Christian, Zach, Hunter, and the other raiders:
These raiders are the first real raiders our group will meet (more on them later). Some of these characters don't last long, so we will only make descriptions of the ones that live for more than a day or two. Don't expect us to give it away in this chapter though.
Skills: the raiders have various skills, from running to hunting to living on a pint of water for a week.

Ava's POV

Last night I made a terrible mistake. We had settled down for the night, and I was taking the first watch. We had been walking all day, so everyone was tired. We were past Glendive by now, and Emma said we were probably near Broadus.

After we ate dinner, Abby built a fire. I climbed up a tree and got as comfortable as I could. It was a clear night, and I spent an hour or so looking up at the stars. After a while, the sounds of the forest created a symphony of chirps and buzzes. I heard an owl hoot and cicadas clicking. The music of the woods slowly made me drowsy, but I didn't fall asleep.

Later that night, the wind slowly swayed my branch, and I was gently rocked. The song of the forest was stronger now, prompting my eyes to close. In other words, EVERYTHING IN THIS STINKIN' FOREST WAS TRYING TO MAKE ME FALL ASLEEP!!!!!!!!!!

A few minutes later, I was becoming bored. I didn't think it was time to switch watches quite yet though, so I sat for a while. Not long after my unhealthy dose o' boredom, I heard a strange sound flowing through the trees. I recognized it after a moment of confusion. It was the lullaby of a flute. I sat up quickly and did a 360° scan of the area. At first I didn't see anyone, but after a few minutes of the enchanting song, I spotted a figure dressed in all black. Then, the world blurred out, and the lullaby came to a slow end.

-------time skip by chocolate angel-------

I woke up the next morning feeling fresh and relaxed. I found it funny that the enemy used a spell of sleep and relaxation - something good, and used it to do something terrible. Yet at that moment, I didn't know what they had done.

I climbed down from the tree, trying to remember what had happened last night. When I got to the bottom, I turned around and tears rushed to my eyes.

Everything was gone -- The gang, our supplies, and our weapons! The worst part was that I let it happen. Everything we had left was gone because I couldn't stand up to sleep. I had my bow and quiver with me in the tree though, so I wasn't defenseless. I immediately started looking for anything that could lead me to my friends.

After a few minutes, I spotted a tire track along with some broken branches. By the look of it, I figured there would only be at least ten of them. Boy, was I wrong. I followed the tracks for a while, but they stopped. I had made it to the edge of the forest. In the distance was a camp, it wasn't very big, but around the camp there were sentry stations and a makeshift fence. I bit my lip, I wouldn't be able to get in, without any help. After thinking of a plan, I decided to get myself captured. I slipped a small knife into a hidden pocket in my t-shirt and jogged down close to the camp. Staying far away enough so they won't see me. I ducked behind a large rock. Taking a deep breath, I set down my beloved bow and arrow. Making sure the knife was hidden I ran towards the camp. The sentries noticed me and shouted command. Here we go.

I managed to make it into the camp, so I ran around for awhile to make a mental map of the place. Emma would be a better person for the job, but smart ol' me got them captured. I finally gave up when sentries trapped me in a alley way, I fell to my knees, exhausted from running. One of the people walked up to me and knocked me out with the butt of their gun.

----------time skip brought to you by pink fluffy unicorns-----------

I woke up with a pounding headache. I cracked my eyes open, and saw a silhouette sitting next to me. I groaned in pain, alerting the person that I was awake.
"Where am I..." I said quietly to the person next to me as I opened my eyes.The person next to me gave me a weird suffocating hug. Once my eyes focused, I saw that it was Emma. Her hands were bound and her mouth was taped shut. I looked down at my hands, only to find them bound. Using my elbows I got the knife out of my t-shirt. Picking it up in my mouth I slowly cut off my ropes. I looked up at Emma and smirked, who was currently trying to speak to me. Scooting closer I, harshly ripped off the duct tape. She let out a Yelp of pain and surprise. And to my displeasure, the guards had heard us. I heard their footsteps getting closer, and I rolled my eyes. I glanced behind me and saw that the guards were getting closer to us. Out of panic I hid the knife, just before the guards stopped in front of our 'cell'. The guard unlocked our cell once he realized we were unbound. I recognized the guard almost immediately.
"Hunter?!?"

Hunter had been a classmate in the days before the apocalypse, and I hadn't seen him since middle school. Obviously, I was surprised to see him.
"What are you doing here?!?" I yelled.
"Do I know you?" Hunter asked, squinting at me.
"Hunt, no talking with the prisoners!" A voice shouted. With a cringe of pain I turned and saw another old classmate, Christian. This was getting unbelievable.

The lights turned off, (oooooooo spooky) and slowly four new silhouettes stepped out of the darkness. Suddenly, a light was pointed at me, and a figure started questioning me.
"Why were you sneekin' around our base, you human chupacabra?!?" There was only one person who would ever say that, and it would be Zach, an old classmate as well.
"Oh, you've got to be kidding me." I mumbled. "Zach I know it's you, would you move this light out of my face now?" I was beginning to think this was all a joke, but then things got weird. Zach moved the light from my face and asked, "How do you know my name?" That's when I noticed things were odd. Everyone was looking at me with confusion and wonder, expect for Emma who had a look of shock on her face. I looked back at them, but I tried to make my stare look meaner and have more authority. I saw Christian, Zach, Hunter and many others. After looking a little harder, I saw it. Everyone in the small crowd was an old classmate.

Along with the three I had already saw, I recognized Jeffery, Josh, Steven, Tahj, and a figure walking out the door with another person. Then I remembered why I was here. I put my hand on my knife, turned to Zach and shouted, "What have you done to the others?"
"They will be thrown into the zombie pit, of course." He replied with a sickening smile.
"Don't you dare!" I replied with a hint of fear in my voice.
"Oh honey, did you even think that we would listen to you? You're just a sad soul waiting to be dead. Oh, and didn't you say something about how your friends mean everything to you? Would you like to take their place?" He said. My body went cold, and my eyes became wet with tears I tried to keep in.
"N-no, but I know that my friends will do anything for me and we support each other no matter what happens." I said with all the confidence I had left.
"Here they are." He said after a minute.

As my friends stepped out of the shadows, I was finally and officially scared for their lives. I can't let them die for me or anyone else. I have to save everyone even if it meant I had to die to save them. I have to do this, for my friends!

Written by Ava
In Broadus
April 29

Quick authors' note......

     Our school is coming to an end, and that means finals so we will have to wait until after this week to continue writing a chapter. Sorry for the long delay, but there are more to come. With summer and one of our authors leaving our school, we will be writing less and less often. We will try our hardest to get the chapters on wattpad as quick as possible. We hope you understand our situation.