Chapter 3

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"Follow me." I said as I got up and behind another car somewhat closer to the house. I saw a guy lean out with a molotov and I sniped it as the truck crashed into a building. The trucks stopped and a lady came out of one of them. "Henry, Sam come out." the lady called to the brothers. "Stay here, you three." I whispered to Ellie, Sam and Henry as I hand signals to Joel to get ready if anything happens. I put my sniper rifle on my back as I stood up and started walking in a one way.

"Who are you?" the lady asked me about why I'm here. "Just passing through. I hid behind a car and waited for whoever was in a house to either die from whatever plagued them or sleep. Now if I was you I would hurry on out of here in case of the infected being nearby." I said about what I'm doing. "Did you see two boys walk past you by any chance?" the lady asked about Sam and Henry. "No, but if I meet them I'll tell them you asked for them." I said as I acted like I was heading somewhere.

Then the truck that crashed fell into the sewers and noise started coming from it. Runners came out and started attacking the lady's people as a bloater came out of the same hole. "Well, see ya." I said as I ran and motioned the others to follow me which they did. The infected were biting and scratching the people of the lady while trying to get to others.  The lady came towards us as she was pushed by her own right hand man and she pointed her gun at us.

"You're not going anywhere. You all will die by something other than me." The lady said as she laughed. I willed my body to change into a half-infected and half-uninfected. The runners and the bloater stopped fighting the other people and looked over to the group  as they felt a powerful force telling them to attack the woman in front of us. The runners and the bloater came running and attacked the lady which helped us to escape further. Joel came running from the house and ran with us out of the neighborhood.

It was later that night, we made it to the radio tower/station  and we had settled down for dinner, I looked through the radio station for any communication to others. I found a radio that's connected to the tower outside. I heard something and Joel came in to talk about what happened in the suburban area. "What happened in the suburbs?" Joel asked about it as I continued to go through the channels. "I don't know. I willed my body to change but it stopped half-infected. It's like there's a next level over the mushroom stage, one that no one knows about. The runners and the bloater stopped attacking and attacked the lady who wanted the brothers." I said about the ordeal. "Like a monarch level infected." Joel asked about the next level of infection. "Yeah, almost like a monarch." I agreed about the next level.

"This is T.Miller. I'm calling out for news about my brother, Joel." a call came through the radio. "That's Tommy." Joel said as I tuned in the call. I looked at Joel and nodded to him to call  back. "Tommy, it's me, it's Joel." Joel called his brother who also returned it. "Joel, great to hear from you. Where are you? I can send people to get you and whoever you're with." Tommy said about everything. "No, we'll come to you. Where are you?" Joel asked Tommy where he was. "Jackson, Wyoming. Head here from where you are. A couple of guys I know and I will meet you for the rest of the way here." Tommy said about his location and the group he'll be with. "Okay we'll see you soon." Joel said as I took spare wiring and what not in case of making a quick bomb.

The next morning, we were woken up by the noise of someone falling to the floor. We saw that it was Ellie with Sam on top of her and we got up with guns drawn. Henry shot Sam without knowing it was his brother that he shot. Ellie looked at us in shock as to why Sam turned into a runner overnight so quickly. I came over and looked for any bites from the runners the night before. "He was bitten. Did your brother have something wrong with him, Henry?" I asked Henry about Sam's previous condition. "He had Leukemia, that's why we were going to Houston for the pills." Henry said as he looked in pain at shooting his own brother. He looked at the gun he shot his brother with and turned it on himself before anyone could react. I checked Sam's leg and saw the bite mark on his right calf.

"He was bitten sometime last night during the fight. He wouldn't have survived by tonight." I said about the fight and the bite Sam got. "I tried to help him. I didn't know this would happen." Ellie said with tears in her eyes. "You didn't know what would happen, Ellie. But never give your blood to people who you know wouldn't deal well with it." Joel said about her blood. Ellie and Joel buried the brothers in marked graves next to the road as I gathered what we got from their bags.

We started heading towards Jackson where Joel's brother, Tommy, was with a group of survivors. We past the sign heading into Jackson and to wherever Tommy's group was in the town but didn't get close enough when Joel and I heard guns being loaded up. Joel and I pulled our guns out and pointed at them with the same expressions. "Drop the guns." a woman said about our guns. "You first, lady." I said with a growl. "Stop! They're alright." a voice called to the lady and the rest of her group. Someone came out from the gates as the woman looked at the person in shock. "What, you know these people?" the woman asked the person about us.

"I know him. He's my goddamn brother." A man said as he walked to us while Joel gasped. "Tommy." Joel asks as Tommy walks forward to his brother. They hugged each other in happiness at seeing each other. "How you doin', baby brother?" Joel said as he chuckled as he pats Tommy's back. "I'm good but you got old on me." Tommy said about everything as he looked at Ellie and I. Joel followed his gaze to us as he knew that this was it for my journey with him and Ellie. "These are two people I've been traveling with. Ellie who I was smuggling but didn't and Freya who is a fellow smuggler with more morals than most." Joel said as he introduced us to his brother. "Thank you for keeping my brother safe and sane." Tommy said about Joel staying the way he is. "No problem. But I should head my own way now." I said about leaving to head south east.

"Why don't you stay with us? You're more than welcome too." Tommy said about staying with them. "I can't. I actually have places to be and I already helped enough." I said about what I'm doing. "Why aren't you staying? You can't have someone to be with." Ellie said about someone to be with. "I'm sorry, Ellie but I can't. I wish I could but I can't." I said about staying here. "Please stay here with us. Please." Ellie asked on the verge of tears. "She's right Ellie. She needs to be at peace with her family's death." Joel said to Ellie about what I wanted to do. "But," Ellie started but was cut off by Tommy. "I'll get you supplies for your trip. You're always welcome here anytime, ms. Freya." Tommy said about supplies and my trip. "My name's Rose, but Freya works too because I don't use my first name often." I said about my name since it didn't come up until now.

I waited outside the QZ for the supplies as the people above the gates watched me with suspicion. A woman came out with the supplies and a child in her hands from the QZ. "Tommy said you needed supplies for your trip. Didn't know where you were going but there's enough for about a year or two." The woman said about Tommy and the supplies. "Tell Tommy I said thank you and Ellie that I'm sorry." I said about Tommy and Ellie. "Sure thing. If you need anything else, use this radio station and Tommy or I will answer or even Joel." The woman said as she also handed me a slip of paper with a radio station on it. "Thank you." I said as I grabbed the supplies and left for Cuba. none P.O.V. "What happened to her, Joel." Tommy asked his brother about Rose. "Lost her family about a decade ago and has been alone since we've met. She's lasted longer than anyone that I met who didn't live in the QZs." Joel said about Rose as Maria came back in the house with a sad look. "She doesn't live in the QZs. Why?" Maria asked about Rose.

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