Closing the door behind us, Derek gestured for me to take a seat on my bed. He pulled my desk chair over to sit across from me.Derek inhaled a deep, shaky breath before speaking. "Derek wasn't my name in school, and my hair was much shorter. I used to have my basketball number marked on the back of my head like a lot of the guys. I think I know why you don't remember me. I was older, and we ran in completely different crowds. Plus, I was a Junior, and you were a Freshmen."I searched his face, trying to place him. Freshmen year was the year they diagnosed Mom with cancer. It was the roughest year of my life since her survival odds were so low. Mom's operation to remove the mass had been bad, but the chemo afterward had been even worse.My mother was a cancer survivor going on three years, and an awful virus had taken her from me in one day.Life is a nasty bitch.I'd somehow made it onto Varsity during Freshmen year, but I was so worried about my mother I barely reme

Ushering Suzie and Grant into the laundry room, I handed Mindy over to Grant. I glanced around the small space, trying to locate what Thomas had left for me. I had a suspicion it was a gun. I could only hope.Just as I spotted one of our thick comforters hanging over the side of the washing machine, the pounding on the door repeated as someone hollered from outside."I'm coming." Jim let out a heavy cough as he hollered. "Hold your horses. I can't move like I used to."Grabbing the blanket, I threw it at Suzie. "Cover Mindy's ears and cover yourselves up. You guys have to stay quiet and hide. Grant, you too. If anything happens, I need you to take care of Suzie and Mindy.""I will." Grant's lips pressed together as he nodded, pointing at the washing machine. "Thomas hid it behind there.""What?" I asked."The gun," Grant whispered.Thank God. Thomas had thought of this situation.Suzie crawled under the counter, which was as far away from the door as she coul

Suzie   "Psst. Squirt," Thomas whispered from across the room. "Psst. Wakey wakey, eggs and bakey."I rubbed my eyes, trying to get them to open. Once they obeyed, I was happy to see the sun was finally up.I stretched before searching for Mindy. That baby girl was the best way to make me smile in the morning."There's my little sis," Thomas said in a quiet voice.I rolled to face Thomas, forcing myself not to say anything about how awful his nose looked.Thomas waved me over to the side of the bed. Since everything happened last night we hadn't done anything, but go to sleep.My night had been hell.I needed to apologize to Grant. Again.My brain had started playing crazy tricks on me at night. It all started the night Mom nearly took a bite out of my face. It was difficult to figure out what was real and what wasn't.Last night, I had a hard time falling asleep knowing Jim and those men wer

For two days we did our best to stay invisible.We didn't know how many biters were in the area and since that huge group moved through, we all thought it was better to lay low and prepare to leave. Since Thomas was healing, it was best to wait a couple days, anyway. I didn't want to disrupt his recovery.As luck may have it, Derek was able to move Jenson's vehicle into the garage before the biters took their morning stroll through my front yard. So if Jenson had any friends that come looking there would be no sign of exactly where his crew went. I wasn't so sure that moving their vehicle would deter Jenson's friends, but I hoped it would.The best I could figure was that Jenson and his people most likely had access to the high school's record system. I could only assume that was how Jenson found me. He'd probably seen plenty of my pictures on the trophy shelves. I had to hope his crew of five were the only people trying to take over the school.I couldn't stomach the th

When we finally made it to the trailer, the weight on my shoulders eased considerably."We're here." I parked next to the green monster truck."Case, I'm scared. What if those girls change and hurt us?" Suzie held Mindy tight, protecting her."I know, Su. I'll talk with the guys and make sure you, Grant, and Mindy stay far away, okay?"Suzie wouldn't look at me. "I'm terrified.""That makes two of us." I twisted, encouraging her to make eye contact with me. "Just stay in the car for now, and I'll come get you in a minute. I'll send Grant over.""Okay." Suzie sucked in her bottom lip and nodded.Climbing out, I made my way to Thomas. He used to hop out of his truck, but jumping wasn't an option for him now. Grant was trying to help him down, but he was having a hard time. Thomas let out a loud yell when he stretched to reach the ground and fell to his knees.I ran to Thomas's side, wrapped my arm around his waist, and helped him to stand. "I go