Disclaimer: Let it be known that I own nothing! (Except for OC's but there aren't any this chapter, so it doesn't count)

I peered through the binoculars and looked at the buildings nearby. A few of the undead were shambling about, but nothing we couldn't handle. A voice from nearby asked, "How's it look?"

I passed the binoculars to the individual and said, "See for yourself, Daryl."

The southerner surveyed the surrounding area with the binoculars and said, "Alright. We can probably clean out that small store over there and camp there overnight."

I stood up from my crouched position and asked, "Which one? That paint store?"

Daryl lowered the binoculars from his face and said, "Nah man, I was talking about that pharmacy. Plus it could have supplies or something we could use."

I nodded and said, "Fair enough. Let's get back to the others, tell them the plan."

Daryl hoisted his crossbow over his shoulder and said, "Sounds good to me." As we walked, the Southerner asked, "Hey Noah. I gotta say, it's impressive that a bunch of teens like you and the others have managed to last so long out here."

I nodded and replied, "Well, you know how hard it is, so I guess it is an accomplishment."

We arrived back at our camp and Eva asked, "So what's the plan?"

Daryl pointed back the way we came and said, "There's a drugstore not too far from here. Small, easy for us to keep protected for the night. We can camp there and then head around the city tomorrow."

Harold stood up and said, "Actually, can we venture into the city a little bit? If I'm correct, my dojo shouldn't be too far into the city. I want to see if anyone took refuge there or something. At the very least, some supplies should still be in the basement freezer."

Eva looked at the nerdy teen and asked, "What, did you happen to live there?"

Harold looked down in embarrassment and said, "In the back, yeah."

I asked, "How far into the actual city is it?"

Harold said, "Probably a mile or so in, if we're where I think we are."

I nodded before I said, "Alright, we'll camp in the drugstore for two nights. Tomorrow we'll travel to your dojo Harold, see if anything is still there. The day after, we'll leave and head for the states."

Daryl looked at the others and said, "Well, what are y'all standing around for? Let's start packing up!"

Everyone quickly packed up the supplies and we headed away from where we stopped to rest. As we traveled to the drugstore, we got in our formation that we took to using. Eva and Daryl were in the front, taking out the majority of the zombies that we encountered. Myself, DJ and Katie were positioned in the middle and Harold and Leshawna brought up rear.

As we walked, I was able to gather my thoughts in what seemed like the hundredth time since we met Daryl two weeks ago. Katie had been acting distant ever since that day. She hasn't talked to anyone unless she was directly asked a question and even then she would answer in the shortest answer possible. Everyone was worried for her, but I especially was concerned for her. I understand that she lost her best friend and she is by all means allowed to grieve, but I'm worried that her depression is having a negative impact on her health.

As for the rest of our group, we've been managing. Eva and Daryl have been the main muscle of our group these past two weeks. Granted, Eva's always been our main muscle, but she's still been strong since Justin and Sadie died. While she may not admit it, I think she does indeed miss them deep down.

As for Daryl, the deaths of Justin and Sadie didn't impact him much, probably because he never really got to know them. An interesting thing about Daryl is that even though he's older than all of us, he hasn't tried to take charge. If anything, he's now my right hand man, as everyone looks to me as a leader, something I don't really get. As for why he's my right hand man, as opposed to the others, in all honesty, he's the most skilled out of all of us. He survived on his own for at least a month, hunting his own food, so he's got to be good at surviving. But hey, I'm not complaining. Daryl is an asset we need, and if he wants to follow my lead, so be it.

DJ has been his usual, semi-scared self. He's gotten used to the zombies walking around everywhere, which is good I suppose. As for the deaths of Justin and Sadie, he's seemed to have gotten over them.

Leshawna has been the least fazed over Justin and Sadie dying, as she spent the least time with them. Thankfully her fighting ability wasn't hindered by the losses we suffered recently. The same could be said for Harold. If anything, he's fighting harder than ever now. Perhaps he wishes to avenge our losses. Maybe he wants to seem more useful.

Either way, it could be seen as a good thing. On a more positive note, we were finally at Toronto. Sadly the cars we took from the town we found Daryl in didn't last long because they didn't have much gas, which is why we were just now getting to Toronto.

We arrived at the drugstore and quickly dispatched of the zombies in the area. Eva looked to me and said, "Alright, what's the plan now?"

I tried to look into one of the windows and said, "Well, it appears to be empty. Alright, Daryl, you come with me to clear this place out. Everyone else, wait here. We'll get you when it's safe."

I opened the door to the drugstore, which was surprisingly unlocked, and Daryl entered first, crossbow raised. I shut the door behind me and put a hand on the hatchet I found a week ago. Daryl whispered to me, "I'm gonna check the back, you keep looking down the aisles, make sure nothing surprises us."

I nodded and Daryl moved down an aisle of the store and hopped over the counter before opening a door and disappearing from my sight. I held my hatchet in my right hand, ready to smash it into a zombie's skull if need be. My pistol was in my back pocket if I needed to use it.

I slowly approached the nearest aisle and peeked my head around the corner. Nothing was in sight. I sighed in relief before moving on to the next aisle. Looking around the corner, I was greeted by another empty aisle. Three down, four to go. I moved to the next aisle and again it was devoid of zombies. Moving on, I was steeling myself for a zombie to take me by surprise, but the fifth aisle was empty as well. I mused to myself, "Where the hell are the zombies? You would think there would be at least one in here somewhere."

My suspicions were proven true when I glanced around the corner of the next aisle and I spotted a single corpse. It was facing away from me so I quickly rushed forward and quickly slammed my axe into the back of its head, killing it. It slumped to the floor and I removed the axe from the ghoul's head. I headed to the final aisle and stopped, seeing a trio of zombies.

The one closest to me looked directly at me and moved toward me, moaning in delight. I raised the axe and stuck it into the zombie's head, killing it. Unfortunately, the moaning of the first zombie attracted the other two. I tried in vain for a moment to pull the axe out of the head of the zombie I already dispatched. As I struggled, the two corpses moved closer to me.

I realized I couldn't get the axe removed from the skull it was embedded in so I drew my pistol and shot the nearest zombie in the head. Its death caused it to fall over on top of me, knocking me to the ground. Luckily I was able to hold onto my pistol during this so I could deal with the final zombie wandering toward me. I pushed the zombie corpse off of my body just to see the other one lean down, ready to take a big bite out of my leg. A bullet ended his hopes of that pretty quickly.

I stood up and brushed the dust off of my clothes before Daryl showed up and said, "Is everything alright? I heard shooting."

I nodded and said, "Yeah, just a few dead ones. No big deal. How'd the back look?"

Daryl lowered his crossbow and said, "I swept the entire area. Not a single Walker to be found."

I nodded and said, "All right. Let's get everyone in here and dispose of these bodies. There's still enough time today to look for some supplies in the neighboring buildings."

Daryl nodded and headed outside to fetch the others while I checked the store for supplies, though ultimately there was not much left, as much of the store had been picked clean.

Several hours later after everyone returned from their scouting missions, we barricaded the front and rear entrances to the drugstore and prepared the food we had allocated for the day. As we sat around the lantern we kept for light, I asked, "So what did we find earlier? I don't even know."

DJ spoke up, "Well, Harold and I found a couple bags of rice. So we have some more food for now."

Eva grinned and said, "Leshawna and I found a decent amount of supplies. Some canned food, some medical supplies. All in all we got a good haul."

Daryl snorted and said, "Yeah? At least you found something useful. Katie and I didn't find anything! Nothing but some rotted food and a dead dog in front of an empty food bowl."

Katie muttered, "Poor dog."

I looked at her sympathetically and wanted to go over to her and comfort her but something in the back of my mind kept me from doing so. The rest of the meal was eaten in silence.

After eating, we all decided to get some sleep and get ready for the next day. Before we did go to bed though, I went over to Katie while she was alone and asked, "Katie, are you alright? Do you want to sleep with me tonight?"

Katie shook her head and replied, "Sorry Noah. I'm still not over Sadie's death. I just need more time to myself."

I sighed and said, "Alright Katie." I walked away, a bit sad that Katie didn't want us to help her get over her grief. As I headed to where I set up my sleeping bag, Harold and DJ noticed my expression and I noticed their sympathetic expressions on their faces.

The next morning we awoke and looked at a map, one of the few things I salvaged from the drugstore. I turned to Harold and said, "Alright, where is this dojo of yours?"

Harold studied the map for a few moments before he said, "Right here. It's a little farther in than I thought. It's about six blocks into the city, right near this park."

I nodded and said, "Alright then. Harold, Daryl and Leshawna, I want the three of you to get your stuff. We're leaving in ten minutes."

Eva spoke up, "Wait, I'm coming with you Noah."

I shook my head and said, "Thanks for the concern Eva, but I want you, DJ and Katie to stay here and protect this place. Make sure zombies haven't torn it down by the time we get back." I lowered my voice to a whisper and said, "Also, I want to make sure Katie doesn't do something drastic. I'm worried about her."

Eva nodded and said, "Got it."

I gathered my weapons and my backpack and said, "Alright guys let's get going." The four of us opened the front door, with Daryl pointing his crossbow over my shoulder, as we surveyed the nearby area for any ghouls. Thankfully we seemed to have killed the nearby ones yesterday. We ventured out of the pharmacy and shut the door before heading toward Harold's dojo. We encountered no zombies until after the pharmacy was out of sight and the buildings started to resemble more of a city.

We stood in the middle of the street and looked down the road, trying to tell if we could see our destination. I turned to Harold and said, "You know this area Harold, are we close to where we want to go?"

Harold nodded and said, "You can't see the building from here, but I recognize this area. I'm surprised I didn't recognize it earlier."

Daryl lifted up his crossbow and said, "Looks like we got company."

We looked to where Daryl was aiming and saw about five zombies shambling our way. I got ready to swing my axe and said, "Remember everyone, melee weapons."

Daryl fired his crossbow to take out one of the ghouls, which served as a signal to the rest of us. We ran forward and used our weapons to chop and behead the zombies. Glancing around to make sure there weren't any more of the freaks in sight, I said, "Alright, let's keep moving."

Daryl grabbed his crossbow bolt from the skull of the zombie it was imbedded in and said, "Right behind you." We continued down the street, sticking to the center of the road in case zombies tried to grab us from behind a window of a storefront. After travelling maybe half a city block, a number of zombies shambled into our view.

I turned my head very slightly to the others and said, "I count eight. Daryl, you want to start things off?"

The southerner fired his crossbow and said, "Let's go!" He charged ahead with his knife drawn and plunged it into the head of the nearest zombie. The rest of us followed, our melee weapons ready to draw some blood. Harold reached the zombies first and decapitated one with his katana before slicing into a ghoul's head vertically. While he pushed against the corpse to remove his blade, I lodged my axe into the head of a zombie and Leshawna slammed her machete into another zombie's head. By the time we killed those two, Daryl had already stabbed another zombie in the head and Harold had removed the sword from the head of the zombie, slicing off the head of the final one.

As Daryl retrieved his arrow, I said, "Everyone alright? I don't see any others down this street here. It's strange. You would think there would be more of these freaks in as big a city of Toronto."

Leshawna shook her head and said, "Noah, you should be thankful we're not up to our eyeballs in those undead monsters."

I nodded and said, "Oh, I am, don't get me wrong. I still think the lack of zombies is a bit unnerving."

Daryl rejoined us and said, "Let's just get to wherever the hell we're going then get the hell out of here. I have a feeling the lack of walkers isn't going to last long."

We hurried along for a couple of blocks, dispatching of the few zombies we encountered, which still unnerved me. When we were about a block and a half from Harold's dojo, we started to run into larger numbers of zombies.

Daryl smashed a zombie in the head with his crossbow and said, "Hey Harold. There any way to get to wherever the hell we're going by taking the rooftops or something? Anything easier than fighting our way past all these Walkers?"

Harold decapitated a pair of zombies before remarking, "Well, if we can find a way inside one of these buildings, we could make our way to an alley, which would ideally have less zombies."

Leshawna attacked another zombie with her machete and said, "It's worth the risk at this point."

Bringing my axe down on another zombie, I remarked, "I agree. While we could eventually kill all these zombies, I would rather have us keep our strength up. We still have to get back to the drugstore."

Daryl stabbed a nearby zombie with his knife and he said, "There's only like three dozen of them. We've killed that many so far today."

I lodged my axe into yet another ghoul and said, "I still like the idea of saving our energy. Leshawna, see if you can get one of those stores we passed before open. We'll cover you."

Leshawna nodded and said, "You got it Noah."

Harold calmly took a breath and sliced the top of another zombie's head off, destroying the brain. We fought the few nearby zombies and tried to avoid attracting the attention of any others. Leshawna walked over and said, "I got one of the doors open. Let's get going."

I nodded and said, "Right. Let's get going." We entered the building, which was dimly lit, and started to find our way to the stairs, wherever they would be.

After a moment, Harold remarked, "Wait a second. I recognize this store. The stairs are in the back area somewhere." We headed into the back area, which was even darker than the front of the store. Harold found the stairs and climbed them, with myself following. Daryl was behind me and Leshawna brought up the rear. When I was about halfway up the stairs, Leshawna cried out in surprise and fumbled with her machete for a moment before Daryl fired his crossbow, killing the zombie that was hidden by the darkness.

I asked, "Are you alright Leshawna? Did you get bit or anything?"

She took a deep breath and said, "I don't think so. I can't see much of anything though so I'm not sure." We hurried up the next couple floors and we ended up on the roof of the building. Harold was already standing there, looking out over the rooftops.

He noticed we made it to the roof and said, "Just as I suspected, we're about a block from my dojo. If we walk across the rooftops to that alley over there, it's a very short walk to the dojo."

I nodded and said, "That's good to hear."

From behind me I could hear Leshawna say, "No way."

I whirled around and said, "You were bit?"

She looked at me with a bit of a grim expression on her face, "I don't know. It looks like it only grazed me. Would that infect me?"

I looked lost in thought as I replied, "I don't know to be honest. We know next to nothing about how the infection spreads. For now, if you feel fine, that's a good sign."

Daryl loaded another bolt into his crossbow and said, "Come on, we're burning daylight, and should your condition get worse later, don't waste what little time you've got now standing around."

I looked down and said, "As insensitive as that sounded, Daryl is right. Are you still able to fight?"

Leshawna gave me her typical smirk and said, "You know I'll be fighting until the day I die. Let's get going already."

And so we made our way across the rooftops to the alley Harold noticed earlier. Harold looked at the fire escape and said, "I'm going to go down first. I'll let you know if it's safe to come up." After a moment, Harold said, "Alright, the alley is clear. Hurry up guys."

We descended the ladder and waited in the alley. I asked, "So how far are we from your place?"

Harold poked his head around the corner of the alley and said, "Okay, if we go down to the end of this road and then go left across the street, it's just a couple storefronts down."

Daryl pulled out his knife and said, "So how are we getting in?"

Harold pulled out a key ring and said, "I still have the keys."

I looked back to Daryl and Leshawna and said, "You two ready?"

Daryl nodded and Leshawna replied, "You know I'm always ready."

I readied my axe and said, "Alright, go now!" The four of us ran out of the alley and down the street before we realized there were no zombies in the immediate area.

Daryl happened to glance behind us and he said, "What the hell? Is that a barricade?" I turned around and saw a small wall. It appeared to be quickly put together, as it didn't appear to strong. I followed the wall and saw that it blocked off most of the park. It seemed to blocking off a few buildings, including Harold's dojo.

I glanced around and said, "Well it looks like someone tried to make a living here. Unfortunately, we don't know if they're still here or not."

Harold pulled his keys back out and said, "Well lets get in and see what's still here."

I took a precautionary glance around and said, "Daryl, be ready to shoot if someone hostile is in there."

Daryl raised his crossbow and said, "On it."

Harold carefully selected the correct key and inserted it into the lock, disabling it. Just as he was about to turn the doorknob, the door opened and we were met with a woman wielding a shotgun. She appeared to be in her early twenties and she was wearing a blue hooded sweatshirt. She had goggles over her eyes and oddly enough, her hair was dyed green. She was frowning at us and said, "I have no idea who the hell you people are, but I want you to get the hell out of here."

Harold held up the keys and said, "I could say the same to you! I own this place damn it!"

Leshawna raised an eyebrow and said, "Wait, did you say you have no idea who we are? Three of us were reality TV show stars!"

The woman scoffed and said, "So? I'm not from here. I lived in New York until two winters ago."

I pinched the bridge of my nose and said, "Which means she would have no idea who we are, since it's been over a year and a half since one of our seasons aired."

A voice from inside said, "Ramona? What's going on?" A male that appeared to be the same age as the female appeared in the doorway. He was wearing a yellow shirt and a blue coat over it and he had orange hair. As soon as he saw us he said, "Master Harold? Is that really you?"

Harold's jaw dropped and he said, "Scott? You're still alive?"

Scott grinned and said, "And kicking!"

Ramona lowered the shotgun and raised an eyebrow and said, "So this is the guy that owned this place? That dojo you went to even after defeating my evil exes?"

Scott nodded and said, "One and the same. Come on in guys, even though I don't know the rest of you."

Harold pointed to each of us in turn and said, "This is Noah, Daryl and Leshawna."

Scott led us to the back area, where Harold apparently lived, and said, "So what are you guys doing around here?"

I spoke up, "We stopped here on a request from Harold. We're on our way to the states, since the infection has not spread there yet."

Harold added, "That's something I wanted to ask. Why are you still here Scott?"

Scott sighed and said, "Toronto is my home. It always has been. I couldn't just leave it behind."

Harold nodded and said, "I can understand that. Is it just you two? What happened to those friends of yours?"

Scott looked down and said, "Unfortunately, most of them didn't make it. As for the ones who made it out of the city, I don't know what happened to them. I can hope they made it to America alright, but I don't know."

Harold cringed and said, "Sorry to bring it up."

I stood up and said, "I have a proposition for the two of you. Join us on our journey. Safety in numbers, right?"

Ramona turned to Scott and said, "I'll leave it up to you Scott. While I would prefer leaving and having a chance of life returning to normal, you've done so much for me that I can't leave you behind."

Scott replied, "Could I have a little bit of time to think about it?"

I nodded and said, "I suppose, but we need to get back to our temporary camp. And hopefully you can come with us, because we were hoping to take supplies with us, so if you do accompany us, we can take whatever is left here."

Harold spoke up, "Scott, can we go to the roof? I want to get one final glimpse of the cityscape."

Scott nodded and said, "Sure. It would be a good place to think about this as well."

When they left, I asked, "Ramona was it? Would you mind showing us what supplies you have in case you and Scott accompany us?"

Ramona looked at us with a bit of disbelief before nodding and saying, "Fine. But if you try to take anything, you'll sorely regret it."

On the roof, Scott and Harold stood surveying the city, or at least what could be seen from the roof. The park, for the most part, was as clean as it was before the outbreak began. On the other side of the wall, zombies could be seen shambling about.

Harold was the first to break the silence, "You know, I thought when I was at that weekend retreat thing and we first learned that the zombies were true, I thought I would miss being here. And to an extent I do. But the idea of being safe from these things, that's what keeps me going. That's my main drive in escaping to America."

Scott nodded and said, "I know what you're saying. I want to be safe too. But you don't understand Harold. I've lived here for my entire life. I don't know what it's like to not be here. I think it would be for the best to leave, but I don't know how I can say goodbye to something like this."

Harold looked at his student and said, "I don't know if this is the best advice, but the best option right now would be to leave quickly. The longer you think about leaving, the more difficult for you it will be."

Scott looked down and sighed before turning around to face Harold and said, "You're right. Let's gather everything we can carry and get out of here. You said you're camped out somewhere?"

Harold nodded and said, "Yeah, a drugstore about a mile from here. Let's hurry up so we can get back there."

Ramona, Leshawna, Daryl and I were examining the food and medical supplies that remained when Harold and Scott came down from the roof. Ramona glanced over at her boyfriend and said, "So what's the deal Scott?"

Scott nodded and said, "We're going with them. A group could be what we need to feel safe again."

Ramona nodded and said, "All right. Let's get these supplies."

I turned to Daryl and said, "Hey, can you go to the roof and scope things out for me? See if there's anywhere on the other side of the fence where the number of zombies is less than everywhere else. It'll make getting out of here all the more easier."

Daryl nodded and without a word went to the roof. Harold glanced over the supplies and said, "Out of curiosity, how much food do you have?"

Ramona shrugged and said, "Enough to last the two of us another month and a half easily. People were so busy trying to get out, they left things like non-perishable food behind. Their loss."

Leshawna stood up from her crouched position on the ground and quickly grabbed the countertop to stabilize herself. I raised an eyebrow and said, "You okay?"

She smiled back and said, "I'm just fine. Just felt a bit lightheaded is all."

Ramona raised an eyebrow and said, "Yeah, but usually people feel like that going from sitting to standing, not crouching to standing. You haven't been bitten, have you?"

Leshawna waved the comment off and said, "I said I'm fine. And no, I haven't been bitten. I was scratched but that doesn't turn people."

Ramona turned toward Leshawna and said, "Depends on how severe the scratch was. I've seen people get scratched pretty damn bad and get infected."

I asked, "How does that even work?"

Scott shook his head and said, "I don't know. I've only seen it once, and that was because the zombie was eating someone before scratching the other person. So stuff from the mouth travelled to the scratch."

Leshawna showed off the small scratch and said, "See, it's not that big a deal."

Scott nodded and said, "Yeah, I think more would have happened by now if you really were infected."

Ramona shrugged and said, "Alright, but I'll be keeping my eye on you. If your condition worsens, you'll have to get cut loose."

Leshawna slightly glared at Ramona and said, "Don't worry, that won't happen."

Daryl returned and said, "I found our return route. But there's no saying how long it'll be clear. Let's hurry up and get out of here."

I turned to the others and said, "You heard the man, let's get going."

Harold said, "Let me just get one thing before we go first."

I nodded and said, "Be quick."

Scott said, "Well, that's all the supplies we can comfortably carry. Smart idea bringing those backpacks."

I shrugged and said, "We've been on the road for who knows how long now. We've picked up on certain things."

Harold returned and said, "Alright, I'm ready to go."

Daryl asked, "What did you go back for?"

Harold said, "Something that's very important to me. What it is isn't important. So are we going?"

I turned to Scott and Ramona and said, "You ready?" They looked at each other before looking to me and nodding.

Leshawna said, "Well, let's get out of here then!" We exited the dojo one at a time, with Harold being the last one to leave. He looked inside the building before turning his back on it and catching up to us.

Harold looked at Leshawna and asked, "Are you feeling alright Leshawna? You're slower than usual."

Leshawna nodded and said, "I think so. I'm worried that this scratch might have infected me though."

Harold shrugged and said, "I'm sure you're fine. After all, there would have been more signs by now."

Leshawna sighed and said, "I hope you're right Harold."

I was walking with Scott and Ramona and mentioned, "When we get to our camp, I would be wary of how much you, for lack of a better term, flaunt your relationship. One of our own lost her best friend two weeks ago and while she's entitled to mourn, she's gotten depressed about it."

Ramona said, "I'll talk to her. Scott and I have both lost some of our best friends to these freaks."

I smiled very slightly and said, "Thanks."

Daryl stopped at the wall and said, "Alright, I don't see any walkers so let's get through here and get back to the pharmacy."

We crossed over to the other side of the wall and while there weren't any zombies nearby, several zombies farther down the road in each direction began to roam toward us. Daryl muttered, "Damn."

He raised his crossbow and prepared to fire but I said, "Wait. Don't use a bolt unless you'll be able to get it back. The more of those you keep, the better. Everyone else, I need ideas here. We've got zombies on each side of us. What should we do?"

Harold replied, "Well, while there are more zombies to our left, it would help us get back quicker. But that will be a straight shot so we won't be able to shake them as easily."

Daryl snorted, "Sounds like we're going to the right then."

Scott nodded and said, "Let's go." Scott drew a katana blade that he had hidden and sliced the head off the nearest zombie.

As I sunk my axe into another corpse, I asked, "Where did you get that?"

Ramona blew another zombie's head off with her shotgun and said, "Trust me, it's a long story."

Daryl fired his crossbow at a ghoul farther down the street, killing the creature. Harold stood with Scott, the two of them using their katanas to decapitate zombies left and right. Leshawna continued to fall back and I turned to her and asked, "Are you sure you're alright?"

She nodded and said, "I think I might be coming down with a cold or something."

I raised an eyebrow and replied, "You were fine not too long ago. You sure you weren't infected?"

She snapped at me, "Now how the hell would I know? We've never seen anyone die aside from bites!"

Daryl fired his crossbow again and said, "Argue later! We got us a mess of walkers down the street!"

I turned my attention to the zombies and said, "Damn, there's too many of them for all of us to take on."

Ramona blew another zombie away and said, "Somebody cover me, I'm reloading."

I grabbed my axe harder and said, "We've only got one chance. We need to charge quickly and take out as many of them as possible."

Daryl snorted and said, "Ain't no way that's gonna work."

I steeled my nerves and said, "It has too. We can't go back now. This is the only way we can go without bringing tons of them back with us!"

Harold looked at the vast number of zombies and said, "Even with the six of us, this would be suicide."

Scott nodded and said, "That's what it looks like. Does anybody have any better ideas?"

Leshawna coughed and said, "Damn it all!"

We all turned to her and I said, "What's wrong?"

She sighed and said, "Looks like I was wrong. I was infected after all. I guess the scratch was deeper than it looked and maybe its hands or nails or whatever had blood on them."

Harold stammered, "How do you know you're infected?"

Leshawna shook her head and said, "I can just feel it."

Daryl threw his hands into the air and said, "Well this is just great! We got Walkers on both sides of us and one of our own is gonna turn! Just great!"

Leshawna put down her backpack and machete and said, "Somebody take these."

Scott grabbed the backpack while I grabbed the machete. We looked around, wondering what we could do to get out of our current situation. I looked the way we came and saw corpses advancing down the street. I muttered, "Damn, we need a plan and soon."

Leshawna stood up and said, "Get ready."

I turned to her and said, "What?"

Leshawna repeated, "Get ready to move."

Scott raised an eyebrow and asked, "Um, why?"

Leshawna took a deep breath and said, "Just trust me on this." We all waited for a moment before Leshawna said, "Run this way, come on!"

She charged ahead and looked to be throwing herself to the zombies. I shouted as we chased after her, "What the hell are you doing? And where did this burst of speed come from?"

Leshawna didn't even look back as she said, "I'm already infected, I may as well help get you out of here by making them go after me, buying you time. And the speed, I don't know, adrenaline or something."

Before any of us had a chance to try and talk her out of it, she reached the crowd of zombies at the end of the street. She shoved a good number of them, trying to push them against the wall it looked like. This attracted the attention of most, if not all, of the zombies that stood in our way. Leshawna shouted, "Hurry up and get the hell out of here!"

As we rushed past the large pile of zombies, I could see Leshawna struggling against them with many bite marks on her body. The last thing I saw before turning my attention back to where I was going was Leshawna being swallowed up by the undead. I muttered, "Thank you."

As we ran back toward the drug store, we ran into at least two or three dozen zombies. Many met an end by one of the two katanas we had with us or by Daryl's crossbow. Ramona was sure to not use her shotgun any more to avoid attracting unwanted attention. We kept moving, determined to make it back to the drugstore within the hour so we could be safe.

When we finally made it back to the drugstore, we saw DJ sitting in a folding chair outside, keeping watch. He got up when he saw us approach and asked, "Hey guys, you're back. Where's Leshawna?"

I shook my head and said, "She didn't make it."

DJ frowned and said, "That sucks. Why do we have to keep losing our friends?"

Harold looked down in sadness and said, "I don't know DJ, I wish we didn't have to lose them though."

Eva opened the door and said, "I heard talking, what's going on? Oh Noah, you're back. And you found some other people."

I nodded and said, "Yeah, this is Scott and Ramona."

Eva noticed our somber expressions and guessed, "I'm guessing Leshawna didn't make it?"

Harold nodded and said, "Yeah. She sacrificed herself to save the rest of us."

Scott turned to Harold and said, "Look at it this way Master Harold, by sacrificing herself, she has no doubt earned herself a spot in heaven."

Harold agreed, "I suppose you're right Scott."

Eva raised an eyebrow and said, "Master Harold?"

Ramona shook her head and said, "Long story."

Katie opened the door and exited the store, asking, "Eva, are you alright? Oh good, you guys are back. I was getting a bit worried. Wait, where's Leshawna?"

Daryl rolled his eyes and said, "She's dead. Everybody filled in now?"

DJ frowned and said, "Dude, that was pretty rude of you."

Daryl replied, "I've had a hell of a long day. Give me a damn break." The southerner entered the drugstore, leaving the rest of us standing outside.

Eva asked, "What the hell was that about?"

Ramona turned to the rest of us and asked, "Is he usually like this?"

I shook my head and replied, "His nerves are probably a little frayed, that's all. We've all had a long day." We re-entered the drugstore and prepared to take inventory, trying to figure out what we had to last us the rest of our journey.

Later that night, after dinner, I brought Scott and Ramona over to where Katie was sitting and asked, "Katie, can I talk to you?"

She turned to see the newest members of our group with me and asked, "Noah, no offense to them, but why are they here?"

Ramona sat down across from Katie and said, "Noah here asked us to talk to you. Well, more like he told us about you and we volunteered to talk to you."

Scott sat down next to his girlfriend and said, "From what Noah's told us, you're entitled to mourn the loss of your friend. Don't think that you aren't. But shutting him away isn't healthy. He wants to help you mourn and eventually move on."

Katie shook her head and said, "You don't understand, Sadie was my best friend since I was six. It's not like a person I've known for a couple of years."

Scott nodded and said, "I do understand Katie. I lost my sister to these monsters."

Ramona nodded and said, "I remember when he came back after losing her. Scott was a wreck. But I had to help him get over it. And he did, right?"

Scott looked down and said, "Yeah. I miss her, but I'm not depressed. At least I know she's not suffering like most of the undead out there. I made sure of it."

I took the moment to butt in, "So do you see that I have your best interests in mind Katie? I want to help you get over your depression. But I can't do that unless you let me. What do you say?"

Katie sat there for a moment before she hugged me, sobbing, "I'm sorry Noah. You're right, I should have let you help me."

I pat her back and said, "It's okay Katie. Better late than never. I was worried you would end up doing something drastic, and I couldn't let that happen."

Katie continued to sob into my shoulder and said, "It's just that I miss Sadie so much."

I continued to pat her back and said, "I know Katie, we all do. By the way, thanks Scott, thanks Ramona."

Scott nodded and said, "Anything for a friend of Master Harold." I spent the next hour or so consoling Katie before we decided to fall asleep.

The next day we packed up the remaining supplies we had and planned out our journey. We all departed the drugstore and headed in the direction that we believed would take us to America. Harold, Scott and Ramona stopped to take one final look at the city.

Scott looked like he was going to cry and said, "Goodbye Toronto. I'll never forget you."

Harold nodded and said, "Same here. It's weird being home yet having to leave it forever."

Ramona sighed and said, "I know I didn't live here for long, but it won't feel quite the same. At least things look promising for getting to America."

I stopped and turned to the three and asked, "You guys coming?"

Ramona and Harold looked to Scott, who turned to face me and said, "Yeah, let's get going."

We left behind the fallen city of Toronto, as well as a good friend. If there was anything positive to come out this, it would be that we would soon reach America and we could leave behind these undead monsters forever.

Woo! Pre-end of the world update! (If you believe in that Mayan calendar crap that is. Personally, I don't believe it, but we'll find out in a couple of days if they were right won't we?) I feel like I didn't put enough zombie action into this chapter, but maybe that's just me. There will be plenty of them next chapter though, don't worry. And so we say goodbye to Leshawna. I was torn between killing her and Eva, to try and show that even those who are strong aren't safe and I picked Leshawna because we've almost never seen Eva outside of like a dozen episodes of the show (counting the aftermath episodes) so I wanted to develop her character more.

I have a new poll up and I would greatly appreciate your input. I'm thinking when this is done to do a true Total Drama/Walking Dead crossover, where it would be a sequel to this story, so voice your opinion if you want (or don't want) that to see the light of day. Also, I'm going to start eliminating some of the guesses of the characters to be unveiled in the final part of Chris' journey. I can confirm that Isaac Clark will not be in it. I have never played Dead Space and even if I did, the futuristic, sci-fi environment doesn't fit this story, which takes place in the present. Well that about wraps things up. Please review if you wouldn't mind and have a Merry Christmas. (If you celebrate something besides Christmas, have a happy holiday yourself). Until Next Time!