If you make a choice, you will not be able to take it back because

I have already put my cards into play!

I was the last one in the safe house, right behind Nick. Damn. I gasped for air, and sat down on the ground. My arm barely even touched my stomach, but where it made contact it burned.

"I almost forgot about your hunter wounds….want me to patch those up for you?" Rochelle offered.

"That would be great," I said with a grimace. Blood had ruined the front of my shirt, but I was sure that wouldn't be the end of it. We had all of the guys look away while she patched up my wounds.

"You got lucky. The Hunter didn't get much but skin….Your lucky he didn't get through to your insides," Rochelle said.

"So they're called Hunters?" I would have to note of that for later….. She nodded. She wrapped the last bit of the gauze around my cuts, and began putting the stuff away.

"You're finished," she said with a smile, "You guys can turn around again." The guys obeyed, and went back to loading their guns. I pulled my shirt over the wounds, but there wasn't much it was going to do for me anymore. Damn, I liked this shirt too…..

I watched as Rhianne peeked out inside the mall. She frowned, then turned back to us.

"Do you really think the evac is in there?"

"Maybe they are, maybe they aren't. We won't know 'till we actually get in there," I said with a smile. I was debating in my mind if I actually believed the nonsense that just spewed from my mouth. Honestly, what were the odds? The city was abandoned: we weren't getting out of here anytime soon. Rhianne nodded with a smile, along with Katy.

"Everyone grab some more ammo," Nick instructed, apparently trying to ignore my comment. I did as I was told with a scowl, but then stopped.

"Which…..ammo goes with my gun….?" I asked.

"I was just about to ask the same thing…." Katy laughed nervously. Rochelle and Nick both walked over, and grabbed certain types of ammo from the pile that was on the small table. Rochelle handed Katy the ammo, and kindly asked, "Do you know how to load it?"

"Hehehe….erm….no….." she admitted. Nick held out the ammo for me to take. I smiled slightly, and took the ammo from his hand. I noticed three different rings adorning his fingers.

"Please tell me you know how to reload," He sighed unhappily.

"Of course," I said, "I've handled a gun once." I wasn't lying either. My dad showed me how to use a gun when I was ten, when my parents started letting me stay home alone. The memory caused a certain discomfort in my heart, but that was understandable: it hadn't even been a week since…..then. I shivered at the uninvited memory, and reloaded. Nick watched me with intense eyes.

"…What?" I demanded. Shit, did my voice just crack?

"Nothin…." He shrugged, and grabbed his magnum.

"We ready?" Ellis asked. We nodded, and began to file out of the safe room.

~oOo~

The mall was dark as hell, minus the small bit of setting sunlight from the windows. There were zombies everywhere. It didn't seem like I could go a few seconds without pulling the trigger of Loretta.

"Oh sweet!" I heard Rhi say. I turned, and saw her holding up a katana.

"Oh that's kick ass man! I remember this one time, when mah buddie Keith thought that he could actually be a ninja, but the truth was he wasn't. Ya see, he took one of them ninja swords and tried to do a back flip over his pool, but he missed and ended up landing in the pool, but the pool didn't have any water in it! He fell over ten feet into the bottom of his pool, and he-"

"Ellis sweetie, can this wait?" Rochelle asked sweetly. He shrugged, smiled, and said "Okay."

"Can you finish the story later though?" Rhianne asked, lowering her sword.

"O'course," Ellis said with a smile.

"Look out!" Nick suddenly yelled. As I turned I saw a zombie headed straight for me. I didn't have enough time to pull my gun up, but a bullet met its head anyway. I felt the crimson blood splatter on me. Everyone seemed to stop.

"Stop getting so distracted, you're going to get yourself killed that way," Nick said stiffly, then kept walking forward. So he was the one that protected me…..

I wiped the blood from my face, only to feel another memory hit me. I had wiped my own family's blood from my body after…..after…..I couldn't bring myself to think about it. It hurt like a thousand tons weighing down on my chest.

"You ok Bri?" Katy asked.

"Fine," I waved it off with another smile. I followed Nick as he moved forward, but didn't speak. We walked down the escalators, and through the bottom floor of the mall. We hadn't met anything too bad, but I was sure the worst was yet to come.

~oOo~

I dived behind one of the small kiosks, dodging one of the pieces of concrete the Tank threw. I reloaded my sub-machine gun, and peeked around the corner of the stand. The giant was chasing after Ellis, and was gaining fast. I aimed, and fired. I refused to let go of the trigger until this thing was dead. It was gaining on Ellis, but suddenly changed directions to gain on a different target. I watched in horror as Katy's small form was thrown all the way over to me. She hit the ground, and gradually rolled to a stop on her side: she didn't get up. I ran over to her as quickly as I could, fear and adrenaline pumping hard and fast through my veins. I rolled her over, and she groaned. I sighed with relief; she was still alive.

"C'mon you gotta get up Katy; we don't have time to screw around," I said, helping her up. As she stood, she nearly fell over. She couldn't even hold her own weight.

"Katy?"

"Yeah?" She whispered weakly. I hope this idea works…

"You have double pistols, right?" I asked her. She nodded.

"Ok, I'm going to put you on my back, and you're going to cover me with your pistols, ok?" I instructed.

"Can you hold me?"

"Are you shittin' me Katy? You're a twig. Of course I can carry you," I lifted her onto my back with ease, and she pulled out her pistols. Then I realized something. The tank was gone: and so was everyone else.

"Shit shit shit shit shit," I muttered, and began running as fast as possible in the direction in front of us. I heard the roar of the Tank, and knew I was headed in the right direction.

"SHIT!" I heard Nick yell. The sound of the pistols firing in my ear made me stumble slightly, but I didn't lose my grip on Katy. As we came around a corner, we saw the Tank fall the ground with a crash. Nick was in the process of getting up off the ground.

"Are we all okay?" I asked, approaching the group.

"Everyone but me," Katy whispered weakly and leaned against me.

"want me to take her?" Ellis offered. I nodded, noticing how heavy she had been getting. We slipped her onto Ellis's back, and I went to grab my gun, only to realize I left it behind.

"Shit, we gotta go back," I said.

"Why?" Nick asked. He was obviously irritated.

"I left my gun back there, and I don't have another weapon," I said.

"Well then, let's go young'un," Coach said. I nodded, and we began running back to the spot where the Tank had knocked us back. I picked up my gun, and went to turn when I heard familiar growling. I stiffened, and felt my heart stop. Oh god, please don't let it be a hunter. God obviously wasn't hearing my prayers at that moment. I saw it jump from the second floor, and land directly on Ellis, knocking him and Katy to the ground. I heard the sickening crack as Ellis landed on Katy's leg, then her painful scream. The hunter had pinned him, meaning he couldn't remove his weight from Katy's leg.

"GET IT OFF!" they both yelled. We all seemed to aim our guns in harmony, and placed at least ten bullets in the hunter. Ellis got up quickly, trying his best not to hurt Katy. She cried, and curled her leg in towards her. She cradled her knee, and tried to avoid touching her shin.

"We have to get to the next safe house, now," Coach said sternly. Ellis picked up Katy as gently as possible, and cradled her. Rochelle was next to him in an instant, standing guard.

Oh god, what have I done?