Heh heh...hey everyone. *scratches back of her head sheepishly* I am deeply sorry. I meant to update this a lot sooner, like I promised I would, but again things came up. Like back to school, and babysitting, but anyway, I really shouldn't make up excuses for myself. I tried to make it up to you guys by making this a long chapter. And freaky stuff happens. But I won't ruin it for you guys, so I hope you enjoy! Don't forget to review if you like, and back off if you don't.

-Sabz


In the distance, the same silhouette from a couple nights ago appeared. Light poured in from the end of the structure, almost as if they were in a cave. He seemed mildly aware of her presence.

"Run away," he whispered. "You are in danger."

"That much is obvious..." Her voice echoed off of the hollowed out walls. She wanted to stand up, get out of there. Run to the light.

As she started to stand, and invisible force pushed her back down. The breath left her in a Whoosh!

"Get away from Simon," hissed the figure. "You're not safe..."

"You're lying," she gasped. "He wouldn't hurt me!"

The figure turned it's attention away from the light,and over to her. She gasped as the only thing that became visible on the figure's face, was familiar blazing blue eyes. His last words came out full and clear.

"Hasn't he already?

Jeanette awoke suddenly. Her vision was hazy. She reached for her glasses that she had placed beside her on the ground. Her breath slowed as she started to calm down.

"Everything okay?" Jeanette jumped as she heard the voice. It sounded just like the one from her dream. She breathed a long sigh of relief when she realized it was just Simon.

He tilted his head slightly to the right. "Bad dream?"

She cleared her throat."uh, yeah. I think anyway. What time is it?"

Simon glanced at his black G-Shock watch. "It's about 9:00. If we start walking soon, we could make it to the city by around 10:30 if we take the road. But since we can barely out-run these things, I've come up with a safe route that will get us straight to our houses, and will get us there even quicker."

Jeanette looked skeptical. "How long have you been figuring that out?"

He shrugged sheepishly. "All night..."

Jeanette shook her head,as if scolding him. "you're trying to tell me that you can run for ours, stay up all night, then think you can travel 5 miles back to the city?" She scoffed. "Good luck."

Simon stood up and started putting things back into his back pack. "don't worry about me, I'll be fine. Just follow me and we'll be back in the city soon."

Jeanette stood up,and started gathering things into her own bag.

I'm sure I can trust Simon, she assured herself. He wouldn't hurt me. Would he?...


"Uh, Simon?," Jeanette spoke up. They'd been walking for over half an hour, and they hadn't said a single word. Jeanette was starting to get paranoid. Every time she heard a twig break beneath her own foot, she would glance behind her back,only to see nothing there. She needed to drown out the sounds.

"We need to talk about what we're gonna do if Dave and the others are...well...you know."

Simon's back stiffened as he thought of this possibility.

"I'm not sure," he mumbled in a tight voice. "I haven't thought about it."

Jeanette had a feeling he wasn't about to either.

She sighed and started kicking rocks along their path, playing her own little game of soccer. Every so often, Simon would watch the path of the rock as her foot kicked it.

After a while, he joined her, both of them fighting each other for the rock, with no specific goal in sight.

"Whoever gets it into that bush wins," decided Jeanette with a slight giggle.

They both fought for it, kicking their legs between the other's leg,or pushing the other in order to get in front. There was one point when Jeanette "accidentally" kicked Simon in the shin.

"Ow!" Simon paused to check on his injured shin. "Cheater!"

"We never said there were rules," laughed Jeanette wholeheartedly. It now felt just like good times. You know...besides the apocalypse.

Simon bent down and picked the rock up, moments before she had a chance to kick it. He raised both hands in the air, and threw it, as if it were a basketball. It made a rustling sound as it landed directly into the bush.

Simon smiled defiantly. "I win."

Jeanette shook her head, smirking. "Whatever you say."

Glancing down at his watch, He frowned. "We should get going again," he said. "Now we'll be a little bit later."

Jeanette rolled her eyes, but fell back into step with him. She smiled silently to herself. I can trust him.


Simon paused as the two of them came to the edge of the woods that sat on one side of the city, close to their homes.

"Okay," he sighed. "Now we have to be more careful. We're gonna have to sneak around so we're not seen."

Jeanette looked around. They were at the end of a dead end street that was only a block away from her own house. "I don't see anyone though," she observed.

"Yeah, but these things are fast." He took his backpack off of his shoulder. Reaching into it,he pulled out a small pistol paintball gun. "Take this just in case."

Panic set into Jeanette as she realized the two of them were going to have to split up. Even though her house was around the block, his was only down the street.

You'll be fine, she told herself forcefully. How hard is this really going to be? You out ran them one time, you can do it again. Besides, you have to check on Ellie and Miss Miller.

With renewed confidence, she listened intently at Simon's plan.

"Okay," he started. "here's what we'll do: we'll both check on our own houses, sticking strictly to cutting through yards. If one of those things catches sight of you, shoot em with that." he pointed to the gun. "it won't kill them, but it should slow them down a bit. Anyway, we do quick rounds around our houses to see if anyone's there, and then we meet directly back at this spot. Got it?"

Jeanette nodded. In a plan, it all sounded so simple. But in actuality, it was going to be harder than either of them would expect.

Jeanette took in a big gulp of air. "Okay," she sighed. "I'll see you in ten minutes."

Simon nodded. Then both of them took off in different directions.

Jeanette ducked into backyard after backyard. If she heard a single rustle, or what she thought was a pounding of feet, she'd duck behind a bush and lift her gun.

She'd ran and ran, her feet pounding lightly upon the lush grass of other people's backyards. And this amazed her, for she'd never been this graceful and light-footed before.

An enormous sigh of relief escaped her lips as her house came into view from across the street. She stared at it suspiciously, as if waiting for some sort of movement. But not so much as a curtain moved. Her caretakers pink convertible wasn't even parked in the driveway. The entire house seemed deserted.

But everyone knows looks can be deceiving.

Glancing up and down the street, she saw no on there. The which of the wind was the only sound for miles. She ran quickly across the street, now tripping on the ground under her. She caught herself quickly, and looked around. Still no one. She hurried to the house.

The door was slightly ajar, creaking gently in the breeze. Hurrying inside, Jeanette scoped the house from the foyer. The entire house was silent. Just in case, she took a quick look around.

She looked in the more open areas first, gun raised just in case. The living room and kitchen were clear. The rest of the first floor was uninhabited. It was the second floor she dreaded to check. As she passed by the kitchen, she saw a lone knife on the table. I should take this just in case. She stuffed it in her pocket then made her way up the stairs.

The first room on her right belonged to Mina. She quickly opened the door, looked around, then moved on. Next was her own, then Eleanor's,then Brittany's along with the bathroom. The very last one at the end of the hall belonged to Miss Miller.

Jeanette crept quietly and swiftly down the hallway. The door was opened just a crack, and the room was filled with darkness.

Miss Miller's curtains are always open, she thought suspiciously. She wondered if it was actually safe to go in. Finally, she pushed her way in, her eyes falling upon the darkness. It took a while for her eyes to adjust, but when they did, a horrid scene confronted her.

The old women who she called her caretaker, was now face down in the middle of the floor. Not moving.

Jeanette swallowed her scream, trying to make sense of the picture in front of her.

Maybe she already turned, and someone else had tried to save themselves...like Eleanor...

Swallowing hard, she left the room, silently shutting the door behind her. She ran out of the house, trying not to think much about it. She slowly made her way back the way she came through the backgrounds, not being nearly as careful as before. However,she was surprised to see that Simon wasn't back yet.

Maybe he's having trouble. The thought scared the lone 16 year-old. She decided to go check on him just to make sure.


By the time she had arrived at the Seville household, Jeanette noticed that the sky had turned a sickening dark gray. The darkness left an uneasy feeling in her. It felt...unnatural.

Jeanette walked up to the house. She could hear some noise coming from within, but couldn't quite place it.

The front door suddenly burst open, and Simon emerged before Jeanette could scream.

"Simon!," she cried. "Don't do that! You scared the crap outta me!"

Simon hurried over to her, his hood pulled over his head so low that she could only see the gleam of his glasses.

"J-Jeanette,"he stuttered frantically.

"What is it?" she asked. She walked up to him. He was shaking, sort of a nervous air about him.

"Give me your hand," he demanded. Jeanette recoiled and put her injured hand in his larger one. His palms sweated as he unwrapped the bandage that covered her own.

"W-What are you doing?,"she asked nervously. "Simon, seriously, what's going on? What are you doing to my hand?!"

By now, her cut was fully unwrapped. It didn't look much better than it had the night before. It was still swollen, and a bright red.

Her eyes followed his left hand as it slowly made it's way into his pocket.

"Simon!" she cried. "Answer me!"

His next words came out so softly, she could barely hear them. "Just trust me. Please."

Jeanette immediately relaxed. She couldn't help it. He just sounded so honest and sincere. Even so, her heart raced faster and faster as he withdrew a knife from his pocket.

"Why do you have that?!" she gasped.

"Don't worry about it."

"What are you gonna do with it?"

The only reply was a sharp edge, cutting into her skin, and deep into her flesh. "Cutting open your wound!"

The last thing Jeanette saw, were his eyes. His hood had slipped off of his head, and his dull blue irises stared into her frightened purple eyes. Then everything went dark, and she blacked out into a hollow darkness.


I'm not even bother. I mean, we all learned something: I'm terrible at keeping promises. Even so, your reviews do keep me motivated, so don't forget to review!