POV: Dream

The moonlight refracted against the heat coming from the deceased. Which makes literally no sense, because they don't have actual blood, therefore, cannot produce heat, but believe me, they do. The sun cooks them like jerky. 

We creaked open the banged in door from the train car, and saw that it was nearly silent. Four or five walkers spread out as far as we could see. We could honestly walk normally, and we would be fine. 

My heart leapt into my throat as I thought about how I get to see Scar again. My baby girl. I can't wait to see her face again. I hope Darla is the same way when she gets to see her sons again.

Sean set out first. His foot quick, and deliberate. I was next. I was still a little wobbly on my feet, but my steps were jittery, and excited. Then came Ben. His arm was around my shoulder, making sure I get out safely. He stepped calmly, and quiet. 

The spongy ground below us was getting harder as winter drew closer, and closer. We knew the waters weren't frozen yet, so we didn't dare cross on them. 

"Dream, how are you holding up?" Sean asked me, looking over his shoulder. 

"I'm okay," 

"Ben? You still okay?" 

"Mmhm," He was in pain, but he was ready to get where we needed. 

"Okay, so we're in Levittown Pennsylvania, and we need to get to ocean avenue New Jersey. It usually takes about an hour by car, but on foot, its going to take about 70 hours, not including breaks. We have a bit to go,"

"So, its about four days?" I asked, trying to keep my natural balance.

"More like six. But it's going to go fast. Trust me. It's that perfect time of year where the winter walkers aren't here, and the summer ones are either dying, or slowing down. We won't have too much trouble, but I want everyone to be prepared. Here, take a look," Sean unlaced an Under Armour athletic bag from around his shoulders, and set it on the hardening ground. He unzipped it, and reveled an onslaught of weapons. Shotguns, rifles, knifes, bows, even throwing stars. Literally any weapon you could have imagined, is in this bag.

"Take what you need. I know you both have ankle knifes, but, maybe take a strap, and get a waist one," Sean offered, digging to the bottom of the bag, and pulling out a couple brown, and grey belts with hooks. Ben and I each took one, and respected Sean's wishes.

"Alright, so we're going to have to pass through some hills, but it really isn't going to be anything we can't handle. We are all going to be okay. I would say, the main thing we have to worry about, is night time. It's going to be literally freezing. I have two tents, so, it will probably be Ben and I in one, then Dream in the other, Dream, Dre- here, let me help you," Sean was explaining our journey while I was trying to clasp the belt around my waist. He took either side of the belt, and looped around my back, to tie them gently.

"Is that good? It's not too tight, right?"

"Yeah, that's good. Thank you. What where you talking about? Why do I have to be in a separate tent? Its gonna be freezing!" I said, as Sean walked back to the front of us, his good eye shining against the crisp moonlight,

"Well, it was just a suggestion. Considering Ben and I have known each other for long- you know, never mind. We'll cross that bridge when we come to it, let's get going," Sean said. We were all about to get on the road, but Ben's coat was unzipped, and he, was for some reason, struggling more than I was to get it zipped. I know Ben is "too cool" to have a zipped jacket, but he even knows how cold it is. I stepped over, and zipped it for him. His hormones ran wild as red flourished on his cheeks.

"Uh, thanks. I would have gotten it though," He said, as he picked a couple pieces of hair off of his oh so familiar jacket.

"I know, it's just faster this way," I chuckled. He breathed heavily out his nose, and rolled his eyes.

Two days away from Ocean Avenue, New Jersey.

"So yeah, I was a pretty popular kid when I was in school," Ben smiled. Sean and I could only roll our eyes.

"What! I was! The goalie of the hockey team! Had all them babes. I was the typical jock!"

"Oh yeah? I guarantee that I had more chicks than you ever did," I smirked, looking to him out of the corner of my eye.

He raised an eyebrow.

"Did'ja now?"

"You best believe it! Being Bi gets you more than you can imagine baby!" I smirked, knowing that I rarely got tail, but how would he know?

"Does it now?"

"Oh yeah!!" I couldn't contain my giggles.

"Huh. I guess I wouldn't know," Ben chuckled. I laughed. Walking for nearly five days is killing me, but Ben, Sean, and I have gotten really close through this.

"How 'bout you Sean? What were your school days like?" Ben asked. My smile faded. Sean doesn't like to talk about his childhood.

"Oh, I don't know. I wasn't too popular. I was really into video games, didn't really care about being too popular," Sean said, adjusting his backpack over his shoulders, quietly looking over to us.

"Really? I couldn't see you being the gamer type," Ben smiled.

"Oh yeah. I was obsessed. I never, really, had friends. I mean, I had some acquaintances, but nothing as good as a friend."

"Really? I'm sorry Sean, that really sucks." I said, stepping over a large hole in the ground.

"Ah, it wasn't too bad. I mean, I clearly was successful in school, I mean, I was a scientist," He smiled. We were starting to head up to a dense thicket.

"I guess, I was never too good in math, or science. I was pretty good at Language Arts I guess," I smiled.

"Could have guessed that," Ben smiled.

Sean stopped ahead of us. He put his left hand up to his ear, then folded his hand out, and put it behind his ear.

Ben leaned over to me, and whispered in my ear.

"Stop, listen,"

I did as told, and waited for further instructions. I looked ahead, feeling my eyes refocus on the woods, and I saw movement. Too slow to be people, but too fast to be Winter Walkers. I can't believe how long its taking for the summer walkers to go away. Thanks Global Warming.

We looked to our left, then right. We were totally surrounded. None of them really noticed us, we still have to be extremely careful.

"Okay. You're not going to believe this, but we have to get to the other side of that thicket," Sean said. I felt dread grow in my heart.

"Youre fucking kidding me, right?" Ben asked, pulling his hair. I put my arm on his shoulder. He's gotta be quiet.

"It's not that bad. You know what we have to do. We just need to be quiet," Sean said, and started walking towards the thicket. I let Ben get in front of me.

While walking in a single file line,  we soon realized that we couldn't possibly get through like this. Sean stuck up his left hand, and spread apart his three fingers. I could decipher this for myself. He needs us to split up. Ben and I looked to each other, then split up. I went to Sean's left, and Ben went to his right. Ben got the short end of the stick. He had thicker trees, and more zombies than Sean and I. I know he's going to be fine, but it's still a worrying. As I took my eyes off of Ben, I focused back on my path. They were growing thicker.

Sean made a peace sign with both hands, then placed one hand on top of the other, first knuckles of each pointer finger meeting up. I looked to Ben for a translation, but his eyes were widened on his own path. I guess Ill just figure it out.

We had slowed our pace, and started limping as the horde grew thicker. Blending in as much as possible is a must.

There was a rustle of leaves, and branches snapping. I looked, and saw that Ben had tripped. Sean and I were motionless. All of the blood in my body ran cold. Ben was as still has he could have been, but maybe that was the wrong thing to do. Usually when things fall out of trees, theyre dead, and stop moving. Ten walkers that were beside him, turned their heads to look at him, and to our horror, started walking towards to him. Sean and I sprinted over as fast as we could, but Ben's horrific screams erupted before we could get there in time.

I reached for the blade at my ankle, and got one in the back of the head. It fell after it slid off my blade. I hit a few more in the same fashion, before I grabbed Ben's frantic hand. I pulled him from the mess, as Sean fought off the more that were coming. As I was dragging Ben, I was franticly looking for somewhere to go. There was a lake on the other side. It looked pretty clear.

"Sean!" I screamed, dragging Ben behind me. He looked to where I was going, hit a few more zombies, and started in a full sprint, leaving one bag of our weapons behind. I nearly threw Ben into the river. I watched him struggle to keep his head above water, but still push on to get to the other side.

A loud splash echoed behind us, as Sean jumped in to the lake.

"Ben, Ben are you okay? Ben, come on buddy," Sean was doggy paddling to his hearts content; his voice was kind, as if he was talking to Ruth again. I really tried to look back, but my leg was still healing. I decided I better make it there before I drown. I pushed harder, while still making sure Ben and Sean were right on my heels.

Once I made it to the beach shore, and saw that Sean and Ben were still in the water, I ran back into a couple feet, to grab Ben's jacket. Sean grabbed Ben's feet, and I pulled them to shore.

Sean and Ben were both sputtering. Sean pushed Ben all the way to the shore, then sat down next to him. Sean's eye patch quickly became flooded with blood pouring out of its socket. Ben's white sleeve of his normal green and white varsity jacket was drenched in blood.

"Come in the heat you guys," I grabbed Sean's hand and Ben's sleeve, and pulled them into the sun. They followed, and sat down in the heat. Their hair was dripping, and stuck against their trembling, freshly cut foreheads.

"Sean, let me see your eye," I said, while pulling Ben's sleeve up. To my absolute surprise, he listened. He scooted closer to me, kicking sand up from his butt, and lifted the bandage.

"Okay, it's going to be okay. In my backpack, there are bandages in the little blue pouch. I need you to grab that, the hydrogen peroxide, and the ace wrap, and I'll fix you up, okay? Ben, I need you to trust me, okay? I'm going to lift up your sleeve, and fix you up." I talked to them as if I was talking to a child. 

Ben lifted his sleeve for me, and I took a look at what we were dealing with. 

The blood was immense. It was as if he had slit a vein! 

"Ben, are you feeling okay? Are you at all woozy?" That was too much blood to be considered normal.

"I'm fine. I have, I - I have trouble clotting. I feel fine. Trust me. Just, wipe the blood away, see whats happening." Ben whisked the water away from his eyes, and grumbled as I messed with his arm.

I wiped away some blood, and what I saw below was the only thing I didn't want to see.

"Sean, come here please," I said, really quietly. Sean scooted over to me, and looked with his good eye to see what I was looking at. 

A perfect, circular bite, right in the middle of Ben's forearm. 

"Fuck, fuck! Ben, you got bit! You got fucking bit!" Sean thrashed his hands through his hair, stood up, and stomped to the edge of the water. 

"What? I, got-" Ben brought his wrist up to his eyes, and saw for himself. 

"Ben, how did this happen?!" My eyes wouldn't focus on one single thing. 

"Probably when I was getting moles-"

"Ben! This can't happen! We need you!" Sean screamed over Ben's blue collar joke. He was pacing the beach side. 

"Well, what are we going to do?!" Ben said, more angry than scared. 

After long consideration, Sean finally opened his mouth. 

"We need to cut it off," 

An audible gasp escaped our throats. 

"Are you fucking insane?! No!" Ben shrieked, clasping his arm to his chest. 

"It's the only way we can have a chance to keep you alive!" I agreed with Sean.

"You're joking. You're joking! You can't possibly be thinking about cutting my arm off! I'm going to be a hockey star! I can't have only one arm!" Ben was hysterical. 

"Ben, think about your future! We are going to be in this Godforsaken apocalypse until it eventually catches up and kills us! There is no more hockey star. There is no more school! All we have is each other, and it is selfish to not take the only preventable matter against killing yourself!" Sean went back into leader mode. Ben's eyes filled with tears. 

"Sean, please." Ben's arm was bleeding onto his shirt. He knew that this was a thing that he couldn't avoid. He knew it wouldn't be totally proof free, but it was better than nothing. We had to risk it. 

"Ben. I know how much it hurts to let go. Believe it or not, I have had to do it too. I know it's hard, but you're stronger than you think you are. You, can do this." Sean bent down to Ben, as I was behind Sean, wrapping his eye, trying not to cry. 

"So much has changed Jack," Ben clenched his eyes tightly, and leaned into his Sean's shoulder.  Sean's eyes shrunk as he called him Jack. I knew that he wouldn't put it against him, it was just weird. 

Sean wrapped his arm around Ben's shaking shoulders, and actually hugged him.

"I know Ben." Instead of trying to fix everything, he just listened. Tears cascaded down my face, and on to Sean's back, as I made the final knot in Sean's eye wrap. 

"Okay. Just, drug me up before you do it, or something," Ben chuckled through his tears. Sean pulled himself up from Ben's jacket, and nodded. No tears from him, but he had a little smirk.

"Will do. Do you prefer whiskey, or tequila?" Sean asked, digging into his bag. 

"Ive never drank before. The apocalypse started when I was eighteen," Ben chuckled, wiping a tear away. 

"Do you care more for the taste, or the pain?" 

"Pain,"

"Then you want Vodka," Sean dug through the bag, and pulled out a Crystal clear skull bottle. Ben cringed as he looked at it. Its calming to know that I'm not the only one who has never drank. 

"Alright Ben. I'm going to wait until you're at least drunk to start this, so, here we go!" Sean handed Ben the bottle, then twisted the top off. 

Ben took a whiff of the putrid smelling liquid, while his entire face cringed up. He was excited for his first drink, I just think that this wasn't the one to start with. 

"Um, okay. This isn't how I imagined my first time," Ben said, opening his mouth wide, and letting it slide down his throat, barely even touching it to his lips. 

"What was your imagination?" Sean said, trying to keep the thought of how horrible it is out of his mind. 

While Ben's face puckered up like a sun-dried handbag, he coughed out, and tried to talk, while his eyes were slits. 

"Uh, my first time? I thought it would be with a girl," He made another joke, just before hammering down another gullet full. He turned into a vacuum.

"Oh Jesus," Sean let out a little giggle as he threw back his head, making sure it slid down his throat. 

"Don't worry Ben, this isn't how I planned mine to go either," I smiled, sitting down beside Ben. He grabbed my arm for pain resistance, and I let him do as needed. 

"What was yours?" Ben asked, eyes knocking back the hefty drink. I think he was already feeling it. He was lanky for a hockey player, but it was perfect for getting drunk.

"To have one," I laughed, patting his back. 

"Well, you're not getting your arm chopped off. Tequila, Whiskey, or Vodka?" Sean laughed, digging out more bottles. 

"What do you suggest?" I asked, as Ben wiped his mouth on his stained sleeve after another hearty gulp. 

"Here, try this," Sean handed me a yellow/orange bottle, filled nearly to the brim. I cracked it open, and sat next to Ben. He looked at me, and we clinked bottles. 

Anise was the first taste that hit me. I was extremely surprised with how it tasted. It was actually pretty good. Sean sat next to me, but on top of the bone knife, and tourniquet from the bag. He wanted Ben to enjoy himself for a little longer. 

"Hmm," I smiled, licking the rest of it off of my lips. I looked to Sean, and passed him the bottle. He looked at my offer, before grabbing the neck of it, and taking a drink for himself. A smile washed over his face. 

"Thats pretty good," Sean said, passing it back to me. I took another drink, while Ben recoiled again. 

"This, this isn't," Ben's speech was slurred. The perfect amount of drunk. 

"Haha, no, no it is not. Thats not even a nice vodka. No taste but horrible. Well Ben, are you ready?" Sean asked, standing up, the knife clinking against his boots. 

Ben looked to Sean, to the knife, then back to the bottle, and took one more swig. 

"Okay, okay. I'm ready. Who's gonna do it?" Ben's drooping eyes switched from me to Sean. 

"I can do it with the least amount of pain possible. I don't think, correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think Dream has ever had to do this before," He said, and he was exactly right. I can't imaging the idea that Sean was a scientist. Where did he find the time? 

"Sounds good. Okay. Let's go." Ben said, moving closer to me, and grabbing my hand. I positioned so it was the most comfortable for him. 

"Hey, D *hic* Dream? Will you, will you sing for me?" Ben asked, looking away from the huge bone saw that Sean held above Ben's elbow. Sean had entered full scientist mode, and escaped the bonds of this reality. Jealous. 

"Anything in particular?" I asked sweetly, as Sean made first contact. The blood was instant, but it was moving quicker than we would have thought. Im dreading when he hits bone. 

Ben's face was a contortion of pain, and drunk. He was thinking of a song, more than the fact that he is loosing the bottom of his arm. 

"War- Warriors by Imagine Dragons. I - *Gasp* I've heard you sing it in your tent when you thought we were all asleep. Ple- Please," His breaths were shortened, and filled with pain. 

"As a child, you would wait and watch from far away. But you always knew that you'd be the one, to work while they all play. In youth, you'd lay awake at night and scheme, of all the things that you would change. But it was just a dream." I tried hard to keep my concentration, but the cracking of Ben's bone seemed too much to bare. 

"Here you are, don't turn away now. You are the warrior that built this town. Here you are, don't turn away now. You are the warrior that built this town," I changed the lyrics, to better suit the situation. 

I watched as the greying hand of Ben fall to Sean's feet, i felt relieved that half the battle was over; but terrified knowing that the war has just begun. Sean was busy wrapping the tourniquet around of what remained of Ben's arm, I was finishing the song, while trying to look into his beautiful emerald eyes, before he would close them.