Ashley woke to Jenny cooing softly beside her. She reached over and felt for her hand and stroked it gently, letting her know she was alright.
"Hey, Little One, how are you feeling?" She asked, caressing the child's soft cheek. The baby looked at her with teary green eyes. She reached over and grabbed Jenny and held her close.

"Don't worry, little love. We'll find a safe place soon. Everything will be ok. We'll figure something out...maybe after we've had some more rest. We'll make it home."
The baby cooed, reaching her hands out towards her.
"I won't ever let anyone hurt you, little girl."

Colby came into the room from the hallway.
"Why don't you stay here and I'll scout out the rest of the town?"
"I don't want you going alone!" Ashley objected.
"I'll take some extra magazines and flashlights and ammo. I'll even stay out of places where zombies might be; I'm just looking to see if there are any people. Besides, we need food. I should be able to get some more." Colby explained with determination shining through his eyes as he grabbed his rifle, which seemed to give him an additional boost of confidence.

"If I'm not back by dawn, take the car and what supplies you can carry and leave with Jenny," Colby instructed, shouldering his gun.
Ashley didn't respond, instead just nodding her head in agreement.
"I'll be back soon. Don't go anywhere without me."
"Got it. I'll keep an eye on her. You better hurry before those damn zombies show up."
"Thanks, Ash...be careful. Stay here."
With that, he left the room, leaving Ashley alone with the baby. As she lay down on her mattress, holding Jenny close to her chest, she wondered if this was really happening. Only a few weeks ago they had started traveling together, and they rescued Jenny three days ago. This time they were traveling alone, with no backup. The situation was getting more dangerous each day.
"I'm sorry I brought you here, Jen." Ashley whispered to the baby as her eyes drifted shut, "But things will change, I promise."

Jenny slept for another hour before waking up. Ashley took her to the kitchen, finding a box of cream of wheat.
"You'll love this, Jenny!" Ashley encouraged, mixing the dry porridge with water and heating it on the stove. When it was done cooking, she put it in a small bowl and gave Jenny a spoonful. The baby ate almost the whole bowl. Ashley chuckled, watching the baby eat.
"Slow down a bit, little one...there's more!" Ashley laughed, giving her another spoonful.
She fed Jenny some pureed fruit as well. Soon Jenny finished all the food, happily burping.

Ashley got all their dirty clothes together and checked to see if the hotel washing machine still worked, happy when she found one that did. She counted how many disposable diapers they still had. There wasn't a whole lot, so Ashley decided to practice putting cloth diapers on Jenny. After making sure they were clean, she changed the baby. While she changed the diaper, she thought about what Colby had said earlier. About how they were on their own, with no idea where to go next. They only knew that they were supposed to find safety, and that meant a large settlement with survivors. The only question was how could they travel with a baby in tow? How far could they safely drive before the baby got too sick, or hungry? If they couldn't find them a safe place within a couple of days, they'd be forced to abandon Jenny at some village to be cared for. Her heart broke at the thought of having to give her up but knew Colby was right.

With laundry caught up, Ash decided to find a way to entertain herself and Jenny. There was a small store in the hotel, and Ashley looked among the rows of shelves. She grabbed a few paperbacks and found a few cartoon DVDs. They made themselves cozy in their room, Jenny lying on her stomach on the carpet.
Ashley opened the DVD player and placed the new movies on the shelf, waiting patiently. Jenny continued playing peacefully, unaware of the world around her.
"Ash?" a familiar voice called out to her from across the room.
"Colby?! You're back already??" Ashley exclaimed. "You okay?"
"I'm fine. Where's Jenny?"
Ashley pointed to the floor, seeing the baby trying to lift herself into a crawling position.
"I hope she's OK." He mumbled.
"So...uhh...how did your scouting expedition go? Any luck?" Ashley prodded.
"If you mean no zombies...the area looks empty to me...but there's no other people from what I can tell. Do you want to stay here longer, or keep moving tomorrow?"

"How much food do you think we have? Is it enough for the winter?"

"If we run low on food, we'd have to travel in the snow. Let's get to a settlement before the snow hits; we can stay until the weather clears and we can keep going until we get to Jackson."

"You mean go to Jackson without Jenny? I don't think I can do it....and it would be hard leaving her...."

"Let's not think about that now; let's focus on getting somewhere for the winter," Colby said, not noticing Jenny tugging on the leg of his jeans.
"What?" Colby asked, bending down and lifting her into his arms. She cuddled against his neck as he stood.
"I think she wants you." Ashley smiled, taking Jenny from him.
Colby turned to look at her.
"You sure, Ash?"
"She's smiling! Look!" Ashley grinned, pointing to the baby in her arms, who was gazing back at Colby.
"Oh. Good to know she can smile." Colby joked, ruffling her hair.
She giggled in delight at his touch.
Colby smiled; it was small, barely there, but it was there. For just a moment, Ashley thought she saw something in his eyes. It wasn't exactly joy. Rather, she could see the concern that he was trying to hide, but failing miserably. His gaze darted away from hers, and his lips twisted slightly downward. He ran his hand through his hair and sat on the end of the bed.
"Uh...Ashley....can... uh... can I ask you a question?" He began nervously.
"Yeah....sure, shoot."
"Have you been thinking about...you know, you and me and stuff like that...I'm okay with us staying together when we get to Jackson. Not as a couple of course; just looking out for each other? Like friends...well maybe more than friends...I guess....you know what I mean. Just..don't leave me because I'm not worth the trouble...or whatever you were thinking...we're both adults and we can handle it..." Colby sighed, rubbing his chin.
He stopped talking for a moment, letting her digest his words.
"Are you saying that...because...you're not ready for anything serious yet?" She asked.
Colby swallowed hard.
"Well, yeah.....I guess...I don't really have any experience with relationships anyway, especially ones like this...."
"No one does..." Ashley told him.
"What I want to say is I care about you a lot. I'm your friend and protector. And you seem like such a great person, so why would someone as amazing as me not want to be more than friends with you? I just...you know what, I think we've had enough talk for tonight, don't you think? We're both tired, and we probably shouldn't dwell on the 'what ifs' right now. Let's get some dinner and go to bed. We can leave tomorrow if the weather is good."

"Sounds good. Let's eat!" Colby said, taking the three of them to the kitchen. Ashley heated a can of stew and served it to Colby with two bowls.
"Here ya go. Take it easy for a while now...we haven't slept much lately...we're pretty hungry."
As they ate, Ashley noticed how quiet Colby was being.
"Ash, we have to talk about what to do if one of us is bitten," Colby said suddenly.
Ashley choked a bit on her food at the unexpectedness of his statement, choking on the stew.
"Whew! Sorry, Ash! Uh...it's just, that it might happen eventually anyway, you know? But I thought we should try to figure out how to deal with it..."

"Deal with it?! Colby, there's no choice! If a person is bitten, they have to be...." Ashley couldn't finish the sentence.
"Yes, they have to be killed before they can turn into a zombie. Look, if it happens to me, don't hesitate. Do what you have to do to keep yourself and Jenny safe. Understand?"
Ashley sighed heavily, nodding slightly. She didn't want to hear about it anymore. "I agree with you on that." She mumbled quietly, eating more stew and trying to keep herself focused.
After they finished their dinner and packed up everything they needed to bring along, they headed back to the bedroom. Ashley cuddled with Jenny on the bed, the baby yawning hugely and falling asleep. Before she fell asleep, she looked over at Colby and wondered what was different with him after all these months of being away from home. Was it her imagination, or was he being more caring towards her than before? Did it make him uncomfortable? Maybe he didn't notice it himself, since they hadn't known each other very long. As they finally fell asleep, they hoped tomorrow wouldn't bring so many questions and fears.