We walk down the road. I hope I made the right decision. I keep my gun in my hands while we walk. The wolf stops. He looks deep into the trees. The man whistles and the wolf sprints to catch up with him.

"Whats your name?" The man ask.

"Jade, you?" I ask.

"Kyle," he says.

"Where did you get the wolf?" I ask.

"I found her in the woods when she was a baby. Zombies attacked her parents. When she was four a zombie bit her. She acted normal for about a week. After that she would growl at me. She didn't want me near. She never attacked me though," he says. "I was scavenging without her and a zombie snuck up on me. You probably know how that turned out. It's been six years since then. She is the only one in the world who has cared for me,"

Did I ask for your whole life story?

"No, you didn't. I'm just trying to have a conversation with you. You asked a question and I answered," he says.

"I...I didn't say anything,"

Did he just hear my thoughts? No, that's impossible. He turns around and gets right in my face.

"You were thinking it though. Yes, I do hear your thoughts and it is possible," he says.

"You need to back up, right now!" I yell.

The wolf barks at me. He notices that I'm threatening Kyle. Kyle continues walking.

"I know you're partially infected," he says.

"Isn't talking what got you in trouble two seconds ago?" I say.

Now I'm mad. What the heck is this guy's problem?

"I'll stop now," he says.

"Why? So you can listen to my thoughts more easily? I am so close to knocking your teeth out. We're going to sit down and your going to explain every thing about this," I say.

He walks over to a bench. He takes a seat. His wolf sits by his feet.

"How can you hear what I'm thinking? Tell me!" I say.

"I...can't really explain it. When I'm near any infected person, I can hear what they think. It's like I'm connected to all of the zombies. Sometimes I can even send them messages using only my thoughts,"

"Do you know how crazy this is? How insane? Wait, it's the virus...it's making you crazy,"

"That doesn't explain how I could read your mind,"

No, it doesn't. Maybe I'm going crazy.

"You're not going crazy," he says.

"Get out of my head!" I yell at the top of my lungs.

"I can't turn it off. It's just something I do and it's always there. I don't like it either. Everyday I hear hundreds of thoughts and it won't stop. It never stops. I can barely think myself most days," he says.

"We can't do this. We can't travel together. This is annoying both of us. I don't think I can hold myself back if you don't shut up for once!" I say with so much rage it scares me.

I haven't been this mad in a really long time.

"Look, you need me. I won't say anything unless you tell me it's okay."

"Let's try this again," I say.

We continue walking. We enter the town. There is a gas station, grocery store, school, and some houses. Kyle raises his hand. I nod.

"Where do you want to go first?" he asks.

"The evacuation base," I respond.

Kyle leads me into the grocery store. I hear running. A zombie comes out of nowhere and tackles me. It bites my arm. The wolf bites the zombies coat and drags him back. I check my arm. The zombie's teeth didn't get through the jacket. I've had two very close calls today. Kyle smashes the zombies head in with a brick. He helps me up.

"You okay?" he asks.

"Yeah, I'm fine," I say.

I look behind Kyle. Serena stands there shocked. Her two brothers, Michael and Shawn, stand on the opposite sides of her.

"Jade? Jade White?" Serena asks.

"Yeah," I say.

"Who is this lady?" Kyle asks.

"We knew each other back when life was normal," I say.

"After you left, where did you go?" Serena asks.

"I found a bunker. My friends were there. We lived there for ten years. After that I was on my own," I say.

"Jade, we should hurry," Kyle says.

"We can talk later. Kyle and I need to get to the evacuation base behind here," I say.

Kyle leads me to the back door.

"When we go outside, you need to stay right next to me the whole time. Do not look any of the zombies in the eye. They will attack you if you do so," Kyle says.

"You never really mentioned how you can get me past them," I say hoping for some kind of an explanation.

"There are two ways they use to tell if you're one of them or not. First is smell, since you're partially infected you give off a bit of a zombie smell but only full zombies can tell. With me close by they won't be able to tell that you're only partially infected. Second is sight. This one doesn't matter too much. I mean...you do look like a zombie,"

Am I really going to do this? Am I really going to trust a zombie with my life? If he wanted to attack me I feel like he would've done it already. Let's do this!

"I'm ready," I say.

He opens the door. He steps outside. I'm right behind him. A zombie approaches me. He has black eyes. I've only seen one with black eye and that was Iris. What do the black eyes mean? It has to be a mutation of the virus like the red eyes.

Kyle walks a bit fast. Zombies keep their distance from him although they don't mind crowding around and staring at me. I see zombies with red, black, normal, and dilated eyes. A child zombie is playing with a woman zombie. It looks like maybe they were mother and daughter before they turned. This place almost seems like a community.

A zombie gets in between Kyle and I. Kyle keeps walking. He didn't notice we got separated. The zombie gets in my face. He smells me. He's going to attack! He notices something's off.

"Kyle!" I say as quietly as I can.

He can't hear me. The wolf turns around. She sits by my feet. The zombie stumbles away. The wolf's scent must've masked my human scent. The wolf gets up. I follow him towards Kyle.

"I didn't mean to leave you. I thought you were behind me. We don't have much longer now," Kyle says.

He leads me to a tent. We walk inside. There is a crate by one of the beds. I open it. It's filled with guns and ammo. I start loading a duffel bag. Kyle helps me. The wolf whines.

I look outside. A zombie is standing outside the tent, growling. Growling at me. He must know I'm not a zombie.

"Jade, go!" Kyle yells.

I sling the bag over my shoulder. I run out the other side of the tent. The wolf follows me. I need to get inside now! Zombies chase after me. I finally see the back door of the grocery store. I kick it open. After the wolf is inside, I shut the door. Serena and her brothers are standing behind me.

"We need to get out of here," I say.

"There is an eighteen wheeler truck out front. We have the keys," Shawn says.

"Get that ready," I say.

They run off. I stand in front of the door, waiting. If it weren't for Kyle, I never would've found those guns. He helped and saved me. Even though he is a zombie I don't care. He obviously wants to help. Kyle pounds on the back door. I open it. He steps inside. I shut the door.

"Where are we going?" Kyle asks.

"Out front is a truck. That's our way out of here," I say.

The truck only has three seats in the front. Serena tells us that there is a working car in the parking lot. We find it. I get in the passenger seat. Kyle drives out of the parking lot.
Zombies rush outside of the grocery store and chase after the car. I look back. That was close. Too close. 

I hope everything is okay at the mall. We only got weapons, but it will still help us. I wish we got food and water though.

The wolf has its paws on the center console. I look at the map. It's going to be a long drive back to the mall. The road I was taking to get here was blocked by cars so we have to reroute. It might be two days before we get to the mall. I wonder how they will react Kyle. Will Kyle even want to stay with us?

"After this are you going to go your own way?" I ask.

"If that's what you want. I get that it's weird having a zombie around you. Especially one that can read your mind," he says.

"It's your choice. You're welcome to stay as long as the group is with is okay with it. Don't tell them your a zombie. They'd probably shoot you," I say.

"What about Kyra?" he asks.

"Who?" I ask.

"The wolf,"

I don't think Mia's group will take too kindly to a wolf.

"We'll just have to see," I look out my window.

My twenty first birthday is in four days.
So much time has passed since Jack and Iris died. Since then, I have three kids to look after, a family that needs my help, and a bunch of enemies. Life was so much simpler a year ago. Of course, we had zombies to deal with but we only had to deal with them once a month when we left the bunker. One day I'll be able to relax. That is far into the future though.