Sy thumbed the smooth wood of her English longbow, other than the five guys she rode with, it was her best friend, just like the 50 thin bobtail arrows in the quiver she made and had straped to her back and in case she ran out of arrows, she had two EAA Witness Match Semi Automatic Pistols, one in a left shoulder holster and one in her back waistband, along with a 5'' Gerber paraframe II knife in her right combat boot. She looked over at Zero, who was walking on the other side of the street from her, she looked him over. Dirty and torn cameos. Military FAMAS strapped in front of him, index finger at the ready above it, his two extended clip and automatic Tarurus PT92s in their holsters and bumping against his thighs in rhythm with his walk and his long knife in its holder across his back. Zero was Sy's brother, he was 2 years older than her and the only one she hadn't lost at the end of the world.

Sighing heavily, she shifted her gaze from Zero to Trix or the little twerp as she called him. Wasn't more than 18, about 6 foot and a buck forty. Skittish as hell, slow in the head and annoying like a horse fly. But he was good with technical things like the engine to the bus, the radios and other things like that. He didn't look right, right now with a S2 sub-machine gun in a shoulder strap around his neck, hand gripping the handle like life and love needed it, 12in hunting knife poking out of his timberland and the 2 LD Jungle knives she let him use held to his scrawny right thigh. The only thing that looked right on him was the military radio backpack on his back, so they could stay in contact with Link, Toombs and Tank. Made Sy sad to see someone Trix's age having to do shit like this just to fucking survive.

"I don't think we're going to make it back by dark." Zero's voice called, bringing Sy out of her daze, just to sigh heavy again and pull off her Tan colored Military goggles from around her head.

"Should find shelter then." She said, popping out the black lenses of the goggles and replace them with clear ones, then put them back around her head and over her eyes. She looked up at the sun, "Only got about 2 hours til we're in the dark." Zero nodded agreeing with her, rubbing his dirty, sweaty and gritty face. He kicked a rock in front of him down the street and looked at Sy with a raised eyebrow.

"Trix." Sy called to the kid. "Take a seat, watch the street and remember what your mother did and didn't teach you." she told him, pulling the bow between her back and quiver and pulling out the pistol from her shoulder holster.

"Look all ways when near a street, yell when someone comes and shoot when you need too." Trix recited it to her like a bible verse, in a sense it had become one for them all.

"Good boy." Zero smiled, patting Trix on the head as he sat down on curb.

Zero quickly made his way over to Sy, they stood close to each other and talked about their possible options for a safe shelter to use for the night.

"Could go back two blocks and use the store." Sy suggested. "We already cleared it."

"Yeah, the first two levels. Not the basement, cellar and attic." Zero shook his head.

Sy nodded, exhaling a stressed breath. "Okay, down a half block around the corner and see what pops up." she held her fist out to him. Zero touched his fist to the top of hers in agreement with the plan and they headed down. "Behave, twerp." Sy throw over her shoulder as she and Zero stealthed down the street. Trix waved her away and popped a stick of gum in his mouth, looking down the street the way they came, then around the corner of the wall on the other side of him and down at Sy and Zero as they disappeared.

"Hate being alone." he mumbled to himself, fingering his gun. In nervousness, Trix started to whistle low and rock back and forth, side to side. Timing his movement and whistling with how he looked down the three sections of roads.

The streets were dimming and gray, it was getting cold and Trix was starting to loose his nerve. Zero and Sy hadn't returned yet, but he didn't hear and gunfire either. So, they were probably still scoping out where ever they were scoping out and not getting eaten by anything that lurked in the abandoned buildings. He hoped anyway. Whipping his head to the the left, Trix saw three figures moving down the road where he, Sy and Zero had come from. It couldn't have been the others because Link had orders that if they didn't return by morning he was to take Toombs and Tank to the next planned area and if any of them survived would make their way there to meet them. Getting up and hiding behind the corner of the building, his gun pointed at the moving figures, his heart pounding.

"It's too early yet for the eater." he whispered to himself, trying to calm himself.

He looked up the road where Sy and Zero went. He knew that he couldn't run up that way without them seeing him and he couldn't yell for them either because he was sure they'd hear him before Zero and Sy would and get to him before the three eat him apart. Trix looked back to the three figures, they were closer now. So backing up down the wall a good length, he turned and ran across to an ally, ran down that ally and as he passed through the other side, he collided with Zero.

"Trix, get the fuck off me." Zero growled shoving the teen off him and getting up.

"What are you runnin' from, twerp?" Sy asked, helping him up.

"There's three figures coming up the road. It's not the T's or Link and it's too early for the eaters." Trix panted.

"It's never to early for the eaters." Sy said, pulling night vision goggles out of Zero's pack and replacing her goggles with them and switching them on. "Come on." she whispered going up to the edge of the street and peeking around the corner at the three figures.

"It's okay, Trix. You're right. It's not dark enough for the eaters to come out yet. Not unless you woke them up." Zero assured him.

"I was whistling." Trix shook.

Zero shook his head, coming up behind Sy and pressed his finger to his lips. Trix nodded and zipped his lips. Sy scoped out the three figures coming up the street towards them. They're movements were unsure, like they were lost. One really tall, one close to that and one average height. "Wish I had Tank's sniper scope." she whispered to Zero. "At least then I could see their faces...wait. They've stopped, there's activity behind them."

"What is it?" Zero demanded quietly.

"Those three aren't eater, Z." she said, pulling the Night Vision up away from her eyes and looking back at her brother.

"How do you know?"

"Because the 6 things behind them are." she told him pulling out her bow. "We have to help them." Zero nodded, pulling his FAMAS against his shoulder and looked back and Trix and nodded at him. Trix nodded at Zero and readied himself.

"Go, Sy." Zero whispered, patting Sy on the back.

Sy ran out from the corner to the middle of the street and down a few step where she stopped. Pulling a thin bobtail arrow out of her quiver, placing it in the bow and pulling the sting on the bow back, aiming carefully between the two tallest figures, who she could now see were guys. A smirk pulled on her lips seeing their scared faces, then let go of the arrow. The arrow whizzed through the air, creating a breeze in the longish hair of the second tallest as it went between them and struck one of the eaters through the eye, shattering the back of its skull and dropping it completely dead to the ground. When that eater dropped, Zero and Trix came out as Sy ran to the three guys being tracked by the eaters.

"You need to move, now!" she snapped at them, pulling back another arrow as a second eater got closer. "Go!" she yelled at them, taking out the eater. The three guys ran to where Zero and Trix were and hid behind them.

"Sy, get back here!" Zero yelled at his sister, shooting down 2 eaters. Sy shot another eater, than turned and ran back to the group. As she slid to a stop next to them, Trix let loose with his sub-machine gun. "Take them back to the building." he yelled over the gunfire.

"Come on." Sy said, pushing the three guys back to the building that she and Zero cleared. She pushed them inside. Putting her bow away and pulling out her shoulder gun again, she held the door with one hand and the gun with the other, watching the door for Trix, Zero and anything else that wanted in.

"It's fucking dark in here." one of the guys complained.

"Here." Sy shrugged her pack off, never looking away from the door. "There's heavy duty glow sticks in there. Only break open two, that's all you need to see." she instructed them.

The sound of them rummaging through her pack, then ripping open the foil packaging of the glow sticks and the creaks and pops of the sticks filled the sheet rock walled room. A neon green glow came to life in the room, then the shuffling sounds of the men sitting down with heavy and unease sighs. Zero and Trix came charging in, slamming the door shut and pushing everything they could in front of it. When they felt it was safe, Sy, Zero and Trix pointed their guns and the three men sitting on the floor in front of them. The three struggled up, their hands up and palms out and backing up.

"Whoa, chill." a middle eastern looking one spoke.

"Yeah." A second tallest of the two blond men added in. The tallest of the three and other blond stayed quiet but frightened looking.

"Who are you? Where are you from? What are you doing out here? and are you infected?" Zero interrogated them.

"I'm-I'm.." The tallest stuttered. "Alex, we're all from Sweden. We got trapped her when all the shit hit and as far as any of us know we're not infected."

"And you two are?" Zero asked, pointing his AK at them.

"I'm Fares." The middle Eastern looking one answered.

"And I'm Björne." The other blond answered.

"He's bleeding." Trix said, pointing to Alex. "On his side."

Sy walked up to him, pulled open his tattered blue plaid button down and looked over the gash on his side. She looked back at Zero and shook her head. "It's not anything to worry about eater wise. Just a wound." she said, stepping away from him.

"What the fuck is an 'eater'?" Fares frowned.

"Those things that were going to attack you, before we came in." Zero told them, putting the safety on his AK and sitting back against the pile in front the door. He checked the clip and a bunch of other stuff, Trix did the same as Alex, Fares and Björne sat back down. Sy dug in her pack and pulled out some items. She stood up and when over to Alex and motioned for him to follow her.

"You want him to follow you?" Fares protested.

"Yeah, unless he wants that wound on his side to get infected, if it isn't already and if the blood isn't covered up and controlled the eaters will sniff it out." Sy snapped at him.

"I don't trust you." Fares snapped back.

Sy growled, dropping her head back. She set the medical supplies aside and unloaded all her weapons, her bow, quiver, clips and guns. "There." she showed him, arms out and turning.

"Knife in you boot." Trix added.

"I might need it." she glared at him. "I'm not Catwomen."

Fares, Björne and Alex exchanged looks with each other.

"Fine, bleed and or get sick and die for all I care. What's one more to add to the loss." Sy rolled her eyes going past him. Alex stopped her, grabbing her by the arm.

"I trust you." he whispered.

Sy sighed softly, grabbed the medical supplies again and led him to a little kitchen, away from all the others in the place. She laid the supplies down on a counter island and pointed to a chair for Alex to sit in. "Take your shirt off too, please." she told him, pulling a chair up in front of him. Alex nodded and hung the shirt up on the back of the chair. He watched Sy lean close to him and look over his wound, touching it carefully.

"So, how long you guys been out here?" he asked, trying to break the silence.

"Me, my brother Zero and Trix, the kid, along with our other three guys Toombs, Tank and Link have been here since before it happened. All of us but Link were born in the US. Link was born in Mexico." she told him, leaning back and grabbing a closed bottle of water and a pad of goze. Popping open the water and wetting the pad, she wiped and pressed it too his wound making him hiss and bite his bottom lip. "Sorry."

"It's okay." Alex groaned.

"This wound is sorta old. Its hardened over some and its got puss inside of it." She told him, dropping the wet pad to the floor. "I have to open and drain it." Alex's eyes went wide as she told him she'd have to cut up his wound.

"If there was another way, I'd do it. But there's not. If the puss sits there any longer, the more it'll enter your blood stream and make you really sick." She tried to explain it to him as lightly as possible.

Alex gulped and nodded his head slowly, "Okay." he whispered. "What do I do?"

"I need you to lay down." she told him, getting up, pushing the chair back as she did. Alex rubbed his face, looking at the floor. "Here, wait." Sy stopped him as he started to lay down. She left the kitchen and came back with a brown blanket. She laid it out, took off her black and red hoodie, folded it up and laid it down on the blanket too as a pillow.

"There, make it a little more comfy." she smiled at him.

Alex smiled at her and laid down on his back, his head supported by her rolled up hoodie. Sy brought the medical supplies down to floor level as she sat cross legged beside him, she pulled her knife from her boot and flipped it open, she poured iodine on the black blade and laid it on fresh goze.

"Go you have any painkillers?" Alex asked, meeting her eyes.

Sy pressed her lips together and shook her head at him. "No, sorry." she apologized, pouring more iodine on another piece of gaze and wiping around the wound, but she paused. "Oh, you know what." she said, her eyes far off. "Trix! Come here and bring your bag." she called out to the kid. Trix came rushing in, gripping his bag by a strap.

"Yeah, Sy. Got it right here." He tripped over himself to give it to her and watched like a caught sheep as she dug through it and pulled out a 12oz bottle of whiskey.

"Here, down some of this." she opened the bottle and held it to Alex's lips, letting him gulp down a fourth of it. "Okay. I'll let you have the rest when I'm done." she told him, putting the cap back on the bottle and setting it aside. "Thanks you, Trix. You can get lost now." Trix nodded, taking his bag back to the front room.

"Thanks." Alex replied when Trix was gone.

"Anytime." Sy answered picking up her knife. "You want something to bite or you good?" she asked him.

"Is it gunna hurt?" Alex asked looking her in the eyes. His dark blue-green orbs looked worried and scared beyond belief.

"I was just throwing it out there." Sy answered.

Alex squeezed his eyes shut and dropped his head back to her hoodie. "Just go." he told her.

"Okay." she nodded, then pressed the tip of the knife to the wound. Alex growled deep in his throat, reaching out and gripping Sy's knee, squeezing his eyes shut tighter as she cut open the length of his wound. Sy dropped the knife as thick white puss oozed out of the cut, she picked up a package of iodine and ripped it open with her teeth. "Big pain." she warned him and squeezed the stinging brown liquid out of the package to his oozing wound. Alex howled in agony as the iodine soaked into the cut. Fares, Trix, Björne and Zero leaned in the doorway of the kitchen to see what all the commotion was about. Sy ignored them, wiping away the puss and pressing it out as much as she could and letting Alex squeeze her leg as much as he need too.

"Is he gunna be okay?" Björne asked, concerned.

"Yeah, I'm sure of it." Sy answered, still pushing puss out of the wound and pouring more Iodine on it. "I need to keep an eye on it to make sure it heals right."

"That means they have to stay with us." Trix whined.

"Yeah, just like you have to when we found your dumb ass." Sy mocked back. "Go radio Link and tell them the situation." she barked out the order. "And the rest of you, beat it or your next." she threatened. Not needing farther threats the group at the door was gone to find something else to do.

"I don't want to be a burden." Alex panted.

"Shut up and breathe." Sy ordered, opening the wound a bit deeper. Alex groaned and the knife cut deeper into his side and gripping her knee even tighter, but Sy never registered it. "There. I'm gunna let it ooze a bit longer, then I'ma bandage it up. I don't want you moving. So just lay there, you need something let me know, got it?"

"Got it." Alex answered, still panting. "But tell me something."

"Anything."

"Okay then two somethings."

Sy smiled at him, cleaning off her knife. "What is it?"

"One, what's your name and two, how do you know what you're doing?"

"One, My name is Sy and two, I'm a medic." A frown washed over her face. "Well, I was before the whole end of the world thing. I was 3 months shy of becoming a doctor."

"Sy. What's that short for?" he asked looking at her.

"Nothing. It's my full name. My parents weren't very clear minded when they had me." she laughed. "I'm guessing Alex is short for Alexander?"

"Yeah." Alex smiled faintly up at her.

"Defender of man. Good name to have now a days."

"Yeah, you'd think."

Sy patted Alex on the shoulder and packed away the medical supplies, then sat back against the counter island facing Alex and closed her eyes. It was going to be another long night, the eaters or the people that had been affected by the disease that swept over the world, turning many into flesh eating, night walking maniacs, where coming out in stronger and bigger numbers every night. But luckily they seemed to be spread out from each other, though God only knows how long that'll last. It only took three day, three day for the world to end and tip upside down. The brown, cloudless and sunny sky was utterly unforgiving in the day time. It was so hot in the day you could fry an egg the sidewalk and so cold at night, you couldn't wet your lips without running the chance of them freezing together. Chapstick, sun block and sun glasses were your best amigo in the day and a thick blanket, more chapstick and another human body were your partner at night. Yeah, Sy, Zero, Trix, Link, Toombs and Tank had it all down to a pretty good fine science. They had their faults, nothing out of the usual though. Only being some of the last surviving people on the planet over run with Zombies, supplies were few and in between, like toilet paper, a bar of soap or even a washer machine. But shit could be improvised for that. They always sold out the ammo stores and aisles when they could, got what good food they could use, water was a hard thing to get right, but thanks to Trix, they had a system of making damn sure it was clean enough to drink and cook with. They raided hospitals for medical supplies when needed, clothing stores for new shoes and whatever else they needed to cover themselves. It was no means a simple life, or an easy one. But they all knew that it could be worse and as long as they had each other, they'd be able to get through it virtually unhurt.

Sy jerked awake, hearing a startled gasp from in front of her. Sitting up, putting a hand on her shoulder gun and reaching into the side pouch of her cameo pants, she pulled out a glow stick and broke it, illuminating the kitchen in a blue glow as she shook it for extra strength. It was Alex sitting up on his elbows, sweating heavily and staring frighteningly at the small kitchen window behind her. Glazing at her watch, it read: 3.03am. She set the glow stick between them and rested her hand on his tense shoulder. She could hear the eaters now, running and screeching passed the window and around the building. It was sound that kept her wake many of the first nights, haunted her dreams for weeks after and finally, just recently, she got use too. But obviously Alex hadn't gotten to that point yet.

"It's okay." she whispered to him, wiping sweat from his temple. "They can't get in."

"You sure?" Alex asked, never tearing his eyes from the window.

"Yeah, the window is too small, the door is blocked and Zero's watching it. The windows on the third floor are too high for them to reach." Sy assured him. She ran her fingers through his short blond hair, smiling as it spiked from him sweating. "Just lay back down, I won't let anything happen to you. I promise."

Alex laid back, breathing slowly in and out through his mouth. He stared at the ceiling, his stomach rumbled angrily. Sy frowned hearing it and watching him press his hand to his stomach, closing his eyes. She shifted to get up and he grabbed her by the wrist, looking at her from the corners of his eyes.

"I'm just going to get my bag, okay. I won't be more than like 12 feet from you." she told him tenderly. Alex's hand slowly let go of her waist and Sy stood up, edged around him and went into the other room where the others where at.

"Everything okay?" Zero asked. He was sitting on turned over paint bucket in front of the door, his FAMAS loaded and ready to go if anything happened.

"Yeah, just need my bag. Got a growling tummy in there and by the sound of how pissed it is, he hasn't eaten in a little bit." Sy replied picking up her bag, which was where she dropped it last.

"Yeah, Trix gave those two some food and water, he was gunna give some to you two, but you were already asleep and I told him to leave you." Zero answered, watching the shadows outside zoom by. Sy sighed, standing next to Zero, facing away from the shadows. There was an uneasy pause and silence between them, words for their thoughts didn't have to be said out loud because they'd been said so many times before.

"Go get some food in the boy's belly, Sy." Zero said softly, looking down at his safety. "We'll talk about it later."

Nodding and patting him on the shoulder, she took her pack back into the kitchen and sat back down in her spot beside Alex, who looked at her with a gulp. Sy smiled at him, digging in her bag and pulling out a medium sized brown package and a dark green spoon and handed it to him.

"What is this?" Alex frowned taking the items.

"Um, I think that's chilli and beans. I got...uh meatloaf with gravy and Pork Chow Mein, if ya wanna switch." she told him holding up two other medium sized packages.

"Okay, but what the hell is this?" he asked shaking the package at her.

"Oh, their MREs." Sy answered, grabbing another spoon for herself. "Meal Ready to Eat. It's military food. They have a shelf life of 25 years, so they're good stuff for us."

Alex grimaced at the MRE and spoon in his hand, but his stomach was telling him to rip that shit open and devour it. Setting the spoon down and ripping open the package, he looked in at the gooey mess in it and looked up at Sy still a bit grossed out. Sy offered him a smile, as she ate the Chow Mein with her fingers. Shrugging, Alex picked his spoon back up and dug into the food. It wasn't as bad as he thought it would have been, he was actually sorta impressed by it.