I have been walking for hours now. As I walk I stare at the vacant buildings. There is trash everywhere and no sign of life. I feel alone and lost. What happened? Where is everyone? And why does my head hurt/ then I realize my head is throbbing with pain. I look into a window. I can see where I had been hit on the head with something. But what? Then I see something twinkle in my gun belt that was around my waist. I reach back and take it out. It’s a ________. I remember it was my dad’s (gun). It had diamonds on the butt of it. I remembered how much he loved that gun. He would polish it twice a day. But the question is, why do I have it? I don’t even know how to shoot a gun.

I hear something behind me. I whirl around to see a man. He is standing in the middle of the road. He is kind of slumped over, his arms dangling by his side. He is the first human I have seen since I woke up in that field. I start to walk towards him, but as I get closer, I can see blood stains on his clothes, fingers, and …. face. I am now about ten feet in front of him. Should I say something? Yes. I have to know what happened.

“Hello sir. I was wondering if you could tell me what hap...” then I stop. The man lifts his head. His face is pale, and his eyes don’t have a glossy look to them. Instead, they look foggy and dull. They look dead.

I start to back away. Then the man lurches out towards me. I dodge him and start running. But the man is abnormally fast and is right on my heels. I try and shake him, but he always manages to catch up. As I pass an alley way, I feel a hand grab my arm and pull me into the alleyway. I start to scream, but a hand clasps over my mouth.

Then I see him. Tall, muscular, and a little tan. He peers around the corner. His hand still on my mouth. His hand is warm and soft. It’s gentle yet strong. He comes back. We lock eyes as he releases his hand. We stand there for a minute, just staring at each other. Then he speaks, his voice calm and steady.

“ My name is Finn. Sorry I had to cover your mouth, but if I hadn’t, that zombie would have gotten us for sure.” “Are you alright?”

I stand there, amazed at how calm he is. He has chocolate brown eyes and dark brown hair that is spiked up in the front.

“Well?”

“Oh sorry, I’m fine.”

“Ok good.”

“What was that thing that was chasing me?”

“What?”

He looks at me as if I should know what that thing was.

“It was a zombie of course.”
“What?”
My mind is racing a mile a minute. How in the world could there be zombies ? Just saying it in my head makes me feel funny. Then, out of nowhere, I feel dizzy. The world around me starts to spin.
“I think I’m going to faint.” I whisper softly.
“What?”
I look and see Finn staring at me with his chocolate brown eyes. Sympathy engulfing them. Then I fall. He catches me in his arms, the world spinning around me more rapidly.
“Whoa there little miss! Lets get you back to the reserve and fix up that wound of yours.”
I feel him pick me up. Then I fall into a deep sleep, where I have my horrible nightmare.
END OF CHAPTER 1








In my dream, I was in a field. I saw my dad and Finn. I start running towards them. When I am right in front of them, they lash out towards me. I try to turn and run, but my legs are stuck. I look around and see dozens of zombies all around me. They start putting their hands on me. There are so many of them that I can’t breathe. I try to scream, but nothing comes out. I see my dad and Finn start to walk away.
When I wake up, there is sweat running down my face. My palms are all sweaty as well. My heart is pounding in my chest. I can hardly breathe.
I look around. I am in a little room. There is a bathroom and two big windows. I start to get out of the bed, when all of a sudden I feel a stinging feeling in my arm. There is some type of needle in my arm. I am guessing it is some type of IV. I take it out and get out of the bed.
The floor is cold underneath my bare feet. I walk to the window and open the curtains. A ray of sunshine shines into my room. I look out the window and see people walking.
People.
Or zombies?
I start to back away from the window. Then the door opens. It’s a lady. I see blood all over her hands and on her apron.
I feel a rush of adrenaline and fear. I look around as she goes into the bathroom. I see my gun sitting on a chair in the corner right across from the bathroom. I bolt across the room and snatch it up. I point it straight at her as she turns to look at me. My heart is racing.
“Don’t move or else I’ll shoot!” I say while I c*** the gun.
The nurse slowly puts her arms up. I could see the fear in her eyes. I don’t know why, but I begin to cry.
I am about to pull the trigger, when Finn comes running in. He stops in the door way and puts his hands up in front of him and starts walking slowly towards me saying “Isabell. It’s alright. You’re alright. She’s just a nurse trying to change your towels.”
I look at him with tears in my eyes. One goes trickling down my face. Then I lower the gun, and put my head down. Finn comes rushing over towards me. He grabs the gun out of my hand and throws it on the bed.
He grabs my shoulders and pulls me into him. His arms rap around me. He motions to the nurse to leave. She just stands there. I guess in shock, but soon runs out the door.
We stand there alone in my room. He is calm and gentle. Almost like if he squeezed me any harder that he would break me. Tears are just flowing out of my eyes. I have come to realize everything that has happened to me. I can’t stop. I think about my life before all of this happened. I think about my dad and how much fun we had. I think about all of my friends from school and how every weekend, we would go down to the beach and just sit there and talk about our crushes and what we want to do when we get older. And now, I have nothing. I have no friends, no family, no anything.
Finally, when I get my tears and sobs under control, Finn backs up and puts his hands on my shoulders.
“Are you ok?” he says in a soft tone.
“Yeah, I think so.” I say quietly.
“Ok, well you are safe now. There is nothing to fear.”
“Where am I?”
“Well after you fainted, I brought you here. It’s a reserve or a refuge. Whatever you want to call it.” He walks to the window and puts his arm on the wall.
“This is all that is left of humanity in this area. People have lost loved ones, friends, and children to those monsters out there.” He turns towards me with sympathy in his eyes.
“But you are safe here. You will meet many people who have extraordinary stories.”
I sit down on the bed and he comes and sits down next to me. We look at each other for a moment. We start to lean in towards each other when a girl with bright blue eyes and longs black hair comes running into the room.
“Finn?! What are you doing?”
Finn stands straight up. “Nothing! What’s wrong?”
The girl is breathing heavily as if she had just come back from running a 5k. Finally she speaks after giving Finn the death glare. Her voice is a little gruff and I could tell by the way she talked that her “daddy” must have been rich.
“The uglies are breaking through the barrier. We need you to go out there and help us, if it’s not too much for you.” she said with major attitude.
“It’s not too much for me, now quit with the little attitude.” He said. I could hear him starting to get upset.
“Fine then let’s go.” She grabs his arm and starts pulling him out the door.
“I’ll be back later to check on you.” then he disappears through the doorway.
I sit there for a minute, just thinking of who that girl was. I guess I’ll just have to ask Finn later when he comes back to “check on me”.
Then I hear footsteps running towards my room. Finn comes running into my room and kisses me. He lips are warm and soft. Then as soon as he came in he was gone.
Then I hear another pair of footsteps coming down the hallway. The girl with the attitude barges in.
“You better stay away from him you hear? Or else I will blow you to kingdom come! He is mine and no one else can have him. Stay away from us.” And then she runs out the door.
Everything just happened so quickly that I didn’t really have any time to think of what
had just happened.
As I lay there on my bed, I think of everything that happened to me so far. I had just arrived at this refuge place and I already have a person who hates my guts, a boy who is deeply in love with me and not afraid to show it, and a nurse who thinks that I am a psychotic freak because I almost killed her but then started balling my eyes out. So far everything has just been peachy! Except for one thing that is killing me.
Where is my dad? Is he alright? What if he is badly injured? Or worse, what if he is a zombie?
I lay there thinking about all of this. I wish my dad was here.
END OF CHAPTER 2






That night, Finn returned as promised. We sat there on my bed. He explained everything that had happened, and I told him about my life before all of this and then the last thing I remembered before I fell unconscious in the field. Then we started talking about the refuge. Finn explained how people came from all over because they had heard that this was the safest place in the world right now.

“So are you in some type of military force or something?”

“Yes. It’s like a little militia that we had put together when we first arrived here at the refuge.”

“Do you know if they are still recruiting people? Or do you guys have enough men and not have any more room for more soldiers?”

“No. We are still recruiting people. We actually don’t have that many people.” He pauses and his face goes serious. “Why do you ask?”

“Oh, well, I was just…..” I didn’t know if I should tell him that I was thinking of joining the militia or not.

“I was just wondering.” I say.

“You want to join don’t you?” he said.

“Well, I was just thinking of joining. It seems that there would be nothing else to do here except stare out a freaking window. Plus, I was in the militia before with my dad.”

“Well you can’t!” he yells as he stands up.

“Why not?!” I say as I jump up. I’m shorter than he is and I feel like he is towering over me. And yet, even with his height, he has this little sparkle in his eyes that show that he is actually a really nice guy and would never want to hurt anyone.

“Because I said no!”

“Well you’re not my dad! You can’t just tell me how to live my life! I barely even know you! Give me three good reasons why I can’t joint he militia, and not just because you don’t want me to.” I stand there with my hands on my hips, staring at my little reflection in his chocolate brown eyes. I can see the concern in his face, but I ignore it.

“Well?” I say as I grow more and more impatient.

“One, because you are still trying to recover from a severe wound. Two, because you have no idea how to kill those creeps out there. And three, because…” he pauses and goes to the window.

“Well? What’s the third reason?” he turns and looks at me like he was about to cry. But he never shed a tear.

“Three… because….” he walks over and puts his hands on my shoulders. I look up at him. He leans down and whispers in my ear, “I don’t want to lose you.” he stands up and I just stand there staring at him. I just met this guy less than 4 hours ago, and now he is practically telling me that he loves me and wants to be with me forever.

I back away from him and just look at him in surprise.

“Isabell, I….” he starts coming towards me like he wants to give me a hug. I shove his arms away and say “No Finn! I just met you and you’re already in love with me? I don’t even know you! Usually there is time for a girl to get to know a guy before they want to hook up, but apparently in your world, everything is just all at once! I think you should just go now.”

He just stands there and stares at me.

“But Isabell, I…”

“I said no Finn! Now just leave. I need some time alone right now.”

He stands there for another minute staring at me, pleading with his eyes for me to let him into my life. It’s not that I don’t like him, I mean he’s a great guy, but I mean, I’m still trying to figure out everything.

Finally he says “Ok. I understand. You need your space.” He turns and starts to leave. Then he turns to me. Standing in the doorway he says “Just remember, I am right across the hall if you need anything… and Isabell, you should just know that I really do love you. I don’t know how, but I do.” Then he turns and walks out the door.

I just stand there as the door closes, watching him as he goes into his room.

“What did I just do?” I say to myself. Probably the only guy that I will meet here that actually likes me and I just pushed him away. What is wrong with me? I think.

I lie down on my bed and think about everything that I have gone through before I finally give in to darkness that follows with sleep.
END OF CHAPTER 3

The next morning, Finn came and took me to the chow hall. He didn’t seem upset about what had happened the night before. I guess that’s good. I don’t want anyone else hating me.

We go outside and sit down on the soft green grass by the park. It seems as if the world was normal again when Finn and I started talking. I felt like I was on the beach talking to my friends. I felt like I could tell him anything. He always seemed to be listening to me intently. I told him about all the stupid things me and my friends used to do. And he told me everything that he used to do before the zombies came.

“So last night…” he started. I could tell that he was hesitant to tell me what he was about to say.

“I thought about what I had said, about you not joining the militia, and, well, I guess it would be ok if you joined. I could put you into my group.” He said.

I just looked at him. I was thrilled that he would let me but I wasn’t sure if I should be happy or upset that he would be watching my every move. I looked at him and smiled. I gave him a hug and got up.

“Well, then let’s go sign me in!” I say and pull him to his feet. When we get there, there is an old man behind a table. He sees us and comes over to us. He was short, had a little bit of gray hair and must have been in his late 70s.

“Can I help you young people?” he said, his voice a little shaky.

“Yes.” I say with confidence.

“I would like to sign up for the militia.”

The old man looks at me, almost in horror, that I would want to join the militia. We stand there for a good 2 minutes and then he finally speaks again.

“Are you sure sweetheart? You know there is much more stuff to do around here, than going out there risking your life?”

“Trust me. I have tried to persuade her not to, but she won’t take no for an answer.” Says Finn.

“Ok. But it’s your funeral not mine…yet.” Said the old man as I sign the paper and get my gun.

“Thank you sir.” I say, and then walk away.

Finn showed me to the tent where his group keeps their belongings. There were three other people in there. One girl and two guys. The girl was short with dark reddish brown hair. She had hazel eyes and a little dress on. She was doing something at what looked like a work bench. I was guessing she was the nurse of this group.

There was a boy in the corner polishing a gun. He was very tall. Taller than Finn. He had short dirty blonde hair and greenish brown eyes. I could see his muscles underneath his long sleeved shirt and knew that he was probably the leader of the group.

Then there was the boy sitting at a computer typing something. He had on a pair of what I refer to as hipster glasses. Glasses that are square and kind to big. He had dirty brown hair and blue eyes. He didn’t really look like he had any muscles. But he did have more than me, I can tell you that much. I was guessing he was the computer/technology geek of this group.

No one seemed to notice me. Then Finn came into the tent and everyone stood up straight. Well, now I know who the leader is, and it’s not the tuff guy with the gun. It was Finn. Great. Now I am going to be going out with the leader of this little group of soldiers, and they are all going to hate me because I will get special attention.

“Guys. I would like you to say hello to the newest member of our group. This is Isabell. Say hello Isabell.” He nudges me in the arm. I straighten up.

“Hello.” I say hesitantly.

Everyone just looks at me. I can feel my cheeks start to turn red. But then the tall muscular boy comes over to me and bends down and kisses my hand. Then he looks up at me. I am speechless. I just look over at Finn, whose eyes are as wide as an owl's. I can see the anger boiling up inside him.

“My names David. It’s nice to meet you.” he says. I can obviously see that he is trying to impress me.

“Ok! Thank you very much David.” Says Finn. He grabs him by the shirt and throws him back away from me. He lands on a little cot. Then he gets up and I can see that he is angry now.

“Whoa dude. No need to protect her or get jealous or anything. I obviously am not as beautiful as you.” he starts to laugh and I can see that Finn is about to explode with anger and frustration.

“Don’t test me David. Not now.” He growls at David. Apparently it worked. David quite laughing and just left, pushing Finn to the side as he left the tent.

“Sorry about David.” Said the little red haired girl as she walks over to me with her hand extended.

“He can be a little obnoxious sometimes. My name is Abigail, and it’s nice to have another girl in the group. I’ve had to pick up after these stinky muts for far too long.” She says as she shakes my hand. I giggle at the joke and then notice that the boy on the computer has not said anything this whole time. Abigail notices that I am staring at him and yells “Thomas! Get your nerdy butt over here and say hello to our new member.” Thomas just ignores her and keeps doing whatever it is he is doing on the computer.

“THOMAS! NOW!” says Abigail, furious with how rude Thomas is being. Thomas whips around and stands up. Abigail smiles as Thomas comes over and shakes my hand.

“Nice to meet you… Isabell, right?”

“Yes. It’s Isabell.” I say in a soft voice.

Then he goes back and starts playing on his computer again. Then the girl with the really bad attitude comes in and tells Finn that the commander needs to speak with him. Finn looks at me and then Abigail.

“Don’t worry, I’ll show her around. You go to your little meeting.” Says Abigail. Finn nods and then bolts out of the tent. The girl stands there for another minute glaring at me and then runs out after Finn.
***
Later that day, me and Abigail go and sit down on a pair of swings in the park after my tour was over. She had told me how she had lost everyone who was near and dear to her, and how she survived a whole 2 weeks out there with those creeps until the reserve found her. She was just 12 when all of this happened.
“It’s been a year since that day.” She said.

“And I am still alive and well. I’m 13 now and I have fulfilled my one dream of becoming a nurse. So that’s one good thing that has happened to me since this whole mess began.” She said.

“How old are you?” she asks.

It takes me a minute to think of my age, but I finally remember.

“I’m 16” I say.

“Oh.” She says. It sounded like she was almost disappointed.

“You do know that Finn is 18, right?” she asks me.

“He is?” another thing that I don’t know about Finn. I didn’t know what to say. I just stood there staring at Abigail.

“Yeah… He didn’t tell you that?”

“No, he didn’t really tell me anything about himself. Only stuff about the war.” I said.

“Huh. That’s very weird of him to not tell his girlfriend that.” she said. Then I realize that she had said girlfriend and it was referring to me.

“Wait a minute; did you just say that I am his girlfriend?”

“Oh yeah. I just assumed because you know, you guys look like a couple, you guys act like a couple, and you do everything together.”

“Wait, how do we act like a couple?” I ask, curious to see what she would say.

“Well, for example, when David was hitting on you, Finn gave him the most hateful look I have ever seen him give someone. And the way he acts around you, all sweet and kind. It shows that something is going on between the two of you.” she said with a smile on her face.

“Oh...ok…I have to go now. I will see you tomorrow ok?”

“Oh ok then! “She said has she got off the bench. “See you later!” and then she walked away.

I sat there for a couple minutes, thinking how a boy I have never met could love me? I don’t understand. But then I get a feeling that I have seen him before. I had realized last night, that I had a little bit of amnesia from getting hit in the head, and that I couldn’t remember somethings that had happened in my life. Like for instance, I can’t remember what my best friends name was. But the one thing that I can remember is my dad and I know that we were very close. Oh, I wish he was here. He could help me with these types of problems, I thought to myself.

Then I see Finn coming straight towards me. Oh god, the last thing I need is for him to tell me he loves me or to ask me out. I have had enough surprises for today and I am just ready to go home. I start to run down the side walk. I stop and hide behind the tree. Peer around the corner but I don’t see him. I turn around and he is standing right in front of me.

“What are you doing Isabell?” he asks.

“I was um…” I don’t know what to say. I can’t say that I don’t want to talk to him. But I also don’t want him to ask me about what I and Abigail were talking about.

“I was just on my way home.” I say as casually as I can.

He stares at me for a minute and then says “Oh ok well then let me just walk you…”

“No that’s alright. I think I can find my way back by myself.” I interrupt.

He just looks at me. “Ok. Well then I will see you tomorrow.” He says and then kisses me on the head. He gives me a soft smile and I force myself to smile back. Then he turns and walks away.

When I get back to my room, I take a shower and then go to bed.
END OF CHAPTER 4















It has been a week since I joined the militia, and I have been on about 5 missions. I feel amazing. Finn and I have gotten closer than ever and I feel like I am finally starting to let him into my life. He is sweet and kind, and he is very loving. We have already gone on one date. It was extraordinary. I think I am falling in love with him.
Abigail and I have also gotten a lot closer. She is now my best friend and I feel like I can go to her whenever I need to. She is so sweet and so cute. And I just recently found out that she has an extremely big crush on Thomas.
I haven’t really seen David or Thomas though. Finn said that it isn’t weird not to see Thomas for days but that it is really weird not to see David for less than an hour. Finn told me that David was the type of guy who loved to have a good time and he loved being the center of attention. David is Finns best friend. They have been friends since they were little.
I have seen the girl with the really bad attitude a lot. I learned that her name is Lauren and that she had a huge crush on Finn. Finn told me that he had dated her before but then broke up with her because of her attitude. He said that she did not take it lightly and had hit him with a broom on the head.
As I sit on a stool in the tent thinking about all of this, I realize that Finn is staring at me. I look up and he smiles and comes over to me. He puts his hand around my neck and kisses me on the lips. Then, over the little radio, someone calls for him to go see the commander. He stops kissing me. He sighs and walks out of the tent. He has kissed me several times. I asked him the first time he kissed me why he did. He just replied “Just cause.” He is the cutest thing.
All of a sudden he comes back in with a worried look.
“The commander wants to see you.” he says.
“What? Why?” I ask as my heart starts to race. What did I do? I haven’t done anything all week. I have followed orders when we go on missions and I never leave Finns side out there. What could I have possibly done?
I walk with Finn to the red tent. The commander is inside. Finn takes my hand and I squeeze his.
“Everything is going to be fine. Just stay calm.” He says in a calm voice.
We walk in and see that his chair is turned away from us so we can’t see his face. I’m so nervous I begin to shake.
“Leave us Finn.” He says. His voice is a little raspy. It almost sounds familiar.
Finn turns to me and kisses my head. Then he walks out of the tent. Now it is just me and the commander. I feel vulnerable. I never knew how safe I felt with Finn by my side.
“So…” the commander says.
“You thought that it would be a good idea to join the militia at only 16?” he says to me. But before I can answer he says “well I’m sorry to say this sweet heart but your little boyfriend Finn, yeah, he wasn’t supposed to let you into the militia. It seems like his feelings got in the way of his duty.”
“And what’s his duty sir?” I say hesitantly.
“To not let any girls into this militia.” He says.

“Why are girls not allowed to be in the militia?” I ask.

“Because they aren’t allowed to fight!” he says, his voice getting louder.

“Well, I don’t see that it is fair that girls aren’t allowed to choose what they want to do.” I say as calmly as possible.

“WELL YOU ARENT THE COMMANDER! YOU ARENT THE ONE RESPOSIBLE FOR EVERYONE! YOU ARENT…” He had turned around to face me when he stopped yelling. He just stood there staring at me. He looked familiar but I didn’t know who he was. Then in a blink of an eye I am in his arms. He hugs me for a couple of minutes and then backs up. He stands there staring at me for a couple more minutes and then says “Come with me! NOW! “He grabs my arm and drags me out of the tent. Finn was standing by a nearby tree and sees the commander dragging me to another tent.

“Hey!” I calls and runs after us.

When I finally realize what is going on I start to try and get away. But his grip is to strong.

“Where are you taking me? Let go of me” I yell.

We reach the tent and he throws me in. I land hard on my knees. Finn comes running in and kneels down next to me. As he helps me up he confronts the commander.

“What the heck is wrong with you? You can’t just drag her into this tent and throw her on the ground!” Finns faces starts getting red with anger when all of a sudden a guy in a pair of jeans and a white coat comes out from behind a book shelf. He freezes and stares at me.

“It’s a miracle John!” the commander says.

The man named John just stands there looking at me. He seemed familiar too but I couldn’t remember who he was either. I had a feeling that he knew me though. The way he looked at me showed me that he cared a lot about me. I look over at Finn who didn’t seem too happy to have a grown man staring at me.

The man starts walking over to me slowly with his arms out in front of him. He looked as if he were about to cry. When he finally gets to me, he raps his arms around me. I hear him start to sob quietly.

“Is it really you?” he says softly as he hugs me.

“Is this real or is it a dream?” he says.

I finally break away from him and walk back towards Finn. I stand behind him a little staring at the man in total horror. Who is this guy?

“Don’t you remember me?” he asks.

I shake my head, unable to say a word.

“I’m your dad.” He says as a tear roles down his face.

I come out from behind Finn. I walk towards him slowly and hesitantly. I couldn’t remember what my dad looked like but I knew who he was. I didn’t make sense to me. How could you know someone, yet not know what they looked like?

When I am about 2 feet away from him I finally speak.

“Dad? Is that you?” I say quietly.

“Yes.” He says softly. “Don’t you remember me?”

I shake my head. “No. I have a little bit of amnesia and I can’t remember a lot of things.” I say. Tears start to form in my eyes. If this man is really my dad, then I am very grateful that he is still alive. He was my whole world back home and he still is.

“Come here.” He says in a soft voice, as he grabs me and pulls me in towards him gently. I listen to the soft beating of his heart as it beats against his chest. I start to have little flashbacks of things that I couldn’t remember before. And then the last flashback I have was of my dad, standing in front of me with his square glasses beaming at me while holding a puppy. This man is my father! I squeeze a little harder as the tears come streaming down my face. I realize that now I have a piece of my family here in this small refuge. Now I feel at home. Now I have my dad.

We back away from each other. The commander tells Finn that we need some space and that I will go and find him when I am done. But Finn was resistant. He didn’t want to leave my side. I think he was worried that something might happen and that he wouldn’t be able to protect me.

I turn to him and give him a big hug. “Thank you for bringing me here. If it wasn’t for you having saved me back at that alleyway then I would have never had found my father our even been alive. I love you.” I say. But then I back away and say “but now I would like to be alone with my father. I want to talk to him and catch up on everything. I’ll be ok. I promise…. I will see you tomorrow.” I give him a kiss and then go and stand by my dad. Finn hesitates for a moment and then gives me a warm smile then turns and leaves the tent along with the commander.

I turn to my dad and we begin talking and telling each other all about the things that have happened to us since the day he “lost” me. I explain to him how I had joined the militia, had an amazing best friend, and had the most wonderful boyfriend. I explained how Finn and I first met and how he was the one that had saved me. My father was a little suspicious about me having a boyfriend. The normal father thing. And he wasn’t so sure about me joining the militia again. But I assured him that Finn was a great guy and that he would take care of me.

Then my dad told me about everything he had gone through. He told me how he had found out that the group of people I was with had “lost” me and how they had to evacuate the premises because the zombies were beginning to close in on them. He said that he had mourned for me for nights on end. He said that he had hoped every day that I would walk into the refuge and tell him that I was alright. But when I didn’t show up for weeks, he had begun to give up hope. Until now.

He also told me that he is trying to come up with a cure. A cure to help the zombies become human again. But he told me that it wasn’t an easy process. He said that he worked all day and all night just to get a little bit closer to finding the cure.
***

After about 2 hours of talking, I had to leave. I didn’t want to, but I knew that if I didn’t then we would be up all night. When I got back to my room, I called Finn and told him that I was home. Then I took a shower and went to bed. As I lay in my bed, I thought about all the things that had happened throughout my life. But it was only the stuff that I could remember. When I finally went to sleep, that’s when the nightmares started.
END OF CHAPTER 5


The nightmares are just that, nightmares. They involve me, my dad, and Finn. In all of them, I always lose someone I love, or I must pick one of them to save. They are horrible, and I usually wake up in a puddle of sweat in my bed. And whenever I wake up from one, I go to Finn and stay the rest of the night in his room. He doesn’t mind. And now I have just made it my nightly routine to go to his room and spend the night there every night.

I have also been visiting my dad every day. I help him organize his books and paper work, while he works on finding the cure for the zombies. He always has a story to tell me, and they usually spark my memory and help me remember things about my past. And I had told him how fun the militia is after the commander had allowed me to stay. He is now part of my daily routine too.

But today, my routine is going to change. The other day, Finn called an emergency meeting for our group. We met in the tent and he told us that there was going to be a very big mission for us and two other groups to go on. We would have to go to the outer skirts of the city, because the commander had gotten word that there might be a small group of people out there and in need of our help. It would take us a whole week to get out there and then get back. We were allowed to take whatever we thought we would need. It was my very first time going on an important mission.

It was Abigail’s first time even going on a mission, considering the fact that she was a nurse. But Finn said that she needed to come in case someone got hurt. Us and the g=other groups took the three trucks that they had been saving for an emergency. We brought plenty of ammo and brought food. We packed as many blankets as we could because of the dropping temperature.

On our way out, I see my dad running toward us. I tell Finn to stop the truck.

“Sorry, but I wanted to give you this Isabell.” He says breathlessly. He hands me a necklace with a heart on it.

“Inside of the heart is a tracking device that will allow me to see where you all are.” He says. I could tell that he was excited that he finally got to try this invention out. He had told me a couple days ago, how he never gets to try out his inventions because no one ever wants to try them. But now that I am in the militia, he can give me all the crap he wants.

“Thanks dad.” I say in a soft voice and I kiss him on the head. We say our goodbyes and then I watch as the gates to the refuge close shut.
***
We have been driving for hours and everyone is getting restless. I found that it is a lot cold outside the refuge than it is inside the refuge.

We haven’t seen any zombies, which is weird. They are usually everywhere. It is really quiet when all of a sudden we her a shriek come from behind a building. Finn slams on the breaks and we all jump out, except for Abigail and Thomas. The other trucks stop behind us and the men jump out and hunt for the place where the shriek had come from.

We walk towards the building that we heard it come from. As we walk to the back, I see something turn a corner. I take off running and I can hear Finn yelling for me to come back. But I just keep running. I turn a couple more corners, when I see the zombie. I raise my gun. It just stands there staring at me with anger in his eyes. Before he can lurch at me I shoot. Bullzi! Right in the forehead. He crumples to the floor. But then I hear a noise behind me. I spin on my heels, gun ready, to see five other zombies staring at me. I see them look at me, then the zombie that I shot, then me again. They are about to charge when Finn and the others find me and open fire.

“What the heck were you thinking Isabell?” Finn yells over the firing of guns.

“I saw the zombie and I wanted to get rid of it. I didn’t know there were others…”

“Of course there are others. Do you just think that after you kill one, that you win the game?” he yells at me.

“No, but…”

“But what?” he says. The guns finally stop firing. I look and see Finn staring at me with an angry look. Everyone is staring at us.

“But what Isabell? You think you can just run off like that and then just come back with no problems? I swear sometimes you don’t use your head. Sometimes you just…!” he stops when he sees the tears forming in my eyes.

How could he say that? I look away from him and begin to walk away.

“Isabell I didn’t… come back! “He yells. I just keep walking not knowing where I am going.

When I am about 10feet away from him, I turn around. He is about to run towards me when all of a sudden I feel a sharp pinch in my side. I look down and see red. I look up and see him running toward me. I sink to my knees and look to the right. I see a man with a gun, standing with his gun still raised. He puts his gun in his pouch and walks over to me. He picks me up and I can hear Finn yelling. I see Finn running towards me when the man takes his gun and shoots him.

Finn sinks to the floor. My vision starts to become a blur and my hearing starts to turn into a muffle. The last thing I see before the man turns were the others running towards Finn. Then the man turns, with me in his arms, and walks away.

My vision turns to black and I can no longer hear anything. All I can see are little red dots. And then I black out.
END OF CHAPTER 6