NexusOscura: I realize I haven't been giving Sawbones and co. much attention lately.

MrScourch: Ghoul is referred to as that because she wore makeup that made her look ghoulish even before she was infected.

The Batista: No comment.

Burglar: Yeah, try and bypass security like that one more time.

Al Drin Hoshizora: You will find out soon.

Korrasami 88: Both of those will be answered soon.

RileyA: I don't know yet.

Jacob R. Davis: You'll have to wait for the end.

ADeckofCards1234: If they did, they're probably getting owned by the infected by now.

Antha1: The Boss will not shoot Yellowjacket for being a zombie. And besides, he's after Pale Girl for the cure (don't think I'm giving away much by saying that).

Gloyd Orangeboar: 'That's a good one' Not really.


Bill never thought he'd see so many uninfected people since the apocalypse started in San Francisco.

He couldn't count how many normal people there were, but he knew there were hundreds, at the very least. Definitely bigger than his old group. He wondered how it had taken him so long to find them.

Yellowjacket huddled close to Bill's side, squeezing his hand. She hadn't seen so many Freaks in one place. She could see that some of them had guns. She felt a chill run down her spine.

Indeed, she could see some of the Others were there, but not a lot. They were rather pale-looking, and they were generally working away from the Freaks. Of the few Others that were with the Freaks, Yellowjacket believed that they were related.

One man walked up to them. "Hey Joe, you're back," The man said. Noticing Bill and Yellowjacket, he said, "It looks like you found some more survivors."

"Yeah, sure," Bill said, forcing a smile. It seemed that the man couldn't tell Yellowjacket was infected. Was she really that different from the rest of the Others.

"We're going to go see the Boss," Joe told the man. "He may be interested in finding out how these two survived for so long on their own."

The man nodded and pointed to a door leading upstairs. Joe nodded, and ushered Bill and Yellowjacket to follow them.

As Yellowjacket followed the two, the Others turned their gaze in her direction. Yellowjacket pretended not to notice as, one by one, the Others stopped what they were doing and turned their heads to face her. Their eyes followed her as she walked to the door.

Yellowjacket squeezed Bill's hand as they passed by. Suddenly, Yellowjacket felt clammy flesh against hers as another girl stumbled into her. In the few seconds their bodies made contact, Yellowjacket could feel the girl's skin. It was cold, like a corpse.

The other girl stumbled backwards. "Sorry," She wheezed out to Yellowjacket.

Yellowjacket froze as her eyes focused on the girl. The girl had very dull, nappy hair. She had somewhat large lips, and her jaw was always hanging open, even though she didn't talk. Her eyes were an icy blue.

She didn't know why, but she felt that she recognized the girl.

Suddenly, a woman with red hair ran up. "Please excuse my daughter," She apologized to Bill as she took the girl by the wrist. "My Margaret is always wandering off. She can't seem to stay in one place ever since she. . ."

Bill cut her off. "It's alright," He said. He nodded, and then started dragging Yellowjacket. As they continued walking, Yellowjacket continued to stare at the girl.

After they met the Boss, she knew she had to see this girl again.


"So, how did you two survive on your own for over a year?" Joe asked as the three walked up the stairs. The stairs were metal, and every footstep made a loud clanging noise.

"Oh, it's a long story," Bill said. "It wasn't just us. There's my beautiful wife, Jill. We're quite the team."

"Uh-huh," Joe replied, nodding.

"We were in a group," Bill recalled. "But when they aw our. . . daughter, we had to go. We don't know what's happened to them, but we're kind of worried."

"Oh, well we could go and find them, if you want," Joe suggested. Bill nodded, and shifted his eyes.

"Oh, you don't have to," He said.

"But they're your frie-" Yellowjacket started, but Bill shushed her.

Joe made a weird face at the two, then resumed walking. "Not many people get to see the Boss up close," Joe told the two. "He mainly goes out to give speeches and orders, and whatnot. Other than that, he's holed up upstairs."

"So why are you taking us to him?" Bill asked.

"Well, I was thinking the two of you could help with a problem we've been having," Joe said. They reached the top of the stairs and were met with a dark corridors. There was a metal door, and Joe knocked on it, producing an echoing noise.

"Boss!" He shouted. "I have two people who you'd like to see."

For a moment, the two heard nothing. Joe clasped his hands together and waited. After about a minute passed, the doorknob turned, and the door slowly creaked open. A man appeared from within.

"Good to see you, Boss," Joe said, nodding.

Bill saw the man at the door, and studied him. He was younger than he expected him to be. The man looked to be in his early thirties at the oldest. He was rather tall, though, and was dressed in an entirely black trench coat and pants. He wore a black pair of sunglasses, and had sandy blonde hair.

"Who are they?" The Boss asked, referring to Bill and Yellowjacket.

"I found them in a neighborhood," Joe informed the Boss. "The girl's an intelligent one. These two have survived out there in the infested city for so long."

The Boss stared down at Yellowjacket, who got a prickly feeling in her back looking at him. The man was frowning, but she couldn't see his eyes. The Boss then looked up and said, "Come in."

Bill and Yellowjacket walked in, but Joe remained outside. Bill turned to stare at him, but Joe said nothing. He just closed the door.

Bill shrugged and followed the Boss down the dark hallways. Yellowjacket lagged behind, keeping a distance away from the Boss.

"So, is it true that you two have made it on your own?" The Boss asked Bill, who nodded.

"Well, my daughter is one of them, but she's getting better," He reassured the Boss. "You don't need to be afraid of her."

The Boss nodded. "So, what have you seen out there?" He asked him.

"Oh, nasty stuff," Bill informed him. "I've seen tons of people die, way more than a man should see. We were in a group, but I don't think they've made it." He paused, then said, "Anyways, there's me, my wife, and my little daughter Riley here."

"Any others?" The Boss asked.

Bill paused, then said, "No."

The Boss took a deep breath before speaking again. "So, how competent are you with a gun?" He asked. "How many of them can you take out?"

Bill shrugged. "When me and my wife were in the group, we did most of the brunt work. We went out and got the stuff to keep the group going. We've had to face a lot of them while doing so. I'm pretty handy with a gun, I'd say."

"Your daughter?" The Boss asked. "What the the Others think of her?"

Yellowjacket blinked. This man hadn't referred to them as 'zombies'? She said nothing, though.

Bill thought for a moment. "They seem. . . strange regarding her," He said. "My Riley has a way with them. She can convince some of them not to attack us. Some of them."

"What do you mean?" The Boss asked for details.

"There was this one zombie boy," Bill recalled. "My daughter communicates with him, and he listens to her. He doesn't seem to like us, but he does what she says. And there were these four other zombies. They were also smart. My daughter communicates with them to, to an extent."

Yellowjacket could tell Bill was omitting details. She didn't know why, though.

"So your daughter can communicate with the Others?" The Boss asked. Bill rubbed the back of his head, and then said, "I think."

The Boss smiled a bit. "Good, because I might have a job for her," He said.

Bill raised his eyebrow. "What job are you talking about?" He asked.

The Boss waved for them to follow him as he led them to a small room. Once they were inside, the Boss sat down at a table, and began spreading out multiple pictures.

Bill stared at the photos. His eyes widened. They were the photos of the picture he'd seen of the sick girl at the hospital. She was wearing the same white dress.

Yellowjacket noticed the pictures, too. When she saw the girl in the picture, she let out a gasp and ducked behind Bill. She recognized the girl in the photo.

She was the girl she and Blackjacket had seen in the apartment.

"This girl," The Boss informed them. "This right here is the Patient Zero."

Bill raised an eyebrow. "You mind telling me what that is?" He asked him.

"She's the cause of it all," The Boss explained. "She's the first. She's the one who's responsible for why the city is the way it is now. She's the first infected person. And we've been looking for her."

"Why?" Bill asked.

"Because we think she could be the key to finding the cure," The Boss informed the two. "If we find the first zombie, we can also find the source of the virus that's infected your daughter. We might be able to find a way to cure this infected city, and the places beyond that."

"Do you know this girl?" Bill asked.

"I've sent several men to find her, but most of them don't come back," The Boss said, not answering Bill's question. "She's very dangerous. She's a killer."

Yellowjacket flashed back to when she'd seen the girl, tearing into the flesh of that man in the apartment. She shuddered. Before either Bill or the Boss could stop her, Yellowjacket covered her mouth and tore out of the room. The two men soon heard the sound of barfing coming from outside.

The Boss turned to Bill. "Most of those men aren't equipped for handling this monster," He said. "But you might be different."

"Wait, you're sending ME after her?" Bill asked, incredulous. "Are you crazy? I'm dead if I go out there."

"But you have her," The Boss pointed out, motioning to where Yellowjacket was, outside the door. "She can communicate with the Others. She may be able to have some level of contact with the Patient Zero, at least enough that you can catch her."

Bill was silent, unsure.

The Boss sighed. "Look, I know it's difficult," He said. "But finding Patient Zero could mean we can find a cure. We can bring everyone back. We can bring your daughter back. She'll be normal. It'll be just like when she was really alive."

That caught Bill's attention. "It'll be just like things were?" He asked.

The Boss nodded. "If only you bring Patient Zero back," He said. "I want her alive. Bring her back alive, and if I'm right, in a few months time, it'll be like this apocalypse never happened."

Bill's eyes lit up at that. He turned to Yellowjacket, who stood outside. Even though she was getting smarter, she was till wandering off in the distance. He could tell her mind wasn't there at the moment.

She wasn't truly cured.


(In Bill's Mind)

"I can't believe we're actually considering this," Disgust said vehemently. "Are we actually considering using our daughter to find this. . . this thing?"

"The Boss may have a point," Joy pointed out, stroking his mustache. "If we can find the source, we may be able to find a cure. And our Riley will be back!"

"Or she could be taken away forever," Sadness interjected. "This Patient Zero sounds like really bad news."

"But Riley can talk to the zombies, right?" Fear added. "She can, right?"

"But those are the smart zombies," Disgust argued. "I don't think she can talk with the normal ones? At least, I don't think we've seen it happen."

"What does Anger have to say?" Fear asked. The other emotions turned to Anger, who hadn't said a word during the whole argument. He sat, silent, clearly deep in thought.

"If we do this," Anger said slowly. "We run the risk of dying, and leaving the world without our wife and daughter."

"Exactly," Disgust said, pointing to Anger. "See, even he agrees."

"But," Anger added.

"Oh, crap," Disgust said, his relief fading. "Here we go."

"If we do this, and succeed," Anger continued. "We have a shot at curing this whole city. We have a shot at curing Riley."

"But she's curing herself!" Sadness pointed out to Anger. "Look at her. She talks, she thinks, she plays hockey! Our Riley IS coming back!"

"Is she?" Anger asked. "Is she really a human, or is she a zombie? Which side is she really leaning on. If we can find this cure, that won't be a debate anymore! We might just have to take the risk!"

This time, the other emotions said nothing, and waited for Anger to continue.

"The pros outweigh the cons," Anger said. "We can't go on like this. We can't spend the rest of our lives hiding, looking over our shoulders to make sure we're not eaten by most of the population. Someday, we'll die, and this world will be stuck in this perpetual state of ruin until the sun dies."

Anger stood out of his seat. "We need to grasp for a world that our daughter can look forward to. A world that everyone can look forward to."

The other emotions stared at him. Anger turned to face them.

"You know what we have to do."


"Um, hello?" The Boss asked Bill, who had been staring off into space for three minutes. When Bill didn't respond, Boss snapped his fingers in front of Bill's eyes, snapping him back to reality.

"We'll do it," Bill said. "But bring some help with us, just in case things go south."

"Whatever you ask, man," The Boss said, smiling. "If it bring us close to finding her, it's yours."

"Thank you," Bill said, relieved. He turned to Yellowjacket, who was standing out the door. Then, Bill frowned.

He didn't want to put his daughter in danger. But, he knew, this may be his best shot at saving her as well.


Sawbones scampered towards his home. He didn't live with Ghoul and Noose; he only met up with them when they were on the hunt.

In recent days, he'd stopped going back since he'd been out looking for Yellowjacket. But as he headed home, he wondered why he hadn't thought of this sooner.

He reached his destination. It was a large building, with giant steel gates. Sawbones could bypass it easily. Using his claws, he climbed up the walls and into the yard. Once in the yard, he raced to the barred walls.

One of the walls had a large hole in it. Sawbones dashed inside it, and raced through all of the barred doors. Within the barred doors were Others, all of them dressed in orange.

The Others sprang up as they noticed Sawbones. They raced to the bars, letting out howls and animalistic shrieks as they stretched out their arms at him. Sawbones ignored them.

Sawbones stopped at one door, containing three particular Others. The three were covered in scars, courtesy of Sawbones' knives.

Sawbones pulled the gates open, and the three of them sprang to their feet. They raced up to him to hear what he had to say.

"Yellowjacket. . ." Sawbones growled out to them. He knew that they were aware of her. He'd once taken Ghoul, Noose and Yellowjacket to his home to meet the Others trapped there.

He didn't know why, but they'd pleaded to never take him back once they'd left.

Sawbones pulled out the picture of Bill. Holding it out to the Others, he growled. "He is with Yellowjacket. Find the Freak! Find Yellowjacket!"

The Others grunted in agreement, and they dashed down the hallways and out the hole in the wall. They raced out into the city.

Sawbones followed them. These Others were different. They'd been trapped from civilization for so long that they were like animals. They thought like animals, ones that he could control.

They'd be able to find Yellowjacket for him

And the man Sawbones wished to kill.


Read and review. Longest chapter, BTW.