Walking The Line 

"We have a choice about how we take what happens to us in our life and whether or not we allow it to turn us. We can become consumed by hate and darkness, or we're able to regain our humanity somehow, or come to terms with things and learn something about ourselves."

            -Angelina Jolie

"The Infected Ones"

            A young beautiful girl sits in the desolate, depressing, pristine white hospital room. Where her mother lay breathless, barely being kept alive by respirators. Kristine Stone once had everything a teenage girl ever wanted in life; family, a lifetime of friends, love, and happiness. But now she sits in room 230, in the intensive care unit at Boston Memorial Hospital. Her mother, who just a few short days ago was dying of terminal brain cancer is now cured, from the antidote T-83 discovered by Dr. Heathrow. Kristine Stone has been in this hospital for the past six months watching her mother die, throw-up from radiation poisoning, and coughing up blood. But finally the doctor's were willing to treat her with T-83 as a research patient, to see if the cure actually worked. For the past couple of days, although unconscious and faintly breathing, Ms. Stone's white blood count and blood pressure were returning to normal. The tumor was shrinking and soon she will be able to leave the hospital cancer free and cured. But what the doctors, nurses, and Kristine didn’t know was that T-83 would soon turn the world into catastrophe.

            Kristine Stone was one of those girls who everybody loved, girls envious of her wonderful life. She was captain of the cheer squad, on the president's list at her high school, and in love with the man who she would someday. But soon all of that was ruined as her mother told her the devastating news of her deadly cancer. She became distant from her friends, stopped caring about her schoolwork, and fell out of love with her boyfriend. She became depressed, making her brother become rebellious because she wasn't watching over him. She changed into a completely different person, one that people feared and felt sorry for. As she was watching her mother start to breathe normally again, there was chaos going on inside the halls of Boston Memorial. Sitting with her legs crossed, beautiful straightened brown hair touching her waist, softly reading a passage from The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, her mother's favorite.

             “And so with the sunshine and the great bursts of leaves growing on the trees, just as things grow in fast movies, I had that familiar conviction that life was beginning over again with the summer.” She recited, suddenly shots fired, screams bursted, chaos was stirring. Her brother was sleeping in the couch across from the bed, suddenly woken up by the terrifying screams. Kristine was scared and didn't know what to do, in that moment all she thought about was seeing Robbie.

            A picturesque family were quietly sitting in a 1 million dollar high rise in downtown Boston. Adorned with old pictures of wealthy men, who have once lived there before, thousands of dollars worth of crystal glistening in the light on chestnut dressers. A young beautiful young lady wearing a floral petit-coat dress, with her legs crossed chowed down the perfectly cooked medium rare pot roast and roasted vegetables. She had pale, but beautiful white skin, golden blonde hair, and rosy cheeks, looking like an angel but eating like a beast.

            "Rachel! Eat like a normal little girl, please. It is un-lady like, I thought I raised you better!"

            "I am far from normal mother and I am definitely not a lady. You weren't always one either remember mother?" Rachel's handsome, clean cut brother snickered under his breath.

            "Don't talk to me like that young lady!"

            "Dad told me all about your stories, getting on the back of his motor-cycle, sneaking off to The Runaways concerts." She blushed.

            "Mary Ann, you were into The Runaways?" Tim, their step-father, asked shocked.

            "So, Robbie are you excited? Puget-Sound, that'll be quite a change."

            "Yes mother, I am actually. I know it's far away, but it has a great art program!"

            "What does Kristine think about it?" Robbie hasn't heard that name in months, Tim had no clue that they weren't speaking to each other.

            "She doesn't, I haven't seen her in months."

            "Oh what happened?" As it looked like everybody had wiped their plates clean, Mary Ann interrupted.

            "Is everybody finished with their food? Robbie, would you like to help me with the dishes honey?" He helped gather the dishes as Rachel was still fiddling with her vegetables.

            "I visited her recently." Robbie looked disappointed. "What just because you suddenly stopped talking, doesn't mean that I can't still be friends with her. I just wanted to see how her mother was doing." Robbie grabbed her plate giving her the death glare. "She's doing great if you were wondering. She was given T-83 and it is working tremendously."

            "T-83? Isn't that only being used for research right now?"

            "Yes, but Kristine had faith in it. So she agreed for her mother to be a test patient, as long as it kept her alive, she was willing to do anything." Robbie was about to head into the kitchen. "She misses you… Robbie." He walked away ignoring her, turning on the water and started cleaning the dishes of debris. Mary Ann came up from behind and put her hand on his shoulder. As Rachel and Tim were awkwardly sitting silently in the living room, waiting for her mother to come out with dessert, shots were fired outside. Rachel and Tim looked up wondering what that could be, but Mary Ann and Robbie knew exactly what that was. "Mom!" Rachel yelled. Robbie looked out the window to see if he could see anything out in the street, but he didn’t. Suddenly the doorbell rang.

            "Rachel sweetheart go with your brother in the kitchen!" She opened the door and no one was there, she looked to the left and then the right, but still no signs of anything. Then all of a sudden a monster, that looked so much like a human came into her view. It grabbed her and bit her in the neck, she screamed in pain.

            "MOM!" Rachel yelled again, Robbie held her back.

            "Tim take care of her alright." He went to the door and saw the thing eating at her mother. He grabbed a sword which was used as decorations on the wall to kill the beast, it was slowly losing its breath. Suddenly more shots fired, so he went to check outside to see what was going on. There were more creatures running around in the middle of the street, civilians running around screaming. Suddenly a gorgeous creature appeared in the diming light, killing all three of the fast creatures without a second look. It was Kristine, but it wasn’t the Kristine he once fell in love with one year ago.

Earlier Today…

            Kristine was carefully watching over her brother and mother, scared at what was going on in the hospital. She was about to look outside, but a young handsome doctor came running inside with blood all over him. He rushed in to check her mother's vitals and to see if her brother and herself were all right.

            "Oliver, what is going on out there?" He put another IV bag in her mother's arm. "Oliver, what is going on?" He was crazed. "What is that blood, is that your blood?"

            "Kristine I don't have time to explain… Alexander can you pack your sister's duffle bag for me? Put this stuff in it!" He instructed, Alexander obliged right away. "Kristine, I am going to need you to help me with your mother! We have to get her out of here."

            "Oliver, I am not doing anything until you tell me what the hell is going on!" She hasn't used that word in years, as she grew up a Christian not to swear. Oliver knew that and knew he had to say something, so he grabbed her and put her in the corner so that Alexander wouldn't hear.

            "Something happened! Something happened with the cure, it didn’t work as planned."

            "What do you mean?"

            "What do you mean? What is wrong with the cure? Whose blood is that." He looked down, some of it was others, but as he felt a pain in his side, he knew it was his.

            "It's like the blood, there was something in the blood…" He couldn't come up with a clear sentence as he knew his life was about to end. "Kristine the cure didn't work." He lifted up his shirt, there was a bite, almost like a vampire bite. But it couldn't have been vampires, because vampires weren't real. "Kristine I am going to need you to do me a favor." He grabbed a gun out from underneath his coat, she knew what he was going to ask and she wanted no part of it.

            "No… No, dammit Oliver I can't, I won't!"

            "Krissy, what is going on?" Alexander was crying and in shock.

            "Alexander! You have to get out of here. Go to Uncle Bob and Aunt Jane's, take this stuff with you." She stuffed a gun in the bag full of medicine. "Remember what I taught you when we were duck hunting last Christmas! Can you do that for me?" He nodded his head. "Alright, Alex now run like you have never run before in your entire life! Don't look back ok, just keep going until you get to the house." She kissed his cheek, Oliver was pacing rubbing the gun up against his head, sweating profusely.

            "I love you!" He hugged her.

            "I love you too! Now Alex, go please!" She kissed his forehead and he ran off not looking back. "Ok now Oliver I am going to need you to tell me what the hell happened here! What went wrong with the cure? Why are you covered in blood?"

            "It turned them Kristine!"

            "Turned them, turned them into what?"

            "I'm not safe… I'm not safe anymore, Kristine." He started crying madly. "Neither is your mother, no one is safe." She walked up to him, rubbing his back trying to calm him down. "Kristine, you know what to do! You know what you have to do!" He looked at her handing the gun to her.

Present…  

            "Kristine!" Robbie was in complete and utter disbelief to see his ex girlfriend in the state that she was. She had blood all over her clothes and hands, looking as if she had just seen war. She came running in shooting the creature in the head, as if no one was around, Rachel screamed. "Rachel!" Robbie grabbed Rachel and took her upstairs to her room.

            "Robbie! What happened to Kristine, what was that thing that bit mom? Why was there so much blood? Robbie." She began to cry hysterically.

            "I don't know Rachel, I don't know. I'm going to need you to do me a big favor ok!" She nodded her head. "I'm going to need you to sit here until I come upstairs to get you ok, I'm going to put Gilmore Girls on and you are going to put it on full blast alright! Can you do that for me Rachel?" She nodded her head, he turned on the TV to Gilmore Girls, she sat down on her bed turning the volume up rocking back and forth. Kristine was downstairs looking like a murderous lunatic, putting more ammo in her gun, Tim was trying to figure out what was going on. "Kristine, Kristine, Kristine!!!" Robbie yelled. "Kristine please you need to calm down and tell me what the hell happened out there!" He looked down noticing the creature was shot down with a bullet to his head. She was shaking and incomprehensive, he rubbed his hand on her soft cheeks and through her luscious yet dirty hair. "Whose blood is that?" She was beginning to calm down. "Kristine can you talk to me? Please?" She was in disarray. "Has she said anything?"

            "She's just been pacing back and forth adding more shells to her gun. She kept saying that they were all turned, it didn't work, it's happening again… It can't happen again." He gazed at her ex girlfriend having flashbacks of when they first started seeing each other. They were in a park, full from a picnic and drunk off champagne and strawberries, rolling around in the grass. The sun made her hair glisten, streaks of rainbow colors. "Robbie!" He got out of his trance. "What are you going to do?"

            "Robbie… Robbie… Robbie! I'm sorry but she has to go, she isn't safe." Kristine finally said, still flustered and insane. He completely forgot that his mother was bitten, lying down, bleeding out. "She has to go." She froze falling into Robbie's chest, crying, grabbing his leather jacket.

            "I think I know what she wants us to do." Tim knew exactly what he meant as well, they realized something obviously went wrong with the cure for cancer. The creature that bit his mother was infected with something that was in the cure. Once a human was bit they were no longer a human. Robbie held onto Kristine as tight as he could, Rachel felt as though something bad was about to happen so she covered her ears. Tim closed the kitchen door with a gun in his hand, within seconds everything went blank.

            It was now eight years ago; Robbie was ten, Rachel was seven, Mary Ann was still with Ray. They had just left the harbor in New York City, Robbie was tossing a baseball in his glove. The kids got in the back of the car, they were all laughing at some joke Robbie just told, one that he heard from school. Mary Ann turned on the radio, "Cherry Bomb" by the Runaways began to play. Mary Ann looked through the rear view mirror at Robbie whispering I love you to him. 

            Kristine seemed to be calm now, trying to figure out what to do with the body, Robbie finally got out of his trance. Everything was blurry, he was walking around holding his head as it was pounding from a sharp high-pitched noise. Tim was on the ground still holding the gun close to his head, crying, hitting himself.

            "Robbie good your awake! Can you help me with the body? We should put it in the basement, don't you think? Before Rachel sees it?" He just looked at her in awe. Just a few minutes ago she was completely insane, his mother was alive, and now he is crazy and she is dead.

            "ROBBIE!" Rachel screeched, looking down at her dead mother, who was sprawled out on the floor with blood pouring out of her head. "MOM! MOM! PLEASE, wake up!" She was on the ground next to her mom, her beautiful face now covered in blood.

            "Rachel!" Robbie grabbed Rachel right up, even though she was almost 5'5 and a grown lady, Robbie still picked her up like she was a ten year old girl. "Rachel please I need you to stay up here, ok! You need to listen to me!"

            "What happened to mom? Did Kristine kill her?"

            "No."

            "Did you kill her?"

            "NO!"

            "It was Tim? Why, why did he have to kill her?"

            "I don't know."

            "Robbie, I want to see dad!"

            "We can't."

            "I want to see dad!" She screamed as she did when she was 12, the first time the world was supposed to end.

            "I can't take you to dad right now, Rachel! I have to find out what happened ok!" He turned on Gilmore Girls, this time locking her door and running downstairs. The body was gone, Tim was cleaning up the bloody mess. He heard the water go on in the kitchen and slowly walked in. So much blood ran off her beautiful caramel hands, so much blood was shed, but what all for? He walked up right behind her leaning his head on her, hoping that would relieve his headache. "Kristine, what happened out there?" She was scrubbing wildly, and stopped once he talked. "What was that thing that killed my mom?"

            "I couldn't tell you, Robbie. All I know is that the cure did it, the cure killed my mom, your mom! We aren't safe here anymore." She continued to wash the blood off her hands. He turned off faucet, grabbing her hands, to try to calm her down. She stopped, throwing the towel aside, once again falling into his beating heart and crying over the loss of her mother.

            "T-83 the cure for cancer, only being used in a few states here in America; Boston, Oregon, New York were the first ones hit. We have Alessandria Michaelson at Boston Memorial Hospital to show us what has happened."

            "It was here at Boston Memorial where T-83 was first used on patients to cure all forms of cancer. As you can see there is nothing left here in this hospital."

            "What is happening over there in Boston right now Alessandria?"   

            "People are running into shelters, gathering foods, weapons, anything that can keep them safe for who knows how long?"

            "Do you know what exactly happened, with the cure?"

            "No one knows, all we can tell you is that something happened with the cure. It didn't do what it was supposed to do." Suddenly an infected one ran up and ripped Alessandria's head off, the TV turning into snow. Patient 242 switched the channel.

            "Paris is the only European country hit with this terrible disease, Boston is in a crisis, the President has called for a state-wide evacuation." Another newscaster reported, the patient wearing a Yankees cap turned the station once again.

            "I heard China hasn't been hit, China's always the last to get hit." A local New Yorker boasts. "I heard California hasn't been hit hard yet either, that's where I am taking my family. We are going to take a ferry out of the harbor, and walk all the way to the west coast."

            "The world is coming to an end, again…" A tall black man, in his seventies, warned hauntingly. "God can't save us now Ray Ferrier."

            "Ray, it's time to take your medicine." The doctor said, taking Ray away.

            Robbie's eyes were dried out, from crying for about two hours, it was now dark and all that anyone heard were screams and hollowed crying. He turned on the shower, lighting a few candles, lavender, Kristine's favorite. He started taking off her clothes as she was back in an incomprehensive state. It was extremely weird seeing Kristine after haven't talked to her in months, and now she was naked standing right in front of him. He washed her body as she was covered in blood and soot, she was still crying. Robbie hasn’t seen her cry this much since she found out her mother was dying. After washing her up and putting her in clean clothes, he laid her in his bed and went upstairs to check on Rachel.

            "Robbie… Robbie…" He sat and looked outside her window, not saying a word. "Robbie, are you ok?" She walked over to him, rubbing her hand through his hair.

            "It's happening again…"

            "What's happening again?" He turned to look at her.

            "The world is ending."

            "Robbie what happened?"

            "Something happened, the cure… it didn't work. It turned the cancer patients into monstrous creatures."

            "Why did Tim have to kill mom?"

            "Because she was dead, once your bit… your dead."

            "Robbie, we should call dad." She got up and started pacing back and forth. "We should call dad."

            "Ok, alright Rachel, I'll call him." With that he went back into his room, closed the door, sat on his bed and dialed the phone.

            "Who are you calling?" Kristine asked.

            "My dad…" The phone rang for about ten seconds, Robbie was going to give up until finally someone answered. "Hello?"

            "Robbie? Robbie is that you?"

            "Dad!" Robbie stood up.

            "Robbie, thank god. Thank god your alive!"

            "Dad, do you know what's going on?"

            "Yeah, Robbie… I know what's going on. The entire hospital, everyone's gone... How's Rachel?"

            "She's fine."

            "Your mother?" He didn't reply. "Robbie, dammit!"

            "She didn't make it." Kristine rubbed her hand on his back, Ray started crying.

            "Ok Robbie here's what is going to happen. I am going to leave the hospital, I'm going to get a car and come for you and Rachel, alright! So you two have to stay at the house!"

            "Ok, dad…"

            "Robbie."

            "Yeah…"

            "I love you son!"

            "I love you too." Robbie hung up the phone, staring at the ground, knowing that his life is about to change again. Kristine went down on her knees to look at the man she once loved, feelings for him coming back to surface. Robbie stared at the girl he was still in love with, happy that she was here and alive. She sat next to him, wanting for him to hold her again, so he kissed her. He grabbed her neck and turned her so that she was lying on her back, they were still kissing passionately and mad at the world. He started taking off her clothes and grinded up and down her body. Rachel was in her room looking through old photo albums, at pictures of when she was young and happy, when her parents were still together. Gilmore Girls was still playing on TV, the episode where Dean and Rory forgot to come home one night. Tim was down in the basement holding Mary Ann's cold dead hand in his, hugging her lifeless pregnant body. Alexander was at his Aunt and Uncle's house in some closet, crying, scared for his life, holding a rifle for dear life.      

2: Saving Alexander

"Saving Alexander"

            As old Dean Martin plays on the record player; Dr. Heathrow is carefully placing the blood on the Petri-dish down in his basement. He hums "Sway" as he is about to make a breakthrough, a breakthrough that will change the world forever. Since the first apocalypse hit he has been taking up all of his time researching the aliens that came to Earth to destroy us, but died because they didn't know how to survive on our planet. The aliens that came here to wipe off the entire human race, weren't very smart. They thought that the blood of humans was the thing that kept them alive, when really they needed water. Dr. Heathrow asked the question, why was our blood so important? He watched through the microscope as he placed the blood on top of a small sample of his wives tumor. He watched and wondered as his hypothesis worked, he had discovered the cure for cancer.

            Kristine was throwing snow balls at her little brother in the middle of North Dakota, their father waiting for the geese and ducks to arrive. Kristine and Alexander were laughing, drinking hot chocolate, and having a good time. Every Christmas they would come to North Dakota, where their grandparents lived, so that they could go duck hunting.

            "Kids, please be quiet! They are almost coming out!" They rushed over to their father.

            "Ok Alex… So the key is to be extremely quiet, grip that gun tight and wait till you hear the splash of water." Young Alexander held out his gun listening carefully for a duck to come out from the marshes. One finally came out, "NOW!" Alex pulled the trigger and hit the duck. "Bulls-eye, you’re a natural kid!" Kristine praised.

            Back in Boston, Robbie and Kristine were sound asleep, half naked. Kristine woke up from a dream completely forgetting about her brother. She got out of bed, freezing, wearing only a Victoria's Secret thong. She looked for some clothes and realized she was in an eighteen year old boy's bedroom. So she grabbed a pair of Robbie's sweat pants, shirt, and sweater, all way too big on her, completing the look with a pair of hiking boots.

            "Morning." She grabbed the coffee mug on his dresser, disgusted at how satisfied Robbie was, she left the room to the kitchen. "Hey, what's the matter? Did I say something to upset you?"

            "No."

            "Well can we talk about what happened last night?"

            "Robbie I don't have time to talk about what happened last night. I was fragile and needed you to be there for me, I haven't seen you in a long time and gave in, it meant nothing."

            "You seriously can't think that… of course it meant something." She started to make some coffee, it was 8 in the morning. "Believe it or not Kristine, but  I still love you." She rolled her eyes and started packing her duffle bag.

            "I seriously can't talk about this, Robbie! I have to go…" She looked outside the window to see if it was clear, poured the brewed coffee into a to go mug.

            "Go where? You just got here."

            "I have to go to my aunt and uncle's house, I told Alex that I would pick him up there. I left him alone all night, I need to see if he is alright."

            "Ok, but you aren't going alone."

            "What about your dad, he should be on his way and I don’t think your sister would want him to come to an empty house with his dead ex wife."

            "Well figure it out ok, we just have to come up with a plan. Hey, I'm here for you ok…" They went back into the kitchen to figure out a way to get to Kristine's aunt and uncle's house. Their house was close to Boston Memorial, which was completely overrun by The Infected Ones. Kristine and Robbie kept going back and forth at a plan, not agreeing on anything.

            "What is going on?" Rachel finally came out of her room. "Robbie since when do you sleep with just your boxers on, and Kristine what are you doing in my brother's clothes? What is that?" She was pointing at the map on the kitchen table.        

            "Rachel, we have to leave the house ok."

            "What about dad? He said he was coming here soon, he's probably on his way now. We should wait for him!"

            "We can't Rachel. We need to make sure that Alexander is alright, ok? We are going to make a little pit stop and come right back ok."

            "No I'm not leaving! Dad is going to be here ok, just wait a few hours."

            "Rachel we don't have a few hours."

            "ROBBIE!" Kristine ran up to her covering her mouth, bringing her to an empty room to talk one on one. Robbie was still trying to figure everything out, he was getting frustrated and threw the map to the ground. Tim finally came up from the basement, with blood all over his white shirt.

            "Is everything alright?" Tim stared at the map blankly, he wasn't the same Tim he was before he killed his wife.

            "We might have to leave soon, Kristine left Alex at her aunt and uncles house. We need to see if he is alright."

            "Oh, where's Rachel?"

            "In the living room with Kristine. How are you?"

            "Alright I guess. I just needed time to myself and your mother."

            "Did I overhear that your dad is coming?"

            "Yeah, apparently something horrible happened at the ward, I talked to him last night and he was on his way." Rachel came storming in the kitchen.

            "Rachel!" She came up to Tim and hugged him.

            "Hey Tim, you should probably take a shower we are leaving soon." She grabbed a box and started packing foods and medicine.

            "Remember Rachel only canned foods…" Kristine politely ordered. "I thought she might keep herself busy to keep her mind off of everything." Tim noticed Kristine was wearing Robbie's clothes, and Robbie was barely wearing anything.

            "Do you need my help with anything?"

            "Maybe you can help Rachel? Or look upstairs for anything that might help us." He grabbed another box and headed upstairs. "Robbie, can I see you in here?" They headed to the living room. "Look I know you told Rachel that we would be back here, but I don't think coming back to this house will be the best thing for us."

            "What? What about my dad? My mom's body?"

            "The infection is growing, now when I was coming here from Boston Memorial it looked like that was the worst place. We can't have those things following us, it's best if we hold them off there."

            "Kristine…"

            "Your dad, I know… Look we'll leave him a note saying where we were headed. Hopefully he gets by without being attacked and he can meet us at the house. But we can't waste time here with the hope that he'll come. I need to get to my brother." Robbie didn't reply, and went back into the kitchen to help Rachel. Kristine grabbed her duffle bag and grabbed more weapons, it was almost time to leave. "Did we get everything we need?" She looked through the boxes filled with food, cleaning supplies, medicine, and anything else that could be of use for however long this was going to go on for.

            "You guys should go, don't want to be burning day light."

            "Aren’t you coming Tim?" Rachel asked.

            "I think I'll stay here. I can't leave this place, I can't leave your mother. I'd rather die here of starvation with the woman I love then out there being ripped to shreds by those creatures."

            "Tim your talking crazy! You can't stay here by yourself." Robbie insisted.

            "Rob I've made my decision. I'll stay here, and if Ray comes through I'll let him know where you all went."

            "Tim I can't lose you too!" Rachel gave Tim a giant hug, not wanting to let go of him.

            "Oh Rachel I'll be fine, don't worry." Robbie went up to hug him. "Rob you have to promise me that you'll keep this girl safe. That you three are going to survive this, promise me that ok!"

            "Ok." Robbie began to cry, hiding his tears.

            "Kristine, I want you to read this whenever you get the chance. It's from Mary Ann, we are so grateful that you have been a part of our lives. I hope that you find Alex safe and sound." Kristine snuck a small shotgun in his hands.

            "Use it for whatever your needs tell you to." He grinned at her and looked longingly at the family he was fortunate to be a part of. "We'll leave you some food and medicine."

            "Thanks, you guys should go now." Rachel frowned, crying more. "Rachel you promise me that you are going to be a strong woman ok, just like your mother!" 

            They drove in silence for about fifteen minutes, Rachel hasn't stopped crying or looking behind her since they drove off. Kristine has been driving like a madwoman ignoring every family that beat down the only working van. Robbie has never seen Kristine like this in her entire life; she was always a sweet girl who liked to read, listen to music, and have a good time with friends. She had a crazed look in her eye as if she has seen and done some terrible thing in just the past twenty-four hours. She had one thing on her mind and one thing only and that was to be with her brother again.

            Ray Ferrier was at the mental ward in Boston, even though he loved New York he thought it would be best to move closer to his kids after the attack. Only problem was that he was never the same after the attack; he saw his daughter get attacked by aliens and thought his son had died of an explosion. He suffered from post traumatic stress disorder, everyone thought he was crazy, even Mary Ann. So they thought the best thing to do was send him away to get some help and they went to the best place they could think of. Even though Rachel and Robbie knew Ray wasn't crazy, Ray decided upon himself that seeking help might have been the best option for him. He knew he wasn’t crazy, but no one else believed him besides his own kids, so he did what everybody thought was best.

            He was now in an empty mental ward with one other living male who was driving him crazy asking him questions trying to figure out what the hell was going on. As the patient kept repeating the same bible quote over and over again every time he saw a dead body, Ray was rummaging through the medicine cabinets. The asylum looked like a battle field; dead bodies everywhere, lights hanging down by their last thread and flicker, it stunk of blood and guts, the walls stained with brains and blood stains. Ray was getting on his last nerve, luckily he found what he needed, but before he could leave an infected one came. Just as he was about to go leave and be reunited with his kids he shot the infected one and ran outside. The bright light stung his eyes, he found a car and broke in, luckily the keys were in the ignition.

            "Ray you can't leave, we were meant to die here."

            "Sorry Hank, but I need to get to my kids."

            "The kids who sent you here in the first place!" The crazy killer replied looking straight into his eyes. "No one can save us now." Without a second look Ray killed the man in cold blood, the second time he has done that.

            "Sorry Hank, I would've have you come along but you were starting to bug me." A herd of infected ones heard the car and walked slowly to feed on Ray, but Ray sped off. Boston was crazy, people running around trying to find their families and get the hell out of here. Terror all over their faces, a sight Ray wish he never thought he'd see again. He ignored everyone who tried to get in his car and only thought about seeing his kids.

            Kristine was relieved to see that this part of town hadn't been as bad as Robbie's, giving her more hope that Alexander was alright. She parked the car, didn't even turn it off and went straight to her aunt and uncle's house. An infected one came running up to her at full speed, but she killed it before it could touch her. The door was unlocked, they ran in searching every square inch of the place.

            "Alexander!" Kristine called for the tenth time, but no answer. "Alexander!" She ran into Robbie in the kitchen. "Did you find any trace of him?"

            "No, but I did find this." He held out a lock of bloody hair, it was too hard to tell if it was Alex's.

            "No! No! It can’t be his!" Suddenly a dog came running up, a beautiful golden retriever. "Baxter! Please tell me where my brother is!" She grabbed his collar and he ran to a spare closet, there were stains of blood. Rachel finally caught up to them, Kristine was afraid to see what was in the closet and froze.

            "Kristine?" Robbie waited, but knew she wasn’t going to open the door, so he did it for her. There he was a shy and scared eleven year old boy gripping his rifle tight, it wasn’t the same gun that Kristine handed him at the hospital.

            "ALEXANDER!" She was thrilled and hugged him, but realized he had been injured. "Alex your leg. Were you bit?"

            "No, he just ripped my leg with his claws before I… before I…"

            "Before you what?" With one more look at him noticing the blood stained shirt and hands she knew what happened. She stood up and held her head, not only was she a grade-A killer but so was her brother.

            "I had to Kristine, he was going to kill me and Aunt Jane. So I killed him before he had the chance." Kristine didn't know what to say, she walked back and forth into the kitchen to take a breather.

            "Kristine, are you alright?"

            "I'm such an idiot! Why would I teach a child to kill, he's only eleven years old!"

            "Kristine you did what you had to do, what was called for at the time."     

            "You know this is your fault!"

            "My fault?"

            "Yeah, you stared into my eyes and I slipped. If I didn't give in and went straight to this house, maybe Alex didn’t have to kill my aunt and uncle. Maybe they would still be alive, I could've warned them!"

            "Hey don't blame this all on me! You were the one that came to my house first!"

            "Guys!"

            "Not now Rachel we are talking."

            "GUYS!" They stopped and heard the shuffling that was going on upstairs, realizing that Alex never said he killed Aunt Jane. Kristine immediately went into kill mode, adding more ammo to her guns. She didn't look at any of them, because if she looked at them she would second guess and there was no time for second guessing.

            "Kristine! Give me the gun!"

            "No Robbie!"

            "Why not? She is your aunt, I'm not letting you kill your aunt!"

            "Why Alex already killed our uncle!" Robbie stopped her from moving any step forward.

            "Give me the gun, Kristine!" With hesitation, she finally gave him the gun. He looked into her eyes and went upstairs, Rachel followed Robbie not wanting him to do this.

            "Robbie, please don't do this!"

            "Rachel, just stay here. I need to do this!" Kristine looked at the man she once loved and hated that he was turning into what she had become. He went upstairs fighting off every moral bone in his body, he couldn't think because if he thought he wouldn't have been able to do it. He just thought about if he didn't do it, then Kristine would have to do it and he didn’t want that. Rachel was wrapping Alex's cut, Kristine was rubbing his back looking up above her as she heard footsteps. They heard a door creak and then nothing, Kristine covered her brothers ears and then jumped as she heard the shot. Right then and there she knew no one was left, all she cared about now was making sure that Alexander, Rachel, and Robbie would make it out of this alive.  

            Ray pulled in the driveway to the massive house, the last time he was here was when he brought Robbie and Rachel back home after the tripods attacked. It brought back memories, memories he hasn’t thought of for a couple of months now. He noticed there was no car and it was very silent on this block, figuring most of the people in Boston were headed out of Massachusetts by now. He ran into the deadly quiet house, searched every room and corner there was, but nothing. He ended up in the kitchen again and saw a letter, it wasn't in Robbie or Rachel's handwriting though. Ray knew now that they weren't here anymore, that they were at Kristine's aunt and Uncle's house. So he grabbed his jacket and started to head outside, he heard a creak behind him.

            "Ray!?" He turned around pointing a gun at Tim's saddened and fear stricken face, he saw the blood stains on his shirt and his pale white face. Something terrible has happened here and Ray could tell that just by looking at Tim's face and by the gun he was holding. Mary Ann never liked guns in the house so he was wondering how he got that.

            "Tim? Where are the kids?"

            "Assuming you read the letter you know where they are now." His voice was shaken and scratchy, his lips chapped.

            "Are they save?"

            "Yes, only one came to our house. There was little damage."

            "Whose blood is that?" Tim looked down at his shirt and started crying, Ray then knew immediately it was Mary Ann's.

            "She was bit, I had to kill her." Ray went downstairs to the basement shocked to see Mary Ann's body lying so still and breathless. He wanted to cry, but he didn’t want to seem as  anything less than a man in front of Tim. "Kristine was going to do it, but I told her it should be me to finish it. She had already killed so many."

            "Kristine?"

            "Yeah she saw this entire thing start at Boston Memorial, her mother was being treated with T-83. She told Alex to run and that's where they are now, at her aunt and uncle's house."

            "Alright then, let's go!"

            "Ray!" Ray noticed Tim fiddling with the gun and a tear falling down his cheek. "I'm not going."

            "What do you mean you're not going! You have to go, for Rachel and Robbie!"

            "Well I don't think Robbie ever liked me anyways."

            "Yeah he was a punk back then wasn't he? But Rachel, she liked you from the start."

            "She was always such a sweet kid, you raised her well Ray."

            "You did most of the raising."

            "But you helped them out of a terrible crisis, and I want you to do the same for me!"

            "Tim, I can't."

            "I'm not asking you, I'm telling you. I want to be here with my wife, but I can't look at her like this anymore. Who knows if I'll even make it, if we'll all make it?"

            "Tim I'm not killing you, maybe if you asked me three years ago I would've said yeah sure right away!" They chuckled. "But after you have done so much for my kids… I can't."

            "I understand it's a lot to ask, but please Ray. I'm not cut out for this life."

            "Goodbye Tim." Ray knew there was no talking Tim of out this, so he turned around and walked straight out the door. As soon as he went outside he heard a loud bang, Tim had killed himself and now he will always be with Mary Ann. Ray drove off to see his kids, crying, he couldn’t hold back those tears anymore. Kristine was trying to figure out a plan, she was listening to the radio to see if there were any refugee camps that haven't been overrun yet. There seemed to be one in New Haven that would be there best bet, it was only a couple hours away and the camps had shuttles going to California. They wiped the place clean getting more food that could last them a few extra months, if they rationed maybe even more. Kristine rolled up her map, checked on Alex and went to the living room.

            "Robbie, are you ok?" He was sitting on the couch staring at his hands, they were the hands of a killer now.

            "How do you think I am, Kristine? I just killed your aunt!"

            "No Robbie you didn't kill my aunt, my aunt died twenty-four hours ago when she was bit by that monster. Just like how Alex didn't kill our uncle and how I didn’t kill my mother." He stared into her beautiful green eyes, she kissed him hoping that would calm him down.

            "You didn't have to do that."

            "I wanted to, come on we should be leaving now! There might be traffic!" They headed to the kitchen, holding each other's hands and stopping as soon as they saw Ray Ferrier hugging Rachel.

            "Robbie!"

            "DAD!" They ran into each other's just as they did when Ray saw him in Boston, thinking that he had died. Kristine smiled at the reunion happening before her, this would be the first time she would meet Ray.

            "You must be Kristine, Robbie has told me a lot about you!"

            "All good things I hope!"

            "Of course!"

            "Wait, dad where is Tim?" Rachel asked. 

            "I went to the house and…" He paused not sure what to say. "Tim didn't make it." There was an awkward moment of silence, Rachel made the first noise as she began to cry madly. "It's ok Rachel. It's ok… So would you like me to tell me where you plan on going?"

            Kristine told them of New Haven, there was a refugee camp at Yale University's football arena and shuttles going to California. California was there best bet right now, because within a couple of days half of the East Coast would be wiped out. The infected ones were growing in number and so far the only West Coast state to be hit was Oregon. Navy Seals, the Army, Air Force, and National Guard were all protecting the states that haven't been hit yet, and that included California. They all began to pack the van, which Ray drove in, including Alex who was hobbling away on his makeshift crutch.

            "So are you and Kristine back together again?"

            "What, no! What gave you that impression."

            "Well first off she looks at you as if you are the last man on Earth and secondly the fact that she is wearing your clothes is kind of a dead giveaway."

            "Well we're not together. She came to our house after Boston Memorial was hit and warned us about what was going on. Her clothes were all dirty and bloodied up so I gave her my clothes."

            "Don't need to get all defensive Robbie! I was just curious. You know it might not be such a terrible idea for you two to get back together."

            "What are you saying?"

            "I mean if our world is really going to shit again, it might be nice to have someone other than your family to lean for comfort. Plus it gets cold at night in New Haven." Robbie ignored Ray's sexual innuendos and closed the trunk. Ray got in the driver's seat, Robbie in the passenger's seat, and Kristine in between Rachel and Alex. Ray started the ignition up and headed off to New Haven, a beacon of hope.   

3: Out of New Haven

"Out of New Haven"

            Kristine stared off into space as she saw her off again on again boyfriend slice an infected one's head off, that had been the twentieth today. Kristine had lost track of how many she has killed already, as she froze sitting in the van running the car waiting for Ray and Robbie to get back in. She didn’t remember how she got in this position or why she stopped killing, but all she knew was that New Haven wasn’t safe anymore. Robbie got in the passenger seat, Ray jumped in the back slamming the door on an infected one. Robbie was covered in blood, more than he has ever been, Rachel handed them waters and Kristine sped off. She hasn’t spoken since the massacre had happened, this one would go down in history.

            It had seemed like everything was going to be alright, they drove the two hours from Boston to New Haven and entered Yale University. Everybody was kind and healthy, without a worry in their mind. They had fixed Alex's leg, the last shuttle had left already, there was another one on its way soon. Ray had even offered for his van to be a shuttle for a couple of more people, to make the process a little faster. As Kristine was getting a water bottle for Alex, she looked out into the distance. An infected one came down from the bleachers followed by a herd, she has never seen a group that big. As soon as the infected ones smelled human blood they jumped and ran, killing everybody. The Ferrier's and Stones were the only survivors; a school of such history, over 12,000 future doctors, authors, and lawyers dead and now a part of history themselves. Leading to where the Ferrier's and Stone's are now, driving out of Yale's football stadium trying to figure out where to go.

            "Kristine, let me drive!" She didn't answer, she was in shock, besides her mother this was the hardest kill yet. She had to kill mothers and children and people who helped her brother, there was no way she was the same person as before. Robbie pressed his foot on the break and grabbed Kristine's face. "Kristine, let me drive!" She was in complete hysteria, she looked like she just had a heart attack. Robbie switched spots with her to take over the wheel, more infected ones were after them.

            "ROBBIE!" He hit the gas as hard as he could and flew out without a clue in the world as to where they were headed. He continued to drive straight realizing he was almost out of Connecticut and into Pennsylvania. He drove for hours until he saw someone waving their hands further up the road. He drove closer and saw a beautiful girl, happy to see some fresh new faces. A boy not much older than the girl came out, not showing the same excitement as the girl. "Robbie stop the car!"

            "Where did you guys come from?" She had a raspy voice of a sixty year old woman, but it was still sweet an innocent as she looked. Her hair was up in a bun, wearing a string of pearls around her neck, and a blue polka-dotted dress. She looked like Lucy from I Love Lucy in color.

            "Boston, we just stopped at New Haven to fix up my friend's leg."

            "New Haven?" The boy was short, but muscular, he stood as if trying to claim his authority.

            "Yeah where the refugee camp was. It was taken over by the infected ones, we've been driving for hours, do you mind if we stay the night?"

            "I don't know. How do we know if we can trust you?"

            "Listen we've been through a lot these past ten hours. We would really appreciate it if we can stay the night, we'll leave as soon as the sun comes up." Ray insisted.

            "Of course you can stay the night, we were just headed out tomorrow ourselves! Come on in, I just put some soup on the stove and you all look starving." They headed into the house, Ray looking behind making sure there were no infected ones out. "Welcome to Scranton! I'm Margaret and this is my brother Max! Here is our kitchen, living room is straight through those doors, there are three beds upstairs and two bathrooms. But be careful about flushing, we ran out of water a few days ago and our electricity isn't working so we are using candles for now!" She paused to take a look at the frightened and beaten down children. "So what are all your names?"

            "I'm Ray Ferrier, this is my daughter Rachel and my son Robbie. That's Kristine and Alexander Stone."

            "Stone? You said you were from Boston, right? You don't happen to be the child of Julia Stone, do you?" Max asked Kristine, but Kristine was still in her trance and walked out of the kitchen to the living room, Robbie followed.

            "How do you know about her mother?"

            "Oh that was her mother? We're so sorry, we didn't know." Margaret apologized. 

            "A couple of days ago before our radio gave out we heard about the first spreading of T-83 at Boston Memorial. Julia Stone was dying of breast cancer but was being treated with T-83 and it was working, before all of this happened." Max continued. 

            "Radio?"

            "Yeah that's how I used to keep in touch with everybody. I know a few people who were in New Haven and hopefully by tomorrow a few of my closest friends will be coming out from Michigan." Max explained further, he had a thick accent possibly from Chicago.

            "How was New Haven? Is it still in decent shape?" Margaret asked.

            "No, we barely left the place alive. It was run over by the infected ones."

            "Infected ones, clever name."

            "Thanks for your hospitality, but I think we have all been through a rough day and would like to get some sleep before tomorrow."

            "Of course, but please have some soup. You guys must be starving!" Margaret poured more soup into a few pots on the gas stove, Ray put Rachel and Alex into bed. It was still early in the day, but they needed some rest, they didn't know how long this was going to go on for. Robbie and Kristine were still in the kitchen, not talking. Max handed out some Moonshine to the strange family, Ray took a sip of it right away as it stung.

            "What is this?"

            "Moonshine, deadly I know… but it was all we had and even though it's strong and tastes awful, it does the trick." Robbie and Kristine took a sip of the Moonshine, this would be the only time in their life they could drink illegally. "So where are all of you headed?"

            "California." Robbie replied.

            "California, really? Why?"

            "It's the only place that hasn't been infected yet. They've got the National Guard there protecting it."

            "How long do you think that is going to last?"

            "We're hoping for a while."

            "Where are you guys headed?" Kristine asked, this was the first time she spoke in a while. "You said you were leaving tomorrow, when your friends get here."

            "Yeah, we're headed to Arizona. We're thinking since it's so desolate and arid the biters wouldn’t stand a chance there."

            "Is there such thing as a safe place anymore?" Margaret replied. "I mean with everybody dying so fast, changing into those monsters. How long is this going to last, weeks, a month, years…" With that Kristine finished her Moonshine and went upstairs to check on the kids, Robbie followed. "Did I say something wrong?"

            "We've just been through a lot lately… We didn't really have time to think of about the future." Even though it was only about six at night; The Ferrier's and Stones were extremely exhausted. Kristine watched the two kids fall fast asleep, Robbie rubbing her shoulder in comfort. As much as she didn't want to, she was falling back in love with Robbie. They had played this game for too long and she wanted so badly to be out of it, but everything was telling her to give in. She looked into his eyes and kissed him softly, Ray saw all of it and went to the bathroom to wash up.

            A very handsome twenty-something year old with shaggy blonde hair, a ruffled beard, and pristine blue eyes looked at the road ahead of him. He rubbed the petals of a daisy, the only symbol for hope and life in this world. He picked the flower with his dirty hands and placed it behind his ear. He looked down the long stretch of highway noticing the welcome to Pennsylvania sign. The sun was rising and it was a beautiful scene, but darkened by dead bodies along the edges of the highway. He walked a few feet further to the sign and noticed something that was of great help.

            "Well?" His twin brother asked, even though they were twins they looked and acted completely different. His brother Randle was a bad boy, always getting into trouble with the law and never respecting his father. He never graduated from high school, dropped out and worked at a gas station. He hasn't seen his brother Dean in over three years until a couple of days ago when all of this started. He noticed his brother was looking at a trail blue and yellow M&M's.

            "Man's a genius my friend!" Dean stood up, slapping his brother's cheeks. He looked at his sixty year old father who was tired, hungry, and walking on one leg.

            "So where do we go from here?" Randle's gorgeous hippy girlfriend Francine asked. She had long, dark, curly hair, a body like an hourglass, covered by a long pink skirt. Dean wasn't sure how to answer that question. You see Dean had heard a radio call from a voice that sounded extremely familiar, it was his friend Max from college. He knew Max was from Pennsylvania, he just didn't know where. He knew this trail of blue and yellow M&M's had to be his doing because Max loved eating M&M's. They had met at CAL and Dean being from Michigan was always a University of Michigan football fan, Max being a CAL fan. They always debated which team wore the blue and yellow best.

            "Follow the trails of the blue and yellow M&M's."

            "We are putting our faith in candy?" Randle asked annoyed. 

            "Just go with it ok…"

            "Maybe we should take a rest, your father's been walking for twenty-four straight hours. He needs a break, I think we all need one."

            "Don't worry Francine, I have a feeling we're almost there."

            They followed Dean as he was closely watching the trail of candy, not paying attention to any signs or movement of infected ones. They passed the famous PNC Park in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania, walking on the Roberto Clemente Bridge. Pennsylvania was a dead zone, no living movement the entire 283 miles to Scranton. Dean was relieved to find the quaint little house that he has heard so many stories about from his friend Max. The only problem was, it was being torn to shreds by a herd of infected ones, Dean lost all hope but he saw his friend on the second floor fighting off the monsters. His father Kit stayed outside by the car with Francine who shot the infected ones to protect Dean and Randle. The entire house was overrun by these terrible monsters, the two brothers killing every monster in sight.

            "Max!" They were finally upstairs, it was a war zone. Max and Margaret slicing off the monster's heads with kitchen utensils, and four strangers he didn't recognize.

            "DEAN! You found us!"

            "Yeah, the trail of candy helped a lot."

            "Alright it's great that you are catching up and everything, but we need more fighting and less talking!" Dean was enamored by the beautiful warrior-like woman who ordered them. He didn't like being ordered by a woman, but it looked like they needed a lot of help. They fought for about fifteen minutes but the numbers kept growing and the children were getting restless.

            "Dad, they're everywhere!"

            "I know Robbie, I can see that!"

            "Dad!" Robbie made sure that his father looked him straight in the eyes.

            "No Robbie!" He gave the same look he gave when he went into the bomb war during the first almost apocalypse. "Robbie! I won't let you do this!"

            "What? Do what dad?" Rachel was starting to worry, Kristine had no clue what was going on and kept fighting off the bastards.

            "Dad, there is no way to stop them! You need to go with Kristine and the kids! I'll hold them off and distract them, so that you can get away free!"

            "If there is anyone who has to stay behind it is me!"

            "Dad!" Ray looked into his young son's eyes and knew this was what Robbie wanted. He always tried to be the role model that Ray could never be for them. Kristine finally noticed the argument at hand and only thought of the worse.       

            "No Robbie you are not leaving us again!" Rachel screamed while kicking at him, Robbie grabbed her and whispered something in her ear.

            "Max we have to leave! There are too many!" Dean announced, Max noticed how brave Robbie was being and knew that he had to stay behind as well.

            "No, Dean I'm going to stay too!"

            "What Max, you will do know such thing!" Margaret screamed, Kristine was in shock and ran to Robbie.

            "Robbie please, please you can’t stay here! I won't have you leave me again!"

            "Kristine if you know me at all, you know I have to do this." He grabbed her face with his hands and looked at her as if they were the only two people in the world.

            "Yeah, we'll be fine. You need to get the kids out of here!" Max imposed.

            "No Robbie!" Kristine was in tears and couldn't believe what was happening, she was going to lose Robbie again. She took one more look at him and kissed him. This kiss was the most passionate and emotional kiss they had with each other their entire relationship. It was a kiss that you would only see in movies when two great loves were going off their separate ways when they didn't want to. Where they didn’t know if they were going to see each other again.

            "I love you Kristine…" She continued to kiss him, but was pulled away by Ray. She didn’t look away, grabbing Rachel and Alex and getting the hell out of there. Dean got in the driver's seat of Ray's van, Francine and Kit had broken in since not knowing if any of them were coming out alive. Margaret was in the middle seat with Ray, Alex, and Rachel crying her eyes out. Randle was sitting with Kit and Francine, noticing they didn’t see Max.

            "Where is Max, Dean?" Kit asked, he didn't answer. Kristine, sitting in the driver's seat looking at the window of the top floor, where the love of her life was left for dead.