Everyone is sitting down in the gym, including Alexa who just got back. Ria is sitting on a desk with the bra filled with money to her left.

"We found this behind the dumpster at the gas station a few minutes ago. There's money in it, exactly sixty US dollars." Ria announces.

Alexa says, "Sounds like drugs or prostitution."

"Exactly, but it wasn't there until at least yesterday." Ria murmurs.

“Probably those people.” Alexa says.

I ask Alexa, “Do you know anything about Crows?”

“The birds, yes. The people, no.”

Zander says, “Real money, who would need that, unless there’s some secret group that still uses money.”

“Alexa, while we’re here can I ask you something?” I say after checking to make sure Six isn’t around.

“Sure.”

“Who’s John? Six told me he was your brother in law that lives in a shed in some town, she can’t see him.”

“Nitro, c’mon she’s six. He’s someone I met online last year, we texted until we couldn’t, he offered me a place to stay but I refused so I could see my friend’s close friend . John’s aggressive and doesn’t like children, but I don’t have much contact with him anymore.”

“If that’s not bad why lie to a child about who he is to you?” I ask.

“I never said it wasn’t bad. Listen though, if you’re assuming I have or know about anything to do with this, you’re wrong.”

I’m not sure if I trust Alexa, she’s the oldest here and has a random kid that she took. Why would you need to lie to a six year old about anything, what are they going to do, tell on you to their mother?

I walk down the hallway to my classroom and close the door, Six is sitting on the end of Serafina’s bed with a doll, running her fingers through it’s hair.

“Where did you get that?” I ask, squatting down.

“Alexa came in when she got here, she just had the toy,” Serafina says.

“Not looking good for her right now.” I say then immediately regret as Six asks, “Alexa did something bad?”

“No, that’s not what I meant. Go show your toy to the others.” I say.

Six leaves, I speak when her footsteps become inaudible, “So we found a bra with sixty dollars hidden inside it behind the gas station dumpster. No idea who it belongs to but Alexa is suspicious. She meets up with this guy in a town named John, I think he’s giving her things for something in return.”

“Something like sex? I mean, if it’s nothing that bad I don’t see the issue.” Serafina says.

“Yeah, true. I’m paranoid because of those Crows now.”

“They were fucking with our brains, I doubt some weird Crow clan of child hunting people exists.” She turns around and picks up the makeup she got the day we brought Sophie here. “You got a mirror?”

“No, there’s only mirrors in the bathroom.” I say.

“Yeah, what a shame. You, do it for me.”

“Me?”

“Mhm, just do whatever.”

“It’s gonna look like shit.”

“Good.” She hands me the makeup.

***

While putting whatever I think goes where on her face I ask, “You think Darcy died?”

“Sophie’s mother?”

“Yeah, when we saw her dad outside with that shovel. He had to be digging a grave.”

“Not her dad.”

“Yeah, whatever. Maybe we should go see him or something.”

“Actually you know what. Me and Sophie were talking and she told me that Calvin only cared about her and Tyler, not Darcy, the only reason he was with her was because if he left, he’d leave his children.”

“He really thinks of Sophie as his daughter?”

“Definitely, maybe if we told him that this was for her safety he’d be fine with it.”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea, but either way if we try to leave this school and go south then we’ll probably need to pass Sophie’s house.”

“I wish I knew how a compass worked.” She says.

“We’d have to worry about getting our hands on one first.”

“The foster system sucked. I hate parents, my father would’ve protected me during this if he wasn’t such a fucking dogshit human.”

“Why did our lives get ruined before all this, it’s so weird how our lives were terrible and we met, we became friends, and now we’re living with people that have also had shitty lives. It feels like such a coincidence.”

“I don’t believe in a higher power, but if there is one they must really hate us.” Serafina giggles.

“I’m done.”

“How’s it look?”

“As bad as I expected.”

“Give me that knife.”

I turn around, there’s a kitchen knife by the end of Eli’s mattress, I pick it up and give it to Serafina.

“Hm, it’s not that bad.” Serafina says holding the knife over her face, staring at her reflection.

Alexa opens the door and walks in, “Let me see your wounds.” She says and crouches down by Serafina. Alexa unravels the bandage. It looks like a bloody hole. “Try sitting up.” Alexa says. Serafina pulls herself forward, clenching her teeth. “You should be fine in a few days. Try not to move, Eli peaks his head out of the front office, "Me?"

"The fuck are you doing?" Logan asks.

"Checking grades."

"Alright, whatever. We found a car in the woods up north." Logan says.

"That's it?"

"All by it's self, looked new."

"And?"

"We wanted to tell you guys before checking it."

Ria speaks, "Please. You're just a scared little baby."

"I'll go." Eli shrugs.

"I'll tell the others." Ria says and runs down the hall.

Logan, Eli and I wait outside for Ria by the truck. Ria comes out and walks towards us, Logan leads us to the woods where we saw the car. We make our way there silently, when we get to the woods Eli asks, "So where is it?"

"Not that deep in, it's bright red." Logan says.

"I found it." Ria calls from a short distance.

"It's unlocked," I say, opening the driver's door.

I sit down in the driver's seat and look around while Ria checks the back seats. It smells new and looks clean.

"What's that?" Eli asks, aiming his gun below my seat.

I bend over and reach under the seat, then pull out a brown box with animal stickers on it. I try opening it but it seems locked or maybe just rusty.

"Here." Eli puts out his hands. I hand him the box and he takes out a knife. He slides it in the slit separating the lid and compartment then lifts it up. The box opens and he hands it back to me.

"You're not gonna look through it first?" I ask.

He shakes his head, no.

The inside is coated in black velvet. There are a few tangled necklaces and more money, I hand it to Eli, "Wanna count this?" An almost empty box of shotgun shells and a bag of fruit snacks. "Weird." I say.

"Thirty-eight. Find anything useful?" Eli says.

"Some shotgun shells if you want those."

"Yeah I'll take them."

I give him the box of ammo. He hands me back the money and I place it in the box then store it back under the seat.

"Take a look at this." Ria says.

I get out of the car and shut the door. Ria's holding a framed picture. It looks like a family photo, sitting on a couch, a mother with blonde hair and a wide smile. An expressionless father with red hair who's holding a small, grey dog on his lap. On the floor, at the bottom of the couch sit two children. A girl with long black and pink hair who looks about my age, maybe older and a young girl, around five. Ria notices the look on my face, "She looks just like Six, right!?"

Eli says, "Ria, I think that is Six."

"It has to be." I say.

"Alexa, this is all her." Ria says.

"We should talk to her." Logan says.

On our way back we pass the pond. "Wait." Ria says. "Shouldn't we get some water before we leave? I think we're running low."

"We didn't bring a container, I'll get some later. I'll talk to Alexa by the way."

We head back to the school, when I step in, Ria hands me the photo, "Talk to Six, she trusts you."

As expected, Six is still with Serafina, who's now asleep. I bend down and show Six the picture.

"Look familiar?" I ask.

"That's my dog, his name is Muffin."

"What do you know about your family?" I ask.

"I have two sisters, a dog and my parents. My grandma lives in Arizona."

"Two sisters?"

"Emma and Sissy."

"Is that Emma?" I point to the girl with black and pink hair.

"Yes. Sissy lives here, in another house, with Will. Emma went to school for a long time, the college."

"Does your mom live with Will as well?"

"Yes, I did too. All of us lived with Will but not Muffin or Emma."

This is hard to comprehend, Alexa said she went to see her friend's brother, who I'm assuming is Will. So Six's sister is dating Will and living with her and Six's mother.

"Has Alexa told you anything weird recently?" I ask.

"We're seeing John, and his friends. I can be happier and have more stuff in a big place with lots of people."

"You think that's weird?"

"Sorta. I want to have fun, but I don't like John, and Alexa wants me to see him now but she didn't before."

"Where's this place she's taking you?"

"I don't know."

I set the picture down next to Six.

"Thank you. Don't let Alexa see this."

I rest my hand on Serafina’s forehead, she feels colder, in a good way, I hope she heals soon. I leave the classroom and immediately hear talking, not far away, it sounds like it's coming from one of the classrooms further down the hall. I keep walking until the talking gets louder, then I stop in front of a door.

"Please be honest." Eli says.

"I am." Alexa says.

"The money, the sneaking off, the car? Who am I supposed to put the blame on if not you?"

"No one. I haven't done anything. I'm truly grateful to be staying here, I would only leave if I needed to… Still, if I were to leave, why would you stop me?"

"I wouldn't, I just want to trust you. Exactly my point, if you were to lie about this, what would be your reason?"

"I'm sorry if I make you suspicious, but I'm a grown woman, my only goal is to protect Six, she needs to be here. I trust and feel safe with you guys."

"I'm glad you feel that way. I'm sorry for interrogating you like this, it's hard to trust people."

"I understand. Thank you, Eli."

I walk away from the door, Alexa and Eli exit the classroom. Alexa walks down the hallway and up the stairs, but Eli stays in the same place.

"You were eavesdropping?" Eli asks.

"Sorry, I came to tell you about what Six said and heard talking."

"At least I have a witness."

"What would you need that for?"

"I don't trust her… 'truly'. I think she's doing some form of manipulation or, just something."

"What's that?"

"Um, like imagine if I was your father-"

"No."

Eli laughs, "Just hear me out. I'm your father and I call you a pathetic, dumb, worthless child. You yell back at me, then I start saying that you are in the wrong, and you're the bad guy."

"I don't really see it." I say.

"She's trying to act like she trusts me and wants to be nice to me, so that I'll believe she's a good, misunderstood, person."

"So just, tricking?"

"Basically." He speaks again, "Hey, you wanna read some of the books in the library?"

"Sure?" I say.

"Just follow me." He walks down the hall and up the stairs then into a room, filled with bookshelves, the only thing that isn't a book or shelf is the big desk in the front of the room.

"It should be over here…" Eli mutters, walking over to the big desk. He reaches his hand into a slot in the side of the desk and pulls out a book.

"This. I was the last person to turn my book in. We turned them in on the first week the virus was discovered, mine was at home and I didn't bring it until the last day."

"Is it about dragons?" I ask, looking at the cover art.

"No, not really." He sits down on the floor. "A boy's grandfather dies and he inherents a mirror, only a mirror. He received it in plastic wrap and unwrapped it for the first time months later. He sat in front of it one day and switched into another reality while still in the real world. If he ran in front of the mirror, he'd run in the other reality. It continued for weeks… I don't want to spoil it if you want to read it."

"No. Go on."

"One day he and his mother got in a fight, he accidentally threw something at the mirror, breaking it. A storm started and then the reality he made up became the one he really lived in."

"Did it have a bad ending?"

"I didn't finish it." He hands me the book. "Chapter twenty…five? I think."

I turn to chapter twenty-five, it's too long so I flip to the end of the book and read the last page.

"Hey, you can't just do that."

"Oh, I think someone died."

"Yeah, probably. You know what, keep it and read the whole thing later."

"I can't do that. " I lay down on my back.

"It's something to do. There's other books here too."

"When do you think we should leave?" I ask.

"You and Serafina? Whenever you want I guess. Do you have a plan?"

"Logan said he'd help us get to Vermont or something."

"Oh, do you need a map? There should be one in here."

Eli walks away and searches a drawer, then pulls out a big, colorful piece of paper. He lays it down on the floor and we sit down.

"See that small state?" He takes out his knife and stabs the spot on the map. "That's where we are, New Hampshire. Vermont isn't too far, depends if anything stops you along the way. Then you're going?"

"Kansas is a lot further than I thought…"

"Maybe just stop in New York for a while."

"That’s where we used to live."

"I know. If you ever need help, I can go with you, Logan's kind of dumb on the road."

"It's fine, we still have time."

"Eli." Someone yells aggressively from the hallway.

"In here!"

Ria comes in, "You get that water?"

"No, c'mon." He turns to me.

I follow him out into the hall and he grabs an empty jug of water.

We exit the school and head towards the pond.

"Would you leave this place?" I ask.

"Definitely, part of me wants to."

"I thought you liked it here."

"I do, but it gets old. Memories come back all the time. I think we'd be better off someplace else."

"Someplace like where?"

"I'm not sure, but I bet there's places a lot better than this."

He bends down at the pond and starts filling the jug with water.

"What if Serafina and I stayed with you guys, and we all went somewhere?"

"I don't know if you could get everyone on board with that, especially Serafina."

"What do you think?"

"I'd go with you."

"Would we bring Alexa if we did go?"

"Would she go? It's her decision, if she wanted to but was a threat, we wouldn't bring her. Simple."

I hear a noise that sounds like a car engine coming from a distance. It looks like Eli hears it too.

"Nitro, go check that out."

I do as he says and follow the direction of the noise. By the time I get there the red car we saw is gone.

I go back and tell Eli.

"Alright, we should head back fast."

"Why?"

"To make sure Alexa's still there."

***

And she is. Alexa is in the back with Zander, hunting.

Eli says, "The car is gone."

"Is that a good or bad thing?" Zander asks.

"Good, hopefully. Eli says.

Alexa looks down at her feet then turns and raises her bow.

Eli pulls me aside, "Don't you think she looks guilty?"

"I guess… but you might just be reaching."

"I hope so."

I spent the rest of the day the way I normally do; around five pm Logan called us all into the gym for dinner while I was with Serafina, she tries to sit up.

"Hey be careful." I support her back.

She fully sits up and then comes to a kneel.

Serafina says, "It doesn't hurt so bad."

"Alexa said not to move."

"Please, I can do this. I hate staying here and doing nothing all day."

"You'll be doing nothing even longer if you keep moving, just give it a few days."

She lays back down and turns her head away from me.

"I'll bring you food, okay?"

No response. I walk out of the classroom and into the gym.

Zander speaks, "Turkey, we got lucky."

"Turkey?" I ask.

"There's so many up north, you've never seen them just wandering around?" Ally asks.

"Maybe once or twice, they're really big aren't they?"

"Yep, uh that plate is Sera's" Ally points to a plastic plate with turkey.

I pick it up and bring it to the classroom as the other’s conversations fade away. "The wind kept blowing out the fire, I wish…"

I set the plate down next to Serafina's mattress and sit at the end of it.

"You're staying here?" She asks.

I nod my head.

"Well good, I was going to put on that makeup again. You can tell me if it looks good."

"How would I know?"

"Didn't Marissa wear makeup?"

"Yeah, but that was extremely bad."

"Then you can tell me if it looks not as bad." She chuckles.

After a while someone opens the door, Eli walks in holding a plate with food. "You should eat." He hands it to me.

"Oh thanks."

Then he leaves.

"I thought he was all, rude, tough guy." Serafina mutters.

"Thought? He's still so set on accusing Alexa."

"Seems like he's just worried about his safety, but that's not really what I meant. He doesn't act, how should I put it; as mean as he comes off?"

"He's a good person, I'm glad everyone here is decent."

"Speaking of Alexa, have you seen Six? She left the classroom while you were gone. Was she in the gym?"

"I don't think so."

"Look for her."

I stand up and go into the gym, "Six in here?"

"She's not with you?" Alexa stands up.

"No…"

Alexa runs past me and out the front door, Ria and Sophie follow.

"What if that car took her?" I ask.

"What car?" Ally asks.

"The red one, it left earlier today."

"You saw it leave?"

"Yes, but I think Six was still with Sera at the time." I say.

I go back to the classroom to tell Serafina about what happened.

"She could be around the school, check."

And I do, I check all the sides, the parking lot, the woods, the play area, both floors, the classrooms. Nowhere. So I sit back down against the front wall in the gym, then I fall asleep.

"I'm sorry! Sorry!" Someone is sobbing so loud it hurts my ears. That someone is Six, she's covered in snot and tears, her eyes are red and she's hyperventilating. Ria and Sophie look confused, Ria's catching her breath, Alexa's yelling at Six.

"Why would you do that?"

"I thought- you. You. You wouldn't care."

"What happened?" I ask.

Alexa ignores me and takes Six out of the classroom.

Sophie turns to me, "She was going somewhere with a drawn map, to these weird places." She hands me a piece of notebook paper. There's names like East Redton, Concord, Portsmouth.

"That's..." I say.

"Fucking insane, and stupid." Ria says.

Eli says, "I thought you wouldn't care, that's what Six said."

***

We're sitting in the gym again. Alexa and Six aren't here, they went to bed already.

"I for real remember going to the grocery store behind the gas station after school like everyday." Ria says.

"There's a store behind the gas station?" I ask.

"There was. They bulldozed it down and turned it into an apartment. No one lived there though, I don't even think they finished making the upstairs."

"Have you checked it out?"

"Nah, if there wasn't anything there to began with then I don't think people would use it today, besides, I've never seen anyone in the area."

"I'll check it out." I say.

Zander throws me a flashlight, "Go for it."

I stand up and head out.

"Don't die!" Ally shouts.

"Shut up."

I go outside, to the gas station then I turn around, I walk until I find a small, tall building. I step inside, Ria was right, it's so bare.

I go up the stairs.

"Drop it." A girl says. She's wearing a white coat, her brown hair is pulled into a side braid, she has a tattoo on her left hand even though she looks the same age as me. She's also holding a crossbow, so I drop my gun.

"What do you want?" She asks.

"I was just checking the place out."

"Who are you?"

"I'm from New York."

"Funny, you went further up?"

"That's what everyone says."

"How old are you?"

"Fourteen."

"I'm fifteen."

"So what are you doing here?" I ask.

"You know that school down the road?"

"I think." I reply.

"I used to live there, they kicked me out." She sits down.

" You can stay if you want, I could use a friend… or just anyone."

"I'll stay for a bit I guess."

"You got somewhere to be?" She chuckles as I sit down.

She reaches over, "Found it!" Then pulls out a teapot.

"What's in that?"

"Beer, I stole it from the nasty people."

"Nasty people?" I ask.

"They're called uh… Crows I think. I hate them, even more than they hate me."

"You've met Crows too?"

"Yeah, they've been after me for weeks, I spy on them from the highest floor, I haven't seen them come by in a while though. When have you encountered them?"

"They captured me."

"I wouldn't expect less, Crows are like school shooters, they had one bad thing happen and want revenge on everyone in relation to their enemies. The only thing that brings them together is their evilness and misery."

"Are there a lot?"

"Not in this area, I have issues with a couple but I know there's more down south, I think a lot of them used to be confederate flag motherfuckers and they just decided to form an end of the world alliance with single, forty-year-old men that live in basements and milfs in their area."

I act like I know what she's talking about and nod my head.

"By the way, my name is Julia."

That. That was the sentence that drove all the thoughts in my mind in a spiral, or gave me thoughts I didn't previously have, then absolutely demolished them. Julia, the Crows, the School. Why wasn't I thinking? What have I done?

"I'm Nitro."

"You sound kinda weak, I have food if you want some." She offers me what looks like chicken on a blue, plastic plate.

I decline, not just because I've already eaten but out of fear that she poisoned it. "I actually ate not too long ago."

"That's fine."

"Do you plan on leaving?" I ask her.

"This apartment, yes. This town, maybe.

" I have someone close here, not family, a friend; well I doubt he thinks of me like that even. We dated for what seemed like forever, we grew apart, this world tore us apart. He was close with a girl in his friend group, they kept her but not me, his girlfriend."

"Are you going to follow him around forever, secretly?"

"No, I'll get over him. I'm fucked up no matter what I do, he won't help me."

"What happened to your family?"

"I had a sister in college, a nine-year-old brother, a grandmother, and my parents. I was at school when zombies started attacking and everyone in the town panicked. They've always hated me, no wonder they didn't pick me up.

"Hey, you lived in New York, have you ever been to one of those cool places?"

"Uh I've seen the statue of liberty, not intentionally but my mother's boyfriend was driving us through the city and we passed it, I'm not sure if they even noticed."

"New Hampshire's boring, I want to go somewhere big, like Texas. So far…"

"If you're lucky you'll find a plane."

"I wish, and if I did I would definitely try flying it." We sit in silence then she asks again, “What did the Crows do to you?”

“I was with some others, not many. A lady asked us who we cared about least, maybe to test us emotionally… it was just weird.”

“Probably Mia if you were around here when you encountered them, it’s a common question. Most of the women in those groups emotionally fuck people up, they can really get into your mind.”

“How do you know so much about these Crows, I mean it seems like you do.”

“I, eh.” -She shrugs her shoulders.- “Like I said, I just watch them, stalk if you will. They’ve caught me a few times, the first time I convinced them I wasn’t who they were looking for… the other two they were more brutal, I knocked a man unconscious and was able to escape. The last time I just ran, and kept running.”

Julia sits back and looks me up and down, "Nice watch," she says. "where'd you get it?"

"I got it a few months back, I was lucky."

"You wanna stay here? I have extra blankets."

"I'm good. Actually, I think I should get going." I stand up.

"Nitro. They'll kick you out the moment you do something they don't like."

"You know?"

"I haven't just been watching the Crows. Please, can I go back with you?"

"Why?"

"I won't fight or anything, I just want to talk."

"You should stay here and not think about them, if they kicked you out then going back will only make you seem desperate."

"I am... Please."

"Come on." I say.