stick out and stood

pushing her sister's desiccated corpse off of her.

Her face stung with the tears she wouldn't allow to fall as she

braced herself for her grandma's inevitable attack. When she

realized that her grandmother was dead, truly dead-the other half

of the broom shoved through her eye-she sighed heavily. She was

about to let the stick fall, but thought better of it. She would more

than likely have to defend herself against more of these…

creatures. Taryn could hear the TV in the living room. A man

urged everybody to stay in their homes, lock and barricade all

doors and windows. She turned to the door. "You believe

everything you hear on TV?"

The sun shone in her eyes and she raised up a hand to shield

herself. There were no…creatures blocking her path to the car and

she whispered a word of thanks for that.

The car radio was tuned to 97.5 and a song was playing that

Taryn didn't recognize.

Imagine there's no heaven

Taryn headed out of Cherry wood estates. She got on the

highway, already having made up her mind. She would go to

Illinois. Hopefully the infection hadn't spread that far yet.

It's easy if you try

A beeping sound in the background finally entered Taryn's

consciousness as the car slowed to a stop. "Fuck!" Taryn

screamed, banging her hands on the steering wheel. Out of the

corner of her eye she saw them, a group of about five…monsters

nearing the driver's side door. She crawled into the passenger seat

and out the door, grabbing her backpack as she went.

No hell below us

She hopped over the metal guardrail and started to run. She

could hear them getting closer when she hit it. She was flung to

the ground and it took only a moment to find her bearings. The

fence to the Crossroads Mall stood in front of her.

Above us only sky

She allowed herself to smile, then stood and began to climb the

fence. The groups of people that had been following her began to

shake the fence. Before Taryn could get a grip, she'd fallen. The

pavement scraped her legs and hands but she wasted no time in

getting up. She walked towards the mall. What if there was

nobody to let her in? She heard footsteps behind her and turned to

look, praying it wasn't who she thought it was. She screamed ad

someone grabbed her.

"Calm down." A voice said. "It's ok." Taryn managed to slow

her breathing, but she could not stop the shaking.

Imagine all the people

The man who looked down at her smiled warmly then turned to his friends. "She's ok." He took her arm and turned her so she was

once again facing the mall. "It's safe in there. It has to be." Taryn

let him steer her. She wasn't sure she could have mad it herself.

There were no open doors and as far as Taryn could see, no one

to let them in. "Here man." A tall black man stepped forward;

giving Taryn the same reassuring glances she'd been getting from

the rest of the group. It didn't help her. He handed the first man a

crowbar. The man accepted it gratefully and began to pry at the

door handle. Taryn scanned the grounds of the mall, her entire

body stiffening when she saw the man. Dressed in a jogging suit

he was walking normally until he saw her.

Living for today

Taryn screamed when The Jogging Man began running. The

Russian woman screamed.

"Andre!"

The black man turned. "Oh shit, hurry up man." Finally the first

man began pounding at the door handle. Then a huge black man in

a police uniform stepped up.

"Out of the way." He held up his gun and fired two shots at the

door, blowing it open. He ushered them all inside quickly,

slamming the door behind them. A young woman came up next to

Taryn putting her arm on her shoulder.

"Are you ok?" Taryn gave a half-hearted smile.

"Yeah. I think so."

"What's your name, honey?" Taryn racked her brain. She

couldn't have forgotten it, could she?"

"Taryn Anderson." The blonde woman nodded her blue eyes

somehow vacant. She motioned first to the Russian woman.

"This is Luda and her boyfriend.."

"Husband." The tall black man interrupted.

"Sorry," The blonde woman smiled. "Husband, Andre." Then

she pointed to the big man in the police uniform. "This is

Kenneth." Then she motioned towards the man who'd grabbed

Taryn, still holding the crowbar. His brown hair was disheveled

and his white shirt, now red, was untucked over his equally

bloodstained khaki's.

"You got red on you." Taryn whispered to herself.

"That's Michael, and I'm Ana." Taryn nodded slowly, letting it

all sink it.

"We have to get out of here." Kenneth muttered, leading the

way out of the storage room they'd found themselves in. They

ended up in a furniture store. Ana wandered somewhat

absentmindedly to the doors, trying to open them. When she found

they were locked she looked to Kenneth. He picked up a chair and,

stepping back, threw it as hard as he could at the picture window.

As Taryn stepped into the mall she could hear the cheerful tones

of "Don't Worry, Be Happy." Playing. The music calmed her only

slightly. The mall was just as empty as the rest of the town was.

Taryn walked to the fountain. Looking down into the water she

could see the blood on her face and clothes. No wonder they'd

thought she was one of the creatures. She could feel tears spring

to her eyes, and just when she thought they were going to fall she

felt a hand on her shoulder. She looked up to see Michael smiling

down at her warmly.

"It'll be ok, honey." And for the first time since dropping Libby

off at her grandmother's, Taryn thought that maybe it would be.