I walked in the line, chin lowered, making sure to avoid all eye contact. I couldn't help notice the eyes staring in my direction, like daggers poking at my back, as I walked past them. It was definitely no different from the feeling of being back at my high school. Light whispers floated in the air as I stood in line; it caused my left ear to ring.

Grasping my tray, I sat in a secluded spot at one of the steel benches. There were two people on the opposite end but they didn't look up as I claimed my spot. The green mashed stuff caught my eye, as it reminded me of cooked spinach with specks of red flakes. Nothing too harmless in it. I was just thankful that I didn't need to spend days catching or finding this food.

I took a spoonful of the shiny stuff that Trever had warned me about and took a bite. The slimy consistency slivered down my throat as the heat kicked in making me cough uncontrollably.

"You tried Zane's food didn't you?" The young girl I had saved sat down across from me. "He puts too many spices in it. Forewarning, it will burn your butt for a couple of days if you know what I mean." She smirked as she raised her brows up and down in amusement. "My name's Molly," she said, giving me a cheeky smile.

"Evren," I managed to say as I grabbed my cup and gulped the cold water entirely. The cool water calmed my cough, but the heat still lingered in my mouth like a never-ending pain that didn't want to go away.

"Thanks for saving me by the way," she said, fidgeting with her silverware. "I don't know what would have happened to me if you weren't there."

I spared her virgin ears from the images that played in my thoughts. She had no idea of what the outcome of her fate would have been if I had kept walking the other direction from the gas station. "Why were you out there? Especially, all alone?"

She placed her hands beneath the table and blinked those big doe eyes of hers. "I wanted to show my dad that I can handle it out there." She sighed, "I'm just tired of everyone treating me like a baby."

I narrowed my eyes to her and leaned in. "Wait, was that your first time being out there?"

She nodded. "I've been in here with my dad since the virus hit."

I pressed my index and middle finger to my temple as the information hit me like a slap on the face. She's been down here for two straight years.

Molly was barely half my size with arms and legs like twigs. Her porcelain skin was smooth and youthful with not a trace of a mark or scar on her. This little girl was as pure as can be, hidden underneath the earth from the clutchings of the dead. Why on earth would she think she could handle it out there?

The pigtails she wore didn't help her case either. Her father was crippling Molly; the more he kept her away from the inevitable, the worse off she would be. If they don't show her what our world is like now, or teach her how to defend herself, she'd be done for in no time.

"You didn't seem to be doing a very good job back at the gas station," I said. Our conversation was interrupted as a guy, who appeared to be about my age, sat at the farther end of the table. His icy stare was discomforting. His lower lip had been busted open, showing the crusted new skin healing over the purple and bruised area. He continued to stare me down until he finally rolled his eyes and looked down at his tray.

What the hell was his problem?!

"Jax sure did some damage on him," Molly said, as my eyes darted back over to her.

"Jax did that?" I said.

"Daniel is the one who accidently shot you," she said as she scooped up some of the brown stuff that had chunks of what looked like meat.

The soreness from my side ached at the mention of the word shot. I tried to replay the incident in my head but all I could remember was Jax lifting me up before I blacked out.

"He was beating the crap out of Daniel, but Norman and Trever broke it up." She took a bite of her food and washed it down with some water. "I've never seen Jax so angry like that before."

I knew all too well how angry he could get. His middle school fights were so bad that it almost got him expelled if he hadn't straightened up his act. He knew how much I hated him getting into brawls and I was at my breaking point when I saw his face from the last fight he had. I cried every time I saw his beat-up face. That was when he decided to play football.

"So, did you guys like know each other before the outbreak happened?" she said, a quizzical smile on her face.

"Why do you say that?" I said, still avoiding eye contact.

"No one goes out of their way to carry someone they don't know clear across highway 375 with no water breaks, let alone no breaks period."

I felt so bad for the way I treated him back in the room. Shoving him and being angry for the fact that he left me in that shed that day. I knew deep down inside that he would never leave me, which made my decision to skip out of here that much harder.

"Speaking of Jax, he's right over there," she said, lifting her chin up.

I spun around and saw his tall masculine figure towering over mostly all of the group he was talking with, including Scarlett who stood at his side. Her blonde locks were now in a ponytail. I swallowed hard as my body was still affected by his presence.

I quickly turned back to my tray and tried to eat some more, but my appetite disappeared. Of all the times I felt hungry, now it wants to go away.

"My sister can be so annoying sometimes," Molly said, looking at the group behind me.

"Who's your sister?" I questioned, but I felt I knew the answer to that as she kept starring directly behind me where Jax was.

"Scarlett." She rolled her eyes. "She thinks she knows it all. I had to hear it from her the worst when we got back."

I should have figured that one out by the resemblance of their fair complexion and golden locks. However, they didn't look very similar in the face; Molly had more of a heart-shaped face and looked more like her dad than Scarlett did. I had a feeling that everyone knew everyone else down here and I was the ugly duckling that weaseled her way in. Well, more along the lines of carried in. This underground place was getting a lot smaller.

I bit my tongue in asking Molly if Jax and her sister were a thing. I didn't want to come off as a 'nosey rose' as my mom would call it. That was a nickname of mine, all the way until I was thirteen. I remember when she would catch me creeping in the Christmas presents, as I would try to tear a little corner of the wrapping to see what was inside.

"It's not fair! She gets to be included in everything, including the privilege of dating." Her brows furrowed as she set her spoon down.

Those words burned through my core. A twinge of envy came out as I pictured myself standing next to Jax instead of her.

"Is your sister and Jax..." I paused trying to figure out what I was trying to say. "Are they together?"

"I'm not sure. I think so. She said it's complicated, whatever that means." She pushed her tray aside. "I see them together all the time now, ever since Jax came to live with us."

"How long ago was that?" I tilted my head.

"About a year ago," she said, resting her elbows on the table as her knuckles held her chin up. "I'm sure they've probably already done the deed—if you know what I'm saying." She was amusing herself by wiggling her eyebrows up and down again, trying to give hints of the two doing more than just being around each other.

My stomach gave me the feeling of being on a roller coaster plummeting down to the bottom. I quickly tried holding my emotions back in before she caught them displayed on my face.

I felt a slight nudge on my back as his deep voice spoke, snapping me around to face him. "Hey, can I talk to you for a minute?" Jax said, gesturing toward the door.

"Hey, Jax!" Molly gushed, batting her lashes at him.

"Hey, Molls! You staying out of trouble?" he teased as he stood near me.

"You know it," grinning from ear to ear.

I left my tray on the table and followed behind him. We entered a different hall and into a completely different room. He shut the door behind us and turned the lights on. The room was vacant with only a long stretched counter on one side of the room and a bunch of towels nicely folded in a wide cubbyhole that stretched from the floor to the ceiling on the opposite side.

Before I knew what was happening, Jax grabbed hold of my face and pressed his lips to mine.

"I've wanted to do that ever since I laid eyes on you." Still holding on to my face. "I can't go another second longer without telling you how I feel—how I have always felt—about you."

His eyes flared with such passion for me, it ignited my long heart-felt feelings towards him. Our kiss lingered on as it drove each of us over the edge. Our bodies soon collided with one another as our heavy breaths echoed in the room. My arms wrapped around his neck as he grabbed hold of my thighs and lifted me up on the table.

Everything was happening so fast. My body had a mind of its own. I weaved my hands through his thick hair as I wrapped my legs around his torso. Soon, I felt his hands trace along my hips sending chills throughout. I ached for more. Gliding his hands further up, he pressed along my side where my stitches laid. It sent a hiss through my lips.

"I'm sorry, are you okay?" his voice quaked.

"Yeah, I'm fine," I said as I hopped off the table and put space between us before things got too out of hand.

Even though his lips were no longer on mine, I could still feel the remaining sensation tingling on them. I covered them with my hand as if to hide the evidence of what I had done.

I felt like a terrible person as Scarlett played in my mind. No good would come of us being together.

"We can't do this, Jax," I tried to say. "So much has happened. We're not who we were." I choked back my words but managed to speak. "I'm not the same person you once saw before. I've changed."

"If you're talking about the bite that happened back at the game, I'm not going to look at you any differently." He walked up to me and took my hands onto his. "You're immune to them. Evren, this can change the whole world back to what it was." His eyes lit up. "If Zane were to know, he can create an antidote of some kind and..."

I took my hands away from his. "You don't get it. I'm not a cure. I may be immune, but I'm just like those Z!" I snapped.

Holding back the tears, I fought to control the anger raging inside me. He didn't understand what I could do to him. One single bite was all it would take to turn him into a zombie.