Muhaha! I return! Yes… Yes… Of course…

Anyway, time to answer some questions from the reviewers! Wait… Only one… That ruins the entire show!

James: Yeah, I live in New Jersey. This story is taking place in Sayreville, which is in Middlesex County. I used to live there, but I moved to Ridgefield, Bergen County.

Feel free to ask me any questions that you may have… They will all be answered here… --

Okay, I want to know some stuff from you punks. Your reviews aren't really telling me some of the stuff that I want to hear, so I will ask you here:

1. How do you like the way I pass time?

2. How's the dialogue and characters and descriptions?

3. Do you like the length?

So, yeah… If you review… Answer those… Please?

Umm… What else… Oh yeah, I have some author notes at the bottom (I put this reminder because I have yet to do so)… So, be sure to read them… After you read the chapter… Or else it will ruin some stuff!

Without further ado… Here it is!

We walked back up to the house without exchanging any thoughts about the mischievous events that had just taken place down the street. Police cars zoomed to the end of the street, sending a gust of wind at our faces as they stormed towards the scene. Sirens, flashing lights and the smell of something burning filled my senses as we walked up the short flight of steps to the front door. I noticed that the front door was still wide open, but, knowing the area that I lived in, I figured that the house would be left just as it was before I left it. We walked up into the house, and entered the living room. I shut and locked the door behind me, and turned to Cyram.

"So…," I said, scratching my head.

"Yeah…," he said, looking down at the floor.

"I don't mean to sound like a terrible host or anything… But how's about some alone time?" I said. It sounded really terrible asking for my guest to get out of my face and go into the basement, but…

"Sure, no problem," he said.

"Alright, dude… If you need anything, you know where to get it… I got a TV down there, but if you want to play games you can go right ahead," I said, trying to sound more reasonable than before.

"Okay," he said turning around towards the basement door. He didn't say anything, nor look back up as he exited the first floor and went down the creaky stairs to the basement.

"Bah," I said aloud, as I walked out of the living room towards my room. As I entered the room, I noticed that it was 4:03 P.M. Now nightfall was approaching. Please let the rest of this day go easy… I don't know exactly who or what I was pleading to, as my faith in a God isn't too strong… Perhaps it was to the attackers?

I kicked off my shoes, and they banged loudly against the closet door. The closet. I opened up the closet door quickly, as the shoes on the rack fell all over me. Nice one, you knew that the shoe rack is loose… I kicked the shoes out of my way, and walked into the closet.

The closet was a vast, walk-in closet. Inside were an assortment of clothes, shoes, jackets, and other collectables. However, also hidden in the depths of the closet, was the suitcase. The suitcase that would free me from my worries of the night. As I walked in, I had to push the lines of jackets and shirts out of my way. The "secret" compartment was all the way in the back, beyond this vast amount of jackets and shirts. A huge, fireproof safe held the suitcase, which sat quietly and was just waiting to be used along with the "key".

The suitcase also held a large amount of money that I have kept safe for a very long time. Most of the bills have probably been updated, now that I think of it. The safe was black, and had three dials, which were black as well. The numbers were a dark gray, which sometimes mixed in with the black if it was dark enough. The combination was one that nobody could ever guess, as there was a hundred numbers on each dial. I flipped the light switch to the two mini spot lights, which shinned brightly on the dials. Just as I put my hand on the first dial, I heard the phone ring in the background. Bah… It's probably just a solicitor… But what if it isn't? I swiftly turned around and made my way through the line of shirts and jackets towards the phone. I walked a bit faster than normal, as the ringer on the phone had gone off three times now. Upon exiting the closet, I crawled over the bed to the phone.

"Hello?" I said, picking up the phone quickly and putting it to my ear. "Hello?" I said after three seconds of silence. Sometimes the phone doesn't pick up the other caller immediately… Piece of crap…

"Oh my God! Are you okay!" Lindsay nearly screamed from the other end, sounding very alarmed.

"Umm… Yeah?" I said. Could the stories be posted all over the news already?

"I heard all about what happened!" she said.

"Oh, really?" I said, letting out a forced chuckle. "I'm alright."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes… Yes, I'm sure. They didn't touch me or anything," I said, trying to make it seem like I wasn't bragging or trying to act cool.

"Oh… Well, I've been hearing all of these crazy stories all day. People have been breaking into other people's houses, eating them and stuff like that… And I'm getting scared…," she said. She actually sounded really frightened. Normally, she was happy and cheerful, which makes it pretty easy to spot when she is mad or not in a good mood. This is just one of the many things I like about her.

"Are you serious? Did you hear about the truck crashing on Main Street?"

"Yeah, I was worried about that, too. You weren't involved in that, were you?"

"No, but Christian nearly got run over by that truck driver. After that, he came back to the house and told us about it, and then we ran over and watched the rest of the incident. Actually, I just got in from it," I said, letting out an unforced chuckle this time. I called Colomb Christian instead, because she dislikes the name Colomb, and thinks it to be sort of racist and the like… She just doesn't understand the joke…

"Oh, well thank God he's okay… Listen, I know you told me that we probably wouldn't hang out this week because you had plans, but can I please stay over the night?" she said. I never told her why I would be busy this week, but I did tell her that we probably wouldn't speak much or anything, which was actually very hard to say. Stay over the night… Hmm…

"You're that scared?" I said, laughing.

"Well… I would hate to die by being eaten by my neighbor or something, you know?" she said, not laughing.

"Alright, hold on one second," I said to her.

"'Kay," I heard her say as I put the phone down on my bed. I hoped over the bed, and made my way down the basement stairs. I suddenly thought about the closet, and wondered if I had left the safe uncovered or not. Not that it mattered much… Not like Cyram is going to come upstairs, anyway. I reached the bottom of the stairs, and put my ear to the basement door. I heard the television on, but could not make out any words. Solemnly, I knocked on the door three times. As I finished knocking, the television clicked off, and I heard the slight sound of footsteps walking across the cement floor. You really should have gotten that carpet…

"What did I do?" Cyram said, swinging the door open. His face was wet, and I couldn't tell if it were sweat or water. I would have to assume water, as it was never really hot down in the basement…

"Umm…I hate to do this… But would you feel uncomfortable if someone stays over the night?" I said to him.

"Well, not really depending on the person and whatever," he said, not even thinking about it.

"Okay… Well… Umm… Well, there have been more stories than what we have heard… People are breaking into other people's houses, eating them… More crashes and stuff… And my girlfriend is scared and – "

"You have a girlfriend?" he asked, with a sarcastic, surprised expression.

"Umm… Yeah… I do believe I've told you about this… But, that's not the point… Is it alright?" I said. Cyram tends to forget things sometimes… I do think I've told him before… But, really, that isn't the point.

"Sure I guess, just so I know, you don't plan on – "

"I would go with a no on that one… She just wants to survive the night, you know?" This fool…

"Okay, good… The last thing I need is memories of nights when I stayed over my sister's house when I used to watch her kids voluntarily as a teenager. Just out of curiosity, does she even know who I am, or anything at all?"

"Here lies the problem… She knows nothing about you. She doesn't even know that anybody is here, let alone some guy over the Internet. I told her I had a lot to do and that I wouldn't be able to hang out with her and stuff… She said that it was alright and stuff…"

"Well that was extremely nice of you to do," he sarcastically said. This made us both laugh.

"Yeah… Sure… Whatever… Well, she's still on the phone so… I'll come back down when I'm done talking to her, okay?" I said.

"Alright," he said, turning around and closing the door, as I turned around and nearly ran up the stairs. Re-entering my bedroom, I over on the bed and picked the phone back up.

"Okay, back," I said to her.

"Jeez… What were you doing?" she said.

"Well… Okay, I gotta explain something to you," I said.

"Oh no, what now?"

"Okay… Well…"

"What is it?" she said, impatiently. I heard some rummaging in the background. Must be packing up already…

"Alright… You know how I told you that I would be busy for the entire week?"

"Yeah… Are you finally going to tell me what you have been up to?" some glass-like object fell in the background, making a very loud shattering noise. I heard her mumble something under her breath.

"Yes… Okay, to make a long story short, one of my friends from the Internet came over from Arkansas and he's spending the week at my place," I said, emphasizing the gender to place further suspicion in the garbage… Well… She could still say I'm…

"Oh, really? Well, why didn't you tell me? I thought you were doing something really important… Well, I suppose hanging out with a friend is important," she said, perking up a little bit.

"I don't know… Well, I was asking him if it was alright if you came over… And it's cool with him… So, come on over," I said with a laugh.

"Okay, cool. Is there anything that I should know about this guy?"

"I don't think so… He's kinda like me… But not exactly… Just come over and I'll explain the rest to you." Of course if I said that to Cyram, he would flip out. Nobody is like me, obviously… Whether they want to be or not… But, out of all the people I know, Cyram is the only person that I can say is kinda like me. Lindsay would have to be second… And then the list would probably run down the family tree… Probably… Haven't really thought about that, yet…

"Okay, cool. I'll be over in thirty minutes or so… Still have to pack my stuff," she said, which was followed by one of her cute chuckles.

"Alright… Be sure to take the back roads, as Main Street and all the other major roads will most likely be blocked off…"

"Yeah, I know. I'll check the traffic reports before I go and stuff," she said quickly, as if she wanted the conversation to end.

"Okay, cool. Call me if you need help or if something goes wrong or something," I said, noticing her urgency.

"Gotcha. See ya then," she said quickly, hanging up. Love you, too.

I put the phone back on the receiver, and looked into the closet. From my angle, the safe could be easily seen, with the two spotlights shinning brightly on the safe. I walked into the back of the closet, and turned the spot lights off. I put all the jackets and shirts and stuff in the way of the safe, and shut off the main light. Just as I was about to shut the closet door and leave, I noticed the shoes that were still scattered all over the floor. Stupid, stupid… I reopened the closet, put the shoes back on the rack, and closed the closet door again.

I left the room, and made my way down the basement stairs again, jumping over the last two stairs. The volume of the television wasn't heard this time, but the sound of his footsteps reached my ears, just as I got to the bottom of the staircase. I knocked three times again, as Cyram opened up the door just at my third knock.

"I was coming, you know," he said, rolling his eyes.

"Bah… Well, she's coming over now… She should be here in a half hour or so…," I told him.

"Did you tell her about me, or does she think you have a girl hiding over here?"

"Not really… I just told her that you would be here… I also told her that you were a psychopath who enjoys raping little girls…"

"You are kidding, are you not?"

"Of course I'm kidding, fool…"

"Yeah, I knew you're kidding… But did you really say that to her?"

"Yes, Cyram… Of course," I sarcastically said.

"Well you do seem like the kind of person that would say something, such as that," he said, trying to find a reason for believing my sarcasm.

"Right… Well, I suppose we should clean up the living room and watch the news to find out exactly what has happened… Right?" I said, changing subjects.

"Okay, just give me a second, and I will be right up," he said, closing the door half way.

"Sure. Meet me upstairs when you're ready."

"Okay," he said, shutting the door all of the way. I turned around, and made my way up the stairs to the living room.

As I reached the first floor, I started to wonder if I should go to the closet and get what I was looking for. Since Cyram normally takes longer than what he tells you, I thought about it for a moment, standing right in the middle of the bedroom and the living room. Bah… Get it later…Better off not showing him right away, anyway…

I slowly walked into the living room, letting out a long sigh as I looked out the window. Why must all of this happen now? I walked over towards the XBOX, and noticed that the three controllers were placed neatly on each cushion of the leather couch. I picked up the three controllers and placed them in the display case underneath the plasma, making sure to keep them each a few inches away from the other. I then unplugged all of the other wires going out from the XBOX, and put them, along with the XBOX itself, into their places in the display case. I got up, stretching a little, and looked over at the table, which had two empty water bottles and one empty Sprite can on it. As I picked up each bottle and can I notice that there was the perfect circle of condensation underneath them. Along with the perfect circle, some other blotches of liquid were along the table. I put the bottles and cans down, and wiped the liquids off with my forearm. I picked up the bottles and cans again, and walked over to the kitchen, depositing them into the recycling bin. The basement stairs, began to creek, as Cyram began his ascend upstairs. I returned to the living room, and gave one more scan around to make sure everything looked clean. It's decent, none the least… Cyram quickly opened up the basement door, looked over at me in the living room, and walked in.

"Jeez… What took ya so long?" I said to him, being half sarcastic but half serious.

"I wanted to anger you by taking so long; that and I usually take a long time either way" he said with a chuckle.

"Right… Well, sit down and let's watch the news, eh?" I said, sitting down and grabbing for the remote. I flipped the remote through the air, and caught it almost perfectly to where the aimer was pointing at the television. Cyram sat down as I turned on the plasma and put on the news.

We watched the news for about twenty minutes, receiving nothing on what we wanted to hear. The only two stories they had reported were the two that we knew about. Apparently, we watched just in time for the weather and traffic reports.

"Well… That sucked…," I said, looking up at the clock, which read 5:06 P.M.

"Yeah… Well, isn't she supposed to be here soon?" Cyram asked, looking up at the clock as well. I had just noticed that I never gave him her name…

"Barring traffic and or any other hassles, Lindsay is supposed to be here soon," I said.

"Okay… Well then – " Cyram was cut off by the loud sound of screeching tires somewhere outside of my house. I jumped out of my seat on the couch, and ran over to the window. I pushed the curtains out of my way, and saw that a man was standing right in front of Lindsay's car, which was two houses away from my house. In my neighbor's driveway, I saw two men on the ground biting at another man's throat that was lying on the ground.

"Shit," I said, as Cyram approached the window. She started to beep her horn at the man, as he started to walk towards her car.

"What in the hell?" Cyram said, taking in everything.

"Okay… Umm… Go out there, and distract them or something… I'll be right out," I said, walking towards my room.

"Why me!" Cyram exclaimed as I left the living room. I didn't bother to explain, for time was short. I ran into my room, and swung the closet door open, dodging the falling shoes from the shoe rack. I ran to the back of the closet, pushing jackets and shirts out of my path. I took the cover off of the safe, turned the mini spot lights on, and entered the pass code: 52-66-99.

I swung the safe open, and peered at the greatness within for a moment. I picked up the old, slightly rusted, silver revolver and a small case of six of its specialized bullets. I put the little case into my pocket, as I exited the closet and jumped into my regular pair of shoes. Shit… Forgot the brace… Who gives a shit… You don't need that now… Just concentrate on saving her…

I ran through the hallway, and went right through the open door. From here, I quickly noticed Cyram backing away, as two zombies were walking towards him. Another zombie was approaching Lindsay's car. Lindsay quickly noticed me in the doorway and started screaming something. I couldn't make out what she was saying, but I would have to assume it was "HELP ME!" or something along those lines. Twelve bullets… Three targets… Shouldn't be too hard… Right?

"Come here, Cyram… Let me handle this," I said to Cyram, jumping down the flight of stairs. He looked back at me in complete shock, as he saw the revolver in my hands. Alright… Aim at the stomach… This gun should knock this fucker out in one shot…

The target was moving slowly, and was at least twenty yards or so away from me. He was moving in a straight line, which made me forget about aiming at his stomach. Take your time… But hurry up…

I squared my feet with my shoulders, bent my knees slightly, and hunched over enough so that my head was even with the gun and the target's head. I aimed the gun with both arms held out straight, right at his head. I quickly remembered my training, and remembered on of the major points when firing this revolver: Keep your hands away from the bullet cache. If I were to fire the revolver with my fingers on or near the bullet cache, I would burn my fingers. Back to the target, who was wobbling a little now, but I didn't take my aim off of his head as it wobbled back and forth. His head movements were ever so slight that I wouldn't have to adjust my aim too much as he walked. I pulled the trigger back just when he was staring right down the barrel.

My arms were thrown back, as the recoil on this revolver was great. The target's entire head was blown off, yet he kept walking towards me. I thought about shooting again, as I got back into my stance, but he slowly dropped down to his knees, and then fell forward onto his stomach. I noticed another zombie walking up behind the downed zombie. This one was a lot closer than what the other one was, and a bit shorter than the other, so I bent over a bit more. The aim was perfect, as I pulled the trigger back.

Like the last victim, his entire head blew off with the one shot. He, however, didn't walk after taking the shot. I actually didn't see him fall down, as the recoil is so great on this gun, that it sometimes makes me step back a foot or two, like it did here. I looked over at the car now, as the zombie was five or so feet away from the driver's door. However, he wasn't in the way of the car. I waved my hands at her, signifying that I wanted her to pull up over here. Likewise, she stepped on the accelerator, and quickly got in front of the house. The zombie now changed its course, towards me.

"Go by her, will ya?" I said, making a head gesture towards Lindsay.

"Okay," he said, breaking into a jog. I started to walk over to this atrocity. I didn't actually take the time to examine my other two friends, but I wanted to cherish this kill.

He was a male, looked like he was in his middle ages. His brown hair had clumps of blood and dirt in it. His mouth was dripping with fresh blood, as he was feasting on what used to be my neighbor earlier. His eyes were white, with many veins inside of them. His skin was tanned, with many bite marks and dried up blood all over it. His stomach held a few bullet holes in it, which blood clotted all around. They didn't seem to be recent, but how long ago could they have happened? He was wearing a red shirt, with blue jean shorts and white shoes. I stopped about thirty feet in front of him, stood sideways towards him, and aimed the gun straight at his head with my right arm. I didn't know how I would react to the recoil of the gun with only holding it with one hand, but I guess there's a first time for everything.

He started to walk much faster and wobblier. I wanted him to be within arm's reach before I pulled the trigger and ended his life. His arm swatted at the gun, missing terribly, and he was hunched over, with the top of his head touching the barrel. Beautiful.

I pulled the trigger back, and I was immediately splashed with a wave of blood. The recoil from the gun nearly pulled my arm out of its socket, and I was quickly filled with pain in the right shoulder area. I let out a little groan of pain, as I clutched my right shoulder with my left hand. The zombie's head was splattered all over the street, as he now lay stomach up on the pavement. I looked over at Lindsay and Cyram, and saw that they were staring straight at me. I looked back down at the zombie, whose blood was still pouring out of its neck.

"You like that?" I said, spitting on it. I looked at the revolver, which was barely silver anymore, I let go of my right shoulder, as the pain began to slowly go away, and jogged back towards Lindsay and Cyram. "You alright?" I asked Lindsay, who looked like she had just seen a ghost. Couldn't blame her though… Right?

"I guess so… You?" she said, looking up at my bloodied face.

"Yeah… I'm fine…," I lied. Of course I wasn't fine… I just killed three 'people'… Even though it was self-defense, and they were zombies, your first kill always takes a toll on you, right…? I'm also trenched with blood from the bastards… I looked over at Cyram, who still had a very shock-filled expression on his face. "Let's get inside," I said turning towards the door.

"Wait," Lindsay said, just as I took a step up a stair. I turned back towards her, as she opened her truck. "We gotta get my stuff!"

Muhaha! Finally! I break the gender barrier! And what better time than on Valentine's Day… How do you like that?

I'm sure ALL of you are anxious to know her description… Well, me and my editor couldn't find an appropriate place to put the description in this chapter… So, you will find it in the next chapter.

Holy crap… I just realized I didn't describe myself yet… Umm… Poo… Okay, my character is six foot one (I put something like that… At age fifteen, I'm five foot seven… Hey, I can dream!), blue eyes, and has short hair… But not bald… You get what I mean? I suppose you could put me under average for everything else… I'm so bad at describing myself… But, I hope I got a decent image...

Anyway… I have all of next week off, so I will probably knock off two chapters in that week (I'm not promising anything, just speculating)… So, be alert!

Until next time…