• "By the way, what state are we in?" Emily asked after ten minutes of walking through the desolate streets. There were cars, stopped randomly and paper flung everywhere. Anywhere you looked, you could tell something awful had gone on. They walked past an old pawnshop as Gina answered.

    "Indiana, why?"

    "Well, Rainbow's main facility is in Illinois, so we're right next door," Emily replied, smiling. Her brown eyes twinkled. As they passed an old, abandoned gun shop, Emily wondered aloud, "Should we stock up?"

    "Good idea Emily," Ian agreed as he started walking towards the shop, gun in hand. Emily unsheathed her swords and followed, Yvette at her heels, with - though she didn't seem capable of shooting it - a gun of her own. Then Michael and Gina came as well, looking more that capable of shooting the brains out of someone.

    They walked slowly towards the door, keeping their eyes open. "Zombies may not be able to go out in light," Emily cautioned, "but they can stay in dark buildings." Once they reached the door, Ian was about to throw it open when Emily shook her head and moved in front of him so that she could open it. Swords in hand, she threw it open and walked in a few feet. Her eyes scanned the dark room and found nothing. There were no zombies, but plenty of guns and ammo in cases. The room was small, and the business must not have been that big with the amount of stuff in the room, but at least it was something.

    "Can you see in here?" Yvette asked.

    "Yes, they put something in me to make my eyes see clearly, all the time," she replied.

    Suddenly there were four beams of light shinning into the building. "If you're going to go off on your own, you might want flashlights," David's voice sounded, ten feet behind them. His black hair glistened in the bright sun light.

    "David!" Yvette exclaimed, going over and hugging him. "You came? Why?" she asked, still happy.

    "I don't want to be along back there, are you kidding?" he answered her, as he hugged her back. "So, are we going to get some ammo, or not?"

    Michael cocked his gun in reply.

    Emily started into the building, after refusing a flashlight. She didn't need it after all, and there were only four. Ian and Yvette shared one and went to the right with Emily, while Michael, David, and Gina went to the left. Emily found a set of stairs and quietly shouted it to the others that she was going up them. They gave their silent Okays and Yvette, Ian, and Emily set out.

    Michael and the others, however, found a back room, filled with boxes of guns and ammo. They started to unload the boxes as Emily and her group continued up. When they reached the top, they found a bedroom with three beds and a dresser. The flashlight was all of a sudden gone. Emily spun, only to find Ian and Yvette gone. "Yvette!" she called quietly. "Ian!"

    No answer.

    There was however, a bloodcurdling scream and a monstrous roar, to the right. Emily raced over there to find a bathroom. Yvette in the tub, with a huge zombie leaning over her. Ian was knocked unconscious on the toilet. Emily grunted as she lifted both swords, and the zombie turned towards her just as she slashed its head off. There was another roar down stairs. Emily turned her head sharply, and then looked back at Ian and Yvette. Ian was still unconscious, and Yvette was paralyzed with fear. "Let's go," Emily commanded at Yvette as she went over to pick up Ian. They started down the stairs quickly, and headed straight for the front door. "Stay here," Emily commanded once they were outside and Ian and Yvette were in the sun.

    Emily raced back into the shop, and to where the others were. She found one dead zombie with five bullets in its chest and one in its head, David on the floor, and Gina and Michael on their knees, gasping for air. "Get up," she said. "There is one more here. And remember, aim for the head." After two minutes of waiting in front of the dark room, Emily said, "Its not going to come out on it's own. We have to lure it," she grabbed one of her swords and lightly cut her palm, only enough to make the smell prominent. She squeezed her hand and let the blood fall to the floor. The next thing any of them knew, a zombie was racing towards them. Michael steadied his gun and shot it, right between the eyes. "Good, let's get out of here then," Emily said, starting for the door.

    "Emily!" Ian shouted as they emerged. He had apparently regained consciousness, but Yvette had lost it. "Emily! Yvette was bitten!"

    "No!" Emily shouted, dropping to her knees next to Yvette. "She'll turn into one of them!"

    "Can't you do something?" Gina asked quietly as she knelt down next to Emily.

    "Yes, but you'll be frightened of me afterwards," she replied.

    "I don't care! Just do it!" Ian yelled.

    "Okay," she agreed. She took her sword out of its sheath again and cut the gash on her hand deeper. She grunted with pain, but kept it choked down. Once the wound was fairly deep, she put her hand over Yvette's mouth and ordered, "Drink."

    Yvette complied, and her color slowly returned. After a minute of drinking, she opened her eyes and coughed. Emily took her hand away and gasped with exhaustion. The wound healed at great rate, sealing perfectly and leaving no mark behind.

    "How-?" Michael asked, amazed.

    "They did many things to me," she answered simply.

    "And how did you-?" Gina asked quietly.

    "My blood it part of the puzzle of fixing this mess," she told them in between deep breaths.

    "Thank you," Ian and Yvette said in unison again. They really were a cute couple.

    "I won't blame you for not wanting to be near me anymore," Emily said as she got up.

    "Wait, Emily! What about David?" Michael asked frantically.

    "What about him?" she asked, turning around

    "He was bitten too. Right before he fainted, ha told us that while he was finding flashlights somewhere, one of those things bit him.

    "Get back!" Emily suddenly exclaimed, getting out her gun.

    "What?" Michael asked, alarmed, but he stepped back.

    "It's too late for him," she replied. "See, look at his eyes. There's a giant shadows under them. And look how pale he is. We have to kill him now."

    "What?!" Yvette, better now, exclaimed.

    "He'll only try to hurt you later. Trust me, I've seen it happen to people many times. He's only got about ten more minutes at this stage," Emily reasoned. "Why not save him from turning into one of those things now?"

    "Okay," Michael agreed. "Do it, you're right."

    "What? No!" Yvette exclaimed again. But she couldn't say anymore, because Emily pulled the trigger.

    "I'm really sorry." With that, she walked away. "You know what they say, when Hell fills up, the dead with start to roam the Earth, we got what we deserve."

    "Emily! Wait!" all of them yelled after her. When she didn't turn around they started running to catch up with her.

    "You saved Yvette's life back there, and you would've saved David's if you could have," Michael said, always the voice of reason. "And we're still coming with you."

    "Fine," Emily agreed, her voice somber, "let's keep going then."

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