Part II

Six months went by. In that time Brian managed to begin a whole new life away from the Griffins despite only living one town away in Providence. He had originally planned to leave the state, but when the moment came, he couldn't bring himself to move so far away from his family. He may not ever see them again, but at least he could take comfort in the fact that they were never too far away. Getting started again had been a long and tough process. He'd had some money saved away, so he was able to afford an apartment right away, but now that he was living on his own, he also had to get a full-time job in order to sustain himself. Eventually, he was able to acquire a job at a local liquor store, which ended up being a real rewarding experience considering he had a great love for booze. The job had ended up being the best part about his move, and it was probably the only thing that kept him from running home when he really began to think about his old life on Spooner St. Besides that, he didn't really have much else going for him. He'd tried to make some new acquaintances in his new neighborhood, but those attempts always ended in failure. The same could be said about the frequent times he'd tried to hook up with the local women. There had been one time when he had successful managed to get one to agree to go on a date with him, and it actually hadn't been too bad. They had even made out a little. Unfortunately, not long after that began, he had found himself imagining that it was actually Stewie he was kissing which prompted him to pull away in alarm, shocking the woman and causing a brief fight that resulted in her leaving. He hadn't tried his luck with another female too many times since then. All of his social interactions mainly consisted of him just going through the motions and lifelessly acting his way through conversations. He missed his family and friends, but most of all, he missed Stewie. He hadn't seen the child in half a year, but the boy was still there under his skin. It scared him. When he closed his eyes he could hear the boy calling his name, begging him to come home.

Brian…Brian…Brian…Brian

"Brian!"

The dog's eyes shot open as he looked over at his boss who was currently shouting his name. He shook his head to clear it before responding.

"Sorry. What is it, Mr. Adams?"

The man tossed Brian a hefty set of keys which he barely caught.

"Something came up. My wife called, and she was saying some crazy shit. She sounded pretty scared, so I'm leaving early to go see what's wrong with her. I need you to lock up for the night."

Brian set the keys on the counter he was currently standing by.

"Sure thing, boss. I'll take care of it."

The man nodded and exited the store, leaving Brian to manage it for the next two hours. Oddly enough nobody showed up for that entire time. It wasn't like the store was ever packed or anything, but it usually had at least one or two people in it regularly. Closing time came, and he flipped the open sign to the other side. He gave the store a quick once over before heading outside into the winter night air and locking up. It was cold outside and quiet. Even with Brian's keen sense of hearing he wasn't able to make out anything but the sound of the wind.

That's strange…

He griped his winter coat tightly before proceeding to walk down the sidewalk toward his apartment. For a while, nobody was in sight, but after a couple of minutes of walking, he was able to make out the image of two people in the distance. They were running toward him. Upon closer inspection, Brian realized that one of the people was being chased by the other. He saw the person fall, and the chaser quickly got on top and began attacking. He soon heard the sound of a man screaming which caused Brian to begin running toward them, hoping he could help.

"Hey! Stop!"

As the sounds of the screaming man grew louder, Brian was able to better see what was going on. When he finally realized what was happening, he stopped dead in his tracks. The man was being eaten alive by another man. The dog felt his knees get weak and began to get sick to his stomach at the sight. He didn't know what to do. The agonizing screams began to grow quiet as he saw the light leave the man's eyes. Brian couldn't take it. He vomited on the sidewalk. The attacker heard this and looked up from his meal to gaze at the dog hungrily. It took Brian a second to realize he had been noticed, but once he did, he quickly pulled himself together and began running in the opposite direction. He had no idea what just happened. All he knew was he needed to get the fuck out of there and find someone. As he rounded a corner down another street, he saw a crowd of people in the distance.

"Help! There's some lunatic on the loose! Call the police!"

He began to become short of breath. His running slowed but he pressed on, gasping for air as he called toward the crowd.

"You…need to…get somebody…down there. A man was…just…eaten ali…"

He paused his sentence as he came a couple of yards within distance of the crowd. They all had the same hungry gaze the attacker had when he'd saw him. He gulped. They were all staring and making their way towards him. He turned to run in the opposite direction, but there was now another crowd of people with the same look being led by the man he had originally seen. He was trapped.

What do I do?

His mind began racing, trying to come up with some method of escape. The alleys were blocked off, so that wasn't an option. His only hope was one of the nearby stores. He ran to the door, but it was locked.

Shit!

He had to think of something else. His eyes began scanning the area frantically, searching for a solution, but his thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a gunshot. The sound caused him to jump in fright and begin searching his body for an entry point before realizing he hadn't been the target. He looked over to see one of the people on the ground dead with a bullet hole in their skull. Another shot rang out, and this time, Brian was able to realize it was coming from up above. He looked up and was both elated and disturbed to see Stewie, in his regular shirt and overalls, flying on a jetpack with a small gun aimed toward the crowd. The boy fired again, taking down another one of Brian's attackers. He looked over at Brian and adjusted his flight path to head toward the dog. In no time, Stewie landed beside Brian. He took a couple more shots, emptying the clip before throwing the gun to the ground and looking at the dog.

"Grab on!"

Brian didn't need to be told twice. He quickly latched on to the jetpack and felt his feet leave the ground as he and Stewie slowly flew up into the air, obviously taking a toll on the flying machine due to their combined weight. Brian watched as Stewie struggled to steer the jetpack and keep it flying. The kid seemed to be heading for the rooftop of the store he had been trying to enter just a moment ago. Brian looked down and saw that the two crowds had now converged on his previous location, and they were reaching up towards him and Stewie, a hair's width away from being able to grab them. He shut his eyes, terrified.

"Get us out of here, Kid!"

The child yelled through gritted teeth.

"I'm trying dammit! If you weren't so bloody heavy, we wouldn't have this problem! The device can only carry so much weight, and it looks like we're dangerously close to exceeding that limit!"

Brian didn't say anything else. He just looked at the keys still clutched firmly in his paw. The ring had a ton of keys on it, and it was kind of heavy.

It's worth a shot.

He chunked the keys to the ground, and they immediately began ascending at a faster rate. It wasn't too much faster, but it was enough. Brian looked up and watched as the edge of the rooftop got closer and closer. It seemed like they we're going to make it, but at that thought he heard a loud and rapid beeping noise coming from the jetpack followed by Stewie shouting.

"Shit!"

Brian didn't know what was going on, but it obviously wasn't good.

"What's the problem now?"

The boy looked over his should to look at the dog.

"We're almost out of fuel! At this rate, we'll run out before we make it to the top!"

Brian could see the wheels inside Stewie's head spinning as the baby rattled his brain to come up with a plan. The child's eyes eventually stopped on the edge of the rooftop.

"Brian! Try to climb up a little higher and grab on to the edge! I'll get us closer to the wall!"

The dog nodded his head, and pulled himself further up the jetpack. Stewie steered the machine so that it went backward, allowing Brian to get right up against the wall. They were about a couple of feet away. The dog reached up with one arm as far as he could. The edge was just barely out of reach.

Just a little more.

He felt his finger tips touch the edge, and was about to breathe a sigh of relief but stopped as he realized they were losing altitude. His finger tips fell away from the edge, and he began to panic. The snarling of the people below them rang in his ears along with the sounds of Stewie cursing as he struggled to get them just a little bit higher. There wasn't much time to think. Brian took a deep breath and pulled himself against the jetpack. He pulled his feet so that they were pressed against the back and shimmied his way to the very top so that his toes just barely touched the top.

Hear goes nothing!

With every ounce of strength he had, he launched himself off of the jetpack and stretched out his arms toward the building. His paws came in contact with the rooftop, and he clutched on to it for dear life. He looked down at Stewie, who had begun ascending again, and reached out his paw.

"Stewie!"

The boy looked up and reached out for the dog's paw, touching his finger tips. Brian curled his fingers around Stewie's and pulled him closer until the boy's hand was completely in his paw.

"Drop the jetpack!"

The child did as he was told and unstrapped himself from the machine. The heavy metal object fell down onto one of the people below them, and Brian threw Stewie on top of the roof before grabbing onto it again. With Stewie's help he was able to pull himself up to safety, where he immediately fell down in exhaustion. Both he and Stewie were panting heavily. That had been too close. Stewie joined him in lying down on the ground as they took the moment to catch their breath. Several minutes later they were finally able to breathe normally again, and Brian's mind instantly begin to fill up with all kinds of questions. He looked over at the boy lying next to him.

"What the hell just happened?"

Stewie sat himself up and looked over at the dog.

"Isn't it obvious? You were just attacked by zombies."

The boy said it so nonchalantly, as if it was no big deal. Brian had a completely different reaction to this news. At first he simply nodded his head, but once the truth of what Stewie had just told him finally sunk in, his eyes got wide and he began shouting.

"What. The. Fuck? Zombies! How the hell are there zombies?"

Stewie shrugged.

"I have no idea, but that's not important. What is important is that they're here, and if I hadn't shown up when I did, you'd have ended up just like them."

Brian was confused by this answer. Surely, Stewie had at least some idea of how this happened. The infant was a genius after all. And if he had not known Stewie previously, he'd probably be a little more hysterical at this situation, but honestly, stranger things had happened. It had just been so long since something this insane had happened in his life, but now that he was with Stewie and taking this new scenario in, it amazed him how easy it was to slip right back into his old role of Stewie's "partner in crime". He wasn't so much shocked now than he was terrified at what all this meant. Those had been zombies. As crazy as that sounded, he could accept that, but there was still something else that was bugging him.

"How did you find me, Stewie? And how did you know that I'd be in danger?"

The boy brushed himself off before standing up and extending his hand to help up his companion. He began speaking as the dog stood up.

"You remember that whole incident where we got stuck in that bank vault for the weekend? The one where you told me you were suicidal. Well, after that, I began to worry, so I installed a tracking device in your collar. That way, if you were to ever go anywhere near that safety deposit box, I'd be able to get to you in case you were to ever consider doing anything drastic. That's how I knew where to find you. I've been keeping track of your location all this time. As for how I knew you would be in danger, I kind of figured you would be, considering Quahog came under attack earlier today. I knew the zombies would eventually make their way over to Providence, so I grabbed my jetpack and gun and went to check on you."

Brian listened carefully to every word that came out of Stewie's mouth. Something was off about the boy's tone. This wasn't the Stewie he remembered. The boy was too cold and apathetic, but there was still something about the way Stewie was acting that was familiar. The dog just couldn't exactly figure out what it was though. He thought about this as the child spoke, but when the infant mentioned Quahog, he began to grow concerned about the rest of his family.

"The zombies were in Quahog? What about the others? Are they ok?"

The boy slightly frowned. It was barely noticeable, but Brian caught it.

"I'm sorry, Brian. They didn't make it. There was nothing I could do. I had to make sure you were ok."

The dog went stiff. He didn't want to believe it. His family was…gone. Tears began to well up in his eyes, but his sadness was soon mixed with anger as he started yelling at the baby.

"You left them! You fucking left them! What the hell, Stewie! That's your family! How could you just leave them to die?"

Stewie scoffed at this.

"Please, Brian. I've never cared about them before. Why would I give a fuck if they were mauled by zombies? You, on the other hand, I care a great deal about, but maybe you forgot about that over the past several months."

He sighed.

"It doesn't matter now. What's done is done. They're dead. The best thing for you to do is to just move on. I'm going to need you to focus if we are to survive this ordeal."

Brian didn't know what to say. His brief flash of anger faded away. What had happened to his friend? Sure, Stewie had never been the most caring individual, except when it came to him, but the way he was acting now was just scary. Still, the boy had a point. There was nothing they could do about the others now, and they would need to be at the top of their game if they wanted to survive. There would be time for grieving later. He tried to ignore how upset he was for the moment and focus on what to do next. He wiped the moisture from his eyes.

"I don't know what's gotten into you, and I intend to find out, but you're right, right now we need to focus on surviving, so what do we do now?"

The boy, satisfied that the dog wasn't going to drag this conversation out any longer than it needed to be, surveyed the area, trying to determine what would be the best course of action. He walked over to the edge of the building and looked down at the zombies below them. They were still fixated on their position, hands in the air and snarling.

"Well, it looks like we're stuck up here for now. We can't go anywhere until they leave."

A gust of wind blew by causing the boy to shiver.

"Though I'd much prefer to find someplace a little warmer. I didn't have time to dress properly for such cold weather, and I'm not sure how long I can last out here in nothing but my normal attire."

Stewie placed a hand on his chin as he continued to think about their predicament. While that was going on, Brian looked over at the air vent over on the other side of the roof.

"Hey, Stewie, what about that vent over there? Do you think we can get that grate off and climb down into the store? The door was locked, so we should be safe in there, at least for a little while, and I bet it's warm enough for us to spend the night."

The baby turned and looked at the vent Brian was talking about. He walked over and inspected it. The grate was held in place by four flat-head screws, one in each corner. Removing it seemed like a pretty simple task. He reached into his pocket and pulled out one of several quarters he'd had stored away just in case he ever wanted to use them on any of the local kiddy rides located at the various stores back in Quahog. He placed the quarter into the groove on the head of the screw and tried to turn it to the left. Turning the screw turned out to be pretty difficult. His hands were freezing, and the metal had pretty much frozen to the grate. Brian watched as the boy struggled in getting the screw to move. He walked over and placed his paw over the child's hand to aid him. The two of them pushed hard enough to get the screw to turn until it was loose enough to remove by hand. They repeated this process for the remaining screws, causing the grate to fall onto the rock-covered rooftop. Stewie pocketed his coin and went in first, followed closely by Brian. They made their way down the ventilation system before stopping at another grate that opened up into the store. This one was held in place by four more screws. Unfortunately, these screws were only accessible from the other side. The boy cursed.

"Damn it!

The child began kicking the grate in a futile attempt to dislodge it from the ventilation system. Brian watched as Stewie got increasingly more frustrated with each curse inducing kick.

"Damn! Damn! Damn! Damn!"

Finally, the boy gave up, exhausted and huffing for breathe. The dog placed a hand on the infant's shoulder and pulled him aside. He aimed his foot at the grate and gave it a forceful kick that caused the entire ventilation system to shake violently. The kick left a good dent in the grate, so Brian kicked it again and again and again, slowly removing it from its secure position. He prepared to give the grate one last good kick, but just as he was about to do that, the ventilation system began to tremble, and before he could react, the section they were currently in came crashing down to the floor as one side fell away, causing the dog and baby to fall back and roll out onto the floor. Stewie landed on the ground first, facing the ceiling, and was soon joined by Brian who landed right on top of him, facing the floor. They both froze in place. Brian knew he needed to move, but he couldn't ignore how great it felt to be this close to Stewie. It wasn't until the child cleared his throat that he was able to break free from his trance and think coherently.

"I know you must have missed me, Brian, but is this really the time or place for this kind of thing?"

The dog blushed and shot up from his cozy position. He wanted to say something in defense, but nothing came to mind. He was too out of practice when it came to his banter with Stewie. Instead, he just stood up and helped the child to his feet. They took a moment to look around the building and realized they had landed in a gun store. It wasn't a very large store, but what little space there was contained hardly anything but wall-to-wall handguns, rifles, and shotguns. A smirk crept across Stewie's face.

"Well, I say, that's convenient. What are the odds of us landing in the one store that provides us with the necessary means to defend ourselves against that horrible horde of zombies outside?"

Brian wasn't as excited as Stewie, but he couldn't deny how lucky they were.

"I'm going to assume not likely."

The dog watched as the baby ran over to gaze at the assorted weaponry like a normal child would in a candy store. The dog couldn't help the smile that spread across his face. It was good to see Stewie somewhat happy, even if that happiness was brought about by a bunch of killing machines. His attention was broken though once he began to register what could only be described as moaning sounds coming from outside. He turned toward the front door and made his way over to the blinded windows. He chanced a peek outside and saw that the group that had attacked him was now dispersing. He breathed a sigh of relief, and walked back over to join his friend.

"So…do you think we're safe in here for the night because…"

He stopped and yawned before continuing.

"It's pretty late, and all this excitement has made me tired."

Stewie turned his attention away from the rifle he was greedily clutching to answer Brian.

"I think we'll be fine. I don't think they'll be able to figure out we're in here. As long as we're quiet and don't draw any attention to the store, we should be able to rest for the night."

He put down the rifle and stretched.

"It's probably a good idea to go ahead and rest up. First thing tomorrow morning, I'll sift through all these weapons and decide which ones we'll be able to carry with us. Once we do that, we'll be able to think up a game plan."

Satisfied with Stewie's answer, Brian walked over to a nearby corner and lay down to rest for the night. He half expected Stewie to join him, and he was sort of disappointed when the boy walked over to the corner opposite him and laid down to go to sleep. It was probably for the best though. Stewie had been acting strangely from the minute they had escaped that group of zombies. The boy used to be much more affectionate towards him, and though the kid obviously still cared about him, that care was nowhere near as apparent as it used to be. Maybe Stewie had actually gotten over him during the several months they had been apart. Brian wasn't really sure how to feel about that idea. The longer he and Stewie had been apart, the more he began to accept the fact that, maybe, he actually did harbor romantic feelings for the child. He knew he was sick, but that didn't make the feelings any less genuine. If Stewie had moved on though, it would be wrong to take everything back now, but he couldn't help but wish the boy had chosen to lie beside him for the night. Brian mulled over these thoughts until he was too tired to think anymore. With one last yawn he whispered.

"Goodnight, Kid."

The baby didn't hear him because he was already asleep, but Brian was sure he saw a small smile form on the child's lips before his own sleep took over.

Later that night, Brian awoke to the sound of teeth chattering. He looked over toward the direction of the sound and noticed that it was coming from Stewie. The boy was clutching himself tightly and shivering. The ventilation system they had destroyed had made it so the store could no longer heat up like it normally would, and there was nothing in the store that could be used to provide the boy with some sort of covering. The dog debated with himself about whether or not he should go over and sleep next to the child in order to warm him up. It seemed like the most generous thing to do. As Stewie's shivering became more violent, he decided he couldn't leave the boy to freeze all night. He walked over to the corner Stewie was in, laid down beside him, and pulled the child against his fur-covered torso. It took a minute, but the infant's shivering finally subsided as he snuggled the front of his body closer against the dog. Brian closed his eyes to go back to sleep, trying to ignore the feelings of longing bubbling up inside him. Once he was asleep, he began dreaming about what it would be like if he and Stewie were together. It was nice.

Brian woke up that morning to find that Stewie was no longer beside him. Instead, the kid was off on the other side of the store inspecting weapons. The dog rubbed his eyes and stretched before getting up and walking over to see what his companion was up to. Before he could say anything, the child threw him a pistol.

"Here, take this."

Brian caught the pistol and looked it over as Stewie began speaking again.

"That's a standard Smith & Wesson M&P Compact 9mm pistol. It can hold up to twelve rounds plus one extra round in the chamber. That's thirteen kills if you use it properly. There were several of these lying around, and I figured we'd both be able to carry a couple without them weighing us down too much."

He stopped talking, allowing the dog to get a feel for his new weapon. The dog was never a big fan of guns, but he couldn't deny how good the weapon felt in his paw. It fit nicely into his palm, and it was extremely light for a gun. A surge of power rushed through him. He could get used to having one of these. He smirked.

"Not bad. Not bad at all."

Happy the dog approved of the gun, the boy continued.

"I'm glad you find it suitable."

He reached over and retrieved another weapon that Brian instantly recognized as a shotgun.

"You'll also be carrying this compact shotgun. It's got a strap, so it'll be easy to carry."

The child handed the shotgun to the dog. Brian took the shotgun, looked at it, and placed it over his shoulder so that the strap stretched diagonally across his shoulder. Once again, it was a perfect fit. Stewie chuckled at the sight.

"Do you even know how to use that thing?"

The dog took the shotgun off and handed it back to the boy.

"Not really, but I'm sure you'll teach me well."

The boy nodded his head.

"Trust me, Brian. By the time I'm done with you, you'll be a fucking expert with these things."

The next several hours were spent preparing. Stewie demonstrated the basics of how to use the shotgun, and Brian picked up on the techniques quickly. There was no way to test his shooting skills, but by the end of his crash course, the dog was fairly confident in his abilities to handle the shotgun. After that, Stewie loaded the weapons with ammunition. There were no bags, so they could pretty much only carry what their weapons would allow. Still, that was a pretty good amount of firepower. Stewie carried two of the pistols he had found, giving him twenty-six shots, twenty-six shots that were sure to hit their targets, and Brian carried one pistol along with the shotgun. Stewie loaded his pockets with as many shotgun shells as he could reasonably carry, giving Brian about an extra eight or nine shots. With their weapons ready, they began to put together a plan for what to do once they were outside. Stewie went first.

"Alright, first things first, we need to get some supplies together. We need food and water, so I suggest we head for the nearest Stop 'N Shop."

The dog nodded his head in approval.

"There's one right down the road from here. I'll lead the way."

With their plan put together, they walked over to the locked door and took a quick look outside. The zombies were nowhere in sight, leaving the streets deserted. Feeling confident, Brian unlocked the door and went to open it before being stopped by Stewie who placed a hand on his arm.

"Remember, Brian, always aim for the head. Hitting them anywhere else won't matter. A headshot is the only thing that will put them down for good."

With that, the boy removed his hand and allowed the dog to open the door so they could exit the building. Stewie looked down both sides of the street. There was a small group of zombies all the way down on the left side of the street, but it appeared the zombies were oblivious to their location. Deciding they were safe for the moment, the boy motioned for Brian to lead the way. The dog turned and began walking in the opposite direction of the zombies. He made sure to keep his eyes and ears open for any sign of the monsters while still maintaining a fairly quick pace. They stopped at every corner to make sure there were no zombies near them before continuing. It didn't take them too long to reach the end of the road where the Stop 'N Shop was. The store was just down the next road to the left. Unfortunately, it was also infested with dozens upon dozens of zombies. Brian and Stewie ducked behind a car in the parking lot to avoid being seen. Stewie spoke up in a whisper.

"Shit! They must be going after the food in there. We'll have to lure them away somehow."

The boy noticed another car down at the far end of the parking lot, and it gave him an idea.

"I've got it! I'll go over and set off that car's alarm. The noise should be enough to lure the zombies away from the store. Once the area is clear, you can run in and secure the building."

Brian frowned at this.

"And how do you expect to get out of that? As soon as you set off that alarm, every zombie in the area will be focused on your location."

The child batted his hand at the dog.

"Brian, it's me. I'll think of something. We don't have time to argue about this. The sooner we get some supplies, the sooner we'll be able to think of a more permanent solution to our problem. Just do what I said. I promise I won't be too far behind you."

Without another word, Stewie began making his way over to the car. Brian still didn't like this plan, but he knew there really was no sense in arguing. Once Stewie got something in his head, he was going to see it through no matter what. All he could do was keep an eye on the Stop 'N Shop, and make a run for it as soon as he saw an opening. He crawled over to another nearby car and climbed under it, making sure to keep himself hidden. After making sure he had a good view of the Stop 'N Shop, he prepared himself mentally to make a break for it as soon as the store was clear of zombies. He didn't have too much time to prepare though because it didn't take long for Stewie to set off the car alarm. Immediately, all of the zombies turned their attention to the commotion being made and began walking towards the car. Before Brian knew it, he was surrounded by zombies on all sides. He held his breathe and waited for the crowd to pass by. He watched the slow shuffle of the monsters' feet as they took their time making their way toward the car. Brian could feel his heart beating like crazy as the reality of the situation finally hit him. One wrong move and he wouldn't survive this. Seconds felt like hours, and all he could do was lie there and wait for the crowd to pass by. He wasn't sure how long he was under there, but the relief he felt once the crowd had finally passed by was unlike anything he had ever experienced. He crawled out from under the car and began running toward the Stop 'N Shop. None of the zombies noticed him. As he ran, he kept an eye out for Stewie, but the kid was nowhere in sight. He couldn't help but feel a tad worried. Stewie had survived tons of crazy situations such as this, but that didn't mean he was invincible. Brian ran inside the store and waited by the door for the child.

Come on, Stewie!

With each passing second, Brian grew more and more worried, but his worry was put on hold, once he detected the sound of chewing coming from inside the store. He followed the sound all the way to the meat section where he found several zombies feasting. He backed away, hoping to leave the area undetected, but accidently ended up bumping into one of the shelves, causing a couple of cans to fall to the ground. The clatter caused the zombies to turn their attention toward him. Upon noticing the dog, the zombies began making their way towards him. Brian gulped and fumbled with his pistol. He fired off a shot and missed. His hand was shaking, making it extremely difficult to aim properly. He fired again, and clipped one of the zombies in the shoulder.

"Damn it!"

He shot and missed again. By this point, the zombies were getting dangerously close, so the dog just decided to make a run for it. He ran back the way he came, but was stopped by Stewie.

"Whoa, slow down, Brian. What's going on?"

The canine didn't say anything, instead deciding to just point out the obvious group of zombies currently chasing him. Stewie, seeing how panicked the dog was, sighed, aimed one of his pistols, and fired seven times. Seven bodies dropped to the floor. Brian just stared, amazed.

"Come on. I'm sure our gunfire attracted some more zombies. We need to lockdown this store before it's overrun."

Brian followed Stewie back to the front of the store. Sure enough, some of the zombies they had previously lured away had heard the gunshots and were now making their way back towards the store. Thinking fast, Stewie shut the doors and locked them. He then ran over to a cooler full of ice cream snacks and motioned for the dog to help him push it in front of the door. The dog wasted no time in aiding his little buddy. As soon as that door was blocked off. They both ran toward the other door. The zombies were closing in. It wouldn't be long before they were surrounding the building. They locked the other door and pushed another cooler in front of it just as the zombies reached the store. The monsters clawed and banged on the glass, but the doors held strong. Both Brian and Stewie breathed a sigh of relief, but they didn't have time to sit and rest. The doors were holding for now, but they wouldn't hold forever. Stewie spoke up.

"I'll go find us some bags. You go ahead and start getting things together. It would probably be best if you focused on finding only snack foods. We'll be able to carry more of them than we would any other type of food, and they'll last longer too."

Stewie pointed behind Brian.

"There's a whole shelf full of candy bars and chips. That seems like a good place to start. I'll meet you back over there once I get the bags."

The child turned and ran down a nearby aisle. The dog followed Stewie's advice and began filling his arms with as many snack foods as he could carry. A couple of minutes later, the boy returned with two backpacks. He unzipped one, and Brian dumped the contents of his arms into the bag. They kept this up until the bag was completely full. Brian picked up the bag and put it on.

"I'll carry this one."

The boy nodded and unzipped the other bag, which they proceeded to fill up with water bottles. Once they were done with that, Stewie put on his bag. The boy seemed to struggle with the weight, but after awhile it looked like he had it under control. The two of them looked out the windows and saw that the zombies were still struggling to get in. Stewie turned toward the back of the store and pulled Brian with him.

"We aren't getting out that way. This store must have a back entrance. Hopefully, those monsters are too focused on the front to worry about the back."

The boy went to run toward the back but was stopped when he felt his arm being grabbed by the dog.

"Where exactly are we supposed to go once we get out of here? Have you even thought about that?"

Stewie yanked his arm free.

"As a matter of fact, I have. I figured we could head for your apartment."

Brain was puzzled by this.

"My apartment? Why would we go there? Shouldn't we be trying to get out of the city? You know, finding a place without fucking zombies at every turn!"

Stewie shook his head.

"There's no telling how far this zombie infestation has spread, so there's no sense in trying to escape when we have no bloody idea of where to escape to. Your apartment is on the fourth floor of your building. It'll be difficult for the zombies to reach us up there, and we'll only have to worry about keeping them from entering through a single door. It's the best option I can think of at the moment."

The dog couldn't argue with Stewie's logic. It was the best they could do for now. At that moment, the two of them heard glass crashing as one of the zombies had finally succeeded in breaking through one of the doors and was currently climbing over the cooler. The two of them ran as fast as they could to the back of the building and into the store's warehouse where they began searching for the exit. All the while, Brian could hear the zombies getting closer and closer. They finally happened upon a garage door that was most likely used to bring in goods from the delivery trucks. Stewie quickly found the controls and pressed the switch to open the door. As the door began rising, Brian turned to find several zombies that had followed them into the warehouse. He began to panic again, but stopped himself before it got out of control. He took a deep breath, aimed his gun, and fired. The bullet went right through the head of one of the zombies causing it to fall over. Brian fired again and put another one down. The power he was feeling was incredible, and it wasn't until he heard Stewie shouting his name that he noticed the garage door had raised enough for them to escape.

"Brian!"

The dog snapped out of it and ran after Stewie, who had already crawled under the garage door. Realizing the zombies wouldn't be able to follow after them for a while. They made a break for it, running away from the building and down the street. Brian's apartment was several blocks away, but they couldn't stop and rest because the zombies were now aware of them. They may have been slow, but what they lacked in speed, they more than made up for in numbers. Everywhere Brian and Stewie turned there was another group of zombies coming after them. For a while, it felt like there was no escape. All they could do was run. Eventually, the running began to take its toll, especially on Stewie who was still having a hard time dealing with the cold weather. Before long, the child couldn't take it anymore. He fell to the ground gasping for air. Brian noticed Stewie was no longer running beside him and turned back to see the boy doubled over in pain.

"Stewie!"

The zombies weren't far behind the infant, but Brian wasn't about to leave his friend behind. He ran back, picked up the child, and began running again. He looked down at the boy in his arms.

"I'll run. You shoot."

The boy nodded and climbed up so that he could see over Brian's shoulder. Any time a zombie got too close, he put it down quickly, which began to happen more and more as the dog began to run out of breath. The apartment was only a couple more blocks away. Brian summoned all the strength he could and made one last mad dash for the building. His sides ached, but he ignored that. All that mattered right now was getting Stewie to safety. His body was on autopilot nothing was going to stop him. He rounded the corner and stopped at his apartment building which had three zombies in front of it. He aimed his gun and fired. One, two, three bodies fell to the ground just as the dog rushed inside and locked the doors. He didn't stop there. Once he was sure the door was secure, he ran over to summon the elevator. Unsurprisingly, there were zombies inside the building. A couple of zombies proceed to walk towards them, but Stewie shot them dead before they were even a real threat. There were still other zombies coming towards them, but the two of them were both running low on ammo. Stewie shot and killed a couple more zombies. The elevator was still a couple of floors away, and the zombies were closing in. Brian decided it was time for drastic measures.

"Fuck this!"

The dog set down Stewie and raised his shotgun. He took aim, fired, and blew away several zombies, giving them just enough breathing room to get on the elevator as it finally arrived. Brian pressed the button for the fourth floor and rapidly began tapping the button for the doors to close. He took one last shot, killing a couple more zombies that had gotten too close, before the doors shut. As the elevator began its ascent. Brian picked Stewie back up.

"My apartment is the third door on the left. We should be able to make it. We're almost there, Kid."

The elevator reached the fourth floor, and the doors opened. Brian peeked down both ends of the hallway to make sure the coast was clear. There were no zombies in sight. He ran to his apartment door and opened it quickly. Once inside, he proceeded to lock all the locks on the door. He then set Stewie down on the couch before pushing it in front of the door. Satisfied, they were safe, he allowed himself to collapse onto the couch next to Stewie. The boy climbed next to the dog and pushed his body into the fur in an attempt to warm himself up. Brian instinctively wrapped his arms around the boy and pulled him in as close as possible. Without thinking, he kissed the child on the top of the head before giving in to his exhaustion and falling into a deep and much deserved sleep.