Sorry for the late update and for not updating last Wednesday I was in an area with no WIFI so I couldn't. Anyway hope you enjoy the chapter :)

By the afternoon when the sun was highest in the sky the group had gotten four blocks checked and cleared. They had woken up very early in the morning around 6 o'clock, Adira was the one who was able to tell it was somewhere around six only because Lydia always woke up at six o'clock sharp every morning waking her from her sleep allowing her to see what the outside looked like at such an early time.

Lydia's morning routine had provided Adira with the capability to wake up all on her own early in the morning and she spent that time looking out the window taking in everything. She took in the light yet dark blue sky with a hint of white and orange, the puffy big clouds floating in the sky, a slight mist covering everything lightly and the sound of the birds singing along with the peaceful atmosphere every morning seemed to have.

Adira was surprised that there was still birds chirping in the morning. She didn't know why she thought there would be no birds chirping but she did. She was glad she woke up to the birds chirping, it brought peace to her and it relaxed her. After her just staring out the window for just a few moments soaking up the sound of the birds everyone started waking up. Eventually getting up and getting ready to head out.

Everyone thought it was a good idea to start searching for Jane again since it was the morning and the sooner they get started the faster they could clear even more buildings. The faster they could find Jane the quicker they could look for the other half of their group.

Throughout the search they had been collecting anything that could be useful to them like any of the tiny aid kits that offices and stores had or any weapons of any kind just so everyone can have something to protect themselves with. They also came to an agreement that any buildings that seem too dangerous even for the whole group was to be avoided or any that had to many of the infected inside was not worth checking.

At the moment, Adira was sitting outside holding the door open being on the lookout with Tyler right across from her to her right. A few buildings before Adira had tripped over a bucket while they were checking a store she didn't even see, causing her to fly forward into a metal shelf where one of the levels of the shelf had scratched her causing her first wound on her thigh to open up and another cut to slice right across it. Richie had gotten injured as well since his legs had been crushed by the same shelf unaware Adira knocked it over. Richie had only got a numbed foot, a bruised and sore ankle while Adira had a reopened wound, another cut and a sprained wrist. Adira had apologized so many times knowing how it feels to have something dropped on her.

Chad had switched the two girl's position thinking Adira was injured way too much to be able to take down an infected alone and Adira didn't argue with that. Richie had assured her that Madison was safe with him and he would walk next to Madison at all times if that was what she wanted. So far they haven't came across any of infected people or any other sane human beings. The people they saw last night they didn't see again anywhere that day or heard any more of the gunshots or their vehicle.

Adira heard footsteps coming from her left so she lifted her head and looked inside the building to see Madison walking out with Richie right behind her. Madison walked over to Tyler while Richie helped Adira stand up straight.

He let out a sigh, "We didn't find anything." He shook his head in disappointed, "This building is connected to three more of these buildings that we are going to need to skip since on the other side are those sick people."

Adira nodded as she looked behind her, "Okay." She said barely above a whisper.

"Are you okay?" Richie asked concerned for her as she leaned more on her left leg.

"Yeah, it's not as bad as it did before." She answered him, "Do you think we'll find her?"

"Doubting she may still be alive and in hiding?" Richie asked a little surprise of the little hope her voice gave out.

"I don't know." She sighed, "I mean how far can a little girl her age get with those things around?"

"I don't know but like you said 'we ain't leaving until we find her and if we don't then we just move on'." He told her with a smile, "I am going to stay on board of her being somewhere around here. I don't give up."

Adira nodded and mentally repeated to herself what Richie had just said. The sound of Chad and Dan coming out of the building they were searching made the two look over just to see Chad looking at them and walking in their direction. Adira pushed herself off the door, limped up to him and met him half way with Richie behind her.

"Find anything?" She asked him as they were a foot away from each other.

"Nope. Nothing. No sign of her anywhere." Chad answered her.

Adira let out a groan, "Where could she possibly be?" She questioned to know one in particular.

"Dead." Dan simply answered as he walked up to them.

Adira sent him a glare and Richie slapped him on his shoulder as he shook his head.

"You are not being funny." Richie told him, "That is not helping either."

"Who cares? Nobody." Dan breathed out, "The little girl is probably dead. Can we move on now? There really is no point in searching."

"I care." Adira told him shooting daggers at him with her eyes, "No one is stopping you from staying. You could leave any time you please."

"I care too." Madison spoke up, "So speak for yourself." She spat at him as she walked past them.

"Me, Madison and Richie are going to skip a few of the buildings." Adira informed Chad and Tyler.

"Why?" Tyler questioned.

"Madison and I found blueprints in the office and it seems that this building and about five more stores down are all connected to each other." Richie explained as he pointed to the buildings Madison seemed to be walking past.

Tyler shook his head not really getting why they were going to skip a few buildings. Richie continued as he saw Tyler just shake his head.

"The next building over are covered with those infected inside and a lot." Richie told him.

"Then just skip that one." Tyler told him pointing to the next building.

"I choose not to do that." Richie said, "I choose not to take the chance of opening a door that could release a bunch of those things where we are and get us killed. So just to be safe we are going to skip."

"Okay then." Tyler nodded as his gaze slipped to his sister every once in a while, "Should we continue?"

"Yeah get as much buildings searched and covered as possible before night fall." Chad answered with a nod with the others, who turned and went to continue their search.

By the time the sun was almost ready to set and the sky was a mix between red, orange and a deep blue the group covered a block. They were currently walking past a few empty lots that had yellow grass that has not been cut or watered in a few days. A large sign held up by two square woods that read for sell, a number and a name on it in black. The signs in the lots were empty and boring. They had no color besides the black and white, no picture and no creativity; it was a really sad sell sign.

Adira and Tyler looked at both lots seeing infected people in both of them. One was running itself into the fence, that kept intruders from getting in, and it made Adira wonder how that one in particular got into the lot in the first place if there was no way in that she could see. In the other lot there was one in the corner growling to itself unaware of their presence while another was running around banging on the faded red brick walls, eventually seeing the group and began to snarl at them.

They looked at each other confused before Tyler walked ahead of Adira catching up to the group. Adira just eyed the infected and their actions that reminded her so much of rats her sister Darla once brought home. They did the exact same thing the rats were doing but Adira shook her head getting the thought out of her head. She looked forward to see that the group were further away then she had thought so she quickly tried limping as fast as she could to catch up but her ankle twisted shooting pain right up her leg causing her knees to give up.

Once her knee gave out, she fell to the floor landing with a soft thud both her palms connected with the asphalt floor as she let out a tiny gasps, her brown hair falling over her face. Chad was the first to hear the soft thud, turned around and rushed over to her when he saw she was on the floor one hand holding her ankle.

"Are you okay?" Chad questioned her as he kneeled down next to her, Tyler and Madison quickly joining him.

"Are you okay, Adira?" Madison's soft voice asked when she got next to the pair.

"Yeah." Adira assured them with a slight hiss, "I'm fine. I just twisted my ankle."

"Here, gimme." Chad taking her ankle into his hands and began to massage her ankle, putting pressure on it by squeezing it from the sides then moving it around, "Does that hurt?" He asked looking up to see her lips were pressed together to keep from hissing and her eyes were shut, "I'm hurting you." He stated but soon she breaths, opens her eyes and shakes her head.

"No, it feels a little better." She stated to him, "But my leg still hurts."

"Do you think you could continue walking?" He questioned her as he stood up straight extending his arm out to her, which she slides, her palm into his.

She takes a deep breath, "Well we'll see." He pulls her up like it was nothing but she uses her left leg to hold her up.

She tries to apply pressure on the injured leg but it sends a wave of pain up her leg causing her knee to give out once more. Before she could drop to the floor Tyler and Chad catches her allowing her to stand up straight.

"Alright come on." Chad said grabbing her arm and putting it over his shoulders as he wraps his arm around her waist, "I'll help you."

"Is she okay?" Richie asked Chad looking down at Adira's leg, "Are you okay?" He asked her just a second after his first question when Chad and Adira caught up to them.

"Yeah she just twisted her ankle that's all." Chad answered for her looking at her with a small smile when she just stares at her feet, "She'll be fine. We just need to find a place to stay and allow her to rest." She looked up at him when she feels holes burning in her temples and she finds him still staring.

Richie gives her a look over his eyebrows furrowed in concern, "Alright." He said to himself trying to convince himself she'll be fine.

With that they continue walking passing buildings that they could see more than a dozen in. They walked into the middle of an intersection when they hear a loud scream that scared a bunch of birds making them flap their wings. The group looked up at the sky just to see a bunch of birds come out from their hiding place and taking flight in the sky. Another scream erupted through the big city and everyone looked from the birds in the sky to their left down one of the streets.

"That could be Jane." Madison exclaimed as she whipped her head around to look at Adira.

"If that's her we need to go check." Tyler added quickly.

Adira looked a little hesitate to go check because to her that didn't sound like a little girls scream but an older woman's scream. She looked from Tyler to down the street wondering if they should take the chance.

"Adira, we have to go check. Come on." Madison pulls her arm a little to get her attention.

Tyler let out a frustrated groan and began running in the direction the scream came from. Adira quickly notice calling out for him as she reached to stop him.

"Tyler!" Adira screamed her fingers touched his shirt but it wasn't enough to get a grip on his shirt. She almost fell taking a step towards Tyler but Chad grabbed her so she wouldn't fall.

"We have to help!" Tyler screamed back to her as he raced towards the sounds.

"He's right." Soon enough Madison followed in pursuit, "Come on, Adira. That could be her." She yelled to her as she catches up to Tyler and they both continue running.

Adira let out a panicked yet frustrated groan, slipping from Chad's grip and limping in the same direction as Tyler and Madison. Chad pulled her back into his arms running with her so she won't fall or injure herself even more. They run for another block before Adira and Chad see Tyler and Madison stop and look down a street to their right before looking back.

"This way!" They heard Tyler yell as they watched him point down the street and began running down it.

Once they made it to where Tyler turned, they didn't hesitate to run down that street either. A few feet ahead they could see Tyler and Madison pace slow down and just stand there frozen in their spot.

"What do we do?" Madison looked up at Tyler with big worried eyes that matched her worried voice.

Tyler looks to his side to see Chad and Adira come up to them out of breath. She looked ahead of them to see more than a dozen infected getting inside a building that looked like an apartment building. Adira huffed out a few breaths trying to slow her breathing down before she talks.

"Tyler, Madison, you and Dan along with Richie take out the last ones at the door." She ordered quickly, "Once they are out of the way close the door."

"Close the door? That's where they are." Tyler pointed out, "Are you trying to kill her?"

"Listen." Adira hissed, "Close the doors both doors, once that's shut you guys stay together. Wait until Chad and I are on the cars before you reopen the doors, okay?" She looked at all of them to see if they were listening and all nodded, "Good. Now when we say to you open the doors and as close as possible bring the doors back use the doors as a shield."

"Aren't they going to know we are back there?" Dan asked.

"Would you people just listen and let me finish." She told them already annoyed, "No, hopefully they would only focus on me and Chad when we are yelling at them. When you get the chance and see no more of those things coming out you four run in there and close the door behind you, do you got it?"

"Okay I got it." Dan and Richie nodded in agreement.

"Ready?" She asked all of them before Tyler, Madison, Richie and Dan rushed the infected pushing their way into the building.

Chad quickly helped Adira make her way to the cars parked along the sidewalk across the street from the building the infected were getting into. He helped lift her onto the car before jumping onto the car parked in front of it. By the time they were up Richie and Dan already had the doors closed and watching the two to let them know they were ready.

Adira took a deep breath, looked at Chad, who looked back at her, nodding at each other before nodding towards Richie and Dan. They pull the doors open quickly before pulling it back to cover both themselves and the two siblings that were behind them.

The sick people came flooding out of the building Adira and Chad banging on the cars and yelling at them causing the infected to ram themselves into the cars and some try grabbing at their ankles.

Adira and Chad take out their pocket knives and began to stab the infected in the head making them fall one after another. After a while Adira stabbed one getting her knife stuck in its head. The body hit the front of the car face first before it began to slide down the hood. Adira slides down to the hood, taking hold of the knife and tries to get it back but it would not budge, the more it slipped the more closer Adira got to the hands trying to take hold of her.

Adira was capable of pulling the body a little bit on the hood before Chad yelled out to her.

"Adira, behind you." He informed her quickly staring right behind her.

She looks behind her to see the one had figured out how to get up on the car and was coming straight for her. She continued to pull on the knife but it still didn't budge. She kept looking back and forth from her stuck knife to the infected making sure it doesn't get to close to her.

"Adira!" Chad called out in panic.

She looks up at him just in time to see him toss his knife to her. She quickly caught it, hesitantly letting go of the stuck knife, quickly getting up and swinging around just to plunge the knife right into its temple. She quickly takes it out allowing the infected to go limp and fall off the car. Without hesitation she turns around just in time to see the dead infected head about to fall off the hood and scrambles to grab it.

When she wraps her palm around the knife, she begins to pull up, her arm becoming an inch away from one of the other infected mouth. She wraps her other hand around it and with both hands pulls up pushing with her legs that move her hand away from the infected mouth just in time before it took a bite. Her butt comes into contact with the car hood and the windshield as she continues to pull the dead weight body up onto the hood.

She holds the body in place when it half way on the hood and quickly but steady gets up, puts her knee with all her weight on the bodies back and pulls up with all her might. After the third pull and a few wiggles, it comes out with a few drops of its dark blood. She huffed out a big breath and stood up ready to get to the top of the car, the only highest part but as she took a step up one of the infected fingers found its way around the cuff of her skinny jeans. It pulling her leg back, making her fall forward hitting her face on the hood and her to lose consciousness.

Again sorry for the late update. Please excuse the errors this is unedited but will be when this book is done. Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed the chapter. :) Let me know what you guys think.