They ran as fast as they could back to the street that they were once on. A few of them refused to look back just in case the scene wasn't pleasant, while the others looked back to find nothing there, but kept running anyway incase the Infected were to catch up.

"We could stop," Mari told them.

"No, keep going," Tom ordered. "We need to be sure that we are as far away from them as we can get."

"Daddy?" A soft voice called. "I'm tired."

"I know, baby, but we have to keep going," Tom said.

As the group reached the Melody Bridge, they stopped running and started to walk across it.

"What about Chad, Ben?" Erin asked worriedly. "We need to go back."

"No," Ben said. "Chad said to go to the gas station and wait there, and that's what we're going to do."

"Ben is right. We need to get the station," Braden agreed.

"What if he's hurt, Braden?" Diana asked softly, her eyes filled with concern. "What if he needs our help?"

"Diana, we can't," he simply said. "The kid said to go to the gas station and wait. That's what we are going to do."

They crossed the bridge and found themselves only a few feet away from the gas station. Most of the group like Ben, Tom, and Braden looked calm, while Mari, Vanessa, Erin and M.J were worried about their fellow member. Erin had her arms on top of her head, letting out a sigh as she looked across the plain rocky dip that was once a lake. Diana, Vanessa, and Mari looked across to see if there was any sign of Chad. As they got closer to the gas station, they could hear a loud crashing noise that got louder and louder with every step they took. Ben, Braden, and Tom lifted their weapons with caution while standing in front of the girls protectively. When they got nearer to the window, they took a peek in to find the place a mess and a figure smashing everything, making a ruckus in the store.

"Hey!" Ben yelled at the figure, who just kept banging a steel pole against the glass freezer doors where the beverages were. "Hey!" He yelled again, as the figure wasn't responding.

"They're gone," the figure cried. "They're all gone. None of them were there. Not even the dog."

"Hey, kid!" Braden yelled.

"I should have been there with them." They stopped swinging and stood motionless.

Erin pushed Braden and Ben to the side as she ran to the slim figure and hugged him.

"Erin!" Ben yelled.

"Chad, are you ok?" Erin asked, turning Chad around to reveal his skinny face with watery eyes and tears running down his cheeks. "Chad?"

Everyone stared at him cautiously.

"You made it," Vanessa and M.J. piped up with a smile.

"But they didn't," Chad whispered, crying even harder than before. "None of them did. Not even the dog."

"It's okay." Erin hugged him. "She's in a better place."

"How would you know? Huh?" Chad pushed her away, getting more upset. "She could be one of those things for all we know. Is that what you consider a better place? Walking around, looking dead, being rotten and... and..." He threw his hands up in frustration, trying to think of the right word. "Soulless!"

Chad slowly walked to the wall, put his head against the fridge door, and let out a sigh. Erin walked back to the group with a defeated face while the others gave her looks of concern. Erin shook her head and looked back at Chad.

"She didn't make it," Erin said softly to the others, looking down at the floor.

"Well, we can't just stay here," Ben whispered. "We need to keep moving."

Tom shuffled closer to the group. "First, let's get some food and water and other things we might need."

Everyone nodded and broke up, looking at all of the aisles of the gas station, finding anything they could. They also started filling their bags with any bottled beverages that they could carry. While they were doing that, a scream interrupted the silence, and everyone stopped what they were doing. Chad ran towards the scream, which lead him to the back of the shop, where he saw M.J. trying her best to get out from underneath an Infected that was trying to bite her. Vanessa was trying to pull and push the Infected off, but her strength was of little use. Chad walked quickly towards all three of them and, with ease, pulled the infected - which happened to be a male gas station owner who wasn't to big in body type or hight - off the little girl and threw him away from the them, giving them the chance to make it back to the front, where, in the doorway, they were met with Braden, Tom, and Mari. They looked at them worriedly.

Chad, on the other hand, wasted no time in punching the Infected in the face. By the time the others came in, the Infected was unidentifiable, which shocked everyone. When Chad turned to face them, he was covered in blood splatter, but he obviously didn't mind it, as he walked by the group in anger and continued to do what they were previously doing. Everyone looked at the Infected before locking eyes with each other, bewildered. Everyone went back to the front of the store, keeping a cautious eye on Chad.

Two hours later one of the cars roared to life with the help of Braden's hot wiring skills. The group had found three cars in three of the four parking lots across and next to the gas station that they were previously in. The only car that they were able to bring back to life was a 1990 Bright Red Geo Metro LSI 4 Door Hatchback. By the time the group got to the city and out of the desert, the gas light came on and started blinking.

"Oh, come on," Braden groaned in anger, slamming his hands onto the steering wheel and making a few people jump.

"What is it?" Mari, who was in the back seat resting her head on Tom's shoulder, asked in a soft sleepy voice.

"Oh. Um-" Braden looked back at Mari before pointing at the light. "The gas light came on. We're running out of gas."

A few feet after that, the car began to slow down before it came to a complete stop, making everyone look up in curiosity.

"Shit," Braden whispered while getting out of the car with everyone following.

"Now what are we going to do?" Ben asked to no one in particular.

"We keep going," Tom spoke up looking up at the sky. "We walk and hopefully we don't come across those things while we are out here."

Everyone groaned in frustration and grabbed their bags from the car before beginning to walk off. The group let out sighs while shaking their heads. 

*Edited