My ankle and wrist felt a lot better. I was no longer limping and I could move my hand freely, without any pain. Funny what a little gauze can do. Maybe they weren’t broken after all. I was sure my ribs were still injured, but I needn’t worry about that now.
The sun was directly above us, and if the wind wasn’t pushing from behind us with great force, it would be unbearably hot. The top of my head was scorched from the rays of light beating down on it, despite being under Francis’s six-foot shadow.
Louis held his hand to his brow, shielding the sun from his eyes. He looked up at Francis, squinting so much that his eyes almost closed.
“Aren’t you getting hungry or tired at all?” He said, an edge of fatigue in his voice. Francis merely shook his head.
“I am,” I sighed, raising my hand wearily. Louis smiled at me, relieved that he wasn’t the only one needing a break. Bill just shook his head, pulling a cigarette and lighter out of his shirt pocket. He lit it and took a big drag. His brow furrowed as he pulled it from his lips, sighing with liberation.
I frowned in his general direction, bitter to the idea of Bill dying from cigarettes instead of zombies. But he just kneeled down on the dirt, blowing smoke from his nose and glaring at the ground. He seemed pissed off too much. Both him and Francis were always far too serious.
We all sat in the middle of the road. Louis took some muffins out of his pack and passed them around, one for each of us. I silently wondered why he had picked them, but Bill was the one to speak up. “Louis, you managed to grab the stupidest shit,”
“That tank knocked down the pastry isle and I couldn’t help myself,” he said, shrugging.
Francis gulped his down in one bite, while the rest of us took our sweet time. I kept risking glances in the biker’s direction to see if he was angry or not. With Francis it was hard to tell.
I swallowed the muffin in my mouth and took another bite. I loved how the small bits of chocolate melted in my mouth, but it made me awfully thirsty.
I pulled out my water bottle, glad that I remembered to take it. I took a small swig and held it out at the boys, in case they wanted some. Everyone politely declined, so I put it away again.
Francis pushed himself to his feet and started walking down the road, leaving us all to hurriedly pack everything away again. Bill and Louis waited for me to stand up and start walking. Sitting down caused my foot to start hurting once more, making me lean slightly on Louis’s shoulder as I limped.
Francis seemed so far away from us. I called out to him multiple times, but he never acknowledged me once. Bill sighed and patted my back.
“I don’t think he’s in the mood to talk right now,” he mumbled, as if Francis could hear. I frowned and Louis rubbed my shoulder.
“Don’t you worry about him. I think he might be bipolar,” he grinned, trying to make me feel better. It didn’t work, watching him smile at the fact that I was being ignored by the man I supposedly love.
I held up my injured arm, examining the way the gauze wouldn’t let me move. Bill glanced at it.
“It’s not broken,” he mumbled. I looked at him surprisingly.
“Really? Oh my God, that’s such a relief,” I smiled at the gauze as if it did something. I must’ve just sprained it. Nothing too bad.
As for my ankle, I suddenly doubted it was broken too. I was just over exaggerating.
Neither of them hurt as bad as they used to.
I looked out at Francis, about to call to him and tell him I’ll be okay. But instead, he started backing up, steadying his shotgun and looking about us warily.
“What’s wrong?” Louis asked, letting go of my arm. I stumbled for a moment, but regained my footing. Bill took out his rifle and Louis started aiming his sniper scope at random places around us.
Feeling unarmed, I slipped my hands into my pockets and pulled out my pistols. Remembering everything Francis showed me, I checked if the safety was on and if they were both loaded. Prepared, I readied myself for any danger.

I heard loud high-pitched screams; it almost shattered my eardrums and I gasped.
“What the fuck is that?!” I yelled, just loud enough to be heard by my friends. They formed a small circle around me.
“We got a horde comin’ our way,” I barely heard Bill.
I started seeing hundreds of zombies sprinting over the horizon, screaming and snarling at us. Louis aimed his hunting rifle and started picking them out by the tens. When they started getting in range, Bill coolly took off each of their heads. Some were starting to get too close, only to be beheaded by Francis’s shotgun.
I felt incredibly useless. They had a nice system going and I was just being protected by it. I bit my lip and decided to help.
I crouched down and aimed my pistols between Louis and Francis’s legs. I started shooting repeatedly, taking out a lot more zombies than expected. I smiled and reloaded, taking aim and killing more.
After thirty more shots, I pulled out two clips from Bill’s pack and set to reload. I looked up to see about twenty zombies running up to Francis, but he wasn’t doing anything. He had to reload too.
“Francis!” I yelled, standing and pushing him aside. The zombies hit me head on, punching and swarming around me. They pushed and pushed on me until I yelled, pushing and shoving them away. I used the butt of my pistols to slam against their heads, causing them to hinder. I shoved the rest of them away with my elbow. Once they were far enough, I aimed my pistols and started shooting into the cluster of freaks.
Francis stood strong next to me and began blasting into the horde. I smiled to myself.

I reloaded my pistols and smiled at our work. I know I didn’t do much, but it was more than I thought I was capable of. If any more hordes decided to come our way, I was definitely prepared.
“That was nice, Zoey. Good work,” Louis grinned and I couldn’t help but smile back. “Those zombies never had a chance.”
Francis was wandering around, kicking over corpses of zombies. He strolled back to us, hands in his pockets and shotgun on his back.
A sudden roar filled my ears, followed by the beating of the wind. I covered my face with my hand and the wind almost pushed me off my feet. Francis yelled something, but I couldn’t hear over the racket.
“What?” I shouted. He turned to me and pointed to the sky.
“It’s a helicopter!”
I gasped and braved the wind that bombarded me. It was true; a helicopter was landing about thirty yards from us. We started cheering and sprinted toward the vehicle.
A man hopped out of the cabin, greeting us with a big wave.
“Nice work you did here, folks!” He stepped over a few bodies and met up with us. “I could see that battle from a mile away.”
Francis smirked and held out his hand. “I’m Francis.”
The pilot took his hand and shook it swiftly. “Greg,” he smiled.
“That old man there is Bill, that’s Louis, and this is Zoey.” Francis put his arm around me and I blushed. I had been longing for his touch, his warm embrace. And now that I had it, I was perfectly happy.
My arm found its way around his back and I felt him tense. I looked up at him and his eyes met mine. Greg started saying something but I wasn’t paying attention.
“I’m sorry,” he burrowed his nose into my neck and I nestled myself into his arms.
“Me too,” I smiled. I didn’t know what we were apologizing for, but it made me feel so much better.
I hadn’t noticed that everyone already climbed into the helicopter. Francis smiled at me and stepped into the cabin, holding out his hand for me to take. I placed my palm in his and he lifted me up. He slid the door closed, sitting on the floor and patting his leg. It was a gesture for me to sit on his lap. I gladly accepted and the helicopter roared, lifting into the air.

The pilot had his headphones on, muttering something into the microphone. I heard “safety” and assumed it was a rescue transmission.
I scanned the inside of the copter. There were two boxes overflowing with fabric; I assumed they were parachutes and such. In front of where Greg sat, hundreds of buttons buzzed and lit on and off. It looked like if I touched it, it’d explode.
Francis began gently massaging my back. Surprised, I turned to look at him. He smiled and pulled my face to his, greeting me with a kiss. I blushed and frowned at his sudden kindness.
I huddled against his chest and breathed in his scent. It wasn’t exactly cologne; none of us had showered in at least a week. But I still found it attractive.
Francis put his lips next to my ear.
“Promise me something?”
I nodded once and waited for him to continue.
“When the time comes that you have to bear the first child of the new world, promise me it will be mine?”
I froze. A child? Sex? No way.
“Promise?” He repeated patiently.
“Yeah,” I mouthed, but no sound came out. Clearing my throat, I tried again. “Yeah,” I said loudly.
“Thanks,” Francis kissed my cheek and I frowned. I wasn’t looking forward to telling Francis I was a virgin.

The helicopter landed roughly, tossing us around like rag dolls. I laughed as Bill’s cigarette was thrown out of his mouth and onto the floor. He just grimaced and lit another one.
Greg shut down the copter and climbed over his seat to get to us. He slammed open the door and jumped out, the grass muffling his feet. I crawled to the door and gawked out of the opening.
A large building stood about ten stories tall, its beige paint contrasting well against the green forest. The jade grass was growing over the fences, engulfing the walls and trees. The structure had a lot of windows, each one slightly bulging from its sill. From where I stood, I could see white curtains flowing in a slight breeze.
A bird started chirping from somewhere in the trees. I listened to it intently; I hadn’t heard a bird for too long. And suddenly I wondered if animals were getting infected as well.
“What is this place?” I muttered. Greg grinned at me, proud of the fortress that loomed out of the forest.
“It’s an out of town resort that I found. In the middle of the forest, less infected are likely to find us. When I got here, it was completely clear of zombies. So I started setting up a boiler, hunting for animals to breed, and recruiting survivors. Which means I have food, hot water, and friends for you all,” he smiled widely and I silently cheered. This sounded like a paradise.
“Where the hell did you get a helicopter?” Bill asked suspiciously. Again, Greg smiled proudly.
“One of the survivors was telling me about his old news chopper. He said it was probably still sitting idly on the landing pad behind the news station. So he and I decided it would be best if we traveled back to town to get it.”
“What if you hadn’t found it?” Louis inquired.
“I don’t really know. We could have just tried to steal a car or something. I guess I hadn’t really thought of that.” His brow furrowed as he stared at the ground, imagining the predicament Louis pointed out.
I clapped my hands together and smiled. “Well, the point is, we’re here now. Let’s get inside, yes?”
Everyone agreed and we trudged through the grass towards the resort. When we reached its revolving doors, Greg pushed Francis through the opening. I laughed, but then I was shoved in too. I started to push on the bar, but it wouldn’t move.
Greg started grunting as he spun the door, the rusty metal protesting and squeaking.
I stumbled out of the circle. Francis was examining the front desk, rifling through the papers and opening drawers. I raised my eyebrow and walked towards him. He lifted his head and smiled flirtatously, holding up a hotel room key.