AN: Hola beautiful peoples who read my stuff :D It is now much later than my previous AN so yes, there will be slight weirdity, starting with that :)

Thanks to again, who helped with this one, and to our same taste in OC names XD

... Holy cockatoo I don't know what to say, just read the freakin chapter, kay?

CHAPTER 4

It was strange to me that we would move about during the day, but I suppose they were just trying to move through as fast as they could. Even so, waking up to daylight was not something I was used to.

I was jittery to get moving and Ro was still worried about my leg, "Easy there, honey," She warned. "You sure you're well enough to start off again? We could always wait another-"

"No!" I nearly yelled. Ro giggled. "I mean, we should get going. This place won't be safe for long. Besides, we can't take all the supplies, others might have to come through here later on." I loaded up my two pistols and replaced the AK I had dropped earlier. I grabbed a syringe of adrenaline, a med pack, and a Molotov.

I released the safety off my pistols and took one in each hand, strapping the AK across my back, and watched as everyone else finished stocking up.

"Let's go," I said, and walked to the door. I heaved off the bar and flung the door open, picking off a few idle infected that had wandered here in the night. I looked ahead but all I saw was a swamp, and trees everywhere. There wasn't a path so we just hopped down into the muck.

"This swamp is gonna mess up my white suit!" Nick complained loudly.

Rochelle said what I was thinking, "You mean the one covered in zombie brains?"

"Brains come out, swamp water doesn't. Don't ask me how I know that." His tone remained so steady I didn't even bother to question him.

A minute later, we came across a boat with a lantern, some supplies, and a way out of the swamp. It opened up to a muddy trail through; at least it wasn't completely filled with the muck.

We had only followed the path a few minutes before I heard an "Oh my God." from behind. Coach was looking up at something in the trees. As I moved closer I saw a man in a parachute dangling from a branch, still holding his gun in his lifelessarms. "Nick, you sure you didn't kill this pilot too?" Coach let out a chuckle that I just couldn't join; I was still watching the man sway in the breeze.

"I still can't believe none of you were going to shoot him. He was a zombie in case you didn't notice." I tore my eyes from the hanging pilot and continued walking, stopping occasionally to search through abandoned shacks here and there.

Further into the swamp we came across a crashed plane smack in the middle of where we needed to go. Most of the side facing us was destroyed, but the entirety of the other side was still intact. I looked around, trying to figure out if we could climb it at any part. Maybe the wing . . .

"Hey, there's a door on the other side a' this thing, think we'll have to pry it open? I don't think there's a crowbar anywhere around here." I looked at the other side and, sure enough, there was an emergency door with a dingy red handle.

Coach prepared to pull it, but Ro stopped him. "Wait, what if the alarm is still working? We could be callin' a Horde."

"Aww, Ro, stop worryin', this thing ain't got no juice left in it, trust me." Ellis went over and tugged at the handle. A sharp siren filled the air, over which I could barely hear the roar of the Horde in the distance.

"No juice, eh?" I teased.

"But then," Ellis said. "I could be wrong 'bout that."

"Godammit, get ready!" Nick yelled, before running out onto the wing and unloading on the approaching stream of infected. We all followed suit, and I was about to pull out my Molotov when I saw two figures running and waving their arms in a distinct non-zombie fashion. So I held off - I didn't want to trap them over there.

"Guys, there's more survivors over there!" I rushed to the side of the wing to help Ro shoot at some that tried to climb up with us. "We should get them up here, I need to throw a Molly."

Coach ran over to the far edge and yelled for them to hurry; we were trying to flush out the infected. I heard dull metallic thuds, and then Coach yell "Throw it!"

I aimed for a bit under the wing and watched as the zombies rushed into the flames. We all stopped shooting, and warily watched the proof that humanity was entirely void from these things. They had no regard for even their own life as their primal instincts took over.

When the flames died a little, a sandy-haired man turned around and stuck his hand out to Coach, who was still near them after helping them up. "Thank ya, sir. We're in debt to you all fer savin' us. My name's-"

"KEITH!" Ellis pushed his way past us all and hugged the man- well, Keith, I guess. It made me smile seeing the two men embrace each other in a brotherly hug. The shorter boy next to them was still turned away, methodically picking off infected that had gotten distracted or caught up in some of the brush. He turned to watch his friend meet Ellis, and smiled a bit. I nearly fell over watching it spread across his face. He turned the rest of the way and his eyes locked with mine.

"Zoey?" He whispered. I let loose and ran at him full-speed and threw my arms around his neck.

"Alex, Alex, Alex." I cooed his name over and over.

He was crying a little onto my shoulder as his arms wrapped tightly around my middle. "You came back for me, Zo. You came back."

"I promised you I would. I promised, didn't I?" I clung to him, desperately hoping this wasn't a dream, and I wouldn't be able to take waking up. I ran my hands through his night-black mess of hair and kissed his forehead again and again.

"Sis, you didn't come when you got off. I thought something happened. I thought you were dead." He held on tighter, and cried a little harder.

"No, shh, no I'm fine, honey, just fine. They shut down the airports up there, no one was allowed in or out. But I still promised." We parted slowly and I took in the sight of my 16 year-old brother before me.

I had always thought of him as a boy; a young boy who I needed to protect. Now he had the hardened appearance of a man. His eyes glistened with tears and my heart lit up. He struggled to keep his chin from quivering. A single hot tear streamed down my face. I tapped his chin with my finger. "Gun at the ready, soldier."

He smiled a bit at the name, "Yes, Ma'am."

He hurriedly turned and faced my comrades. He straightened his back and held his head high.

"This is my brother, Alex." I announced to everyone. I practically cooed his name. Ro had a smile on her face, and her eyes were a little watery. I barely took my eyes off Alex. "He's gonna be a soldier." His head rose slightly, and his mouth turned up in a smile at how I introduced him. I absently played with his shaggy hair, remembering all the times I had done it before.

He looked proud, "Just like Dad was."

"Was...was it the flu?" Ro seemed honestly concerned.

"Hell no! My father died with dignity in the heat of war."

"Alex was staying with our grandparents just outside of Savannah . . ." I trailed off and glanced over expectantly at my brother. He shook his head gravely and I nodded.

"We should move on." He said, "We shouldn't stay in the same place too long. I sighed a bit. This world had hardened him, forced him to grow up at a time when he should be carefree.

"Yah," I smiled, "Let's go, kid."