Renee's boots crushed a twig as she ran breathlessly, with Caden a few steps before her. She never thought someone like her could keep up with Caden's pace, but it helped that the undead was chasing them.

She didn't know where she was going, just that she was following Caden. They needed to stick together if they wanted to survive this.

"Caden's gun would be handy right now," She mumbled and kept running. She followed Caden and ducked behind a boulder. 

"Are you hurt?" Caden asked while catching his breath.

She shook her head. "What about you?" She replied staring at the bloodstain on his shirt. 

"It's not my blood," He said, trying to wipe it off with his hands. 

"Don't get the undead's blood on you," Renee cautioned. "Who knows what kind of bacteria is in there" 

"Good point," He said and tried to wipe his blood on the boulder.

"Use this," She sighed and handed him a handkerchief. 

"Thanks," He muttered and wiped his hands.

"We should head back," Renee said, staring into the horizon

"No," Caden shook his head profusely. "It's too dark to travel back,"

"It's better than sleeping by this rock. The undead could attack us anytime" She argued.

"We'll take shifts staying awake then" Caden countered.

"If we go back, we can continue living in peace again," Renee said, frowning.

"Go back, how?" Caden asked. "I don't know the way back, and I don't think you do either" 

"Don't you want to back to your sister?" Renee persuaded.

"Yes, but I'm not willing to take any risks. Wandering all night isn't advisable" Caden said.

"Ok," She sighed after realizing Caden wouldn't budge. "But promise me we'll go back to the safe house tomorrow"

"Of course, I don't want to be out here either" He replied. 

Caden offered to take the first shift, which Renee was glad about as she was really tired. The two decided not to go food hunting as they didn't have a flashlight and could manage without dinner for one night.

Renee shifted and turned for a few minutes, trying to find a comfortable position to sleep in. But mainly, it was the fear of uncertainty that kept her awake. For weeks, she'd lived under the shelter of the military, never having to worry about the undead. Now, she was out in the open with only a curtain rod and a kitchen knife for protection.

"What's wrong?" Caden asked softly.

"Nothing," She replied. 

"I know it's scary, but we'll get through this," He said reassuringly. "We have before" 

"Yeah," She said. "I hope so" 

Caden knelt beside her and cupped her face. "Trust me" 

Renee stared into his brown eyes, illuminated by the moonlight and nodded slightly. She closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep. 

The next morning, she was woken by the sound of birds chirping.

"Oh, shit!" She said, getting up from the floor. "Did I sleep all night?" 

"Yeah," Caden shrugged. 

"I'm so sorry," She said with a guilty look on her face.

"It's ok, you didn't sleep long," He said placing his hand on her shoulder. "And I took an afternoon nap yesterday"

She nodded her head, still feeling guilty. "We should eat something before leaving" 

"You're right" He agreed. "We can probably find some berries and eat them" 

"Berries?" Renee frowned. 

"It shouldn't bother you," Caden said nudging her shoulder. "You love nature" 

"Shut up," Renee said suppressing a smile and walked near the bushes. 

"These look good to eat," Caden said after following her. Renee gave an approving nod before Caden plucked a few brambles of berries.

They ate quickly so as to not waste time and were done in under ten minutes.

"We should try to retrace our steps," Renee said. "We must've left footprints on the way" 

"Unfortunately, we didn't," Caden said. "The grounds were dry last night, meaning we didn't leave anything"

"If we were on an elevated surface, we would get a better view," Renee said. "And then we'd be able to find the safe house and head in that direction"

"You want me to climb trees?" He asked.

"Do you know how to?" She asked, raising an eyebrow. 

"I'm not the best, but I can give it a shot if you want" Caden offered.

"I'm not sure if it'll work, but I don't have any better ideas either," She said.

"Ok," Caden replied. "Which tree?"

"That one," She said pointing towards a tall pine tree. Caden squinted his eyes, observing the tree for a few minutes while calculating the best way up. 

 "Be careful," Renee said after seeing Caden walk up to the tree.

"I will," He said. 

Caden wrapped his arms around the tree and pushed his body up and quickly wrapping his legs around the tree as well. Once his legs were locked tight, he placed his hands higher and pulled himself up and continued the process. Renee had come close to the tree, watching Caden anxiously. 

Once Caden was high enough, he reached out to a branch and released his legs from the trunk of the tree. Suddenly, Renee heard Caden scream and fall down the tree, crashing into her.

For a few moments, none of them said anything. Caden groaned as he rolled off of Renee.

"Are you alright?" She asked him. Without replying, he grabbed her hand and pulled her away from the tree.

"What's wrong?" She asked. 

"I- I think there was an undead up there" He stuttered. "We must've missed it because of the leaves" 

Renee immediately grabbed his arms and sighed in relief when she didn't see any bite marks.

"We should get out here," Renee said. "That scream must've attracted the undead" 

"Which direction?" Caden asked. 

"It doesn't matter" Renee gulped. Caden turned behind to see a small mob of the undead crawling towards them.

"It's a small mob, we can take them," Caden said.

"With a curtain rod? I don't think so" Renee replied. "We can always come back to this boulder later. For now, let's just get out of here" 

Caden nodded.

The two ran in the other direction and didn't look back.

»»————-　☠　————-««

Gabriella sat on one of the chairs in the meeting room, her hands placed above her head. Janelle sat beside her and watched as Gabriella held back tears. 

Arthur entered the room looking worried. 

"How many have we lost?" Arthur asked. Gabriella reluctantly handed him the report with a list of all the casualties. Arthur frowned after seeing the number

"Why's there a star in front of the last two names?" Arthur asked.

"They're missing" Gabriella replied. "We didn't find their bodies" 

Arthur's frown deepened. 

"We need to increase the security of the safe house," Arthur said and everyone nodded.

"I will make an address to the survivors in a while," He continued. "As well as give you instructions on improving safety. In the meanwhile, go and calm the crowd. They're going crazy" 

Everyone nodded once again and Arthur left the room. Janelle left the room and quickly saw what Arthur meant by 'crazy'. A few were crying over their loved ones, a few getting healed from the injuries they faced and a few were mad at the military for letting this happen.

Janelle went back inside the meeting room.

"I'm gonna need some backup," She said. 

"Is it okay if I just stay in here for a bit?" Gabriella asked. "My head hurts" 

"Alright," She said. "Join us soon though, we might need an extra pair of hands" 

Gabriella nodded and the others left to deal with the crowd. 

She knew it wasn't right of her to bail while the others were working outside, but she needed some time. It was all happening so quickly. A lot of thoughts were running through her head. Was he alone? Was Renee with him? Would Renee harm him? Ok, that last one was unlikely to happen. Caden could easily fight off someone as delicate as Renee. 

But most importantly, was he alive?