A little girl... A totally normal, unharmed, human, very un-zombified girl. Terrified and quaking, she couldn't have been older than eight or nine.

She pointed a gun at me.

Bold for an eight year old.

Honestly she had impressed and bewildered me in under ten seconds by having a gun, aiming it right at me, and for still being alive.

"Whoa, kid, I'm not gonna hurt you." I shrank down to her level, slowly reaching outwards as if to calm her rather than continue for my gun.

Her eyes were red and puffy like she'd been crying for days. Her lip quivered and her hands shook as she lowered the gun.

"Are you okay?"

She nodded softly.

Despite her bloodshot, messy appearance I could tell her eyes were meant to be blue. She wore her hair in brown twin braids, which was nearly falling out at this point. She had a chubby round face, a cute splash of freckles across her cheeks.

"Not hurt are you?" I asked, double checking.

She rubbed her left arm instinctively as I asked, but her turquoise butterfly coat covered whatever she was rubbing.

"I'm okay." Her voice barely above a squeak.

"What are you doing here?" I sat down next to her.

She wiped her eyes with her sleeve, like a tired child might. Which she probably was.

I wouldn't consider myself a very motherly person, but instinctively I wanted to scoop her into my arms and take her away from this place. Take her somewhere safe.

"We- I needed supplies." Her breath caught on her words as if she'd forgotten how to speak in days of solitude.

"Oh me too." I didn't know what else to say. "It's not safe for you here."

She sniffled. "It's not. I'm fast though. They don't get me."

We sat in silence. I had no clue how to handle the situation. What would you do if there was a poor child lost in the grocery store during the zombie apocalypse? I panicked.

"Uh..." I sort of just stared at her.

I heard footsteps echo behind me. I reached for my gun as the little girl tensed besides me. No limping or dragging feet. Definitely human footsteps.

I looked up. Jacob crouched down besides the two of us. Nicole trailed behind.

"Hey, kiddo." For once Jacob looked semi-serious. "I'm guessing you're tired."

The little girl nodded, rubbing her eyes with her sleeve again. She looked close to tears.

"What's you're name?" He asked.

Her lip began to quiver again as she stared up at him with her big blue eyes.

"Callie."

He nodded, as if it struck a cord with him. The gears churned in his head.

"I thought so. My name is Jacob. Your sister asked us to take care of you. Can you let us do that?" Jacob asked, reaching out his hand.

"Sister...?" I wondered.

Jacob nodded, quickly turning his attention to me before looking back at Callie.

"It's going to be okay now."

Callie dropped her gun. She took Jacob's hand. He picked her up and she buried her head in his shoulder. I picked up her gun and tossed it in the cart Nicole had brought over.

Jacob leaned close to me, turning Callie away so she couldn't hear.

"We found a body. Teenage girl, looks like it was suicide. Body couldn't have been more than two days fresh. Bite mark on the arm." He whispered, shoulder to shoulder with me.

Oh... That explained a lot.

The things our loved ones do to keep us safe. Callie and I were in the same boat.

While I was weary of Jacob and Nicole this did not extend to our newest traveling companion. The little angel fell asleep in Jacob's arms before we even reached the car.

I grabbed two pairs of noise cancelling headphones on the way out. Nicole shoved a crap ton of random clothes of varying different sizes in a duffel bag she swiped and then tossed that in the cart.

"Uhhh you don't think we need a car seat for her, do you?" Jacob asked

"She's probably too old for a car seat." I said, opening the door to the front passenger seat.

Jacob slid Callie into the backseat, buckling her into her seat.

Not that I cared, but I wondered if he was an older sibling like I was. He acted like one.

"Earth to Locke Wood?" Jacob stared at me. "Will you drive or not?"

"What?"

"I asked if you could take over driving for a while. I need a nap. Nic can have shotgun." He tossed me his keys.

I caught them. "Uh yup, no problem."

Big problem.

Nicole slid into the passenger's seat. I started the car.

I didn't exactly know how to drive.

It's slightly later than I usually post, but hey it's technically still Friday! Anyway I hope you liked it! What's up with Callie? Will Erica kill them all? How many more stops until Montana? Let me know your thoughts, comments, predictions in the comments! I hope you enjoyed it and thanks for reading.