AN: I'm updating two chapters because my classes are getting ready to start back and I wanted something to do a while so make sure to read the other chapter first. Big time jumps starting in this one. I'm trying to catch the story up so it's not too far from actual time. I really enjoyed writing this chapter. Tell me what you think. 3

Chapter 8

Monday, December 23rd

It's been two weeks. Most of our days consist of fixing the cars and planning our route. The guys make runs to the stores for car parts and food every other day. They tried looking for cars that worked, but ran into an angry mob of zombies so now they go to the garage right down the road for parts.

It's hard living like this; a house full of teenagers who eat large portions and take showers all the time. It was a blessing that the water even ran. We may have to take cold showers, but it was better than nothing.

It was getting close to Christmas and we didn't know what to do. Did we celebrate it or just forget about it? April got crafty one night and hung up green and red food wrappers on a string in the living room. Callie thought it was sweet and cute, but I could care less. All that was on my mind was my brother. There was a greater chance that he was alive than my parents'. I couldn't wait to get out of here.

I was sitting on the couch, which was Jackson's bed for the nights he was on watch. The blankets were everywhere and easy to grab and wrap up in. Not too long after I was comfortable, Callie sat down beside me and lifted the blanket.

"Hey, I was all warm." I whined.

"What about this?" Callie leaned against the arm of the couch and pulled me between her legs until my back reached her chest. She wrapped her arms around mine and squeezed her legs around me.

"Hmm. This is way better." I was suddenly relaxed and my muscles loosened. I wouldn't mind doing this every day.

"The guys are getting close to fixing the cars." She spoke softly from behind me.

"I know."

"Are we going to San Francisco?"

"I want to. I just have this feeling that he's out there."

"What if he's relocated?"

I thought about it for a minute. "I don't know. It's dangerous and I don't want to put us in more danger, but…"

"Maybe we should follow Owen's advice and go straight to Texas."

I sighed. I had absolutely no clue of what to do.

"We'll figure it out before we leave." She gave me a kiss on the back of my head.

Tuesday, December 24th

We had all went on a run to the mall for Christmas gifts, minus Callie's dad. He was being a real scrooge and stayed at the house. It was unanimous vote with the rest; we all wanted to get gifts for each other. We weren't going to let some zombie invasion stop us from celebrating and enjoying a holiday with friends.

We split into groups of two, each with an unlikely partner so the gifts were kept somewhat secret. I got stuck with April which I think Avery did on purpose. Callie partnered up with Derrick which made me feel more relieved. We had already killed two dozen of the infected in here and it was still crawling with them. This was a risk we were willing to take for one another.

I gripped my brother's now bloody knife in my hand. April had a bat, but she barely used it. I was the more skillful so I did the killing.

"So, April…" I whispered to her.

"What?"

"Who are you getting a gift for?"

"I don't know…"

"Are you getting one for Jackson?" I winked at her. We had gotten drunk at a party once and she gushed about how hot Jackson was and how much she wanted him. This was right before he started dating Edwards, but April didn't make the effort to ask him out so it was her loss.

"No. Why would I get him anything?"

"I just thought it would be nice to get your crush a nice gift."

"It's not a crush." She rolled her eyes and moved to the next store without me.

Something shiny caught my attention at a jewelry counter. It was a beautiful silver necklace with a heart charm. Callie would love this. I noticed a gold one right next to it. She would like the silver one. I picked up and searched for a box to put it in.

"Arizona!"

I rolled my eyes and stuck the necklace in my pocket. April couldn't survive two minutes without me?

"Arizona!"

Her voice didn't come from the candle store I thought she was in. I moved down the line of stores until I reached a store for baby and clothes. Why is she in there?

I heard a scream. It wasn't loud, but muffled and I knew it was a woman's. When I reached April, she was standing in front of an opened bathroom door.

"I…I...I don't….I don't know what to do."

I ran over and looked into the stall. Lying on the floor was a pregnant woman, crying in pain. She was surrounded by empty boxes of baby cereal and empty cans of baby food. There was a puddle of clear liquid between her legs.

"Oh my…" I stood with my mouth open. This woman was obviously healthy and had took camp in this bathroom. I looked to April. "Go get Bailey! Yell if you have to, this is important. Do you hear me?!" I shook her out of a trance until she nodded.

"Ohhhh! Please, you have to help me and my baby." Her voice was soft and slow. It seemed as if she had no energy to do anything, even move her head.

"I'll try my best ma'am. How long have you been in here?" I kneeled beside her and gave her some water from a canteen I had in my bag.

"This store…days. Days..bathroom…no people. Some…ran." She wasn't making much since and her eyes would only open so far.

"Did your water break?"

"Eh." I took that as a yes.

"When?"

"Ago…days?" She began to shift her head and tears poured down her face.

"You're water broke days ago?!"

She didn't respond because she seemed to have passed out.

"Ma'am? Come on!" I shook her shoulders slightly.

I heard the guys come into the shop and a loud noise follow them. Bailey came in the restroom.

"What's going… Oh my gosh." Her eyes widened.

"She said something about her water breaking days ago. Is that bad Doc?"

Miranda got on her knees and checked the woman's pulse before putting her ear to the stomach.

"There's not much time. This baby needs to come out now. She's passed out so I doubt she won't be able to push. I need the medical bag."

I hopped up and went to the main part of the store. Our entire group was in there and they had closed the store's gate but seemed to be struggling. I noticed a mob of infected outside, their arms reaching through the cracks.

"What's going on?" I asked.

Jo seemed to be very upset and was the first to speak up. "We had a whole group on our asses because someone decided to yell through the entire store!" She sent a glare to April.

Aria was partnered with Jo and was breathing heavily. "Jo and I had at least fifty of them on our tail! What the hell is going on, Arizona?!" Aria and Jo had the smaller guns and their aim probably wasn't the best so they must have had to run fast.

I looked around. "I told April to yell. There's a pregnant woman in the bathroom and apparently, she's been in labor for days. She's still alive…I think. Bailey needs the medical bag."

Callie dropped her weapon to her side. "Is the baby alive?"

"I don't know. I just need the bag!" I motioned for Owen to throw me the bag with our medical tools in it.

He backed from the gate and tossed me the bag. "I'm not sure how much longer we can hold this Robbins!"

Hearing him call me by my last name made me zone out for a moment. Bailey came out from the bathrooms. "Arizona! Come on."

Before I turned, I saw Callie, Jo, Aria, and Meredith join the guys at the gate. I grabbed April and Stephanie with me. "Edwards, guard the restroom doors and keep us updated on the group. April, come with me."

I sat the bag on the floor and opened it up. "Tell me what you need Doc."

"Hand me the alcohol patches, the scissors, and a bunch of gauzes."

I handed her the requested tools and stood back.

"Come back, I'm going to need you."

"Me? Why not April?" April gave me a scared look. "What do you need me to do?"

"Take my jacket and cover your arms in it. When I take the baby out, you hold it so I can clean it and check it out."

"Hold on. April, go get blankets from the store and grab a sucker. You'll need that right?" I looked to Bailey who was now wiping the woman's stomach and took one side of the scissors and began to cut.

"Yes. Good idea."

"Go." I pointed for her to go.

She came back in record time with blankets, a sucker, and a long-sleeved outfit. We remained silent as Bailey worked her way through the woman's body. I had a blanket in my hands, ready to do whatever Bailey told me.

She finally pulled the baby out and placed it in my hands. She cleaned it off and sucked its mouth and nose.

"Okay, baby girl…let's hear it. Come on." She rubbed the baby girl's tummy with the blanket. After a little stir, she began to cry. I felt like I couldn't move. This baby had survived in this bathroom while an apocalypse took place right outside.

Miranda went back to the mom and stopped in the middle of her stomach and felt the pulse in her neck. She dropped her head and stood up. "Mom is gone. I could try CPR, but her organs don't look like they would make it very far if I revived her. We need to clean the baby up." We all got up and went to the sink. After we washed the baby, we dressed her and wrapped her in a new blanket.

Stephanie poked her head back in. "Guys, the gate is starting to break! We have to go!"

I looked to April. "Go through the store and grab a bag and fill it with as much baby formula, food, anything you can! Understand?" She nodded.

The front of the store was hell; our whole team holding back hundreds of those monsters. I looked around for a way to get out. We were on the top floor so there had to be a way to the roof.

"Back here!" Aria yelled from the storage closet.

Derrick looked around. "All the girls go, we'll be right behind you."

Meredith looked at him. "Derrick…"

"Just GO!" Meredith ran up to him for a kiss.

We all climbed up a ladder which led to an attic space. It was hot as actual hell in there. We had to find a way out soon or we would be eaten or fry. Aria seemed to be on a roll and lead us through a maze of heaters and roof tiles. "I think we can get out here." she said. She and Jo knocked a hole in a piece of glass that made up the roof. I gave Bailey the baby and moved up with them. We stepped out onto the roof and a gush of fresh air hit which felt nice.

We walked around until we saw the truck. There was no way we could get down there without a ladder, which the mall didn't seem to have. We walked around the other side and found the top of a parking garage. We could easily get down there by jumping. Teddy pointed out that there was care right next to us.

"Wait up!" Jackson yelled. We turned to find the guys coming up. Once they reached us, they all bent over to catch their breath.

Owen stood up first. "We parked on the other side of the building."

"There's no way down but the parking garage." Teddy explained.

"Let's go then." he replied.

We lined up and dropped to the car one-by-one then down the hood onto the parking lot. No signs of the infected were around so we took our time; our bodies were slow from the amount of work it took to get in and out of the place. I got on the top of the car and Bailey past the baby girl to me so she could get down. We passed her back and forth to make sure she got to the ground safely.

We had all gotten down and formed a circle around Miranda. We wanted to make sure this baby was protected at all times. Jackson, Callie, and I took the front, Owen, Teddy, Stephanie, and April took the sides, while Aria, Jo, Derrick, and Meredith took the back. We eased through each level until the last one. A few of the infected came up. Jackson and I used the knives we had and struck their heads. Blood splattered on my face and turned in disgust. I met Callie's eyes as she motioned to my face. I took off the button-up I had on and wiped my face, leaving me exposed in a white tank top. A few kills later and we made it to the truck. We all piled in and took off.

When we arrived back at the house we all took a moment before walking in. As we opened the door and filled the living room, Carlos took in the sight. All of us were trenched in sweat and some of our clothes had been ripped. Jackson and I had a fair amount of blood on us and Bailey had a baby in her hands.

"Is everyone here?" Mr. Torres asked. "Did anyone get hurt?"

Owen sighed and shook his head. "We're all fine. Picked up a new member." He pointed to the baby.

"Whose child is that?" He looked around at us.

Bailey spoke up. "We found a woman in the mall. She didn't make it."

"Wow." That was all he could say as he walked up to the little girl.

We all sipped beers as we sat together in the living room. Callie's dad insisted we not drink, but I don't think it was going to hurt a few teenagers to have a couple of drinks. We told jokes and stories of previous family gatherings from the holidays. It was almost Christmas day and none of us had gotten gifts from the mall. I remembered the necklace I had grabbed for Callie and went up to the bathroom and searched through my pants. I reached in one of the pockets and pulled it out and debated on whether I should still give it to her or not. It's a miracle it even survived to the house.

I walked back down and went to stand behind Callie and whispered in her ear. "Meet me in the kitchen."

Not too long after I entered the kitchen, Callie walked in. "Why did you call me in here?" She said it seductively.

"Calm down tiger. I just wanted to give you something."

"I bet you do." she said, walking closer to me. I think she had too many drinks.

"I have a gift. Turn around."

She turned around. "I got you something too."

I clipped the necklace on her. "It managed to thrive in my pocket all day, almost forgot about it."

Callie looked at it in the reflection of the refrigerator. "Arizona…this is perfect."

"I thought you might like it."

"No, you don't understand how perfect this is." Her hand went to the pocket of her short and pulled out the matching gold necklace I had seen.

"You didn't."

"I saw it on the way to the baby store and the case was already broken so I took it." She placed the necklace around me and left her hands on my neck. "Merry Christmas, Arizona."

"Merry Christmas, Calliope." I closed the distance between us and kissed her. "I'm ready to get out of this place and find my brother. I just don't know if all us will be able to go down there."

"You'll come up with a plan." She offered a smile that was sincere.

"I hope. I hope I find him…alive."