Serafina stretches, runs around, plays with equipment. I just stand and watch her from the doorway, like a parent watching their child at a park to make sure they don't get kidnapped, I watch Serafina to make sure she doesn't flatline.

"You gonna come shoot?" Serafina asks, holding a basketball.

"Why would I?"

"Because it's fun?"

I walk over to her and take the basketball. We fool around for a little over an hour.

Sitting against the wall at the end of the gym next to Serafina I check my watch, 1 am already. Serafina is picking at the foam mat on the floor. She looks up at me, "Is it late?"

"One O'clock," I say.

"That's not too bad."

I hear something out by the front door, people talking.

"You can't just take her!" Sophie says.

Serafina hears too, we both jolt out of the gym and to the front door.

A girl is standing at the door, a skinny girl with bad posture and brown hair. She waves at me, "Hi, I'm Audrey. I'm looking for my little sister, Cassie."

"I don't know a Cassie," I say.

"She had to be here, I've looked everywhere in the area."

"What's she look like?"

"A little girl with red hair. I don't know much about her but she is my sister. Our mother didn't let me near her once I moved in with my boyfriend. He's dead and I have no one now, please."

"Six?" I mutter.

Sophie looks at Audrey in shock then turns around and looks up the stairs.

"Do you know her?" Audrey asks.

I remember something from that picture I showed Six, her dog.

"Did your family have a dog named Muffin?" I ask.

"Yes!" Audrey replies.

"I'll be back, but first I have to talk to someone," I say.

I walk to Alexa's classroom and knock on the door. She opens it. Six is sitting on the mattress at the back of the room with a toy car.

"A girl is here for Six, it's her sister."

"Audrey, The whore finally found me? Took her long enough."

"Audrey? She's the greasy gamer. The girl you stole Six from?"

"She neglected Six."

"Six wasn't her child to take care of. She wants her family back. You should let Six go."

"She's all I have, Nitro."

"No, she's not. You aren't all she has either. She has a sister who needs her back."

"Over my dead fucking body." Alexa runs over to the mattress and grabs Six, she then runs down the hall, she'll leave through the front door.

I rush behind her and try to catch up. When Alexa reaches the front door Audrey says, "Cassie."

Alexa doesn't stop even though Six is resisting, she keeps running. Serafina and I follow her until she stops at the point where the street reaches the school parking lot. Eli, who probably left through the back of the school or one of the windows on the side has his rifle aimed at Alexa, behind him Logan pulls his hood over his head and reaches for his gun.

"I'll take care of her. I've been this whole time." Alexa says

Audrey steps outside and walks over to Alexa. Alexa lifts up her leg slightly and pulls out a knife, "One more step and I'll slit more than just your throat."

"Can I say goodbye to her Alexa?"

"Fucking Christ," Alexa says as she lowers the knife and turns so that Six can face Audrey.

Audrey runs her fingers through Six's hair, " I love you, please remember that."

"Sissy, you came back?"

"Yes, but I should leave. I don't wanna cause trouble" -She turns around- "between any of you, Cassie seems safe here, happy. So keep doing what you were doing and forget I was even here." She walks past Alexa and down the road.

Eli still has his gun pointed at Alexa. He walks towards her. "Just what happened here?"

"Can we talk inside?" Alexa asks.

"No, we talk now," Eli replies.

"What happened? I won't repeat myself a third time."

"I used to live with Audrey and her mother, Six's mother."

"Cassie, I assume," Eli says.

"Audrey was my friend Emma's sister who asked for me to visit her."

"Hurry the fuck up, I'm so done with you already-"

"Okay, okay," Alexa says, takes a breath then continues. "I ran away with Cassie because she was being neglected. Audrey came back for her and I can't let her go."

"You won't give your stolen child to her own family?"

"I can't let her go, I need her. And with what I know about Audrey she probably wouldn't even bat an eye at Cassie if she tried hugging a zombie."

"I wouldn't hug a zombie," Cassie says.

Eli says, "Well this Audrey girl did come all this way and searched and searched for her sister."

"So, am I staying?"

"If you like." Eli walks away and heads inside with Logan.

***

5:08 pm and I just sat around all day since the issue with Audrey, we all did. No hunting, no exploring, nothing. I've decided to meet with Julia again, hear her out. She looked like she was genuinely hurt when Logan told her off and I'm not sure what to make of her out of what he's said. I stand in front of the unfinished apartments for a good two minutes before walking in. As I expected Julia is peering out a window at the school, without turning to face me she says, "Again, you haven't had enough of me?"

"No, I wanna hear you out." I sit down.

She turns around and sits down across from me, "Well. What do ya wanna hear?"

"Are you a bad person?"

"You haven't heard what those kids have said about me?"

"I have, but I want to know what you think."

"I did kill a man."

"Was it justified?"

"Killing a man is never justified, especially in that case. I wanted something, his car. I didn't expect him to be there and he caught me off guard, grabbed my wrist, pulled me in the car, and locked the doors. Then he sat outside and watched as I got more thirsty, hungry, tired, angry. It went on for a little less than a week, I gave up and kicked the window then climbed out. While he was asleep in his stupid blue chair I took his hunting gun and shoved it in his mouth and down his throat."

"Why didn't you kick the window in the first place?"

"I didn't wanna break my fucking leg. That was the first person I murdered. That make me a bad person?"

"No, I would've done the same. Maybe a little less brutal."

She giggles, "You know I'm really glad that you don't think I'm as bad as they say."

"You have done some wrong shit, I'm not gonna lie. But getting kicked out like that wasn't right."

"I wish they saw it that way, especially Zander." She speaks again, "Nitro."

"Huh?"

"Do you like me?"

"What, Why would I like you?"

"I don't know, I was hoping you would a little."

"You must be real lonely up here."

"The fucking loneliest." She laughs.

"I think I should get going," I say, standing up.

"Did I make you uncomfortable?"

"A little, but I should leave so I can keep watch soon."

"Do you like anyone?"

"What? Julia, are you serious."

"I'm not hitting on you… right now. I saw you with Ally the other day, and then there's the girl you arrived with, the one with the long hair."

"I don't like Ally or Serafina. Sera's my best friend."

"You're boring. Or are you gay or something?"

"Fuck no. You've been hanging onto Zander for about a year so don't call me boring."

"Sorry I have fucking separation anxiety." She says in a mocking tone.

"I'm gonna go."

"Be on your merry way Nitrogen." She says leaning against the wall.

I leave the apartment and return to the school, Logan's already sitting down out front, "Fucking Julia?"

I sit down beside him, "She definitely killed that Ben dude's dad."

"And put us in danger, why'd you go back to her, you needed proof she was a cunt or something?"

"She tried stealing Ben's father's car."

"Of course." Logan scoffs.

"He locked her in there for days, when she escaped she shoved a gun so far down his throat it killed him."

"Sounds bad, I'd hate to be him… killed by Julia goddamn sad."

"The Crows are worse than her."

"The Crows are also adults, she might as well be a Crow in training. A little chickadee."

"She sounds really hurt though."

"She should be."

"She likes me."

"But hasn't moved on from Zander I'm guessing?"

"No," I say.

"Don't tell me you like her back."

"No, of course not."

"Good, she's on my fucking hit list," Logan says.

"You hate her a lot huh?"

"Who doesn't. She would be in one of those 'Top Ten Child Maniacs' articles."

"Are you afraid you might end up like her, a 'maniac'?"

"Maybe a little, but I wouldn't suddenly turn into someone like her. It took her years of horror movies banned everywhere, gore websites, stories, documentaries, you name it, to fall down that hole."

"So she was the weird one at this school, before the apocalypse?"

"For sure. There was also a kid who ate his snot."

After almost falling asleep Logan shakes me and whispers frantically, "Hey, you see that?"

I look in the direction he's pointing. It looks like two zombies, the more they walk the more I see, five, eight.

"That's weird," I say.

"Unless someone was trying to attract them." Logan leans back.

"You don't have to try to attract zombies."

"Is everyone inside?" I ask.

"Go check, I'll stay here."

I go inside and check everywhere, it doesn't look like anyone's missing. I walk into my bedroom and Serafina asks, "Where did you go?"

"I talked to Julia."

Eli stands up, "Nitro…"

"Sorry I just wanted to see what she had to say."

"Well, did she tell you anything useful?"

"Told me why she killed Ben's father."

"Is something wrong?" Eli asks.

"There's zombies outside, not that close but there's a good amount."

Eli grabs his gun leaning against the wall and walks past me, "So we take them out."

I follow him out the front door and pull out my gun. Logan stands up and follows, "There's more now. Everyone inside?"

"Yes," I say.

We get rid of the zombies, by the last one Logan mutters, "That should be eleven."

As we head back to the school Eli asks me, "Stray, can you tell your girlfriend to check the area tomorrow morning? My shift's in about two days and I need to get something else done in the meantime."

"Serafina isn't my girlfriend. Stop."

"I never said Serafina… you did." He smiles then pushes my head down and runs in front of me towards the doors.

I follow him inside, "What do you need to get done, you know in the meantime?"

"Planning."

"Hm?" I question.

"So we can leave for New York."

"We. So who's tagging along?"

"Everyone, it was easy to convince Sophie and Ally. Logan not so much. Zander's still depressed or whatever over his sister but he'll get over it."

"Do you wonder about what will happen if he doesn't?" I ask.

"No, and I don't plan to. I'm not good with that emotional crap and my friend offing himself is pretty emotional."

"Sorry if I said something wrong. I just wanted to know what you thought."

"Don't apologize damn. I'm sure as hell not mad at you."

"You seem like you get mad easily, it's weird how you don't."

"I do, sometimes, but not over little shit like that and I don't think I'll be getting mad at you any time soon."

"What do you mean?"

"I'm just talking out of my ass. You don't upset me or anything Stray, and I don't plan on lashing out on you, don't worry." He says.

"How are we gonna move with everyone? The truck isn't that big."

"Have you seen the school buses out back? There's at least fifteen."

"Why so many?" I ask.

"This school and the elementary one down the street were the only schools in this area, the high school is at least an hour or two away. So the real school district treated this school and the elementary like their own little district."

"Isn't the distance between these schools and the others a little inconvenient?"

"Very, but this whole fuckin' town is inconvenient, simply existing."

"I wanna go back to my old house, in New York. It's on a street called Williamsburg."

"Sure thing."

"That's it?" I ask.

"You expect me to tell you off? As long as you can drive we can go wherever you like."

I lean against the railing along the stairs, as I do the sound of crying appears and gets louder. I turn around and walk up the stairs, by the fourth step I can tell who it is.

***

"Are you okay?" I ask, knowing damn well she isn't.

"Where did she go?" Six demands.

"Who are you talking about?"

She brushes her bangs out of her red, watering eyes, "My sister."

"She went home, to her home."

"Will she come back?"

"Maybe, but you still have Alexa."

"Alexa isn't my sister. I don't want Alexa!"

"It'll be okay." Is the most I can say as I reach out to touch her shoulder.

Six latches onto my arm and buries her head in my jacket, sobbing, getting spit and tears all over it. I feel so bad for Six but with Alexa here there isn't much I can do. Even then Six doesn't hate Alexa, she most likely feels the opposite, still. I loved my mother, I still do, but I wouldn't save her life, help her out, hug her. I just want her to love me back, then maybe I'd consider doing those things. For now, I'm just waiting.

I wake up at four in the evening on the floor of the upstairs hallway, not because I slept all day but because Serafina dug her nails into my arm and started screaming into my ear like her life depended on it. She cried, "Nitro, please get up! She's missing. What the fuck. I can't do this, I can't do this, I can't!"

I quickly sit up and hold the sides of her arms on each side, "What happened?" I ask.

Serafina starts hyperventilating and can't finish her sentence, "She" tears run down Serafina's face and start forming a puddle on the floor.

"Sera, just tell me."

She takes a deep breath then says, "We think she's dead."

I wrap my arms around her and pull her towards me, she keeps crying and breathing loud… so, so loud.

"Who?" I ask.

Serafina tugs on my sleeves and grabs at me over and over like she's on the verge of falling apart and dying.

"Six." She whispers.