A loud banging woke me up. The sound came three at a time, and it took my still sleeping brain a minute to realise someone was knocking on the front door. I ran my hands over my face, letting out a long groan.

Three more knocks came, one after another, that forced me to stand up. I stretched my arms over my head, walking to the door. The keys were on a small table in the hallway.

"I swear, Glenn. If you keep this up, I'll have to call in for a noise complaint."

The door swung open, but the guy on the other side was not Glenn. He was a much larger man, with black hair covered by a brown cap with a badge like his grey shirt. It looked like some kind of police badge.

"I heard you called for a noise complaint?" he joked.

I could only stare at him, my hands wringing together. "You're not Glenn."

"You are correct," he looked back over his shoulder, and it was only at that point that I noticed Glenn standing behind him. He looked back at me with a smile. "I'm Shane Walsh, sheriff's deputy for the Kings County Police Department."

"What are you doing here?"

I knew what he was doing here, but I wanted him to say it. I couldn't wait for the lecture on why I couldn't be alone with all the dangers around. Part of me wished I was older; this wouldn't have happened if I was an adult.

Shane didn't answer the question. "Can we come in?"

"No."

"Listen," he started. "I understand this may be stressful for you, and you probably feel uncomfortable. We're just here to make sure that you're okay, and I'd appreciate it if you would hear us out."

I didn't answer him. Clearly, he wasn't going to leave, but I still didn't like that he was here. He's a policeman, I thought. He's with Glenn. As much as I hated it, I stepped to the side and let him walk into the house. Glenn tried following him, but I stepped back in the way and stopped him.

"What the hell, Glenn?"

He stopped a confused look on his face. "What?"

"You can't just bring people here!" I exclaimed, pointing back into the house at Shane. He wasn't listening, just looking around inside. "I basically live here now, and you invite strangers over?! I don't know him!"

"You let me come here," he argued.

"I chose to speak to you, not him!" I argued. "If that had been him there the other day, I wouldn't have said anything."

I didn't give Glenn a chance to answer, turning back into the house. When I entered the living room, Shane was looking around the room. I crossed my arms and stared at him from the doorway.

"You got a pretty good setup here," Shane said.

"Does that mean you can leave?" I questioned.

"You know that isn't going to happen."

I ignored him, entering the living room. I grabbed a book I had been reading from the coffee table, laying back on the sofa and holding the book in front of my face to block him out.

"I'm sure Glenn's already told you about the camp," Shane spoke. I kept the book raised. I wasn't sure if this would irritate him or not, knowing that he was a policeman. They were probably trained to be persistent and patient.

I wanted to call the police, but he said he was already working with them. Not that I had a phone to call the police, and there probably wouldn't be any service. Also, I didn't live here, and I wouldn't know what address to tell them in the first place. And I think I'd be charged for breaking and entering.

All in all, it was a bad idea.

Shane moved, sitting down on the armchair blocked by the book's view. "I don't know how well you actually know the area around here, but our camp is at the top of the quarry a few miles out from the city. We have a good group of people there," Shane started explaining.

"So, what you're saying is that you want me to leave the safety of this house to go camping?" I made sure to sound as sophisticated as possible, keeping a straight face as I looked directly at Shane. I hated camping, but if that was my only option, I knew I'd have to take it. Not that I was going to let Shane know that.

Shane let out a breathy chuckle, shaking his head and looking at the ground. Does he think I'm joking?

"I understand that this is a hard decision. You've been here on your own, and that's rough, but you'll have people looking out for you at camp. You don't have to be on your own anymore."

"I'm not leaving," I snapped, sitting up to face him. "I have to stay here."

"Why?" Shane questioned.

"I'm sure Glenn has already told you, seeing as nothing is sacred," I started, glancing over at Glenn. I knew that Shane already knew by the looks on their faces, but I explained it anyway. "I have to wait for my dad; I'm not leaving without him."

Shane didn't say anything for a moment and just stared at me. "Where is he?"

I reluctantly answered. "He went to see if he could find anyone to help."

"When was that?"

I tore my eyes away, pretending I'd found something fascinating to look at across the room.

"Did he say when he was coming back?" He tried again.

I shrugged. I didn't want to go any further into it. It was meant to be a short trip. Shane didn't push after that.

"Glenn, why don't you go and keep an eye out for geeks?" Shane gestured towards the window at the front of the house.

"Okay," he nodded in return, walking to the other end of the room to look out the front window through the wooden boards and closed curtains. When we realised the town was empty, dad made sure the ground floor windows were boarded in case.

Shane turned back to look at me. "If your dad went to look for help, he was probably doing it to keep you safe. Until the military arrives, the safest place for you to be is in the quarry."

"I have to wait for him," I stated, but my voice wasn't as firm as it had been before.

"Okay. Okay," Shane leaned forwards on the chair, running a hand over his face. "Here's what we can do. We leave your dad a note telling him where the camp is. I have a map in the car we can leave him. When he comes back, he'll know where to find you. We can even leave some of the supplies here for when he gets back, just in case."

It seemed rational, not that I wanted to go with them.

"Besides, we don't have to leave right now. We could wait here for a while if that would make you feel better," Shane bargained.

I gave a slight shrug. "Fine."

"Okay," Shane looked around. "Do you have any paper here or anything?"

"Nope," I muttered to myself, flipping back to the acknowledgement page of the book and ripping it out. I stretched my arm out to give it to him. Shane grabbed a pen from the coffee table, scribbling across the page.

"What's your dad's name?" Shane asked.

"Owen," I answered simply.

Shane nodded as he wrote.

"Okay, we should start looking around. See if there's anything we could take," Shane stated but turned to look at me. "If that's okay with you."

"Whatever," I muttered, rolling my eyes.

He waited for a moment, probably thinking I would help, but I wasn't going to. I didn't even want to leave, so I wasn't going to help them, even if I was leaving with them.

He walked behind the sofa before turning to Glenn. "Help me look around."

They moved through the house before finding the basement. I knew it was there, dad went down to check out the house when we broke in, but I never went down. I didn't know what was down there. So Shane and Glenn went to look.

After a few minutes, Glenn came up from the basement, holding a few things in his arms. "I found a tent in the basement. It's only small, but at least you'll have something to sleep in when we get to camp."

I only hummed a response, too annoyed at everything to give a proper answer.

Shane made good on his deal. He and Glenn waited for hours, just looking around the house for things they might want to take back to their camp. I had shoved everything that was mine in my yellow bag for the inevitable trip I had to make.

I went to sit out on the canopy while I waited. For some reason, I had it set in my mind that if I was watching, then my dad might come back quicker. It didn't happen that way, though. It also helped give me some privacy from Glenn and Shane.

The front door was open as they moved things into the car, and I could hear them talking from downstairs.

It was Shane that spoke. "Where is she?"

Glenn didn't answer, but I assumed he had pointed or something because a few seconds later, the thudding of footsteps carried up the stairs.

It was moments later before Shane's head poked out the window. "Nice spot."

I glanced over at him as he perched himself on the windowsill, one of his legs out on the canopy. He gave a nod with his head, gesturing for me to follow him, but I just returned my gaze to the street.

"Ace, it's going to get dark soon; we can't travel at night."

Again, I ignored him.

"I'm sorry, kid," he tried again. "We have to get moving. We've waited as long as we can."

I didn't move. My arm gripped the other elbow and my foot tapped against the tiles, but I couldn't bring myself to move. Shane ran his hand over his face, holding his cap in his hand. He didn't say anything else, just waiting for me to go with him.

I bit the inside of my cheek, trying to stop my lip from trembling when I asked, "Can't I stay?"

Shane shook his head. "You know I can't let that happen. "We've done everything we can. When he comes back, he'll see the note and the map. He'll know where to go."

I wiped the back of my hand down my cheek, not moving from my spot. My gaze shifted to my hand in my lap.

"Ace."

I let out a sigh, pushing myself onto my feet. Shane stood up from his spot on the windowsill and held his hand to me, but I rolled my eyes, climbing in the window myself. I didn't look at him as I made my way downstairs.

Glenn was waiting by the front door. He went to say something, but I just gave him a glare as I grabbed my yellow bag from the table downstairs. Shane came down behind me, waiting with Glenn by the front door.

Before leaving, I looked at the box I left on the coffee table. It was a box of the supplies I found while staying here, with a few bottles of water for when my dad got back. On the table was the note was written on the acknowledgements page of the book and the map Shane said he got from his car. I looked at them for a moment, hoping it would be enough for my dad to make it to the highway.

A few minutes later, I followed them out and down the front of the house. I locked the door, knowing my dad had a second key, before turning to where they parked the car.

Shane opened the boot, shoving some of the things he had taken from the house in the back. I stood next to him, putting my bag inside.

"Ready?"

I didn't look up at him. He let out an audible sigh and closed the boot, walking around to the driver's side of the car. I took one last look at the house before sitting down in the back seat.

It was a thirty-minute drive to the bottom of the road that led to the quarry, a narrow dirt road surrounded by trees on either side. The car was silent, with the occasional chatter from Glenn and Shane filling in the gaps. I just played with my bandana tied around my wrist to ignore them.

Shane looked at me in the rearview mirror. "It'll be fun," he assured. "Just like a camping trip."

I scoffed. "And I was just starting to feel better."

He only laughed.

The dirt road twisted uphill more and more, and the views on the sides of the road changed from houses to trees. Eventually, the roads flattened out, and as we came up over the hill's peak, I saw more vehicles. A motorhome, some cars. People were wandering around and talking.

As we neared, an older man wearing a hat walked around to the front of the motorhome. He was followed by a blonde woman and a Black man who placed a woodpile on the ground.

The engine cut off, and Glenn climbed out. He walked around the front of the car to talk to the people who gathered around. I sat there for a moment, unmoving.

"It's okay," Shane tapped my arm over the back of the seat. He nodded his head and opened the door to climb out. "Come on."

The Black man was the first to speak. "You're back."

"Did everything go okay?" The older man was next.

"It was fine, no geeks," I heard Shane answer. "Where is everybody?"

"Some of them went down earlier to do the laundry," The blonde woman answered, "I'd say they left a half-hour ago."

I climbed out of the car, the other side from where they were speaking, and walked around the back. The older man took a step towards me.

"You must be the girl Glenn was telling us about," He smiled and reached his hand out for me to shake, which I did, stretching forwards and barely grabbing the end of his hand. "I'm Dale Horvath."

"That's Ace," Glenn introduced.

"This is Andrea," Shane raised a hand to the blonde woman and then the Black man, "and T-Dog."

What kind of name is that? T-Dog clapped his hand down on my shoulder, "nice to meet you, kid."

"Shane!" A boy started running over from a small group of children, a massive smile on his face to greet Shane. He slowed when he saw me, and his look changed to more of a confused stare. "Is this the British girl from the house?"

My eyes went straight to Glenn, who pursed his lips and avoided eye contact.

"Yeah, bud," Shane answered in a chuckle. "This is Ace. She's going to be staying with us."

The smile returned to the boy's face, and he turned to look at me. "Hi, I'm Carl."

"Um. . . hi," I replied awkwardly.

Shane turned to me. "Come on, let's get you set up. Grab your stuff."

Glenn walked around me to the boot of the car. "I'll get the tent."

I took my bag from the boot of the car. We started walking in the direction of the scattered tents.

"It's nice to meet you, Ace," Andrea said before we could get far away.

"You too," I answered quietly.

Glenn helped me set up the tent he found. I didn't want him to, but he insisted. We worked in silence, the awkwardness not missed by me. I did most of the work, seeing as I looked over at Glenn, he was fumbling around with the poles and tent.

I walked over, taking some of the pieces from him, building the tent myself.

"Sorry," Glenn said, breaking the silence.

I frowned but didn't look over at him. "About?"

"Bringing Shane," he explained. "The group was just getting worried about you. I've been seeing more and more geeks when I drove down, and you said, so yourself, one of those houses had a geek inside."

"The group was getting worried?" I questioned. "Or were you getting worried?"

Glenn didn't answer, so I continued.

"I wanted to join the group, Glenn. Just not until my dad came back. You couldn't have waited?"

"I just thought that. . ." he stopped himself, glancing over at me. "Nothing. . . I thought nothing."

When the tent was up, Glenn told me they would all be eating around the caravan when it was dark. He left to go and help them set up, giving me time to leave my things in the tent.

I grabbed my yellow bag off the ground and the things Shane brought, like a duvet and pillows and dragged them into the tent. It was smaller than some of the others, but at least until my dad joined, I wouldn't have to share with anyone.

I grabbed my grey hoodie from my bag, anticipating the cold night, before making my way out to the caravan. The sun was setting, and more people were gathered around the fires than when I arrived. I thought about turning back to the tent, but Shane waved me over when he saw me, and I knew it was too late.

When I walked over, he placed his hand on my shoulder and started introducing me to these different people, but I wasn't listening to a word he said. I just stood there while he gestured to other people, telling me what their names were. I'm not even sure their faces registered in my head as I looked around the group.

"This the kid we've been wasting our supplies on?" A gruff voice questioned as they entered the circle of people I was standing in. The voice belonged to an older guy wearing a sleeveless leather jacket.

"Knock it off, Dixon," Shane answered, rolling his eyes at the man.

The guy—Dixon—let out an amused chuckle. "I'm jus' playin', man."

Shane scoffed, and most people ignored the man's presence. He sat down a little behind most of the group, with another man a little younger than him.

Shane turned to me. "Hungry?"

I nodded.

"Here, sit down," Shane motioned to a camping chair behind me, "I'll get you something."

I did as I was told, sitting down in the chair and pulling my knees up on the seat. Shane moved back to the motorhome and returned with a small metal dish. He sat down in the chair next to me.

There were a few moments of silence before the questions were directed towards me. Once they could move on from the accent, they started asking about my school: what grade I was in, my favourite subjects. I hated the attention, but I played along. It was clear they didn't really know what to say to me.

"How long were you in that house?" Andrea asked.

I shrugged. "Two weeks."

We had been there the first day the safe zone was initiated. When our car ran out of petrol in an area we didn't know, we had to hide in someone's house before the sick people came. We couldn't find a petrol station, and there were no other vehicles in the town, so we had to wait there.

They only really asked a few more questions before talking in their own smaller groups. I felt so uncomfortable. I was surrounded by all these people I didn't know, hoping they ignored that I actually existed. I stared down at my legs, avoiding eye contact with anyone who even looked my way.

It was colder than I expected. The fire was supposed to be kept low in the nights, so no sick people knew where the camp was. It was a rule. Even with my hoodie on, I was still shivering. Wrapping my arms around myself did nothing to prevent the cold from creeping in.

The longer I stayed there, surrounded, the more numb my mind became. I slowly lost my appetite and began picking at the food slowly. I knew I couldn't eat anything, so I stood up to take the dish to the motorhome as Shane had instructed.

Without saying a word, I moved past the group in the direction of the tents.

Chapter 3 is a little late, I know. Been busy with uni and whatnot so I didn't get much chance to edit this.

Again, don't forget to look at Just Gone (unless you came from there). Also, WheresMyPenn will have a new chapter tomorrow as a Valentine's Day anniversary!

Also, take a look at a book called Quiet by my friend Brodunski ((this won't give you much publicity but ILY!))

Let me know what you think, and I hope you enjoyed!