AN: So they had somewhat of a rough patch in the last chapter. I'm trying to keep things happy, but all couples have their moments. Time jumps pick up here. Also, thanks for the reviews. I take what you say into consideration so if there's something you'd like to see or have any ideas, let me know. Hope you like this chapter.

Chapter 7

Monday, December 9th

It's been four days and we've only made it to Sacramento. We took Sunday off from driving just to have a nice day together. Callie cooked and it was amazing. I'm glad she's able to cook because I can't even fix popcorn without burning it. After we got back on the road, we ran into some blocks and broken bridges which slowed us down. April wasn't much help with her whining in the mornings. It's so hard to get that girl up.

It was getting dark again and we needed to find a house. Most of the ones we've stayed in have been nice. The guys haven't run into any problems clearing them or defending at night. I guess we just got lucky that way.

"That one looks nice." Jackson pointed at a huge mansion that was tucked in by a couple of trees.

"Yeah, but there's a village of those houses." I motioned towards the rest of the houses. This was where the richer people must have lived. "I bet that place is full of infected people."

"They're not people anymore, I can tell you that."

"Still. I don't feel comfortable staying here."

"Look, that one has a huge fence around it. Someone already took care of that for us."

I thought about it for a moment. "Let's ask the others."

I motioned for Callie to pull up beside me. Carlos rolled down his window so we could talk. "We're not thinking of staying here are we?"

"Avery suggested it." I rolled my eyes.

"Arizona. This is a very popular neighborhood, lots of residents…"

Aria leaned forward into the front of the car. "I like it."

"Well, we know you do." Callie said.

"It's just…" I started.

BANG

Both cars jumped at the sudden noise. An infected hit the front of Callie's car. She looked to me and Avery. "What do I do?!"

Jackson was about to get out but another infected hit his window, moaning and covered in saliva. He closed his door back quickly. Soon, there was one on my hood, reaching at the windshield. I turned back to the other car and noticed a group surrounding Callie's group.

"Jackson, what the hell are we supposed to do?!"

"I don't know! We have to get away from here. Try driving over them."

I put the car into drive and attempted to move forward, but now there were so many surrounding our cars, we couldn't move.

"Shit! Jackson, we're going to die! We're going die in these cars!"

"Just calm down Robbins, we'll figure something out."

"Like what, Avery?!" I started to cry. This was the end. "We traveled all this way and now…"

Before I could finish, a huge blur went by in front of us, taking a mass of infected with it. It came back again and scooped more of them up.

Avery spoke up. "Is that a…truck?"

It was going by so fast; it was hard to see who was driving it. "Yeah, I think it is." My voice was shaky as I tried to figure out what was happening. I grabbed Jackson's arm as the truck got even closer, eliminating almost all of the infected. I turned around and half of a figure came out the top of the truck. It aimed a gun towards our cars but dropped down. I heard a muffled voice yelling, but it was hard to hear over the moaning. After seeing the gun rise again, I heard a man's voice yell, "Get down!"

Just as everyone fell to the floorboard, gun shots rained through my windows and into the beasts that surrounded us. It then got quiet, extremely quiet. We all slowly lifted our heads and I looked straight to Callie. She had old mascara running down her cheeks and her hands gripped to the steering wheel. I mouthed to her 'Are you okay?' and she responded with a slight nod. Her father had his hand on his chest, breathing heavily. I wasn't sure he was okay until Callie started to pat his back and he sat up.

Two figures began to walk towards us from the truck. When they were close enough to see, Jackson and I got out with our weapons at the ready. One was a taller, pale man. He had some muscle on him and scruffy orange hair covered his head and face. The other was a woman holding onto his arm. She was skinny and just as tall. Her hair was put into a pony tail to the back. Both had guns in their hands, but aimed to the ground.

"No need for those now." the man said. Nobody from our group replied. "My name is Owen Hunt and this is my wife, Teddy."

We slowly put our weapons down and stood straighter.

The woman spoke up next. "We're with the Army. Our group got separated; some murdered. We've taken shelter in a mansion at the end of this development. It has a brick fence and plenty of room. You guys can come there for the night."

We all looked around unsure then gathered between our cars.

Derrick spoke up first. "I don't think these cars are going to get us to San Diego. We could stay until we figure out another plan."

Jackson was next. "I'm not sure I want to trust these people. There are other houses we can stay in."

Jo talked next. "They seem like honest people, and they just saved our lives! Plus, they're from the Army; they must know how to get there."

I stepped up. "Yeah, let's see what they know and try to get the cars fixed up." Everyone nodded and we turned to the couple. "We need somewhere to stay so we can fix our cars."

Owen nodded. "Follow us."

My car wouldn't start at all and began to smoke. Owen waved for us to get in his truck. We took all of our supplies and bags with us.

Once we arrived at the house, Owen jumped out and opened the medal gate to the house. We drove up to the door and moved inside which was ginormous with more than enough room for all of us. One side of the kitchen was stocked with crates of food and medical supplies. The other had piles of weapons, mainly guns and knives.

Jackson walked in with Stephanie on his hip. "Daaamn man. You guys are seriously prepared."

Derrick walked in and peaked over his shoulder and smiled. "Wow."

Owen and Teddy sat their guns on the table. She came up to our group and crossed her arms. "Yeah, being in the Army has its perks. It's ashamed we had to see the majority our men go out like that though."

Callie finally found her way to the kitchen and stood behind me. "So you guys know about San Diego and Texas?"

Owen turned to us. "Oh yeah, we know. No one's getting any further than San Francisco though. There are huge blocks the Army had set up. Massive groups of zombies have gathered there."

I gave him a weird look. "Zombies? That what the Army is calling them, zombies?"

"Yes, but all we know is that the cause is from some dangerous string of rabies. It gets in the system and causes death. Somehow they come back to life. How this happens, we don't know."

"And there's no way around them?"

"Nope, not that I know of…block goes all the way through the state of California. Your best shot is to go straight to Texas. Where are you guys from now?"

"Seattle. So, why haven't you guys left yet?"

He sighed deeply. "Well, we've held up nicely here. They don't seem to notice us when we go out on runs. Well…until you got here."

We all held guilty looks on our faces.

"Thank you. Thank you for…saving us back there."

"No problems. You guys find yourself a place to sleep; we can talk more in the morning."

I was sitting at the kitchen table, fumbling with the cup of tea I made myself. It was late at night and I couldn't sleep. Owen and April were up on guard, but they were outside on top of the house. All I could think about was my parents and how they were gone. I still hoped somehow we would run into them at a gas station or grocery store. A single tear dropped into my cup, my cue to wipe my face.

Warm hands rested on my shoulders followed by a soft voice. "What are you doing up?" Callie gave my shoulders a squeeze then sat beside me.

"Just…thinking." I fumbled my hands.

"About your parents?" She asked in a whisper.

"Yeah." I tucked my head. "I just thought it might be possible to find them somewhere. I guess that's not going to happen."

"You never know." She put an arm around my waist.

I didn't want her to feel sorry for me. I stood up out of her grasp and started to pace.

"Arizona…I want you to be able to open up to me when you need to."

I walked around the table without saying anything. Something caught my eye in the corner of the kitchen where the weapons were. It was a knife with a big green handle. It looked really familiar. It was a huge hunting knife with a green gripped handle and silver blade. This couldn't be. I knew this knife, but there was only one way to make sure. I picked it up and turned it in my nervous hands to the bottom of the handle. On it was the initials TR embedded in silver. Oh my god. This was my brother's knife; the one dad had gotten him before he deployed.

Callie came up behind me. "What's that?"

I passed her and jumped up the stairs and to the roof. I saw Owen on the left side, walking back and forth.

"Hey, you!"

He turned around. "What are you doing? Keep it down. We don't want to attract any of them."

"This knife. This is my brother's knife. Was he with your group?"

"Tim? Tim Robbins is your brother? So you're Arizona…Robbins?" We had only given him and Teddy our first names when we introduced ourselves.

"Yeah, and this is my brother's knife. You going to tell me what happened to him?"

He sighed and sat down. "He was one of guys we lost in San Francisco. Tim went to set up some C4 and the last time we saw him, he was fighting off a mass of zombies. That C4 saved ten of our men who…later died on our way here. He gave me his knife and told me to hold it for him…said that he would be back for it."

"So you left him there?" I was starting to get upset. How could the people who were supposed to have his back, leave him behind.

"No. He told us to go as he ran to plant the explosives. He said he'd catch up later." His voice sounded disappointed.

"Have you seen or heard from him?"

"No. Tim has amazing survival skills though. If he's alive, I'm sure he's staying that way."

"San Francisco?"

"Yeah…" He looked at me questionably. "You can't go down there, I'm telling you. It's all to hell and you have your friends and…and your girlfriend. You can't go down there."

"What if he's still alive?!"

"You can't be sure of that."

"You guys could show us the way. We're a good group, hard working. We could get through there."

"You can't go anywhere until your cars are fixed or you find another ride."

I thought about it for a moment and sat beside him. "What if he's still out there though?" Owen offered half of a grin and looked out at the neighborhood.

"He talked about you a lot, told the group he had the most badass sister. I see he was right."

I smiled as I laid back on the roof and looked up at the stars, wondering if my brother could be looking at them as well.

I'm sorry to the people who like Christina and Owen together. I've always liked Teddy's character and wanted her in the story.