Melissa's P.O.V.

I had no idea how long I was in that closet but I can tell you that it was too long.

The boredom kicked in almost instantly. I started first by making myself a splint for my leg. I used two mops that I broke apart and then places along the side of my leg, trying very hard not to see the crooked way in which is lay. Then I tried it all together with a bunch of old rags.

Once that was done I practiced walking, pacing the small 7 steps from wall to wall until the pain numbed out a bit.

Then I read the label on every single product on the shelves, I learned a lot about chemicals I'd never use ever again. Did you know you're supposed to wear goggles when handling glass cleaner? I didn't before that point.

I counted the ceiling tiles, the floor tiles, the bricks in the walls and then added all those numbers together.

After that I sat and looked at the ceiling. I came up with weird stories to explain why there was a water stain on the ceiling tiles that no one bothered to fix, or why there was paint spatters along the walls.

But once the banging had stopped, and I no longer heard random grunts or the occasional bump into the door I counted to 1000 eighteen times before braving whatever was outside.

I was in luck there was nothing waiting for me out there, but I had been in there a very long time, the sun was going down. But the sun did go down earlier in the winter, I'd guess it was around 5 in the afternoon maybe close to six.

I hobbled through the hallway, the short way to the door I had originally dashed through. It took way too long but I made it nonetheless. When I got to the street it was empty, that stampede that had overtaken us not that long ago was gone. But Evelyn's car was still standing there, completely untouched.

Was I surprised? Fuck no.

I looked back and forth before I soundlessly hobbled over to the car. I didn't have the keys but that didn't mean I couldn't jimmy it open with something. Maybe break a window and get in that way? I honestly didn't care what happened so long as I got the hell out of this city and back home. I felt like I could take on Steve if he showed up then and there.

Except not really. I was injured not crazy.

I went to put a hand to door, just to check if it was unlocked and heard a gun cocking. I immediately thought Drifters but when I turned it was Evelyn standing behind me. She looked bad. She was covered, from the knees down, with dirt and there was blood on her jacket and god knows what smudged on her face, and through those smudges I could clearly make out tear tracks.

There was none of the calm vagueness about her face or any sign of any emotion that could have brought her to tears. Her face was hard and calculated, she had a plan and it was most likely shooting me or leaving me here to fend for myself.

"Get away from my car," she ordered her voice level and unfeeling.

I put my hands up. "You can't leave me here."

"Get away from my car," she repeated.

"You need me!" I cried suddenly desperate to somehow get the upper hand.

Evelyn glared at me over the rifle in her hands. "I do not need a traitor! Now back away from the car."

I knew it then that Evelyn wasn't going to let me talk her into anything.

I was injured, weaponless and about to get left behind or shot. I guess that made me pretty desperate because what I did next was probably the stupidest thing ever. Well, the pettiest.

I figured if I was going down I might as well take her with me and I saw my opportunity the second I saw a zombie come shuffling out of the building I just abandoned, not ten feet away from Evelyn, who had not noticed it's appearance.

I screwed up all my courage, got ready to ignore the blinding pain I was going to be in and pulled what I now refer to as an "Evelyn".

I threw myself to the ground and slammed the car as hard as I could with my hand. I knew about this feature from before, it was meant to startle zombies away, as soon as my hand made contact that car began to vibrate and beep. Evelyn swore at me but dropped her gun, letting it hang from her side and fished her keys out of her pocket. She managed to push the alarm button but not before that one walker I spotted tackle her to the ground.

They began to scramble as forced myself to slide under the car to hide from the zombies that were now appearing again, grateful that the car had stopped making that horrible sound.

Other zombies had surrounded them, but Evelyn had somehow managed to wiggle away from the zombie that had gotten on top of her, at the price of leaving her gun behind.

She took one look around at the zombies surrounding her and screamed.

It was the first time I had heard her make a sound of terror, it was horrifying and really, really loud. For some reason it was enough to startle the zombies around her back and that was all Evelyn needed to get up and run off in the opposite direction.

Most of the zombies followed after her, but that one zombie that had gone in for the tackle and I guess a friend of his stayed behind. Both of them were sniffing, they were looking for me, the one on the ground had already spotted me, had already started wiggling in my direction.

I went to slide out the other side, but the zombie's friend, a girl zombie this time, was on the other side. I was going to have to try wiggling backwards even though it was killing my injured leg to try and do that.

The one zombie on the ground went to reach from me, probably would have got me too, but it suddenly pulled back. Both zombies were looking towards the road we came in on, back the way we came. Whatever it was they saw, or felt coming they completely abandoned me and wandered off.

For a minute there, I was grateful.

I stayed where I was, near tears, trying to reach around to my leg and massage some of the pain out of it. It was a good thing I hadn't tried to get out from under the car to find somewhere safer to hide because not thirty second after Evelyn vanished, with a horde of zombies forming to follow her, did the ground start shaking.

At first it was small tremors, I barely felt them, then the ground around me began to vibrate. I noticed that zombies were all fleeing into buildings, some just threw themselves onto the ground to play dead. Suddenly the car above me was practically bouncing from the shaking that was coming my way. I wanted to turn around and get a glimpse of what was coming but I was too afraid. Instead I covered my mouth to muffle my screams as whatever it was slid to a stop by the car.

Dirt and gravel went flying, pelting me and getting in my eyes and my mouth. I held my coughs in clutching at my face until I felt my nails digging into my skin.

Whatever it was above me, it was huge and it wasn't human. There was one big paw beside the car, a neon green colour it was at least the size of the hood of the jeep. There was only one thing I knew of that could be that size and that was the Beast. It had the right colour and the right size but it couldn't be the Toronto Beast because the Toronto Beast was obviously back in Toronto, why would it come all the way out here?

The thing above me sniffed, I could hear a deep grunting coming from it a low kind of vibrating bark that confused me. I don't think I had ever heard anything like it. I waited for it to stop, wondering if Evelyn's magic spray would keep it from knocking the car over and eating me whole.

In the distance I heard a piercing scream, one followed by a cry of: "STEVE!" and I froze. Oh fucking Evelyn and her fucking mouth. Above me, whatever it was roared. I mean long and loud and so much so I covered my ears and cried out in pain. It didn't even hear me, or if it did it didn't care. It took off rushing in the direction of Evelyn's cries for Steve.

I counted to ten before forcing myself to climb out from under the car. I found myself on the horns of a dilemma.

While I didn't think that Evelyn could survive an encounter with the Beast I wouldn't put it past that bitch to find a way to do just that. Now I could steal her car and hope to god that I can get back to Toronto and she dies here or I could go try and help her.

Now why would I want to help her? Easy. I was injured, I couldn't possibly protect myself if I were to come into any trouble on the way home.

Plus I wasn't sure if I could drive with an injured leg, sure it wasn't my leading leg but it was still killing me. I was positive that the only thing keeping me going thus far was the adrenaline.

Then there was the Steve thing to worry about. In the godforsaken chance I might I meet him I would very much like the pleasure of being able to say I at least tried to help that stupid bitch.

I stopped just long enough to pick up the rifle Evelyn had dropped during the scuffle and then hobbled off towards the whole commotion. Obviously the Beast made it to her first, but it didn't take me long too find where it had gone because there was a stream of zombies evacuating the area. They were so scared even they were avoiding me, though that might have been that green shit Evelyn had sprayed on me.

Evelyn was hanging off a ladder of a second story fire escape, one zombie attached to her boot, hanging on for dear life. And right underneath the two of them was the Beast.

And holy hell was that a fucking giant ass Tiger?

It stood at least two stories tall and had to be as long as a fire truck and just as thick. It was sitting underneath the dangling duo, its large green stripped tail flipping back and forth while Evelyn shrieked and tried to kick the zombie off.

"Steve!" she screamed again and the Beast tilted its head to the side as if confused. It raised one of its massive paws and took a swipe at the dangling zombie. The force had the two of them rocking back and forth, Evelyn's grip was slipping. "STEVE?! No! Don't! No! Bad! DON'T!"

I didn't know who she was talking to but the Beast sure as hell wasn't listening to her. It raised its paw and swatted at them again, this time with more pressure. The zombie got caught on a claw, going down immediately but Evelyn was thrown so hard that she flew right into me, and I was pretty far off. Then of course, her colliding with me sent us both flying.

We lay a few bounces away from the mouth of the alleyway where I had found them groaning in pain. A shadow hovered over us, and it didn't register to me that it might be something dangerous until Evelyn was ripped away from me. I took out the rifle ready to shoot whatever it was even though if it was the Beast bullets would have just pissed it off and found myself too shocked to move.

Evelyn stood a few paces away, embraced by what I could only call a mountain that was showering her with kisses.

For a moment she just looked at him and then back to me and the confusion on my face. The question was clearly there, I didn't need to ask it. After a moment of silence in which the mountain ignored me to cover her in kisses she very carefully said three words.

"I can explain."