"About what?" Sarah asked cleaning her gun.
"How could she have gotten all that blood on her...it wasn't a splatter...it looked like she smeared it on herself."
"What, are you some blood splatter expert now?" Sarah asked.
"No, but didn't you notice how it was in streaks? There's something not right about this. Maybe I should go talk with her?"
"I don't know if that's the best idea...she went through a lot today." Sarah said.
"So did we, what's your point?" Mel said agitated.
"Well we didn't see one of our friends die."
Mel lowered to a hush, "You mean, we didn't kill and let one of our friends die?"
Sarah looked shocked but kept her opinion to herself and continued cleaning her gun.
The group had decided the grocery store would be the safest place for their final night in Friendship Heights. Tomorrow they were all planning on getting out and fleeing for the safety zone in Arlington.
"I'm not going to go." Jenny said to the group.
"What do you mean?" Lauren H. stood up. They had been there for each other since they met.
"I need to find Adelaide...she has to be here somewhere."
JC looked at Owen and they shared a somber glance. "Jenny..."
"I don't want to hear it. I'm not leaving until I find my daughter."
"But we have to be realistic...there's no way she could have survived out there by herself for this long." JC said.
"Then I'm going to look for her tonight." Jenny said picking up a machete by the back wall where milk and yogurt used to be.
"That's suicide!" Lauren H. said. "You can't do that Jenny. There are too many zombies out there...you'll get yourself killed."
"Since no one is willing to go with me, I have no choice BUT to go out by myself."
"I'll go." Owen stood up. JC was taken aback. These whole time Owen has been such a good support system to him that it shocked him to see Owen be the first to volunteer for such a task.
"Thank You." Jenny said.
"I'll go too." Lauren N. stood up as well. "I can't bare to think that a little girl is out there."
"Lauren?" Jenny directed the question to Lauren H.
"I...uh..." She began. Jenny looked desperate. "I...I can't." And Lauren H. walked away from the group and to the other side of the store. Jenny sighed and helped the other two grab weapons.
"We'll be back in a couple of hours. We're going to see if there is any activity out of the ordinary." Owen said. JC pulled him aside.
"Are you sure you're okay doing this?" JC asked.
"Bro, I got this. I'll show you I can lead." Owen gave his best friend a hug and the small recon group left.
Mel got up. Sarah grabbed her arm and gave her a look. "It's okay..." Mel said. She walked over to Caroline who was busy brushing her hair by a freezer window.
"Can I speak with you?" Mel asked.
Caroline saw Mel's reflection through the glass door and her smile turned into an evil grimace. "Yes?" She said still brushing her hair, not looking.
"Can we go somewhere more private?"
Caroline stopped and turned around giving Mel an up and down. "What is it about?"
"Please, can we speak in private?"
Caroline huffed and followed Mel into a back room that was used as the office. Mel first walked in and turned on the light. "I know what you're thinking." Caroline said taking a seat by the desk.
"Excuse me?" Mel said still standing.
"That I did something to Nina."
"Why would you think that?"
"I don't care what you think, I didn't do it." Caroline said.
"I didn't even accuse you of anything."
"Don't think I'm stupid Mel, I saw how you looked at me the other day. I'm not blind."
Mel stifled a laugh. "Then why did you do it?"
Caroline's eyes grew wide. "Do what?" She lied. Mel stifled another laugh. Caroline lunged at her and grabbed Mel by the shirt. "You say even one lie and your fate will be like hers." Mel just stared back. Caroline caught herself and realized that she had lost her cool. She let go of Mel's shirt and stood back up, backing up against the closed door.
"So you'll kill me?" Mel asked. Caroline opened the door and began to leave. She turned her head. "No, the zombies will..." And Caroline slammed the door shut leaving Mel in the office by herself.
***
"We'll go down towards Tenleytown and double back towards Bethesda. Make sure to keep in the shadows and never use your gun unless it's the last resort." Owen instructed. The group nodded and they disappeared in the shadows as they attempted to look for the little girl.
Lauren N. looked around a corner and noticed a few zombies down the road, nothing seemed too suspicious and they weren't reacting to anything living. Jenny noticed another small group down the other way too. Zombies were in every direction but they were far enough not to get noticed.
"We should climb to the roof of the highest building." Owen suggested.
"The one where the shootings took place?" Lauren N. asked.
"Exactly...can you lead us there?" He said. The three ran to the location of the last building and walked in. Lauren expected to find the bodies of the two security guards and Kelly on the ground where they were left but where there bodies were, were blood stains, dried and blackened.
"We left them right here!" She said surprised.
"Are you sure?" Owen asked.
"No doubt!"
"Maybe zombies have eaten them?"
"They would have left the bones if that were the case."
They heard a creak behind them. All three turned around, squinting their eyes to see better in the dark. The moonlight that crept through the window was their only source of light.
"What was that?" Jenny said. Owen drew his machete. Lauren did the same. Her breathing became heavy and a cold sweat ran down her face. Someone or something was coming down the stairs.
"Hide!" Owen whispered. They all crouched down behind a large pillar in the lobby and waited as the shadow of the person walking down the stairs elongated along the wall and ceiling. Their walk was staggered, likened to a zombie's but Owen could tell the person was holding a weapon.
"Zombies can't use weapons...can they?" Owen asked. Lauren shrugged her shoulders as they continued to look. The person reached the bottom of the stairs and slowly walked into the moonlight.
"Eric!" Owen said in shock. Standing several feet away from them was Eric Morrel in the flesh. They could swear he had burned in the hardware store in the large explosion he had caused himself to save the others. Owen began to stand up to call to him but Lauren covered his mouth and pulled him down.
"You don't know if he's a zombie or not!" She began. "It's too hard to tell."
Owen found it hard to wait but understood that she was right. They observed Eric again as he began to move. He had an obvious limp but other than that they couldn't see his face clear enough to see if he had any life in his eyes.
"We have no choice but to take a chance." Owen said. Lauren and Jenny look frightened. "I'll go."
Owen stood up from behind the pillar and stood out into the lobby to face Eric.
"Eric."
Eric looked up shocked, drew a gun and fired towards Owen.
BANG!
The two women screamed behind the pillar and immediately looked out. Owen had jumped out of the way quickly enough to avoid the bullet.
"Fuck Eric, it's me!!" Owen screamed out.
"Owen?!" Eric asked through the darkness as he ran limping over. He ran over to help Owen up.
"How did you survive!!" Owen said.
Eric helped Owen up. "We can't talk about it right now. We got to get out of here."
"Out of this building, why?" Owen asked.
"No, out of Friendship Heights. They're coming."
"Zombies?"
"No...the army."
"Isn't that a good thing?" Owen asked. The two women, after realizing things were safe, walked out and joined the other two.
Eric began to explain the situation. The military was coming to raze Friendship Heights to the ground to form a barrier around what was left of Washington DC and to kill off any zombies that may be around. Owen asked why they wouldn't save the living and Eric explained that he had seen it already happen in Chevy Chase..."The military is indiscriminately killing everyone and everything...they're not taking any chances. They killed a father and his small daughter who asked for help. Just shot them through the head. Everyone is freaking out."
"How much time do we have?" Lauren asked.
"Not much...I barely escaped Chevy Chase. They're on their way here."
"You still didn't explain how you survived the explosion." Owen said. Eric gave off a little laugh.
He began to explain but was interrupted by a flash of light from outside, a loud whistling noise, a large bang that shook the building and a sudden outburst of flames outside the window.
"They're here!" Eric said getting up.
"We have to get the others!"
"Others?" Eric said. "Other people are alive? What about JC?" He shook his head. "There's no time we have to go!"
Owen looked at Lauren and Jenny, looking for an answer.
"We can't leave without them."
"We must!" Eric said.
Another explosion outside shattered the large glass windows around them.
"There's no time! WE HAVE TO RUN NOW!" Eric yelled above the noise. The four ran out of the building, their shadows illuminated by the dancing flames in the night.
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