A faint pre-dawn light filtered through the windows as Amanda and her daughter searched the kitchen. While Julie checked the cabinets, Amanda opened the fridge and quickly found several water bottles. "Thank goodness. There's still plenty of water," she said, placing them in a plastic bag.
Julie came to her side and asked, "Mom, do they have any food?"
Amanda checked the dates on the labels. "The power just went out, so the food in the fridge should still be good. We just have to make sure we don't take anything expired."
At the front door, Dylan kept watch with his wrench in hand, eyes moving for any wandering Zeds. Aiden glanced at him, then shifted his focus to the hallway across the living room.
From the living room, Aiden called toward the hallway. "Lydia, are you guys looking for stuff too?"
Lydia stood in the doorway to Sheldon's room instead of searching. She looked toward the living room, put a finger to her lips, and kept her voice low. "Shh, be quiet. You're going to attract more Zeds."
Even whispered, the exchange carried to the others. From inside the room, Logan told her to keep it down. Lydia's cheeks turned red. She gave him a quick nod, then shot Aiden a reproachful glance. Aiden let out a nervous chuckle and scratched the back of his head.
With Logan searching behind her, Hayley pushed open the bathroom door. The tiles were clean, the towels were folded, and a stack of toilet paper sat beside the toilet. "Finally, something useful," she thought, tucking the rolls into her bag.
She stopped at the mirror. Fresh cuts on her forehead and a swollen lip stared back. She opened the cabinet and found bandages and painkillers. "Bandages and painkillers? Definitely need those." She packed them where she could reach them fast.
In the kitchen, Amanda noticed knives scattered across the floor near the Zed Aiden had killed. She paused and stared at the body for a moment, the house quiet around her. Then she crouched and gathered the knives one by one, sliding each back into the holder.
"We're going to need a better way to defend ourselves," Amanda mused aloud. "Should we take the knives too?"
Julie stood a short distance away, trying to hide her unease at the sight of the dead Zed. She was young, but she held herself together, even as fear tightened her shoulders. She thought about asking her father what to do about the knives, but Dylan, within earshot, spoke first.
"I think taking them would be a good idea," Dylan suggested. "Although, you should probably hold one of the knives instead of keeping them all in the bag. The Zeds might not give you a chance to reach into the bag to grab one."
Amanda considered his advice, the holder nearly full in her hand. "If that's the case, it might be better to hand them out to the others."
When Lydia and her parents returned to the living room, Amanda set the knife holder on the table and made sure the blades were secure. She then faced them and asked, "So, did you find anything?"
Hayley nodded. "Well, we managed to gather some supplies from the restroom. Toilet paper and bandages, as well as a bottle of painkillers."
Amanda's voice tightened. "Is that all?" She was thinking about their limited resources and the difficult trip ahead.
Hayley met her eyes, looking a little impatient. "There's not much back there to take. Besides, these bags aren't big enough for anything else."
Logan noticed the knife holder on the table. "Are those knives? Are you planning to take them?"
"Yeah, I am," Amanda replied. "I'm sure we're going to run into more Zeds while on our way to the Golden City."
Amanda was right to worry about Zeds, but they were not the only threat. Logan approached the nearest window and looked outside in contemplation. "True. Not just Zeds but hostile people as well. Situations like these could sometimes bring out the worst in people."
Aiden noticed the same word kept coming up for the infected. The thought stuck, and he finally spoke up, "Why do you guys keep calling them Zeds? Is that what they are?"
Lydia rolled her eyes. "Well, that's what the people on the radio kept calling them. We were listening to the radio while on our way to the Golden City when we heard some loser crying in here."
Aiden held back from arguing and focused on what mattered to him most right now. He had seen news about the Golden City, but he did not know its current state. "The Golden City? I heard that their wall was recently finished, but are you sure it's still standing?"
"Of course we're sure," Lydia answered with a rude tone. "The radio people are from there. We wouldn't be going there if we weren't sure of that, stupid."
"Then why even bother taking all this stuff?"
"Ain't it obvious? It's in case we get stranded somewhere while on our way there. You really couldn't figure that out on your own?"
Hayley stepped in before Lydia could say anything else. She placed a hand on her daughter's shoulder and gave her a calm smile. Lydia looked up at her mother's face and froze. Her mother's eyes were closed, and her smile hadn't changed, but Lydia could feel the pressure behind it. She quickly looked away and muttered a quiet apology.
Amanda cut in, answering the questions Aiden had asked earlier. "In any case, according to them, they had a few cases within their wall, but they were quickly dealt with. The army is currently defending that place, so that might be our safest bet."
Aiden nodded slowly. Hearing that the military was still active helped him feel a bit safer. It didn't fix everything, but it gave him hope.
From where he stood at the window, Logan noticed the silence that followed. Aiden didn't appear to have any more questions. Logan stepped away from the window and faced Amanda. His expression was hard to read, but his voice was clear. "Do we have enough knives for everyone?"
Amanda turned her attention to the knife holder and counted what remained. "There's four left," she said, not counting the one still stuck in the neck of the Zed Aiden had killed earlier. She continued, "One for me. You should take one too. And I think your wife should have one as well. That leaves one extra."
Logan glanced at Dylan. "And your husband?"
"He already has his wrench," Amanda replied. "That'll do just fine."
Julie leaned against the edge of the table, her eyes fixed on the knife holder. "Then can I take the last one?"
Amanda shook her head. "No. It's too dangerous for a child to carry something like that."
"But what if a Zed shows up and no one's around to help?"
"Then don't go off on your own. Stay close to us, and you'll be safe."
Before Julie could voice any further objections, Dylan, still standing by the door with his wrench in hand, glanced over his shoulder. "All right, enough talk. Let's get moving."
Amanda's focus shifted to Logan and Hayley as they stepped closer. She retrieved two knives from the holder, one for each of them. As she picked up the third knife for herself, her eyes drifted back to the Zed's lifeless body, Aiden's knife still buried in its throat. "Jesus Christ. Seriously, are we going to have to do something like that too?"
Lydia, not yet aware of what Julie's mother was looking at, tried to see for herself. Logan noticed and gently placed a hand over her eyes.
"Father?" she asked.
"That's not something you should see," he told her firmly.
Logan guided Lydia out of the kitchen and into the living room, keeping his hands over her eyes so she wouldn't see the corpse. At the door, Dylan seemed like he was about to ask if everyone was ready, but Amanda's steady grip on her knife said it all. He gave a small nod, then cautiously stepped outside. Amanda, Logan, and Hayley followed him, each holding a bag in one hand and a knife in the other. Julie and Lydia shared a quick glance before quietly trailing behind their parents.
Aiden briefly hesitated, his eyes going from one girl to the other. Then he turned back toward the hallway, now lit enough to show the floor and walls more clearly. He spotted dark bloodstains trailing along the ground. It wasn't his. There had clearly been a struggle between Sheldon and his father.
He stared for a moment, then whispered to himself, "Why is this happening?"
His thoughts were cut short when Julie called to him. "Hey, are you coming or not?"
Lydia, afraid of attracting unwanted attention, quickly hushed her. "Shh. Don't talk so loud."
"Right. Sorry," Julie replied in a softer voice.
Aiden watched the two girls standing just outside the front door. Julie looked straight at him, while Lydia averted her gaze, though it was clear she was still waiting.
With a slight frown, Aiden moved toward them. "I'm coming. Sorry for making you wait."
Once he stepped outside, Julie and Lydia took off toward the white van parked in the middle of the street. Dylan was in the driver's seat, while Logan and Hayley were loading supplies into the back. Aiden made his way to the sidewalk and looked around. Three infected bodies lay near the van, clear proof that Dylan had taken down more than just the one inside the house.
"They're dead?" Aiden murmured, mostly to himself. "Did Julie's dad kill all of these with that wrench?"
Senator Logan Monroe spotted more Zeds coming from down the road. His expression hardened as he quickly glanced over at Hayley and Lydia. "Get inside the van," he told them.
The infected had already noticed them and were slowly moving closer. Hayley and Lydia didn't argue. Fear and worry showed all over their faces as they rushed toward the sliding door. But they stopped when they realized Logan wasn't coming with them.
"Father?! Why aren't you coming?!" Lydia shouted.
"Let's go!" Hayley pleaded. "You have to come with us!"
Logan gripped his knife tightly and stood firm, already between the van and the approaching danger. "I'll be fine. I'll handle it."
From inside the van, Dylan could hear Logan's voice along with Hayley and Lydia's, but the closed doors made their words too hard to understand.
In the front seat, Amanda glanced up at the rearview mirror and briefly caught sight of the advancing Zeds. "Shit! Dylan! Behind us!" she warned as she swiftly turned in her seat.
Dylan spun around toward the back of the van, reacting to Amanda's urgent warning. He caught sight of the Zeds drawing nearer, and in front of them stood Logan, knife raised, as if preparing to fight even though he didn't have to. Just then, Hayley slid the door open and motioned for Lydia to get inside. The girl scrambled in, followed closely by Julie. Hayley climbed in last but left the door open, waiting for her husband.
Dylan leaned out the window and shouted, "Logan! Don't be stupid! Get in here at once! They can't catch up to our van!"
Senator Monroe stood still, eyes locked on the knife in his hand. A question gnawed at him. Could he really do it? Could he take the life of someone who had once been human? The voices behind him kept calling, but they felt distant. He knew he couldn't afford to hesitate. The world had changed. If he wanted to protect his family, then he had to change too.
Logan finally lifted his gaze from the knife and looked toward the street. The first light of dawn was breaking through the trees. As it touched the pavement, the infected reacted. They turned their heads toward the sun, their dull eyes squinting before they began slowly retreating. One by one, they backed away from the light and slipped into a nearby house. Farther down the road, others followed suit.
Logan didn't understand it. He hadn't seen Zeds act like this. "What? Why?" he murmured, his eyes widening as he studied their strange behavior.
No one in the van said a word. They were just as surprised as the senator. The infected, once steadily closing in, had suddenly turned away. It didn't make sense, and the silence that followed was heavy with confusion.
Only Dylan found his voice. "Logan… It's time to go…"
"Right…"
With one last look at the empty street, Logan lowered the knife and made his way to the open door of the van. Hayley shifted over in her seat to make room for him beside her in the middle row. He climbed in and sat down.
Julie, seated in the back row behind them, glanced out the window beside her and spotted Aiden still standing on the sidewalk in front of Sheldon's house. She leaned toward the open side of the van and called out to him.
"Aiden!"
Aiden had been standing in place the entire time, watching the strange way the infected had reacted to the sunlight. He remained frozen in place, eyes lingering on the house they had disappeared into, trying to make sense of what he had just witnessed. When he heard Julie's voice, he blinked and redirected his attention towards her. The van was right there, the door still open and everyone inside looking at him. For a moment, he just stared back, surprised that they were still waiting for him.
"Let's go! We're waiting for you!" Julie repeated.
Even though she had to raise her voice, it didn't sound harsh. There was a warmth in it that caught him off guard. The fact that they hadn't left made him realize he wasn't alone anymore.
His eyes welled up. It wasn't from sadness, but from happiness. He broke into a wide smile and replied to Julie before jogging toward the van.
"I'm coming!"