“I would rather wrestle with one of the undead then a ‘gator and I suggest that you make the same decision.” Bandit said, not even glancing over at the group member that was about to step into the shallows of one of the boggier areas near their cabin as he spoke. He didn’t need to know who was about to do something stupid to know they were about to do something stupid.

"I'm not saying I don't feel for you," Candy explained, pursing her lips a bit as her gaze averted to look anywhere but at her patient, "but I can't prescribe you a painkiller for something that minor. I can give you an icepack, if you'd like?" she offered, turning to the solar powered cooler filled with nothing but icepacks and pulling one out. "You can come back any time to switch it for another one. I'm sorry."

“Get back! Get the fuck back!” Bandit yelled out, rushing to grab the member of their group that was standing out in the open. This war scene was what the Marine was made for. He had spent 17 years of his life learning the ins and outs of every battle scenario, and though the addition of zombies changed things a bit, Bandit was brandishing his weapon against the invaders with ease. “Find cover, find a weapon, and stay the hell down!” Bandit told the person he had grabbed once they were ducked behind one of the vehicles before he swung his M16 around the edge and began to fire.

“—was there something you needed specifically or are you just going to keep gawking at me?”

The night had always been Faye’s favourite time. The usual bustle of everyday life would stand still and soften for a while, so even before the world came crumbling down around them she’d usually find herself outside during the darkest hours of night to try to collect her thoughts and just be alone for a while. This night was no exception, and despite insistence not to leave camp she’d wandered a little further than usual from the safety of her new found group. As she walked she hummed to herself, but not quite loud enough that she couldn’t hear the footsteps approaching from behind her. “Really-?” She muttered as she turned around, “Do you people have a buddy system I don’t know about? Honestly, should I let someone know if I need to piss in future too just to make sure I’m properly escorted or-?”

Sylvia did not care much for other people. She cared not for their names or their positions or their past. She did, however, know that she had to make some acquaintances within camp. She knew that she could not survive without at least pretending to be kind to some of them. That was why she spoke to, out of nowhere, the person sitting next to her. It was a wide space, and they weren’t really sitting together --- but they were the only ones within close proximity, so that had to count for something. “You know what I miss?” she asked, and did not wait for an answer. “Coffee. Like, a really good latte. Have you ever had a really good latte? God. That stuff is fantastic. Miss the hell out of it.” She did not sound friendly in the least bit, but she had to try and make conversation. This was it.

Having recently returned from an outing, Jude dumped the contents of his green burlap sack onto one of the tables the runners had scrounged a few weeks before. Now spread out across the surface were a handful of celebrity gossip magazines printed in the early 2000s, a wide assortment of energy drinks and those protein bars that used to cost $4 a piece at the grocery store, a battered copy of Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë, a written-in travel journal, and a movie projector that looked to still be in working condition. For the first time since packing it all away, Jude took a good look at the ‘essentials’ he’d managed to scrounge. Then, more to himself than anyone around him, he mumbled, “What the hell was I thinking?”