The Dead and the Restless (Completed with undergoing editing)

Chapter Five (Edited.)

Dedication to @Jenny20 for the beautiful cover as of 11/11/2015

Liam and I made it down the hall swiftly. Killing all those snapper's from earlier helped us make good time. I bit my cheek. Just thinking about the time made me angry; I didn't realize how long I was out and how much time I had wasted. Idiot.

"My god," Liam said, slowing to a stop as we got outside. He stood and looked at the desolation and destruction around us. This was probably the first time he'd been outside in who knows how long. I couldn't blame him for being star struck, but there wasn't room for that right now.

"C'mon," I yelled, snapping him out of his trance and flinging open my car door. "We don't have time."

"Coming," he said, his voice barely audible. Before I sat in the car, I glanced at the backseat to make sure it was all clear. That's the number one thing you do in this world if you're ever going to take a car: you check the backseat. I can't even begin to think of how many times I'd checked the backseat and found snappers waiting for a victim.

As soon as I slid into the driver seat, I began working on hotwiring the vehicle. I pressed the necessary wires together, waiting for the spark. Liam slowly got into the passenger side, eyeing me as I worked my magic.

"Where did you learn how to hot wire?" Liam asked, his voice a little shaky.

"Juvie," I replied, smirking as the car fired up. My body maneuvered into the driver seat, slamming the car door shut. I glanced at Liam's pale face and noticed a smile playing at the corners of his mouth. I was hoping some humor would make this easier on him. That's what Craig always tried to do.

"What on earth did you go to juvie for?" He asked me, raising an eyebrow.

My hands gripped the steering wheel as I slammed my foot on the gas pedal, swerving recklessly out of the parking lot.

"I'll leave that to your imagination," I muttered, my eyes glued to the road. "But I didn't actually learn it there. There was a girl in my old group...she was a good friend of mine."

There was silence for a few seconds and I felt anger at myself for sharing something so personal. I didn't know him. He wasn't Craig.

"I'm sorry," he said quietly. I felt his eyes on me as I pressed harder on the gas. Part of me wondered if he'd tell me to slow down, but I doubted he would.

Silence encased the car, my anxiety making the air tense. I racked my brain to recall the roads I'd taken, to remember which house. There was a definite idea, but I was so frazzled I was not sure if I could trust my mind.

"This is it, isn't it?" He asked, his voice small as he stared at the destruction around him. For a second, I let go of my paranoia and took in his state of mind. His face had regained some color and now he just gave the world a cold, hard look.

"Well," I started, banking a hard turn and thinking about my words. "I've seen quite a bit out here and unfortunately, yes. If there's any government, it has long abandoned us. Everything's just...gone. The infection, it's reached everything."

Liam was quiet for a few moments, thinking about what I'd just said. I probably shouldn't have laid it out so blatantly, but I saw his face earlier when I spoke. He needed to understand the reality of the outside world.

"Do you think there could still be hope, though?" He asked me, his voice sounding strangled. "Somewhere without infection? There can't just be nothing, right?"

"Honest?" I asked, glancing at him. I had hope that there was, or at least I did in the beginning, but I didn't want to give him a false hope. "I'm not so sure anymore."