Status: Working on it!!!

No Longer Saving Yourself

The Cure

"What the fuck?" the girl outside the door said, gun pointed at the two on the inside. Annie lowered her gun, wide eyed. The girl followed suit.

"We heard rustling." A boy appeared behind the girl.

"What?!" Zack exclaimed from behind Annie.

"Zack!" The boy pushed past the two girls and gave Zack a hug.

"Huh?" both girls exclaimed at the same time, confused by the gesture.

"Remember how I said we had to change location because one of our friends got bitten?" Zack said to Annie.

"Yeah," she said slowly.

"Annie, meet Danny." The other boy, Danny, grinned at her.

"Nice to meet you. Zack and Annie, this is Cori." He gestured to the girl and she waved.

"Excuse me for being harsh, but why aren't you a zombie?" Annie eyed Danny suspiciously.

"That's where Cori comes in. She found a vial of the cure and saved my ass." Annie looked at Cori with a whole new respect.

"There's a cure?" she asked in wonderment.

"It only works if you get injected within the first six hours. I found Danny in an alley in the city I'm assuming you came from. He likes to say I found him with ten minutes to spare," Cori explained, grinning at Danny.

"But where did you get it from?" Zack asked.

"I was with some people. One of them I guess was a scientist in the lab where the virus was created. Stole it from him. He was a cheeky bastard anyway, and I'm pretty sure he purposely murdered someone in our group. As I was escaping he got bitten. I like to think it was karma." She chuckled silently.

"We're going in search of entertainment. Care to join us?" Annie asked, eager to keep moving.

"Lead the way," Cori responded, moving out of the doorway. They both had bags too but Annie and Cori unloaded their items to the boys. Due to their mutual experiences with zombies, they were better equipped for an attack.

The four carefully walked out of the department store and into the main hall.

"So what are your plans?" Annie asked their new comrades.

"It seems we have similar goals right now. Clothing was our top priority. We've got a truck outside. Once we get out of here, we're heading to Wyoming. That's where the virus started and the same scientist had a file that I also commandeered. It eluded to a lab with more of the cure. We're planning on saving as many people as possible. Then, North. The virus can't-"

"Withstand the cold," Annie finished Cori's sentence. They grinned at each other. The two girls were going to get along just fine.

"Care to join us? It's more fun with more people. And I'm itching for female company," Annie said to Cori and Danny.

"Definitely. Anyone else still with you?" Danny responded.

"Jack, Rian and Alex," Zack responded. "They're in another wing."

"Where are you parked? We didn't see any other cars."

"Main entrance."

"We were directly connected to that department store."

"Let's find some entertainment and get the fuck out of here," Annie said.

A sound emitted from the store right next to them and Annie pulled another gun, pointing them towards the store's entrance. The others reacted in the same fashion.

"Do we go in now?" Danny whispered, apprehension in his voice.

"Kill now? I say we go for it." Zack had a point.

"I'm going in." Annie carefully side stepped through another pane of broken glass, guns raised, listening for any more rattling. When Zack tried to follow, she glared at him and he returned to the hall.

"Of course it's dark in here," she muttered. Then a light began flickering.

"You've got to be fucking kidding me." She rolled her eyes.

Annie stood in the middle of the store, looking around. No zombies, but the store had knives.

"Bingo."

Carefully, Annie looked at the knives. There were only three cases, but she decided the middle one had useful supplies. She smashed the side of the case with a kick. Pausing, Annie looked around to see if she disturbed anything. Or one. Not that the zombies were really some-ones anymore. After deciding it was safe, she grabbed three of the knives, slinging them around her waist with a belt from the case.

As Annie put the last knife in, she felt a hot ragged breath on her shoulder. She pulled the knife out again with the blade down. Suddenly, she moved that arm around and up towards the throat of the creature behind her. Slashing its throat open, the zombie fell to the floor. Whipping her forehead with the back of that hand, she put the knife back on the belt.

A quick look around, Annie determined the female zombie was alone and carefully walked back out.

"Knives?" Cori asked when Annie tossed her one.

"I almost prefer them to guns for closer proximity attacks," Annie explained.

"Let's go," Danny said, shift their bags, grabbing Cori's hand and pulling her towards the direction they were heading. Zack and Annie followed.

Cori and Danny's behavior suggested a longtime relationship. Not necessarily romantic, but they had been together for quite some time.

"Six months," Zack whispered in her ear as if he could read her mind.

"I can't even remember what I was doing six months ago," she mumbled.

"Kicking zombie ass," he teased. She smacked him with the back of her hand, which also held the gun.

"Smart ass," she joked back.

Leaning down, Zack surprised Annie by kissing her temple and pulling her closer by shifting the bags to one hand and putting the free one around her waist.

"How am I supposed to be keeping us safe when you're distracting me?" Annie looked up at him but he just kept looking forward.

"This makes me feel safe," he responded after a moment.

Annie rolled her eyes, but had to admit it made her feel a little bit safer too.

"CD's!" Annie suddenly exclaimed, pointing towards one of the only fully lit stores in the mall. "What's our timeline?"

"Half hour," Zack said, letting go of her waist.

"Okay, CD's, entertainment, batteries and maybe some walkie talkies."

The four split up inside the store, getting their own supplies. There was light chatter among them about what they had found and what they were excited about.

Just as they were finishing up, they heard yelling. It was coming towards them and it sounded like Jack.

"Annie! Zack! Where are you?!" Jack's voice was strained, and it was obvious he was running. Soon, the voices of Alex and Rian joined his. Zack ran out into the hall.

"Holy shit!" Zack shouted.

The other three boys stopped by him, bags in hand.

"Annie. We need to go now!" Alex explained. The groans, moans and generally unpleasant noises that accompanied the creatures could now be heard from the hall and coming closer. And there were a lot of them.

"Wait, Danny?" Rian said, bewildered.

"Long story. Let's go!" Zack shouted over the growing noise, gesturing to them to run.

The seven took off running back towards the department store. Annie pulled out the guns and knives, tossing them to the others.

"Danny and Cori, lead us to the entrance!" Annie instructed. The two moved to the front of the group and the rest followed.

Suddenly, Rian tripped and face planted on the ground.

"Fuck!" he shouted, causing the others to stop in their tracks and turn around. They had noticed too late and the zombies had already closed in on him. Annie moved her gun into position, and walked quickly towards him, shooting as many zombies as she could. Her accuracy was indicative of practice.

Annie reached him, but one of the zombies she took down landed too close and was still moving enough to bite his leg. Annie shot it before it could get too into his leg.

"Shit! Go ahead without me! I've already been bitten!" Rian said, his voice filled with fear, as Annie kept towards him, still shooting. Once the gun was out of rounds, she re-holstered it and pulled out another one.

"Annie, are you fucking insane?" Rian berated as Annie pulled him up, threw his bag over her shoulder and forced him to keep running.

Annie turned around as much as she could to shoot those who came too close. Zack and Alex ran towards them and half carried Rian with them.

Through the very same isles Annie and Zack were in only an hour ago, they safely reached the entrance to the store and made it an exit.

"Okay, give us a ride to our cars and we'll get out of here," Alex said.

They piled in the truck bed and Cori sped to the hummers. A few zombies had already surrounded them.

"What are they doing?" Alex asked when Cori stopped several yards from the vehicles.

"They can smell where live flesh was up to three hours later." Danny explained, shutting the passenger side door.

Cori and Annie immediately walked towards the zombies and began taking them out. After the close ones seemed to be disabled, they opened the doors to the Hummers.

"They chipped the paint," Annie grumbled. Everyone laughed, relieving some of the stress. However, the increasing sounds of the undead were becoming louder and more numerous. They must have been former shoppers. Some still carried bags.

"We'll take Rian. He can't walk very far," Cori explained before climbing into her own truck.

With one last lingering glance at their friend, worried about his fate, the others went to the remaining vehicles and sped out of the increasingly dangerous parking lot.
♠ ♠ ♠
Not too fond of this one either but it will have to do.

1) Thanks to Cori for becoming a character (because I love her Danny story) and to Rachel for my segue from the last chapter.

2) I love all my readers/subscribers and especially the commenters!

3) How do you all feel about a sex scene? I can't decide...

4) There is going to be a sequel. I'm taking this to a good stopping point for the contest and then moving on after that. I've got a little bit more to tell for this story that I just wont be able to get out.

Again, I love all of you! Comments please?