An eerie feeling that I am being watched seeps through my skin. A sudden jolt of tensing muscles ripple down from head to toe. Sheer impulse forces me to grab my battle rifle and take aim at the window. The realization that there aren't any walls around to protect me set in. I calm myself and carefully ease up to check my surroundings.

It's still dark, but the moonlight is much brighter now. The area around me glows a dim, blue color that's constantly at odds with the encroaching night. It would be suicide to turn a flashlight on, but the house isn't that far away if something were to happen. Yet, it would still put Eric, and the others in danger if I got into trouble or pulled the trigger.

I weigh the situation and realize that it's not worth the trouble. The best kind of fight are the ones that can be avoided. I lay back down and cover my mouth to limit the noise of breathing.

"Matt? Are you awake?"

My ears perk up, and pure adrenaline shoves me to the brink of excitement.

"Samantha? Is that you?" I whisper.

"Can I come in?"

"Yes…yes…"

The front door of the jeep opens, and the flickering of her blonde hair causes sparks within my eyes. She shuts the door and looks back at me.

"Why are you there? Shouldn't you be in the house?"

"I got kicked out."

"Kicked out?"

"Well maybe not kicked out. More or less, I just need some time to calm down."

"What happened?"

I grasp my face and try to think of a way to phrase it. Spit it out Matt. It's just a dream, or just another one delusion. It's not like it's going to matter. Yet, why does it feel like it does? Even though she's gone, it feels like I'm actually confessing to her in real time.

"Matt? Talk to me." Samantha says.

"This girl I met a couple days ago…"

"Kate, isn't it?"

"Yeah. Well, she got mad because…I've done some really stupid stuff, and even though I tried to apologize, she wasn't having it. So here I am." I state as I throw my hands up.

Samantha takes a deep breath and climbs into the back seat with me, "I see."

She sits down in the gap between my legs and looks directly at me, "Matt, tell me how you truly feel."

"Feel about what?"

"This situation, the world, and what the future holds."

"Sincerely, I don't want to live in this world anymore." I cross my arms and contemplate on why struggling to survive is even worth it.

"Don't say that Matt…"

"No, I'm serious. I want…I want to be with you." I say as I look directly into Samantha's eyes.

"I know you do Matt, and if it were possible, I'd come back just for you, but I can't. All I can do is wait."

Samantha holds her hand out. I reach and grab it. A time when there was nothing to worry about floods into my memories. Days Samantha and I could just be teenagers in love. Back then, there wasn't really anything to worry about. I didn't have to worry about starving to death, dying from dehydration or being shot in the back of the head for walking down the road.

The happiest memory of those days were Saturday mornings when I'd sneak out around three in the morning with Samantha, and we'd both run off to the donut shop. Normally, I'd just get plain black coffee. No sugar, no cream. Nothing. The way coffee should be enjoyed. Whereas Samantha would get the most expensive cold coffee she could. One day, she harassed me into ordering some kind of French Vanilla cold brew and needless to say, it was one of the few times I didn't regret stepping out of the comfort zone.

"Listen to me Matt, I know things are difficult, but the past is the past. Focusing on the what was will ruin the what could be."

Samantha's grip on my hand slowly loosens to the point that it nearly slips away. I tighten my hands and try to regain control, but her fingertips continue to slip away. Regardless of all the effort, I am barely holding onto her nails with my index finger and thumb.

"Stop it…please…stop…"

"Matt, it's time to move on. Seeing you cling onto what's gone instead of what you have now breaks my heart. I want you to be happy. I want you to continue fighting despite how difficult it's getting. my prayer is that you find a home for your friends that have now become like brothers and sisters. A place they can start over and live their lives in a different light."

"Samantha…before I let go, answer me this. Will I ever get to see you again?"

"When white meets the red, that will be the day we'll be reunited. Until then, I want you to focus on the here, and the now." Samantha smiles as a tear rolls down the side of her face.

As difficult as it seems, she's right. I grind my teeth to try and dull the emotional pain causing my heart to swell with sorrow as I let go. Samantha presses her index finger up against her mouth, kisses it and waves in my direction. I clench my fists to the point it feels like the fingernails are about to pierce through my palms.

"And Matt? Take care of Kate. Her heart might seem closed, but it's set." Samantha says as she fades away.

"Matt? Matt? Wake up!" Eric's muffled voice leaks into the Jeep's interior. He slams his fist into the door.

I spring up and gasp for air. Sweat pours off my face as I look around and try to make sense of the situation. Eric is holding his hands up in the air. I can't make out what's going on, but somebody is holding him by the collar of his shirt.

The guy takes his handgun off the back of Eric's head and points it at me, "Hello Matt. We've come to talk."

"Who wants to talk?" I ask.

"Liam. That's who."

"Well now that I know the context of what's going on, can I at least get my rifle?"

"Keep the barrel down, and the safety on."

I carefully pick my rifle up and keep it aimed down. Of course. It had to be him. However, it's a good thing its Liam rather than Blair. Otherwise, that delusion of Samantha would have been the last thing I saw, but it doesn't make it any less dangerous.

Liam seems like he can be as big of a psychopath as Blair, but whereas Blair takes pleasure in torture, Liam will kill outright just for the thrill.

I knock on the door, "Liam? You in there?"

"Come on in Matt! I've been waiting for you!"

I open the door and carefully walk in. Several guys armed with handguns stand around the house. Some even have AR-15s and shotguns. I keep calm and carefully approach Liam. Kate is clenching Rebecca and trying to shield her eyes in the corner of the house. The couch has been repositioned to where it's right next to the rocking chair. Jamie has her hands folded and is calmly sitting right be Liam's side.

"That's a nice rifle you got there. Where'd you get it?" Liam asks as he holds out his hand and welcomes me to sit in a chair that's in front of him.

"It was stuck to a shamblers corpse." I lie as I sit down.

"Really? I don't remember seeing soldiers this far out. What else have you been doing behind my back?"

"Trying to survive. Just like everyone else." I calmly reply as I realize my mistake.

I think back to an excerpt in my survival manual that was covering negotiation and how to talk to crazy people: Those who forsake their humanity to embrace insanity usually cannot be reasoned with. They tend to over think and over analyze the situation to ensure that no harm will be done to them. When dealing with a psychopath, be as straight as possible. Do not allow them to garner a second thought on any statement made. Otherwise, something as simple as "I'm here to make a deal" can be taken as, "I'm here to cheat you out of your stuff." If possible, avoid purposeful, ensnaring statements they may be asked in a respectful manner and only answer questions they can't take in a threatening way."

The guy holding Eric hostage throws him to the ground.

"Eric stop!" I yell as Eric tries to fight his captor off. The guy jumps on top of Eric and presses his gun to his forehead. Eric surrenders and stretches his hands out as far from the guy as possible.

"Skids? Let the boy go." Liam state as he points a knife at the guy hovering over Eric.

"Sure thing Liam." The guy named Skids gets off Eric but keeps his gun aimed at him. Eric crawls over to the fireplace and props himself up into a sitting position.

"The boy listens to you. I like that. Tell me, does Kate do the same?" Liam says.

"We've only survived this long because of each other." I reply.

"Is that so? Then would you care to explain why she never did anything I said?"

"I can give you an opinion. That's it."

"Let me hear it."

"It's because I have a lot in common with Kate. The both of us were tortured and nearly drowned. Therefore, we have something that brings us together other than our similar age."

Liam sits back in his chair and contemplates the answer that was given. There's nothing more that can really be said without giving him something he can use against me. There's a lot of issues with the statement though.

"A reasonable explanation, but that's not the problem. You see Matt, the problem was when I told Kate not to go out when all this shit started, she did so behind my back and in the process, cost me two hard working survivors from my group, and the fact the both of you have so much in common makes me wonder what you're doing behind my back." Liam tosses the knife up and snags it out of midair. It rolls around his fingers as he plans his next defensive statement.

"I am trying to provide for two girls, a child and my best friend. You protect what matters to you, and I protect what matters to me. There is no reason to assume one is plotting against the other since neither of us have done anything."

"I suppose you're right. If you were going to do something, you would have tried it by now."

"May I ask what this is all about?"

"Two things; One, I was hoping you could help me with something, and two: I came here to make you an offer."

"What kind of offer?"

"Well you see, this little red head with the green eyes here was washing dishes this morning down by the pond, and one of my men seen her. He came back and told me that we should pay you a visit." Liam points the knife at Eric, "When we arrived, this little shit hit one of my boys with a fire poker."

"If somebody would have knocked instead of kicking the door down, then maybe nobody would have gotten hurt." Eric replies.

"Be that as it may, it doesn't change the fact we've come here to barter for the girl."

"Jamie's value can't be measured. She's priceless to me and everyone else here."

"Are you sure? I have anything and everything someone could want. Ammo, food, guns, water, vehicles. Everything has its price."

"What was you wanting me to help you with?" I try to change the subject.

"We'll get to that later. Kevin? What are you willing to bid?"

"Two boxes of ammo. 308"

"How dare you insult our guests as well as this woman's value. She's worth more than two boxes of ammo." Liam snaps.

"Two boxes of win mag ammo, a 308-win mag hunting rifle, and a week's worth of food."

"Can you cook?" Liam asks.

"Yes…"Jamie meekly answers.

"Kevin! Quit being a tight ass and make Matt an offer worth considering!"

"Well, what am I supposed to do Liam? The girl hasn't told me what she can and can't do!"

Jamie looks down at the floor and closes her eyes. Almost like she's about to cry. Liam and Kevin continue to argue as I try to think of some way to derail the situation and bring it back to the event Liam was wanting help with. Even if they made me an offer that would set me up, it wouldn't be worth taking.

"If I may ask, why does this man want Jamie so bad, and who's to say she would even want to go if I…" I immediately stop myself and try to rephrase my sentence.

"Oh…I see. You and Jamie are more than friends. Aren't you?" Liam makes an okay sign and shoves the knife through the hole. The gesture causes my eyes to slant in disgust as the tips of my fingers crumple up the denim pants my hands are resting on.

"Ah, a reaction! I knew there was a reason you were holding out on us. Well, it's understandable. I respect your decision although I find the concept of commitment bullshit." Liam spikes his knife into the wooden handle of the chair, "You hear that Kevin? Matt has already dipped his wick and stuffed Jamie."

"That's okay. This one right here doesn't have any value so I'll settle."

The one guy named Kevin grabs a hold of Kate and tries to drag her away from Rebecca. Kate balls her fist up and spikes him right on the bridge of the nose. The guy falls flat on his back. Several other men jump on top of Kate and Rebecca at the same time and pry them apart. Rebecca screams in horror and flails her legs around. Liam puts his hands on his lips and shushes Rebecca, "It's okay princess. They're not going to hurt you."

"LET HER GO!" Kate screams as Liam's guys pin her up against the wall and prepare to beat her.

"Hey, HEY! Get your hands off her!" I yell as I take aim at Kate's captors. The guy behind me presses his gun to the back of my head and takes me hostage. "Don't do anything stupid asshole."

"No, you don't do anything asshole." Eric says as he presses the tip of a pocket knife into the guy's throat.

Jamie lays down on the couch and pulls her shotgun out from under the cushion.

"My my…what a mess." Liam sighs as he pulls his handgun out. Jamie attempts to make herself more intimidating by leaning in but Liam remains completely unmoved. "I'd cover my ears if I were you."

He points his gun downward and fires into the couch Jamie is laying on. White stuffing inside the couch gushes out of the hole and swirls around with the smoke blowing out of his gun. Jamie loses courage and drops the gun. She rolls off the couch and crawls in my direction. The guy named Kevin grabs Jamie by her ankles and pulls her back. She kicks and screams as he pulls her up and restrains her from behind.

"Now look what you've done Liam. You came into my house and started nothing but problems." I state.

It's not like he cares, but maybe there's an opportunity to turn this around. Even if he's about to go into a psychopathic rampage, there's a good chance he still sees some value in us. Otherwise, he would have already shot me and Eric.

"You came here because you needed help with something, but that chance is about to go as quickly as it came if neither of us call this off."

Liam takes a deep breath and puts his handgun away, "You're right. Where are my manners?" Boys? Lower your guns. Kevin? Let the girl go."

"Oh, come on Liam! I got what I came for!"

Liam presses his handgun to Kevin's forehead without looking or expressing any kind of emotion, "What did I say?"

Everyone in his group back away as Kevin releases Jamie. The pressure of the barrel on the back of my head disappears.

"Let him go." I say.

Eric backs away from his hostage and everyone steps back from one another. Jamie rushes over to me. I push her behind me and keep my rifle at the ready. Rebecca runs back over to Kate, and the both of them are forced into the corner of the house again.

"I have a little problem that needs to be taken care of." Liam sits down on the couch and props his legs up. "You see, I'm the kind of man that will be the first to admit when he fucked up. Case in point, right now. Despite your age, you seem to think of Jamie as more than just hole. That's more than what I can say about my group of sons of bitches, but if my boys want it, I'll go out and try and get it for them."

"Moving on though, when your dear ole dad locked me up, they didn't even have to offer me a plea deal. I told the jury straight up I hit your dad right square in the mouth and tried to run because I had a brick of tar that needed to be sold."

Liam presses his hand into his forehead and makes a catholic cross gesture, "That's because the president of our MC, God rest his soul taught me that there's no point in hiding anything because the truth will eventually come out. It didn't take the jury long to come to the verdict that I was guilty. I did the crime and was happy to do the time. However, the judge gave me choice. I could squeal on the gang and serve a reduced sentence, or he'd double it."

"Now I'm not some kangaroo court attorney or banana republic lawyer, but that sounds like a cruel and unusual punishment for just punching a man over some tar. Considering that I could have done way worse. Not to mention, I knew the reason why that judge had such deep pockets, but I was the one being charged because I wasn't swinging the gavel."

I clench my teeth and try to avoid thinking about Liam's statement. That day mom loaded me and Adam up in the car and said we were off to the hospital. Dad wasn't in bad shape, but I remember it scaring me and Adam knowing somebody attacked dad. This man could have easily killed him, and he would not have felt any kind of remorse over it.

"Now over the last couple days, I've been riding around and looking for this judge, and I know where he's at. Now you take care of this little problem for me, I'll make sure everyone here is fairly compensated and put in good graces."

"So you want me to kill this judge?"

"His family too." Liam says.

"Where can I find this man?"

"He lives down a little dirt road called Brewster Lane. It's about six miles out." Liam pulls out a hand drawn map and gives it to me. It looks like all I have to do is turn right onto the highway, and Brewster is just up the road to the left.

"Now I'm sending a couple guys to go with you. Just to make sure the job gets done." Liam says.

"How do I know they won't just kill me when I get there?"

"Then they better find somewhere else to go because either all of you come back, or none of you do."

"Are you coming?"

"Well judging by the stories I've heard about how aggressive the guys tend to get with the women while I'm gone, I think I'll stick around and make sure everyone behaves like Christian boys and girls." Liam says.

"Eric? I want you to stay here and help Liam."

"But Matt…"

"I'm more than capable of doing this on my own. Consider it done Liam."

"Excellent! I know you won't disappoint!" Liam cheers. "Skids?"

"Yeah?"

"Go tell the others to get their things ready, and that our good buddy Matt will be joining them shortly."

"On it boss." The one guy named Skids rushes out of the house and runs back towards the direction of Liam's outpost. "Everyone else? I want you to leave."

"But Liam, you'll be by yourself." The guy named Kevin states.

"Call it insurance. Nothing happens to me, nothing happens to them. That ought to make Matt feel a little better while he's gone." Liam replies as he puts his finger on the trigger and points the gun directly at Kate and Rebecca.

Liam pointing the gun at Kate and Rebecca is really pissing me off, but by the time I can squeeze off an accurate shot, he could have already shot them. Liam's lifeless eyes do not match the joyful expression on his face as he lets out a small laugh.

"You know Matt, the way your eyes flare up when you're mad is entertaining to see. It's almost like dumping gas on a fire and I fucking love it. Reminds me of my younger days."

This is bad, but what choice was left? Liam knew what he was doing, and even though I tried to regain control of the situation, his superior numbers and unstable nature made him a much more menacing threat.

Not to mention he doesn't value the lives of the people around him. If Kate and the others weren't involved, then this would have gone much more smoothly, but ultimately, Kate and everyone else's safety drove me to make the deal. A deal Liam could possibly go back on simply because he feels like it. Yet what choice was there? He wasn't leaving until either we made a deal or people died.

"Hey Matt?"

"Yeah?"

"Remember, no survivors."

"Sure thing." I leave out the back door.

"Matt! Wait!" Eric shouts as he chases me out to the jeep. "Are you seriously going through with this?"

I get into the jeep and fire up the engine, "Yes."

"You're going to get yourself killed!"

"That's why you are going to stay right here just in case something does happens."

"Matt! You can't just leave us alone! What are we going to do!?"

"You're going to protect those girls until I get back. When I return, we'll pack up and head for my house."

"And what if you don't?"

"Do whatever means necessary to make it back to my house. You and Kate will be the leaders and protectors."

Eric reaches through the window and pats my shoulder, "Matt? Don't pass that responsibility onto me or Kate."

"I won't. I'm just telling you what to do when it does." I look directly at Eric and take a deep breath, "Could you do me a favor? Just in case something does happen."

"Sure."

"Tell Kate…that I'm sorry, and that…I feel like…"

"That's something you're going to have to tell Kate yourself." Eric chuckles.

"Oh I see. Trying to give me a reason to survive this bullshit task."

Eric's small chuckle evolves into a suppressed but hearty laugh. The urge to laugh overcomes me, and I join in. Despite the situation, this moment motivates me. I have to make it back. No matter what. Not just to apologize to Kate, not to tell her what I'm really feeling, but for her protection as well as Eric's, Jamie's, and Rebecca's.

"Matt? Take care."

"I'll be back." I shift into first gear and take off.

The image of Eric in the rear-view mirror decreases in size until it's erased by the incoming swarm of trees. A familiar feeling of isolation shoves all the joy out of my heart and takes up residence. The cold feeling of the surrounding world comes caving in through the jeep's windows and attempts to bury me in its shrouding dread. Even though someone else can be the one that pulls the trigger, it doesn't make it any less distressing.

I take my revolver out and keep it at the ready as I pull up to Liam's compound. People patrol around the gateway's entrance and up on the balconies of the mansion as I pull around to where the garage is.

Two boys about my age are sitting in the passenger seats of a little four door car. The driver looks to be older though. Almost like the same age as Liam. He rolls his window down and hangs his head out the window.

"You Matt?"

"Yes."

"Mike. I'm Liam's enforcer, and he told me that you'd be joining us in a little job."

"Seems like it."

"Well then lets get to it."

The tattoos on his arm are similar to the ones Liam have. This guy must have been a part of Liam's gang at one time. I follow Mike out the front gate of the mansion and stay right behind him. Just when things couldn't get any better. There's not one, but two psychopathic bikers from the same gang roaming around in the same proximity of one another.

When I get back, we'll pack everything up and head for that little hunting resort Kate and I found a couple days ago. If nobody has taken up residence, we'll stay there until morning and proceed to my house. From there, Melissa will take us to her grandparent's place. The image of seeing everyone including my parents finally being able to live in peace gives me a morale boost despite what's about to follow…