We started the hundred mile journey the next morning, taking our time to make sure our energy and resources lasted. We slept in small areas of the woods that we deemed as safe enough, taking turns keeping watch and staying awake by gazing up at the sky through leafless trees.

Yoongi woke me at dawn each morning, finding a breathtaking view where we did yoga and watched the sunrise. We hunted for animals that kept us fed along the way, making do with squirrels split between five and they coaxed me through my aversion to eating bugs when it became absolutely necessary.

We ran into a town that had been completely burned to the ground, only rubble and charred remains left of the old stores and homes that were visible from the road. We stood on the other side of a ditch that overlooked the city and I wondered what happened, what was so bad that it had to all end in fire.

"Let's keep going. I think we can make it to Kerr Lake by tonight." Yoongi sighed, the rest of us falling in line as he kept on our path.

There was always a change in the air as a body of water got nearer. Even with the way things were now, there was an airier feel in the breeze as we came upon one of the private parking lots that led out to the lake. We walked down a trail with trees and a small area that would have been used for grilling, taking off our shoes when we got to the gritty sand by the lakeside.

The moon reflected off the lake, the space peaceful, quiet as water lapped against the shore. I was the first to step inside, shivering at the cold water but glad for the feel of it against my dry skin.

I took a step farther as they followed in behind me, Jin and Yoongi stepping back as soon as they felt the icy temperature. I giggled at them, Jimin's bright white smile standing out against the dark from where he stood beside me.

There wasn't a moment to react between the time something took hold of my foot, pulling me with such force that I toppled into the lake, dragged under before I could take a breath.

I reached out in every direction, kicking my feet in an attempt to free myself and unable to see under the dark water, my fingers sinking through sand as I tried to grab for something, anything. My foot landed against whatever had a hold of me and it released its grasp for a second, allowing me the chance to get my footing again. I gasped as I emerged from the water, my entire body in shock from the cold, just enough time to hold my breath before I was pulled back under.

Water splashed all around me, a hand grabbing onto mine just as another took my ankle, the previous grip on it going limp as I was lifted back to the surface. I sputtered, regurgitating the water that I was close to swallowing over Yoongi's shoulder as he pulled me to his chest, wrapping his arms around me and panting with panic.

"It's okay, we've got you." He breathed as I reached out to touch Jimin, his entire body drenched in water from diving in after me.

The others surrounded us as we emerged from the lake, Jimin cursing and falling into the sand on his bottom once we were out. "Who knew the undead could live in water?"

Jin pulled a blanket that he'd fashioned to keep around his body from himself, draping it around us as our teeth chattered and checking my legs for any scratch marks. He and Namjoon, still mostly dry, sat on the shore around us, swathing us in their arms and legs to help us get warm. After too long without any relief from the cool air Jimin pointed out that our wet clothes were a problem, standing and stripping to his underwear.

He hung his clothes over a tree branch to dry, Yoongi doing the same. When I stayed dressed, continuing to quiver in my soaked clothes, Jin offered me his, handing them over to where I hid behind a tree and stepping out with the others, Namjoon giggling at their near nudity.

We stared out at the water with a different perspective, wondering how many once dead and semi-alive bodies bobbed underneath.

"Tell me a story." I'd laid back so that I looked up at the sky instead, Jimin the only one left awake while Yoongi and Jin curled into each other to keep warm, Namjoon breathing heavily in his sleep on the other side.

"Want to hear about when Jungkook had to carry Taehyung and I away from a herd after I cut Taehyung's hand off and broke my ankle?" He replied.

A chuckle slipped past my lips in response to the casual way he brought up the topic. "Sure, though it sounds like a horrible opener to make a guy seem like a stud at the bar or something."

He laughed then, Namjoon muttering in his sleep at the noise. "It was crazy." He recalled. "It was one of our first runs. We'd been making our way down the coast and were staying in this old abandoned motel in New Jersey. There were more of us then, other students who we started with. The three of us were on a run into town. We'd been scavenging stores down the beach strip and things were fairly clear, but when we went back that day things were different. We were halfway through collecting supplies when the undead broke through the locked doors of one of the stores we hadn't got to yet. They were faster back then and ran after us. It seemed like it all happened at the same time. I tripped and cracked my ankle. They both had an arm around me to help me walk after that. I felt Taehyung let go of me and turned around to find one of them biting into his wrist, so I grabbed the machete from Jungkook's hand and sliced through his arm. I can't remember exactly how we got away from all of them, but Jungkook wrapped his shirt around Tae's arm, slung him over one shoulder and me over the other. I held up Taehyung's arm so he wouldn't bleed out while Jungkook ran with us to the edge of town where we left the car."

"Stop telling that gross story. I'll never stop dreaming about the bloody mess or how your foot was rotated sideways when we pulled you out of the car." Yoongi rolled over. I should have known he wasn't actually asleep.

It was a gruesome scene to picture, but it also widened my belief that if Jungkook and Taehyung could make it through that, maybe they were doing okay out there.

With our clothes drier by morning we continued our walk along the lake, passing over a bridge to the other side, littered with cars that appeared to be making their way south and blocked off by a barricade to keep any vehicle from crossing.

"We should check for supplies, maybe siphon some gas into a couple of jugs in case we find a car on the other side." Yoongi was already trying out doors, taking the empty jugs that we usually kept for water along with him.

I occupied myself with popping trunks in search of food left behind, finding medicine stored in center consoles and rancid sandwiches floating in the melted ice of coolers until we were ready to move forward. I'd started counting us as running low on good fortune, every moment that stood out that of the prison, the trails of coming back together, and getting dragged into the lake by a water zombie, until we made it past Clarksville and to the state border, the parking lot of a rest stop filled with more cars and surely one that could take us a little farther.

Jin cooked a small dinner, building a fire and heating the remaining two cans of meat left in his backpack while Yoongi and Jimin prepared our ride. It was an old station wagon that made a popping sound when it started, but Yoongi insisted it'd get us there, funneling more gas from the other cars in the lot while we ate. I took the front passenger's seat, opening the map on the dash as we rode, now on a similar route to the one Shelby and I took when we first explored her new home in Chapel Hill.

The ride was significantly shorter than if we'd had to continue walking, my heart speeding up when we came through Durham. So far, North Carolina seemed completely deserted, the roads mostly empty and our ride nearly silent outside of the breeze that blew into the car with our windows down.

That changed as soon as we crossed over to Highway 501, Jin pressing slowly on the brake as we ran into another area where cars jammed the street. Still, we were practically there, a few miles standing between us and the university.

"I don't like how quiet it is." Yoongi commented as we exited the car, reequipping ourselves with weapons and bags.

"Would you prefer a mob of undead?" Jin replied sarcastically, looking beyond the cars toward the city.

Yoongi rolled his eyes. "No, but there's something unsettling about the silence."

With night approaching, we used the final moments of light to guide us through the maze of cars into the city. I recognized the chain restaurant Shelby and I ate at in celebration of her job offer. Yoongi was right, every step we took in the quiet increasing my belief that no one was here, not Shelby, Taehyung or Jungkook. Chapel Hill was just another dead town.

Namjoon could sense my disappointment, wrapping an arm around my shoulders as we walked up the main road that led straight into campus. "Lets just find somewhere safe to sleep tonight. We can reevaluate in the morning." He attempted to comfort me.

I'd forgotten how hilly the campus was, groaning when we reached the top of a slope right next to the university bookstore. I was full of regret, wishing that we'd stayed behind at the model home or church to wait for them when a blinding light turned to us from above, a deep voice calling out from the rooftop.

"Drop your weapons now!"