When Marcus got home, the day was still relatively young.

Which was good, because as soon as he walked into the main room of the church with Maya, he heard a shouting match in progress.

"You want to run away...again! I cannot believe you!"

"Come on, Lil...that's not fair."

"You're right, it's not fair. We've built a home here and you want to abandon it because things are looking tough!"

"That's not what I said, Lily."

Marcus and Maya lingered in the small antechamber to the church. Marcus stepped forward. "What's going on?" he asked.

They both glanced over, suddenly aware that their argument had drawn company. Lily folded her arms, looking pissed. Jacob seemed hesitant, but resolute. "I was just suggesting that we, you know, scope out a new place to live...just in case. We're getting cramped in here and hey, more people might be showing up at any moment. And, to be honest, there are better places to hole up and wait out the zombie apocalypse. And, I mean, think about it, this city has been picked over for almost three weeks now...how long before everything there is to find has been found? Spencer's Mill is small, but Marshall is pretty big."

Marcus glanced over at Maya, she was slowly nodding her head. "We shouldn't jump to any decisions yet, but...it would be a good idea to scout some locations over in Marshall."

"Fine!" Lily said. "Maybe you should bail on us too!" she snapped.

Maya sighed. "Lily, you're acting like we'd be leaving you, personally, behind. Obviously, if we go, we go together, as group. We aren't married to this location."

Lily looked at her, then at Marcus, then at Jacob. Finally, she let out an exasperated sigh. "Whatever," she said, turning and walking towards the kitchen. "I need some air."

Jacob frowned, watching her go, then returned his gaze to Marcus. "What do you say? I've got a few ideas for places we could scout in Marshall," he said.

Marcus glance at Maya. "That sound good to you?" he asked.

"Yeah, it's my turn to do a gathering run, you two scout it out," Maya replied.

"Great! Let's go," Jacob said, grabbing his keys and walking out the front door.

Marcus lingered for a moment, staring at Maya, trying to think of something to say. Finally, he just said, "be careful out there."

She smiled. "I will. You too."

He nodded, then turned and headed out of the church. Jacob was already halfway across the courtyard. He hurried and caught up with the man, heading through the main gate and closing it behind them. They got into Jacob's blue pickup truck and he started the engine. They backed up, turned around and drove down the long dirt road, heading towards the way out of town. For a long moment, nobody spoke.

Finally, Marcus had to ask. "So...what was that all about?"

"Huh?" Jacob replied.

"That argument. Lily wasn't thinking straight, she was acting like we were talking about leaving her more than anything else."

Jacob took a deep breath and heaved a weary sigh. "It's a long story..." he said.

"Well, it's not like there's anything on the radio," Marcus replied.

Jacob chuckled a little. "Yeah, I guess you're right...my mom died several years ago. I was thirteen. Lily was nine."

"Jesus...I'm sorry," Marcus murmured.

Jacob nodded as though he'd heard this sentiment a thousand times before. Probably had. "Yeah. It was a nightmare. And, to make it worse, about six months later Lily was diagnosed. Our dad, he was, um...well, he was a wreck. Big time. I had a to pick up a lot of that slack..." He deepened his voice suddenly, took on a solemn, paternal tone. "Jacob, I need you to be a man, now. Help take care of your sister..." He went back to talking normally. "You know what I mean? Heavy stuff. I mean...god, it was a lot for a kid to live up to. I was thirteen! I didn't handle it very well. As soon as I hit eighteen, I told my dad that I was moving away, to Danforth and going to college..."

"So what happened?" Marcus asked.

Jacob chuckled uneasily. "Oh man, he blew the fuck up. We had a huge fight. Lots of screaming and crying...we didn't talk for years. I, uh, well just got back in touch with him for the first time a few months ago. This was actually my first trip home since."

"Oh man, one hell of a homecoming..."

Jacob sighed. "Tell me about it."

"Anyway, that's why Lily's mad. She still hasn't quite forgiven me."

"Well...that sucks," Marcus said after a moment.

"Yep, that about sums the whole thing up," Jacob replied.

They drove on in silence for a while longer before Jacob talked again. "So...you and Maya, huh?" he asked, smirking.

"Oh lord, not you too," Marcus groaned.

"Come on. Zombie apocalypse is here, we can't trust our neighbors or the freaking Army...someone should be happy," Jacob replied.

"Yeah, I guess so...but right now, I can't say there's nothing there. I mean, I sure like her, but...I don't know how she feels about me. And I've got to wonder if she'd even agree to some kind of relationship even if she did. She's so...strong willed. She might very well think it'd be more logical not to get distracted."

"Very reasonable...also miserable," Jacob replied.

Neither spoke again until they rolled into Marshall. Marcus had only been in this part of the valley a handful of times. As Jacob slowed the vehicle, edging around a pile up of cars, he crossed a bridge and came into the town proper. Marcus spied a pair of gas stations, a Swine & Bovine, some warehouses and a huge, fenced-in structure that he saw, as they drove by it, was a truck stop. The place was immense.

"Hey, what about there?" he asked, pointing.

"We'll check it out in a minute," Jacob replied, sounding distracted.

"Uh...okay."

Marcus stared at the roving bands of zombies, the smoking, rusted-out hulks of vehicles, the dead bodies, everywhere...

"Ah, there it is," Jacob muttered.

Marcus glanced ahead as Jacob pulled up in front of a house with a brick-walled privacy fence and what looked like a super sweet treehouse.

"So...what is this place?" Marcus asked as they got out of the car, checking the immediate area for zombies. There didn't seem to be any in the vicinity. Jacob walked up to the front gate, a black, fancy iron thing, and stared wistfully into the property.

"This place is an ideal location for surviving the zombie apocalypse! Look at that tree fort...great place for a watchtower. And we could totally fortify this privacy fence without too much trouble. And there's lots of room in the house..."

"You seem pretty excited about this house, what's so special about it?" Marcus asked.

Jacob laughed. "When I was a kid, my best friend...her name was Sally. She lived here. This was her house. I was so jealous of her. I always wanted to live here...come on, let's go take a look inside," he replied.

Marcus took another look around, making sure they hadn't drawn any unwanted attention, then followed an overly eager Jacob through the black gate. They walked into what had once been a very well-maintained lawn that was now marred by a pair of corpses and a lot of weeds. They walked up the sidewalk to the front porch.

As they began to make their way up the stairs to the porch, the front door suddenly burst open. Both men fell back, pulling their pistols out, covering the man that staggered out. Marcus almost squeezed the trigger, but he could tell that this was no zombie, just a deranged, incoherent man. He was deathly path and drooling, his eyes not tracking properly.

"Who...who's there?" he gasped.

"My name is Marcus," Marcus replied. "Let us help you."

"I...I can't..." Suddenly, he collapsed, crashing to the porch. He was still and quiet, no longer breathing. Dead, just like that.

"What the hell happened to him!?" Jacob cried softly.

"I don't-" Marcus began.

Suddenly, the man gasped, groaned and rose slowly to his feet. He cut loose with a low groan and began reaching for them, stumbling towards them. His eyes glowed a dull yellow. Marcus took a step back, training the gun on his head.

He squeezed the trigger.

The gunshot sounded loud in the still air. The sound of body dropping was louder. For a long moment, neither man spoke.

"What the hell was that!?" Jacob cried.

"I don't know, some kind of sickness, maybe, but we really shouldn't be hanging around here," Marcus replied, already making for the car.

"Yeah, good idea," Jacob said shakily.

They got back in the truck and Jacob started it up. "Man, what if that's some kind of new sickness? I mean, he turned like instantly. Normally it takes a while, you know, like Dawn of the Dead? Most of us are probably actually infected with...whatever it is that does this. But we'll be fine and we won't actually turn into zombies until we die. But there's usually like, a grace period, like...ten minutes or so, from what I've seen. But that...that was seconds," Jacob marveled.

"Yeah. I don't know man...hey, turn up here. I want to check out that trucking station," Marcus said, trying to stay focused.

Jacob did as he asked and parked the truck in front of the front gate to the truck stop. Marcus walked up to the chainlink and studied the big blue building. It had a pair of enormous garage-style doors that were open to the world, revealing a wrecked, mostly empty interior. There were huge sections of empty space between the building and the gate. It didn't look like there was anyone inside, survivors or zombies. Marcus turned to Jacob.

"I think this would be our best bet," he said. "When we're ready to move."

"Yeah...I've got to agree with you. This place is huge. We could have like twenty people living here, no problem, whereas at the church, well...we're already kind of crowded," Jacob murmured. He glanced around. "Hey, there's a Swine and Bovine nearby...and a couple of gas stations and warehouses, man this is a primo spot, actually."

"Good, we'll have a real meeting about this at some point soon," Marcus replied. "Now, we should really be getting back."

They both got into the truck and began heading back to Spencer's Mill.

When Marcus and Jacob got back, Maya was waiting for them by the gate. Jacob said his hello and headed into the lot, but Marcus lingered.

"What's up?" he asked, feeling a small, cold stone of dread settle in his gut.

"Danica," Maya replied, and he felt some relief, which made him feel guilty. He was less worried just because it didn't pertain to him?

"Is something wrong?" he asked.

"No. She's...we had a long talk," Maya replied. "The short of it is that she spent pretty much her entire tenure at the Kirkman place in a slump, that she kind of gave up. And now that's she somewhere new, she wants to...turn the page, kind of. Get a fresh start. She wants to heal, to be better, braver. She wants to do more, and, to put it bluntly, Marcus, we need her. She's a damned paramedic and she knows her stuff. Having a live-in medic would do wonders for our community, not just for us, but as a great bargaining chip with other communities."

"This all sounds great, but you make it seem like I need to do something," Marcus replied.

Maya nodded. "Perceptive, aren't you? I want you to take her out shooting. Nowhere far away, not near the Kirkman place. You know, something simple, to build her confidence, maybe out back. I saw a little warehouse behind the church, maybe you could kill two birds with one stone, clear the area out, check out the building."

"Yeah, I could do that," Marcus replied.

"Thanks...you're a pretty great guy, you know that? You never really seem to hesitate when it comes to stepping up to the plate."

"Well, it's not like we're exactly in a position where we have that luxury."

"I don't think it's just that. And hey, you need to learn to take a compliment," Maya said. She lingered a moment longer. "Well, I'll go get Danica. Wait here."

He watched her go until she disappeared into the church, wondering if she did like him back, if she would accept him, if he was being an idiot. He was still wondering these things as Danica appeared from the church, walking towards him. She had changed her clothes, now wearing a pair of jeans and a formfitting t-shirt. She'd also cut her hair so that it was a bit less than shoulder length. She had found a holster somewhere and had a revolver tucked into it.

"Hi," she said.

"Hello, Danica. I'm glad to see you're feeling better," Marcus replied as they walked out into the gravel parking lot.

"Me too. I...uh, thanks for helping me get out of there. I haven't had a chance to thank you yet. I've seen the others, but I'm pretty sure you were there..." The sentence seem to kind of trail off into a question.

Marcus nodded. "Yes, I was there."

"Good. I...that night is pretty hazy. Lots of bad memories. I honestly don't even know how I survived. I've spent a lot of time wondering 'what if?' You know? What if I had been more active? What if I hadn't let myself get so depressed and apathetic? Would I have been able to save even one of them? All of them?"

"It's not like you can control depression, Danica," Marcus replied as they set off around the side of the church, working toward its back. Marcus had seen the small warehouse that Maya had referred to over the past few days.

"No, I know that, but I know that at least some of my giving up was just me. I made choices, wrong ones...I just let it all go to hell...me, I mean. I let my brain go to hell, I didn't try to fight it. Everything that's happened so far, it just seems like so much. I didn't want to think or do anything, and I didn't used to be like that. I remember being so full of life and energy as a teenager, ready to take on the world, and I want to be like that again."

"It's not a bad goal to have," Marcus replied.

They made their way around a large, wet hole in the ground, the warehouse now in sight. A handful of zombies were lingering around it.

Marcus pointed to them. "You ready?" he asked.

"Yeah," Danica replied. She pulled out her piece.

"You know how to use that?"

"Psh, you kidding me? I lived in New York. My dad taught me how to shoot by the time I was ten. I know how to work a revolver," she replied.

Marcus nodded. They advanced on the warehouse. He brought his own pistol to bear, aimed at the nearest zombie and squeezed the trigger. As the bullet tore a fragment of the zombie's skull off, the party got started. The ten or so others in the immediate area all turned towards them and began making their way towards the pair.

Slowly, carefully, they worked their way through the crowd, putting down the initial dozen lingering in and around the warehouse, and killing off another half-dozen that wandered in from around the area.

"Feel better?" Marcus asked after they were sure they were alone again.

"Yeah, actually, I do. This was pretty cathartic," Danica replied as she finished reloading her revolver. She hadn't been lying, she handled it like a pro.

"Great! Now, let's get to work. It's getting late and I'm starving," Marcus said, heading towards the warehouse.

Danica followed.

All in all, Marcus decided, not too bad of a day.