Don't Let Me Go

Where It's Quiet

"I told you guys we needed more gas," Nate groans, "So stop griping at me because we had to leave the car behind."

"We left all our stuff in it," Tyler growls.

Nate rolls his eyes, "We're going back for it, idiot. We just need to siphon some gas first."

"And how do you supposed we do that?" Tyler scoffs.

Nate glares, "Do I have to do everything?"

"You're going to get us killed," Tyler replies.

"Stop," Mark snaps, "None of us are going to survive if we can't trust each other. I get it, you're mad about Ethan, but you can't keep picking fights over nothing."

Tyler just shoves past him and Mark sighs, "Who knew the apocalypse would tear our friendships apart?"

"It'll be okay," Matt smiles, "It's been a stressful week. Everyone will calm down eventually."

Mark smiles back lightly, "Thanks.."

Matt nods, looking around, "So, we've been walking awhile, with minimal supplies on us, and I haven't seen a single car down this road. Thankfully, no infected either."

Stephanie sighs, "Should we just go back for the remaining supplies and then just look for another working car later? Wouldn't that be smarter?"

Mark looks forward, where Nate and Tyler are having a shoving match to decide who's leading the group and he sighs, "Maybe you're right, Steph."

Matt smiles at Mark again, "I'll go talk to them."

Mark nods his thanks as Matt jogs up to Nate and Tyler, "Hey, we haven't seen a car since we left. Wouldn't it be easier to just go back and get the stuff we left and then look for a car later? We'd have to double back anyway, right? This way it's less work."

Nate looks thoughtful, "Hm, yeah, you've got a point."

Tyler crosses his arms, "Are we just going to go in circles all day?"

Nate glares at him, "You're welcome to leave whenever you want, buddy. Nobody's keeping you here."

"Guys," Matt frowns, "We shouldn't split like this."

Nate turns to Matt, "Tell everyone we're turning around."

Matt nods and turns, running back to the rest of the group. He relays Nate's message and then the group starts heading back the way they came. After several hours of more walking, they get back to the car they stole back in the city. Nate pops the trunk and everyone grabs the remaining supplies, splitting it between all their backpacks. Once the supplies have been stowed away, then car is once again abandoned. They walk along the road for three days, all hot and complaining. Not a single car has come by in the time they've spent walking and they're all anxious about that. 

They finally stop when they come across a gas station. The group crosses the road and they go in, knives in hand. Immediately upon entering, they see someone crouched in front of a shelve, shoving things into a bag. Nate is the first to react and he goes up to the man and presses his knife against the back of the man's neck, "Stand up slowly."

The man stands and Nate's eyes narrow, "Hands where I can see them."

The man holds his hands up over his head and Nate continues, "Now, turn around, very slowly."

Slowly, the man turns. Felix gasps, "Holy shit.. Ken?!"

Ken grins, "Sup?"

Nate steps back, putting his knife away, "You know Felix?"

"He's one of my best friends!" Felix replies, running up and hugging Felix. Ken laughs, hugging Felix back, "Good to see you alive and well, man!"

Felix steps back, grinning like a madman, "What are you doing here?!"

"Surprise gone wrong?" Ken chuckles, "It's so good to see you, man!"

Felix hugs Ken again and Mark smiles. The group spends the next hour cleaning out the store of everything they deem necessary while Felix and Ken catch up. After the store's contents have mostly been taken, they all sit down in an isle near the middle of the store. They sit there to keep from being seen, and then they have a lunch of a bag of potato chips each, and two people each share a single bottle of water. No one complains about the assortment and rule of their lunch, and the store is silent as they eat.

After they eat, they pack up and get back on the road. Ken approaches Mark, "Hey, I'm sorry about your friends. This family took me in when everything happened.. Tom, Shelly, and their little girl, Rose.. That kid was ten-years-old, and she shot a sick guy to save me. Apparently the family did a lot of hunting throughout the year.."

"What happened to them?" Mark asks, walking beside Ken at the back of the group as they march along the road.

Ken sighs, "Tom got bit on the second day, he told me to protect Shelly and Rose and then he just.. Walked into a horde of them on the street. I tried to get Shelly and Rose to leave the city, but Shelly wanted to stay and wait for Tom to come back. She saw him walk into them, same as me, but she didn't want to believe her husband was dead.. I spent three days trying to convince her to leave, but she wouldn't. So, I stayed with her in their house. One day, Rose disappeared. I went out to look for her, spent two days looking for her, but.. I couldn't find her anywhere. I went back to Shelly's house, and.."

He shivers, wiping tears from his eyes, "She had killed herself.. Sometime while I was out looking for her daughter. I tried to look for Rose again, eventually I just left. Seems the country is.. Quieter."

Mark pats his shoulder, "I'm sorry, man."

"Me, too," Ken sighs, "Me, too."

...

Amy sits against a tree next to Ethan, shaking her head. He sighs, "Amy, please."

His skin is chalk gray, black veins protrude all over him, and his eyes have turned a milky white. He's breathing heavily, "Please.. I don't want to turn into one of them.."

Amy stifles a sob, "E-Ethan.."

They had been walking through the forest for three days, and neither of them can walk on their own anymore. Ethan can't even pick up his own knife to end his life. Amy is just a little better off. She can still move, but she looks almost just as bad as he does. He stares at her, wheezing. "Please.."

She wipes her eyes and nods. She takes the knife from his limp hand and leans forward. She kisses his cheek, muttering, "Close your eyes.."

He closes his eyes and she raises the knife. Her hands shake and she's whimpering. She takes a deep breath and then she drives the knife through Ethan's eye, the quickest way to get to the brain. She pulls the knife back, his blood splatters her, and she sobs. She leans back against the tree, staring up at the early morning sky. She closes her eyes and stabs herself in the throat. 

She falls limp almost instantly, blood running down her body. After several minutes, her body looks just as bad as Ethan's; deep, black protruding veins, gray skin, and her eyes film over to that ugly milky white of the dead. Her body suddenly jerks back to life and she lets out a raspy breath. She looks around slowly, and her eyes lock on Ethan's body. She growls before crawling over him and sinking her teeth into his skin.