~ 13 ~ Who To Trust

Sofia trembled lightly as she unknowingly held her breath, trying to listen for any sounds. Nothing.

"Sofia." Alan called out, unable to fully identify her figure.

"Shush!" She whispered softly as she crept her way to the door. She pulled out the newly equipped chef's knife and turned to Alan. "I heard a noise." Sofia announced to her partner.

Upon hearing the news, Alan started feeling the wall for support. "Hold on, I'm coming." He found his footing on the edge of the hole and started to scoot towards Sofia.

The loud thud erupted again from the room, causing Sofia to jump again. She looked at the door and, with a deep breath, kicked the door open. She shined her light around the room swiftly, looking for any signs of life. Nothing once again. The room was filled with broken glass from the window as the breeze blew the curtains and revealed the light blue sky. Sofia turned off her flashlight, conserving her battery. The room was a kids room, with bloody hand prints on the floor and walls. The bed was cracked in half and the dressers were overturned. The room was a bright pink, with penguin stickers and the desk held an opened text book and a missing pencil. Sofia gasped softly at the sight.

"What happened here…?" She muttered to herself. She didn't see the child downstairs, nor outside anywhere. "Could she…?" Her thoughts were interrupted by Alan running in, looking around.

"Are you okay?" His worried eyes scanned the room before shifting to Sofia's. "Why did you just rush in?"

Sofia looked away. "I just moved without thinking. I guess in a way I wanted to face my fears."

Alan shook his head. "You have a lot to work on about survival, it seems." He let out a soft chuckle before walking into the room. "Did you find out where the thuds were coming from?"

"No." Sofia sighed and crossed her arms, uneasy. "And don't you see what kind of room this is? We didn't see a little child running around." Sofia shivered softly at the thought. "I think we should get out of here. What can a child possibly have that would help us?"

Alan looked under the bed and flinched, the color slowly leaving his body. "Uh."

Sofia blinked. "What's the matter?" She took a step but Alan immediately put his hand up, signaling her to stop. She stopped and slowly got to her knees. "What's the problem?" She placed her head on the floor and looked under the bed, instantly regretting it. Under the bed was a young girl, around 12 years old, that turned into a zombie. Half of her body was pinned under the broken bed and the other half desperately tired to grab Sofia.

"This is where the child went, it seems." Alan sighed and stood up. "Let's go." He walked over to Sofia, who didn't move. All she did was stare. "Come on." Alan urged and lifted Sofia up to her feet. The zombie child growled violently and pushed her body up once, causing the loud thud noise. The pair covered their ears.

"We have to kill her!" Sofia screamed. She pulled out her knife.

Alan grabbed her wrist. "She's dead. We have to go before she sets herself free." The child pushed herself up once again and stood up, hissing. "Let's go!" Alan pulled Sofia out of the room and retreated towards the stairs. The zombie child sprinted after them, running into the hallway wall. She pulled herself up and ran after them again, causing Sofia to scream.

"I didn't know that zombies can run!" She shouted as they ran down the stairs. As she forgot about the holes in the staircase, she took a step into the hole, and fell. She caught herself in between the fall, more than half of her body dangling from the now broken stairs. "Alan!" She screamed. Alan turned around and looked at the scene. The zombie girl fell into the now enlarged hole and landed on her stomach in the living room. She quickly shot up and started reaching for Sofia.

"Hang on!" Alan commanded. Alan sprinted downstairs where the zombie was and kicked her away from the hole. "Jump down, Sofia! I got her!" He pulled out his chef's knife and stabbed the girl in her head, panting softly.

Sofia released her grip and landed on the planks of the stairs. She groaned softly and she rubbed her back. She looked at Alan, concerned. "Is she dead?"

He nodded and looked at Sofia. "Are you okay?" He walked over to the girl who closed her eyes.

"I'm a bit shaken up." Sofia admitted. "But I'm okay." With the help of Alan, she stood on her feet. "How come she was running? I've never seen a zombie run like that before."

Alan took a look at his hands, which were stained with blood, then at Sofia, who was also stained. "I think it has something to do with the type of blood."

"The type?" Sofia grew confused.

"Back when the apocalypse started," he spoke softly, "I… saw a zombie turn. I thought it was a normal zombie. Then it sensed me. Instead of walking like all the others, it started sprinting as if it was a track star. Even though I tried running and hiding in a room, it still came after me." Alan took a heavy breath. "I had to kill it in the end. I couldn't understand why at the time. Seeing what the little girl did here, I think it has something to do with blood."

Sofia was even more confused. "So do you think they're attracted to a specific blood type, or it doesn't matter what type as long as you have blood on you?"

Alan thought for a moment. "I'm honestly not sure. I have to look more into it, which is extremely dangerous. If we want to figure out how to stop this apocalypse, we have to start by knowing everything we can about the zombies.

Sofia never ever though about stopping the apocalypse. The past few weeks, the only thing on her mind was learning how to survive. She looked down to see plenty of wooden planks laid below her feet. "We have enough planks for the station." She said, changing the subject.

"I guess we got what we really needed…" He trailed off. He took a good look around his surroundings. "Alright, let's head back. You did enough for today anyways." He started picking up the planks. "Is your back okay?"

Sofia moved around a bit, feeling only slight pain. "Yeah, not a lot of pain anymore." She started picking up the planks. "I guess the medicine is doing it's job." She grunted softly as she started adding to her pile of planks.

Alan hesitated. "Before the apocalypse started, I was in the hospital." Sofia looked at Alan, who quickly turned to her. "I wasn't a patient but, someone I knew was. When it all started, I saw it as a chance to take as much medication as I can with all of the chaos." Alan continued gathering planks. "I won't go into detail, but most of the medication that I got were for pain relief. I have a few bottles in the station."

"You trust them that they won't steal it?" Sofia asked, almost regretting her question immediately.

He paused for a short moment. "There's always a chance that they can betray me." Alan smiled at Sofia. "I believe in karma though, so I'm sure that if they did, they'll get what they deserve." Sofia analyzed Alan's smile. It seemed forced, although she didn't understand why.

'Is he scared?' She questioned herself. The pair gathered the rest of the planks within minutes and walked outside the house. "What now?" She looked at Alan who set his pile onto the grass and looked around.

"As much as I want to keep exploring and looking for supplies, I'll admit that we don't need much with the way the station is going. However, we're running on fuel, and who knows how long that'll last. Besides," he looked at the sky, seeing the sun slowly starting the set. "The sun is going to set soon. It's best if we go out early tomorrow." He picked up his pile and started walking back towards the camp. Sofia followed his movements.

They reached the station in half an hour, Sofia huffing softly as she grew weak. Dani stood outside on the road with a small smile on her face.

"Alan. Sofia. Welcome back." She greeted them warmly. "I see you've brought in more planks."

Sofia practically dropped them on the floor and she tried to catch her breath. "They were pretty heavy."

Alan set his down next to her. "You did pretty good, considering." She looked at him with a frown and he grinned at her playfully in response. He turned to Dani. "Any news?"

She shook her head. "Anything about the safe?"

Alan pulled out the small piece of paper. "A clue or the answer, maybe. We can talk more about this inside though." He picked up his pile of planks again. "Sofia and I need a bit of a rest after we put the planks outside."

Sofia groaned at the mention of her name as she reluctantly picked up the planks and sluggishly made her way to the back of the station with Alan. They placed the piles of planks against the wall and took a sigh of relief. Sofia fanned herself with her hand as she looked at Alan. 'I think I need to ask him about the picture I found earlier.'

Alan noticed her and tilted his head. "Fell for me?" He teased.

"You wish." Sofia scoffed. "Which reminds me. How come you look like a total nerd but you're so…" she thought for a moment, looking for the right word. "Expressive?"

Alan chuckled softly. "I told you already."

"Told me what?"

"The past is in the past. The apocalypse creates new people. I won't say that I wasn't like this before, but being myself wasn't a concept in my mind. I was whoever I was around. In high school, I hung out with funny guys who were into gaming. I was wearing these clothes," he gestured towards his body, "when this mess started." Sofia nodded as she looked at the video game controller logo on his shirt. "Mrs. Christina, of course, saw right through me the moment we met, and told me that being myself is something I need to learn how to do." He scratched his head. "So I started being reckless with my words. I don't even think when I speak anymore." He laughed, looking happily at Sofia. "I have no regrets, and this is who I am."

Sofia nodded slowly. 'It's like a breathe of fresh air to see someone who gives off this genuine aura.' She smiled lightly at Alan. "I like it. You seem pretty cool."

"And you seem very dead." Alan said, half jokingly.

Sofia frowned, unsure of what to say. "Anyways," she changed the topic, "I need to talk to you about something I found in one of the lockers."

Alan tilted his head, confused. "The lockers? I thought they were cleared out."

"Children?" Mrs. Christina walked around the corner, interrupting the conversation. "Dani and I were worried. What are you doing just talking out here? Come inside, before someone or something sees you." Alan and Sofia looked at each other. "Talk inside." The elderly woman concluded and walked back into the station.

Sofia sighed softly and looked at Alan. "Let's go inside for now. I'll talk about it when I get a chance." She turned and walked back into the station, followed by a reluctant and confused Alan.

The pair were greeted by Dan who was now standing outside of the station. "Tonight, it's Alan's turn to keep watch over the station. After Alan, it'll be Lucy." Alan nodded and walked inside the station.

Sofia blinked. "What about me? Won't Lucy be too tired to just sit around and patrol?"

"Are you Lucy?" Dan questioned?

"Huh?" Sofia stuttered.

Dan crosses his arms, as if asserting dominance. "You talk as if you're Lucy. If she has a problem, she can talk to me about it. If you have a problem, you can talk to her about it. You aren't fit to do it with your back injury. I barely wanted you to go explore with Alan today. Maybe tomorrow."

Sofia frowned. "Hey, I did good today!"

"Really?" He asked sarcastically as he grabbed her shoulder and swiftly turned her around. A small patch of blood escaped through her shirt. "Your wound is bleeding again. You must've hit it on something." Sofia looked back at him with a frown planted on her face. "Get it treated by Alan or Mrs. Christina. I'm tired of having two useless people in the group." With a stern face he turned away, waiting for the rest of the group to arrive.

Sofia huffed and turned away, walking to the back of the store. Mrs. Christina and Alan were sitting on a bench, talking. The elderly lady turned to Sofia and shined a small smile. "Hello dear." Dani was looking through a locker, desperately. She turned to see Sofia then practically ran over to her.

"Sofia," Dani said, "have you seen a photograph in the locker? The one where the pocket knife was?" Sofia remembered the photo stuffed in her pocket. Panicked, she shook her head vigorously. Dani sighed softly and scratched her head. "Damn. I really needed it."

Sofia took the opportunity to ask about it. "What do you need it for?" Sofia asked.

Dani looked at Sofia, hesitant then laughed it off. "No reason. I wanted to find out something about the picture, that's all. I'll look for it in the morning." With that, she walked out of the room, creating a rising feeling of suspicion with Sofia.

'Do I trust her?' Sofia wondered to herself as she sat down by the bench. 'Should I even trust Alan?' She looked at Alan, who conversed with Mrs. Christina. 'I think I just need to trust Desirae and Lucy for now.' She sighed softly.

She heard plenty of movement at the front of the store. She stood up and walked over to the doorway. At the front door, Desirae and Lucy stood in front of Dan and Dani, talking quietly. Lucy looked over at Sofia and smiled widely, waving at her. Sofia waved back. She walked over to the table by the aisles and sat down, patiently waiting for her friends. After a few minutes, Lucy and Desirae walked over to the table, looking tired.

"Sofia." Desirae greeted. "How were things here?"

"Well," Sofia started, happy to see her friends again. "We opened the back door and found the storage room. It's filled to the brim with frozen food, so we should be good for a while." Desirae nodded at the news. "Then Alan and I went outside to get more planks to board up the windows, which we should finish by tomorrow. We got to this house and I killed not one, but two zombies!"

"Congratulations." Lucy praised Sofia and ruffled her hair.

Sofia smiled widely. "Thanks! Then, we looked a bit more and might have found a clue for a safe we found in the storage room. There was also a zombie girl who was RUNNING."

Desirae looked confused. "Running?"

"Yes, running." Sofia repeated. "Alan thinks it has something to do with us covered in blood."

"Blood?" Desirae asked again, getting a nod from Sofia. "That doesn't seem entirely accurate." She looked at Lucy, who looked back at her. "We encountered tons of zombies while we were out there. However, they didn't run when we had blood on us." She looked back at Sofia. "In fact, they were as slow as ever."

Sofia looked down, in thought. "I'm not sure then." She looked at Desirae. "How about tomorrow I show you what happened."

"You mean take us to where it happened?" Sofia nodded, causing Desirae to cross her legs. "Well it's almost pointless since the zombie is dead by now, I assume." Sofia nodded once again. "If you think we can learn something about it, then yeah, we can go."

Lucy chipped in. "Besides, I think it'll be a good time." Desirae and Sofia looked at Lucy, who smiled lightly. "Sofia, it sounds like you did pretty good today even with the back injury. Do you feel up to coming with us to find your friends?"

Sofia nodded quickly, excited. "Of course! I want to help as much as I can!"

Desirae looked at Lucy, shocked. "She still isn't fully healed. Don't you remember what Dan said?" Sofia looked at Desirae, confused. 'Dan?' "He said that Sofia was still injured." The girls looked at Sofia, who flinched.

"It was a little accident. I'm fine." Lucy opened her mouth, about to object, when Sofia stood up from her seat, determined. "Guys. Let me come. I'll show you how much I've improved and learned while you were gone." The girls looked at each other, thinking. "Please."

Desirae looked at Sofia. With one word that escaped her lips, the group of girls left the table one after the other, filled with worry, excitement, and anxiety.

"Fine."