Author's Note: I have returned! I was so proud of my rigorous updating schedule last year. A perfect record, and then... nothing. Well, I'm back, and the show must go on! As always, I don't own Twilight, and let me know if you see any mistakes since I'd like to fix 'em. Thanks!

Chapter Six

"Do you see him?" Rosalie all but snarled.

"No!" Bella snapped back. Her face was plastered to the window as they bounced over the park rangers' trail. They hadn't come face-to-face with any more walkers since the one that Rosalie mowed down, but Bella's pulse was pounding in her ears anyway, her palms growing sweatier and sweatier with each moment that passed. What if they couldn't find him? They couldn't keep driving forever and—

"Oh Jesus," her companion said from the front seat.

Instantly Bella's heart was in her mouth. "What?" She asked anxiously, leaning as far forward as her seatbelt would allow. There was a clearing up ahead, and it wasn't empty.

There were three… four… no, five walkers waiting for them. Except… one of the walkers wasn't moving like a dead thing, and something silver flashed in his hand.

"It's Edward!"

"No kidding," Rosalie said, "who did you think it was? And where are you going?" She asked as Bella released her seatbelt and reached for the door handle.

"He can't take on four of them alone." Bella protested, although even as the words left her lips she realized that she was in no position to help him. Rosalie was the one with the machete in her lap.

"Two of them," Rosalie corrected. "And yes he can." Sure enough, when Bella looked back, only two of the walkers were still standing. Now that she'd had a minute to take in the scene, it was fairly obvious that Edward wasn't a walker. The strength in his body and the glow of his skin contrasted sharply with the broken, pale limbs of the walkers. The grace and coordination of his movements highlighted their stumbling.

"Does he have a military background?" Bella asked, all thoughts of going to his aid abandoned. He didn't need help. She'd never seen a man more in his element.

"Who knows? I only hooked up with them a week ago, and it's not like we've had a lot of time to all get acquainted. What with all the running for our lives and trying not to get lunched on. All I know is that he's a good man in a fight." This was said as Edward dispatched the last one and wiped blood off his arms with a rag from his pocket. He sheathed the knife and stalked towards the car, hardly even winded.

Bella tore her gaze away from him, distracted by something Rosalie had said. "You said them."

"What?"

"You said you only hooked up with them a week ago. Who are the others? How many of you are there?" As she spoke Edward pulled the passenger side door open and climbed in, meeting Bella's eyes once before nodding to Rosalie.

"Maybe twelve at last count. But someone could have been eaten since then."

Perhaps sensing Bella's alarm, Edward twisted in his seat to face her. "No one's been eaten. Our camp is safe."

Rosalie frowned. "But for how long? There's four walkers right there. How many did you find when you checked the traps? Five days ago there weren't any walkers out here. Three days ago there were one or two." She drove around the clearing and headed back the way they came. Bella checked that her door was locked and then felt around on the floor for the chocolate bar she had dropped. She found it and then settled back in her seat to listen to them argue.

"So they're moving around," Edward said. "It's no different from what any hungry animal would do."

"They're not animals, Edward, and if they keep doubling in number every couple of days we're in trouble."

"So what's your solution?" Edward asked, "not counting the same harebrained scheme you've been peddling for the past four days. We've told you what we think of that. Our camp is the safest place."

"I know it's the safest place," Rosalie said. "It's an island. I'm not stupid. But we can't stay there forever. Sooner or later we're going to need help."

"Why?" Edward asked simply.

Rosalie blew out a frustrated breath, and as they sped down the road Bella caught sight of a blur that was probably the Visitor's Center. It was sort of cheering to see the place and realize how much better off she was now than she had been half an hour ago. She just hoped that she wasn't making a mistake by going with Edward and Rosalie. She was beginning to get the faint impression that Rosalie didn't like her very much, and there was something almost feral about Edward that was undeniably intimidating.

Still, sitting in the backseat of the car, snacking and drinking water as needed, Bella felt some of the tension leaving her body for the first time in weeks. She didn't make a conscious decision to sleep. One minute she was crumpling up an empty bag of Skittles, and the next she was stretched across the backseat, with the upholstery warm under her cheek.

The slam of a car door woke her some time later, and she was still half asleep when a violet-eyed woman leaned into the backseat to shake her awake. It took her a minute to remember Rosalie's name, because something else was bothering her. It hadn't quite come to her while she was awake, but as soon as she fell asleep it moved to the front of her mind.

Edward.

Edward…

Edward?

"Edward?" The deep voice wasn't Bella's, it belonged to a man.

"Hey Emmett," a familiar voice responded, and suddenly, all of the little pieces that hadn't quite clicked for Bella came together with a snap.

She sat bolt upright and clambered out of the backseat, pushing past Rosalie in her haste. They were parked on the overgrown bank of an island, and her mouth opened in shock as a huge, bear-like man emerged from a camping tent and approached Edward. This enormous man was also carrying a gun, but that wasn't what surprised her.

"Oh my God," she said, loudly enough to draw the attention of all three of her companions. "I can't believe it."

Edward watched her, but now there was a glint in his eye that hadn't been there before. "What can't you believe, darlin'?" He asked, and this time she heard it: a very familiar Southern drawl. He must have been hiding his accent since they'd met at the Visitors' Center. She couldn't imagine why, but he had been.

Bella frowned in complete confusion. "Cullen? Edward Cullen?"

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