The pharmacy was silent, abandoned.

There was blood splattered on the wall, a bloody handprint. There had been a struggle.

Lyria shuddered, tearing her eyes from the scene. There was nothing she could do for the victim. Still, the gory scene brought her back to her family. She had done nothing to help them, nothing to prevent their gruesome deaths.

Lyria shook her head. She needed to focus. There was time to mourn later.

The others were counting her. Esther and Ivory were still traumatised by their encounters with zombies, and Raven and Rosabelle didn't want to fight unless it was necessary.

Lyria scanned the room. There were still vulnerable entrances, weaknesses in their defence.

"Raven. Ivory. Block the entrances." Lyria ordered.

Ivory nodded, eager to help. She motioned to Raven, then to the metal racks that held medication. It wasn't much, but it would have to do. The metal racks would alert them of any intruders, in the very least.

"Rosabelle. Keep watch for zombies."

Rosabelle nodded, hesitantly. She wanted to help, she really did, but she was terrified of facing the zombies again. What if the horde had followed them? What would they do then? There was no backup plan, no other place to run after the pharmacy. This was it.

If the horde followed them, then they'd have to fight. The pharmacy had no easy escape route, surrounded by thick trees and thick concrete walls.

They should have had another backup plan. It was too late now, though.

Rosabelle stood on the counter, peering through the thin slats in the wall. She'd just have to hope that the horde didn't follow them.

Esther, you're with me. I'm going to sweep the pharmacy for any zombies. I need you to grab some food and medication on the way. We might be here for a while."

Esther nodded, pulling her hair into a tight ponytail. She'd pulled herself together after the horde had arrived, forcing herself to see sense. 

Lyria was glad. She didn't have the time nor the patience to take care of Esther, not at a time like this. It had been fine when they were holed up in the apartment block, waiting for the others, but now? Esther's pitiful wails would have risked their safety.

The contents of the shelves had been scattered across the floor. Esther fished through the items, slipping bandages, bandaids and painkillers into the shopping cart she'd taken from the front. There wasn't much use for anything else. They'd have to go behind the prescription counter to get anything that would be of use.

Lyria stood close to Esther, shining her flashlight into the darkness. She saw nothing, but the anxious feeling in her gut told her that something was hiding in the shadows.

Lyria shook her head. It would be a rat, that's all. A spider, perhaps.

"I'm just going to get food from the front counter. Want to come?" Esther spoke into the silence, wincing as her voice reverberated across the room.

Lyria opened her mouth to shush Esther, but decided against it. By the look on the girl's face, she knew that she'd spoken too loud.

It wasn't Esther's fault, not really. Esther had spent her entire lifetime speaking louder than she should. She didn't mean to; it just happened.

Everyone in Esther's family had laughed her embarrassing trait off, explaining it away with various excuses: Esther was the youngest in her family and youngest children were always loud, she was going deaf like her grandfather, and other reasons that were total bullshit.

The truth was, Esther had needed to speak loud as a child to be heard. Her family ignored her, belittled her, ghosting around her as if she was alien to them, not a relative. It frustrated Esther immensely. She thought she'd done something wrong.

Katherin had always listened to Esther. She'd urge her to keep speaking when no one else in the group was listening.

Around Katherin, Esther's opinion had been heard. She didn't know what she'd do if Katherin was gone.

The thought hit Esther in the gut. She stumbled to the floor, hoping that the others wouldn't notice, especially Lyria.

Lyria had been annoyed at Esther, which was probably fair. She'd lost her entire family to zombies - watched as her mother was torn apart.

Esther had been worrying about virtually nothing. Katherin was a skilled fighter. There had only been two survivors; that Esther could see, anyway.

Esther picked through the food underneath the counter, sighing in defeat.

"We have jelly beans, but that's about it. There's protein powder over there but we need water for that. No one thought to bring any water though, did they?"

Lyria hummed in response, though she wasn't really listened. She'd sworn she'd heard a noise behind the prescription counter.

"Are there any protein bars?" Rosabelle muttered.

Her legs had gotten tired, so she'd dragged a stool over to the window. There had been nothing outside, so far, anyway.

"Yeah, but they're the gross brand. Kather-Katherine had to throw out an entire box."

Esther swallowed harshly, trying to push thoughts of Katherin out of her mind. Katherin would be safe. The others would have found her.

Gwynth had promised that she'd bring Katherin back. She wouldn't break her promise.

"Esther. Esther!"

Esther shook her head. Ivory was crouched in front of her, hands placed on Esther's shoulders.

"I'm sorry, I was just-" Esther mumbled, pulling out another bag of jelly beans and throwing them into the shopping cart.

"Katherin is fine. Gwynth is fine too," Ivory spoke softly. 

Esther nodded through clenched teeth. She hated when others fussed about her, treading around her carefully as if she was broken glass. It made her feel weak, like a child, as if she was still living with her family.

There was a thump behind the prescription counter. Then, a rack of medicine went crashing to the ground.

"Fuck. Fuck!" Lyria huffed. "I need something to stop blood flow. Quickly! There's a person here."

Rosabelle jumped down from the window, passing her binoculars to Esther. She was in her first year of nursing, but she already showed promise for the honours program - a program designed for high performing students.

Rosabelle wanted to become a paramedic. She had applied for a training program at the ambulance call centre, hoping to gain experience in emergency situations.

Rosabelle had been accepted into the program two days before the apocalypse. She was supposed to start in six months, but she doubted that would happen now. Everything had become uncertain.

"Step back!" Rosabelle said as she knelt before the body.

The victim was a woman, approximately forty years old. She was still wearing her pharmacy uniform, her grey hair tied into a tight bun. The name badge displayed her name: Betty.

Her stomach had been torn open and her arm torn off, but Betty's tight clothing had prevented much of the blood flow. Still, blood had pooled across the tiled floor.

"Get me some bandages," Rosabelle ordered Lyria, who scurried away quickly, eager to get away from the bloody scene.

"What happened?" Rosabelle asked softly.

Betty was closing her eyes. Her breath was slow, ragged.

Rosabelle clenched her jaw, patting Betty on the cheek lightly. She couldn't allow the woman to fall asleep. They needed to find out what happened, to protect themselves.

"They came through the front door," Betty murmured. She coughed, her throat gurgling.

Rosabelle was quick to respond. She rolled the woman over, rubbing circles in her back as she spat blood onto the floor.

"There was so many," Betty continued, whimpering. "They attacked us."

"Us?" Rosabelle whispered.

"Jonathon, my nephew. He tried to distract them. I heard him screaming."

Betty closed her eyes, her nose scrunching up as her brain assaulted her with the memory. 

Lyria came back with the bandages. Rosabelle waved her away subtly. Betty wasn't going to survive. They needed to save the bandages, just in case.

"It's safe now," Rosabelle murmured.

Betty shook her head.

"Those creatures... they looked human."

"They were once. I think so, anyway," Rosabelle responded.

There was no point in lying. Rosabelle could see Betty fading away, becoming colder with every breath. 

The others watched from a distance. They didn't understand why Rosabelle wasn't helping the woman, why she wasn't giving her medical aid.

Betty took one final, ragged breath. Then, she was gone.

Rosabelle shut Betty's eyes, turning to Lyria.

"I need you to help me carry this body," she spoke softly, her voice wavering.

Lyria froze.

"Why?"

"I think she's going to turn."