Chapter One
This Strange Feeling

"We're almost there, Nathan," my mother said, driving to her boyfriend’s house on the hill outside the city. I never liked him. He was this weird scientist, just like the ones you see in horror movies. I almost feel like Dracula, or Frankenstein's monster, would come out of the building at any minute.

"Mom, did we have to move here?" I said. You can tell, I didn't like the idea of moving. Mom didn't say a word. I believe that's because I had said it about a hundred times before we even left the old house. We pulled up to the creepy building. It sure looked like the house we recognize in Transylvania. Now, where is Scooby and the Gang? I look around. Getting out of the car, I took my only bag with me. We sold most of the things before we moved, so we didn't have to pack any up and haul the shit over here. Her "boyfriend" George, came out of the building and walked over to us.

"Hi little squirt," he said in a friendly voice. He could tell I wasn't happy and rushed over to mom, giving her a big kiss on the lips. I felt like I was about to barf. I went inside the building, not wanting to watch the lovebirds. It was a hot day today, so I went to the kitchen for something to drink. Looking in the fridge, I notice there is nothing but water. Oh wait, I notice a bottle of soda. "What brand is this?" I thought. I opened the bottle, and without thinking, I swallowed the whole thing. "Yuck!" It tasted awful. But it was so refreshing, besides the taste.

I went upstairs to look in my room. It was such a big house; I hope I can find my way. I can hear my mom and George coming into the house. Mom is giggling, and I can tell they were heading into the kitchen. I think I found my room. There were many rooms in the house, but the room I believe was mine was already filled with a bed, just like the other with a bed. But mine was smaller and a twin bed. Theirs was a King Size Bed. So I figured this room was mine. I walk into the room and start unpacking my things into the dresser.

Downstairs, mom was sitting at the table. George figured she was thirsty. He went into the fridge to get her a drink. "I hope you don't mind water. I don't have any other type of drink at the moment, otherwise, I would offer you more choices."

"That's fine honey," Mom said with a sigh.
George grabbed a bottle of water and shut the door. He paused for a second and opened the door again. "That's strange."
"What's strange, dear?"

"I thought I put a bottle in here with a secret formula I was working on."

"What is the formula?"

"Well, it’s just an experiment. I believe I found a way to change the male gender into females, without surgery. This could help the transgender community. The terrible thing is, I don't have a formula to turn females into males. Even if I did, if someone takes the formula and becomes male, they can't take another and go back to the original gender they were born with."

"I hope Nathan didn't drink it."

"Well, we won't know right away if he did. It takes a few days to kick in." The first thing he will notice is he starts to feel faint. Then dizzy. Next thing he blanks out. That’s where the changes start happening. But even then, he won't even notice. Except for a few changes. If he has facial hair, it will stop growing. His hair will grow faster, and he will notice getting shorter. Eventually, he will notice breasts growing. He might think it's simply man boobs or something. His penis will start to shrink and..."

Just then I came into the room. I didn't hear the conversation. I was just going to the fridge for another drink. All they had was water, which sucked big time. I grabbed one and stepped out of the room. "Nathan, you didn't perhaps take a bottle that wasn't water earlier, did you?" I thought I would get in trouble, so I lied. "Of course not, I just grabbed water and headed to my room. Why was there some other drink in there I didn't know of?"

"No. Maybe I put it in the fridge downstairs." George looked puzzled. "Run along now. Oh, did you find your room alright?"

"Yes," I said with a snarl.

"That's good. By the way, there's a big screen TV in the family room. I bought a PlayStation 87 and many games. I hope you like the choices I chose."

"Thanks," I said. Hmm, maybe this guy isn't bad after all. I went to the family room and found a huge 3D, 16 feet tall, Ultra High Definition, flat screen TV with surround sound. I am in heaven here. My friends would love to come over and play games with me. I turned the TV on. The first thing I noticed was the old horror movie Night of the Living Dead. I jumped a little bit. You would also if you spotted a zombie about the same size as you on the screen. I raced over the phone and dialed my friend Jack. He wasn't busy and said he would come over immediately.

While I waited for him to come over, I went into the kitchen for a bite to eat. Mom and George were still there.

"Nathan, we need to talk, “Mom said to me when I walked in.

"What for you ask? Did I do something wrong?"

"We found this bottle in the recycling bin," George said, looking into my eyes.

"I didn't drink that!" I yelled.

"Don't lie to us, tell us the truth. Did you drink it?" George yelled back at me.

"Why the fuck do you think I drank it?"

"Don't use that language at me! Did you or didn't you?"

"Sweetie," Mom said in a soft voice. "Please tell us if you drank it. It's crucial that you tell the truth."

Sweetie? She has never called me sweetie? "I'm sorry, mom," I started to cry. "I did drink it. I just didn't want to get in trouble. Now I am going to anyways."
My mom started to cry as well. She walked over to me and gave me a big hug.

"I'm sorry as well, sweetie," she said.

"Why exactly are you sorry? I'm the one that drank it and lied to you both."

Suddenly, the doorbell rang. "Uh, mom, my friend is here, can I go, please? I won't lie to you again." Mom excused me, and I answered the door. Jack brought another friend of mine, Mike. We all went into the family room. The next thing you knew, two enormous eyes were staring at the TV.
"Wow!" Jack said. That is one big Mother of a TV."
Mike was checking out the games I have. "Whoa! You got the Legend of Zelda: Guardian of Time? It's not officially released yet. How did you get it?"

"Don't ask me how George got those games."
We started playing a game; we didn't want to play the Zelda game quite yet. We decided to play the fighting game Brutalmania.
After a while, we all got hungry and went to the kitchen to find something to eat. Mom and George were not in there. I found a bucket of chicken from Popeye's, and we all started munching on it. I just hope we don't get in trouble for eating this, like I did when drinking the soda earlier.

"Want to check out the house?" I said after we stuffed our faces. They all agreed enthusiastically. We ran to the stairs. Race you to the top. I said. We both ran as fast as possible. I usually was the fastest runner, but for some reason, I was the slowest. I started feeling queasy. I thought it was just because I was hot. "My room is over here," I said, pointing down the hall. We started walking, and I began getting dizzy.

"Nathan, are you alright?" Jack said, trying to keep me from falling.

"I guess so," I said. "I feel really confused. Help me to my bed."
It wasn't long until I blacked out and fell to the ground.

~o~O~o~

Beep... Beep... Beep... I kept hearing this annoying beeping sound. Not knowing where it was coming from or why. I slowly opened my eyes. Everything was bright, like I'm staring directly at the sun. My eyes begin to focus. Beep... Beep... Beep... Well, now I know where the beeping is coming from. I stare at a machine in the room I was in. It looked like a hospital room, but it wasn't. The bed was just an ordinary bed. No button to call a nurse or anything.

“Hello?” I call out. I could hear footsteps heading to the door. I expected a nurse or doctor to be coming in. Well, it appears someone was listening. He was wearing a white coat. “Who the hell are you?”

“My name is Alfred,” he said, “I am the assistant to George. I work down in his lab.”

“That explains who you are, but why are you here and why am I here?”

“Why I work here.”

Okay, this is so weird. I am not in a hospital or clinic. There must be one place I must be. Down is George's fucking laboratory. “Why am I down here?” Alfred didn't say anything. He just started typing on a computer located in the room. “What is that you’re doing?” Again, no answer. Now I was getting worried. I wanted to get out of the bed, but I was strapped down. Alfred took an IV Needle and stuck it in my vein and started drawing blood. “What the fuck are you doing” He wasn't listening to me. He left the room with a sample of my blood.

Mom came in after he left.
“Mom, why am I in here?” I cried.

Mom went over and started unstrapping me. “I'm sorry we had to put you in here. It was so George can do some tests on you.”

“Why would he want to do tests?” I said, getting out of the bed.

“I can't explain it fully, but you will find out in a few days.”

“What do you mean?” Mom didn't answer. She just laughed and stepped out of the room. I followed right behind her. I saw Alfred and George in another room. I tried to get in the room, but it was locked from the inside. I looked through the window and saw they were looking at some DNA samples. More likely mine. It didn't make much sense to me. Why me? I went back to find mom. Weird, I couldn't find her anywhere. All my friends have left. I would have hoped they would have stayed with me. I decided to sit on the couch and call them up.

Jack answered. “Nathan? What happened, man?”

“I don't know nobody's telling me anything.”

“You just fainted right before you made it in your room. They told us to leave.”

“I can't do anything at the moment over here, can I come over to your place for a while?”

“Sure man, come right over.”

I went to the door and looked for the car keys. “Damn! Mom must have taken them. I had to ride the bike. I went to the garage and took the ten speeds out. I started to pedal. I didn't go far. The bike wheel was flat. “This is not my day.” I threw the bike and went back inside to the phone.

“Hey Jack, can you come and get me. Mom took the car, and my bike wheel is flat.”

“Sorry man, my dad brought the car to the shop.”

“That's fine. I will just walk there. I went into the kitchen and took something out of the fridge for the trip, and started walking down the long hill.
I walked the bike back to the garage and put it away. Just then I noticed an old plastic sled. Well, I knew it wasn't winter yet, but this would come in handy while trying to get down the hill faster. He took it and away he went. Well, it may be faster, but it wasn't the safest way down. Every bump made him fly in the air and land with a violent crash. He made it to the bottom, but the sled didn't. Well, it did, but in pieces. “So much for my quick way down.”

I ended up walking the rest of the way. Things were going well until I started getting these pains all over. I couldn't take it for much longer. I immediately fell to the ground.

~o~O~o~

Back at the lab, George checked out the samples.
“Wow!” George said, “Nathan's blood samples are extraordinary. It is rapidly changing from the XY Chromosomes to XX Chromosomes. This isn't normal from what I noticed when I did it to that rabbit a few days ago.
“Well, he did drink the whole bottle. You only gave a small portion to the rabbit.” Alfred explained.
“We got to find him quick. “George ran out of the room, “He won't know what's going on.”

Down the hill, I was just getting up off the ground. Jack was riding his bike when he found me on the ground. He drove over. “I was just coming to see you. I knew you were going down a long hill. “Boy, you need a haircut.”

“What do you mean?” I said, touching my head. “I simply got one a few days ago. What the Fuck!” My hair has grown a few inches since this morning. I was still laying on the ground. I kept getting pains all over my body. Jack helped me up.

“We should get you to the hospital,” he said. I agreed with him wholeheartedly. If I went back to my house, they would end up putting me on the bed and strapping me down again. Besides, it’s easier to go to the hospital than climb that big hill again.

We made it to the hospital in about 3 minutes. It wasn't very hard. We went straight away to the emergency room. I was in so much pain that I collapsed immediately before I was signed in. A bunch of nurses and doctors came rushing over to help me. One nurse brought me a wheelchair so I can sit down right away.
They didn't even have to sign me in. I was immediately sent to a room. A doctor rushed in and checked me over. A nurse came in and asked me my name, address, insurance, and phone number. Since I have been there before, I only needed to tell them my name and address.

I was taken in to check how tall I was and how much I weighed. I was okay with walking for a little bit.
“Stand up straight Nathan,” said the nurse. “Okay, your 5 foot 6 and 130 pounds.”

“Wait!” I was shocked. “I'm not 5 foot 6. Last week I was at 5 feet 11. How can I be shorter?”
The nurse had to double check me again. “Wait, you just turned five feet exactly.” She said shocked, “And now you’re 102 Pounds. Doctor Wheeler, we need assistance right away.” Right away, Doctor Wheeler came over to me.

“What appears to be a problem?”

“I just recorded Nathan 2 times in a row. He claimed he was supposed to be 5 feet 11, but he was 5 feet 6, and then I checked again, and he was 5 feet, a few seconds later.”

“Let me recheck you, son,” Doctor Wheeler asked me. I got up from the chair and stood on the scale again. He checked my height. “Hmm... Strange. You are now at 4 feet 3.” I started freaking out.

“What's wrong with me?” I cried.

“I'm not sure, but let’s take you in to get blood drawn right away.”

~o~O~o~

At the house, mom was just pulling into the driveway. George came outside. “Have you seen Nathan?”

“No, I have not,” Mom said. “I thought he was still with you when I left to pick up a few groceries.”

“Well, something terrible could be happening to your son right now. Instead of a few days, He will be a girl in a matter of minutes.”

“Oh,” mom said without even panicking. “Well, he will have to learn his lesson from stealing.

~o~O~o~

Back at the hospital, I am looked at by a few doctors. I was getting bored. I twirled my hair around my finger. “What the fuck!” I yelled, “My hair is really long now?” I noticed my voice was higher now and not as low as I used to be. “What's wrong with me?” I cried.

“We have no idea of what is going on. This is a first for us.”

“Nathan,” a nurse came into the room. “We have tried to call your house, but the number has been disconnected. Do you know another number we can reach your mom at?”

I thought about that for a second. “Well, we did just move into George Russell's House up the hill today. I don't know his number, but I believe he's in the phone directory.”
Just then, a man came into the room. “Sorry for keeping you waiting, Doctor Wheeler. I got the test reports on the blood back.

Doctor Wheeler took it and read some interesting news. He stared blankly at me.
“Well, I have some Good News and Some Bad News.” He said. “The good news is, you’re a healthy little girl.”

“I'm a what?” I said I started to cry.

“Unfortunately, that's also the bad news. Your Chromosomes have turned from XY to XX. Also, you are now a preteen around the age of 10 years.”

Chapter Two
The New Girl

“What do you mean? I’m not a girl!” I cry softly. “He is crazy. I got to get out of here,” thinking to myself.
Doctor Wheeler sat at a small table in the room. “We have the lab results. It shows you are now a girl.” He shows me a sheet of paper. I get nervous and start twisting my new long hair around my finger as I listen to the crazy doctor

“If you don’t mind, we would like to do some tests?” He said getting up from the table.

"Well, they're wrong, I feel smaller, but I still am a boy.” I stare at myself in the mirror. I check my baggy clothes, almost falling off me as I hold them up with my hands.

“I will set up the tests…”

“But doctor, I’m scared” I look like I was about to cry, as I play with my long hair again.

“I love your long blonde hair Nathan... or, should it be Natalie?”

“Um, I need to get some other clothes. These are falling off me.” I get scared holding my jeans up, can’t even see my feet.

“The only things we have in your size are these cute hello kitty pajamas.”

“I notice you’re getting shorter every minute.

“But aren’t they for a girl?”

“Natalie, you are a girl.” He said chuckling.

“But, but no, I’m not,” I cry softly.

“Here put these on as well. He says handing me pink panties. You don’t want to wander around with no underwear.

“I still don’t believe I’m a girl.”

“You will when you change into the panties.”
I reach out to take the clothes, and my pants and underwear slide to the floor.
I see him looking the other way and I put on the clothes. I didn't want to see it, but putting on the panties made it hard for me not to notice what I lost and gained done there.

“There you go, young lady.”

“Doctor, I appear so small now. How old are girls that wear these size clothes?”
The doctor smiles at what I said.
"The clothes you're wearing are what five to seven-year-old girls wear.”

“What? Really?” I pouted. I sat down on the bed. “I feel like I need to rest. I feel dizzy.”
Doctor Wheeler helped me into the bed.

I relax lying as my mind goes 100 miles an hour in every direction. “What’s my girlfriend going to think?” I silently thought, as I cry softly to myself.
I close my eyes as the doctor leaves me alone, lying on the bed. The doctor leaves the room.

“I can’t stay here” I open my eyes, “I need to get out of here”. I climb off the bed, noticing how tiny my feet are now. “This is crazy.”

I walk over and open the hospital door. I peer out looking both ways, seeing no one, I simply wander down the hallway. “Dang, I can’t walk home in a girl’s nightgown. I will stand out big time. I need some other clothes.”
I hear someone coming, and I slide into the hospital room closest to me. A nurse walks by with a wheelchair to another room, heading to another place.

I notice a bag on the floor of the empty room. Then a new nurse steps in. Realizing it’s that same nurse. I turn and see the nurse. Thinking to myself; I am caught. The nurse didn't stop, she just kept walking past and towards the nurses station.

I quickly put on the clothes, not noticing until I was finished that I put on a skirt. Not wanting to search for any other clothes, I head out to the hall and walk casually, trying not to be suspicious.

I noticed Doctor Wheeler was walking down the hall, but didn't notice me. He looked like he was more interested in what’s on his clipboard.
I was almost to the exit of the hospital, when I spotted mom wandering in.
I cross my legs together when viewing mom walking towards me.
I turn the other way and head straight for the ladies’ room to hide.
Mom notices me but doesn't do anything. I guess she didn't recognize me. “What a cutie.” she says still going down the hall.

Doctor Wheeler stepped into the room. I was originally in. He was getting ready for some tests that I was supposed to take. He noticed I was gone. He immediately told a nurse. Mom walks up to my room and noticed I was gone as well.

“Excuse me?” She says to a nurse. “Where is my son? He’s supposed to be in this room” The nurse looks at a chart.

“I’m sorry lady; you must have the wrong room. A little girl occupies this. Which at the moment is missing?”
Mom thought for a minute. While walking, she remembered a little girl about a minute ago. She heads to the restroom.

As hide in the restroom, I see my reflection in the mirror for the first time. I was in shock. I looked like my mom when she was little. I saw pictures of her, so I kind of knew what she looked like. I don’t know why, but I started to giggle.

Just then the door opens, and a nurse walks into the restroom looking for me.
I hide, hoping nobody catches me.
The nurse checks under the stalls, but doesn’t find any feet and walks out.
I breathe a sigh of relief and step out of the stall right about the time my mom walks into the room.

“Oh crap!” I just stare up at her.

“Nathan?” Mom said, staring down at me.

"Who?" I say.

That same nurse returned into the room.

"There you are Natalie," she grumbled. "We have been searching for you all over the place."

"Natalie?" Mom repeated my new name. "Is that what you call yourself now?"

"Yes," I cry glancing down at the ground.

"Come on Natalie," the nurse said, taking me by my hand and heading down the hall. "Doctor Wheeler wants to do a few more tests on you."

~o~O~o~

As we walked out of the hospital, mom held my hand.
"So the doctor told me you are as young as a six year old now," mom told me.

"A six year old?" I whined.
"Yes," Mom laughed. "And because of that, he gave me a booster seat for you to sit in while we are in the car."

We walk to the car. mom puts in the booster seat, and I sulk as I watch.

“Why can’t I just sit in a regular seat?”

“It’s the law of the state," Mom told me, "You have to be in a booster seat until you grow taller. Now come on. We have to make it to the airport to pick up Jennifer.
"Oh great, Jennifer," I thought. "Just what I need, my sister seeing me like this."

~o~O~o~

"But mom!" I cry as we head into the mall at the airport.
"No butts!” mom scolded, "It's dresses and skirts, no pants"
I cry as we step into the building
Your sister won't be here for a few minutes, so this gives us plenty of time to buy a dress for you to wear and show off to her.

We head into a store called ‘Just Girls’ I felt angry. I gazed down at the floor and saw a picture of a clubhouse. with a sign saying “Girls only, no boys allowed.”

“Just Girls?” I thinking to myself. "Good luck finding pants now"
We step in and find all kinds of cute clothes. A sign that says "Why wear pants?"

“Fantastic, this sucks!” I whisper.

A sales lady walks up to us. “What a cute little girl? How old are you?”
"She's six."

I look around not realizing I am still holding mom’s hand like a toddler and staring at a dress.

“Do you like that dress? I notice you keep staring at it,” the saleslady said looking at me.

“ Um, no, I wasn’t staring at it,” I lied. “Just looking around the store.”

Mom whispered to the sales lady, “I will get that dress for her.”
I see them talking, but can’t hear what they’re saying.

“Come on Natalie, let’s look for clothes,” mom says. “You pick, and I will decide.”

~o~O~o~

We make it to see Jennifer just in time. I was wearing the new dress I was looking at earlier. I didn't expect mom to actually get it.

As we walk, I see Jennifer, and I put my head down as I hold mom’s hand.
Jennifer runs up to us and hugs mom. Hi mom.” She looks down at me, “Who's the little girl?”

“This is Natalie, your sister.”
I look up at Jennifer smiling down at me.

“Welcome back sis,” I say.

“ Nathan?”

“No," I sigh. I'm Natalie now.”

“How'd you become a little girl?” she giggles.

“Long story," I'll explain in the car ride home."

We start walking towards the exit to the parking lot.

As we turned the corner, I saw Jennifer stop in her tracks.

"Look over there?” Jennifer cried. mom and I glance towards where Jen is pointing. We see a woman struggling to escape these three weird looking people with no luck.
One took huge bite out of her arm.

mom drops her purse and almost screamed in pure horror.

Chapter Three
The Outbreak

“Holy shit, did you see that?” I curse, but no one cares because we are watching, as one of the weird watching people takes a bite out of the woman's throat, and blood is squirting everywhere.

“Look at those other's, they are biting her too,” I say watching. The lady stops screaming as she dies, and they just pile on her, noticing blood everywhere.

We stare in shock and observe all around as we stand there watching. “This is crazy. I feel like we are in the show “The Walking Dead.” I say then turn and look at mom and Jen with their hands over their mouth’s, standing in shock.

Mom and Jen turn and see me staring at as a lady taking a chunk out of some old lady's neck about ten feet from us. She bites into her neck, blood squirts everywhere, and extensive veins oozing out more blood.

We start backing up into the store next to the restrooms and discover a security guard laying in a pool of blood with his head beaten in. “Mom, this is crazy, but on the walking dead, they shoot the zombies in the head, and they die. That security guard looks gross, but he has a gun on his side and also looks at his ankle that must be his back up like they have on TV.”

“I have no idea how to shoot a gun.” I look at each other, and mom and Jen appear more scared than me. I won't tell them that I am so scared I almost pee myself when I saw that first person get killed.
Jen turn and screams. “Mom, look, those two zombies are turning towards us, what do we do?” Jen says standing there staring at mommy. I look at mommy, and she has her hands over her mouth in shock or something not responding.

“Jen, you're closer to that security guard, grab his gun and point it at the zombie and pull the trigger.” Jen does exactly that. She takes the gun out of the security guard's holster, aims it at the zombie closest, pulls the trigger and shoots him in the chest. The zombie still keeps sauntering towards us.

Jen turns and stares at me this time. “Jen, use both your hands and aim at his head. On TV, that is what kills them.” My sister says nothing. She is acting like a robot with no feeling and quickly aims at the head.
BANG!
She hits the zombie in the head, and it drops to the ground.

“Excellent shot Jen, that’s what we have to do, shoot the other one while I get his back up pistol around his ankle.” I run over to the guard, and it is not that easy to get the gun off his ankle, but I do it and run back to mom and Jen.

Mom stares at me and then at Jen. “Natalie, you're only six years old, you shouldn’t be holding a gun.” I look at her like she is stoned or something.

“You have to be kidding mom, before I was changed into this little girl's body, I used to shoot paintball wars with my buddies. I am pretty good by the way, but do you know how to shoot a gun? Mom, these are way heavier now than when I was a 16-year-old boy.

Mom looks at me. “No, I never shot a gun or even had one in my hand,” Mom says while staring at me holding the small pistol in my hand down on my side.

BANG! BANG!

We see Jen shot another one of the zombies.

“Good shot Jen, but remember to try to go with one shot, one kill, not like a video game or in the movies where they never run out of ammo.” I notice Jen stare at me, and her eyes open wide.

I turn and just as I turn, I hear a mommy scream as a zombie grabs her by the shoulder, and he moves his blood dripping mouth to mommy's neck. I turn and lift the pistol up, and just put it under the zombie’s throat, and I pull the trigger.

BANG!

When I pull the trigger, you can see the blood shoot out of the top of the zombie's head, and my arm and side are covered in blood and chunks of brain. Way freaking disgusting, looks like spaghetti all over me.

“Great, you saved mom, Natalie.” I look at mommy and she is screaming, but no sound is coming out of her mouth because blood has landed all over her face too.

I feel a hand on my shoulder, and I turn quickly and see it is Jen. “Man, you scared the crap out of me, Jen.”

“Oh, don’t be such a drama queen.” I stare at her smiling face. “That was awesome that you saved mom, I would have never been able to shoot that far away.”

I look up at her. “I am not a drama queen!”

“Mom, are you okay? Remember, I saved you the next time you want to ground me or give me a spanking.” Jen and I notice mommy laughing uncontrollably.

Mom comes close and hugs both of us. “Thank you, sweetie. You saved my life. Thank you again, sweetheart, but there are way too many of them, we need to get out of here.”

The moment we hear the words that came out of mom's mouth, we hear a loud crash. We three turn and observe over 100 of them coming through the glass wall and glass doors into the airport. “We need to go, and we need to go now, run!” Mom screams, and we run in the opposite direction of the wave of slow-moving zombies coming our direction.

“Mom, where are we running too? There seem to be zombies everywhere. The only good thing is they are so sluggish,” Jen asks mom while we are running.

I look at mom like Jen, and mom is just staring at the slow-moving zombie. “I don’t know where to go or which way to go, all I know is I don’t want to be near these zombie things.”

“Mom, we know we can kill them, but we will run out of bullets. I think we should go to a sporting good place in this airport so we can get more bullets to protect ourselves.”

Jen looks at me. “Why the hell would an airport have a sporting goods store or even bullets in the first place?”

“Well, I know they have a sporting goods department in Pawxie. They have everything we could need.” Mom and Jen glance at me. “We are heading the right direction too.”

I can see my 14-year-old sister staring at me. “I think that is a wonderful idea. I will be in front like I am, and you stay turned to the back, and mom seems out of it, so she will be in the middle okay?”

“Sounds good.” Jennifer turned to eye contact with me, and she trips over one of the zombies, dead people, parts or blood she slips and lands on the floor. “Are you okay sis? They get pretty close to us up and hold onto mom. I am too small to hold your weight.”

I watch as Jen leans up against mom, and it looks like her ankle is sprained or twisted, or something because it is starting to swell up. “Jen, keep your shooting arm up, so if we are surprised, you can defend yourself. I guess I will lead now and you watch our backs, sis, okay?”

“Okay, I am fine, just don’t leave me here to get eaten by these crazy looking zombies.” I can tell she is crying softly.

Another 100 feet and we will be there. “We are almost there, just stay near the wall, so we only have to look in front of us. Jen, can you make it too Pawxie? Look, you can see the entrance.”

“Yes, yes I can, but don’t leave me behind.” Mom and Jen hold each other, and we are big time screwed if one of us gets any more hurt.

There is a security guard laying against the wall in a pool of blood, but he has no weapons. He is laying underneath some control cabinet with a key hanging from it. “Hey, do you see the dead security guard over there?” It looks like he was trying to turn the security on, and those steel gates come down when the store is closed. If we could get that gate down, we would be safely inside sears.”

“But there are zombies inside Pawxie too,” Jen says as mom looks to me and then at Jen.

I watch mom grab Jen so that she can hold her better. “Natalie is right, if we can lock ourselves in there, then no more zombies can come in there, and we just have to kill the ones still inside. I have to carry your sister. Natalie, you are the one that has to turn that key or something to shut the gates.”

“Okay, I can do it. Like I have a choice, I have to do it.” We continue to move, and now we are inside Pawxie, and I run from mom and Jen and discover the key. I have no idea which way or what to do, and the zombies are almost up to us. I am running out of time.

I glance quick at the stainless steel switch and dial, and I notice all kinds of letters, and one says, Code Adam. I turn it to that, and the steel gates start to come down with red lights flashing. I look farther and can see all the windows and glass doors are all being secured by the steel fence coming down. Over the loudspeakers, you can hear a voice speaking. “This is a Code Adam, there is a missing child in the store, and all the windows and doors are now being secured. The police are being called, everyone stay calm.”

“How did you do that Natalie.” I hear mom and Jen saying simultaneously, so mom lets Jen down, so they can both catch their breaths.

The gate is secure. The zombies reach the steel wall, fence, and they make weird variety of noises, but they cannot come in. “We had the police come to our school last year when I was in high school. The police told us about a boy kidnapped in a store, and they made it known that a Code Adam would lock down any store. So I guess when I saw the words on the dial that said ‘Code Adam', I turned to that and got lucky.”

BANG! BANG!

Mom and I turn, and Jen is pointing her smoking gun at a zombie behind me. I watch as it falls to the ground. “Thanks, Jen, I guess we can never let our guard down. The second we take a break, we almost were killed.”

“Let’s get to the sporting goods department and get some more bullets.” We slowly start to move towards the signs that say camping, and there is blood, guts, and a live zombie on the floor moving its head, and its only arm making noise as we pass by it.

“Man, that is seriously gross, I mean it’s bad enough that these things kill you, but they mess your hair up, and make you look so ugly and gross too.”

I gaze at her and then at mom. We both start busting up laughing. “Are you okay Jen?" I laugh, "These zombies are eating people alive and killing them, and you’re worried about your hair.” Mom and I giggle staring at Jen.

“Well, at least I'm not naked. I mean, wouldn’t that be the worst thing ever to turn into a zombie, and be naked?” I mean, is there anything worse?”

I look at Jen, and I believe she is in shock. “Your right, maybe I should get my hair done and my nails like you, so I look like a pretty zombie with my head bitten off, at least I will have pretty nails.” Mom and I shake our heads.

“Yeah, know Natalie, we are going through the girl's department.” I roll my eyes. Didn't we just go shopping for me earlier? I look around and see all the dresses. I turn around and see mom putting a dress on a hanger up to the back of me. “Oh, this will look so cute on you sweetheart.”

I shake my head. “I can't believe you, mom, one minute you’re in shock and can't talk, and the next you’re picking dresses out.”

BANG!

Mom and I both turn at the gunshot. Jen just shot another zombie. Mom continued searching through the dresses.

“Mom, are you serious? I mean those zombies could be back any second." I stop and gaze at a dress. "Oh, that dress looks pretty." I shake my head, getting my mind on track again. "I mean we are in Pawxie, packed with freaking zombies trying to kill us, and you're looking through dresses?”

BANG!

Jen shots another zombie as it falls to the ground. I glance back at her.

“Okay, let’s get out of here girl's.” We hear mom say. We start to move slowly.
All of a sudden, mom screams and several zombies are grabbing her from the back. Jen and I turn simultaneously, and we both shoot, but both the zombies fall on top of mom. “Go save yourselves, girl's, I am done for!”

The dead zombies fall over mom, and several live ones start climbing or falling over them and start coming after us. “We better run Natalie.” I glance back, and I can't even see mom anymore, as the zombies entirely cover her up after they fell on top of her, with the other's climbing over them trying to bite us.

“Okay, I am coming, you check the front, and I’ll watch the back,” I say.

BANG! BANG!

I shoot one super ugly zombie who was having a terrible hair day and is coated with her or someone else’s blood.

After I kill that one, I get closer to Jen, and we run full blast over to the sporting goods department, and the wall is packed with rifles, shotguns, and all types of weapons. We both hide behind the counter, and a notice box after box of bullets.

“Look Natalie, you are right. Look at all the bullets. Why would an airport have so many guns and bullets?” She asked me. She looks at each box. "How do we know what size we need, they're are all different sizes?”

I look at the boxes. I wasn't even sure.

"Don't worry, Natalie, I figured it out. She puts bullets into the gun she was holding.

"Here take these," she says, pushing them across the floor towards me.

I take them out of the box and open my gun. To my surprise, there was only one left. I start filling it back up.

“Wow sis, I was on my last bullet.” I continue to load more bullets.

Jen looks through the top of the counter. “I don’t see any more zombies, maybe we killed all of them.” I gaze over at her doing the same thing I am loading up. “Maybe we are safe now. I can't believe mom is gone now.” I hear her start to cry.

“No sis, don’t make any noise. On TV, what attracts the zombies is sound. We can cry for mom later when we are safe. I still think there are more out there.” I continue to load up.

Jen stops crying, and I notice her staring at the semi-automatic rifles. “Hey, little sis, did you ever shoot one of these kinds of guns?” They look like they hold a lot more bullets than these pistols.

“No, I never shot one of those, but then again, I never shot a real gun until a while ago, I only shot paintball guns before, so how hard can it be to shoot one of those rifles? I guess you just point and pull the trigger, how hard can that be.” I watch as Jen rubs her ankle moaning.

I stand up slowly, seeing a few zombies.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

“Wow, that was cool as anything. Did you see that?”
I was more surprised how fast that automatic rifle went off. I look over and see the zombie still advancing towards us, but a lot slower. “You shot him right in the balls Jen. What the heck kind of show was that? You need to shoot them in the head to kill them.”

“I know little sister, but he’s not a he anymore, he’s an 'it', since it doesn’t have any balls or a dick and it won't be making any babies.” Jen giggles, and then I shake my head, and I start giggling too.

Jen stands back up and points the rifle and shoots one shot between the eyes, it falls to the ground. We both laugh at each other until we hear lots of growling near us as we both turn. “Oh crap there right on top of us,” I say as I pick up my gun, but they're so close.

BANG! BANG! BANG!
I watched as Jennifer blew all those zombies away. My little gun wouldn't have been able to do that.
I start to pout.

"Hey, I got an idea. Why don't we attempt to call 911 and tell them we are trapped in Pawxie, and we can't get out because of all the zombies."

Hearing that from Jen makes me think, is the whole world like this or only in Mantri, Kansas?. "That's a splendid idea, Jen, do you still have your cell phone?" I notice her pulling it out of her purse and waves it to me. "I will stand guard while you call them."

"Okay, it is ringing" It is so quiet I can hear her phone ringing while the phone is up against her head. "No one is answering the phone, that's not a good sign." I hear Jen saying.

I continue to look to the left, rather than to the right, and see no zombies. "You know what Jen, maybe if we go on the roof, we will have a better reception, and maybe contact someone."

"Yeah, that's an excellent idea, Natalie." I noticed when we went through the kids area, there was a closet open and a metal ladder in it. I bet it goes to the roof." I keep looking around listening to Jen. "Okay, I will put some ammo into my purse, so we have some when we leave here."

I see how tiny her purse is. "You have to be kidding sis, that is tiny. We need something bigger." I watch as Jen picks up a small backpack with hello kitty on it, she hands it to me.

"Here you can carry some supplies in this backpack, plus it will look cute on you because it matches your dress." I take the hello kitty backpack and put half a dozen bullets in it.

I notice Jen has the same type of stuff in her backpack. "Are you ready, Natalie?" I stare at her, putting her bag on her shoulder.

"Yes, I am ready, I will follow you, and I will be watching our back so none of these zombies can sneak up on us."

We start slowly walking without making any noise, like some sort of Special Forces or recon marines. The only difference is we are two small girls wearing dresses, one with a princess backpack and me with a hello kitty backpack filled with ammo.

A few minutes later, we are moving through the kids area, and Jen stops in front of the closet. "Okay, I think this is it, Natalie. It looks like the coast is clear, so you up the ladder first."

"Okay, but you come right after me. I close the door, and the zombies won't open the door, and if we have to come back, we will know there's none in here okay?"

I look down and see Jen staring up at me climbing up the metal ladder bolted right to the wall. I hear her giggling below me. "What's so funny Jen? I can hear you are giggling from up here."

I can see up your dress. I hear her continue to giggle. "Now I understand why boys look up girls skirts. How do you feel having someone look up your skirt now that you're a girl?
I ignore her.
As I get to the top of the ladder, I push on it and the top swings open. It was dark outside. It was a bit hard to see, but with the lights still on from the airport, I could look at some things. I climb out onto the roof, looking around, making sure we don't have any unwanted visitors. "Okay Jen, it seems safe up here."

"Okay, I will try 911 again Natalie," Jen says, looking all-serious at me.

I smile at her. "Do you need the number for 911 Jen?" We both turn at each other and laugh, and we hear the cell ringing over, and over, but no one is answering. The phone must have rung forever, and still, no one answered.

"Well, little sister, we are only a few stores down from McDonald's. Let's see if we can find that roof access and climb down there and get some food. Are you as hungry as me?"

I straighten up my dress. "You bet I am starving, I could eat a horse, well, as long as it wasn't a zombie horse. I giggle."
We start to walk across a few rooftops access, Jen opens one, and bingo says McDonald's all over the boxes at the bottom of the new metal ladder.

"I reckon we struck gold, this is the one, McDonald's. Let's hope and pray we get lucky, and they have food." I watch as Jen goes down the ladder before me.

I start giggling after I close the hatch. "Why are you giggling, Natalie?" I look down at her again.

"Well, we are on another ladder, and you are under me. I bet you can see my panties again."

Jen looks up at me. "You are weird."

Jen starts to turn the doorknob slowly, and I aim my rifle in the direction in front of us. It's dark again as I watch Jen's hand reach over and turn the light switch on. "Oh crap, look there is a dead zombie on the floor, he has a hole in his head. I hate when that happens."

"That's not funny, Natalie." We both look around, not seeing anything or anybody. "I wonder how this zombie was killed?" I don't see anyone else around. We move further into the store and see no one else there dead or alive.

I sit at one of the benches and put my gun on the table, lifting my legs onto the bench. The moment I get relaxed, I hear. "Natalie wake up." I take the gun and see Jen aiming hers towards a dark shadow advancing towards us. Just as I am trying to focus, I can see better.

"Girl's don't shoot me, I am your mother after all." The second we hear her voice, we know she isn't a zombie, plus her hair still looks pretty, so that for sure makes her no zombie.

Jen and I both run over and hug her. "What happened mom? We saw the zombies climbing all over you. We wouldn't have never left you there, but we thought you were done for."

"It's okay. They must have knocked me out when they fell on me, and both of you shot them all so none bit or eaten me so to speak, so I just started to search for you both. I see you both close the door to that closet, but by the time I got there, I had to shoot my way to it, and I didn't want any following me."

We both continue to hug mom, listening to her explain her adventure. (Another Hollywood moment unbelievable)

"I am starving, and I guess since you both wanted to come here, you both must be as hungry as me. I will cook some food. Why don't you both rest up and I will cook us a little something." I smile and eyes Jen smiling simultaneously.

I go and sit back at my table, putting my rifle back on the table.

As I sit at the table, I stick my tongue at Jen, and she only smiles back at me sitting across from me at the same table. "This may take a while, so just take a nap, and I will wake you both when dinner is made, girls."

I close my eyes. A short while later, I am out cold and almost snoring. "Mom, can you hear little Natalie?"

"Yes, she must be tired, she even has cute little snores." Jen smiles as she watches me sleep. "Doesn't she look like the cutesiest laying there?"

Mom smiles.

I must have had a bad dream because Jen and mom heard me crying. Mom came over and cuddled me. I was sitting up. "Please don't cry." Mom smiled, trying to comfort me.

"I can't; I'm too scared the zombies will get us."

You don't have to worry. I checked the doors, making sure they were locked."

"I don't think I can sleep, could you sing me a song?"

"Natalie, just try to sleep."

"Please mom, just once."

"Oh, alright," I closed my eyes and listened to her beautiful voice. 'Will I sing like her someday?' I thought.

When I was just a little girl, I asked my mother, What will I be? Will I be pretty? Will I be rich? Here's what she said to me. Que sera, sera, Whatever will be, will be, The future's not ours to see, Que sera, sera. What will be, will be"

I wake up to the smell of Sausage and eggs. Mom was cooking on a strange grill. I looked around, and it seemed like I was in a restaurant. Confused, I looked around. “How did I get here?” I thought to myself. I gaze at the entrance to the restaurant. The chain fence was down. Hundreds of people were there wanting in. They were repulsive people. Looking like monsters.
Wait... those are zombies. My mind went blank for a second.

I notice Jennifer sitting at the table. I walk over to her and watch the zombies banging at the chain door.
"I hope they don't come in," I told Jennifer.

"I doubt they will," Jennifer said. "They've been trying for awhile now, the fence is like the one at Pawxie."

Mom brings over a plate of 3 pancakes, two eggs, and a sausage patty.

I slowly ate my food. I was thinking of the good old days when I would sit at home playing video games on Okra, a video game streaming service that out beat Twitch and YouTube. My friends would join in. I was also a partner and made money through subscriptions and power points.
I wasn't as popular as the famous JackTheSepticGuy, Marcuspliers or even PussyPie.

"Natalie, lets go!" Mom said, waking me up from my day dream. She had a bag in her hands. From the look of it, it was food from the restaurant.
I noticed the zombies were no longer at the gate.
Jennifer found a way to keep the zombies away. Not sure what it is.

~o~O~o~

The roof was empty. Which was good. I didn't want to see any zombies. I stayed close to mom. We looked down from the roof. As I expected, there were zombies all over the place, but they were scattered all around.

“This reminds me of the movie Dawn of the Dead, where they were on the roof of a mall, just like us,” I said looking down at all the zombies. “but in that movie, they chase us. These zombies are pretty slow. I believe we can outrun them.”

Mom was looking at her car from a distance. “We just have to make it to the car.”

“How can we do that?" I groaned. "Act like zombies like they do in Shaun of the Dead? This isn't a movie. This is real life.”

“We can find a dead zombie and smear ourselves with its stink, to smell like them. Exactly like that episode of the Walking Dead.”

“Eeew, Gross mom, I am not doing that,” Jennifer complained.
I glance at Jennifer. In her pocket was a cell phone. “How about you call someone on your phone?”

“I don't think there is any signal...” She says looking at her phone. “...Oh, wait there is?” The battery is low, but enough to call out for help. Mom takes the phone.

“I know the perfect guy to call.” She presses the buttons on the phone and walks away talking to someone on the other end. Jennifer and I look at each other. We were confused and wondered who she was talking to.

She got off the phone a minute later and sat down on the ground, smiling.
“Who did you call?” I asked.

“George.” She said still smiling. “He's on his way to get us.” We sat down next to mom and waited patiently.

“What about all that food we got in our bags.” Jennifer asked, holding up her bag.”

“Well, we can still use it at the...”

“I'm starving!” I interrupted.

“Natalie, it's not polite to interrupt people.

“Sorry mom,” I cried. Just then we heard beeping coming from under the mall walls. It was George.

“That was quick,” Jennifer said, glancing at the clock on her phone. We watched him run over zombie after zombie in his path. When he got to the building, we had to jump. The troubling thing is, he brought the truck of manure. We didn't want to jump in it, but that was the only way to get down without hurting ourselves.

“Hey, it beats smelling like a dead zombie carcass.” Mom said. We both agreed.

“But I am the first to take a shower when we get back to the house,” Jennifer said with a frown. The truck drove off and was on the way back to the house. I peeked out of the truck. Noticing zombies everywhere. Were we like the last people on Earth? I thought. Just then the truck stopped.

“What's going on, George?” Mom yelled at him.

“We ran out of fuel,” he yelled back. “I didn't expect to run out this fast.”

“What are we going to do?”

“We're going to have to run for it.”

I look back and see hundreds slowly heading our way.

BANG BANG BANG

Jennifer and George were shooting off the zombies. I didn't have my gun, otherwise I would have helped. Either I left it at the restaurant, or I dropped it somewhere. The shooting went silent. I fell to the ground and everything went dark.

~o~O~o~

I woke up from a bell.

A bell? Sounded like a doorbell. I looked around and realized I wasn't on the ground anymore. I was in my bedroom at the house.
I stare out the window. It was light outside. Must have been daytime.

“Hello Jack,” Jennifer was downstairs and opened the door. I can hear her from my room. "How are you doing?"

“I'm doing fine, is Nathan around?”

“Yes, let me get her,” she said walking to the stairs.

“Her?” he said, confused.

“Natalie, your friend Jack is here.”

“Natalie?” this time he was baffled.” He went to the kitchen and grabbed a drink from the fridge. It was in a bottle that looked like a soda. But when he drank it, it tasted nasty. Not drinking the whole thing, he puts it back in the fridge.

I came for Nathan, not a girl named Natalie.” I came running down the stairs. “Especially a little girl like her.”
“Jack!” I screamed. “So glad you made it. I am so bored.”

"Who are you?" He asked.

“Nathan... er... I mean Natalie now." I stare at the floor.
"Is this some kind of joke?" Jack laughed.
"It's a long story," I said.
Jack was confused. All of a sudden, he started to feel dizzy and fell the table and straight to the floor. It caused such a commotion, I hear George and Mommy running upstairs from the basement where they were.
They noticed Jack was on the floor.
George ran to the fridge. “Did he drink this soda?” He asked. “It's half empty.”

“I don't know. He might have. He went in here when I was getting Natalie.”

“I believe he drank the special formula, just like Natalie did.”
I was confused. “I drank that formula?” I said, pointing at it.

“Yes, you did. That's how you became a little girl.” He put the bottle on the counter. “I knew I should have put it in the fridge downstairs, but I thought it was safe here. With just girls, Alfred and me in the house.” He picked up Jack and brought him down to the basement into a little room, put him down on the bed. Jack was still laying there. He looked so peaceful. I sat down next to him. With my own eyes, I watched him slowly turn into a little girl. I started freaking out. "How could this be happening?"

“My fellow Americans. Everyone knows the Isisraxtosa virus is spreading rapidly. Every major city in the United States, including Washington, D.C. itself, has known cases of this virus. If there is any way of beating this, we have not gotten word of it. We believe they started in the country of Argentina...”
Mom turned off the TV. I was glad she did. George came into the room from downstairs. He was still watching over Jack after turning into a girl.
He didn't appear cheerful. He couldn't stop pacing. He stopped talking to everyone in the room. Too much on his head. But after a few minutes of pacing, he stopped. “How could I have done this?” he said.
“What did you do?” mom asked, putting her arm around his shoulder.
“I'm just wondering what country those zombies came from?” George said after a few seconds.

“Argentina,” I cried out. “Jennifer's plane had it on board. They are coming out of the Mantri International Mall and Airport as we speak.”

“Shit!” George ran back downstairs. We could hear him talking to Alfred.

“Honey, what is wrong?” mom said. “Is there something you need to tell me?”

We marched downstairs and listened from the stairway.

George checked through lots of paperwork at his desk. “Alfred and I have been working on a formula to help with a Plague in Argentina. This Plague was making people ill and even die. So we offered to help. I believe they called the Plague, Geocera, and the formula we made, I had named it...” He stopped for a second and looked up at mom. “Isisraxtosa.”

“You created the most deadly virus in the world?” I screamed getting off the stairs.

“It wasn't a virus when we made it. We even tested it out on a few people here in the United States. You may know them lab-rats or Human Guinea Pigs.” He looked closer to me. “In fact, Natalie and Jack had some of it when they drank that bottle.”

I stepped into the room. “You mean, that drink was the Isisraxtosa Virus?”

“No, it wasn't a virus. You did drink the Isisraxtosa, but it was also a mix of my gender changing formula.
I noticed Jack was lying on the bed playing a video game. I went over to him.
"I'm confused." I looked back at George. “If Jack and I drank the formula, how come we didn't turn into zombies as well?”

“Because you didn't have the Geocera Plague,” he explained. It's a mix of those two that caused the zombie virus. I tested out on people sick, but it wasn't the Geocera. They felt better, so I figured we could send the formula to Argentina to stop the plague from spreading to everybody else.”

“Then why are people turning into zombies here in the states?” I asked.

“Haven't you seen the movies?”

“Yeah, they are all fake compared to this real virus. “I pouted.

“No, actually that wasn't all true. If a zombie bites you, you would also turn into one after a few seconds, just like the movie World War Z.”

“So, movies can help with the Apocalypse?” I cheered.

“In a way, yes. But cutting off a body part may not work. Remember blood flows through your body very fast. If you got bit, you wouldn't even have time to cut off that part.”

“So basically we are all fucked” I cried.

“Natalie!” mom scolded me. “Language!”

“Sorry,” I said quietly.

Just then I heard some beeping coming from a nearby computer. Alfred ran over to it.

“Dr. Russel,” We have a problem!”

“What is it, Alfred?” George said heading over to him.

“Your satellite shows a swarm of zombies heading this way.”

George ran over to a huge button on the wall and pressed it. We hear lots of noise. I started freaking out.

“Don't worry Natalie, that's just the sound of the force field I have going around the whole building.”

“How long will that last?” Mom asked.

“The house is set on Solar Power. We have over a hundred of them on this house. If everything goes well, we can live in this house for many years before the power goes dead. The worst that could happen is if somehow the sun goes away and there is total darkness for more than a week, than the power could turn off.”

“What about food?” Jennifer asked.

“We have the food I brought from McDonalds,” mom said with a smile.

I look at my friend. “What about Jack? He loves to eat.

“Jack will be fine here as well, I have plenty of MRE's, George said, showing us a room full of boxes.”

"What about your parents?" I ask Jack. "Won't they worry about you?"

“Nathan... Um... Natalie." Jack corrected, "My parents went on a trip for the week. Something to do with a second honeymoon. George said it was okay to stay here with you for the week.”

I looked at him, or should I tell her and start giggling. “How will they react to you being a girl?” I asked

Jack laughed. “How are they going to react with the zombies?”

“There's widespread panic, all over the city. Most communities are without telephones, many without power, and some without water, at this time. Scientists at the CDC have released this statement. The bodies of the recently dead are returning to life. Driven by an unknown force that drives the brain to function. People trapped, or unable to get to the safety of their own homes. We are giving a list of rescue stations on the screen.”

“I am so glad we have a safe place to stay for a while,” I said while watching the newscast on kitchen television.

Mom watched out the window. The zombies are coming toward the house. The force field did its job. Just hope nothing goes wrong.

Jennifer was in the family room watching a movie. I would also go in there, but she decided to watch Resident Evil 6: The Final Chapter. Not sure why she wanted to. There were zombies in that movie. It would give me the creeps. If the zombies were not outside, I would have watched it. I believe Jennifer is watching this movie, to scare me the most. I know I have seen lots of Zombie movies and shows. I can think of some at the top of my head. I guess my favorite would be Zombieland. But nothing can beat the Walking Dead.

Jack, or should I say Jill... Yeah, she decided to use Jill. The whole Jack and Jill thing. Well, anyways, Jill and I decided to make cookies. Why do we waste food, you say? It keeps our mind off the monsters standing outside.

“So Jill, did you go up this hill, to fetch a pail of water?” I giggled.

“Haha,” Jill said. “Very funny.”

We finished making the cookies. They were Chocolate Chip. Me and my sister's favorite. Jennifer smelt it from the family room, and next thing I knew, she was behind me. I turned around and jumped.

“God Jen, don't do that!” I cried.

“Is that what I think it is?” She asked sniffing the air.

“Yes, it is,” I said, offering her one.

“I'm watching the movie. I couldn't watch it. Want to watch Cartoon Network?”

I was excited. “Yeah!” I ran into the family room and turned the channel to 176. I sat down on the couch. The next thing I noticed was the channel was not working.

“Jen!” I cried. “I can't see the show.” Jennifer came into the room. She glanced at the television.

“Oh, sorry, little sis,” she said. “It seems like all the channels are broadcasting the Emergency Alert System.
I was disappointed.

~o~O~o~

Later that night, I was lying in bed, when I heard a ruckus downstairs. I wasn't sure what it was, but it scared the living daylights out of me.

“What was that?” I asked when I ran to the staircase.

“Don't come down here,” mom yelled. “A zombie somehow broke through the barrier of the force field.”

“I thought you said it would protect us?” I cried.

I could hear George in the basement calling up the stairs. “Sometimes there are flaws in things I make. You already know that from the Isisraxtosa virus I created.”

“Don't forget it also changed Jack and me into a girl,” I yelled.

“It's Jill!” I heard my friend yell.

“So how are you doing to get this zombie?” I asked.

There was no answer. Everything was quiet. All I heard was the sounds of moaning from outside. It was getting on my nerves.

“If I had a gun, I would shoot all of them!” I yelled.

I went down the stairs. It was so quiet. Next thing I knew, I saw the zombie. It was inside the house. I screamed, which wasn't a smart thing. It saw me and started heading towards me. All the others were barricaded in the basement. I can't believe they left me alone with a zombie.

It was getting close to me. I was running, but it was quick. I didn't know what to do. I didn't have any weapons. I ran to the family room. The best thing I could do was find something to kill it with. I spotted a lamp. I threw it at the monster. It didn't do anything. The zombie is about to devour me. I wish someone could help.

I was cornered. The zombie was a few feet from me. I started crying. I was curled up in the corner, helpless. I was crying so much I couldn't even see the zombie. This would be the end of me. I just knew it.

Just then, the zombie fell to the floor.

“What happened?” I cried. I looked up and saw Jill. She was holding a bloody kitchen knife. I could see she had tears in her eyes. So did I.
She ran over to me and hugged me.

“I can't believe you saved me,” I sobbed.

“I didn't want to lose my best friend,” she cried on my shoulder.

“Who let the zombie into the house?” I asked, “And why did you and the others go into the basement?”

“Your mother kept the door open, for some fresh air,” she said. “They went to the basement, I ran into the closet for shelter.”

“So they left you and me up here to face the zombie alone?”

“Some parents you have.”

We marched to the basement door. I tried to open it, but it was locked. I pounded on it. They wouldn't even open it. They must have thought we were the zombie.

“Mom! Jennifer!” I screamed.

They didn't even open the door. I started crying.

I noticed the door was still open and shut it. I also locked it. “I can't believe mom opened this door.”

I gazed out the window. I could see hundreds, maybe thousands of zombies. I was freaking out. I just hope they don't find out how to cross the barrier, like the other one. I stare down at the dead zombie. It smells nasty. We had to get rid of it somehow. Jill and I took the zombie and moved it to the front door. Watching out the door to see if there weren't any zombies, I opened the door, and we threw him outside. Before I shut the door, I stared at the sky. From a distance, I could see dark clouds and lightning. It didn't look like any clouds I have ever seen.

”Jill looks at that,” I said, pointing towards the sky.

“Oh my God!” she said.

“What is it?” I asked.

“It's a wall cloud,” she cried. She didn't appear delighted. I have a feeling something wasn't right.

“What's a wall cloud?” I asked while shutting and locking the door.

“It can sometimes be a threatening cloud.” She explained. We looked out the window at the sky. It was a greenish color. “Now I am worried.”

“Why is that?” I started panicking.

She didn't say anything. She was still gazing at the clouds. But then, heavy hail started falling with lots of rain. The hail displayed huge, like baseball-sized hail. I could see the zombies were getting hit by them. Some were falling over.

“Look!” she said, pointing out at the clouds.

What we saw was the most frightening thing we have ever seen, besides the zombies. The wall cloud had just created a funnel cloud, and it was lowering down to the ground. It just produced a tornado, and it was heading straight for us.

We ran to the basement door and started pounding harder and screaming. Still no answer, we tried to break the door down. No luck. Being so little, we couldn't even make a dent. Mom, Jennifer, George, and Alfred were down there, and they didn't care if we were up here.

We could hear the sound of a train. We don't have trains here in Mantri. The train sound was getting louder. I doubt they will sound the tornado sirens now, due to the zombie apocalypse going on. We had to get away from the house. I didn't want to leave my mom and sister, but there was no choice.

We ran to the kitchen. Jill helped by packing a few food items, and then we were out the door. We ran to the car, and I started it. It's not easy to start a car without keys, but it's a good thing I was taught. There were many zombies out there. I hesitated to leave the house, but I had to.

“Let's pray this car can go through the force field and not kill us when we do,” I said.

Jill, under the steering wheel, hit the gas and we were off. I was kneeling on the seat. I was too little to even see the road if I was sitting. I screamed as we broke through the barrier. Zombies were everywhere. I could see lots of them hitting the car as we went. We were both screaming now. I looked in the mirror and saw that the tornado wasn't far behind. It was closer to the house than we were. I cried when I saw the house was being torn up.

All the fun we could have done if we had stayed there. My video games, the TV with lots of Blu-rays. We were far enough from the zombies, but we still had to keep going. The tornado was still heading towards us.

Just then, a part of the house flew into my path. I was to swerve to get out of the way. Lots of zombies were also flying at the car. I hope they would not get up. The sky was getting dark. It was getting to be night time. I forgot to turn on the headlights. I turned it on, but it wasn't a good idea. I merely introduced a horde of zombies. They started heading towards the car.

This was going to be a long night trying to get to a safe place. I turned the car to the left and headed away from them. I looked out the driver side window, and I saw the tornado. It was huge now. I believe it may have been an E-F4, maybe E-F5.
Luckily, it was not heading towards us anymore. It turned in a different direction.

I glanced at the fuel gauge. It was almost empty. We had to find a place to fill up, or we would have to walk. But where would we go? I turned on the radio.

“...And people have been taking the law into their own hands. If you are listening to the broadcast at this time, please contact one of the rescue stations immediately.” There was a lot of static.

The radio announcement told us to go to the rescue stations, but where was it? Jill looked up at me.

“We could try our capital, that might be a good place to start,” she said.

“No, didn't you see the show The Walking Dead?” I explained. “People tried to go to Atlanta and ended up being devoured by zombies. It's not smart to go to big cities.”

“I hope you are right.”

“So far I have been right.” I smiled.

We made it to a small town where we could fill up the gas. I only hope there wouldn't be any zombies around when I do. The rain was still falling, but the hail was gone. I believe the tornado was also far away. We stopped at a fuel station, and I tried to fill the tank. There was still electricity working on this pump. I started filling, but didn't fill it up all the way. The electric shut off, and that was the end of the free gas.

“Well, at least we can continue driving,” I said proudly. “We have a little over half a tank.”

I started the engine again, and we were on our way. But where were we going?

We made it through the night. It was daybreak. The gas gauge showed a little over half a tank, but the car kept saying Service Engine Soon. Which is a bad sign. I just hope it doesn't break down and we are stuck in the middle of nowhere.

Which is where we are right now. Where the heck are we? The GPS doesn't work for some odd reason.

"Jill, can you look in the glove compartment and find a map?"

"I would love to, but I am controlling the gas, remember?"

"Oh yeah, I forgot." Let's pull over for a little bit and see if we can find where we are."

"Good Idea." Jill gets out from under the steering wheel, stretches, and sits while I look at the map.

"Well, this is useless. I have no idea where we are, and I wish this GPS would work." Just then the car sputtered and shut down. I could see smoke coming from the engine.

"Damn It" I yell. "Now we will have to walk to wherever we are going." We get out of the car. Luckily, there are no zombies around and start walking.

We must have been walking forever. I look back and notice the car is long gone. It would have been nice to salvage the gas from the vehicle, but where would we put it and who would carry it?

Jill was not as easy to deal with. If she were still Jack, things would have been better. Thanks to that drink, we both drank. I swear at George even though he can't hear me. I know my mom and sister are dead. My home is gone, and now I am homeless and an orphan.

Just then, a herd of zombies starts heading towards us. We had to run.

“What do we do, we have nowhere to run and nowhere to go Natalie” Jill started crying. “I am so scared.

“Don’t worry Jill, we will figure something out, what are the choices?” I feel my backpack bouncing against my back, and my little dress rubbing against my legs as we run. “Okay, look over to the right, there are tons of zombies almost to the road we need to move and move fast, Jill.”

I see tears falling down Jill's face as she doesn’t say anything while we run. It is like she is just following directions, not thinking just doing.

We stop at the edge of the deep river.

“I remember in one of the episodes of the Walking Dead that if we step into a river, a zombie might get us.” Just the thought of that gave me the shivers. I hope there are none in the river. I don’t want to be a zombie.

Just then, I heard moaning. I recognized the sound. Looking back, I see a zombie sauntering behind us. I start to panic. I just hope Jill doesn't.

“I think we have a roamer,” I whispered, looking at Jill's confused face. “It's what they call the walking zombies on The Walking Dead.”

“Oh no," she whines. "Shoot it!"

“I am trying as best as possible to save on bullets. Just Hurry up across the stream. We might make it! We don’t want to waste bullets on only one zombie. The guns are loud, and it might attract others.”

“Okay, that makes sense,” We start to move faster. The water was getting deeper. It was up to my stomach.

I glance back. The Zombie doesn't even notice us and keeps going in a different direction. I start to giggle.

“What a dumb zombie,” I thought.

We make it to the other side of the river. Our clothes were soaked. If it were a deeper river, we wouldn’t have made it. Also, it was a good thing. No zombies were in it. Who knows what would have happened.

“Didn’t that zombie look like our gym teacher, Mr. Boring?”

“You mean, Mr. Bourang?” I stared at Jill with a tilted head.

“Yeah, but everyone called him Boring,” she giggled.

“Yeah, I guess I called him that too,” I giggle as well.
Isn’t he kind of far away from school?” Jill asked me while we started walking away from the river.

“Not sure. I don’t know how far we were driving. I’m not even sure where we are?” I looked around. Nothing looked like it was at home. We did drive for a long time. I doubt that was even Mr. Bourang.”

We kept walking. We knew that we had to find a place to stay for the night. It was not safe for us to be outside at night. If we had a car, we could find a place. Damn car. Wish it didn’t just die. It had enough gas to last for miles.

Jill was getting tired. I knew she was. I was getting tired too. I have shorter legs. I started giggling.

“What’s so funny?” Jill asked me.

“Oh, nothing,” I said. We kept walking. The woods we were in were creepy. It wasn’t a great place to be. Zombies could come out of nowhere and get us. But we had no choice. I had my gun in my hand. I was ready for anything. Jill has a knife. She doesn’t hold it, but she has it stored away. Ready to grab when she needs it. The sad thing is, we both are short. But we are also very quick.

Did you notice the zombies are faster outside where it is hot and slower in the cold of the air conditioning?” Jill said breaking the silence. “Maybe we should go somewhere cold.”

“Yeah, I hope we are going north,” I looked around. “It’s colder up there.”

“How can we tell we are going north?” Jill asks, stopping to look at me.

“I remember someone telling me to look for moss on a tree. It always facing north.” I scan at a few trees. “I was right. There’s moss.” I pointed at an oak tree. “We are going in the right direction. The further north we go, the colder it will get.”

“Speaking of cold, is there a bathroom anywhere near?” Jill asked. “I need to go potty.”

I start to giggle. Yeah, you're standing on it. I absolutely loved the expression on her face. It cracked me up.

“Ha-ha, funny” She growled. “I know this is the woods, but really?”

“No, seriously...”

Jill interrupted me. “I can't go pee outside," she grumbled.

“...Girls do it all the time. Just squat.” I finished my sentence. I started giggling. “Just find a suitable place to pee.”

Jill ran behind a tree, so I didn’t see her peeing. When she came back, I heard a whistle in the distance.

“Did you hear that?” I asked, staring towards the sound.

“Yeah, it sounded like a train,” Jill said, getting up from off the ground.

“I hope it's a train,” I cheered. “Let’s go find it. I really hope no zombies heard it as well.”
We walked for a while and saw a train going down the tracks. It was going slow. We could see that there were a few boxcars on it. I smiled at Jill. “Let’s hurry up. We got to take that train. It looks like it’s going north.”

Not every day do you get a chance to travel in style. Okay, this isn't a style. Traveling in a boxcar, meant for packages or whatever, isn't what most people would do, but it is faster. Especially with zombies. The train was going slow enough for Jill and me to jump on.

A few zombies also found the train. Luckily, they don't run. If they ran, like those in the movie Dawn of The Dead, or World War Z, Jill and I wouldn't be alive today. We sat inside the boxcar staring at each other. One of the doors was open, so we could see what was going on outside. We could always shut it if we needed to, but it wouldn't be a good idea, just in case we had to get out in an emergency.

I was so bored. I started looking at my nails.

"Ew!" I exclaimed. "My nails need cleaning."

"I know what you mean," Jill smiled at me. "I noticed mine as well."

I stared out the window. All we saw were many corn fields. They didn’t get plowed, and I doubt they ever will. From a distance, I saw an image of a human. Most likely a zombie. It was moving towards the train. I fear it could get us, if the train stops for any reason, while we sleep. I look up at the sky. It was a little past one or something like that. It’s hard to tell without a watch. There were scattered clouds in the sky.

I hear the train horn blowing. It was a peaceful sound. Just wished it didn’t attract zombies. Watching the train take a turn shows how long it is. It has to be about ten boxes ahead of us and seven boxes behind us.

The train passes a herd of bison. All of them grazing in the field. I hope that zombies don’t get them. I doubt it.
I wonder where we are? What state we were in? I know it's in the northern states because we are traveling north. I only hope we are heading towards the Canadian Province of Minnesota. I can’t believe Minnesota was sold to Canada only seven years ago by the United States. I was like nine then. I look at myself. I sure look younger than nine now. Thank you, George.

Seven years ago was also the time I met my friends, Andrew and Ralph, who live in Minnesota. I doubt they will even know who I was now. Me being a six-year-old girl. I stare at Jill. I can tell she is in a good mood. She is lying on the ground with her legs in the air, moving back and forth.

“What’s up with you?” I asked.

Jill stops and looks at me. “Nothing,” she smiles at me.

“I doubt it’s nothing. I can tell you are happy.”

“Well, I was thinking. We are heading north right?”

“Yes,” I said, confused.

“And it's almost winter right?”

“Yes.”

“And Snow falls in the winter right?”

“Yes, but why are you so happy?” It’s cold during that season.”

“Well, what happens to zombies when it is cold?”

I can’t believe it. Jill is smarter than I thought. “You’re right Jill! And I noticed the temperature has been getting colder at night.” Jill’s legs start moving again. I give her a hug, which isn’t easy while she is laying on the ground.

~o~O~o~

We must have stopped. All I remember was shutting the boxcar door for the night. It was pitch black in the box. What else could I do but sleep? The train was moving when we fell asleep. But since I woke up, there was a hint of sunlight coming through a crack in the door, and the train was not in motion.

“Jill,” I whisper to her. “Wake up” Jill is a sound sleeper. Even as Jack, she... Or at that time he was the same way. I crawled over to her and shook her. “Jill, it's morning, and the train has stopped.” I can tell Jill was not ready to wake up. While she was slowly waking up, I peeked out the door of the boxcar. It was silent. Not even a person, or zombie around.

I grabbed everything I had carried on with me and slowly opened the door. It squeaked loudly. So loud, I bet every zombie in the area could hear it. Jill got her stuff, and we quickly checked both ways and hopped out of the boxcar.

We wandered around. It was silent. The place was deserted. We could see lots of tall buildings. But from where we were, we couldn’t get into any of them, due to the fact we were on the train tracks. There must be some way to get past the train station. Advancing towards the front of the train, we saw a sign on a building.

“Minnesota’s Union Depot,” I read. “We made it to Minnesota.”

“ Yeah,” Jill said happily. “But what city are we in?”

“I’m not sure,” I answered while looking up. “But by the view of the tall buildings, I would say a big one.”

We entered the Union Depot slowly. I had my knife in my hand, just in case a zombie came out of nowhere. Jill had a knife as well. We would instead use a knife as much as possible, due to the fact that a gun can make a lot of noise and attract others. I learned that from the Walking Dead. I just hope this isn’t like that one episode in season two of Fear The Walking Dead.

“Nothing yet,” Jill says while we walk in the halls of the Depot.

“Let’s just hope we don’t find any Creepers” I whisper.

“Appropriate nickname for them.”

“Yeah, I figure it would be a name to call them.”

“Can we just call them zombies? The name Creepers sounds creepy.” I laughed and agreed.

We enter a tunnel to another building. It appeared a little newer, then the Union Depot, which seemed ancient. I wonder how old these buildings are. Have they even done maintenance on these buildings? The floors looked dirty. But I kind of expected it. Since the outbreak has almost been a week. No one could keep upkeep on the buildings without anyone to do the work.

There were no lights on in the building since the electricity was shut down. The only way we could see anything was from the windows. We must have been on the second floor because we went into a Skyway connected to another building. I looked down the dirty windows covered with blood and saw lots of zombies walking around on what looked like light rail or streetcar tracks. It must have been a light rail, because I could foresee electric lines above the tracks, meant to be for light rails. I knew that we shouldn’t go outside at this point. This seemed like the time Glen and Rick from Walking Dead were walking through the buildings of Atlanta, to get to safety.

Jill went ahead and motioned for me to follow. When I got to her, I noticed a few dead bodies on the ground. My instincts told me to stab them in their forehead, just to make sure they don’t come alive on us. We again went through another Skyway. It doesn’t matter where we are; zombies were below us. We were stuck inside.

“I’m hungry,” Jill complained. I had a feeling she would have said that soon. I was starting to get hungry myself.

“Well, if we look carefully...” I said, “...we might find someplace that doesn’t have spoiled food.”

We started walking the halls. Most doors were locked. Which is a good thing and a bad thing. The good thing is, Zombies couldn’t get in there, and that is also the bad thing. We can’t get in there either if a herd of zombies comes after us. What gets annoying is that some doors won’t open unless we budge them open. Because they are sliding doors, and electricity powers them.

“Hey Natalie,” Jill said excitedly. “I know where we are!”
She pointed to a map on the wall. Why didn’t I see this before?

“Saint Paul?” I muttered. “We are in the former capital of the State, now Province of Minnesota, Canada?”

Jill was confused. “This was the capital of Minnesota?”

“Yeah, I can’t believe you didn’t hear about this. When Minnesota was sold to Canada seven years ago, they had a vote on what the city could be the new capital. Many cities wanted to be on the list. Saint Paul was still on the list, including Minneapolis, Duluth, Bloomington, Rochester and Saint Cloud. But none of them became the capital. People wanted a smaller city to be the capital. Everyone voted the capital to be the city of Blackduck.”

“I sure love your history lessons, since we don’t have school anymore.”

“Yeah, but I doubt anything is the capital now,” I pointed out, “Since this zombie apocalypse happened. Besides, that sure is history. We are now in the present and future of our world. If there were some man down on the streets holding a sign, it would have said THE END IS HERE.”

I looked out the window of the Skyway. The streets were still filled with zombies. Where were they coming from? Could they smell us? I am glad I am up here, where there are no zombies, instead of down there.

“Guess what Natalie," Jill said. “I got some good news and some bad news.

“Okay," I said, still staring out the window. “What’s the good news?”

“The good news is, I found a little store we can get food from.”

“That’s wonderful!” I cried. “But, what’s the bad news?”

“The bad news is...” She pointed to a door, which is luckily an automatic door not in service. On the other side, looked like twenty zombies that wanted us as food.

In a zombie's point of view, I wonder what they think. I doubt they're saying “Braaaaaiiins.” More likely they are saying, “I’m starving, give me food.” or “Someone, please kill me... Oh wait, I’m already dead... Someone, please kill me more”. Maybe the movie ‘Wasting Away’ is what really happens. Besides the whole ‘Super Soldier’ thing. They think everyone else is out to get them, and they have to protect themselves. I bet to them, human flesh tastes like any other animal in the world.

I can’t believe it. When people turn into zombies, they end up being cannibals. It’s disgusting. I also wonder about those vegetarians and vegans out there? Do they become meat eaters as well? That would suck. So much for PETA. They can’t stop this now.

Would it be safer to live in the country, or are there lots there? On the trip up to Minnesota, we noticed a few out there, but we didn’t see much. I might say it’s safer there. Which leads me to where Jill and I are right now.

As we walk through the Saint Paul Skyway, we end up stuck with dozens of zombies on one side of the doorway and us on the other. We had to head back. But even if we did, we would end up back in the same place. There is no what out of this Skyway system. We started running, it was about time, because once we did, the zombies broke through. We could hear them break the door down.
We were now in a severe panic mode. With that many zombies and us six years old girls' bodies. We would not survive. We kept running. Well, actually, I was still running. Jill was nowhere to be seen. With Zombies trying to get out the doorway, I had to head back towards them searching for my best friend.

“Jill!” I screamed. Which was a lousy choice to scream. Every Zombie from a mile around could hear me screaming. I ran back towards the zombie-infested doors. She was nowhere around. One zombie was out of the door, which meant... I turned around. I didn't even get to blink because the next thing, the world went dark.

~o~O~o~

“I’m dead. I’m dead. I know it.” Is this what zombies thought of? Was the world always this dark to them?

“Natalie, you can open your eyes, silly girl.”

I know that voice. It’s Jill. I did what the voice said and opened my eyes. I was in a room. A spotless room. I looked around. Okay, it’s a bedroom. But where were we? I noticed Jill sitting next to me. She had a smile on her face.

“Where are we?” I asked, still amazed that I survived.

“We are in an apartment. A man named Mr. Sanders brought us here.”

I looked around a little more. I didn’t see him anywhere. I did see outside at the beautiful, but also zombie-infested park across the street. I wonder what the name of that park is? I guess it doesn’t matter. It could be Zombie Park for all I care. I won’t ever spend time there ever.

“With a big city like this, I am surprised the military hasn’t put a barricade up on a few sections of the city for communities of houses, as they did in Fear The Walking Dead.

“Oh, they did.” I jumped, a strange old man stepped into the room. “It didn’t last long. Then the zombies took over, and everyone in the community was attacked. I was the lucky one, that got away. Along with a few families with children.”

“I hope you’re Mr. Sanders and not the dead Coronal Sanders of the defunct Kentucky Fried Chicken company I heard about.”

“Oh, I am Mr. Sanders. I wish I were the Coronal, at least I would have been a millionaire until I died.”

“What good is money now?” I cried. I looked outside at the park again. “I sure wish I could go there? It’s so pretty.”

“Mears Park used to be a dump for many years. It was always full of homeless people from nearby homeless shelters. But after the city ordinance said they would fine anyone loitering in one spot in this city for more than a thirty minutes, excluding the entertainment that happens in the parks throughout the city. So the homeless stopped going to that park. Then it started looking beautiful again. I kind of feel sorry for the homeless people. I used to be homeless myself.” He gazed down at the zombies. “Now the parks will look like hell again soon,” he sighed.

I went over to a computer in the room. “Does the Internet work anymore?”

“I’m not sure,” he chuckled. “Give it a try. And don’t worry about the electricity. Galtier Towers Apartments have solar power on the roof. It helped with rent payments.” He chuckled again. “But I doubt I will need to pay rent anymore, because of this.”

I turn on the computer. While waiting for the computer to start, I went to the fridge to see what the old man had to eat. All he had in the refrigerator was chicken. Chicken? He had chicken?

“What’s with all the chicken in the fridge?” I asked, looking out at Mr. Sanders.

“Just call me the Coronal, he laughed.
I started freaking out. “But I thought you said you were not Coronal Sanders?” I screamed.

“Shush up, little girl, you don’t want the zombies to hear you. Besides, I love chicken. I have a huge freezer in the other room, also full of chicken. Everyone on this floor called me the coronal because of it. Also, because I looked like him and had the same last name. But it doesn’t actually make me the real Coronal Sanders, does it?”

“I see,” I giggled, munching on a chicken drumstick. “Oh, I’m sorry, I hope you didn’t mind me eating this.”

“No, that's what chicken is for. Besides, as I said before, I have plenty of chicken in the back room freezer.”

The computer finally booted up.

“You're not connected,” the browser said. “And the web really isn’t the same without you. Let’s get you back online. Check your network cables are plugged in. Make sure you’re not in airplane mode. Determine if your wireless switch is turned on. Restart your router.”

“Well, that shows we don’t have Internet,” I pouted.

“No, it shows we don’t have a Wi-Fi. We need an Ethernet cord to sign in.” Mr. Sanders chuckled.

“Now you tell me,” I growled. “Why don’t you plug it in.”

“Because I don’t have an Ethernet cord. The Internet is located with the lady that lived downstairs.”

“Well, let’s get it working down there,” I said, getting up from the computer.

“I would, but the apartment is infested.”

Well, that blows the whole plan on searching the Internet for information. Now, what do I do? I was about to turn off the computer, but Mr. Sanders wanted it on. He wanted to play Solitaire on it. Didn’t he have a set of cards?

I turned on the TV and searched for a show to watch. He didn’t have cable, which sucked as well. How could an old man not have cable? All there was on was the Canadian Emergency Network. If this were the United States still, we would see the American National Emergency Network.

I sat on the bed, munching on a chicken. Jill was on the couch reading a book. How could we do this? Shouldn’t we be out there getting farther away from these zombies instead of being stuck in an apartment? There was nothing to do but sit around reading a book or playing games on the computer. If only we had a cell phone or something, I could see if my mom and sister were still alive.

If it weren’t for the tornado, we would still be in that house protected from the zombies, and I would have video games, videos, and cable to watch. Yeah, like cell phones still worked. I giggled to myself. But wait, satellite phones still work. The satellites have not been taken down in space.

I had to find a way to get a few phones. If only I could find where to go to get some, without the zombies finding me.

Munch, Munch, Munch.
That’s right. I am still munching on a chicken. Jill grabbed one from the plate I had put on the bed. I guess she was also hungry. It seemed like she was relaxed and not worried at all. But deep down inside, I have a feeling she was still concerned. Hoping they wouldn’t break down the door.

I doubt they would. That door is strong. Besides, I don’t even think they are on this floor. Or are they? I put my head against the wall of the bedroom I was in. It was hard to hear because the walls were made of cement and not paper thin, like most apartments I know. I’m glad it’s made of cement. If it wasn't, the zombies could break it down easily and get us. But I still had to find out if they were in the next door apartment.

I decided to do the old cup trick and listen to that way. It doesn’t always work, but it was worth a try. I got a glass and put the rim of the glass against the wall. I still had a hard time hearing. I was beginning to get annoyed. But the last thing I could do is scrape a little bit of the top of the wall until it reaches the other side. It will take a while, but it was worth a shot.

I went into the kitchen and started looking for a knife. It wasn’t hard to do. Before I could take it out, Mr. Sanders saw me.

“What are you doing with that, young lady?” He asked.

“I... I... I was just going to scrape the wall in the room to hear if there were zombies in the apartment next door.” I cried.

“That wouldn’t be a good idea. They could smell us. We don’t want them to know we are in here.” He calmly explained. “Besides, there are zombies in that apartment. I had this floor, searched and locked up so no other zombies can get out. They are intelligent. They can find a way to get to us if they really tried.”

“What about the floors above and below us?” I asked.

“I didn’t even bother trying to make those safe. They are everywhere down there. Unless someone else living down there is alive and did the same thing I did, it's pretty much infested.” He looked at the ceiling. “As for above us, we are at the top already. All there is left is the roof.”

“What’s on the roof?”

“The pool, why you ask?”

“The pool?” I repeated. I was so excited. All this time, we were below a pool. “We got to go to the pool!”

“Who said pool?” Jill asked, running out of the bedroom. I can tell she was in a good mood now. I wonder what she did with the book she was reading?

“Also a huge television used as a movie theater.” He smiled. “The old one is down on the main level, which again is infested.”

“What about the pool location, are there zombies up there?”

“Not sure, I didn’t check when I was working on this floor, but likely yes.”

“I think we can take care of a few zombies. What do you think Jill?”

She nodded. It looks like we are going to go zombie hunting.

I stare out the window at the zombies in the park. It wasn’t a pretty sight. The park was starting to look like a war zone. Not sure where they were coming from, but I sure wish they didn’t stay there. It was creeping me out.

On the street, I could see a dog gnawing on a leg. That grossed me out.

The sun was going down. I wish the light of the city would start. Like that’s going to happen. No electricity is being used anywhere. Well anywhere but this apartment. There are so many buildings and no lights on any of them.

I go to the kitchen and grab another chicken from the fridge. I love chicken, but this could get boring after a while. Cold chicken wasn’t my favorite anyways. My sister enjoyed cold food, and Chicken was one of them. She also loved frozen pizza and cold chow mein.

If only there were a device that we could use to reheat things. I heard from my parents that there used to be something called the microwave. It used to cook lots of food fast. But it got outlawed back in 2084, way before I was born.

I went back in the bedroom with the chicken. Jill was again reading a book. If the book war and peace was here, I bet she would have read that too. I wonder what she was reading. I glance over at her. ‘Nowhere To Go... But Here’ by Natasa Jacobs. Hmm... I wonder what that story is about. I might have to read it sometime.

It was getting late, and I was getting tired. Nothing to do, but watch the emergency station on television. If only we could get the Internet working. We could get streaming to work. Shit! I forgot streaming might not work now that this zombie apocalypse has started. I guess cable wouldn’t work, even at home, if it were still there.

I lay down on the bed and tried to get to sleep. We have a big day ahead.

~o~O~o~

“Ew! Ew! Do we have to do this?” Jill cried. Mr. Sanders had a bucket of zombie's guts from killing one just this morning and was smearing it all over us.

“If you want to fight the zombies on the top level to get to the pool, you will have to,” he explained while slapping it on.

“But it’s disgusting and smells really bad,” Jill complained.

“You're telling me,” I said while holding my nose. “Don’t forget, I have had it on longer than you. Besides, in episode two of The Walking Dead, Rick, and Glenn smearing themselves with zombie's guts as camouflage. This will work as well.”

“I remember that, but didn’t it start to rain, and it washed away?” Jill asked.

“I doubt it’s going to rain indoors, silly. What’s the worst that’s going to happen?”

“The worst is, I will have to take a bath, before going swimming. What’s the whole point in swimming then.” Jill pouted. She almost barfed. “I definitely know I lost my appetite.”

I giggled. Well I guess that means more chicken for me. She won’t want to eat it. I sat down on the floor and watched Mr. Sanders put it on her. It was funny watching. She looked like she was going to be sick. Yes, it may be stinky, but I think it might work. Well, I hope it works. This may be the hardest challenge we have ever taken.

When I was in the mall, the zombies were farther away; I could kill them from a far distance. Sometimes one would get close to us, but it wasn’t like it would be in a few minutes. That's why the camouflage better works. Talking about weapons, what would we use? We can’t use our hands. This is not like Minecraft, where we can use a sword or our hands to attack. This was real life. We need a weapon.

“What are we going to use as weapons?” I asked Mr. Sanders.”

“Don’t worry about that, I have it all planned out," I said, putting the last touches on Jill. He then went into his apartment and grabbed a few things. He brought out two swords and handed one to me and one to Jill.

“Cool, I can be like Michonne.” I smiled while swinging it around.

“You sure don’t look like her, and don’t smell like her either.” Jill giggled. I stuck out my tongue.

“Don’t swing that Katana like that. You might accidentally cut us.” I stopped swinging and smiled.

“I am actually using a Katana, just like Michonne?” I was so delighted. I wanted to jump for joy, but I couldn’t do that. It would let the zombies below us know that we are up here. I wonder why the Katana was smaller than the one used on the show. Do they make them smaller?

Mr. Sanders returned from his apartment with a hatchet. He gave us his best swords, so all he had left was the hatchet. We were going to the staircase that leads to the pool when I noticed something.

“Mr. Sanders, why are you not wearing any zombie's guts?”

“I’m a professional in zombie hunting. I cleared out this whole level of zombies and a lot more in the hallways of the Skyway.”

I didn’t ask anymore. He was right. While we were walking up the stairs, I felt a little nervous. How many of them were up there? Will the camouflage work? Are we strong enough to defeat the zombies? There were many questions.

The door on the top of the stairs was getting closer. I can hear the zombies on the other side. Mr. Sanders stepped in front of us. He didn’t appear nervous. He had confidence in himself. Would I ever be that way? I am a little girl. Of course, not by choice. I am not as strong as when I was a teenage boy at age sixteen. How can a six-year-old girl like Jill and me take on dozens of zombies?

Mr. Sanders eyes us. He can tell we were scared. “Are you sure you're both ready for this?” He whispered. We both nodded, yes. I had the Katana ready. Jill had her sword ready. It was more of a cutlass. Smaller than my sword, but not by much.

Mr. Sanders slowly opened the door a crack, just in case zombies were right next to the door. It seemed like only a few were there. This was going to be easy. He opened the door all the way and started attacking the zombies. They all started going after him. None of them even bothered going after us. We got into the room and shut the door behind us. Making sure no-one got out the way we came in.

When I shut the door, a few dozen came out of nowhere and started after Mr. Sanders. Jill took her sword and began attacking a few of them. Hitting them on the side of their bodies. She couldn’t reach their heads at her height, which made me think it was the same with me. But I joined in the fun. I attacked one of them by slicing through its disgusting body.

“Die!” I scream, which didn’t do much. It was still alive. All I could do now is decapitate its legs. It sure takes longer to do it this way. I wish I were taller. But no, just because I was stupid and drank that bottle of Isisraxtosa formula, I ended up this way. Thanks, George.

This was getting boring. Slice, chop, dead. Slice, chop dead. Over and over again. Where is the excitement in it now? They didn’t attack us. Only Mr. Sanders.

Talking about Mr. Sanders, he was busy on the other side of the pool. I can see lots of dead zombies on the floor. It looked like he was doing an excellent job at taking care of them. I ran over to him and helped. The best I could at the moment was slice off their legs. Once they couldn’t move around, they fell on the ground, and I sliced off their heads.

Jill’s sword wasn’t doing a great job. All she was doing was chopping them, but not doing anything else. Yes, they might lose a few arms, but she couldn’t do much with it. I needed to help her. Give her a few tips. Mr. Sanders could manage on his own.

“Need some help?” I asked when I got up to her.

“Why not, what else can I do. This sword he gave me, sucks balls.”

I giggle and help her out. There were only nine left on this side. Who knows how many are left on the other side. That’s where most of them went. I just wonder why these didn’t follow.

More zombies start coming out of nowhere. This was getting out of control. There has to be somewhere that is bringing them in. Was there a door open that I didn’t know about? I move toward a walk space and discover the answer. The door of the elevator was open, and they were coming from the elevator shaft.

How can this be? Are they getting smarter and started climbing? How could zombie climb? I presumed they were as dumb as a doorknob. I run over to the elevator door and try to push it shut. It wouldn’t budge.

“Jill!” I scream, hoping the zombies can’t hear me, which they seem to not. She was nowhere in sight. I don’t think she can hear me either. I run back out at the pool and see her on the other side next to Mr. Sanders. No wonder she can’t hear me. I run over to her.

“I need help,” I said, pulling her arm. She stops and follows me. All of a sudden, she accidentally slipped on some zombie blood and fell into the deep end of the pool. All the zombie guts she had on her washed away.

“Help,” she screamed when she got to the surface. The zombies could now tell she was there and started going into the pool after her. I had to do something. I didn’t want to lose my best friend, just like my mom and sister.

Mr. Sanders noticed Jill in the pool and jumped in. The zombies he was attacking came in after him. Jill was still screaming. I knew she couldn’t swim. I ran over to the other side of the pool and grabbed the life preserver off the wall and threw it in, hoping Jill can get it. She kept screaming.

“Grab it!” I hollered at her. She heard me and tried to get at it. Luckily, on the third try, she got it. How come it's always three times the charm. I thought. I tugged on the line of the life preserver and pulled her in. Mr. Sanders was still in the water. I couldn’t do anything for him. He was too busy with the zombies attacking him.

What could we do? I had to get Jill to safety. She had no weapon to protect herself. That was on the bottom of the pool. I ended up putting her in the doorway heading back out of the pool area. I couldn’t save Mr. Sanders. I wish I could. I wish there were a way. The zombies out beat us. There were too many of them.

I don’t understand. I thought we had everything under control. I thought we were going to win. We could have had a fun time swimming. I started to cry. What else could I do?

What could we do?

“We got back into Mr. Sanders' apartment. Jill and I were still crying. I couldn't believe it. How could we have lost? As much as I have known, I have never seen a movie where zombies climbed. Except in World War Z, but that was zombies climbing on zombies. These zombies were not climbing on top of each other. They were climbing up a rope, or a wire in this case.

In the episode of Doctor Who called New Earth, some humans resembled zombies, who climbed up an elevator shaft, but they were not zombies, only the infected. Of course, there were zombie episodes of Doctor Who, but they were nothing like these zombies we are facing. More of a joke.

“Now that we're safe from the zombies, what do we do?” I asked

“I don't know. We don't have anyone to help us anymore. Mr. Sanders is gone and...” Jill started crying some more.

I walked over to the computer. It was still on, which was good. I checked out the Ethernet cord. It was very long. It was not getting any power sent to it. I followed the cable to where it went in the building. It brought me to a small hole in the ground. “This must bring me to the older ladies apartment downstairs.” I thought. I had to find a way to get the Internet working again.

I looked around the room where Jill was. She must have cried herself to sleep. That was good. I didn't want to tell her I was leaving. She would freak out if she knew I was leaving her alone and going down to a zombie-infested area, simply for the Internet.

If we didn't have the Internet, I wouldn't find locations in the area for items we could use. It was a good thing I still smelled disgusting. I took another glob of zombie goo and spread it on me, merely for safe keeping. It was located in the hallway.

I took my Katana and slowly opened the doorway to the staircase to the next level down. No zombies were there. It was dark though. I wish the lights worked in this room. It worked everywhere else. I'm guessing it blew out and maintenance wasn't able to fix it. Or it's not on the same grid as the rest of the building. It should be. It's a solar panel.

I made it slowly to the bottom. Stepping over the dead along the way. When I made it to the bottom, I opened the door again slowly. There were a few wandering around the hallways. It was bright enough for me to see them. Thank God, the lights were not broken here. I had my Katana out just in case one tried to attack me. Which none did.

If I were correct, the room the old lady lived in would be directly below Mr. Sanders' room. So I chose the same doorway as his, was above. It was locked. As I suspected. There were only two things to do. I had to find the master key to get in the doorway or start picking the lock.

Since the master key was on the bottom level and I was on the… I don't know forty-something-ish floor. I wasn't going to go down there, just find, maybe nothing. I started picking the lock with one of my Bobby Pins. Yes, I am using Bobby Pins. I had to find some way to keep this hair out of my eyes. I wasn't going to cut it. Maybe someday, I might get it trimmed. But not sure when. Perhaps when the whole Zombie Apocalypse is over. Phhh… like that's going to happen?

I pulled apart one Bobby Pin so that it is a long, flat metal piece. I was making a pick. I stripped off the rubber knobs on the ends with my teeth. If I didn't, they would only get in the way. I stuck the pin into the lock. I have picked locks before. Usually with a paperclip. But since I didn't have one. The Bobby Pin will do. I can always get a new one.

While I picked, I kept glancing back at the zombies. They were freaking me out. I stopped picking and ended up taking me Katana, and chopping up the only zombies there in half, and cutting off their heads. I then made sure the other doors were locked and shut. Now I can work in silence. Which was too silent.

After a while, I finally got the sucker unlocked. It was a bit challenging. I opened the door slowly. I didn't want a zombie coming after me. My luck none did. But I couldn't open it. The lady put the chain on it. Which means she is still in the apartment, and she is dead or a zombie.

I had to get in there. I was such a little girl. I couldn't break the chain by just pushing it with my weight. I had to back up and take a running start. I stepped away from the door and stood there staring at it. Then when I had the courage, I ran as fast as possible to the door.

Before I even got there, the door shut on me. I hit the door with a smack.

“Ow!” I cried. I heard the door lock on me. Someone was in the apartment. I called out. “Hello? Is anyone in there?” I had my hand to my nose. I hope I didn't break it. Next thing I heard was the lock and chain unlocking. The door opens, and a woman stepped out looking at me.

“Oh dear, I'm so sorry.” She took me into her apartment and shut the door. I wasn't paying attention, but while she took me in, I left my Katana outside the doorway.

The woman was an older woman of about in her late fifties early sixties. I believe she was the older lady that Mr. Sanders was talking about. I wonder how she lived this long all by herself? She went into her kitchen and got an ice pack and puts it in a handkerchief.

“Here you go, sweetie,” she coos. “Put this on your booboo.”

“What does she think I am, four?” As she hands me the ice pack, I put it on my almost swollen nose.

“Owie!” I cry.

She picks me up and puts me on her lap. I am so little; I can be picked up. This bothered me. But I was also a little joyful. I haven't been pampered like this in a long time. My mom used to do this, but then she met George Russell. Just thinking of his name makes me mad. If it weren't for him, we wouldn't be in this mess. There wouldn't be zombies. Thanks to his Isisraxtosa formula, which he sent to Argentina, and oh if I am not mistaken, Chile, Paraguay, and Uruguay as well.

“So, little miss,” the lady spoke, breaking my thoughts. “Why were you trying to get into my apartment?”

I started crying. “I only wanted to get on the Internet. Mr. Sanders said this house had the Internet he usually used, and was full of zombies, and I was only going in here to kill them off, so I could get the Internet working again.” I continued crying.

“You didn't have to come down here, just for the Internet. You could have just called. I would have fixed the problem.”

“We can't, the phone isn't working.” I pointed out.

“Oh I forgot,” she chuckled. “By the way, how is The Coronal doing?”

I must have looked sad because she looked sad. “He didn't make it. He was killed in an ambush of zombies on the roof pool.”

“That's horrible. That place was crawling with zombies. It would have been safer to go to the old pool on the main level. It may not be filled at the moment, but give it a few hours, and it would be filled.”

“Why didn't we think of that, before we went up there?” I cried again. “I saw the old pool looking out over to Mears Park, I thought it was out of commission.”

“You use large words for such a young girl,” she points out to me.”

I blushed. “Um. I'm a fast learner,” I lied. I wasn't going to tell her I was formerly a boy.

I remember Jill was upstairs. If she wakes up, she will freak out that I was not there. “I should get going. I forgot my friend Jill is upstairs.”

“How old is she?”

“She's six, just like me,” I smiled. I guess I can say I am six. I wish I were still sixteen. But being six isn't that bad. I can hide better.

“You girls, shouldn't be living all by yourself. You should move down here with me.”

“It's okay; I am good at fighting zombies. I fought off two of them out there just a few minutes ago, and also some at the pool, on the roof.”
“I still think it would be best if you stayed here. Two little girls shouldn't stay alone.”

How many times will she have to say that? I was about to tell her my secret and say I was born a boy and am sixteen years old, but there was a knock on the door.

“Who could that be?” The lady wondered. She walked over to the door and looked out the peephole. Why didn't she do that, when I was there? Maybe she did, but didn't see me because of my height. “Oh my goodness.” She opened the door. On the other side was Mr. Sander holding my Katana. I guess that's how he found me. Behind him was a mad looking Jill. I was in for it with her.

“Mr. Sanders! I thought you were dead!” I cried, hugging him.

“I would have if it wasn't for Jill dropping her sword in the pool. I was able to kill all of the ones in the pool in time and get away. Shutting the door behind me. I would recommend not going back up there.”

Because Mr. Sanders was alive, we could live upstairs in the apartment. That is where I would like to go. But the best thing is, we could go from floor to floor. No zombies are on either level. Thanks to me, killing off the only two on this floor. We worked on fixing the Ethernet cord. It wasn't surprising to find it accidentally unplugged. She must have unplugged it while cleaning up one day. The place looks like it gets clean a lot. Even now during the Apocalypse.

Maybe since we did these levels of the apartment, we could do all the other apartment levels and have the whole apartment to ourselves. It would be a safe place for all people we find. Could we kill all the dead, from all forty or so floors, and make a safe haven?

We could also work on making the pool clean upstairs and the one outside. But that will be a while. I really hope not for a long time. Since what happened with Jill and Mr. Sanders earlier today.

We made it back in the apartment, and I was able to get on the Internet to check out a few places in the area that might help us. Plus, I might check out a few videos. I haven't watched TV in a few days. I will go crazy if I don't see my favorite shows, even if I have already watched it.

Jill was again back in the room reading a book. She sure loves reading. She is also mad at me. I hope she will not be mad at me forever. I was only gone for a while to get the Internet working. I didn't think she would know. I was trying my best to get back. I believe she woke up and realized I wasn't there, and freaked out thinking she wouldn't see me again.

I stepped into the room and sat down on the bed. Jill kept reading the book. I was hoping she would look up. After a while, I started to cry. “I'm sorry for leaving you alone, Jill” I cried.

“That's not the reason why I am mad at you. I wanted to go with you when you went down to the apartment for the Internet. You should have told me.”

“Oh, I didn't know that.” I pouted, “I'm sorry.”

Jill hugged me. “You're my best friend and best friends stick together.” I was fatigued from this day, and so was Jill. We both fell asleep a few seconds later. I know we didn't eat much today, but we will tomorrow, I know that.

It was true, because the next morning, we were up and famished. I found out the lady that lives down stairs name is Beverly. She was kind enough to bring up some fried eggs, pancakes and a cup of fresh squeezed orange juice.

With Beverly in her apartment the whole time, I wonder how many more people lived in this apartment. There had to be some way to find out without the dead knowing.

I stare outside. The zombies took over left and right, from every which way. Mears Park was now entirely zombies. I wonder why they like that park so much. I am about to go crazy being here. I wish I could go somewhere. Even to a mall or something.

Mr. Sanders and Jill are in the living room reading a book. How can Jill handle reading so much? I know it's boring, but wouldn't it be efficient to find something to do?

“Mr. Sanders?” I whine. “Is there anything I can do to pass the time?”

“You could read a book,” he suggested.

I sighed. “Never mind.” I wish I could go zombie hunting or something. It was fun yesterday until Jill fell in the water. We could also be swimming. “Beverly said the pool downstairs is still safe for us. All we need to do is fill it up.”

“That pool? I don't know what she is saying, but it's too dangerous. You can only go to it by going through the Skyway. It's part of an old fitness” Mr. Sanders said. “Plus, you would have to do a lot of climbing. We would have over forty-five stories.”

“How did you bring Jill and me up here then?”

“I carried you, and Jill rode my shoulders.”

I look over at Jill. She was smiling. Lucky. I looked back at Mr. Sanders. “What about the zombies? How did you get up here without fighting them?”

“I killed all of them in the staircase. I had to find a way to get from one place and another faster. Besides, taking the elevator would make a lot of noise. I disabled it that way it wouldn't be used by anyone. I know it wasn't a good idea, but it's an old elevator, and it doesn't close quick enough. If there were zombies on the other side of the door when it opened, you wouldn't have time for it to close, before they got inside.” He gazed at me, waiting for a response. “So, still want to go to the pool?”

I smiled. If he wants to be smart, I will be smart back at him. ”Only if I ride your shoulders.”

~o~O~o~

We were in the staircase heading downstairs. Jill stayed back. She was not ready for a mission. Instead, she wanted to hang out with Beverly and make dinner. But for precaution, I grabbed my Katana. I wasn't sure if any found their way to the staircase. Anything could happen now.

I was having a fun time. I haven't had a shoulder ride since I was little. Now that I am little again, I had to take advantage of it.

I was surprised that only a few staircases had some lights blown out. Otherwise, it was bright. It was also easier to identify the dead lying there on the floor. A bit gross though. I wonder if it was possible to get new light bulbs for the missing ones. I hate the dark.

I got a lot to think about while going down these stairs. One thing I noticed was how much Jill and I changed in the last week.

I wonder about mom and Jessica. Are they safe from the tornado? They were in the cellar when it hit the house. I wonder if they are grieving over me and Jill, if they are still alive? I have to find out if they are. There must be a way to find out.

Finally, we make it to the bottom. But that isn't the end. Now we have to find a way to get to the pool. Will there be zombies in the pool area, like they are on the roof? And if they are, I hope there are not as many.

Back in Mr. Sanders' apartment, Jill and Beverly were talking.
“I understand what you mean,” Jill munched on the cookie. “I worry a lot all the time. I already believe my parents are dead. They were on a trip, but never came back.”

“Oh, Sweetie,” Beverly hugged Jill. “I am so sorry for you. What about Natalie? Are her parents still alive?”

“Her father was killed in the war of 2112....”

“2112?” Beverly interrupted. How could he be her father, twelve years before she was born?”

“It's a long story,” You might want to sit down for this,” Jill giggled.

~o~O~o~

Down on the main level of the apartment building, Mr. Sanders and I were getting ready. We were not going to be caught off guard. A dead zombie was on the ground next to us. Wait, aren't they all dead? I giggle to myself. Mr. Sanders took a zombie and cut it up into pieces. I knew what he was going to do. This part was going to make me sick.

I hate the smell of rotten flesh, but if you want to get through a herd of the dead, you have to use camouflage. I asked Mr. Sanders to put some on himself. He wasn't thrilled with the idea, but he did it anyway. I wanted to check out the pool, but after viewing all the zombies through the doorway windows, I changed my mind. We made a change of plans. Our plan is now to get out of the building and find some more weapons, or something.

“You know where the police station is?” I asked?

“Yes, but it's secured tight,” he answered.

“Damn!” I muttered.

“Watch your mouth, young lady. No girl should be swearing at that age.”

We finish up mucking ourselves. The smell grosses out me, but I know that I am safe. We then slowly, so the zombies don't hear us, walk into the lobby. We open the door and slip out. Not one of them even noticed us coming through. They must have thought we were one of them. Just to keep it safe, we did not talk.

Wandering through the Skyway, the same one Jill and I were in the other day, we followed a path that leads to the building. It looked like a bank.

“Why are we at a bank?” I asked. I was perplexed. We didn't need money? We're not going to rob a bank. Are you crazy? What will we do with the money? Buy our own weapons?

“Most people don't know this, but banks have guns hidden inside. They need them to protect themselves from bank robbers.”

We traveled through the Skyway to most of the banks in the area. It was a bit scary strolling through there with the dead trekking around us. They never even knew we were there. There were lots of things to see, but nothing was open. I wished the Apocalypse never happened. This place appeared fun to go through. Lots of places to go. Coffee Shops, lots of different kinds of restaurants. None I have ever heard of.

Even an Anime Store. I got to go there sometime. Maybe sometime when I am not so busy. I can just loot it. Mr. Sanders kept pulling my arm. He didn't want me dawdling. It was boring going to every bank in the Skyway. I still think it would have been faster to get ammo at police stations. He doesn't know that I am skilled at breaking through security.

I notice a phone store while we wander by. It wasn't just a cell phone company store. It was also a satellite phone store. That would be useful for us to use. We have to go there sometime. I studied the name. 'Twin Cities CelDirect' Very interesting. I will look it up online when I get a chance.

“This is nothing, compared to the Minneapolis Skyway system.” Mr. Sanders laughed. “But even there, you can get lost. Let's hurry up. We have a lot to do.”

By the time we went through the whole Skyway, my feet were tired. I needed a place to sit. I stepped up to a map on the wall to see where we were. We were a bit far from where we started. According to the map, we were on Wabasha Street. We traveled almost half the Skyway, and we were so close to the library. I may not like books as much, but if I went there, I could get a book on survival. And zombies. Also, I could bring a book over to Jill. She would be so thrilled to have a book of her own.

“Can we go to the library?” I asked Mr. Sanders.

He checked outside. “It's going to get dark in an hour, we better head back.” I was upset. Why would we go back? We were protected. We had weapons? I whined, but Mr. Sanders insisted we head back. I wasn't sure why though.

We hurried as quickly as possible back to the apartment. The sky was getting darker every second. All of a sudden, I heard noises coming from all around us. This was not a familiar noise. I was beginning to freak out.

The noises were getting louder. Not sure what direction it was coming from. Mr. Sanders had his gun in his hand. I had a bad feeling about this. What the hell was it?

Just then, at the corner of my eye, I could see the freakiest thing I have ever seen. This wasn't a zombie… or was it? I wasn't sure. It was chasing us. I couldn't believe the camouflage we had on was not working. This monster was more significant than any of these zombies out here. It was a mutated zombie or something.

I could say, it's almost like those creatures from the resident evil movies and games. The body was so messed up it looked like it was slime. The head looked like a demon. Arms that moved like snakes and fierce looking teeth. I wish this were a dream. I don't want to be here anymore. All of a sudden I trip.

Mr. Sanders stopped and blasted him with his gun. It didn't do much, just stun him. I was able to get up and keep running. We were about a block away from our apartment entrance, when we got blocked by another set of creatures.

These, you could say, would have been known as man's best friend, but I would not call them that. They looked a bit uglier. Remember that dog I encountered the other day. I guess it was these dogs that I witnessed. I had my Katana in my hand. Mr. Sanders has the gun facing towards the mutant zombie behind me. He was quick, but so were these dogs.

Now I understand why he said to head home before dark. The freaks come out at night.

The mutant was creeping closer to us. I couldn't see it, so I wasn't sure how far it was from me. Mr. Sanders was shooting it like it, but it wasn't dying. There was no way to kill the demon I see before us.

I was growing impatient with the dogs. When will they start attacking? I had the Katana ready. It was like they were waiting for something. All they did was growl. Zombies were coming from all over the place. They must have figured out that we were not one of them and started coming towards us.

Just then there was a loud shriek. I must have jumped a mile high. I didn't know what it was. I figured out what it was in no time. The dogs were waiting for the big one. This huge mutant… whatever it was. It was a substantial mutant animal. It looked like a dog, but it had three heads, like a Cerberus, but with razor sharp teeth and much uglier. It's tongue shot out of its mouth with sharp teeth at its ends within inches of me.

I tried swinging with the Katana, but missed. The tongue was swift. I was lucky I was quite a bit away, or I would have been bitten. I backed up a bit. Its tongue struck again. This time I got it, cutting it off. The teeth were still moving. I wonder why the Cerberus only chose to use one tongue instead of three.

I got my answer. It only has one long tongue. Strange. I feel like I am playing a game or something. Maybe it's studying me. The other dogs are watching me. I wish I knew what Mr. Sanders was doing. I could hear gunshots nearby. Doesn't sound like what he is doing is working. I wish he had this monster, and I had the other one… um maybe not

But then, the Cerberus started charging. All the other dogs came with him. I screamed. I knew I was done for. My Katana couldn't stop this fight.

…

BOOM!

“Wait! What happened? How did?” I looked around. Mr. Sanders was also standing there in shock. His mutant was killed, and so were my mutants. But how did they die and we still live? There was an enormous hole in the room. I could see outside. Zombies outside could see me. Worst of all, I could see guts from the monsters. It was a bit gross, and it smelt three times as horrid.

Just then, a child, about nine years old, came out of nowhere.

“Who are you?” I ask the child. It appeared to be a boy.

The boy came out of the hiding place he was in. Following him, there was a little girl about my age. . “My name is Hunter Ziegler, and this is my sister, Madison.”

“Pleasure to meet, you,” I mumbled, “But how did you kill those mutants?”

“You got to be ahead of the game if you want to live in the Zombie Apocalypse. I had a Bazooka.”

“A bazooka?” I yelled, which I shouldn't do in the Skyway, with zombies. “You could have killed us!”

“I could have, but I am very talented with it. I was able to point it away from you and your old man there, barely enough to kill them both with one shot.”

“What about the mutant dogs?” I asked.

“They likely ran away. They aren't far away. They will be back. That's why we better get going. By the way, where do you live?” Hunter took his sister in his arm.

We were only less than a block from where the apartment was.

“I live on the top level,” Mr. Sander chuckled.

“Fine with me,” Hunter grunted. “I love a challenge. My sister might not like it that much though.”

I wasn't ready to climb the stairs. I knew I wasn't able to get a ride from Mr. Sanders. It wouldn't be fair for Madonna?… Madeline?... What was her name again? Oh yes, that's right Madison.

As we climbed the stairs, I felt a bit depressed that we were not able to set get the pool started. Even if we did, it's October, we'd have snow in no time, which would end up being ice. And besides, November begins tomorrow. Wait, is it tomorrow? What the heck, is today Halloween? Of all days to get scared on. I had to think for a second.

It can't be Halloween. Okay, my sister came back from Argentina on the twenty-fifth of October. I remember that because she was always joking about the ticket she had. She was on plane number 1025, in seat 1025, it took off at 10:25 and would make it back home on 10-25. How lucky was that? Maybe that isn't as lucky as it seems.

Since she got here on 25th, we got stuck at the McDonald’s overnight that night, because of the zombies. The next day, we got back to the house, where the storm happened on the 26th. The storm ended up making Jill and I on the road until the car broke down, which was the 27th. We ended up riding a train, which did take a day or so, that was the 28th. Got to Saint Paul by train and Met Mr. Sanders on the 29th. The 30th, which was yesterday, we fought off zombies at the pool, failed big time and met Beverly. And now today is… Is it Halloween?

You know, it's funny when I think about things while I wander. Time goes by faster. I didn't even know that we were only one floor away from getting to Beverly's level. Hunter was always on guard, if a zombie or mutant came out of nowhere. That's a good thing.

I am a little disappointed though. I thought I was the best zombie whiz around. But Hunter, makes me look like everyone else. I could feel a tear going down my face. I watch Madison as she walks up the stairs. She isn't pleased. If only there were a way to kill all the zombies on each level of this apartment, so we could use the elevator. We would never need to climb up the stairs again.

Finally, we made it to the top. It was quiet up here. We knocked on Beverly's door. It was a secret knock, so they knew we were not zombies. Then there was a little knock as well. I could tell it was Jill's knock. I knocked one more time, and she opened the door. Of course, if Beverly had been at the door, she would have checked through the peephole, but we were too short, so we created that knock for that reason.

As we walked in, Jill spotted Madison and Hunter.

“Who are they?” she asked?”

“These are two children we found along the way.” Mr. Sanders answered.

“They helped us when some hideous monsters attacked us,” I added.

“The names Hunter,” he said, putting out his hand for them to shake, which they did. He then pointed to his sister. “And this is my sister, Madison. If it wasn't for me, she might not be around. I have been protecting her ever since the first day. We lived outside, where the dead live, we even stayed at The local homeless shelter down on a street called Dorothy Day Place. Lots of dead living there.”

“That was scary,” Madison pouted.

“I wasn't scared.” Hunter spoke proudly, “Food was there. We had the weapons. The zombies couldn't get at us.”

“You might not be scared,” I stated. “But choosing an open place, where zombies can eat you while you sleep, isn't the...”

“Shut up!” Hunter argued, “Madison and I stay in a locked room at night. We can see everything going on and can get out by a trapdoor on the roof. I know what I am doing. At least, I don't stand around waiting for a Cerberus to chase me.”

I started crying and ran to another room.

“You didn't have to be so mean to her.” Mr. Sanders growled.

Jill and Beverly look at each other and smile, but then walk into the room where I was in. I was on the bed crying.

“I don't want to see anyone,” I cried.

“What's wrong?” Beverly sat down right next to me, rubbing my back, trying to comfort me.

I spent years and hours watching zombie movies and shows, and also reading books about them. I was learning it, so when this day did come, I was ready. Now, I washed it all down, with a drink of the Isisraxtosa formula. I could have been smart. But now that I have a small brain in this girls body! I lost a lot of the knowledge that could have helped me.” I continued crying, “Hunter is bragging. He thinks he is better than me because he studied. I studied too. How about he goes and drinks the formula and see how he feels!”

After all that, I lied down on the bed again. Beverly knew it was for babies, but she handed me a pacifier. I gradually accepted it.

It's tough to be a child. I feel like everyone (but Jill) thinks I am too young to do things. I am not allowed to use a gun. I get a small Katana, but thanks to the internet, I found out it's actually a wakizashi. A Japanese sword, a slight bit shorter than a katana. I'm not sure why Mr. Sanders said it was a Katana. Maybe he was trying to give me confidence.

Sometimes I hate being six. I wish I were sixteen again. But then again, being little can get me into small places a lot easier than the others. Jill, Madison and I have been able to get into hiding places easier. We are about the same height, oh, and age.

I ran into the living room and stopped. I saw what they were watching. I was a bit annoyed now. Of all movies, why did they have to watch… Oh, never mind. I won't go there. I'll simply let it go and won't hold it back anymore. I turned around and slammed the door.

I walk into the room with the computer. I decided to go online. At least there I can figure out what to do. Jill is the only person from my past that I know is still alive. If there was a way to find out if mom and Jennifer were still alive…

Minecraft!

Of all the things to check out online, Jennifer is so obsessed with Minecraft. I typed in their website. I was in luck. The site was still up. I only hope the server is still working. Especially the server she goes on all the time. I've played Minecraft many times in my life. It's a bit old now. A little older than a hundred years. I'm still surprised that people play that game. The graphics are terrible compared to the games of today. I'm guessing that is the reason why people like it so much.

After downloading the game to the computer, I made sure it worked. Sometimes these games don't like working without installing. It's a bit annoying. When the sign in box showed up, it meant it was working.

I sign in to my account. NatTheKing. I giggle at the name. I should change that name sometime.

As usual, it takes a long time for the game to load. I don't know how many updates this game has had, but I do know this is the last update. Kind of sad though. I was so hoping they would have put in the evil bunnies in the game.

It usually takes only a few seconds to load, but this was taking longer. I hope it won't fail. I just sat there watching the screen and the logo.

When the game finally loaded, I was glad. I typed in the servers IP address. I so hoped it still worked. I was growing impatient. The internet was very slow. This is what happens when there is no one to do maintenance to the internet. Don't fail me, please don't fail.

After about a minute, I was about to give up, when the server showed up.

“It's working?” I whispered. “I can't believe it.” I just hope Jennifer was on. This was the only way to know if she was still alive. I click on the server name, and again more waiting. I glance at the clock. It took me about seven minutes to get on this game.

I stare outside while I wait to get on the server. The dead were walking around like they own the place. Pretty much, they are. We are stuck in this apartment until we can figure out what we can do. I gaze at the computer screen. “Connection Lost. Timed out.” It read.

Okay, this will take a while to get on the server. I expected this. I tried again. Which I kept getting the same message. As I was about to give up, it finally got me into the server. Why does it always do that?

Pressing Tab on the keyboard, I check if she is online. She wasn't. This made me a bit tearful. But I was surprised someone was online. A girl in fact, by the name.

[NatTheKing] Hello?

I wrote to the person, but there was no answer. I guess she wasn't paying attention or was away from the keyboard. I decided to stay on the game. It took me this long to get on it, why waste it, by ending. I went to one of my builds and started to continue where I left off. I was getting a bit carried away, last time I was on the game. I can't believe that at age sixteen, I was able to build an enormous building. Now that I am six again, I don't have the knowledge to even create anything like that.

I decided to build a little house. What else could I do? It was all I could think of. I wish I could make a castle like before. I started to tear up. Just then, the person on the server wrote back.

[JamGirl02] Hey Nathan! Haven't seen you on for a long time.

Oh crap. It's one of my online friends. I can't believe I forgot all about her. How can I explain to her that I am a girl named Natalie now?

[NatTheKing] Yeah. It has been a while. How's the zombies in your area?

[JamGirl02] Being zombies. How about yours?
[NatTheKing] lol. They are pretty much the same here. Ugly looks like they came out of the morgue. Not like those on The Walking Dead. Hey anyway, have you seen my sister Jennifer on here lately? Her IGN

[NatTheKing] Her IGN is js420.

I hate it when I run out of room in chat when I am typing. Only a two-hundred character limit. I sigh. I guess it was meant, so no one couldn't just take up a whole page. I'm guessing as spam.

[JamGirl02] Nope. This is my first time since it all started. But if I encounter her, I will let her know you're seeking for her.

[NatTheKing] Thanks. Tell her, that I will be on every day at this time. As long as I can get on. Internet connection sucks.

[JamGirl02] True. And I will. I have nothing else I can do. I was hoping for more friends. I guess they are all dead.

We chatted for a long time, but eventually, we decided to play the game. I found her making an enormous build, not far from my wimpy little house I just made. I wanted to help. She allowed me. I was a bit scared that she would find out I was actually a girl at age four. Even if she found out, I don't believe she'd believe I was six. I have been playing this game longer than six years.

I looked away from the computer. My tummy was growling. I was starved. I was going to get up from my spot when I noticed a cup right next to me.

My tummy growled even louder. I wanted to eat some chicken or something.

Talking about chickens, I don't believe I saw many animals on The Walking Dead. A few horses and pigs, a goat… Well, they all died of course. Some were deliberately, and some were not.

I went to the kitchen and grabbed a few chickens, and returned to the game. My friend was busy working on the chimney of the building. I was still sitting there on the ground. It was getting dark on the game. That is when the mobs come out. Mobs are the monsters. Why did we have to have the zombies in this game as well? We're already living it.

I ran into the building and climbed the stairs up to where she was. I knew that eventually, they were going to spawn.

[NatTheKing] If only the zombies outside would spawn like the ones on this game.

[JamGirl02] lol. And then burn and die as soon as the sun hits them in the morning. It would be a lot easier.

[NatTheKing] I think the creators of Minecraft got it all wrong when they made this game. Vampires burn in sunlight, not zombies.

I noticed a few zombies spawning. I had no weapons. JamGirl02 gave me a sword. This made me giggle. If I only had my Katana. These zombies would be dead faster. I can't believe I am killing zombies in a game. I look outside, not at the screen. I could see the zombies below. This game is so wrong. But at least, I don't have to look at the guts and smell them.

[JamGirl02] It
kind of sucks. Zombies on here and in real life.

[NatTheKing] Your telling me. I was just thinking the same thing.

We were in a battle when on the screen came what I was not expecting. My mouth dropped. I couldn't believe it. After all these days, I couldn't believe my eyes.

[js420 joined the game]

I started crying. My sister was alive. Jennifer. And if Jennifer was alive, that could only mean that mom possibly was too. And so was... George.

[NatTheKing] Jennifer!!

I wrote, but when it popped on the screen, the server went down.

On the screen, it read, Connection Lost. Internal exception: java.net.SocketException: Connection reset

“Crap!” I cried. “That was Jennifer. She's alive.”

I went back to the main page and tried to sign in to the server again. This time I read 'Can't connect to server.' I kept pressing refresh, but it kept saying it. I didn't want to restart the whole Minecraft game again. It took forever. She might not be on. I kept crying. I hope she saw my message.

I clicked on the close button to close out of Minecraft, then restarted the game. But it wasn't loading anything. Not my name or anything. It just kept saying Play Offline. I think Minecraft is gone. I can't play it again, with friends or even family. I kept crying. I put my head down on the keyboard. I didn't know what to do. I was so excited to find her alive, but can't get through to her.

~o~O~o~

I must have cried myself to sleep, because next thing I knew, I was in bed.

I had to get out. I wasn't sure where everyone was. It was dark outside. I could hear the zombies from below. We may be on the top level, but they sure make a lot of noise. Especially at night. It was creepy.
I heard a loud shriek. That sounded familiar. I hope it was not what I think it was. It couldn't be another Cerberus, could it? It seemed pretty close.

I started crying. Beverly came into the room. “Shhh,” she whispered. “Don't cry. You don't want to wake up everyone.”

“I don't think I will be the one that wakes anyone up,” I cry. I can hear the sound coming from outside. “Can't you hear that?”

“Yes, I can,” Beverly cuddled me, “They are far enough from us. We are safe.” I noticed Hunter come rushing into the room.

“I don't think we are safe here,” he whispered. “That is a Cerberus. They can dig, and it's on the roof.”

I was in shock. I knew what they can do to us.

“Would we be safe, if we kept quiet?” Beverly asked.

“We might,” Hunter continued whispering, “But we also might not be safe. If it knows we are here, it could get down to us in no time. Its saliva is like acid. It can melt through almost anything. It has a very long tongue, as Natalie found out. It also can breathe out fire. If it does that, this building would go up in flames. We would not stand a chance. We would not get out in time.”

“Let's not make a sound.” I murmur.

“Go tell the others to keep quiet,” Beverly told Hunter. I sat there, watching out the window. I can see a few different mutant creatures on the ground below. I didn't know what they were, but I sure wish they were not there.

This was not Minecraft, where the night comes by, and we could kill them easily. They can't just die at dawn. I have a feeling the Cerberus will still be there in the morning, waiting for us.

The girls were notified. They were told to keep quiet. Mr. Sanders came into the room. He quietly grabbed a few items. It looked like he was getting a few things ready. I have a feeling it was time for us to leave. I didn't want to go. This place felt like home. I grabbed my Katana, or well, the wakizashi, but I call it a Katana. The girls grabbed a sword and a few guns. I grabbed a gun as well. It was a small one. It was all I could hold. The others were too heavy for me.

Beverly grabbed some food and a few other useful items. I glanced at the clock. It was four in the morning. That meant the sun won't be up for another three hours. Even then, it would still be too dark to see. Any mutant would still be around. I hope Mr. Sanders has a plan. I sure don't.

We finished packing, and The Colonel opened the door slowly. We were lucky nothing was there. If there were any dogs, we wouldn't stand a chance. They would be on us in a heartbeat.

This was the hard part now. We had to go through the staircase. It can get a bit loud. The staircase is the same ones that led to the roof, and that was where the Cerberus is located, or so we think. It could be anywhere by now.

This would be Jill's first time downstairs since we got to the apartment. I know it's going to be hard on all of us. All the food in the house will go to waste. We could have stayed there for years. I was hoping to make this apartment a safe place. We were going to clear the whole building of the dead and make it a place for survivors. Now that dream is gone. Gone forever.

While we walked quietly down the stairs, we listened. We had to make sure nothing followed us. Nothing was in the staircase with us. When we made it to the bottom, I wondered what we were going to do. We couldn't survive over all those zombies outside. We sure can't survive over all those mutants.

I could hear the shriek of the Cerberus above. I hope it doesn't know we are here. It echoes in the staircase, which makes it sound like it's near. Gives me shivers all the way up my spine.

I moved faster, to get in front of the group. I wanted to get out of here. This place gave me the creeps. But then I stopped. I heard a clicking sound.

“Hold on,” I whispered. Everyone stopped when I did. The clicking sound sounded like it was coming from the other side of a wall. I looked around. How far did we have to go to get to the bottom? There was a sign on the wall. Eighteenth floor. I groaned. We still have a long ways to go. I heard the clicking again. But the clicking sounded like tapping and scratching.

“It could be a zombie,” Jill spoke softly.

“That's not a zombie.” I pointed out, still being quiet. “That's Morse Code. There's three taps, three scratches, and three taps again. That's Morse Code for SOS, which means someone is in trouble and needs us.” The tapping and scratching continued the same rhythm. I decided to tap and scratch back the words 'where are you?' Their message changed. 'Apt 1802 dead outside door.'

This was going to be a challenge. We didn't want to fight zombies right away. The one we were afraid of the most is the Cerberus above. We were not even ready for that. Mr. Sanders told us to move away from the door. He was going to fight them. Hunter agreed to fight as well. I wanted too, but I was scared. I don't think I would even make a dent in one of them.

Mr. Sanders and Hunter had their swords ready. They were not going to use guns. Any loud noise, like a gun, would bring the Cerberus downstairs. Let's just hope that sixty or so floors apart is enough that it can't hear us.

They opened the door, and they were in luck. The zombies were on the other side of the room. Hunter and Mr. Sanders chased them.

The hallway as always was lengthy, so they were spread out. I could say there were only five of them, but I counted wrong. There were six. Hunter killed two, and Mr. Sanders was still going down the hall, killing the rest. We ran into the hallway and shut the door behind us. With how long the hallway was, I'm surprised there were no more zombies out here. We found Apartment 1802, and I knocked. Beverly thought it was cute.

A terrified African Canadian man slowly opened the door. His chain was on, of course. He took a peek. When he saw me, he opened it all the way. “Come on in,” he greeted us. We all went into the apartment. “I'm so glad you're here. I have no idea how you found us.”

“Didn't you do Morse Code?” I asked.

“Morse Code?” He looked puzzled. “Oh, that must have been my son, Zachary.” He goes into a room and grabs a boy about thirteen years of age out. “This is Zachary. He knows so much on the old Morse Code.”

“Hello, Zachary, my name is Mr. Sanders, this is Beverly, Natalie, Jill Hunter and Madison.” We all got introduced.

“I'm Rodney,” the man said. “Rodney Jackson. My wife, Tia, and my two daughters, Shakina and Desiree, are in bed sleeping.”

We sat in their living room for a while, until Rodney finally spoke up. “So why are you up so early?”

“We lived on the top floor,” Beverly stated. “We were leaving in a hurry because, at this very moment, an enormous beast known as a Cerberus is up there.”

“Are you talking about the monsters with three heads of wild dogs, a dragon tail, and heads of snakes all over his back, which I see down below every night?” Zachary asked. I nodded. I don't know much about them, but it sure is making this city a living hell. Worse than the zombies. We have to get out of this city.”

“It could be in every city out there,” Mr. Sanders noted.

“Jill and I were outside at night before, and we never saw them,” I explained. “It was recently, when we got to this city, that we encountered them.”

We continued talking, but after a while, I felt a bit uncomfortable.

“Well, I'm not staying here,” Rodney barked. I reckon it's time we get the hell out of the city and on the road.”

“But where would we go?” I asked.

We couldn't decide. It was a challenge to decide where to go. I wanted to go back home to Mantri, Kansas. Rodney wanted to go North, but Zachary wanted to go South. Mr. Sanders and Beverly wanted to stay nearby. If everything went back to normal, they could go home again. Hunter and Madison didn't care where they went.

The time was almost seven in the morning. The sky was starting to get bright. We couldn't see the sun. There were too many clouds in the sky. I only hope the mutant creatures would hide for the day so that we could get away more comfortable. Not sure why they disappear. Maybe the light is too bright for them.

Tia, Shakina, and Desiree woke up and walked into the room we were in. They were surprised to discover other people. We all introduced each other. Shakina and Desiree were twin girls, age seven. Only a year older than me and Jill.
Tia was told to pack a few items. I can say she was not ready to leave. Shakina and Desiree only took one thing, a doll. I would have done the same thing if I had one. But toys won't protect me from zombies.

By seven-forty-five, we were all ready. The only thing we had to do now was camouflage. That was the part, Jill and I did not like. I can tell Madison, Shakina and Desiree weren't thrilled about it either.

As the daybreak began, we all started to enter the world. We were a bit terrified. With every zombie near us, we were worried they would figure out, we were not one of them. We had one plan, found a broken down light rail, and hope it still works.

“This will bring us to Minneapolis at least,” I giggled.

“This will bring us farther than Minneapolis. It goes all the way to Eden Prairie.” Hunter added. “We could stay at the mall there.”

“Wouldn't it be easier if we went to the Mall of America instead?” Madison asked. “Less walking.”

We all agreed the Mall of America would be quicker to get to. Let's hope we're not fighting off zombies when we get there.

Rodney was able to get the train working. It was a challenge to get it running without a key, but it started. We sat down. This was going to be a long ride. Let's hope we don't get into any accidents along the way.

This was the first sunrise I have seen in days. It was brisk morning, but the November sun made it feel warmer every minute. I hated smelling like a corpse, but it keeps the zombies away, for now.

Rodney wasn't that bad of a driver. The tracks seem in good shape still. Well, it's only been about a week since the whole thing started. While we travel down the tracks, I stare out the windows at all the cars sitting there and hundreds of zombies walking around. There were some inside buildings, trying to get out.

Because the train is moving, the zombies notice it and start heading towards us. Any of them in front of the train was run down. There was a lot of slimy blood and guts all over the front of the train. Splashing all over the place. Kind of gross to look at. Good thing it wasn't night time. Who knows what would come out.

We were traveling pretty slow. About ten miles per hour. We could drive faster than this train.

“Are we in Washington?” I asked, gazing at a rusty old building that looks like the United States Capitol Building.

“No, you're looking at the old Capitol Building to The State of Minnesota, before Canada took over,” Mr. Sanders explained.

“Why is it so rusty?” I was a bit confused. “Don't they take care of buildings around here, Especially old ones like that one?”

“It wasn't worth fixing up after the roach infestation of 2103. They abandoned it in 2117 when Minnesota became a province of Canada.”

I was amazed that a building would simply be abandoned.

While riding down the road, there were lots of places falling apart. Glass was all over the streets. If you think this felt like Halloween, you're correct. But there aren't any ghosts, witches, little princesses, or even a superhero costume. The sad thing is, it's only been two days since Halloween.

There were decorations for the holiday still up. Most of them torn a little bit. At a food market, there were rotting pumpkins sitting outside. Cars parked in the parking lots everywhere you go. Many of them on the streets or crashed into buildings.

Windows were broken from looters, graffiti painted on buildings, lots and lots of the dead, all laying on the road or walking around.

The farther we got away from downtown, Saint Paul, the worse it got. There were guts, and I believe I just saw some intestines hanging from the top of a doorway. I felt like I was about to vomit. In fact, I did.

“Eeeww!” Jill complained. “Did you have to do that right on the seat in front of me?” Now I have to find another seat.”

“Sorry,” I cried. “It's what I have been seeing for the past few minutes of riding on this train.”

“It's a light rail,” Madison corrected me.

“Light Rail, Train, Whatever.” I growled, “They both run on tracks.”

The light rail started to move a lot faster. I just hope there aren't any broken tracks further up. It wouldn't be fun if the train fell off a bridge or something. We passed a few more markets, and even an old McDonald’s with the sign missing an arch. The building was broken into, likely scavengers were searching for food. It reminded me of Jennifer and mom when we were stuck in the mall at the McDonald's.

I had a few tears in my eyes. My sister. She's alive. I know it. But she won't know that I am alive. There has to be a way to let her know that I am still walking around and not dead like those zombies roaming the streets outside.

But then, we were passing a pawn shop. There could be weapons in there.

“Stop the train!” I cried.

Rodney quickly stopped the light rail and got out of the driver's seat. “What's wrong?” He was panicking.

“Nothing is wrong,” I exclaimed.

“Never tell me to stop the train, unless it's an emergency!” Rodney scolded me.

I started to cry. “I only had you stop, because I saw the pawn shop back there and figured we could get a few more weapons.” I cried. “It didn't look like it was even broken into.”

“That's true,” Mr. Sanders agreed. “After all, we will stop smelling like one of them, and once we get to our destination...”

“Mall of America,” Jill added.

“Yes, The Mall of America,” Mr. Sanders grumbled. “...We would be able to fight off any zombies that are in the bus station or inside the mall.”

“We better hurry,” Beverly cried. “The longer we are out here, the faster it will be dark. And you know what that means.”

I shuttered.

We stared out the light rail to see if any zombies were around. None were in eye sight, so we opened the door by pressing on the signal. It made a beeping sound indicating it was opening.

Once we were out of the train, only Jill, Beverly, Tia and the twins stayed inside. We had to be quick at this. Who knows might be out here looking for us. When we got to the pawn shop and noticed there were a few holes in the windows, but no sign of it being broken into, like I said. I found a rock and used it to break open the door. To my surprise, the alarm started blaring. This caused nearby zombies to head toward the noise. Zachary and I ran into the shop with our guns ready, if we spot a zombie inside. The others were shooting the zombies outside.

I spotted a locked room. It had a sign written in a language I couldn't read.

“Hey, Zachary, what does 'armes et de munitions' mean?”

“It's French,” Zachary explains. “It means weapons and ammunition. You got the right place.”

“Why is everything all in French?” I asked, a bit puzzled.

“Do I have to explain?” Zachary argued, “Just find a way to open the door.” I look around for a key. There has to be one somewhere. I checked in the cupboard and cabinets at the desk and had no luck.

“Um Natalie,” Zachary said. I looked over at him. “The doors unlocked” He opened the door and wasn't looking inside.

“ZACHARY, LOOK OUT!” I screamed. On the other side, there was a zombie, which came out and bit him right on the shoulder. Zachary shouted, and I continued screaming.

Rodney and Mr. Sanders ran into the room and saw the zombie biting Zachary.

“Zac!” Rodney screamed.

With quick thinking, Mr. Sanders aimed and shot the zombie, right straight in the head, barely missing Zachary.

Zachary was in agony and needed medial immediately.

“We got to get him to a hospital or something,” Rodney yelled.

“You and Hunter take him to the light rail and get it ready. We are out of Ammo, and we got to get some or else we will die out here. We will be there in a minute. Natalie, grab as much as you can put in these shopping carts.”

Mr. Sanders hands me a cart, and I rush into the room, looking for more zombies in all places. We grab as much as possible in no time, and are on out the door to the train just about the time it was getting ready to leave.

“IF IT WASN'T FOR YOU!” Tia screamed, ZACHARY WOULDN'T BE HURT. She pushed me at a seat, where I fell violently and started crying.

“STOP!” Beverly, Jill, and Mr. Sanders yelled simultaneously.

“She's just a little girl,” Beverly barked. “You can't push her like that! You could kill her.”

“WHAT DO YOU THINKS GOING TO HAPPEN TO ZAC?!”

“I'm sorry for what happened to Zachary,” Mr. Sanders calmly spoke, “But you can't take it out on young children.”

I was still crying and curled up on my side in the corner, fearing of what was going to happen to me. I didn't mean to hurt him. I even tried to warn him.

“Where are we going?” I hear Jill.

“We are taking him to the hospital,” Beverly answered while walking over to me to see if I was okay.

“It doesn't matter anymore. He's not going to live.” I explained.

“What do you mean he's not going to live?” Tia yelled.

I slowly got up from my spot I was curled up in. “He won't be able to live because he was bitten by the infected.” I explained, “In all zombie movies and shows I have ever watched, anyone bitten will eventually die from the virus. You can't even cut away the bite marks.” I sighed and then looked up at Tia. “I would say he has one, maybe two hours to live, maybe even less if he doesn't lose a lot of blood before then. Once he dies, he will reanimate and turn into one of the dead, we have been seeing for the past few days.”

Tia and the Twins were all crying. Zachary was whimpering in Tia's arms. The train was starting to slow down. Not sure why it was. We got our answer. In front of the train was an enormous herd of zombies blocking the rails, and above the tracks, the electric wires that powered the train were broken. We were not able to get any power to the train, and we were stuck between a rock and a hard place.

We had to find another way of transportation and quick, but first, we had to find a way out of this train. Rodney got out of the driver's seat and returned to us.

“Any suggestions on what we can do?” he asked.

“No clue,” Mr. Sanders said, staring at all the dead outside.

“I know what we can do,” Zachary mumbled. Everyone stared at him. “There is only one way to get out of here alive, and it is to…” He started to cry. “You will have to kill me, so I can reanimate into a zombie and use me as camouflage.”

“No!” Tia cried

“Please mom,” Zachary pleaded. “As my last wish, please kill me, so I know you will be safe.”

“If you wish son,” Rodney cried.

“I love you, dad. I love you Mom. You to Desiree and Shakina,” With his last words, and before Rodney could take out his gun or knife, Zachary died in Tia's arms. Everyone, including I, was cried. This was the first time I ever watched someone die. Someone that I knew. I didn't know him long, but for the short time we were together, he was like family.

Rodney took Zachary out of Tia's arms and put him down on a bench and waited for him to reanimate. Outside, the zombies were pounding on the windows. Good thing there was no power, because the doors won't open without manually opening it from above. And also the windows were not easy to break. It might be almost bulletproof or something.

For the next few minutes, we waited for Zachary. After about two minutes, we saw him start to move. We knew he was not Zachary anymore. Rodney took out his gun and aimed it at his head. Once Zachary opened his eyes and got up, Rodney shot him in the head, killing him instantly. Now was the gross part. We had to use him as camouflage and get out of here. It was starting to get dark, and we had to find another way of transportation soon.

After everyone was gutted with Zachary, Mr. Sanders broke the emergency door switch and opened the door manually. The zombies near the entrance stopped pounding and started moving away. They thought we were one of them. Thank you, Zachary.

We traveled a block and found an abandoned bus parked with the door still opened. All of us piled into the bus and looked under the seats. No zombies anywhere in sight.

“We have a problem, Rodney said. “There's no keys.”

“Problem?” I laughed. “What problem?” I went over to the steering wheel, and with a snip, tug and zap, I got the bus running.

Rodney was amazed. “How could a six-year-old girl know how to hot-wire a bus?”

Beverly, Jill and I looked at each other and laughed. We all sat down in the seats and were off.

“Still wanna go to the Mall of America?” Rodney asked over the microphone.

“Yes,” we all shouted.

“Okay, hold on tight.” Rodney started driving the bus out of the area and past the light rail we were on. We all said goodbye to Zachary and were on our way. I only hope we won't have to fight too many zombies when we get there.

~o~O~o~

It didn't take us long, but when we got to the mall, it was getting dark. We were starting to freak out. The Cerberus or any other creature would be out soon, and we haven't even gotten into the mall. It might not even be safe in there. They could also be inside.

To our surprise, lights were on inside. This was a good thing in a way, but why would there be lights on? Were they running on solar, like at the apartment? We quickly got out of the bus and headed for the doors. We were so close to safety. I ran up to the door and started pushing when I hit my head on it.

“The doors are locked!” I cried.

“We may have to break it,” Hunter shouted. We all looked around for a huge rock or something. The only thing we could find was a wastebasket. Grabbing it, he charged at the door almost about to break the glass.

“DON'T!” Cried a strange voice from above.

“Who's there?” I yelled.

“Hold on, and I'll let you in.”

A few minutes later, we see two teenage girls walking over to the door.

As they let us in, we all thanked them.

“What's your names?” one of the girls asked.

“My name is Natalie,” I giggled, “This is my best friend, Jill.”

“Hi,” Jill spoke quietly.

“I'm Mr. Sanders.”

I'm Beverly.”

My name is Rodney, and this is my wife and three… I mean two kids, Desiree and Shakina.”

“What's your names?”

“My friends' name is Bloom Reinhold, and I'm Jamie Jacobs.”

It's been about a week since the outbreak. Jill and I have traveled from Kansas to Minnesota, met a few new friends, and even lost a wonderful place to live in that little amount of time. For me, being a six-year-old girl, it's hard to live in a world of the dead.
It was dark outside the mall. I was looking left and right and behind us in the parking stall, not to mention above us. Zombies or other strange creatures could come out of nowhere and get us. I look inside through the glass doors and see two girls staring straight at us.

"What are your names?" one of the girls asked, opening the doors, to let us in.
The other girl was looking around. She had a gun in her hand, ready to shoot. Not us, but them.

“My name is Natalie,” I giggled, “This is my best friend, Jill.” As we walk through the doors, I notice the place didn't even look dirty. Like a zombie had never touched it.

“Hi,” Jill spoke quietly. She looked nervous. I don't blame her. After our experience losing Zachary, it was frightening.

“I'm Mr. Sanders.”

“I'm Beverly.”

“My name is Rodney, and this is my wife and three…” I can tell that Rodney was sad, he had tears in his eyes. “I mean two kids Desiree and Shakina.”

I'm Hunter, and my sister's Madison” Hunter was proud to introduce himself.

“What's your names?” I ask.

“My friends' name is Bloom Reinhold, and I'm Jamie Jacobs.”

As we all enter the mall, Jamie locks the door and ensures the others are also locked. I look at the entries, I wonder if anything like the Cerberus could break those down.

“Watch out,” Jamie warned us.

Right after she said that an enormous metal fence with spikes facing the door came shooting down from the ceiling.

“How can a mall have those?” I asked Jamie.

“They don't,” she smiled. “I added them a few days ago, with the help of Bloom's mother Claire and my older sister Jessica.”

“That's clever of you,” Rodney was very pleased with the work, so was I.

“Are you all staying here in the mall?” I was surprised. How could an entire family occupy a whole mall? Wouldn't it be easier to use the hotels hooked up to the mall?

“Yes,” Jamie answered. And there are many more families here. I was the one who thought of making the mall a shelter for those who lost their homes.”

This made me shut up. But still, wonder about the hotel. There's got to be a reason why she chose the mall instead of the hotels. I can always ask them later. I look at people walking around the mall. I have a feeling they lost their home recently. We had lost our fantastic apartment in Saint Paul, and now we are also homeless.

Just before we started walking through the mall, a bunch of zombies showed up outside the doors. We were lucky we made it inside in time. That gave me shivers. I watched them for a little longer until Beverly pulled me away.

We started walking in the mall. There was an escalator leading down to a lower level. Looking like it must have been a water exhibit or something. I may have to check that place out sometime. Hopefully, there are no dead animals down there.

As we walk up one of the escalators, we go past many shops. Noticing many of them have been turned into little homes for families. Each one could lock themselves inside at night to stay safe, with the chain fences that come with the store. Clever idea, if you ask me.

Some homes have children playing and sleeping. Beds were set up on one side of the room, like a bedroom and a couch in another section as the living room. Some had televisions.

“Hey, look at that,” Hunter exclaimed, pointing at one of the families homes. What we observed was a few teenagers playing a video game on a television. It reminded me of the game system I had played with back at the house in Mantri, Kansas. Watching them play the game made me a little excited. I could play Minecraft with my friend JamGirl02 and maybe get through to my sister.

“It's not polite to stare in other people's homes.” Beverly scolded us.

As we walked, I noticed that Bloom was behind us. She hadn't spoken yet. This made me nervous, wondering what she was thinking.

The halls in the mall were gloomy. The only light available was coming from the families homes, or from the moon in the skylight. This gave us enough light to keep walking safely through the mall. I was glad it was that way. Zombies are attracted to light as much as smell and noise.

Even though we were talking, we kept it low.

We wandered through the mall and into a vast room, which looked like an abandoned amusement park. Well, it sure looked abandoned. Nothing seemed like it has moved for a while now. I would say about a week and a half. That's about as long as this zombie plague known as Isisraxtosa has been going on.

“Mom, we got some new arrivals,” Jamie said, stepping into a large store, or what used to be a toy store. A woman stepped out and greeted us.

“Hello newcomers, my name is Joslyn Jacobs,” she shakes our hands. “Welcome to… well, the Mall of America, but it's not much of a mall now. Come inside.”

We walked into the store. All around, you can find lots of toys. Some which were on the ground, with little girls playing with them.

“Don't mind my daughters. The toys keep them entertained.”

The grownups chuckled.

“I wondered something,” I spoke up.

“Are you wondering why we don't just put people into the hotel rooms on the sides of the mall instead of the old stores?”

“Um,” she was good. I'm guessing she has the question a lot. “Yes.” I looked down at the ground.

“We thought of that. But because some families have lots of members, almost everyone would get two to three or even more rooms per family. This way, the whole family is together. Plus, there is a backdoor if they get trapped. In a hotel, there is only one door.”

“You've got a point there,” Mr. Sanders agreed. “When we were in our apartment in Saint Paul, we only had one doorway out.”

“How'd you get away?” Jessica came out from behind us, which startled Madison and the twins.

“It was all because we were brave enough and fought our way out,” I said proudly, pulling out my Katana and swinging it in the air away from everyone pretending I was killing zombies.

Joslyn gazed at me with my Katana.

“Tsk, tsk, tsk,” she said. This made me worried. It reminded me of the episodes of The Walking Dead, where the group went to Terminus and was asked to remove all their weapons. Things went bad. And ended up killing everyone there. And another time, when the group went to the little town of Alexandria, where they again had to remove their weapons.

“I held on to my Katana. I didn't want it taken away.

Joslyn chuckles, “Don't worry, little one. We allow weapons here. But keep them under control. No playing with them. Only one weapon on you at a time.” I look less worried. “By the way, nice Katana.”

I smile.

“Mommy, I'm tired!” Whined Desiree.

“Do you have any rooms for us?” Rodney asked looking at his sleepy girls, and then back at Joslyn.

“Of course we do,” Joslyn walks behind a counter and grabs a few old maps of the mall and hands it to both Rodney and Mr. Sanders. Beverly looked at it over Mr. Sanders' shoulder.

“First of all, to make it easier for us, we would like the names of all that will stay with us,” she looks at the Jackson's “I'm guessing this is your family?” She questions Rodney.”

“That's right, my wife Tia and two daughters Desiree and Shakina. I had a son, but he died earlier today.”

“I'm so sorry to hear that.”

“How come you always say Desiree before my name?” Shakina complained.

“That's because my name is first in the alphabet, and I am the oldest.”

“You are not the oldest. I am.”
The twins started arguing over and over at each other.

“Girls shut the hell up. Do you want the dead to hear you?”

That sure shut their yaps, which made me giggle.

We watched Joslyn talk to the Jackson's and then hand them something that looked like an envelope. Next thing we knew, they were walking away. Well, Rodney and Tia were walking, the girls were skipping.

As I watched them leave, Joslyn stepped over to us.

“I got a wonderful place for your family to...”

“My sister and I would like our own room.” Hunter interrupted.

“Oh,” Joslyn was a bit surprised. “I thought you all were a family. I am so sorry, but we can not have minors living alone.”

“Well, then we are not staying here,” Hunter grabs his sister and starts to walk away. “Come on Madison.”

“Wait!” Joslyn cried. “Don't go. I think I know of a way for you two to be separated, but still be near one another, in case anything happens.”

I was a bit confused and exhausted. Hunter didn't have any problem when he and his sister were staying with us at the apartment in Saint Paul. Why now? All I wanted was to get a place and crash for the night. I just hope that whatever Joslyn knows of, Hunter will like it.

“Each store has a storage closet, big enough to make into a bedroom. You can lock it from the inside if we change the door handles around.” Joslyn explained, “Would you stay if we do that?”

Hunter glanced at his sister and then back at us. “Okay, we will choose that.”

She hands us a folder with a key to the store we are moving into. I am not sure how she got the key, but it's pretty cool that she got it.

We are located on the third floor, north side, almost close to the food court. Jamie helped us find the location. That was good because Bloom took the Jackson's to their destination earlier, which is on the second floor.

When we got to our place, there was a family that lived next door to us. On this side of the mall, there were gates and a glass door. The neighbors' door was closed, and lights were off, so we were not able to get to know them yet. A cat was the only thing still moving around in there.
It was cool that they had a cat. I wish we had a cat.

Our new place is located in front of a food court, or what is left of a food court. I looked like it had seen better days. Chairs knocked over, and the floors looked like they hadn't been cleaned in a while. Maybe tomorrow, Jill and I could clean up the place a bit. Bring some life back into this mall. Perhaps after the whole Apocalypse is over, this mall will run better again.
Maybe.

When we got into our new living space, we noticed it was empty. All there were were a few beds.

“I guess we have to go out and find things to add to this place?” Jill said.

“Yes, just down the hall, past the ice rink and water park, there's an Ikea.” Jamie pointed out, “You can get things there tomorrow. But remember to bring your weapons with you. The Rotties may be there, so you might have to kill them.”

“Rotties?” I asked.

“Oh, that's what we call the dead. It's like what they say on the show...”

“The Walking Dead? They called them Walkers.” I chimed in.

“That's right. Are you a fan of that show?”

“Yes, I am.”

“Amazing,” Jamie scratched her head. “For a show that's been off the air for over a hundred years, it's still popular today?”

“They can't get in here, can they?” Beverly asked.

Jamie giggled. “No. We blocked them off at the Ikea entrance and the malls. You may notice some Skyway going over to the store, but it would be easy to kill them.” She glanced at my Katana. “But before you do go over there, remember to bring a group with you when you go.” She looks at her watch on her arm. “I better get going. Our security is still watching the outside just in case we find more people like you. Enjoy your stay at Hotel M.O.A.”

“Thanks for all the help bringing us here,” said Mr. Sanders. “Please thank your mom for us as well.”

“Will do.” Jamie helped, by closing the door. I ran over and locked it. I watch her walk away. I stepped away from the door, and Mr. Sanders came over to pull down the gate to secure it.

I looked around the room. There were three beds in the room and a couch. Make that two and a half beds and a sofa.

Because we made an agreement with Hunter and his sister, we helped bring one of the bigger beds into the other room. We also promised we would not open the door tonight, since they could not lock the door from the inside until they switched the doorknobs around.

Hunter and Madison shared the same bed in their room. Jill and I shared a bed with Beverly, and Mr. Sanders Slept on the small couch. Tomorrow, we can get a few more items to make this place more like home.

I am pleased to be in a safe place now. As much as I know, it's safe. But why am I so scared?

I drift off to sleep a few minutes later, but am wakened by a loud noise. A noise I never heard before, and I have no idea where or what it was coming from.

I gaze out the windows of the shop, my friends and I are staying in. I hear people shout in the distance. The loud noise continued to screech out. I didn't dare go out and investigate. I wanted to fight, but I wasn't sure what to expect. I held my Katana in my hands, ready to fight if I had to. If the sound I heard came from a beast as big as the Cerberus, this Katana wouldn't stand a chance.

The loud screeching sound was getting closer. Jill and the others woke up.

"What's going on?" Mr. Sanders asked, looking towards me.
"Shh... Don't talk," I whispered.

I spotted a shadowy figure from a distance. It was huge. Appearing to be about six feet tall with tentacles or something. I couldn't tell what it was, but I slowly backed away from the window and hid behind the counter in the middle of the room. As I looked over towards the window from the counter-top, I could see it advancing closer to the doors.

I could hear Jill whispering to the others from the bed. "Stay quiet," I whisper back at them. I continued staring at the door as the creature stepped closer, and then turned the other direction, sauntering past our doorway, and kept going down the hall of the mall. My eyes were glossy as I spotted the creature. If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I wouldn't have believed it, but it looked like a panther of some sort, but with six legs and two tentacles sprouting from each of its shoulders. What a strange creature it was. Almost like it came from a scary movie or something.

"Why isn't there anyone stopping this monster?" I thought.

Still hiding behind the counter, I start thinking of the Jackson's next-door and what Hunter and Madison are doing in the other room.

When I figure the creature was far enough away, I moved quickly, but quietly over to the door and knocked on it softly. I waited for Hunter or Madison to open the door. I was certain they heard the noise. As I stood there, I looked toward the front windows and back at the door. I wonder why they aren't answering the door. I did promise not to open it.

After about a minute, the door opened and Hunter came out. "My sister is freaking out," Hunter whispered, "What is going on out here?"

"We're not doing anything," I whisper. "There's a creature outside, in the halls."

We heard the screeching sound again, but this time it sounded farther away. This is going to be a long night of not being able to sleep.

I held my Katana in my arms. I was ready to fight at any minute if that monster somehow got into the room.

"You know for a six-year-old, you sure are a bad ass with that, Katana," Hunter told me.

"I'm not a five-year-old, I'm a sixteen-year-old, in a six-year-old body," I complained.

Hunter looked confused. "What do you mean sixteen? You look like you're five."

"She and I were originally sixteen, a week ago, around the time this whole zombie apocalypse began," Jill mentioned, trying to help me out.

"I don't get it," Hunter laughed. "What do you mean?"

"It's hard to explain," I said. "But the whole zombie apocalypse all started, by one man." I glance over at the whole group. "His name is George Russell. He's a scientist from Mantri, Kansas. He created a formula that he believed would help a plague in Argentina. The people there were really sick. At first, it helped out, but eventually, it stopped and everyone that had the formula started dying. George was devastated about the whole thing. He was hoping to make millions for a cure."

Hunter looked a little confused. "What's this have to do with you being five..."

"Six," I barked.

"Okay six," Hunter grumbled. "What you're saying makes no sense on how you changed from sixteen to six."

"I'm getting there. Just let me explain," I argued. "George is my mom's boyfriend. The day we moved into his house, I drank what I thought was a soda from his fridge. What I didn't know was it was the formula."

"Wait, you drank the formula that turns people into zombies?" Madison cried out, stepping out of their room. "Wouldn't you also be infected?"

"No, the Isisraxtosa formula only caused those with that unknown plague, which caused them to turn into zombies when taken. Jill and I only got younger and turned into girls. It didn't affect us."

Wait," Hunter laughed. "You two were boys?"

"That's an amusing story, you were talking about," said someone in the shadows.

"Whose there?" I yelled, glancing towards the sound.

The person in the shadows stepped forward and revealed who they were.

"Jamie?" I said in surprise. "How'd you get in here without us knowing?"

"Easy, when you were talking to Hunter, I just slipped in quietly through the door quietly. I only came here to talk about the creature you saw, but decided to listen to your story first. It's amusing as I said." She glanced over at the others and then back at me.

"It's all true," I said.

"I believe you," Jamie smiled. "You said Isisraxtosa. I have heard of that name before. It was used for a cure here in Minnesota for a disease a while back.

"The formula came way up here as well?" I was confused. "I was told it only made it to Argentina."

"Possibly George tried it here first, and it worked out well, that he tried it there as well." Jamie laughed. "But I'm not surprised it turned people into zombies, because instead of being used on people, it was used in a vet." Jamie stopped for a second and stared out the window. "Animals that took the vaccine died a few days later. But they didn't really die, they came back to life, grew larger and mutated."

"So that explains the Cerberus the other day and that creature a few minutes ago," I said, stepping towards Jamie, and started looking out the window as well.

"That's the whole point I came here," Jamie stated. "I forgot to tell you our secret weapon."

"Your secret weapon?" I yelled and then toned my voice. "You mean that thing is..."

"Yes," Jamie interrupted, "She helps us out, especially at night, when everyone is asleep."

"What sort of creature is that?" Jill asked, walking over to us.

"A Night Stalker," replied Jamie.

"What?" I laughed.

"A Night Stalker, another name is Phantom Cat." Jamie looks at us angrily. We all look confused. "She's my cat, okay!" Jamie cried.

"Oh," I looked to the ground. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be sorry, she still knows who I am, and likes to sleep next to me at night, when she feels everything is safe." She starts to laugh. "Although, she hogs the whole bed now. She used to only take a small spot.

Everyone laughs at her joke.

"I'm guessing everything is not safe since she is out." Mr. Sanders clarified.

"No," Jamie pointed out. "You heard that screeching noise earlier?" We all nodded. "That was not my cat... The noise you heard came from a small mutated bird which I call a Bicephalic Basilisk, or what I believe used to be a lizard or something."

"How did you think of that name?" I asked.

"My friend Bloom named it Bicephalic Basilisk, because it has two heads and its a serpent like creature.

I thought it sounded interesting.

I would stay away from them. Their bites paralyze their attackers just enough, so they can eat them alive."

Madison shivered.

"The first time I ever saw one, was just a few days ago. "Jamie continued. "I was walking with one of our soldiers when one came out of nowhere. He started attacking the beast and was bitten. He froze in his place. I was so terrified and hid from it. I saw the Bicephalic Basilisk start devouring him. It was ripping him to shreds, piece by piece. There was a lot of blood and..."

"Please Jamie, children are listening," Beverly scolded.

"I don't mind, I like this type of stories, Jill giggled. I also agreed.

"Well, I sure don't," Madison argued.

"Oh, um... Well, I don't know how they get in, but soon enough, we can fix that problem."

"How did you get away?" I asked.

"My cat came to the rescue. For me, not for my soldier, he was already eaten.

"Oh no," Madison cried.

"Don't worry," Jamie laughed, the Night Stalker, is immune to its bite."

"I was worried about your kitty, and now I am afraid of getting eaten alive." Madison cried.

"Don't worry, we will protect you," Jamie promised. "We got better protection for the soldiers."

"How do you know your cat is immune?" He asked.

"I had her test it out." I was terrified that she would have died as well, but she was okay. Her tentacles are also very fast and were able to smash it to pieces."

"Wow!" everyone said at once.

Jamie glanced at her watch. "It's almost two in the morning, you better get some sleep. Breakfast is at eight" She leaves the room and heads off to her place.

"We might as well try to sleep." Mr. Sanders said, gazing at me, Jill, Madison, Hunter, and even Beverly. "As Jamie said, that Night Stalker will protect us."

I watched everyone head to their beds, and then looked out the window, making sure nothing was nearby. I walked slowly to my bed and eventually fell asleep.

I wake up in the morning to the smell of sausage in the air, which I haven't smelt since mom made it at the McDonald's a week ago back in Mantri. It made me a little depressed thinking of that. I sit up in the bed, accidentally waking up Jill.

"Sorry," I whisper.

"That's okay," Jill quietly replied. "I have got to get up anyway. I have to use the little girls' room."

"So do I?" I said. "Where is it anyway?"

"I don't know." Jill mumbled, "This is a mall. Most likely in the halls, like they are usually."

I got up and headed out the doors. As I look both ways, I could tell it was safe to leave the room. There was noise everywhere, as if the mall was active and ready for stores to open up. I giggle at the thought of that. Maybe someday the zombie apocalypse will be over, and this place would be a mall again.

As I walk down the hall, I could see stores. I could tell people lived in them. They decorated their windows for privacy. I could tell that some had kids by the way they painted the windows with hand prints. I think of our place. People can see inside it at the moment. I may have to find something to cover the windows.

As I walk further down the hall, I saw the washroom. Jill was right, there was the Men's and Women's washroom. I wonder where we could go for a shower. I sure could use one.

After I did my business, I noticed a bunch of people going down the hall. As curious as I was, I followed them. They went past our room and headed to what looked like a dining area. Some people were setting tables with cups and silverware. I guess this is where we go for meals. I wondered why they weren't setting out plates as well.

I walk over to the tables. A woman looks up at me and smiles.

"Where's your mommy or daddy, little girl?" she asks me. I start to cry. Why did she have to bring up my mom? "Are you okay, little one?" She tries to comfort me.

About that time, Jill and the rest of my friends come over.

"There you are, Natalie," Beverly says, heading towards me.

"This must be your daughter...um... granddaughter?" The lady said, getting up.

"She's more of an adopted granddaughter," Beverly says.

"My name is Martha."

"Beverly."

I'm Mr. Sanders, but you can call me The Colonel."

"The Colonel?" Martha questioned. "As in Colonel Sanders, the chicken guy?"

We all laugh.

"I may almost look like him" Mr. Sanders laughed, "And I do make excellent chicken, but I'm not the real Colonel Sanders. He died way over One Hundred and Fifty Years ago."

We all finished introduce ourselves and sat down at one of the tables.

People were starting to come in and stood in line. A man walks up to us.

"You must be new here," he says. "You have to stand in line to get a meal." We thanked the man and got up and head over to everyone else. By the time we do, the line is long. Why didn't someone tell us this earlier?

By the time we got to the front, I was starved. For breakfast, they gave out bacon, eggs, and toast with our choice of jam. I chose raspberry. They also gave out grits, which was a treat for me, because I am used to having grits with my breakfast. Not many people got grits. I guess it's not popular up here.

I sit down at the table and start to eat. A lady came along and asked us if we wanted milk or orange juice. I asked for milk and started looking out the window at all the zombies walking around the area.

It makes me wonder, with all the noise happening in the building, I am surprised by how they aren't swarming. Can't they hear us? I guess the zombies aren't like the walkers on the Walking Dead after all.