Newburgh, New York 7:43 P.M
16 days following the outbreak
2 days following the escape from Boston

Loud moaning has replaced the sound of traffic on the I-84 that crosses the Hudson river. The setting sun casts the buildings on the other side of the river in an orange hue. The dozen or so blood covered men, women, and children idly wander around the deserted highway, oblivious to their surroundings. A low hum of an engine getting louder made the undead turn to the source that hum. Though almost blind, they could hear the engine hum getting louder and louder and a black dot getting closer and closer. The undead didn't move out of the way and instead walked into the humming dot which turns out to be a black MRAP speeding down the highway. Behind the wheels, a young man in his mid-twenties with rough, chestnut hair that long needs a hair cut harshly turns the wheel to the left, dodging most of the undead as the truck slightly swerves to the left, shaking a young blond sitting on the passenger seat with curly hair from her slumber.

"Sorry bout that Rebecca," the man says as he regains control of the truck. She looks around and lets out a heavy yawn. She turns and sees a brunette around her age lying on a row of seats on one side, deep in her slumber.

"Are we still in Connecticut Mike?" Rebecca asks as she raises her arms to stretch before leaning back against her seat.

"Nope. We actually arrived in Newburgh,"

"We did shoot how long did I sleep?"

"Almost five hours. Decided to let you sleep and Stacy sleep," Mike says as he turns the truck to avoid an overrun barricade. Just like in Boston signs of carnage litter the streets along with some being crowded with the undead. The thick windows and the loud engine blessed the three from the loud moaning they can picture the dozen or so undead are making as they approach the truck from alley ways and burst open door ways.

"So what now Mike?" The brunette asks as she leans towards Rebecca's seat and watches the passing streets and buildings.

"Well for one we are low on fuel, need a place to stay since I'd rather sleep on a bed or couch rather than those, I need to get some sleep after 10 hours of nonstop driving,"

"Yeah those seats aren't the most comfortable. So what did you have in mind?"

"There's a Hollywood Suites a couple blocks from here. Maybe we could get a suite,"

"Mike! I'm serious!" Rebecca cries out, glaring at Mike.

"Hey I'm serious too. A nice little suite wouldn't hurt eh? Nice beds, lots of room, and we can relax a little and plan ahead,"

"Oh alright so what's the plan of securing a suite?" Stacy asks as the truck comes to a screeching halt by the entrance of the ten story tall Hollywood Suites. The read and green neon signs long have lost power and hangs dead over the entrance, its double doors lying shattered on the ground.

"Simple. You or Rebecca stay here and watch the truck, keep the engine running while I scope out the place and find us a tolerable room," Mike says as he slips on his riot armor and gasmask which hisses shut.

"I'll go with you!" Rebecca shouts out. Her cheeks turned a bit crimson when she noticed how excited she sounded and the quizzical looks Mike and Stacy are giving her.

"Anyways, you alright with that Stacy?" Mike asks as he grabs his Scar-L and hands Rebecca her sisters M4 carbine.

"Not really Mike. Be careful okay?" Stacy mutters loudly as Mike carefully opens the back door.

He quietly nods before he and Rebecca jump out of the MRAP and approach the opening of the Hotel. Their shoes made a soft crackling sound as they carefully step over the shattered door.

"Oh my god," Rebecca whispers as she catches wind of a very nauseous smell and covers her nose with her hand. A swarm of flies swarming over several heavily torn apart bodies lying on the ground. Bullet shells litter the crimson red carpet and the only working light comes from a flickering table lamp by the reception table. The hotels lights flickered and a devoured dog lies in the center of the room. It's stomach torn open and its intestines spread across the floor causing Rebecca to gag at its sight.

The walls have been decorated with pink flowered wall paper. Palm trees in big vases lied in each corner of the large reception room. The room then split into two large hallways. The hallway to the left has a flickering neon sign reading restaurant and the second to the right with a similar colored neon sign reading casino. Rebecca and Mike carefully stepped over the eaten dog and its spilled intestines as they approached the reception desk with their weapons raised. The flashlights attached to their rifles cut a long beam of light through the flickering darkness cherry red carpets with dark stains all over it, bullet shells lying on the floor, and a few dead infected leading to a small hallway shrouded in darkness next to the reception desk.

As the two reached the reception desk their boots made a soft splash sound as they stepped on a puddle of blood. On a shelf behind the desk hung hundreds of keys with numbers labeled on them with the exception of two that had 'suite' labeled on it. With a small shriek, Rebecca grabbed one of the suite keys while Mike continued flashing the hotel lobby. Just then Mike heard soft foot steps followed by the beam hitting a group of blood covered men and women wandering inside the restaurant. The beam also hit knocked over tables and chairs, rotting food, and more shot down corpses lie on the red carpet. The infected let out a ear piercing moan and approached the reception desk. Mike tapped Rebecca and they both opened fire upon the infected. They fell quick but the fun wasn't over as more moaning and footsteps could be heard. Just then a ghoul ran into the lobby from the casino and tackled Mike to the ground as the two tried to make a run towards the exit. Rebecca shrieked as Mike put his arm under the neck of the ghoul preventing it from biting off Mike's neck.

The ghoul kept on gnashing as Mike struggled and let out a struggling cry as the ghoul wouldn't stop. Rebecca wanted to help but spotted several more ghouls running towards her on all fours like a demented dog. As she opened fire Mike tried punching the ghoul with no promising result as the man continued trying to bite him. The four ghouls fell inches away from her gunfire and she knocked the ghoul off of Mike by pushing him. The ghoul fell on his back and before he could get up Rebecca fired a couple of suppressed rounds into the ghouls skull. More moaning came from all around them and as the first infected reached the lobby Mike and Rebecca already headed for the lobby while firing at them. As they left the hotel three infected were attempting to enter the truck by pounding their fists against the metal. Mike quickly finished them off and entered the truck with Rebecca in the passenger seat.

"And?" asked Stacy as she got up from cowering in the back with a sigh of relief.

Mike shook his head and said "No. The hotel is too infested"

"Then we'll go to the next one" suggested Stacy while the truck left the hotel and the infected approaching the truck behind.

"Also no. All these people inside probably had the same idea. No, we'll head to an apartment complex and stay the night there. In worse case scenario we'll sleep here." The girls nodded and the truck grew quiet as it drove by the blinking hotels and casinos while passing lone wandering infected and broken through barricades. Finally the truck entered the parking lot of a small, four story building. The front door lied open and broken leading to a stair case and a bare hallway with it's light flickering. A dozen mailboxes hung against the bare white wall and a brown carpet lied on the sand colored tiles that covered the floor. Like in the hotel, Mike and Rebecca approached the apartment complex with their weapons drawn. As they reached the first floor they find most of the apartment doors open. Each apartment was abandoned with most of the food and clothes taken and only the cooking utensils, toiletries, and furniture left behind.

The last door was locked and after pounding his fists against the door he got lots of pounding and lots of moaning as a response. Mike signaled her to get ready as he let out a high pitched whistle. Immediately the two got some loud moaning in response and heavy footsteps coming from upstairs in response. Immediately a group of infected appeared, two women, a small little girl, and three men, one of them a soldier. Mike opened fire but Rebecca hesitated and and felt a great clump of sadness built up in her chest as she saw the little infected girl approach her. She wore a blood stained shirt once having the color of green with a smiling teddy bear on it and a same colored skirt with little teddy bears on it.

"I...I can't" cried Rebecca as she lowered her gun while tears poured down her eyes. After only the girl remains he noticed Rebecca crying and trying to pull the trigger.

"Rebecca she's already gone. That's not the little girl anymore. That thing only wants to kill and spread"

"But I can't. For fucksakes it's a little girl"

"No, it was a little girl. Now it is a walking zombie with its only purpose to kill, unless you stop it"

"But..."

"You can't think of this thing as a little girl but a death spreading monster. You will encounter many of these and you will have to pull the trigger" said Mike as the little girl was only ten feet from them away.

Rebecca didn't reply and pulled the trigger. The girl got hit in the stomach and staggered a few feet back, dark colored blood slowly leaking from the entry wound. She fired again and hit the little girl in the leg. She collapsed and continued approaching them, moaning and hissing. Finally Rebecca fired off a round into the little girls skull. She fell silent as her movements seized and she collapsed onto the floor. Rebecca began hyperventilating as she lowered her rifle and sank to her knees. Tears flowed down her eyes as she took in what just happened. Mike wanted to help her up but she rejected his hand and continued breathing heavily.

Before Mike could leave she looked up and asked "How do you do it?" "Do what?"

"How do you forget killing those things and going on as if nothing happened?"

"I don't. I just learn to live with it" answered Mike before he went downstairs. Rebecca sighed and decided to enter the closest apartment and sat down on the couch while she tried to calm herself down. She slowed her breathing and tried to think positive thoughts. She then heard her sister call her name. "Here" responded Rebecca in a low, depressed voice. Stacy and Mike entered the apartment, each carrying a box of canned food and bottled water.

"Stay here and comfort your sister while I get the rest of the boxes" whispered Mike to Stacy. She nodded and sat next to Rebecca while Mike left.

"How are you feeling?" asked Stacy.

" I..I don't know. Confused maybe? I feel sad for this little girl, yet I am angry at myself for shooting her. I..I just don't know"

"Well, you gotta think about it. The girl was going to kill you anyways no matter what. I mean what would you have done if Mike wasn't in the picture?"

"I don't know. Lock her up? It was a little girl Stacy"

"A little girl that was going to kill you. You had no choice. Just like all the other zombies that girl was going to kill you. You did what you had to do to survive. And that is what Mike is trying to teach you" responded Stacy before she got up and looked through the kitchen for any cooking utensils. She found a large pot and smiled when the electric stove still worked.

"What are you hungry for sis? Beef stew or potato and cheese?" asked Stacy as she saw her sister get up and held up two different cans of soup.

"Um..I..I don't know. Surprise me" said Rebecca in the same low, depressed voice as before. Stacy sighed and began emptying both cans into the pot. Mike entered the apartment with a couple crates of ammunition. He then closed the door and placed the two locks in place.

"How are you feeling?" asked Mike as he saw Rebecca in the kitchen watching Stacy stir a pot of steaming soup.

"Better thanks to Stacy" said Rebecca and gave Mike a weak smile.

"That's good to hear" said Mike as he wanted to grab a bowl of steaming soup. Stacy reacted first and hit Mike's hand with the wooden spoon she stirred the soup with.

"Wait. The soup's not even cooking yet. Patience. How about you tell us where we are going?"

"Fine" Mike said, rubbing his hand and sitting down by the dining table. Unlike Jenkins' apartment, this one was a tad bit better furnished and spacious with a larger kitchen and larger living room also adjacent to each other.

"From what I've read in Egbert's journal, the few survivors of strike team Zulu are heading to Stewart International Airport. Says they made contact with a small military standpoint there in Fenway before erasing the keys from the radios. Hopefully they are still there and find more military presence there"

"We leaving tomorrow then?"

"Of course. I just drove 6 hours straight after carrying two crates of canned food and water. We'll eat, sleep, eat again sound good?"

"Sounds great to me" Stacy said as she placed the bubbling pot onto the table.

"Rebecca you alright?" Mike asked as he saw Rebecca stare off into the distance.

"What? Oh yeah. I haven't felt this safe in forever. Warm food, a roof over our head, well armed a soft bed or couch to sleep on. It's...it's a nice feeling"

"It is" Mike said as the three began to dig into their warm dinner, the zombie apocalypse partly forgotten.