I wake in a panic from a dream that I know wasn't just a dream. My memories are slowly flooding back and this one was one of the worst ones. I'm not sure how loud my screams were but he had to have heard it. I wake on the couch to the sounds of Derek's voice humming the song that I'd heard when I woke up at his house.

My eyes open and I notice him sitting by the fire, staring off into it.

"Michael Buble, huh? So it was you who put the music on yesterday," I say.

Derek doesn't turn around he just nods, and continues to hum. When I was younger every time my heart would flutter I'd panic, and the only thing that could calm me was to listen to Michael Buble and his soft voice. Whenever he was around he'd hum it for me to calm me down. It feels nice to remember.

I sit up and look around. I notice that it's still dark, but that the sun should be rising soon. I take the blanket I had wrapped around me and throw it over my shoulders as I stand. I walk over to Derek and sit down next to him, he still hasn't looked at me.

"Why did you leave?" I question. "My mom and I spoke about it for hours after you left, we tried to figure it out. Your family just disappeared," I keep talking remembering the memory that woke me just a few minutes ago.

"We had no choice," his voice sounds shaky.

"I swear to you my mother and I didn't say anything," I tell him. "She tried telling me that it wasn't my fault, that you had said those things out of anger because your father had planted the idea in your head. I swear to you Carter we never said anything..."

I've caught his attention by using his real name, he finally looks at me. His name was Carter Erickson and he was my best friend. I touch the picture that's in my back pocket. I made sure to keep the picture on me because I had a feeling that it would play some role in my remembering. I pull it out unfolding it, there are creases in it now and it's a bit wrinkled but it survived. I place the picture down on his lap and tear my hand away like I'd been shocked.

"You had this the whole time?" he questions staring at it, but not touching it.

"I found it before I left the dorm room. I woke up in my dorm room," I say as the memories flood my brain. "All of my friends they turned. I found this picture and I don't know felt like it was important I guess," I tell him.

"I remember this day," he says laughing to himself.

"I'm not sure I do yet, my memories are slowly trickling back," I say.

"It wasn't long before I'd left. We'd gone to that carnival in town and I kissed you," he tells me.

I swallow hard.

"You said, "took you long enough"," he laughs again. "A few months later my father got in some big trouble and we had to leave. If we didn't leave they probably would have killed him," he says.

"Who's they?" I ask in a whisper.

"It was the government. Not sure if you remember, but my dad was a doctor. He was your family doctor and mostly everyone's in town. He wanted to make extra money when mom got sick just after having Tyler, we call him Brent now," he says referring to the little boy. My memory of him is a bit foggy, maybe because he'd been so little when they left.

"My father is a smart man, he'd studied science and medicine. He just wanted what was best for her. He'd got involved with some doctors and scientists who experimented with things. They'd tricked him into believing that he could come up with a cure for diseases and cancers. Of course he'd jump on that, my father was ... is a good man," he says.

"So was your father the one who created this "zombie" drug?" I question putting the pieces together.

Carter nods. It's no wonder his family is so informed on everything going on.

"It didn't start out like that, but with each patient they experimented on it got worse," he says.

"And that's why they came after your family?" I ask and only receive a nod in return.

"You blamed me and my mother for turning him in. She had no idea what was going on. She'd been concerned about all the strange men coming in and out of your house. She said it looked like they were drug dealers and she felt uncomfortable. She truly didn't mean to harm you and your family. She loved you and Kate." I've come to realize that Tanya was Kate. "She loved all of you like you were her own."

I hold back the urge to cry because I'm tired of looking like I'm the weak link, especially now. This world wasn't meant for the weak. I had to be strong for myself. My thoughts go back to my mom, Mary. Mrs. Erickson told Sam, I mean Mr. Erickson that they had to keep me safe because my mother would have done the same for Carter and Kate. That's why she said what she did before the zombies took her.

"My father told us that your mom was the one to tattle, and that it was all your fault," he says.

"Did you ever think he did that because he wanted it to be easier for you to leave? We'd known each other all of our lives, since we were just days old. Maybe he thought that if you hated me enough that it would be easier when you left," I say.

"My father would never," he grumbles.

"Think about it though..."

"We should get going," he interrupts.

He stands up with the picture in his hand. I watch in horror as he takes it and throws it into the roaring fire. I gasp holding back tears as the picture burns.

"What the hell was that for?" I yell at his back.

I can't believe he just did that, the only thing I had of our past and he goes and throws it all away. He stops only for a quick second before walking out of the room. I hear him in the kitchen getting his things together. Out the window I can see the start of dawn rising in the distance.

I'm about to walk into the kitchen and tell him off when I hear the sounds of several zombie's grunting outside. Along with the zombie's I can hear a helicopter in the distance. Derek, I mean Carter comes running back into the room and bolts for the window. Without shifting the blinds too much he looks out. I can hear their growls grow louder when they spot him looking.

"Get your shit we're leaving," he says pointing towards a glass coffee table in the corner of the room.

He must have put all of my things there when I'd fallen asleep. I rush to the table and grab the knife and gun. My jacket is still on, one of the only things keeping me warm in this cold house. I hear his footsteps pounding up the stairs, he's probably checking if we can escape out the back.

"Alice up here," he yells.

I follow his voice and make my way up the stairs. He pulls down a set of stairs that are set in the second floor hallway ceiling. He motions for me to climb first, so I do. I get to the top and have to crouch low, the attic has a low ceiling and angles at the sides. A small square window at the far end is allowing the morning light to peak through. I can hear his footsteps rushing up the steps. He breezes past me and tugs on the closed window. Once it's open he sticks his head out and turns back to me.

"We have to go out this window, you have to attempt to hold on as best you can," he tells me. "The roof is at incline one mistake and you're zombie food," he explains.

"Oh, wonderful," I tell him.

"You still clumsy as ever?" he questions.

"I guess you remember the last time I climbed onto a roof?"

He looks worried, this isn't the first time we'd climbed a roof together. The last time I'd fallen and broken my arm. We were only ten and we thought we were so cool hanging out just outside his room on the second floor. The roof wasn't too steep, but as I turned to go inside I slipped and fell. It wasn't a far fall, but it hurt like hell.

"Just concentrate, if we can get up a little higher Ralph will be able to see us," he says.

"Ralph?" I question.

"The pilot who brought you to my house, looks like my dad sent him up," he tells me. "I know that's my dad's chopper," he says. "Once we get up we'll wave him down," he says.

"Okay," I say nervously.

He takes the gun from me and puts on the safety, then hands it back.

"You're going to need your hands to climb," he says.

I decide not to argue with him that I could have done that myself, now that I'd remembered all the times at the shooting range with his dad. Surprised my mom actually let me go. My mom, god I hope she'd made it through this mess.

He motions for me go out first and I look at him like he's crazy. I'm hoping I don't screw this up, but if I do at least he'll be safe. It might be better if I'm zombie food, then he wouldn't have to deal with me. I dig my boot into the shingles as attempt to walk up. They feel cold and it's starting to snow.

Carter comes out after me and he slips on his first step. I hear him curse under his breath as he starts to climb. Snow is falling harder by the second and my feet keep slipping out from under me. He's already ahead of me. I turn and look behind me and down below I can see the house is surrounded. Holy shit.

He makes it to the top well before I do, it's not really that far from the window. The chopper is close and Carter starts waving his hands yelling. The zombie's below hear him and they are getting louder by the second. Snow keeps piling down and as I grab for the top my foot slips out and I start sliding. I keep grabbing for the tile as I scream. As my feet go over the side I grab hold of the gutter. I hear a loud crack, and I'm pretty sure I'm going to be breakfast for the zombies below.

Carter slides down trying to hold his footing, but he's failing.

"What are you doing? Get your ride back home your family is waiting," I yell at him.

"Just take my hand," he yells back.

"If I take your hand you're coming down with me," I say.

"Just do it Alice!" he yells.

I take a deep breath and release one hand reaching for him. The end of the gutter starts to drop and I know I'm going down.

"Seriously just let me die," I say.

"NO!" He yells. "You can do this, now give me your god damn hand," he screams.

I can hear the hungry zombies awaiting my arrival. I swing myself trying to get his hand when the whole thing snaps. I scream and watch him get further away. When I drop a shit ton of zombies cushion my fall. It hurts like a bitch and I'm pretty sure I've hurt something, but I've also taken down a few of them. I hear him scream my name, and I swear I see him jump down after me. I try to roll off of them as one of them grabs my leg.

The helicopter is headed our way now, and I really hope Carter makes it. I don't see him on the ground, so I continue to try to fight my way through. There's a break in zombies and I land with a thud in the dirt. Standing hurts, but isn't too bad. Another one grabs onto my arm and tugs me. I don't know what happened to my gun, but I can still feel the knife digging into my side.

I reach with my free hand and grab the knife just as pain courses through my body. I look for the source and digging into my arm is a zombie. He's tearing at it trying to get as much flesh as he can. It hurts, it burns; it's the worse pain I've ever felt.

I tug and the zombie release, but now there's a hole in my jacket. The helicopter is now hovering overhead. The sound of someone screaming pierces my ears as Carter comes rushing towards me. He looks fierce and as he plows into me my feet leave the ground. I'm thrown over his shoulder. He pushes with all his might to run towards the helicopter. It scoops down as low as it can. Carter keeps looking back, they are close on our tail. Just like his mother he lifts me into the helicopter first. I won't let what happen to his mom happen to him. Even injured I turn and reach for him. He jumps up as one grabs onto his foot. I tug while the zombie tugs back, and as the helicopter lifts his boot falls back hitting the zombie in the face.

I pull him up and he falls on top of me as Ralph pulls the helicopter back up. His weight hurts, but it's comforting at the same time. Both of us our breathing heavily. He cups his hands over my cheeks checking me. His eyes searching mine to make sure I'm okay. A familiar warmth spreads over my body and for a minute I travel back in time. He rolls off of me and puts his hand out to help me up. I take his hand and jump up. We wobble to the seats and sit down next to each other. He takes my hand in his and holds it like he never let go. Both of us don't say a word to each other as Ralph carefully flies us back towards the house.