The Search [Kate]

[TYLER GRISSOM]

Tyler felt a sinking feeling in his gut as Jared ran off. The east-coaster was probably only alive today because of Jared. And now, he’d run off without warning, and Tyler was left with a girl he’d only just met, in a place that Jared had told them to leave. Tyler, however, had other ideas.

“Better look around,” he muttered, “there’s gotta be something around here that made him take off like that.”

Stepping over the stranger’s body, he headed out into the hallway. He tried not to think about what Jared had done before his departure. Killing zombies was one thing, but shooting a man in cold blood was something else. He passed through an open door down the hall, seeing nothing of interest immediately. Certainly no reason why Jared would run off, or why he would shoot a man they didn’t know, even if he had been begging for death-

That gave Tyler pause. The man had been asking for death. Nobody would do that for no good reason, not if they’d survived for a year already. Jared’s words rang through his mind; “Don't make people suffer because you're too scared to help them,” he had said. Maybe he was right.

He shook his head violently. Clearly, he hadn’t known as much about Jared as he’d thought. Regardless, Tyler was no murderer. There had to be a better way of dealing with those problems. In the meantime, he had to focus. There had to be a clue around here. He glanced into the nearby rooms. If there was a clue, it wasn’t upstairs.

He took the stairs two at a time, stopping in the middle of the lobby. Taking a guess, he ducked into a side room. Nothing. He tried the next. Again, nothing. Frustration mounting, he ducked into a third room. This looked more promising, with a hall leading some distance. He moved quickly, glancing into each room he passed but seeing nothing of worth. He passed an office, glancing in the door and almost walking past it before he registered what he’d seen: a shoe, still attached to the leg of...something.

Tyler backtracked and crept into the room. The door had been opened recently, most likely by Jared. He stepped around the room’s centerpiece, a large desk, to see the rest of the body on the floor. It was lying in a circle of dried blood, with a neat hole through its chest.

Ignoring the wound, Tyler looked closer at the dead man’s face.

“Hey, doesn’t this guy look kinda like Jared?”

[KATE MURPHY]

Tyler cut the conversation rather short and it left Kate feeling a bit alone, even with an extra party there. She'd always dealt with the factor, but having it happen with someone she'd met less than a few hours ago hurt a little. Sighing, she set herself up for the watch and tried her best to keep quiet. Her thoughts wandered a little to her parents and it made her a bit more sad. Though, she was certain they were alright. Why wouldn't they be? They were, after all, her parents. They had protected her for her entire life, why couldn't they protect themselves? She glanced over at Tyler and wondered how he ended up in Las Vegas. Were things out East so bad? She could have been there. That thought seemed to frighten her a little, but again, she pushed it away and tried to put her focus back into her surroundings. Night seemed to move quickly and soon, she woke the other up for his turn. However, sleep did not come easily. It seemed that every bump in the night kept her awake.

So by morning, she was exhausted. Though, she attempted to conceal it as best she could. As the three ate breakfast - which was nothing impressive, spaghetti out of a damn can and some stale cracker - Jared said something about a hotel not far. Why they needed to go to a zombie hotspot, Kate didn't know, but her protests were cut short by Tyler's agreement. So it was either she went with them or she went on her own. Either way, she figured, she'd die soon. So, she decided to follow like the little sheep she was.

The two miles seemed long and tiring, and considering she was already tired, it didn't make her feel any better. The head had already started in when they woke up and the degrees would just steadily climb until it was too hot to bear. Any other day, Kate would have preferred keeping to a small area and remaining inside air conditioned homes, because it didn't make her tired and sweaty. But in order to keep these people she just met, Kate would have to suck it up. It didn't seem eventful, either and by the time they were in front of the hotel, she felt like a zombie herself. Tyler motioned for her to kill some zombies to his left. She hesitated, a little afraid her foot-dragging issue would cause her to lose the fight and get bitten, but none-the-less she followed suit of the men. The zombies were slow, near decayed creatures, so when she smashed their skulls, they split open with ease, blackness oozed out. It smelled of infection, causing Kate to gag. She always hated the older ones. They smelled the worst.

They made their way up the stairs of the building. Already, Kate had a bad feeling. The doors weren't even on the entrance. They were smashed. How would they protect themselves were a horde to come marching in. Even the stairs held no promise. Barricades had been smashed. The second floor, though, held less of the monsters and Tyler took care of them. Though, the second of his kills seemed to take him longer and at one point Kate was sure he was a goner. But, he managed to kill the sucker. She let out her breath, which she hadn't realized she'd been holding. As she watched Tyler, the dark-haired girl hadn't noticed the other wander off. So when Tyler addressed it, Kate just blinked. "Maybe he-" Her words and his were cut off by gunshots. Five of them in total. Something inside Kate seemed to snap and she panicked. Before she knew it, she was alone. In a hotel she'd never been to before. And someone was screaming in agony.

Kate's brain seemed to fritz out and she stood still, open-mouthed. When the last gunshot went off, she seemed to lose it. Her legs moved automatically. She found herself in a closet when she came out of her mind lapse. It was dark and the girl was slightly confused at first. Then it hit her all at once like a ton of bricks. She reached for her lead pipe, but was coming up short. Her hands were shaking too badly that she brought it back to her and clutched it to her chest. It was then that she noticed her heart was practically pounding out of her chest. Inhaling deeply, the girl tried to calm herself. It didn't seem to work, but she took a chance at standing.

Bright light spilled into the closet as she opened the door. She could hear Tyler's voice down the hall. Slowly, carefully, she made her way that direction, still unsure of what was happening. She remembered gunshots. And then she drew a blank. Had she really blacked out? She didn't recall. But would she? She entered the room just as Tyler was contemplating over a body. "D-dunno. I-I...What happened? I heard gunshots. I'm kind of scared. Where is Jared? He's not d-d-dead is he? Oh, god, he is, isn't he? Please tell me he's alright!" She inhaled deeply but didn't calm down. Her mind wandered to the zombies. They'd be on them. Quickly. "We should leave. But where do we go? I don't know this end of town. I mean, we could back track and go toward..." When she came up blank, she seemed to flip. Mentally, at least. She slowly sank to her knees and began to cry. Tears she'd held back for so long just seemed to flow easily. As if she was a pro. Sobs came next. Ugly sobs and hiccups until she was crying like a toddler. She kept asking why and how and saying incoherent things. Finally, she looked up at Tyler and sniffled. "Someone please save me."