Hello all my lovely people! WHAT?! its been almost two years since I updated this? wow...im so sorry to everyone on here! i really am. but guess what I have for you! A NEW CHAPTER! im excited to give this chapter to you all and ready to see what you guys think of it! remember, review so i know what you guys think!

SpringField, Illinois

10k and I were running as fast as we could down the road, zombies coming after us down the sidewalks. There were a lot of them as he turned and managed to mercy one. But as we ran around the corner of one building more were coming at us.

"Shit," I said as we both skidded to a stop. We looked around, trying to find either some way to escape or a better vantage point.

"Car," he said as he grabbed my hand and bolted. We both ran to a dark green car that looked pretty run down with a Z that was still buckled in the driver's seat. He helped me jump up on the hood of the car before jumping up onto it himself. We both made it up to the roof of the car as the Z in the driver seat managed to get out of the buckle and reached up for us. I bent down, grabbing the knife out of my boot and stabbing the it in the head. Above me 10k had his slingshot out and was putting down every zombie he saw.

I saw Warren and Vasquez back to back and they seemed to be holding their ground pretty well, Doc and Addy were next to a school bus as they managed the Zs around them. Murphy and Cassandra had the baby but seemed to be getting pushed back into a corner. Murphy reached out his hand like he was trying to control the Zs like he has done in the past, but it didn't seem to be working. All the zombies in front of him stopped for a moment like they heard him but quickly returned to what they were doing before by coming at him. However, I was quickly pulled from that scene when I felt 10k grab my waist, pulling me back. I looked down to see a Z that had gotten to close and smacked the roof of the car trying to grab my leg. I quickly bent down, pulling out my knife from my boot again and stabbed the Z through the head. I looked up at my brother and the others to see how they were holding up when I saw Murphy throw Lucy in the air, Doc's arms outstretched, ready to catch her. I held my breath watching my niece literally flying through the air, but once Doc caught her I knew she was safe. I turned back to the small horde that was now surrounding the car we were on. I finally grabbed my gun off my thigh, as the both of us quickly picked off the Zs that we could.

Once we had it cleared around us 10k grabbed my hand again as we slid down the windshield and jumped down off the hood to go help the others. I went around the school bus, seeing Warren and Addy struggling to get the doors open. Doc had somehow managed to get himself stuck in there and unable to open the doors with Lucy. I quickly pushed my way up to the door, trying to help when all of a sudden the door flew open. Doc knocked into me, the both of us nearly falling over as he tried to quickly move out of the way of several Zs coming after him. Once he was out of the way I looked in the bus and couldn't believe what I was seeing. Multiple Zs came out of the bus, and they all had one thing in common, they all looked like Abraham Lincoln. I made sure to duck out of the way as Doc went running by me.

"Addy!" he yelled, grabbing her attention as he threw Lucy in the air. I grabbed my gun again, turning back as I mercied the closest Z to me. Luckily Addy was quick and managed to catch Lucy, but Zs were closing in on her.

"Raven," Addy yelled, grabbing my attention this time. I turned just in time to see Lucy flying through the air once again. I gasped as I quickly tucked my gun away again, reaching out and catching my niece just in time. I held her close as I ran out of the way of some zombies.

Everyone still seemed to be holding their ground. Addy picked up her bat again as she mercilessly beat down a couple Zs. 10k was picking them all off one by one as usual with his slingshot. I ran to the other side of the bus, holding Lucy close as I pulled out my gun, shooting a couple zombies that got a little too close for comfort.

Once the last zombie was dead I came back around the bus, Lucy started to cry and get fussy. I cradled her, moving the wrap from around her face to give her a little extra breathing room.

"Hello, little lady," I said as I looked down at her, gently rocking her and trying to calm her down. She looked up at me, seeming to smile and calm down a little.

"This is just wrong," I heard Doc mumble to himself as he put one of the Lincoln hats on. I chuckled at him as I continued to play with Lucy. I had to admit, I never thought that Murphy would have ever given me a little niece, much less did I ever expect her to be blue or born in the middle of the zombie apocalypse. She looked up at me, a little smile on her face.

"Here, I'll take her now," Murphy said as he came running up to me with his arms outstretched. I looked at him confused for a second as he literally almost ripped her from my arms, "Adorable isn't she?"

"Yea, very," I said as I almost glared at him now.

"I thought you didn't like babies?" Warren asked as she walked over and joined us.

"I've never said that," he said, bouncing Lucy now, "I just said I didn't like that baby. But she's daddy's little angel, aren't you?" I crossed my arms and looked at Murphy in disgust. I had never seen him act like this before as he continued to baby talk to Lucy and it was weird.

"What other baby are we talking about?" I asked as I looked to the rest of the group.

"When we first met Murphy here, we also learned what happens when a baby turns into a Z," Doc said. I looked around to everyone as they shook their heads like they were trying to shake away a memory they didn't want.

"Do I even want to know?" I asked as I looked from Doc to 10k. They both shook their heads, Doc chuckling, causing me to smile.

…

Later that day we all had wandered into the woods, Warren saying that would probably be safer for us to make camp for the night. Murphy and Cassandra went off a little farther away from the group with Lucy, staying in their own little world. The rest of us gathered around, sitting on rocks and inspecting our weapons or other equipment. For the most part we all sat in silence, random mumbling and grumbling from Doc and the usual insane mutterings from Murphy. I glanced back at Murphy every once in a while, wondering what could have happened to us. We were siblings yet it seemed like I knew nothing about him. Not that either of us ever really tried to after I left our mothers. I loved my brother but something was majorly different about him now then back then. He was always crazy but this seemed like a new level.

By now I had completely forgotten the weapon in my lap, fully staring at my brother, in my own little world. I was brought back to Earth when I felt a hand rest on my shoulder.

"I saw a creek earlier when we were walking," 10K said as he pointed behind me, "Want to come and help me fish?"

"Sure," I said with a smile as I put my knife back in my boot. I stood and started following him when Doc called out behind us.

"Dinner better be the only thing you go fishing for 10K," Doc yelled, "We don't need any little 5Ks running around." I laughed, glancing at 10K seeing how red his face got when he turned and looked at his best friend.

It was a pretty short walk from our campsite to the creek that 10k had seen earlier. I looked around, the trees and the water were beautiful. But I wondered how he expected us to fish for anything when the water was a lot farther down than I expected.

"How are we going to get down there?" I asked as I peaked over the edge. I had never been a big fan of heights.

"We will have to climb down," he said pointing to a small ledge just a short distance away.

"Uh…" I said looking from the ledge back to him, "You first." I hit his arm, causing a smile to spread across his face as he looked at me, and tossed his backpack over his shoulder.

He squatted down, grabbing a root as he went over the edge, landing on a small part of a ledge, barely big enough to fit just him. He then looked up at me, wanting me to follow what he did.

"You want me to do that?" I asked, pointing at my own chest. He nodded his head and held up the root that he had in his hand, "There's no way."

"It will be fine," he said, trying to reassure me.

"It's not going to hold me," I laughed. I grabbed the little root he had in his hand, trying to see if it was as secure as he was making it out to be.

"It will," he said, "I'll catch you." I knew he was trying to make me feel better about it but it wasn't working.

"If this breaks we are both ending up in the water," I tried to joke as I did the same as him.

I crouched down, swinging my legs over the side and hoping with everything I had that this root would hold my weight. I was nearly holding my breath, just waiting for something to happen. But luckily, it seemed more sturdy than I realized...or so I thought.

Right when I was about to make my last shuffle downwards I heard the terrifying sound of the root snapping right in half. Before I could even scream I felt a strong arm around my waist and another around my shoulders as I was pulled back towards the rock face. I had closed my eyes, bracing for the cold impact of the water beneath me. However, when I realized that never happened I opened my eyes to see nothing but 10K's chest. I put both my hands on his shoulders, looking up at him with my mouth wide open in shock.

"I just saw my life flash before my eyes," I joked as I looked over the edge, seeing how close I was to ruining everything I owned.

"Told you I would catch you," he said with a handsome smirk.

"And I told you that root would break," I said mockingly. He just smiled at me and turned, still holding my hand as we shimmied along the edge to get to the bigger section of the ledge.

Once we got there he sat down, hanging his legs off the edge, looking over the water.

"So, do you have a fishing rod hidden somewhere in that back pack of yours," I asked as I sat next to him.

"No," he asked, looking at me genuinely confused, "I assumed you did." I stared back at him, equally as confused before he started laughing. He took off his bag, digging through it before pulling out some fishing line with a rusty hook on the end, "I found this a few towns back that we stopped at, just need a stick or something to help keep some of it afloat." I looked around, trying to find something big enough to act as a bobber.

I reached over, leaning back as far as I could reach, grabbing the perfect stick. 10K took it from me, tying the string around it with the hook hanging off it just enough.

"I think I may have something we can use as bait," I said as I grabbed my bag and pulled it around in front of myself. I knew I had some old food at the bottom of my bag that we could tear small pieces off of. He took it from me, hooking it to the string and tossing it in the water.

We sat there for a moment, just looking around and taking in the silence. Between my brother and Doc there wasn't much silence we could get in the group. I layed back, resting my head on my bag, one hand behind my head, the other across my stomach. I was content, nearly on the verge of falling asleep when all of a sudden 10K spoke.

"On a scale of one to ten-" he started.

"Whatever it is," I said interrupting him, "I'm going to say it's at least a 20." 10k looked at me over his shoulder and chuckled, shaking his head, "But really what's your question?" I giggled, turning over and laying on my side, propping my head up on my hand.

"Murphy," he said cautiously, as if he was afraid of how I would react, "How far down the rabbit hole do you think he has gone?" After his question I sat up, thinking about it as I did.

"Honestly?" I asked as I brought my knees up to my chest, resting my cheek on my knees, facing the man beside me, "I have no idea. He's so different from what I remember. We used to be so close, but after I left he got mad. Used to say I abandoned our mother. I mean he was the one who ended up in jail right?" I tried to laugh it off as best I could. I really did miss my brother, the way he used to be.

"From what you've told us, apparently almost you too," 10K said as he pulled in the fishing line slowly, trying to attract some fish. I chuckled, thinking back to that time, back when jail was the most trouble a person could get into.

"True, next time I know to be a little more sneaky when hacking into the CDC," I joked, watching as he threw his line back in the water. As he slowly started pulling back again there were a few tugs.

"Oh," I nearly yelled in excitement, "You got a fish." 10K was quick to secure the fish on the hook, jerking the line back, sinking it into the fish's mouth. He pulled it up and out of the water, the fish flopping around in front of us. I laughed as he tried to grab it, watching as he struggled.

Once he finally got the fish off the hook and secured on a chain fish stringer he pulled out of his bag he tossed the line back into the water.

"Are you laughing at me?" he asked as he turned and looked at me.

"Yes, very much," I said still, giggling. However, it was short lived when all of a sudden I felt a slimy fish scale covered hand run down my face. I gasped, almost too shocked to realize what happened. It was now his turn to start laughing as he wiped his nasty slimy fish hand over my face. I stared at him for a moment, trying to think of a punishment equivalent to what he just did. Luckily the surface of the water was just within arms reach for me to lean over and grab a handful of algae that was sitting on top.

Without even thinking I grabbed it, covering his face with it. He yelped and jumped back, smacking the algae out of my hand with a heavy splash as it hit the water. We stared at each other for a moment, trying to see if the other was going to try something else when the fishing line started moving. We both yelled as we jumped and grabbed it before the line went into the water, losing it for good. 10K quickly pulled it in, another fish on the line. I had never been much of a sea food person before the apocalypse but today I had never been more excited to see something other than Twinkies and canned food for dinner. He added it to the collection of fish, putting more bait on the line and tossing it back in. Once again he threatened to rub his slimy hands all over my face.

"Try that again and I'm pushing you into the water," I said as I grabbed his wrists and laughed. However, he was quicker than me, getting out of my grasp and yanking me up, "Oh my God!" I couldn't help the laugh and scream that escaped me as I was all of a sudden standing.

"You're going to push me into the water?" he asked as he wrapped both arms around my waist and acted like he was going to throw me over the edge. I yelled as I turned in his grasp, quickly throwing my arms around his neck, refusing to be thrown into the water. If I was going in so was he.

Luckily he put me back down on the ledge, letting me go. I took a few steps back from him as he started taking his shoes off.

"What are you doing?" I asked as he kicked his shoes and socks to the side.

"We are going to go for a swim," he said as he started taking off a few guns and other weapons. His vest and scarf not far behind when I got a brilliant idea.

"We?" I asked as he turned his back to me, "I think just you are." I snuck up behind him, giving him a push as he landed in the water, still fully clothed.

He came back up to the surface quickly, turning and looking at me in shock.

"Raven!" he yelled as he turned to me, wiping the water off his face. I couldn't hold back the laughter anymore as I rested my hands on my knees. But it was short lived when a splash of cold water hit me on the side. I turned and looked at 10K as he winked at me. I quickly kicked off my shoes and socks, kicking them over with his shoes. Once I stripped off my outermost layers I started a pile next to our shoes.

"Close your eyes," I said as I started unbuttoning my pants. 10K just looked at me, confused, "I said close your eyes." He huffed but did what I said anyways.

"Why do you actually get to not have wet clothes?" he asked as he peeked through his fingers.

"You snooze you loose big boy," I joked as I added my shirt to the pile, now standing there in just a bra and underwear, "Did I not say close your eyes?" I saw him peeking through his fingers. His cheeks instantly red now.

He covered his eyes back, turning his back to me until I was in the water. The water was just deep enough to cover my shoulders, a rock underneath me that I could barely reach with my tippy toes.

"Now you're free game," I laughed as I splashed him when he turned around. He laughed, wiping his face as he swam closer to me, splashing me once again. I couldn't help laughing again, getting a mouth full of this nasty water.

"Show no mercy," 10k said as he got closer, standing on the same rock I was now.

"No mercy?" I asked as I got an idea, "Shouldn't have said that." I quickly swam to him, putting all my weight on his shoulders, dunking him under the water. However, it backfired on me when he grabbed my legs, forcing me up with all his strength, throwing me out into the water more.

"Have you given up yet?" he asked. I stared at him, ducking under the water. Luckily the water was dark enough he couldn't see me swimming right in front of him but I also was hoping he didn't move or else I wouldn't be able to get to him. Thankfully he didn't move as I grabbed his legs under the water, pulling him under with me.

We both came up at the same time, my hair slicked back from the water, his hair all over the place where he ran his hands through it. He looked at me now, like he was plotting his next attack when he grabbed my waist with one hand, the other loosely on my neck, holding my chin up to look at him. The rock he was forcing me against was cold on my back.

"No mercy?" he asked, looking right into me. Being taller than me he had better footing on the rock beneath us, giving him the definite advantage.

"No mercy," I said almost like I was confirming something for him.

Without a second thought his lips crashed into mine. His lips were wet from the water, but somehow everything about him even made the musky water left on his lips taste like honey. I wrapped my legs around his waist, one of his hands on my thighs, gripping me tight and pulling me as close to him as I possibly could be. The hand around my neck now made its way to the back of my head, grabbing a handful of my hair. He let go of my thigh, both hands on the sides of my face, forcing me against the rock behind me with just his body now. He was so intoxicating, everything about him making the world around us melt away. I ran my hand up one arm, feeling every muscle and down his back. His shirt being wet was like a second skin, every inch of his body just begging for me to touch it. I slipped a hand under his shirt, feeling and exploring everything I could. I decided to take some control back, grabbing the bottom of his shirt and pulling it up and over his head. He broke away from our kiss for only a moment. Taking the shirt out of my hand and throwing it up on the rock above us were the rest of our clothes where. But he was quick to take back the moment, grabbing my face with one strong hand. He bit my lip, a moan escaping me before I even realized it. He grabbed my thigh again, lifting me a little more above the water, exposing my shoulders as he used his hand around my neck to turn my head. I got chills despite how warm it was outside still as he kissed down my neck. I had one hand on his upper arm, the other on his back, holding myself up against the rock. The harder he kissed my neck the harder I grabbed his arm, not realizing the red marks that were already starting to show themselves on his skin. He trailed down farther, making his way to what was exposed of my chest above the water. I let go of his back, grabbing a fist full of his hair instead, pulling it slightly, causing a brief moan to escape the man in front of me. I felt his hand travel from my thigh to the rim of my underwear, his hand grabbing my butt with a strength I didn't know he had. His other hand grabbed my hair again, pulling my head back as he trailed back up to my neck.

I finally opened my eyes, wanting to drink in every inch of this man when I saw something across the quarry. It looked like a person but surely they would stop at the cliff's edge. However, when they didn't and I saw more I realized what they were.

"Shit," I said as I pushed 10K off me, confusion and lust written all over his face, "Puppies and kittens." He quickly turned in the direction I was looking as another fell into the water.

"Shit," he muttered quietly. He quickly managed to jump back up on the ledge, turning to help pull me up as well. We both ran over, getting ourselves dressed as quickly as we could, getting the last of the fish and throwing the supplies back into 10K's backpack.

…

As we walked through the forest no more Zs seemed to be chasing us. 10k had all the fish we had caught on a chain that he was holding, making sure it didn't drag the ground. We hadn't been talking much, mainly just talking about the world now and what we would be doing if this world hadn't ended.

"I would definitely be sitting at home, on the couch," I laughed, but it was cut short when 10k stopped in his tracks. He was looking around like he was on high alert and I knew I needed to be quiet, something was close by.

I looked in the direction he was facing when I heard a twig break. However, it was Vasquez that we saw. We both looked at each other, wondering what he could be doing all the way out here. I shrugged my shoulders as 10k snuck up closer to him. I hid behind him as he crouched down behind some trees that were bent. Vasquez was looking around like he was making sure that no one was following him but luckily never saw us.

"Think we should tell Warren?" I asked as Vasquez was now out of ear shot. 10k looked at me before he shook his head.

"I don't know," he said quietly as he took off in the direction of our camp site. I was quick to follow him, not wanting to get lost in the woods here.

The rest of the walk back to camp was quiet, both of us pondering if we should tell Warren what we saw. As we made it to camp I saw most everyone sitting together either cleaning or sharpening their weapons, my brother off on his own as per usual. As we walked up to an old destroyed cabin 10k stood to the side, holding his hand out.

"Ladies first," he said as I took his hand, stepping through what used to be a door frame.

"Thank you kind sir," I joked, everyone finally turning to look at us.

"We caught some trout," 10k said as Doc walked up to join us.

"Kids, you two are fishing gurus," he said, taking the few fish from 10k, "What's your secret."

"Be one with the fish," 10k said with one of the most serious faces I have ever seen him have. I couldn't help the laugh that escaped, laughing with everyone else.

"Far out," Doc said, shaking his head. I just laughed at him, patting the old man on the shoulder as I walked by to sit next to Addy. 10k walked by Warren, fist bumping her as he squatted down, looking at Murphy. I turned and looked at him as well, him sitting there holding onto Lucy for dear life.

"I got some foil here somewhere, might grill one of these bad boys up," Doc said as he started digging through his bag.

"All right," Addy and I said in unison.

I took out my knife from my boot, taking the sharpener from Addy. I decided I might as well do some maintenance on my few weapons I had left, dreaming about the bag I had left a while back.

"Hey," Warren finally said, breaking the silence, "We need to get a look at that baby."

"Well good luck, super dad won't let anyone touch her," Addy said, "I guess he's afraid we will leave her behind." When she said that my head shot up. My brother may be crazy and my niece may be blue and part zombie, but they were still my family. The only blood family I still had in this world. I looked over at Warren to try to read her expression and I didn't like what I saw.

"Which isn't something we are thinking about doing, right?" I asked her. She gave me a small smile like she was trying to reassure me but I didn't know if I believed it.

"Something tells me she is going to outlive us all," she said as she placed her machete back on her hip. I shrugged my shoulders. She was right there. None of us knew what to expect when it came to either Murphy or Lucy, "Wait, where's Vasquez?" We all looked around, just realizing he wasn't here. 10k and I made eye contact as we both remembered seeing him walking through the woods.

"We passed him in the woods," 10k decided to tell everyone, "Heading south toward town."

"Well, I'm going to find out where he keeps disappearing to," Warren said, seemingly not happy with what 10k told her, "And the rest of you see if you can't get that baby away from Murphy."

She got up and walked away from us all. 10k got up from his spot and came over to the rest of us so we could all talk.

"What do you think we should do?" Doc asked as we all turned and looked at Murphy. He was eyeing us, holding the baby close.

"Raven would be the only one he would be willing to trust," Addy said as she looked at me, almost pleading that I try to help.

"I mean maybe but he doesn't even really seem that trusting of me either," I said shrugging my shoulders.

"Doc, try to go talk to him, surely one of us can reason with him," Addy said as she pointed to the old man next to me. Doc nodded his head but he still seemed reluctant, and I didn't blame him. This wasn't going to work and I had a feeling it was going to end badly.

We all stood up, Doc walking away from our group as 10k kept a close eye on him.

"Here," Addy said as she handed me a black bandana.

"What is that for?" I asked as I looked from the bandana back to her. I slowly took it out of her hand and inspected it.

Addy cleared her throat as she pointed to my neck. Then it hit me. I quickly pulled my hand up to my neck thinking back to 10k and me at the fishing pond.

"Oh," I said, my cheeks turning a bright red from embarrassment. She chuckled as I quickly tied the bandana around me like a scarf, pulling the corner down in the front, "Better?"

Addy nodded her head as she gave me a smile before heading over to stand with Doc and Murphy. I didn't know what all Doc had managed to tell him but from the looks of it, it wasn't going well. Murphy just wasn't going to listen to reason and that's what I was afraid of.

"Is that a finger?" Doc asked as we finally joined them.

"Maybe," Murphy said as he looked down and took whatever it was that Lucy was chewing on. Once he finally got it out of her mouth Murphy threw it over at us, nearly hitting me with it. However, once he did that little Lucy started screaming.

"Great, happy now?" Murphy said as he looked at us all. Cassandra was quick to crawl up by Murphy's side, looking down at the baby in his lap.

"Look Murphy, no one is saying you're a bad father," Doc said trying to reason with him, "I just think it would be a good idea to give the baby a little check up."

"There is nothing wrong with little Lulu," my brother said as he continued to sit there and rock her in his lap, "And since when are you a pediatrician, huh?"

"Murphy, she's just had sugar water to eat," I said trying to come to Doc's rescue, "Let Doc have a quick look at her."

"She looks fine to me," he countered. I huffed and crossed my arms. I couldn't believe he was being this difficult. Actually, yes I could.

"Takes a village," Doc added. Murphy seemed to finally have enough as he stood up in front of me.

"I don't know what you are up to but I don't like it," he said as he looked at me. I tried my best to counter him, staring back with just as much intensity as he was giving me when he turned and walked away. Cassandra quickly followed and so were we.

"Stop following me," Murphy said as he quickly spun to look at us all.

"We're not following you," Doc said as innocently as he could, shrugging his shoulders. I stood just behind him, 10k close behind me.

"You're afraid of her," Murphy said, getting more and more angry with us, "Afraid of what she might become, what WE might become. Don't forget, I've seen how you treat babies."

"And we've seen how you treat humans," 10k said, finally speaking up. It was almost scary the emotion that he had said it with. I turned and looked at him, his eyes burning holes into the man I used to call family. I grabbed his hand, hoping that would help calm him down when I saw Murphy's eyes glance at our hands. He looked at me, almost like he was hurt, then anger washed over his face once again.

"I'm not going to let you hurt her," he said, staring directly at me. I could feel my heart pounding in my chest like it was going to rip through my ribs.

"Murphy," Doc said, ripping me from my own head and back into reality.

"Baby and I are going for a walk," he said glaring at Doc before turning to Cassandra, "Make sure they stay here, nobody leaves."

"Nobody leaves," Cassandra repeated in a gruff voice as Murphy walked away.

"Uh, where do you think you are going?" Addy said as she took a step forward. But she was quickly cut off by Cassandra who looked up at her, almost growling.

"Somewhere safe from people like you." my brother yelled at us.

...

We had finally moved back over to the campsite we had been using earlier, Cassandra still sitting and keeping her eyes on us. For the most part we all sat silent, trying to think of what the next best plan will be. Doc wanting to wait until Warren got back with Vasquez, Addy wanting to go look for Murphy and the baby now. I honestly didn't know who I agreed with.

"I think we should go after him," Addy said as she looked up at us all, "He shouldn't be out there alone. Especially not with the baby."

"What about little miss sunshine over there?" Doc countered, "He told her to stop us."

"She can't stop all of us at once," 10k offered. I looked up at him before glancing at the others wondering what they thought about that.

"I just dunno," Doc said shaking his head, "I think we should wait for Warren and Vasquez, they should be here soon."

"But we don't even know where they are," I said hoping nothing had happened to them. It was taking them longer than I expected for them to get back and my mind was starting to wonder about the bad things.

"And what if something happens to the baby," Addy added before glancing at me, "Or Murphy. He didn't take any food for the baby, why would he not take anything for the baby?"

"Oh, he wouldn't do that," I said getting defensive and rubbing my palms on my jeans, "Would he?"

"We don't know what he is capable of," she said, glancing at us all, "He's more zombie than he is human."

We all sat in silence again taking everything in. There was no telling when Warren would be back, if she even was coming back. I tried wracking my brain about what to do but everything ended up badly in my head. No matter what I tried to come up with, there was no happy ending.

"There are four of us and only one of her," 10k finally said, breaking the silence, "If she tries to stop us, we will do what we have to do." We all looked up at him, even he was not happy with having to say it out loud.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Addy asked not wanting to believe what just came out of his mouth.

"She's not Cassandra," I added looking at her.

"Not anymore," 10k said.

"I don't know man," Doc said trying to make it sound better, "She is getting weirder, and you've seen how strong she is."

"She would not hurt us, not really," Addy said, trying to protect Cassandra.

"I wouldn't be so sure," I said glancing at her.

"We all run in different directions," 10k said leaning in, "She will grab one of us, the other three go look for Murphy." We all looked at each other one last time, taking a deep breath as we all slowly stood. Addy cleared her throat as she turned and looked at her, all four of us now staring at Cassandra. I could tell she knew something was up as she slightly turned her head to the side, trying to watch us all. Addy slowly turned back around taking one last deep breath.

"Now," she said barely audibly before we all bolted different ways. I went the complete opposite of 10k, running through the rundown cabin we had walked through before. I ran for my life, too scared to even look and see if it was me that Cassandra decided to try and catch. I jumped over fallen trees and tried weaving in and out of anything that was low hanging to try and keep her off my scent the best I could. My mind was racing almost as fast as my heart was. I was terrified for both me and my brother. He wasn't my brother anymore, I didn't know who this man was now. However, my thoughts and terror were cut short when I heard someone scream. I stopped, looking around and nearly holding my own loud breath so I could hear where it was coming from. I heard it over my shoulder towards the direction I thought Addy had gone and I knew what that meant, she was the one Cassandra went after. I quickly took off back towards the group, knowing that I needed to find her before Cassandra killed her. If I was going to lose my brother then I wasn't going to lose this new family I found.

Luckily once I made it to the clearing 10k and Doc had managed to get Addy out of Cassandra's hands.

"No one leaves," Cassandra said in the same rough voice from earlier.

"I told you," 10k said as he slightly pushed me behind him like he was protecting me, "It's not her."

"So what do we do now?" I asked as we all stood in front of Cassandra.

We all walked in a group back to where our camp site was. Cassandra squatting back where she was before so she could keep an eye on us. I sat on the ground next to Addy, trying to help her get the feeling back into her arm. 10k was furious, I could feel it radiating off of him.

"How's the arm?" Doc asked as Addy finally leaned back against the rock behind us, rubbing her arm.

"Feeling's starting to come back," she said, shaking her hand out some. I gathered up the couple things I had around me and moved back over to sit next to 10k. He was rigid now, nowhere near to the same goofy guy I had seen back at the fishing pond just earlier that day. I fiddled with the bandana I had around my neck as I tried to think of something that we could do, we needed to do at least something. My brother and my niece where god knows where doing who knows what, and that scared me.

"What are we going to do about it?" 10k asked, "We can't just stay here. Who knows what Murphy is up to." He was nearly void of all emotion, the only one coming through now was pure anger.

"We could try talking to her?" Doc suggested shrugging his shoulders.

"I don't think she is in a talking mood," Addy chuckled as she leaned her head back.

"She'll talk to me," 10k said as he started taking off weapons and his vest. I sat bolt upright, confused as to what he was about to do.

"Excuse me?" I said as he handed me his leather vest, "What are you doing?" He simply ignored me, standing now and staring at Cassandra, "10k, no, stop." I tried grabbing the tail end of his shirt, nearly begging him to stop. I knew she wasn't going to talk. And who knows what she could do to him.

"Get ready to run," he said to me over his shoulder. I turned to Doc and Addy pleading to them with my eyes to help me talk him out of this.

"What?" I asked, still refusing to believe this was happening as he walked away and towards Cassandra. Looking at Doc he lifted his leg, tying his shoes.

"What is he doing?" Addy finally said, coming to the same realization that I was. I sat there in shock as 10k continued to ignore us and walk over to Cassandra.

"I don't know," Doc said, "But when someone tells me to get ready to run, I get ready to run." I looked around at what was around us, a few of 10k's weapons laying on the ground. Without a second thought I put on his vest, not willing to part with it just in case this whole plan of his did end up going south. I tried to mentally prepare myself to get ready for whatever was about to happen. I helped Addy up as we all turned and watched the scene unfold in front of us. He was trying to get to her but she seemed to be ignoring him. I grabbed Addy's hand tight, worried for us but more worried for what was going to happen to 10k.

After a moment that seemed like it lasted years watching 10k and Cassandra, 10k finally turned and looked at us. He slightly nodded his head and I felt his eyes burn into me. I stared at him, wanting to soak up the last little bit of him that I could before anything happened.

"Now," Doc whispered and once again we all bolted.

We ran in the same direction, me at the back end of the small group, Doc leading the way. I looked back for a second as I heard Cassandra grunt, trying to come after us but 10k grabbed her. I couldn't help the small gasp that escaped my lips as I turned back around, not wanting to get separated from Addy or Doc. We ran as fast as we could, jumping over the same longs and fallen trees from earlier. It wasn't much longer until we came to a small opening in the woods when we heard Cassandra scream at the top of her longs. It sounded like an animal that was about to head into a fight for its life and I immediately froze. Doc and Addy stopped just before me, all of us turning and looking back the way we just came.

"No!" I yelled as I started to run back. However, a strong hand grabbed my shoulder, another one grabbing my arm.

"No, you can't go back," Addy said as she put her arm around my chest trying to keep me here.

"Didn't you hear that?" I yelled, "He's in trouble." I started fighting back now, ripping my arm out of Doc's hand and trying to push myself away from Addy.

"If there is anyone that can win a fight against her it's him," Doc said trying to reason with me as he grabbed me again. But I wasn't hearing it, I struggled against them until Doc nearly picked me up and turned me the other way, heading away from 10k and Cassandra. HIm and Addy both stood in front of me like a blockade, refusing to let me go and help him.

"Go," Addy said as she grabbed my arm again, "Come on, we have to go."

…

As we kept walking we knew we were far enough away that we at least didn't have to start running, not yet anyways. I walked behind Doc, Addy behind me to make sure I didn't try to run back and help 10k. But Doc was right, he would be ok, if anyone could do it it would be him, right?

But as we kept walking we never knew if we were tailing Murphy or if he really managed to get away from us. At this point we were looking for anything that seemed like we were on the right track of him or Warren. We managed to find the old cloth diaper that Lucy had been wearing. It was obvious that Murphy had been here at least somewhat recently but no indication as to where he would have gone next. It was official, we had lost him, at least for the time being.

"Do you hear that?" I asked as I heard something not far from us. It sounded like twigs breaking but out here in the woods it could have been anything. We were all on high alert now, weapons drawn as we looked around. We were all facing one way when we heard another twing break that sounded even closer this time. I turned around as quick as I could, gun drawn when I saw none other than Warren.

"Warren," I said as I ran over to her, Doc and Addy turning around and seeing the same thing I did. Both her and Vaquez were standing there, looking like they were really struggling. Warren had an obvious wound on her shoulder while Vasquez had blood all over the middle of his shirt.

"What happened to you two," Doc asked as he walked over and looked at Warren's shoulder.

"It's a long story," was all Warren would say, "Did you get the baby?"

"Murphy took off," I said as I looked from Warren to Vasquez, "Took the baby with him."

...

The walk back to camp I was too anxious to pay much attention to what everyone was talking about. Doc and Addy filled Warren and Vasquez in on what had happened while they were gone. Warren and Vasquez telling us about the Zeros they stumbled upon. But I didn't care about any of that right now. All I cared about was making it back to the camp and making sure 10k was alright.

Once we started getting close to the campsite I broke out into a run.

"Raven," Doc yelled after me but I just ignored him. I needed to lay eyes on 10k now.

Once I came to the top of a small hill I saw 10k, he was alive! But he didn't look happy. He was standing there over what looked like a freshly dug grave. I just stood there, staring at him, not knowing what to do. He has some things he needed to work out in his head, I could see what from here. I just stood there over watching him until the rest of the group showed up.

I slowly walked up to him and grabbed his arm. I didn't say anything to him, he didn't need that right now. I simply laid my head on his shoulder and looked down at the ground in front of him. I knew he was sad about what happened, Cassandra was his friend.

"Well, we didn't find Murphy," Addy said as they came over the top of the hill.

"But we did find these two," Doc added pointing behind him to Warren and Vasquez.

"And not a minute too soon, we didn't have much fight left," Warren said as she put her things on the ground and they all walked closer to us, only now realizing what was here.

"What's that?" Doc asked as he stood next to me and looked down at the ground.

"Cassandra," was all 10k could say. The whole group was around us now, looking down at the ground, Addy on her knees in shock.

"What happened?" she asked as she looked up at 10k.

"I did what I had to do," he said, anger still evident in his voice.

"You mercied her?" Warren asked as she took a step closer. I grabbed 10k's hand now, giving it a squeeze.

"She gave me no choice," he replied.

"Saw that one coming," Vasquez said off handed behind the group. Addy turned to him, over her shoulder.

"She was our friend," she told him.

"No, no she wasn't," 10k responded, I could feel the anger radiating off him, "Cassandra was our friend, that wasn't Cassandra." 10k was squeezing my hand now and shaking slightly. He was so upset about having to mercy one of his best friends.

"It's ok, kid," Doc said trying to make him feel better, "We understand."

"Don't try to make me feel better about it," 10k countered, "I don't want to feel better about it. There is nothing to feel better about, nothing. That's what I want to feel."

"What's going on here?" Murphy asked as he walked up behind us all. I jumped, not expecting to see him again so soon, much less him coming to us willingly. I quickly turned and looked at him, still not leaving 10k's side, "Where's Cassandra?"

"She's dead," Warren said as she walked by 10k and me, facing Murphy, "I'm sorry."

"Well," Murphy said as he started walking over to the group, "How? What happened?"

"I mercied her," 10k said without skipping a beat. He turned and looked at my brother, almost asking him to try and do something. I held onto 10k's upper arm, not wanting him to try something.

"You," Murphy said standing in one spot. He glanced at me quickly before staring back and 10k, "I gave her life, you had no right to take that away."

"She wasn't human," 10k countered. I squeezed his hand again, trying to calm him down, gently kissing his shoulder, trying to do anything I could think of to defuse the situation, "That wasn't human, not since you bit her." Murphy just looked at him and smirked.

"Three thousand two hundred fifty five," Murphy said before he all of a sudden tried to rush 10k. I gasped as I put my arm in front of 10k, standing in front of him. No one, not even my brother was going to take him away from me. I was willing to even defy blood family at any means necessary. Luckily Warren also didn't want a fight to break out here as she stepped in the way, grabbing Murphy. She shook her head and stared at him. He was almost shocked as he looked down at her. But I could still hear a mean growl coming from Murphy as he stared at 10k, Warren jerking his shirt to get his attention. Once she did that he then stared at me, almost with the same anger and betrayal he was showing towards 10k. I knew he was upset with me, I was practically turning my back on him.

"Wait," I said, at that same time Warren realized the same thing I did.

"Where's the baby?" she asked him. He finally looked down at her, taking a step back from her grasp.

"You don't have to worry about the baby anymore," he said as he walked away from her. He walked through the group, staring at me and slightly shaking his head. I continued to stand in front of 10k and stared at him but he just kept walking. My heart was torn in two, I didn't know what I was supposed to do. But I knew one thing, I was going to have to choose between my brother and the man I was starting to fall in love with.