Author's Note: Oh my god! The computer actually worked for one day, so I quickly wrote this chapter before it messed up again. Man, Christmas is making me really eager this year! Hurry up, presents! I need a computer now! Hope you like this chapter…and unfortunately, the first major character death is in this chapter.

Tallie grunted in surprise. Run from the Tank? With her injury, to boot? Was Austin going insane.

"Austin, I…" started Tallie.

"I know." Austin replied. "I'll carry you. Don't worry." Tallie smiled, but it didn't last for long.

"He'll just follow us." said Jackson. "Probably all the way back to the base."

"Then we'll kill him." said Max.

"With what?" Max pointed to a bunch of shopping carts. "By toppling the shelves over with those carts."

"It's decided." said Austin. "We'll make a run for it."

Max pulled the bar across and slowly opened the door. No sounds could be heard. Austin went first, carrying Tallie, behind him Mila and Max, then Jackson, Wolf, Cliff, and Ken in the back. Max rushed over to carts. He thought he heard someone cough.

"Shut up!" whispered Max. The next second, a slimy tongue wrapped around his body and knocked him into the shelves.

As the others watched, that shelf fell over, knocking over the one behind, and a chain reaction was started. His feet bumped into the carts as he was pulled over them, and there was a huge rattle.

"Shit!" yelled Cliff. The Tank exclaimed from somewhere else in the store, and then they could hear him making his way toward them.

"Run!" shouted Austin.

Max cut the tongue from his body and fired his shotgun upwards. The Smoker's head exploded, blood and gore flying into the ceiling.

Max jumped across the tops of the shelves, making his way towards the front of the store. Down below, Austin dodged Infected and falling products, especially a giant jar of Nutella. Tallie held her injured leg and whimpered, waiting for it all to be over. If only she had just gotten married…

The shelf they were running under collapsed, hitting Austin on the head. He collapsed, dropping Tallie, who slid across the floor into the open.

Jackson found himself separated from everyone else. He stopped, panting. He looked in front of him. Pieces of meat littered the floor, and a large puddle of blood reflected the faulty lights. Jackson thought he could see Kara's knife in the shadows. He pictured Kara being torn in two…and the surprised look on her face.

"Argh!" shouted Jackson, grabbing his head. Another vision rocked his head, before he fell headfirst into the pool of blood. He rolled over as he hit the ground, creating a splash of blood. At least I can still breath, thought Jackson before he lost consciousness.

Wolf dodged the barrel of a Grunt's shotgun. He kicked the gun up in the air and punched the Grunt in the face. The gun fell back down, and the Grunt caught it. The Grunt aimed…and Wolf pulled the trigger on the P90, blowing the Grunt's chest open.

"Where the hell is the exit?" he muttered.

Cliff and Ken came across the entrance. They could hear sounds of battle coming from deeper within the store.

"Damnit. What are they doing?" muttered Cliff.

"Stay here." said Ken, as she ran back towards the shelves.

"Yeah, stay here, alright. And what do I do when you don't come back?" retorted Cliff silently.

The Tank lumbered towards Austin.

"Austin!" screamed Tallie. Ken heard her cry and rushed towards the two. The Tank knocked her backwards and picked up Austin. The Tank cut his arm, and blood spilled across the floor.

"No!" screamed Tallie. She grabbed a broken piece of shelf from the ground and stabbed it into the Tank's face. With a roar of anger, the Tank dropped Austin and knocked Tallie into the air. The Tank collapsed onto the ground, clutching his head.

Tallie slammed through the front window and into a parked car. Her spine quickly snapped, and she fell onto her face, silently screaming. A few seconds later, she stopped moving and one last tear fell from her eye.

"I'm sorry." was Tallie's last thought. "I'm sorry I didn't stay with you. I'm sorry I didn't save you." But who was she referring to?

Wolf and Max stumbled into the entrance. Cliff took them over to the door and gave Max a cloth.

"Freakin' headache." said Max.

"Damn it, Ken." muttered Cliff. "Hurry up." He counted off who was missing: Austin, Jackson, Mila, Ken, Tallie. Wait a second…

Cliff glanced through the window, seeing Tallie's broken form on the ground, a steadily growing pool of blood staining her shirt.

"Oh, shit." said Cliff. Max followed his gaze, then exclaimed in surprise. He pushed open the supermarket doors and ran towards the pickup truck. Tallie lay lifeless on the ground.

"No…" Max touched Tallie's hair. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry I didn't save you…"

Austin and Ken came running through the doors, coming to Cliff, Wolf, and Max.

"No!" shouted Austin. He kneeled down next to Tallie. "That Tank…"

"He's dead." said Ken, with absolutely no emotion whatsoever.

"What about Jackson and Mila?"

"I don't know." said Max. "My sister…"

Jackson suddenly woke up, spraying blood from his mouth. He jumped up and looked at his clothes. His shirt and pants were stained with Kara's blood, and he could feel it running down his face.

"How…" Jackson realized the sounds of battle had stopped. Had they left him?

A bullet ricocheted off of the shelf above him. A Grunt stood in front of him, shotgun pointed up. Jackson dove to the side, and the Grunt fired. Jackson kicked the zombie's legs from out underneath him, and grabbed the gun. His P.E. skills were paying off.

As he moved in for the kill, he heard a steady growling. Ducking behind a pillar, Jackson fired in the direction of the sound. The Hunter jumped on top of the shelf and looked toward him. The Hunter leaped down, but was quickly stopped when Jackson butted it in the face with the gun. He suddenly slipped on the blood, but steadied himself by grabbing the Hunter's head. The Hunter's eyes were all swollen, and his mouth was caked with blood.

Right before Jackson pulled the trigger, he thought he heard the Hunter say, "Gonna kill me, or what?"

"Am I going crazy?" said Jackson. The Hunter swiped its claws at his face, and the almost-dead Grunt grabbed his foot. Jackson quickly fired, blowing the Hunter's head off. He pointed the shotgun at the Grunt's head.

"Die." he said, and pulled the trigger.

"They aren't coming out." whimpered Max.

"I'll go." said Wolf.

"So will I." said Max. "She's my sister."

The two ventured inside the store, on the lookout for more Infected.

"Well, that wraps that up." said Jackson, talking to himself again. He stepped forward into the puddle of blood and slipped, hitting his head on the shelf.

"Ugh." muttered Jackson, before falling unconscious. The different-colored blood swirled around his mouth.

Two minutes later, Max and Wolf came across Jackson.

"What the hell? Is he dead?" asked Max, very worried.

Wolf nervously reached down and felt his pulse. He let out a sigh of relief.

"He's alive." said Wolf.

"Whew." Wolf took hold of Jackson's arms, and Max took his legs.

Ken witnessed Wolf and Max carrying Jackson through the door.

"Is he okay?" asked Austin.

"He's knocked out, but he's alive." said Wolf. They set him down on the ground next to a blue sports car.

"But where's Mila."

"I don't know…where is my sister?" exclaimed Max.

"I think I can help with that." came a voice from the store entrance, and the five survivors spun around to see who it was.

Author's Note: A moment of silence for the first major character to die in this story: Talitha McGaverd. Now, I wonder who this new character is? And what's up with Jackson? Will he wake up? Unfortunately, Mila disappeared during this chapter. Don't worry, for Christmas you'll find out what happened to her!