Seven Devils

Blaze stood before a mountain of dead-less bodies. It had been two years since she left Danny, never to return to their apartment. She still felt overwhelming guilt for his death. She believed that deep down, he had loved her. In the last two years, she'd forgotten all of the times he'd beaten her, all the times he'd raped her. All she felt now was a sense of loss. She had never truly dealt with the loss of Danny.

Blaze thought herself a horrible person. She had to somehow make up for the wrong she had done. She wished now that she had been strong enough to save her beloved Danny. She excelled in this environment due to her need to save others, a need made worse by her wish that it was Danny she was saving. She had found the group of runners for that reason. They ran much needed supplies to towns all over the west coast. She needed this, she told herself. If she died, she felt she would deserve it.

"Blaze!" Jesse yelled, finally pulling her from her morbid thoughts.

"What? Sorry, I was thinking," she apologized.

Jesse nodded her head. "I just asked what's our next move?" she questioned.

Blaze looked away from the rotting pile of bodies, at her friend. After debating with herself for a minute, she spoke. "We need to find a place to spend the night. Tomorrow, we will deliver the supplies to the Huntington compound."

Jesse nodded again and walked away to tell the others. "Put a wiggle in it," she added, only half joking. "We need to hurry." It was getting dark. Zombies were bad enough in the daytime when you could see them, but they were worse at night. At night, you couldn't see them coming. That's when the new zombies were the most dangerous. With no broken limbs yet, they could move way too quick for comfort.

The group found an old car dealership to camp out in. Skyler made holes in the ceiling so that no one would get carbon monoxide poisoning. Blaze had a bad feeling, more so than usual tonight. She decided extra guards were needed. She explored the battered building, looking around with interest. The blood on the walls told a horror story of its own.

Someone had been trapped in here at some time. From the smell, it had been at least a couple of days, and the person had had no way out.

Blaze continued to walk around the building, securing the perimeter and making sure there were no holes. In the back storage area she found a gruesome sight: four people, two of them children, hanging by their necks. She turned to leave, but heard something that made her blood run cold.

Turning back around fast, Blaze found the little girl, who looked to be about three, moving. She was thrashing about with blood dripping from her eyes and mouth. As Blaze finally really looked, she realized she had made a big mistake. This was where someone had strung this family up to die after they were bitten, not realizing that they'd turn unless decapitated.

Blaze rushed to shut the door, but she was too late. The little girl had freed herself. Taking out her knife, Blaze yelled for the others to help. The older girl suddenly freed herself as well. Children walkers were the most dangerous; their little bodies moved the fastest.

Blaze abandoned her knife and pulled her machete just as the older one lunged. Blaze barely moved fast enough, yet she managed to cut the older girl down. Meanwhile, the smaller of the two got behind her and lunged. Blaze tucked and rolled out of the way, barely missing the Zombie's hungry teeth.

Blaze faced the zombie as it lunged again, its tattered dress flying. She ducked just in time, her machete raised to cut its head off. Its momentum carried it forward, sending its body slamming into the wall. The head rolled away.

Blaze straightened up, looking around. She was relieved to discover that Jesse, Tiffany and Skyler had taken care of the other two before they had even gotten down.

"Lets pack up," she finally said, after they'd all caught their breath. This place was just way too creepy. They couldn't stay here. "Let's try for the Huntington compound tonight," she ordered the group.

They all nodded, feeling the tension rolling off of their leader. Within an hour, they were all packed up and ready to head out.

"Follow the map," Blaze instructed, driving fast through what had once been beautiful coastline. Now, it looked like a war zone, bodies washed up everywhere and sprawled along the shore.

The sun was just rising as they reached the halfway point to the compound. Blaze was glad for the sun. They had encountered two hordes of zombies last night and come away from the encounters with a broken windshield on one of their supply vehicles.

By noon, they had reached the Huntington compound. As they piled out of their vehicles, a tall, muscular guy covered in tattoos approached. And directly behind him was the single most beautiful pair of green eyes Blaze had ever seen.