It was the second hour of sitting with Nina on the rough pavement, Lana was sure. There wasn't any point in staying, especially since a recurring shuffling noise presumably from the woods accompanying the street interrupted Nina's mourning.

A little part of her brain hoped she would walk again, but really she was lithe and though mentally strong, surprisingly to Nina apparently there were so many attracted to that noise that they completely overpowered all of her friends. No, she couldn't move after this. She didn't really want to.

"Look at the sunset, Nina. Isn't it gorgeous?" she whispered into her tiny ear. She shouldn't be sad. At least she had her family at the start.

Her head appeared to be paralyzed, despite her youth, so much so that Lana knew she would eventually develop plenty of tension in her neck. There were so many tears that some of them were even trickling down her nose.

Lana was never ignoring the footsteps in the area. In fact, she frequently made several walking trips towards the forest and back at the time, while still remaining on the parking lot. One smaller infected was simply wandering around the road ahead in circles. The subtle shadow contrasted with the sun rising from the east. There was one place of sanctuary that didn't look so safe from the exterior, with the broken glass and patches of blood. An idea popped into Lana's head as soon as she saw a card in Elena's pant pocket.

"Let's go in, okay?" she softly prompted. She needs some sleep.

"No. I want you to bring that monster over there and I want you to make it bite me."

Her voice sounded like it was going to crack, despite it being at a relatively high pitch. In any other situation, Lana would be freaking out at what she said. This was different. Maybe there wasn't much for her in this world anymore. Penny was definitely worried sick already, but if she heard that sentence coming from Nina's mouth she would scream.

"I understand where you're coming from. Are you sure this is what you want?" Jesus. Now Lana sounded like a therapist, and Nina was still acting like she was a statue.

"Let's play a game." Lana turned her head to the side, and she was able to see a smile.

The man who approached the door didn't know what to do other than say his name and leave for the van.

"It's Nigel. I'll go get the van started, okay?"

"What?" Penny could see the spit coming out from her mouth. "We haven't come to a decision yet. Aarav, get Caleb and Izzy. The office is so far away from here. They couldn't have gone there without a decent motor."

She didn't know what got into her, except consideration of the feelings of her - friends. Yeah, that was the right way to put it.

This can't be happening, not again. There's probably no point. Now she's probably dead. She turned away from Nigel, trying not to sniffle or think about her at all. This time she definitely did it on purpose.

Darting up the crescent-shaped stairs, Aarav called for Isabelle.

"What?" she questioned as she retreated out into the hallway.

"Someone just came to the door."

"You have got to be kidding me! Ugh!" she exclaimed and tried to shake her permanently gelled fiery hair. She carried her filtered tiny water bottle while stomping down the steps. It confused Aarav and made him want to say something. Wasn't she the one who left Caleb's front door open for the group?

"But he has a van. He has a working vehicle. So you can stop being so upset." Isabelle waited a while before responding.

"I think you have a right to be," she mentioned. "For Penny and Lana's sake."

What is she talking about? Oh, she knew all along.

Isabelle was just about to see who this new person was. Again, Aarav remembered that their house had all the weapons they needed.

"I'll get a gun," said Aarav, standing next to Isabelle. She was still fixating her eyes on the door, in which its window was placed just above her head. Now, he had absolutely no experience with any of that, but he hoped that the phrase would please Isabelle. She just scoffed at the words.

"That won't be necessary," she told him as her hand manipulated the door handle.

She took one glimpse at his pale face. His presence didn't really faze Isabelle, probably because she hadn't seen him before. That wasn't a reason to trust him, however. From his pants, he might have been an office worker.

"You're here to help?" Isabelle squinted, maybe from the sun. "Who are you with, exactly?"

"Everyone and no one," he started, putting his hands out to make an oval, symbolizing people. "Our church community went their separate ways and we're all trying to make sure everyone's safe."

Penny contacted Aarav's chestnut brown eyes. It wasn't really the beginning of the apocalypse any more, so why was this guy acting like it? That was the question Penny had in her mind and hoped Aarav did too.

Clearing her throat, Isabelle prepared to speak. "Okay, give me your keys. To make sure you're not going to do anything stupid. We have tons of weapons, by the way."

If Penny was going to get her way, everyone needed to play by Isabelle's rules. What Lana did to Caleb was unacceptable, but that didn't mean Penny would have to suffer.

She put her hand out. Penny wanted to say something, but she just couldn't argue if this was going to work. Her chanting being answered about the truck might have been a sign that Lana was still alive. They couldn't have gone far if they were only running.

It was like as if time had stopped because Nigel was refusing to give in. Penny figured that everyone, including Isabelle, knew that she took advantage of his willingness to help.

"Fine," he submitted and handed the jingly item over. Isabelle displayed a small smile, satisfied that her plan was successful.

"I'll get Caleb," offered Aarav, looking at Penny's eyes that were moving all over the place.

Isabelle made one nod at that. "And I'll get one of my revolvers and he'll get the other one." She wasn't moving her head, curious as to if he had any hostile intentions or hidden weapons with him or in his van. "We're going down the hill, not down the steps. It's easier to kill them that way."

"You're going to be okay," Aarav said to Penny before leaving. Lana may have made a mistake, but she was still family to Penny. The only connection to herself that she had before was now lost.

"Thanks," she gave a breathy reply, but he was already gone. She needed to be in there with him too, to change.

For some reason, Elena kept a board game in one of her desk drawers. If Nina wanted to do that to pass the time instead of going back, it was fine with Lana. They would play until it was time for sleep. Sitting in single clear chairs across from each other in true opponent-like fashion, Nina spotted that she had more cards than Lana.

"Hey! I'm gonna win! Ha-ha!" Lana clicked her tongue before rolling the dice set in the middle of the game board.

"I'm not so sure about that. See, I might have less properties, but I have one house each on those two." Lana was happy to see her enjoying herself, grinning and all at a stupid game.

The time came for Nina to roll a seven. She took hold of her red car game piece and the last few moves came down to Nina landing on one of Lana's properties.

"No!" she wailed like a baby, causing a giggle from Lana.

"That'll be one thousand dollars." Lana crossed her arms. "Pay up."

The exterior did not by any means resemble a family vehicle because of the church logo imprinted on it, but Penny knew a van when she saw one: three rows with the squished together beige seats, for the survivors to use to place their belongings. The group definitely lucked out, with Nigel willing to give up possession of his own vehicle for some maybe silly reason to anyone else. He just wasn't in the same frame of mind as everyone else who was still living. But maybe Aarav was right. Maybe everything would be okay in the end.

This time, Isabelle assumed control and no one dared to question her.

"Gas is kinda low, by the way." Nigel frowned as he stared down at the airbag compartment.

"We'll cross that bridge when we get to it," Isabelle said, not breaking her focus.

Caleb turned his circular face left to Penny, who was observing the window nearest to her and being watchful of any infected that crossed the survivors' path. There was one lavender-skinned girl that traveled through the space between who Penny could tell used to have platinum blonde hair. She appeared to be disoriented; once the tires passed by, her wandering direction shifted.

Once Penny decided to look away and not focus on the outdoors too much, she tried to breathe a sigh of relaxation. Her newly-changed clothes, consisting of an indigo zipper jacket went well with her gray sweatpants that she bought just a week ago. After everything that happened, she considered herself fortunate to have both a chainsaw stuffed comfortably her backpack and a bat to protect herself and her friends. Nobody was going down to those creatures under Penny's watch.

"Listen, Penny," he said in a low tone. "I'm only here so that we can keep this van. Or at least share it."

She wanted to just tune him out after he said that. So she did, and just went back to staring out the window again. Was this a secret agreement between those two? One would try to take advantage of any stranger that came by their door and the other would outright plan to steal something not even in their own possession. It just didn't make sense to her, though what Isabelle did was nice, she guessed. If at first the group didn't succeed in finding Lana, hopefully, they would try, try again.

"Keep it down," she told him, purposefully keeping her voice hushed as if she were talking to a baby.

"I think that's taking things a little too far." He was a stranger, but he could be of help if he wanted to, Penny decided.

The ride was mostly silent for a while, and there sometimes was a change in the scenery, where at first green giants stood in place. Isabelle could tell that the group was almost at the office because of the dwindling trees and the increase of buildings, especially houses that stretched out for a bit. But there was a certain uneasy feeling in her lower body that Isabelle wanted to forget about. It almost distracted her from the wheel. Therefore, she scoped the vicinity of the outside world. One direction was the field, and the other side had all of the mud-colored homes.

When she was always driving to work, Isabelle had frequently caught sight of a blue portable toilet on the side of the road. She never thought much of it, but it might have been a realistic place for Lana and Nina to rest before setting out for a destination. Anyways, everything needed to stop. The time had come for Isabelle to make a sharp curve in the left direction.

The others were confused by the sudden change of motion once the vehicle came to a halt. Aarav was perplexed as to why anyone would choose to run away to a porta-potty, but then he understood that maybe Isabelle needed to use the bathroom.

"Why did you stop?" His voice put Isabelle at unease because of how it didn't sound like a regular human. Instead of answering him, she spun herself around to face the three sitting on the backside.

"Listen, I'm going to use that toilet in there. It shouldn't take too long and there doesn't seem to be many of them anymore. If there were, I guess I wasn't paying attention."

She went off without anything on to defend herself from. This set off an alarm in Caleb's mind. Did the office job really make her that inconsiderate? Just after the virus hit and he invited Isabelle to stay with him, she spoke of creating a welcoming environment. But she hadn't changed her idea for anyone.

He broke out of the car to attempt to chase after her, but it was no use as she was already behind the large object and the entrance wasn't in sight.

"Izzy? Your gun?" It was sitting in her seat, waiting to be used.

Familiar story.

Penny gulped. Was this typical of her? Of course, it was. She meant well, though.

Five minutes had passed, with no word uttered. Without Isabelle's confidence in taking control of someone else's property, Aarav figured there would have been a fight for the driver's seat until Nigel stepped over the divider and prepared to drive off.

Seeing what he was trying to do, Penny spoke up.

"Please stop. We're not bad people. Look, we can offer food if you want it. Weapons if you need some." It was an attempt, that was all, because Caleb nearly gagged when he heard the statement.

It was his house. She had no right, but that wasn't the real issue. Isabelle was in trouble, he could feel it. He did what was correct and went after her with his revolver, keeping a lookout for any wandering infected. When Penny took her bat and pulled on the handle of her door, Caleb put his hand out for it to act as a stop signal.

Just as Caleb was about to unlatch the deep blue door, he had a plan, where he would carry and aim his revolver forwards with one hand and open with the other. He automatically assumed it was locked because she might have been still doing her business, who knew?

It wasn't. First, he noticed the bright yellow eye color, then the abnormally rushed walking pattern, and then a navy coat. In his hand, a bottle of pills that he was barely holding on to. It was kind of a total blur for Caleb because it was shot almost on sight.

Isabelle wasn't standing up. Her body was still, she was closing her eyes, and she had a giant outline of a red circle on her neck.

"Holy - what the fuck, oh my God, what happened here?" he questioned God. Caleb dropped his revolver, not even feeling the weight of it. He knew had to act fast, or else. The answer to his question was solved as a paper rested on the sink which was just on the right of him.

It was a message written in pencil.

Think before you kill

That was it. The process was gradual though, as Caleb struggled to bend down to pick his gun back up even if nothing was wrong with his physical health. It was a moment of weakness and the sealing of fate took ten seconds longer than it was supposed to.  

"Why? Why her?" he whispered. Caleb's heart might as well have stopped functioning because he couldn't hear or feel anything for a bit. So he decided to think.

It was her fault, but she had a good intention. She only did that to help Penny if Lana was at the office, and in that case, she was.

Like she used to do all the time to people.

He couldn't go back to the car, but he knew he had to. He stuck his revolver that was down to its final few bullets in his gun pocket so that he wouldn't get tempted and left for the man called Nigel's van.

Isabelle was always filling him in.

"Get out!" demanded Caleb when he caught Nigel just chilling in the driver's seat. "I know where we're going."

His beady eyes detected that Caleb's lip was quivering, and so he immediately responded to Caleb's request.

"Is she gone? She can't be dead! I-I just saw her literally two minutes ago!" Penny cried out once the van started moving again, gripping Aarav's hand as if one of them was about to fall off a cliff, who was shaking his head silently. Caleb adjusted his mirror so he could make eye contact with her.

"It happens all the time in combat, Penny. You're only what, eighteen? I guess that's why she was willing to help you guys. She had absolutely no family that she could reach when she needed help."

"Well, I don't think many people do now," Aarav replied to that, matter-of-factly.

He took a while to respond, and when he did, the car was already set in the stone of the parking lot.

"Before. Around Penny's age. That's what I meant."

Lana and her lowered bushy eyebrows were not impressed at what was happening. First of all, Nina refused to fully catch up on her sleep. Then it turned out that following the duo's exit out of the empty place, during their game the infected made its way to the center of the parking lot. She was unclear about the gender due to there being just an average amount of hair, but its skin represented a royal purple color. Nobody they knew.

Then she examined Nina's clothes. It was a simple brown short-sleeved shirt. Not good, not good at all. Like always, she crouched down to talk to her.

"Are you sure you want to do this? There's no second chances." Time traveling wasn't an option.

She didn't reply for a little bit, and time was ticking. Both of them were able to pick up on the sound of tires against something, but they didn't seem to think anything of it.

"Lana! Um, Nina!" She had flailing arms as she ran across with her bat in the incorrect position, wanting to give Lana the biggest hug imaginable. Before she could do that, there was one obstacle standing in her way. Penny had completely given up, but practically, where other location could she possibly had gone to?

Doing what she had to do, Lana grabbed two ends of one of her jeans that she had packed and prepared to yank the infected's head towards Nina.

"Stop it right now! Holy mother of God, you just never learn, don't you?"