Better to Die

As they drove, Matthew and Elizabeth were trying to catch up with Greg and the others. Star and Madison talked the most, since Greg was silent and Guillermo was tending to the ammo in the back. They told them about their first encounter with a zombie, after Greg buried Alicia.

Matthew looked at Greg, and patted him on the back. "I'm sorry for your loss, Greg," He exhaled deeply.

"It was my fault," Greg said. "If I had known before this happened, maybe I could've prevented it."

The drive back was long and awkward. Nobody said a word. And anyone who wanted to say something kept their mouth shut. Needless to say, they were all going through Hell at this point. The world has gone to shit, and they seem to be the only ones alive that weren't crazy. Not the greatest situation to be in.

They arrived back home and delivered everything inside. Greg sat on the couch and started wiping his gun down. Madison sat down with him. She didn't say anything, then again, what could she say? All she did was watch him polish his gun.

"You know, if you're gonna stare, you could say something," Greg said.

"What could I possibly say to you that would help you?" Madison asked.

"I don't need help," he replied. "Mainly, what I need is a drink. Scotch on the rocks."

"Trust me, if I had scotch, I'd drink it myself," She said. They snickered a bit.

Greg sighed and continued to polish his gun. He unloaded the magazine and checked to see how much ammo he had. It wasn't a lot, one full clip and another one half full. 'We're lucky it wasn't a crazy firefight, otherwise we would've died.' He finished polishing the pistol and loaded it back up with a mag. 'Alicia's dead, and I'm here with Guillermo and a bunch of chicks. Not that I'm complaining.' He smirked. 'Natalie is cute, but, I'm not gonna do that again. Madison is cute, but, she's not into me. And Star is self explanatory.' He went to the back living room and walked toward the back porch. "Maybe I can clear my mind a bit."

Guillermo kept watch over the ammo supply while Star was next to him. Guillermo couldn't help but worry about them. Sure, they found two more friends, but, they're still stuck in this apocalyptic nightmare. All he wants is to get her out of it. They couldn't say a word, but, they were both thinking the same thing.

Natalie and Elizabeth had taken over the back room. They stared at Greg as he stepped onto the back porch. Natalie scoffed after he left, "He comes back, now he's pitying himself."

Elizabeth looked at her with confusion on her face. "Give the guy a break, he's going through hell."

"I went through hell, you didn't see me crying about it," she stared down at the floor. That was a bold faced lie on her part. She went through hell, but, she never came back from it.

"Natalie, I know for a fact that's a lie, everyone we know and love is either dead, psycho, or a zombie." Elizabeth shed a tear. "I can't keep going on..."

Natalie looked at her, she sighed and put her hand on her shoulder. "I lost my girl before Greg came here, so, I get what he's going through. But, she wouldn't want him to be like this. She'd want him to live for her... She'd want him to move on. That's why I'm still alive, Miranda would kill me if I joined her now." They laughed. "I know it's hard, Elizabeth, but, we'll all make it through."

Greg sat on the porch, just staring at the fence that bordered them from the psychotic calamity that is the world. He couldn't decide whether to tear it down or not. He stepped towards it, and held his pistol on him. It was then something on him started to buzz, it was in his left pocket. He reached in it and grabbed the object, it was his phone. He saw a number on the screen that looked all too familiar to him. He answered it. "Agent Adler."

"Greg... is that really you?" The voice said. It was a female voice that entered Greg's ears smoothly. No screeching, nothing that could be harmful to ones eardrums.

"Who am I speaking to?" He asked.

"Its me... Yadira," she answered softly.

Greg's eyes filled with tears after he heard her. "Jay... you're alive?" He smiled brightly. "Where are you?"

"I'm at the school, those freaks had cleaned house here, and they didn't kill all those undead assholes either," Jay whispered.

Greg looked up at the sky. 'Alicia... thank you... but, it's time for you to rest easy.' He smiled. "I'll be there as fast as I can, hang in there." He hung up.

He marched into the house and grabbed a few full mags from the ammo stash. He made it to the front door but was stopped by Madison. "Where are you going?" She asked.

"I got a call from someone, they need help," he answered.

She held a pistol on her side and two rifles. "I'm coming with you."

Greg stared at her, wanting to argue, but he conceded. "Fine. I know not to argue with a woman who's holding a gun." They walked out.

Greg got in the truck with Madison and drove off.

"Who was the call?" She asked.

"It was Jay."

"She's alive? What about Kobe?"

"She didn't say."

"Well, I suppose we'll find out when we get there."

They get to the school, and, they couldn't believe what they were seeing. Bodies had covered the ground, all bloodied, a few of which had dismembered limbs. Most of the bodies had burn marks on them, which gave an indication to what happened before they died. "Tortured, then cast aside for food," Greg whispered as he stepped over all of them. Madison followed him, and couldn't change her facial expression. She was in shock and mourning. She couldn't even say anything.

They followed the trail of bodies to the cafeteria, which had been the only place that was still standing in the aftermath. Greg opened the door slowly, Madison stepped in and he followed her, closing the door right behind them.

"Jay said she was here?" Madison whispered.

"This is the only place here that's not obliterated, she's here," Greg answered.

In that moment, a loud metallic sound came from the kitchen. It sounded like something was dropped onto the floor. Greg moved quickly around the corner and into the kitchen. He peered through the hall cautiously, if one of those zombies or cannibalistic psychos were to catch them, they would walk out of that place in a body bag. He stepped lightly around the corner, and caught eye of a body. It wasn't dead, just the opposite, it was standing right in front of him, pointing a gun at his head.

"Don't make a single move," they said.

He held his hands in the air and stared at the person. It was a woman. She had long dark hair with blonde highlights at the end. Her eyes, hazel, and glowed in the sunlight, or any light she stood in. Her face, soft and smooth like silk. Greg stood in awe, she was alive.

"Jay." He said.

She lowered her gun and embraced him.

"Greg, you're okay," she cried. Tears ran down her face as she hugged him.

"Careful, you don't want to ruin that pretty face of yours," Greg smirked.

"Oh shut up, it's been ruined from crying anyway," she sighed heavily.

Greg stared at her with confusion, although, with what's happened from the time they got there, he'd be surprised if nothing happened to cause trauma. But, the question is, what happened?

"Jay, what happened?"

She looked at the ground with sadness, tears falling down as she cried. She pointed Greg to the corner she was in. He peered into it and was completely shocked.

"Out of all the people to die in this chaos... I never imagined he would," Greg whispered. It was the body of one of his friends, and Jay's ex boyfriend, Kobe. His eyes were still open, and his body was mutilated, almost like he was eaten alive. He reached his hand in and shut his eyes. "Godspeed, Kobe." He stood up and walked away. "Come on, Jay. We need to go."

She sighed and stepped slowly with them. They left the building in silence. Although, something seemed off.

"Wait, something's wrong here," Greg whispered.

"What are you talking about, Greg?" Madison asked.

"Look around."

They moved their eyes back and forth around the place. Jay didn't understand what was going on, but, Madison knew what he was talking about.

"Before we got to you, Jay, there was a trail of bodies the length of highway 19," Greg stated.

"So? There doesn't seem to be any..." She froze. "Oh god..."

It seemed to have came out of nowhere. A whole army of ravenous, undead creatures were crawling towards them.

"RUN!!" Madison screamed, and they scurried off. Greg moved to the side with Jay and Madison, which gave them sight of a way out. But, the obstacle blocking that way was a wall of the undead.

"There's no way we can make it!" Jay said.

"We can make it, just stay close, both of you!" Greg screamed.

They all took a long breath, and dashed towards the exit. Everything was going fine, thankfully, they were slow enough that they could easily maneuver around them.

Greg and Jay had made it out of the horde, and to the exit. They were about to celebrate, but, someone was missing. Greg looked around in worry.

"Madison!!" He screamed.

He peered back at the horde, and tears filled his eyes. Madison had fallen on the ground and couldn't get up. "One of those crawlers bit my Achilles tendon," she screamed.

"Hang on, I'm coming!!" Greg ran for a moment.

"No!" She shouted. "I'm done, Greg, this is where my story ends."

Greg shook his head. "Don't say that, Cas, we'll get out of here. It'll all be okay!"

Madison snickered. "No. Not for me, this is my last stop." She sighed loudly. "Take care of the others, and take care of Jay."

Greg and Jay stood in shock. They wanted to help her, but, they'd end up being killed by the horde of zombies before they could reach her.

Madison waved them out. "What are you idiots waiting for? Go!!"

They ran out to the truck. 'Cas... I'm sorry,' Greg thought.

Madison sighed and took her gun. She held it up to the side of her head, pointing at her brain. 'I'm sorry to take the easy way out, Dean,' she thought.

As Greg and Jay drove off, the sound of a gunshot echoed through the air. Their eyes filled with tears as they drove back to where the others were. "How am I gonna break the news?" Greg asked.

"I'm sorry, Greg, it should've been me," Jay said.

"No. Madison knew what she was doing. She didn't regret it."

They drove silently.

'Maybe, it is better to just die.'