Don't Let Me Go

Means of a Safe Escape

Mark looks at Amy, feeling conflicted. He wants to go help his friends, but there's no way he can just leave Amy in the street. The poor woman can barely keep herself standing by herself, let alone fend off any of the infected that might get too close to her if Mark leaves her unattended. He looks towards the house his friends had gone into, just catching the color flash of Marzia's bright pink skirt as she disappears into the house. Mark looks back at Amy and she smiles at him, "Go. I'm not going anywhere. Go, help our friends."

He sets her down slowly, handing her a knife, "If anyone other than our friends come towards you, scream for me."

She nods and he runs off to the house. Once inside, he looks around. The living room is splattered in blood and broken furniture. Something bad happened here. Mark shivers and moves on to the next room, which is just as the last. He moves towards the voices of his friends and he finds them in a bedroom, an infected little boy lying on the ground with his face smashed in. Ethan is sitting on the ground, whimpering, tears running down his face. Tyler is kneeling beside him, a hand on Ethan's shoulder. Marzia is standing beside Felix, both are staring at Ethan and Marzia's holding a hand over her mouth. Jack stands closer to the doorway, being the first to turn to Mark as he enters.

Mark frowns lightly, "What happened? Is everyone okay?"

"J-jut got a little too close to an infected person," Ethan sighs, shaking.

Mark takes a few steps towards him, "Did he bite you?"

Ethan shakes his head, looking up at Mark, "I-I think I'm okay."

"No one else is hurt?" Mark asks.

"No, we're good." Felix replies.

"Okay," Mark sighs in relief, "I gotta get back to Amy, you guys finish looting the place so we can leave."

Mark turns and walks out and Jack follows after him. Mark looks at him briefly before looking around for any infected as he makes his way back to Amy, "What did you see in there?"

"Felix was by the wall, the dead kid was already dead, and Tyler was trying to calm Ethan down. Apparently Ethan checked the room himself and he didn't see the kid sitting in the corner. The kid jumped him while he had his back turned and Ethan turned just in time to keep the kid from biting him. He screamed and Tyler was the first one in, getting the kid off him and Felix ran in a moment later and killed the kid. Marzia and I got in and it was already over." Jack explains.

Mark reaches Amy and pulls her up so she's standing beside him. She looks at Jack, "Is everyone okay?"

He smiles, "Yeah, they're fine."

She smiles back, "Good, that's good."

He nods and his smile falters as blood trickles down from Amy's nose. Amy instantly puts her bloody tissues to her nose, looking down. She shivers and Mark looks at her, "How are you feeling?"

"I'll be okay," she smiles at him and he smiles back. Their conversation dies there and Mark looks around again. Nate, Matt, and Stephanie leave the house they looted, jogging back over to them and Nate grins, "We found so much food in there, grabbed as much as we could stuff into these backpacks."

Mark smiles lightly, "You sure no one's coming back for that food?"

Nate sighs, shaking his head, his smile gone, "That family was dead in there, man. All of them, bullet wound to the head. The guy, probably the father of the family, he had the gun in his hands.."

He shudders, "Pretty obvious what happened in there."

Mark runs a hand through his hair, "It hasn't even been a full week since this thing started and people are already.."

He shakes his head, shivering, "It has to end soon."

Matt smiles, trying to keep their spirits up, "We found something else, too. Come on."

Mark hands Amy off to Jack, "Call if too many infected get close."

Jack nods and Mark follows Matt, Nate, and Stephanie back to the house they were looting. They go into the house and Nate looks back at Mark, "You might want to keep your eyes on the ground."

Mark listens, not really wanting to see any more dead bodies. They lead him through the house and into the garage through the back. Mark looks up and he tilts his head. He's staring at a sleek, black Honda Civic. It looks brand new. Mark turns to his friends, "A car?"

"I think it still works," Matt says, looking at the vehicle like it's the greatest thing he'll ever see, "We could get out of here, find somewhere safe to hide out until the military comes and takes care of things."

"It's not a bad idea, right?" Nate turns to Mark, "Having a vehicle is a good thing, we can cover more ground faster and safer. Plus, we'll have more room to store more supplies."

"It's loud," Mark frowns, "It'll draw all the infected in the area right to us."

Nate grins, "Then we better get out of here fast."

He pulls a pair of keys from his pocket, "Let's see if this baby works."

Mark chuckles, "Don't start it up yet. Let me get everyone in here so we're at least protected until we're sure we can get out of here."

Nate nods and Mark quickly runs out of the house, making sure not to look around as he does so. Once back outside, he runs over to Jack, "Get Amy into that house I just came from, but don't look up from the floor, at the very least don't let Amy see."

Amy frowns, "I can handle a few dead bodies, Mark."

He kisses her cheek quickly, before walking past her, towards where the rest of his friends are coming out, "You shouldn't have to."

Jack makes his way to the house Nate looted slowly and Mark meets up with Tyler, Ethan, Felix, and Marzia. He smiles at them, "We found a car. If it works, we can get out of here and find someplace safe."

His friends' faces light up and they all run into the house Nate looted, all quickly making their way to the garage, avoiding the bodies of the deceased family they stole from. Mark closes the door leading into the garage once everyone is inside and Nate gets into the car's driver seat and sticks the key into the ignition. They all cheer when the car roars to life.