The trees begin to thin out right about the time I'm running out of breath in my plight, following Izzy's back through the semi-darkness as we try to escape the herd.

Their growls follow us, making my hair stand on end. Seth is to my left, urging Mara forward as we leave the trees and tear across a meadow.

My feet crunch over the frozen grass, and halfway across, I venture a look over my shoulder. The herd is still closing in, growing louder and louder, more aggressive by the minute as they hunger for our flesh more and more.

As I turn back to look where I'm going, my brain barely registers that Izzy has stopped before I collide with her.

"What is it? Why'd you stop?" I gasp as Seth and Mara join us.

"Look," Izzy says, pointing downward.

And that's when I notice for the first time that we're standing on the edge of a twenty foot drop that ends in a rushing river.

"Dammit!" Seth spits, "now where do we go?"

"We jump," Izzy says, "there's no time for anything else. Don't think, just do it." And with those words, she steps off the edge and falls, creating a splash in the swirling water below a second later.

Mara shakes her head. "N-no, I c-can't....." She stammers, backing away from the edge.

Seth turns to her, placing his hands on her shoulders. Bending slightly, he looks into her eyes and says, "Yes, you can. You have to. For Rogan."

She shakes her head again, squeezing her eyes shut as a sob escapes her. "But he might not even -" Another sob cuts her off, and she brings her shaking hands to her lips.

"He's alive, he's coming back," Seth says firmly, "They both are." He looks past her at the rapidly approaching herd. "We don't have time for this. You're jumping. Wynne, go ahead."

I inch closer to the edge, eventually my toes are off, and as I stare down at the swirling waters and Izzy's small figure bobbing around in the frothing waves, my head begins to spin. It's so far down. I could easily drown if I hit my head on a rock or - "don't think, just do it" Izzy's words echo in my mind, and, sucking in a shaky breath, I close my eyes, step forward -

- a split second later I hit the icy water with tremendous force. Every inch of my skin is screaming at the cold, and as the waves shove me to and fro, I struggle toward the bank.

Two splashes an instant later alert me that Mara and Seth have jumped.

I hear Izzy's voice from somewhere to my right, but her words are unintelligible. My teeth are chattering as I force myself forward through the freezing water, slowly approaching the bank.

At last I pull myself up onto an outcropping of rock that juts out into the river, and, tugging my pack off my shoulders, I collapse onto my back, shivering uncontrollably as I gasp for air.

Suddenly, a loud splash startles me, and I sit up. Dozens of zombies are falling off the cliff, splashing into the water. And though most of them are being swept away in the current, some are managing to make their way toward the shore.

I see Seth fighting to stay above the waves as he tows Mara to shore, and Izzy is running back and forth along the water's edge, screaming at him to hurry up.

I clamor to my feet, scrambling to bring out my gun as Seth nears us. A zombie suddenly rises out of the water just behind him, and brings up its dead arm to latch onto his shoulder. As Seth is pulled under, Izzy screams, as do I, and Mara manages to fling herself close enough for Izzy to grab her wrist and tug her out of the water.

Izzy drops Mara onto the wet ground and starts yelling Seth's name. I scan the water for him, or the monster that took him, hoping for an opportunity to shoot the thing.

"Shit!" Izzy bellows, throwing her katana to the ground in fury after an eternity of seconds without any sign of Seth. "Shit, shit shit!"

Mara crouches on the shore, staring blankly at the water, trembling with fear and shock.

I fall to my knees, my eyes still locked on the water, watching as more zombies fall into the waves only to be washed downstream. The Glock falls from my hand as the reality of everything hits me.

Doyle is gone. Rogan is gone. Pirate is gone. And now Seth is gone, too.

I clamp my hands over my ears, letting my head fall to my lap, trying to shut out the rushing of the river, the splashing of the dead things, their growls, everything......

And as the tears spill silently from my eyes, crying isn't enough. This is so unfair. Seth and Doyle and Rogan and Pirate didn't deserve this. They didn't deserve this!

I lean back on my heels, my eyes searching the brightening sky for....nothing, and I realize we're alone. No help is coming. There's no one in control of anything. We're on our own.

"Aaarrrggghhhh!!!!" I roar, my hands becoming fists.

There's nothing to fight for anymore. We're all doomed to failure anyway. We'll never survive. A wave of sobs overtakes me as I give up, bringing my head back to my lap and wrapping my arms over my head.

I give up. I can barely breath as I sob and sob, tears gushing from my eyes as I mourn for everything and everyone I ever loved. My parents, my old life, the world the way it used to be. For safety, happiness, hope. For Seth, Doyle, Rogan, and Pirate. For Izzy and Mara, for all of their families, and for me.

We will die. I will die. I should just kill myself now. It would be more merciful that way.

I rock slightly as I let my grief take over, and sob until I can't cry anymore. But I don't move. Why should I? There's nothing to move to. There's nowhere safe, no one to help us.

"Get up Wynne, we're moving," Izzy says, nudging me with her boot. Apparently she still thinks there's something worth living for. But there isn't.

"There's a chance he could've washed downstream and climbed out there," she tells me in a voice that actually believes.

I shake my head. "He's dead. They all are."

A hand reaches down and grabs the back of my coat, jerking me up on my feet. Izzy glares in my face. "Don't - say - that!" She thunders, shaking me, "They will come back to us! We just have to wait!"

She shoves me away in disgust, stomping over to Mara, who is still staring at the water, and pulls her up. Leading Mara over to me, Izzy says, "Now, we're going to walk downstream and find Seth, then we're going to find somewhere safe to wait for Doyle, Rogan, and Pirate to find us."

I look at her blankly. "Stop hoping."

"God, and I thought I was the doom-and-gloomer!" Izzy exclaims in exasperation. "It's actually very realistic to think that he's downstream somewhere, too exhausted to come find us, so we're gonna go find him." She pauses as she retrieves my backpack from the outcropping. "And we need to get moving anyway." She shoves the pack into my arms.

"Get moving where?" I demand sullenly, "there's nowhere to go that's safe."

Izzy huffs loudly. "Listen, Wynne. Now is not the time for a breakdown, okay? You can have that later. Right now, we need to get moving and find Seth, and then find somewhere safe and warm to wait for the others. So suck it up," she pauses to tap the bottom of my chin with her index finger, "keep your head up, and let's go."