II - Highest Office in the Land

-50 Days Later-

The partially cloudy skies hung above the four girls on the rooftop of the White House. Luna wore her violet sleeveless hoodie along with her purple flannel shirt, which was all covered by a purple overcoat. Her leather gloves matched the color of her leather pants and boots as she held a keyboard above her lap. Her hair now hung down to her shoulders.

Sam held an acoustic guitar with her magenta colored gloves. She covered herself in a bomber jacket and jeans layered on top of her leather pants. Her boots were black in color. Sam leaned against the balustrade.

Carol looked out at the capital, wearing an open blue fleece jacket. She placed her naked hands inside the pockets of her sweatpants and only wore white sneakers. Her pale face then faced towards Lily, who wore a fluffy lavender jacket. She wore earmuffs and a hoodie over her head.

"We used to sing it at the start of every event," said Luna. "From the Superbowl to normal basketball games. And let me tell ya'... it was a really hard song to sing. You hada' bust the right notes and all. But if you got it right, it was extremely rewarding. Plus, there was no better way to feel patriotic about the United States."

"And the United… States… is still here?" asked Lily.

"I guess in our heart it is. As long as we keep the White House standing, then we'll be all what's left of America."

Luna cracked her knuckles and placed her fingers above the keyboard.

"Ready, Lily?" asked Luna.

"Uhuh. I love your singing," said Lily.

"I'm not gonna be singing though."

"Huh? Then who?"

"That would be Carol over there," said Sam. "She sings like an angel. Trust me, I was there when she sang at the homecoming game. Hmm, I just realized you don't know what a homecoming game is. I mean, whatever, you'll see, Lily."

Sam then turned towards Luna.

"I'm telling you, that's why she was homecoming queen."

"Still think it was rigged," said Luna.

Carol chuckled.

"Maybe I can change your mind," she said softly. "Ready?"

Luna and Sam nodded. Lily stood straight with her right hand over her heart as she looked at all three tall girls.

"Like this?" asked Carol.

Luna nodded. The smile in Lily's eyes gleamed. Luna began to play the notes in her keyboard as Sam strung her fingers across her guitar. Carol cleared her throat before singing.

"O, say can you see, by the dawn's early light…"

Carol looked out the roof and at the half-mast American flag in the side of the roof facing the South Lawn as her breaths fogged up in the air.

"What so proudly we hailed, at the twilight's last gleaming…"

Lori, wearing a blue parka jacket, walked across the South Lawn and looked up at the roof, carrying a backpack stuffed with timber. She smiled softly as Carol's angelic voice spread across the air.

"Whose broad stripes and bright stars, through the perilous fight…"

Bobby followed Lori with one backpack over his left shoulder covered by a green jacket and his Glock 17 on his right hand. David wore a green military jacket covered in blood stains near the waist. His smile was visible, especially with his trimmed beard. As Carol looked at him, she saluted him, to which David replied with a salute back.

"O'er the ramparts we watched- were so gallantly streaming?"

Jace and Preston walked alongside each other as they chuckled and lightly shoved each other. Jace's denim jacket and Preston's topcoat were both the same color- light gray.

"And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air…"

George wore a large blue bomber jacket and held a rabbit over his shoulder. Vonda walked next to him with a couple squirrels tied around her waist. She continued walking ahead, shaking her head as George had a concerned look on his face.

"Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there…"

Lincoln held a bag across his orange hoodie, holding batteries and wires. Next to him was Clyde, wearing a red fluffy jacket and a backpack holding ammunition.

"O say does that star-spangled banner yet wave…"

Luan and Benny walked next to each other, holding hands, as they each held their katana on their other hand. Benny wore an extra layer of jeans and a hoodie, while Luan wore the winter outfit that Leni gave her a while back. An iced coffee leather jacket with a yellow skirt and leggings to warm up her skin.

"O'er the land of the free…"

Lynn and Ronnie Anne both held a skateboard while wearing a backpack, each holding sliced pieces of deer meat. Blood stains were on Lynn's red fleece sweater, though she did not notice.

"...and the home of the brave?"

Hana walked silently inside the White House while holding a bag with female hygiene items. Becky was behind the group, stopping where she was, wearing a dark brown suede jacket. She looked up and held her hands over her heart. Carol took a deep sigh and looked at Becky. She smiled and waved at her. Becky waved back before walking back inside the White House.

"Amazing!" exclaimed Lily. "I like your voice! I like it!"

"Dang, Carol," said Luna. "Maybe I should've been at the homecoming game if I knew you could sing like that."

"Right? Told ya'!" giggled Sam.

Carol nodded and formed a fake smile.

"Let's go back inside," she said. "It's getting a bit cold out here."

The group placed their food on the kitchen while Lincoln ran up the stairs, holding his batteries and wires. Lynn grabbed Clyde's arms and followed Lincoln.

"Gotta show ya' the gym!" she said.

Lori removed her coat and put on a blazer. She walked over to the Oval Office with Bobby following her, opening a can of honey. Her eyes caught the sight of handwritten papers on her desk, a notepad with a frowny face over it taped on top of the small pile. She groaned.

"What's up?" asked Bobby.

"All these complaints are such a pain in the ass to read and fix," said Lori. "I better not see a complaint about Lana stealing Kimi's food again."

"Yeah… kinda surprising how Hana didn't get too mad," said Bobby. "Right?"

"Oh, she was pissed. She was doing that thing- you know how she does that thing. That thing where she goes all quiet and begins to breathe out of her nose so heavily."

"Yeah? So? She's calm."

"She's so pissed when she does that! You don't get any serial killer vibes from her when she does that? That's why I kept watch that night."

"Oh. I… didn't know that."

Lori sat on the swivel chair and placed her left elbow on the wooden desk and sat her head against her fingers, as she sighed out of frustration. She flipped the pages and grabbed a pen.

"Low on food. Broken heater in the second floor. Low on food. Low on food again. No crayons in the house? Broken pipes. A lack of potassium hexa… cya– hexacya– you know what? Not even gonna try to pronounce it. Low on– oh… my god. For the last time, it's no! Lincoln and Vonda have gotta stop asking!"

A cough came out of her throat before she cleared it.

"My god, I need something to drink," said Lori. "But I bet people will complain about that too, right?"

"Honey?"

"It's like people are just looking for something to complain about. Every little thing!"

"Honey?"

"What, Bobby?"

Bobby set the can of honey on the table.

"Wasn't really calling you," he said. "Just asking if you wanted to drink honey."

Lori giggled softly.

"Oh. I'd rather drink coffee. With sugar. And pumpkin spice."

Lori grabbed Bobby's hand and looked up at him as she smiled at him with her eyes. He winked.

"I got you, babe. One pumpkin spice latte comin' up! Heh, feels like I'm working at Starbucks again."

"Thank you, hubby," smiled Lori.

Bobby opened the door to the hallways. Lori yelled out to him.

"You know, I don't mind being called honey!"

Bobby laughed before closing the door. Lori smiled as she stared at the door. Slowly, her smile faded away as her wrinkled frown and dark eyelids created her tired expression. Then, she smiled as she came up with an idea.

Lori tossed the papers away from her desk and placed her legs up. She hit the play button on the CD player and turned up the volume, opening up her compact mirror as 'Piano Fire' by Sparklehorse played. She took out a brush and began to place blue eyeshadow on her eyelids.

Meanwhile, in the laboratory, there was a mess of empty containers on the table, broken test tubes on the ground, and sloppy chemical formulas on a whiteboard. Lisa held a test tube with glowing blue material and moved it towards a glass disc with live culture. She slowly poured the material shakily, before the tube slipped out of her fingers and into the disc. The blue substance was pouring everywhere.

Lisa climbed down the stepladder and watched as the blue solution began pouring out of the table. Her face shook as she grabbed the wet test tube. Her eyes stared into the tube, finding only a few milligrams of the substance left inside.

She screamed and tossed the test tube against the wall. The test tube shattered as Lisa grabbed the stepladder and threw it across the laboratory. She reached towards the table and shoved all the containers down to the ground. Most of them were empty, and Lisa kicked them around as she pulled her own hair. She quickly reached for a drawer and opened it, taking out a bottle of pills. However, the bottle was empty. She tossed the bottle at the portable whiteboard before shoving the whiteboard to the ground.

Lisa removed her glasses and began to sniffle. She fell to her knees and let her glasses slip out of her hands and into the floor. She then laid down on the floor and looked up the ceiling, whimpering softly as the plastic containers rolled around the floor near her.

"Good job, Lisa," she whispered. "Look at what you did. Was it worth it?"

The cool wind blew across the air, moving the overgrown grass in the lawn around. Jeffrey stepped onto the grass, holding a suppressed Glock 17 and walking towards the steel fences. His hands shook as he touched the thick cold latch. He looked around at the roof of the White House and found no movement behind the balustrades. His hands opened the latch.

The mesh fences outside the steel fence-protected property of the White House rattled. It lined up parallel with the sidewalks, keeping the road safe from any wandering roamers. Jeffrey walked along the road, looking around, finding only abandoned vehicles, some civilian, some military. Then, his fingers tensed up as he heard a growl from the distance, followed by footsteps with ascending volume. He faced towards the direction of the growl, leading him to look at a cluster of cars. Through the broken windshields, both front and rear, he was able to see the movement of a running roamer approaching the fences.

Jeffrey raised the pistol. He looked at the roamer as it attempted to squeeze through the shattered trunks of two cars, the metal piercing through its beige camouflage jacket covered by a vest with ammunition and grenades. Its abdomen was bleeding. The roamer then squeezed through, with black blood flowing out of the gash in the abdomen. A part of its intestines began to pour out too, dripping down its Army uniform.

Jeffrey clenched his teeth before his breath shook, looking away from the wound with disgust. He looked up at the roamer as it lunged towards the mesh fence, its mouth chewing the wires. He walked close to it, moving the barrel close to the roamer's head. Suddenly, the roamer growled loudly, and Jeffrey yelped softly, almost dropping the gun.

"Please… give me strength," prayed Jeffrey.

He walked back towards the other side of the fence and aimed the gun at the roamer. A fog of air continued to come out of his mouth before he clicked the trigger. A suppressed shot hit the roamer's knee. Yet the roamer felt nothing.

"Maybe higher…" he whispered.

Jeffrey held the gun with both hands and attempted to look through the iron sights. However, his shaky hands meant that the iron sights never quite matched up. But he pressed the trigger anyway. And the suppressed shot hit the vest, the bullet striking a grenade. The vest and the roamer exploded.

Jeffrey dropped the pistol and fell on his back as he covered his ears, the section of the fence falling down as shrapnel began to fall from the wires. He kept his eyes shut as his lips quivered. Sweat began to pour out of his face as he quickly opened his eyes and picked himself up. He left the gun on the ground, not caring enough to look back as he ran back inside the steel-protected property.

A flashlight turned on. Footsteps moved down the stairs as another flashlight turned on.

"Wow, it's so dark!" gasped Benny.

"Yeah. You never been to the basement before?" asked Lana.

"I don't think anyone but you have been down here. Is this like a control room kinda place? But for like, plumbing?"

"And for the heat, electricity, all that kind of stuff. There's also washing machines down here, but we don't use 'em. Lori says it would waste too much power."

"I bet. Do the lights work down here?"

"Yeah," said Lana. "Just lookin' for it, right now."

The lights came on as Lana moved her hands away from the light switch. Benny turned off his flashlight as he looked at the wide basement, running from left to right like a hallway. He followed Lana, before a rat scurried along the floor.

"What the—?" gasped Benny.

"Relax, it's just a rat."

"Oh my god, we have rats?"

"You say that like it's a bad thing," said Lana.

The light from the flashlight shined on the pipes in a room. Lana turned off the flashlight and removed her fingers from the pipes.

"No, no, this isn't right," she muttered.

"What? What is it?" asked Benny.

Lana began to walk out of the room. Benny grew a puzzled expression.

"Wh- uh, you're just gonna ignore-"

"Water freezes," said Lana. "Ice doesn't flow in a pipe. Ice blocks whatever non-frozen water there is from flowing in a pipe. But guess what? Ice melts. You know what melts ice? Heat. We got a working heater. A real good one. The heat should help prevent ice from even forming in our pipes. But guess what?"

Benny remained silent. Lana stopped beside the stairs.

"Benny."

"What?"

"I told you to guess!"

"Oh! Uh, I don't know. Heater's not working?"

"Wrong! I just said we had a working heater!"

"Sorry."

"It's not okay! You know why?"

"Because-"

"Because there is no water in the pipes!" said Lana. "Nothing! Meaning water isn't even reaching us! So the problem is not here in the White House."

"It's out there," said Benny.

"Exactly."

"What do you suggest we do?"

Lana sighed. She turned off the light switch for the basement and walked up the stairs.

"We need a group," said Lana. "We have to get to the nearest reservoir to see if there's any problem there. Might have to heat the place up ourselves."

"Where's the nearest reservoir?" asked Benny. "Is it in the-?"

"It is. Which is why we can't tell Lori."

"That's stupid."

"It is not!" exclaimed Lana.

"If we tell Lori, she'll know what to do. She'll know how to navigate through the streets safely- without anyone getting killed."

"She wouldn't want us to go. The No-Zones scares the living crap out of her. That's why we don't have any fuel left for Vanzilla! 'Cause she doesn't want to take the risk of siphoning cars in the No-Zones! Think about it Benny. No showers if we don't do this. Do you want to start smelling again? You want Luan to stink? Not that I would mind stinkiness… but you would! Imagine touching her… stinky body. It was already nasty before…"

"Okay! I get it! You might be right."

"Might be? I am right. Plus, she won't be back for a while. This is a problem that needs to be fixed fast! Every hour that passes makes the ice much more harder to remove!"

"Okay, I get it. Let's get a team to fix this."

Lana smiled.

"You'll lead," she said.

Benny sighed softly.

"Alright, let's just get out of this damn basement."

Water bubbled inside the white kettle as Bobby turned off the stove burner. He poured coffee ground into a mug as well as pumpkin spice, before pouring the boiling water into the mug. Bobby then stopped pouring the water and placed the kettle back on top of the burner. Footsteps behind him prompted him to turn around.

"Oh, hey, Lincoln and Vonda!"

Lincoln and Vonda crossed their arms as Bobby continued mixing the coffee with a spoon.

"Well?" asked Lincoln.

"What?"

"Don't just stand there and hey us," said Vonda. "Tell us!"

"Tell you what…?"

"Oh my god," groaned Vonda.

"Oh! Oh, I remember!" Bobby chuckled nervously. "Right, low on food. You guys need… further exploration."

"We need to go to the No-Zones," said Lincoln. "It's high-risk. But it's also high-reward."

"We don't know that," said Bobby.

"Every place that we looked for, the Service have looked there. And we still found food," said Vonda. "But now, we're running out of places to look that we haven't already explored before. Think about it. If the Service declared these areas as No-Zones, it means that they didn't get their meathooks they call hands on these places! There's gotta be something there!"

"Unless you want to keep eating Zombie Bran," said Lincoln.

"I don't mind eating cereal for dinner," said Bobby.

"Bobby…" groaned Vonda.

"Okay. I get it. I'll go right now and ask her again."

"Don't just ask," said Lincoln. "Try to convince her. Use what I taught you about getting what you want."

Bobby nodded. He held the mug and walked out of the kitchen.

The door to the Oval Office opened, with Bobby hearing music from the CD player. He walked inside with the mug of coffee and placed it on the desk. Lori smiled as she paused the CD player. She blew softly on the coffee.

"Thank you, Bobby."

"No problem, babe. And, wow! You look really nice! Your face- did it yourself?"

"Yes, Bobby! Thank you for noticing!"

"That's what I'm here for, right? So, um, remember a while ago when Lincoln and Vonda told me to ask you-"

"No."

Bobby frowned.

"They really wanted to-"

"It's a no, Bobby."

Bobby sighed and walked out of the office. Lori took a sip from the coffee and sighed a breath of relief.

Lincoln and Vonda watched Bobby walk inside the kitchen. They ran up to him.

"Sorry, guys," said Bobby. "It's still a no."

"Well, fuck," said Vonda. "Guess we gotta eat more nuts and shitty ass cereal."

"Zombie Bran is actually really good, but I see your point," said Lincoln.

"Maybe if we get lucky, we can find deer wandering in the streets."

"They're in the parks and forests," said Vonda. "Which Lori turned into her own No-Zones 'cause of the cannibals. Who we haven't even seen in weeks."

"Well, we'll get by," said Bobby.

"Sorry that you failed to see this sooner," said Lincoln, "but, Bobby, we're going no matter what Lori says."

"What? No, you guys shouldn't! I know it's high-reward, but if she finds out you guys went by yourselves, she would get so angry!"

"Which is why she won't find out," said Lincoln. "Vonda and I are going to get a team to explore the No-Zones. I'll lead. Wish it could've been Lori, but… whatever."

Lincoln and Vonda walked out of the kitchen.

"Don't involve my sister into this!" exclaimed Bobby before whispering to himself. "Oh, who am I kidding? They're totally gonna get Ronnie Anne to go with them."

Bobby ran towards Lincoln and Vonda.

"What can I do to get you guys to stay?" asked Bobby.

"Convince Lori to let us go," said Lincoln.

"Okay."

Bobby zoomed away as Lincoln and Vonda looked at each other.

"We're still going, right?" asked Lincoln.

"'Course. Lori's not gonna change her mind."

Bobby ran towards the Oval Office. He quickly opened the door and shut it on his way in. Lori set down her coffee as she raised an eyebrow.

"They're upset about the whole thing?" asked Lori.

Bobby nodded.

"They'll get over it," she said. "They have to learn that no means no."

"Why can't we go to the No-Zones?"

"It's dangerous. We'd be risking lives."

"It's high-risk. But it's also high-reward!"

Lori shook her head.

"There is not enough we know about the No-Zones. Remember New York? And Philadelphia? They were places that came and went. But when we were there… the roamers always swarmed together… and they became too powerful. The roamers- they're evolving. We can't take 'em on."

"What about Baltimore?" asked Bobby. "There weren't that many roamers."

"Well… there were people there. The X and… Brendan's group. They were there for two years. No one's been at the No-Zones. There's nothing for us in those places. Just the roamers. And maybe even the cannibals."

Lori grabbed Bobby's hands.

"And here's the thing," she added. "The White House's our home now. We go out there in the No-Zones… we risk getting a herd of those runners on our doorstep."

"Our group… they're already thinking about going without your consent," said Bobby.

"Like who?" asked Lori.

"Lincoln and Vonda. In fact, if I can't get you to go with them, then they're gonna go. Which is why you need to say yes."

"Oh my god," said Lori, releasing Bobby's hands. "Oh my fucking god! Bobby!"

"What? What happened?"

"You're so… naive! They just used you as a distraction!"

Lori hopped off her seat.

"What do you mean?" asked Bobby.

"They're already on their way to the No-Zones!" yelled Lori.

Bobby gasped as he followed Lori out of the Oval Office. They ran towards the Residence building, looking out the entrance door. David and George walked into the Entrance Hall, with George holding a deck of cards.

"Madam President," said George. "Sup, First Gentleman."

"No time for jokes! I need you to chase Lincoln and Vonda down!" urged Lori.

"What?" gasped George. "Where did they go?"

"I don't know!"

Lori, Bobby, David, and George burst outside the building. They looked around the North Lawn, finding only Jeffrey rubbing his hands as he paced around.

"Elder! Did you see anyone come out here?" asked David.

"No," Jeffrey replied. "Why? Who are you looking for?"

"Kids," said David. "Looking for them damn kids!"

"Sneaky fuckers," said Lori. "They went out the other side!"

The four adults ran back inside the White House and to the other side of the building. They ran outside and looked around the South Lawn. They saw two different groups running in different directions. One of the groups continued running southward, while the other group ran eastward.

David and George ran back inside the building, as Lori followed them concernedly.

"We need to go after them!" demanded Lori.

"No, you two need to stay here," said David, putting on his coat. "It's only gonna be me and George."

"I'm gonna go after the group going south," said George, grabbing shotgun pellets.

"Then I'm going east."

David, George, and Lori ran back outside. They didn't see anyone outside except Bobby in the South Lawn, who pointed towards the east.

"One group went that way! They turned around! I think they're heading north!" he shouted.

"What about the other one?" shouted George.

"They kept going south!"

"No doubt they're running to the No-Zones," growled Lori. "I have to come!"

"No, stay!" urged George. "Whoever's here needs you. We got this."

David loaded his M9 and ran towards the east. George ran southward. Bobby ran back inside the building with Lori. They closed the doors.

Snowflakes began to fall from the gray sky.