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Your words are met with looks of surprise. Jaime squeezes your shoulder and walks past you towards Woody.

"So we're coming with y'all?" Madison says, her face lit up with happiness. "I really appreciate it. We don't have anywhere else to go. The school is full of zombies, my home is full of zombies, and besides Brody, my family is gone. I know I haven't been helpful so far, but I also haven't had time to show you I can contribute. So thank you."

Something tells you she's being sincere.

"You're welcome, Madison," Jaime says.

Again the infected call out, and everyone turns to the source of the howls on the outer edge of the parking lot.

"Hey Luth."

Jaime waves you over, and you join him at the exit of the loading dock. The two of you peer across the vast parking lot of options. With the night set in, darkness creeps from the corners of the lot, held back by tall pole lights still working in the first few days of the apocalypse. A moving body creeps along a row of student cars, its form leaning as it shambles and drags one crooked leg.

"One sec, follow me."

Jaime leads you a few cars deep into the lot and steps over to a yellow Escalade—the fenders are torn off, the driver's side door is caved in, and bullet holes fill the back of the car.

"I had to rush to get away from Dillan and his crew, or I would have had time to grab more stuff." He pops the back hatch and points you to a trash bag filled with two-by-fours, metal scraps, and mechanical and electrical parts.

"Ask and you shall receive," he says. Also in the trunk are a supply of food, water, and blankets. "It's not much but it's what I could gather."

"Thanks, Jaime."

You each take a pile of supplies and carry them into the loading dock where the rest of the group still waits.

"We really need to get our butts in motion," Woody says and kicks an oversized tire of the supply truck. He stares at it with admiration. "This could hold all of us and lots of our supplies."

"Mrs. Chandler's Lexus is in the teacher's lot right over there," Madison says and motions to an area beyond the loading dock wall.

"The swim team van will fit us all and has lots of room," Brody says. "And it makes better turns than a big truck."

Jaime steps to the edge of the parking lot and stares at the vast array of abandoned vehicles, as if someone handed him the master key to a used car lot.

"Let's figure out how we're getting back to your place, Luth. We have too many choices but every decision we make feels like a big one. Like life or death." You've never seem Jaime this frazzled but you've never been in this dire of a situation.

Before you pick a vehicle, you decide to…