This isn't listed in the categories but I think more people should probably give it a chance. It's inspired by the old radio dramas and is about a group of survivors trying to live in a world overrun by zombies. This started out as a recurring dream and I couldn't get it out of my head. The characters are mine and not from We're Alive. I hope you like it. All comments are welcome.

Chapter 6

It was hours later when I returned to my room with Gabriel walking me to my door to say a proper goodnight. We had spent time talking about all the things we had avoided before: of the family we left behind and where our lives were headed before this all started. I could still recall the day we found him in an underground garage.

Roadie, Sam, Lily and I were scouting the buildings where others from the compound were known to reside. One in particular was considered promising to find survivors as it had a security gate and re-enforced exits that would take others some time to access. Any hope we had of finding the person in question was gone the moment we found blood everywhere and were forced to engage a few of the creatures. By then we had had more than a few run in's with these things and learned quickly the best way to deal with them was with shots to the head. And that the quickest way to draw more of them was to make too much noise, so we were each using modified silencers made at the compound.

Lily stayed by the security gate while the rest of us made our way slowly throughout the garage, weapons drawn to make sure there were no more surprises waiting for us as we reached the security door. Sam, who started out as a tech, was fairly young and still new to the team but we quickly found his hacking skills invaluable. He was set up in front of the control panel attaching some sort of electronic device, when a noise caught my attention. I swung toward the sound and after getting the go ahead from Roadie, made my way carefully to the elevator doors. Surprisingly, the faint noise I heard was someone strumming a guitar inside.

It was then that Sam's radio went off, with Lily calling for an update. I turned and glared at him as he was quickly turning down the volume, giving me a bashful look that he had forgotten to lower it earlier. I clicked on the throat mic a few times, our signal to Lily that we were still safe and secure. The melody from inside the elevator stopped and I could hear banging on the doors, with a muffled voice calling out weakly from inside.

Sam stopped trying to bypass the door and with their help, we managed to pry the doors open. The car was stuck between floors and there was one lone man inside. He was weak, hungry and dehydrated and it was uncertain how many days he had been stuck. Visually he was unharmed but to be certain, we made him stand and lift his shirt to prove he had not been bitten, as well as toss out his bag, guitar and ID for verification. After answering a few quick questions about the building, Sam and Roadie helped him climb out and supported him back to the vehicle, with me taking point, continuously checking the area.

Once back at the SUV, we popped open the hatch and helped him stretch out in the back while Lily and Sam took the front seats, with Roadie and me seated him the back. As an added precaution, a partition had been previously secured that separated him from us. Just to be safe, I sat sideways, glancing at him occasionally but he promptly fell asleep as soon as we left, with the bottle of water we gave him still clutched in his hand.

"What's his story?" Lily asked as she carefully but quickly retraced the route we took into the city.

"He was stuck in an elevator. Probably been in there for days by the smell alone," Sam informed her.

"According to him, he'd hadn't left the building since this all started. He was attempting to leave but only made it as far as the elevator," Roadie added while flipping open the wallet he had collected. "Sam, cross-check this guy with the list we have on file of the tenant's. If I recall, Dylan was more than a little paranoid and would bribe the landlord for information on his fellow residents."

I watched Sam boot up his laptop, checking the files we had on the various higher ups we were trying still to locate. Dylan King was the one who recruited each and every member at the compound, and it was surprising when he never made it back. Sadly, we had passed his vehicle on the way to the security door and we were still unable to reach him.

"It says here he's new to the building. Just moved in last month and that he's from the UK," Sam confirmed. "This guys a long way from home to get caught up in this shit."

"We all are, Sam," I said, looking at Roadie as I always did when reminded of being far from home. He was nodding off and I let him rest, looking around at the scenery fly by and back at the man who was lucky to still be alive. Having been stuck in an elevator with only a few bottles of water and energy bars, it was a wonder he was still lucid enough to answer any of our questions…

So much had happened since that fateful day that brought the first half of my team together. The next week we were checking in on another dead end lead, in another relatively secure building. I found Aenne instead, hidden behind some heavy furniture that was surrounded by the undead. I forced my way into the storage area instead of waiting for my back-up as the sounds of her screams became frantic. Sam had gone on ahead to scout another area, alone even when I demanded he wait for me. He was certain he heard others that needed help…only he got there too late. He was overwhelmed while I was trying to save her, this small almost catatonic girl I had to drag out of the basement to find out where Sam had gone off to. By the time I had found him, it was too late. He had taken out the creatures that had attacked him but he was bleeding out and there was no saving him.

I found out later that Aenne and her family had heeded the news to stay indoors but had become desperate for food and water. They had managed to scavenge from the empty apartments but eventually needed to venture further than their floor and that's when they came across the undead. I kept her with me while she recuperated, waking her when she started to scream in her sleep and eventually listened when she was comfortable discussing how they had survived all that time.

"I never thought they were real," she said one late night after I had woken her up out of a nightmare, sipping at the water I gave her to calm her nerves.

"We were all unaware these things could even exist, Aenne," I said, crossing my arms as I leaned against the wall.

"But…what are they?"

"As unbelievable as it might sound, they're dead…so I'd have to call them what they are…Zombies," I said and waited for her to argue with me.

"What do they call them? Everyone else here, I mean."

"They call them creatures, mostly. Undead, depending on whom you argue with," I said as I walked towards the bed. "I won't lie to you. Things are bad out there, Aenne. You were lucky that we got there when we did."

"I wouldn't exactly call your friend lucky," she muttered to herself.

"Sam…" I said and sighed, knowing that I needed to convince the both of us. "Sam knew what he was getting himself into when he volunteered to go. It could happen to any of us but that doesn't mean we stop trying to find others."

"How many others have you found?"

"So far, only a few but we're still going back to look for more every day. As long as you're here, you're safe. This place is pretty hard to get to," I said and sat back down on the bed. "Now, try to get some sleep, okay? I'll be here when you wake up."

In time, Aenne stopped thrashing around in her sleep, with only the slightest whimper now and again until she felt confident enough to move to her own room. I had run into Gabriel occasionally and when we needed more volunteers to fill in spots, he was the first to approach me. At first I was reluctant to see what he could do, but when Sam failed to return with me, Lily refused to team up with me again. I had spent weeks taking care of Aenne and once she was well on her way to recovery, I knew I would need to come up with a new team and I was forced to test him as a possible driver. It wasn't until later that Aenne decided she needed to help as well. Both had undergone basic weapons training until I was confident they could handle themselves out on their own but I worried for months that one would get separated from me and I would lose one or the other again. Every day they had proven to be resourceful and invaluable to me and that earned them the permanent spots at my side.