I was jolted from sleep by a loud, incessant banging on the front door. I fought my way out of the blankets I'd cocooned myself in, and managed to get to the bedroom door. The clock said it was around seven-ish when I glanced at it.

I tried to trip over myself, my eyes still blurry with sleep, dark hair in my face, and almost ran into Kyle coming from his room farther down the hall. I muttered an apology, then followed him into the living room to find Shane opening the door.

His hair was mussed and he didn't have a shirt on so he must have been woken up as well. Both Kyle and I jumped when a woman a little older than Shane burst into the room.

She was crying, and I watched from the corner of my eye as Kyle backed away, eyes wide, unsure of how to handle the hysterical woman. Shane was obviously surprised and uncomfortable when she threw herself into his arms. He looked at me over his shoulder, silently asking for help as the woman started sobbing into his chest.

I fought down a smile at Shane. He might know how to deal with people shooting at him, but he is completely helpless in the face of tears.

I went around the couch to put my arm around the woman, pulling her gently away from a relieved-looking Shane. I led her to the couch and looked around for a tissue.

I jumped when a wide-eyed Kyle handed me a napkin before retreating behind the couch to stand with his brother. If Shane is helpless in the face of tears, then Kyle is completely terrified. Hilariously, they both completely own that fact.

I handed the napkin to the woman, just as unsure and uncomfortable as the boys. She gulped in a few deep breaths and blew her nose before looking up at me. Mascara streaked down her face as she gasped, "Thank you!"

I looked over at Shane and Kyle, who both shrugged.

"For what?" I asked. "Are you okay? What happened?"

The woman inhaled shakily and said, "I was at the gas station on the corner and... and..." She started sobbing again, throwing her arms around me.

I threw the boys another startled look before patting the woman's back gently. With a gasp, she continued, crying right into my ear. "The woman at the next pump she just... she..." The woman started trembling.

"Attacked you?" Kyle asked, sending the woman into another round of hysterics. Shane elbowed his brother and, coming around the couch, sat on the coffee table, looking at the woman.

I watched as he opened his mouth to say something, then stopped, frowning. He waved Kyle over, who grimaced but joined Shane, looking over his shoulder.

His eyebrows pulled together so sharply I was certain he must have strained something and he looked at me worriedly.

Isn't it funny how quickly it becomes 'us' and everyone else is 'them'? The day before, Kyle had been... let's go with chilly. That morning, he looked like he was concerned for my safety.

Just in case you're wondering, I'm pretty sure that we're still 'us' and your group is still 'them.' Sorry. Kinda.

Gently, Shane said, "Ma'am? Raleigh here's a doctor. Do you want her to take a look at that?" He gestured toward her shoulder.

The woman let go of me and reached a shaking hand to the back of her shoulder. Her eyes widened and more tears welled up when her fingers came away bloody.

I stood up quickly and the woman looked at me, her eyes terrified. I smiled as confidently as I could and said, "Let me just take a look, okay?"

She nodded, turning, and pulled her long blonde hair to the side, revealing a torn and bloody spot just in the crook of her neck. I tugged at her shirt, but it seemed to be stuck to the wound, and I didn't want to cause any more damage.

Turning to Shane, I said, "Do you have a first aid kit or something?"

Before he could answer, Kyle hurried into the kitchen, looking happy to have something to do. He came back with a basket stacked haphazardly with gauze, wraps and athletic tape.

I dug through it, eventually coming up with a bottle of peroxide and a non-stick pad, along with some Neosporin and a half used roll of athletic tape.

Kyle handed me a paper towel and I held it just under the wound, using the peroxide to loosen the shirt from her skin. I peeled the fabric away, then wanted to gag at what I found.

The wound was angry and red looking at the edges. It looked like an entire chunk of flesh had been torn away, and I thanked God that I had taken that emergency medicine class. But as I studied it, I started to think that I was out of my league.

It was starting to turn black, which had me extremely worried and confused. Due to the severity of the wound, she should have been bleeding pretty heavily, but the blood looked like it had almost congealed.

It was like nothing I'd ever seen before.

Turning to Shane, I said quietly, "You don't happen to have any gloves, do you?"

The woman heard me and turned frantically, trying to look at the injury. "What's wrong? What is it?"

"Don't worry," I soothed. "I just want to make sure that I don't get it infected."

I didn't mention that it already looked infected. Some of the flesh even appeared necrotic. Kyle had disappeared only to return and throw me a pair of light blue lab gloves. I slid my hands into them, relieved.

I wanted to asked Kyle why he had gloves, but also wanted to get this lady patched up and out of here.

Of course, now I know I didn't need the gloves. The active virus is only transmitted by saliva. Which is great when you actually think about it. It means you don't have to be worried about getting drenched in zombie blood, which happens more than I thought it would. Er, well, I don't know. It has for us. It certainly has for me. But what about you?

For some reason, I don't think you've been so covered in blood it's difficult to tell whose it is.

I worked in silence, first cleaning it with plain water into the wound and peroxide around the edges. I smeared some of the Neosporin into the wound to protect it, then packed it lightly with some of the gauze.

Now we don't waste the supplies. Now if you get bit, it's up to you. You can either leave or take a bullet. We can't wait for you to turn. Like I've said before, the turn happens so fast and we just can't afford to leave it up to chance.

Surprising me, Kyle helped hold the pad in place while I secured it with the athletic tape.

When I finished, I went over to the sink, stripping the gloves off. I turned the water to as hot as I could stand and started scrubbing vigorously with the dish soap. I heard Shane speaking quietly to the woman, then jumped when Kyle stood next to me, starting to scrub at his hands as well.

"Did you feel it?" he asked softly, the running water masking his words. I nodded, making sure I hadn't gotten anything under my fingernails. "She's burning up," Kyle whispered. "We need to get her out of here."

I looked over my shoulder to see that the woman was pale and had a sheen of sweat on her forehead. When she happened to glance my way, I noticed that her eyes were bloodshot.

I forced a smile before turning back to the sink. "How?" I whispered. "We can't just kick her out."

"Why?" Kyle argued. "We don't even know her. What if she infects one of us?"

Just at that moment Shane came over, and I looked around to find the woman laying on the couch with her eyes closed. Her breathing was rapid and I watched as the muscles in the arm I could see shivered and clenched, spasming. Neither Kyle nor I continued washing, but we let the water run, hiding our words.

Shane looked at me and said, his voice low and somber, "She's got a bad fever. Didn't they say that was one of the symptoms?"

Kyle leaned against the counter and said, "Yeah. And they said it might be contagious." Lowering his voice further, he said, "I think someone bit her. I think that's why she's sick."

Kyle had voiced what I had thought too ridiculous to say. What I had been too afraid to say. We both looked up when Shane said, "You can't be serious?"

I bit my lip, hugging my arms around myself. "I'm no trauma doctor but... it did look like a bite to me."

Looking over at the woman, Kyle said darkly, "I saw how this ends in Zombieland. Shane we need to get her out of here."

Both Shane and I stared at Kyle, incredulous. "What?" he asked defensively. "Like you two didn't think the same thing?"

We looked at each other, then all three of us looked over at the woman. She appeared to be asleep and I watched, dread blooming like a dark flower in my chest as the muscles in her legs jumped and twitched.

"We'll just call the hospital," I said finally. "That's what we're supposed to do anyway, right?"

The brothers looked at each other, then Shane handed me his phone. I took it and said, "And you couldn't call because...?"

Shane looked at Kyle, then said, "Because I'm gonna go grab my sidearm out of my room."

My eyes widened. "Do you really think that's necessary?"

"Do you really want to take the chance?" Shane shook his head. "Look, I don't know what exactly is going on, but I do know that people who are sick are supposed to get violent. So I'm just... preparing for certain possibilities." He said this as he headed down the hall.

I didn't argue, an absurd relief taking the place of my dread as I considered that maybe Shane was right to just be ready. Looking down, I dialed 911 and waited for someone to pick up. Kyle turned off the water and watched me, waiting.

I frowned when I heard a busy signal, then at the voice that told me my call had been dropped. I looked at Kyle, then dialed again.

This time it rang, but still no one was picking up. Eventually my call was dropped again. I pulled the phone away from my ear, staring at it in disbelief.

Of course now I know why no one was picking up, but I'll explain that later.

"It's busy," I said blankly.

"What?" Kyle asked, snatching the phone from me. "No way."

I put my hands on my hips and raised an eyebrow at him. Kyle scowled back at me as it rang, then took the phone away from his ear, a startled look on his face. "There's a busy signal."

"I wasn't making it up!" I threw my hands into the air.

"So what do we do?" Kyle asked as Shane rejoined us.

I looked him up and down, but couldn't see where his gun was. That didn't matter though. I already felt a little better with him standing next to me. Shane raised an eyebrow and Kyle said, "We can't reach an ambulance."

"What?" Shane looked at me like I would have the answers.

I shook my head. "We dialed 911 but nobody picked up."

Shane crossed his arms and looked at the floor. He was now wearing a USMC shirt and a pair of faded fatigues tucked into scuffed combat boots. I rubbed at my bare arms and shivered, waiting for what he thought we should do. I didn't know if I was actually cold or maybe scared.

Shane noticed, the way he notices everything, and reached over to a nearby coat rack. He handed me a red hoodie with the eagle and globe on it in white.

I slipped it on gratefully. It was big on me but was warm and comfortable. I shoved my freezing hands into the pocket and said, "Should we just take her ourselves?"

"Do you want to be trapped in a car with her when she turns?" Kyle snapped.

Shane frowned. "Easy bro. You're talking like this zombie thing is for sure."

Kyle scowled at his brother and said,  "Someone bit her and now she's sick. Do you have a better explanation?"

Shane shook his head. "Not yet I don't. But I'm not gonna start poppin' people in the head just in case ya know?" He said this with a touch of sarcasm, but I couldn't find it in me to be amused. I felt like everything was spinning sideways.

"I," I started to say something but stopped when Kyle raised a hand.

"Do you hear that?" Kyle asked, voice hushed. Both Shane and I paused, hardly breathing as we listened.

Shane whispered. "I don't hear anything."

"Exactly." Kyle stood on his toes to get a better look at the woman on the couch. "Is she still breathing?"