Chapter 10

"So, new girl, how do you know Samuel?" A girl my age asked as I got settled into my new bed. "He's my legal guardian." I replied. "That's cool. How old is he?" She asked. I sighed and looked her at her.

"He's thirty-seven, divorced twice, no blood related kids, and he isn't gonna date a minor. Got all that?" She huffed and kept quiet while I slid my duffle bag underneath my bed instead of unpacking it. I looked around the small room that Samuel had brought me to.

He told me that the infected would follow a human to the ends of the earth as long as the human stayed within a certain range. He told me that the horde had been heading towards the military bunker we were at now and so he was tasked with leading the horde away.

When we'd arrived here, he took me to a cafeteria, we ate lunch, and now here I am. Stuck in a small room with an annoying roommate who wants to sleep with my legal guardian. My mind wonders back to Mike, Grace, and TJ and I flinch. Right. They betrayed me.

Right as I had come to think of them as family, they pulled away. They wouldn't even look me in the eyes as they did it either. Cowards. "Hey? Did you hear me? I said-" She started but I stopped her.

"Shut the fuck up. How blind are you that you can't see I don't want to fucking talk right now!?" I yelled. I felt those walls around my heart crack. My roommate looked hurt and stayed quiet. I sighed.

"I'm sorry. But a lots happened since…. Everything began. My father and sister died and my friends, who I thought I could trust, betrayed me. I didn't mean to take that out on you." I said, unsure of why I had told her what had happened to me instead of just apologizing.

I stood with my back towards her as I fixed my sheets. I heard her stand and figured she was still mad at me and was about to leave but instead, she came up behind me and wrapped her arms around me.

"I'm sorry for bothering you as well. I know what its like to lose people. I watched my seven year old brother get eaten and torn apart by those…. Things. My mother was next. My father just ran." I felt her body shaking and trembling.

I gently grabbed her hands and loosened her grip. I turned around and wrapped my arms around her in a hug, feeling like we both needed one right now. When we pulled away, I smiled at her. "Thanks for that." I said.

She smiled up at me and replied, "I think we both needed that." She then grabbed my hand and began dragging me towards that door. "Lets go, I want you to meet my friends." She said. I nodded. She dragged me through the building until we reached a storage closet.

She opened the door and dragged me inside. She closed the door behind us and locked it. She moved past me and began to move stuff around. When I saw what she was looking for, I frown. Its a ventilation shaft. Just like in that storage closet at the school.

"Lets go, this shaft leads to a secret room only my friends and I know about. We use it to hang out." She said. I nod and follow her into the shaft. After a few minutes of crawling, she said, "Here we are." I hear a voice say, "Stacy, your here!" My face turns red in embarrassment when I realized I hadn't even asked her name.

The shaft opens and Stacy crawls out with me following behind. "Oh, who's that?" Another voice asked. I crawled out and stood. The room was small-ish with five people in it, counting Stacy and I.

A tall brawny guy comes up and shakes my hand. "Hi, I'm Shawn." I raise my eyebrow. "I'm Farah. I'm curious, how the hell did you fit through the shaft?" After a moment of silence, everyone in the room broke out laughing, including Shawn and Stacy.

"Its complicated." He said after a moment. Another guy shoves Shawn away take my hand, placing a gentle kiss on it. "Hello madam, I'm Leo, but you can call me your future husband." He said. "Who says I swing that way?" I reply, yanking my hand from his and crossing my arms with a raised eyebrow.

He laughs. "I told you it wouldn't work." He says, pouting towards Shawn. Shawn laughs and looks at me, "He doesn't swing that way, no worries. I just wanted to see if any girl would fall for him and his cheesy tactics." I laugh and so does Shawn.

Leo grumpily stomps over to Shawn. "Meanie." He says like he's a child. The last person to introduce themselves approaches. "Hi, I'm Megan." She says. I hold out my hand and she shakes it with a smile. "Nice to meet you Megan." I reply.

She uses her hold on my hand to yank me forward. "Its a pleasure." She whispers, drawing out the word pleasure. My face turns a dark shade of pink."Alright, alright. Megan, stop flirting with the new girl. Shawn, the only person who Leo's cheesy pickup lines ever worked on was you." Stacy says.

Megan winks at me before walking over and sitting in a chair next to Leo. Shawn sat beside them and the three started talking. "Sorry about them. I don't know what would happen if I wasn't around to keep them all in line." Stacy says.

I smile at her and reply, "Its fine. At least they don't…." My voice fades as I stop. I was going to say, at least they don't stab you in the back. Stacy senses my sudden shift in mood. "Its okay." She's says. I nod.

All of a sudden, we hear banging, screaming, and gun shots. Very faintly, I hear groans. Infected. We all freeze. I hear a woman screaming for help, but I can't move my body. "W-We need to get out there and help!" Stacy said. "Lets go!" Leo said, bolting to the vent.

Everyone followed behind Leo as he crawled through the vent. When we got out of the vent, the storage closet became very cramped and Megan was pressed against me as Stacy struggled to reach the door handle because Shawn was in her way.

Apparently, Shawn did manage to crawl through the vent. I have no idea how though and my thoughts are a little preoccupied by Megan's body pressed against mine. "Ugh. I can't reach the damn door handle!" Stacy shouted in frustration.

"If I move, I'll crush Megan and Farah together!" Shawn said back, clearly frustrated as well." Leo was trapped behind Shawn and shouted, "Just fucking do it!" Shawn grunted and moved forward, pushing Megan further against me causing my face to take on a deep shade of red.

"Just a little more Shawn!" Stacy shouted. Shawn moved more and now my back was pressed against the wall with Megan's body pressed against the front of mine. "What a precarious situation. Oh, what ever will we do?" She whispered seductively in my ear.

"There!" Stacy shouted as she managed to unlock and open the door. The sight before us was a gruesome one. Infected were everywhere, some were on the ground feeding off those who had already fallen and others were chasing some who were still alive.

I pushed my way past Megan, Shawn, and Stacy and took a step out of the storage closet. "W-What are you doing? You'll die!" Stacy shouted in horror as she saw me taking a step forward.

I ignore her and reach past the folds of my leather jacket and grab my twin nine millimeter guns. Out of the corner of my eye, I see a little boy about to be eaten by an infected person. I rush forward and blast the infected's brains out.

I rushed up to the little boy. "Where's your parents?" I ask. He looks at me dully and on his forearm, I see a bite mark. "Are you okay-" I begin but stop. His skin turns pale and his eyes become dull he groans as he moves forward.

I fire my gun and he collapses, dead. I turned towards the storage closet and froze. "No….." I muttered, absolutely horrified at the sight before me.