With Spark Plug dealt with, I head to the apartment to see Germaine. I'm sure she'll be massively relieved to see me. Though I really wish I could have brought Courtney with me.

I'll have to fill her in on the unfortunate news about Courtney. But I plan to leave out most of the details. I'll only say she passed out the first night from an over dose and leave out everything after that. She doesn't need to know the reality of what happened.

Climbing the stairs is tedious. But I'm glad we took the time to make it so difficult. Even with the number of zombies dwindling. There's always a risk one could have wandered in here. And I didn't have to worry about one making its way up to Germaine.

I'm excited to see the look on Germaine's face when she sees me. I know it will only last a moment before she realizes I'm alone. But that first moment reunited is what I'm focusing on for now.

I'm about half way up the stairs. Crossing on the ninth floor when I see Germaine. Crawling. Slowly dragging her body across the floor. Flashlight in her mouth. Arms shaking, she looks ready to collapse.

"Germaine!"

I run over and hold her in my arms.

"What are you doing?"

I asked.

"Levi, Where were you?"

"It's a long story. Lets get you back upstairs."

"No! no I won't go back up there. I can't!"

"Why not?"

"It's been hell Levi. Court is dead. She came back two days after you disappeared. I got up that morning. Lit a candle and there she was. Just sitting on the couch, staring at me. She didn't say anything. For days she just stared at me. Never saying a word. She was a zombie. Neither of you ever told me about the smell. about how they rot away. It got to be too much. Endless hours in the dark just staring at each other. The smell getting stronger and stronger. I stopped lighting candles after the first day. I tried to move her body but just couldn't. I was too weak. I don't even know where I'd put her. Finally yesterday I left the apartment. I went to another one and looked out the window. It was the first time I'd seen sun light in weeks. I thought it would inspire me to keep going. Motivate me in some way. But all I saw was snow. As far as the eye could see. Undisturbed snow. No sign of life at all. I thought I was the only one left alive. I couldn't bring myself to go back into the apartment. Just stare at her crying while I starved to death. So I left. It's taken me a day just to get this far. I didn't know which floors you had smashed and which you hadn't. I would drag myself all the way to one end, just to find I have to turn around."

I don't tell her there's no way she saw Courtney. That it was just her imagination playing tricks on her. Or that the Zombies don't decompose.

"I'll take you back upstairs. I'll bury the body behind the building. I'll get us some food. I can even set us up in a different apartment. It'll all be okay."

"It will never be okay! I can't go back up there. It was too much. And if you ever go missing again, or die out there. I'll be stuck again. I need somewhere else to go. Something better than this. Somewhere I can survive on my own if I need to. Please, We have to get out of this building."

"Wait here. I'll go get your chair."

"Don't, don't leave me here alone."

"I'll be quick. I can put you in one of these apartments. You can lock the door and wait for me to come back."

"Levi, there is no chair for you to get."

Germaine begins to cry. I sit down beside her, and she rests her head on my shoulder. She continues.

"I broke it. I climbed up to the roof, but I couldn't open the door. It was too heavy. I crawled back down. Got in my chair and went to the stair case. I threw myself down. I wanted to die. I knew the odds of it being a lethal fall were slim. But even slow death from a cracked skull or punctured lung would be better than days of starvation. But the only thing I broke was my chair. It was then that I decided to get out of this building."

I hold her for a while longer as she sobs. Neither of us saying a word for a full five minutes.

"I'll search every inch of this building and find you another chair."

"It's no use, even if you did find one the snow is too thick. We wouldn't be able to move it."

" I know where we can go."

I pick her up and put her on my back. Legs through my arms like shes a backpack. It's not an easy trek down the stairs, but we make it.

Once we hit the main floor. We continue over to the main staircase in the middle of the building. That's the only one that goes down to the parking garage.

I've never been down here before. There's a sea of cars to choose from.

"Which do you think we should take?"

I ask Germaine.

"Anything unlocked that looks like it can handle the snow, I guess."

I look around for a few moments. Seeing if anything stands out to me. I spot a red pick up truck that looks promising.

"That looks good."

I say, pointing to the truck.

As I start to walk towards it, I feel a resistance. Something pulls against my back. And Germaine slips out of my arms. Screaming as she falls to the ground.

I realize when Courtney cleared the building. She forgot to do the parking garage.

Germaine lay on the ground face up. The zombie that pulled her down laying beside her, face down. He had grabbed her with such force that when she fell he did too. He's scrambling to get up, quickly.

Already to his knees and crawling toward her, head over her arm, nearing her neck. I swing my leg and kick its head away. Only pushed to the side momentarily I'm barely able to kick again before he's right back to the same spot.

It takes him longer to recover from the second kick but just barely. The brief opening leaving me enough time to get between him and Germaine.

"Levi there's more!"

I don't yet take the time to see where the additional threat is coming from. Instead dealing with this zombie first. I kick his arms out from under him. Then stomp his jaw, Breaking it. He's not out of commission but the threat is greatly reduced.

Now turning my attention to where the next zombie is. They aren't hard to find as Germaine screams.

"Help!"

Struggling to hold up the zombie coming down on her. I grab it by the hair pulling its head back. Then slamming it on the cement. Stomping it's jaw as I scoop up Germaine, grabbing under her arms.

Not stopping to see if the second zombies jaw is broken. I take Germaine and toss her into the Flat bed of the truck.

Checking the door. It's locked. Looking back I see the two zombies closing in on me. And at least two more further out.

Seeing no choice, I use my elbow to smash the window. Reach in and unlock the door.

I close the door behind me, But the window is Completely gone. I'm reaching down trying to find how to hot wire the car but it's not easy. It takes me a while to actually find the wires. The zombie arms reaching in and grabbing me through the window. They keep pulling my arm back as I try to connect the wires.

Finally the car roars too life and I toss it into reverse. Smashing into a zombie as I do so.

One of the zombies still clinging to my window, gets flung onto the roof. She stays there as I put it into drive and head for the garage door.

Germaine still screaming, I try to shake the zombie off, but it doesn't work. I need to swerve more aggressively. But instead I keep my forward momentum as I charge towards the garage door.

If a car can go through the wall of a hardware store, It should be able to handle a garage door no problem.

The Zombie is scrapped over the roof as we burst through the door.