That's right. I added a sad song...sorta. But, hey, who doesn't love this song? If you think about it, it really fits this chapter. Anyway, good luck trying to get through it without hitting the Feels Express.

The moment I busted the door open was the moment I had to think without any faulty hesitation. My sister needed me. There was no time to think, so I reached for my gun and aimed it at the diseased bastard who dared get close to my sister. She was able to kick it back in its gut out of terror before I shouted with madness at it. It stumbled backwards on the stairs, but, didn't quit. It came at her a second time.

"No! Stop!" I lamely screamed at the zombie as if it could understand me and reason with me. "Stay away from her!" It spun its head up at me with a menacing moan and ran up the next flight of stairs to get to me. I could only make out some features as everything happened in a flash. Its skin was blood-splattered and mangled. It made a clumsy and stumbling effort to get to me. In the corner of my eye, I could see my sister, who was in a fetal position, pleading for it to be all over. My veins pumped hot blood, making my heart rate sky-rocket. My lungs began to take in more air to get me to calm down, though it didn't help. I could feel my legs wanting to give out beneath me, but, I didn't let them.

I scrambled for my Glock 19 in my vest and reloaded the barrel. I raised it and had no trouble pulling the trigger back. It made it easier to know that there was no human soul left inside its body. It was just another normal, everyday zombie that had taken over its host's brain. If they really were still in there, however, I was doing them a favor and ending their nonstop suffering.

The sound of the gun's cry thundered through the building. It startled me so much, I actually dropped the gun in terror.

And that was the first time I've ever used a gun.

My ears began to ring and I could have sworn my nerves shook. I could see Mabel out of the corner of my eye with her hands covering her ears and her eyes wouldn't stop turning back and forth from every angle, well aware of her surroundings. The bullet, luckily and surprisingly, impelled the zombie in the center of its head. It fell to the ground with one last agitated gurgle and a harsh thud. The bullet had done its job. I shielded my eyes from beholding the body I had just shot down, wishing I didn't feel sympathy for a retarded zombie.

I hurried down the first flight of stairs to find tears in Mabel's eyes. She looked like she was going to have an emotional breakdown. "Are you okay?" I asked, all the words coming out at once. "It didn't get you, did it?"

Mabel clenched her teeth together and squeezed her eyes tight furiously. She remained in her fetal position and I knew she wouldn't budge anytime soon, even if I tried to get her up.

"Mabel," I spoke with anger and impatience. "Answer me! Are you hurt?!"

Again, all I got back was a hard-to-make-out whine. Tears flooded her eyes, streaming down like a river. Her cheeks were spotted with red blush from her stressful experience. I wouldn't blame her, though. I was frightened out of my mind. It was the only reason why I needed her to answer me. I needed to know she was alright. Finally, after a minute or so, Mabel nodded slightly as she laid on her side on the ground.

"Can you get up and walk?" I asked her. "We need to go now. We can't stay here much longer or the other zombies will find us."

She got up, keeping her right arm limp. I didn't think much of it, thinking she had just accidentally bumped it or something. Before, I turned my back on her to lead the way down to the first floor, she pulled me into one of our awkward sibling hugs.

"I promise, Mabel." I told her. "I'll make it all up to you. We will find a new, better place to stay in tonight. Maybe a mansion, if we're lucky. I'll raid all the nearest stores of its supplies and we will eat like kings tonight."

Mabel breathed a laugh through her sobs. "You're so cheesy...Promise?"

"Cross my heart." I told her. We finally pulled away from the hug and I stepped back to look at her. She was battered and bruised, obviously. Neither of us had been able to shower in forever and more and more dirt stains have been covering our skin. My sister looked heartbroken, but, I didn't have the time to sit and talk about it with her. We needed to move.

I began to think that taking the highway wasn't my best option. It was getting dark and we spent the day cleaning a few stores of its good loot. We made every inch in our bags count, filling the last of our bags' space with things we needed.

The highway was completely abandoned and cars were left everywhere. Trash of papers, fast food packages, and even bodies littered the ground. To walk on the highway was like trying to find my way around a maze. I had to squeeze through gaps of cars and make sure I didn't step on anyone's body. Mabel stayed close behind me. Every now and then, I'd check to see if she was still following me. She was oddly dead-silent. At one point, I saw her pull down her sweater sleeve so quick that I could have missed it. I caught her do it out of the corner of my eye and she stared at me for a second, guiltily, before turning her attention into the forest line. Her face was still red for some reason. Maybe she was still silently crying.

Suddenly, I heard her voice break through. "Hey, Dip?" Her voice croaked out in a bittersweet tone.

"Yeah?"

There was a long, lengthy pause before she said, "Nevermind."

"C'mon, Mabel. You can tell me anything. It's okay. I'm your brother...I'm always here for you, you know that?"

"Of course I do. It's just..."

"Just what?"

After that she went back to being quiet. I heard her ruffling through her bag and pull out something. She ran briefly up to me and handed me a bag of candy. Assuming, she wanted me to have them, I took them from her.

"Gummy koalas?" I exclaimed, observing them in my hands. "But, I thought you loved gummy koalas. Why are you giving them to me?" My sister was acting weird - even weirder than her usual wacky personality.

"I want you to have them." She said, almost in whisper. "I don't think I have much time to enjoy gummy koalas anymore."

I glanced up at the sun that seemed to hide itself behind the treeline, making a breathtaking sight. I could watch it forever if it wasn't for having to constantly be on the lookout for zombies. I stared back at her sorrow-filled face. Her cheeks that once were blushed with red were now really pale and flushed from color. I decided to call off the search for a new place to stay. I had broke half of my promise to Mabel, but, I don't think she cared. Maybe she knew that I was glamorizing the truth for her sake of feeling better. We stayed under a highway bridge that night.

Despite the fact it was summer, I shivered a bit. At least the hotel building had no wind current. I laid my blanket down for extra cushion against the tough cement ground. Mabel rested her head on my shoulder and curled herself up in her used-to-be-vibrant pink sweater. I began to daydream about what it would be like if I was grown up and still alive.

Would Mabel still be there? Will the apocalypse as we know it still exist? Would we have found a permanent place to call home? Would we still have to practically starve every night? Will it be just Mabel and I, or someone else there, too?

If only I was a time traveler so I could find out the answers to these questions.

"Dipper, I hate this."

"What?" I was brought out of my head to Mabel's comment.

"I hate living like this! All I ever do is worry and try to...survive. I mean, when does it end? When do we finally get a break from this? Maybe there is no way out...maybe there is no miracle." While she talked, I felt a chilling and muggy breeze hit the back of my neck. "I have to always be in constant fear for my own life! I miss everything about my old life! I miss mom and dad!" She couldn't hold it back anymore. She had bursted into tears, again.

"I - I don't know what to say. I can't help it that you feel that way. But, I do, too. Believe me, I wish it didn't have to be this way. I'm sorry, Mabel."

"Good." She muttered. "You should be sorry. You did this. You caused all this."

"Mabel, have you lost your mind? What are you talking about?"

"It's because of you that we have to sleep under a bridge at night! It's because of you that we starve at night with the only food we have! It's because of you that our parents are dead! And worst of all, you had to drag me into this mess!"

Her words hit me hard. They impelled me with multiple fired bullets. "How dare you blame this all on me! You think it's my fault that our parents are dead?! Mabel, they were already dead! Couldn't you see it?! They were already gone! That wasn't our parents, anymore! If I didn't do what I did, we could have both been dead by now!"

"What you did was cruel and I will never forgive you for it!"

"I know you better than that, Mabel! You can't just not forgive me! I saved your life, so you're welcome! I was the one who had to do all the heavy lifting here! I am the one who finds us the places to stay and the stores that we get our food and stupid gummy koalas from! Maybe you should thank me once in awhile, instead of complaining all the time!"

"I can't believe you! Why would I thank you?! After what you did?! You think it's okay to stab our parents in the back and then take me away on this long, useless walk! What are you trying to run from? Where are we even going? What do you want, anyway? There is no point in all of this!"

"What about survival, Mabel? You ever think about that? I'm trying to keep you safe!"

"But, I don't need you always by my side! I can fend for myself!"

"I care about you, Mabel!" I didn't realize how loud our arguing was, until I heard my voice echo through the trees and above the clouds. Silence filled the world and the trees blew swiftly, swaying in the wind. It seemed as if they had heard what I said and were giving us a sign that peace had come. I repeated myself, keeping my voice at a volume that Mabel could hear. "I care about you, Mabel. I don't want anything to happen to you. That's why I do this. I do it to keep you safe. Without you, I don't know how I would ever survive in this end of the world junk."

I finally rose my chin up to see Mabel with her eyes glistening with the words I have said. It was the most I have ever confessed to anyone. I opened up my true feelings for her to see and I knew she was glad I did. "Then, why didn't you just say so, dummy? You know I feel the same, so why wouldn't you tell me?"

She wrapped her arms around me in a tight hug and I heard her utter something else. "Dipper...I have something to tell you."