Once I was finally allowed to dress myself and return to the van, I tried to distance myself from Cole as much as possible. Cole could probably sense my uneasiness. I didn't make it exactly subtle for him as I went to hold Luka's hand straight away in the corner.

"So where are you two headed?" Ryan asked loudly from the front seat of the car. As the engine started up again, I looked at Luka in uncertainty.

That's a good question. I have no idea where we're headed, my goal was simply to escape the hoard of zombies. As I thought about the question carefully, the sound of my stomach rumbling sounded throughout the entire van.

"Ah..." I scratched my face in embarrassment. "I haven't eaten in a while, so stopping for food would be great."

"Well, we're headed back to base 18, so feel free to tag along. I'm sure we can whip something up for you to eat there." Ryan explained.

"How far is your base?" I asked hesitantly.

"About three hours away. But don't worry about it, just relax." Cole said as he went to touch my leg in reassurance.

Uuuu... don't do that, I'm still creeped out by you! There's no way I can return with these guys to their base. I have a bad feeling about this...

"Couldn't we stop somewhere along the way? I'm hungry." I tried to insist.

Cole shook his head firmly. "It's too dangerous to stop. You should just stay with us."

Just as Cole was about to touch my hand, he was quickly swatted away. "Enough!" Luka declared.

"Geez, calm d—" Cole cut himself off as a sudden realisation dawned on him. "Hey, this guy doesn't look like the normal kind of sick." He said in a shaky voice.

"Shit," Ryan grumbled as he reached into his coat pocket to pull out a handgun. He pointed it at Luka and shot him in the shoulder without any hesitation.

"AHHHHH!" I screamed in horror. Luka merely looked down at where the shot was made and touched the oozing black liquid pouring out of his body to stare at it in intrigue.

"I knew it! He's a fucking zombie!" Ryan proudly declared as he waved his gun in triumph.

I went to cover Luka but was quickly pulled into Cole's arms. "Ryan, kill him already for fuck's sake!" I tried to wiggle my way out of Cole's hold on me, but he easily overpowered me. As he buried his head into the crux of my neck, I get my muscles tense up.

"Tch. You better not hog her all to yourself. We made a deal to share her, remember?" Ryan reminded Cole.

Sharing? No thanks! I can already tell that Cole is on his way to becoming a full-fledged yandere, so it won't take long for Ryan to follow in his footsteps. When their jealousy inevitably kicks in, I just know I'm not going to like what's going to happen next!

"LET GO OF ME!" I screamed as I continuously tried to wiggle my way out of Cole's hold. Cole merely smiled as if amused by me.

"Shh-shh-shh! It's okay, it's okay..." He purred as he stroked the crowd of my head. "I'll protect you from the zombie, so don't resist, okay?"

Luka isn't someone I need protecting from! He's one of the few good guys out there! And I... need him for the sake of my survival. If it's anyone I need saving from right now, then it's you!

As Ryan slowed down the car, he prepared himself to launch another bullet straight into Luka's head. Knowing this, Luka only had one last option. Using what little strength, he could muster up, he lunged forward at Ryan, causing Ryan to accidentally swerve head-on into a signpost.

The collision itself was quite quick. Although I was fine physically from what I could tell, my mind was another story. It went into a very dark place.

"Please! It's just one party, please!" I pleaded desperately with my hands.

My father firmly shook his head as he finished loading our suitcases into the back of the car. "Bennett, do you want to go to the party?"

Bennett who was sitting in the backseat turned around with a huge gleeful smile. "Hell no! I'd rather go camping with you guys instead!" As Bennett winked at me, I felt my body tense up.

"Why can't you be more like him? You need to start spending more time with this family, no more hiding in your room, got it?" My father reprimanded me.

As I begrudgingly sat in the back with Bennett, I went fishing for my headphones in my bag. "Let's get this show on the road then!" My stepmother cheered as she clapped her hands together as she fastened her seatbelt.

I had hoped listening to music would make it easier to pretend that Bennett wasn't there. But he persisted in making himself known to me.

As I felt a hand make its way across my lap and to the button on my jeans, I jerked myself away on instinct. I looked at Bennett with pure hatred but all I was met with was an evil face gesturing me to keep quiet. I wanted to kill him right then and there.

"Is everything alright back there?" My stepmother asked as turned to face us.

"She just dropped something. Don't mind us."

"Oh," was all she could say in response as she slowly turned away.

As Bennett went to touch me again, I quickly slapped his hand away as I felt tears swell up in my eyes. "Dad... can we please pull over." I pleaded in a meek voice. I felt like I couldn't breathe.

"Why? What's wrong?" He asked in concern.

"Just..." I looked at Bennett once more as he warned me to stop. "JUST PULL OVER!" I screamed as I went to grab the wheel from behind.

"VICKY, STOP IT!" My father screamed. But it was too late. He had already lost full control of the car as we swerved straight onto an incoming truck.

The last thing I remembered was a voice calling out to me in the void. "Vicky? Wake up! C'mon, wake up!" As I slowly inched my eyes opened, I was disgusted to see Bennett having pulled me out of the capsized vehicle.

I closed my weak eyes once more but was quickly brought back to my senses when I felt him firmly plant his lips onto mine. I quickly pushed him off me and rubbed my mouth in disgust.

"Thank god!" He said in relief. "I thought you stopped breathing!"

As I knitted my eyebrows together, I noticed something horrific in the corner of my eyes. My father and stepmother's heads had gone straight through the windshield.

I covered my mouth in pure shock. Never in a million years did I expect to see their lifeless bodies like this. All I could do at that moment was cry pitifully.

"It's just us now, Vicky. But it's better this way, right?" Bennett said with a simple smile and without an ounce of sadness.

Now I'm stuck with this monster for good...