The worse that could happen would be death. Whatever that was supposed to mean, it didn’t reassure Isabel. She knew that she couldn’t have physical torture without death, which wasn’t so bad. And yet even though death would free her thoughts slightly, it’s not like she wanted to die. Not this pathetically, at a moment when she felt like she was going to succeed within the turn of events. Guess what? It made the young girl scared of dying for some reason. 

Even though she had never feared losing her life, the thought of the possibility-that it could really happen- was starting to bother her. She knew that if Lucia saw her die right in front of her eyes, it would leave a huge trauma and that she’d either want to rest in Paradise with her older sister or hide forever. And yet...About family...Where was their father? They didn’t have a clue. 

They had left him, clueless of the thought that he could’ve been dead, too. Isabel didn’t believe that the strong man would’ve possibly died, and yet she was dead worried, and a feeling of guilt was slowly creeping in. They left him there-abandoned him. What if he was dead by now? That would’ve been her fault, and not Lucia’s. She was the oldest, after all. It was her responsibility to think of every single detail. 

If he died, she would never forgive herself. She could never be mad at Lucia for doing anything wrong anyway, as she didn’t mention anything about him-yet it didn’t mean she forgot about her dear dad. The girls didn’t have a big family. There were two children and two parents in the house, and the adults didn’t have siblings. They didn’t have any cousins either, or so they didn’t meet any other familiar figures.  

Letting down her father and letting him die was cutting away half of the family. Still, the adults had more important roles than they did, taking care of all the chores, the rides, and so on.  Isabel felt her intrusive thoughts battle against her common sense, and it was making her incredibly dizzy, enough for her ex-boyfriend’s older brother to realize it although he was talking with the rest of the group. 

“Isabel? Are you listening to me now? You’re going to the south of the city with Lucia and Ginny.” Jonas spoke, waving his hands in front of her eyes. 

“Oh, sorry.” The girl apologized, clearing her throat as she looked away, throwing Ginny a glance before she shifted back to the boy, “Why do we have to make small groups like that? Chances are some of them will get infected or killed by those creatures when the others are busy looking around.” 

He shrugged “That’s likely to happen. But dying as a hero isn’t so bad, don’t you think? I'll repeat myself. To the North of the city, Blake, Chelsea, and me. Valentin and Kyle will take care of the West, and Astrid and Michelle the East. Again, Isabel, Lucia and Ginny will go South. Everyone understood?” 

“Yeah...” Ginny mumbled, glaring at Isabel as if she was a nasty bug that she could’ve stepped on easily. 

And yet the Italian didn’t feel intimidated like her at all, as she used to. She didn’t mind the glances, those stormy gazes that laid an ounce of hate and disdain. Ginny could judge all she wanted-her mean eyes weren’t going to kill Isabel, even if she tried. 

*** 

Somewhere North of Methuen, M.A, U.S 

“Do you even know where we are?” Chelsea groaned, taking the time to adjust her side-swepth bangs in the middle of the grocery store, “No children will hide here, that’s certain” She added, rolling her eyes. 

Jonas sighed, not even bothering to look at her. He made the teams randomly-he didn’t bother talking to each one of them and thought about how compatible they would be together. It didn’t matter, naturally. The boy peered around, his eyes sharp and wide, keeping Blake next to him. 

“Shut up, Blake and I hid in one for a week. Who knows? Anyone could hide in there.” 

“What if they try to kill us?” The youngest asked, holding onto his brother’s arm, looking at him with puppy dog eyes, his entire body shaking. 

“They won’t. They aren’t that foolish.” Jonas said distantly, barely looking at the child, “Everyone, silent. We’ll try to find them.” 

“You’re not even sure there’s someone here.” Chelsea declared, glaring at him dangerously. 

The boy decided to keep quiet. As soon as the other two realized, they stood closer to him, not daring to utter a single word. Then, the sound of metal. Something falling- a keychain, probably, or whatever it was. They all thought the same thing, and they didn’t even have to consult each other that they thought the same thing. There’s someone here. A child.  

And yet, it could still be a wounded zombie. Stumbling. Those monsters weren’t good at keeping a great pace, perhaps this one was particularly hungry and so it went into the grocery store for food. They weren’t this smart, though. It was more likely to be a child. They didn’t lower their weapons at all, but they didn’t want to look ferocious either-in case it was one. 

“What is it?” The only girl commented, her voice lower than a whisper as she squinted her eyes, deep in thought. 

“More like who. I think it’s a human.” Blake corrected in his acute voice, though he didn’t look scared. He was about ten anyway, he surely got used to it, right? Jonas hoped it was the case.  

“Hush.” 

“You aren’t zombies, are you?” An unfamiliar voice sniffled, from afar, and yet it seemed so close. 

Right in front of them, a small little girl was shaken and terrified. She had a small scar on her right cheek, and she seemed to be about five. She was noticeably short, with curly black hair and green eyes. She held in her frail arms a ripped teddy with a missing eye, and her face was red, as if she had been crying.  

“Do I look like one to you, young girl?” Chelsea retorted coldly, not seeming a tiny bit affected by the child’s sensitive behavior. 

“No” She muttered under her breath, her eyes watering as she looked up, before she stepped back, her eyes wide and tearful, “What do you want? Why were you searching for survivors?” 

The black-haired girl said the word survivor as if it was a taboo, and she immediately shuddered. Jonas’ expression saddened, seeing how troubled she was by the situation. She was younger than Blake-this must’ve been difficult, all along, at such an early age. Poor children having to live with this, he thought, his heart throbbing. He kneeled next to her, not wanting to scare her, and yet she still flinched. 

“What’s your name, sweetie?” He whispered, looking into her eyes. 

“I-I’m Rosa. W-what do you want now?” 

“Rosa.” Jonas repeated, nodding slowly as he gave her his best smile, the biggest he could, and yet it was very weak. He was never good with children. “We help people. We can give you shelter. Food. New friends.” 

“Really?” Rosa asked again, her expression becoming happier. 

Jonas sighed in relief-this was easier than he thought. 

“Uh, Jo?”  

“Yeah?” 

“Two zombies over there. Can I shoot ‘em?” 

“That’s a stupid question.” Jonas replied, pulling Rosa with him. 

Chelsea froze in place, her hands shaking as she couldn’t bring herself to pull the trigger. She was Jonas’ age and probably already shot someone before, and yet she couldn’t move, it’s as if a spell was dropped on her.  

“What are you waiting for? Shoot!” Jonas barked, clutching the collar of his shirt as he glanced at her, “Just do it.” 

And so, the girl pulled the trigger, aiming right in their hearts. As soon as she realized they weren’t dead just yet, her expression darkened, to become even more gloomy. She met Jonas’ gaze, and they knew they had realized, both. Chelsea gestured to the other door, and it all went too fast. She stared at Rosa, letting the boys run off before she   spoke in a faint voice into the girl’s ear: 

“Run. And don’t look back.” 

*** 

Somewhere south of Methuen, M.A, U.S 

“So, Jonas and Blake are Sam’s brothers?”  

“Yeah...” Isabel snarled, “Why do you keep asking me that?” 

“You’re stuck with me.” Ginny blurted out, her lips curling into a smirk as she shook her head backwards, her black bangs falling to the sides of her face, “I bet that boy decided to set us up so that you could get killed, since he hates you so bad.” 

“Girls, shut up now. Two teens are going in front of us.” 

Isabel arched a brow, raising her bow as she stepped back, peeping the newcomers with renewed suspicious. Were they really humans-or were they merciless zombies ready to rip them apart. The girl shook and sighed, because she knew now wasn’t the time to think about it now. It would only terrify her at the thought, make her remember the sight of her deceased mother lying on the harsh asphalt on the street in a pool of blood. 

The teen’s eyes flickered, and she looked back at the group. She didn’t want to appear weak in front of them, considering how they all had their own weapons and were potentially dangerous. They were all prepared. Her psychology went back to her-were they prepared for her wish, that was meant to destroy humanity? Isabel shook off the thoughts-they did that for the sake of humanity, after all. 

“Well, well, well, what do I see here? Survivors? Now that’s rare!” A girl in her early adulthood spoke, crossing her legs as her hands went through her high ponytail. 

“Yeah, that’s true, I wonder what they’re doing, strolling around!”  

The girls watched as the small group discussed with each other, mentioning them back and forth even though they were right in front of them. It angered them in some way, to see them avoiding them in such a play, teasing them while they knew perfectly that they knew what they were doing to them. It’s as if they believed that they spoke a different language. And yet they don’t-everyone in the United States spoke English, at least most of the citizens. Well, the ones that were left and even the zombies. 

“We need more people.” Lucia articulated slowly, wanting to make them understand that they were speaking to them, and not to a member of her own group. 

“Oh?” Another one grinned, raising a brow, “And what does that have to do with us?” 

“Just follow us. We’ll build a big army or something, so we can save everyone.” Ginny announced, and for once, her deadly glare wasn’t directed at Isabel but at the other group. 

“Save everyone? Who do you think you are? A hero who’ll save humanity? You’re just a teen, darling.” The same girl than earlier snickered. 

“Just follow us.” Isabel wailed. 

***