Author's Note:

hey guys,

thank you for your reviews! I'm back from camp and I'm trying to find time to write but I've got a lot to do (prepping for horse shows is very time consuming) so here is a short chapter and I'm taking all your comments to heart and will try to incorporate some of your suggestions in the next chapter.

so hang in there. Remember to leave reviews!

thanks!

Riley's POV

The prison was pitch black and almost silent. Occasionally I heard somebody cough or sneeze, but besides that it was just me, Chaco, our breathing, and my thoughts. My eyes were open because when I closed them it was hard to think straight. So I stared into the darkness around me.

My mind was captivated by the memories of life before his whole zombie-apocalypse-shabang. There were so many swarming my head, they melded together. I guess that's what you get when you draw things out that you were trying to forget.

The question Beth had asked me earlier had stayed with me all day.

What about you? Where was home before this?

I thought about California—about Heartland Academy. I remember my first day. I was only eight years old. The campus was large and intimidating and the other students seemed so as well.

Fast forward and I'm ten. Sitting out on the green hill feeling on top of the world with my friends. Our backpacks are scattered across the lawn. We were laughing and joking about... I can't even remember now.

I see laughter.

I see familiar faces.

I see love.

I'm seeing home.

I was born in New Mexico. And yeah, we had a pretty nice house, but it wasn't home. Sure the sunsets were gorgeous, but nothing could ever make it home. Home is where the heart is, right?

Carl's POV

Judith was sleeping in my room tonight, and although I was in my room, I wasn't sleeping. The lantern in the corner was dimmed and gave off only a small amount of light, but it was enough for me to read. I devoured word after word, sentence after sentence, page after page. I was completely and totally immersed in the story.

And then...

...It ended.

I closed the book slowly. "Whoa." I said to myself. I had been so absorbed into the story that it felt as if I'd left this nightmare of a life and joined another. I just sat there in the dim light. Thinking and contemplating... well... everything.

I heard a quiet chuckle from the doorway. I was snapped out of my thinking and contemplating and thrown back into reality, which was located in a prison cell in the middle of a zombie-apocalypse.

"Sorry, I should've knocked." Riley said.

"No, no," I said and walked over to where she was standing in the doorway. "It's fine. What's up?"

"The ceiling. Jeez, I knew you were stupid, but not that stupid." she said jokingly.

I gave a quiet laugh. "Look at that, the girl has a sense of humor." I said as I leaned against the doorway and looked down at her.

"Yeah," she said and looked away from me. "The girl has got a lot of stuff you don't know about."

I waited a moment before I asked. "And would the girl like to tell me any of those things?"

"I think she'd love that." she smiled.

"Just give me a time and date, and I'm all hers."

"How about today and... what about right now?"

I opened my arm to let her enter. "Sounds great."