It was a lovely summer day on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. The sky was a clear blue, the humidity low, the breeze soft and cooling. And best of all in both Lydia and Brandon's opinions was the fact that they both happened to be off of work the same weekend as an ongoing renaissance fair in Ocean Springs, one of Biloxi's neighboring towns. Although he was over a decade older than her and also her boss at the diner where they worked, Brandon and Lydia had a good work relationship as well as a good friendship outside of work due to having similar interests and the same sense of humor. When their days off coincided they liked to hang out and play video games, watch movies, or practice their marksmanship with bow and knife--and in Brandon's case, gun. They both liked renaissance fairs and so had gone to the local one earlier that day, but it had come to an end and they were headed back to Biloxi with Brandon driving and Lydia in the passenger seat.

Both Brandon and Lydia were in full renaissance outfits, him in a tunic, breeches, and boots, and her in a more elaborate outfit that incorporated chain mail and a hooded cowl. Whenever they were stopped at a stop light their outfits would draw attention, not that they cared. The two were chatting away happily, discussing the day's events with the radio quietly playing in the background.

"I totally kicked your butt at archery," Lydia informed Brandon with a smug grin.

"Only because I let you," he replied jokingly.

She rolled her eyes and said, "Suuuuure you did. And you also totally didn't trip over that bale of hay."

"I told you," Brandon remarked, wincing a bit as he recalled face-planting into the ground, "that hay jumped out at me."

Lydia laughed but didn't reply, instead turning her focus momentarily out the window. Suddenly the radio let out a long beep, catching both Lydia and Brandon's attention. He turned it up so they could better hear the message that was playing.

"--The government has ordered a mandatory evacuation of Harrison County. Every citizen is expected to comply. There will be--" The voice on the radio went on, explaining that there was some sort of bio-hazard threat and that the military would be assisting people in evacuation, making sure that they made it to either Keesler Air Force Base, or else the Northrup Grumman Ship Yard, a ship yard that built and housed naval ships.

The two looked at each other, suddenly extremely worried. A moment later Lydia's phone began to ring. She frantically tried to dig it out of her bag, cursing the fact that there was so much stuff in there. Finally she got it out, saw that it was her parents calling, and quickly answered it.

"Where are you?" Lydia's mother burst out as soon as the call connected. "Did you hear the announcement?"

"I heard, Mama," Lydia replied, feeling a little shaken up. "I'm with Brandon right now. We left the fair not too long ago and he's bringing me home. Or was going to. How the hell can the entire Coast be under a bio-hazard threat? Can they really evacuate everyone?"

"I don't know," her mother said, sounding just as shaken up as Lydia felt. "There's already some military personnel here working on evacuating the neighborhood, trying to get everyone to Keesler Air Force Base. Your father, brother, and I will be leaving soon, but I wanted to make sure that you're alright and do the same. Don't bother going home, I've got some clothes of yours here I'm bringing. I've got to let you go now, but I'll see you soon. I love you, baby girl. You and Brandon keep safe."

Lydia looked over to Brandon who nodded solemnly. "We will, Mama," Lydia reassured her. "We'll see you on base. I love you too." She then ended the call, feeling more scared than ever. Brandon, seeing her all shook up, took one hand off the wheel in order to take one of her hands to give it a gentle squeeze.

"Thanks," she mumbled numbly, giving his hand a tight squeeze.

Just then they passed a car wreck.

"Jesus," Brandon said, slamming on brakes. "Wait here," he instructed Lydia as he put the car in park. He undid his seat belt and hopped out of the car, running over to inspect the wreck. Lydia watched, worried for the passengers of the car. When Brandon saw her looking he shook his head. He came back to the car, got in, and buckled up. "No one in there," he told her as they headed off again. "Whoever it was must have headed to a nearby house or is else hoofing it. If we come across them we'll take them with us."

"Sounds like a plan," Lydia agreed. It wasn't much longer before they saw the wrecked car's driver walking on the side of the road somewhere ahead of them. It was obvious from how scuffed up the man's clothes looked, how disheveled his hair was. "He's carrying something," Lydia noted as they came closer. Then she panicked and said, "Shit, it's a baby! Is it alright?" She watched for a moment and saw the child fussing in the man's arms and she relaxed. "Yeah," she said, answering her own question. "Seems to be alright."

True to his word, Brandon slowed down as they neared the man and his child, stopping the car when they were next to them. Rolling down her window Lydia poked her head out and said, "Are y'all alright? I don't know if you know but there's a mandatory evacuation in process and we're supposed to be going to Keesler Air Force Base." To illustrate her point she turned up the sound on the radio, which was continuing to play the message, then turned it down again. "You can ride with us. Just hop on in back."

"Thank you hear that Pete it's looking up O'Neill" he climbed into the back and held onto Peter tight as he had no baby seat. "So this Peter Pete if you fancy and I'm Francis" he said with a smile as Peter just fell asleep in his arms. Francis felt glad that these people were so nice. Francis blessed his son happy someone saved them from the car wreck

"Oh how rude of us Pete" he said looking at his son and brought his head up saying "What's your name?".

"Nice to meet you, Francis and Pete," Brandon greeted politely, though a little grimly. He was still pondering over the implications of a bio-hazard threat that was the cause of a Coast-wide evacuation as he got them back on the road and started navigating to the base. "My name's Brandon Berkley."

Turning in her seat to look at their passengers Lydia said, "I'm Lydia Desemar. It's nice to meet you, though I wish it was under better circumstances. So what happened with the car? Did a tire blow out, or did someone run you off the road?"

It took a while for Francis to respond "Huh? Oh yeah no we were driving happily listening to well that doesn't matter but then out of nowhere this guy he looked wounded just walked on the road we turned and the car flipped luckily God saved our souls" he said not even taking into account if the new people he met believed in God.

Peter slept quietly not aware of what was going on around the world. Francis stared at his son and didn't really care about the situation as long as Peter was safe.

"I'm glad y'all are alright," Lydia said with a sigh of relief. "I wonder what happened to that guy though." She wondered why he was wounded, why he walked into the middle of the street, why he didn't stop to help Francis and his son. They might never know and she simply shook her head in disbelief.

"Do you have any other family?" Brandon asked, glancing at Francis through the rear view mirror.

"You can use my phone to call them if you need," Lydia offered.

"And if we need to we can pick them up before we head to the base," Brandon offered kindly.

While neither of them were really religious, it was important to be kind to your fellow man. They lived in the bible belt, however, and were used to many people speaking their religious beliefs. It didn't matter so long as you didn't use them to hurt others.

"Nope no other family except in Ireland." He shook his head and then looked out at the window and seen a guy's neck get a chunk bit out "Holy Shit!" Peter woke up "Wahh" he screamed "Shshsh" said Francis and then brought his head up to more urgent matters "That guy" he said pointing behind him "Just ate a dude"

Francis nearly threw up in his mouth and wondered did this have anything to do with the military's evacuation.

Brandon slammed on the breaks, causing all of them to jerk forward, then stop. Brandon and Lydia turned and looked out the window to see what Francis had described--a man eating another man. They heard his frantic screams, saw him trying to beat away his attacker.

Clutching at Brandon's arm, a note of controlled panic in her voice, Lydia stated, "Brandon, we have to do something."

Brandon put the car in park and told her, "Get me the gun in the glove box."

Lydia did as he asked, getting him the gun he kept for security purposes and handing it to him. Brandon switched off the safety and looked to Lydia and Francis. "Stay here," he instructed them. "Lock the doors after I'm out." Lydia nodded a little numbly. Brandon got out of the car, shut the door behind him, and Lydia locked it. Approaching the attacker and his victim slowly with his gun at the ready, Brandon called out in a strong voice, "Stop what you're doing now and back away from the man."

The creature looked up and snarled and Brandon stopped, a look of surprise written on his face. Whomever he was looking at was messed up. His eyes were discolored, his teeth rotting, his skin abnormally pale. Seeing fresh meat the Walker let his previous victim go and staggered toward Brandon, his arms outstretched to claw at him. Now that the Walker didn't have a body in front of him Brandon could see the gaping hole in his stomach, the intestines spilling out.

Brandon swore violently and in the car Lydia clapped a hand over her mouth and stared with wide eyes. Brandon shot the thing in the heart once, but it still kept coming. So he switched his target and shot it in the head. The man, the thing that was once a man, dropped to the road like a sack of potatoes.

Instantly Lydia was out of the car and at Brandon's side. He staggered and she put her arm around his waist to help steady him, though it was hard to do given he was about twice her size.

"Zombie," he muttered numbly. "It was a fucking zombie."

"Sit down, Brandon," Lydia told Brandon, trying to keep her voice even and calm. "Just sit down. I have to check on the other person." With Lydia's help Brandon sat down on the asphalt. She then went over to the other man who had a chunk bitten out of his neck and knelt at his side. Seeing such a wound in a movie or on tv would have normally freaked Lydia out, and she knew it, but a perfect calmness had settled over her. As the man held out his hand to her she took it, grasping it tightly.

"It'll be alright," she said, her voice soft and gentle. "You'll be ok." She knew he wouldn't, though. He was bleeding out too much, too fast. There was no way they could save him or get him proper medical attention on time. He was already fading fast.

"Thank... you," he gasped, taking in labored gulps of air. "I know... I w-won't. B-but tha-ank y-you..." He squeezed her hand tighter and then his grip loosened. He let out a sigh... and was gone.

Francis said a prayer for the man and then walked out of the car to speak to the others "What was that?!" He said while holding Peter to calm him down. He handed the baby to Lydia and bent down and inspected the Monster "So these...'walkers' are they like zombies or cannibals" he said lifting his head up to Lydia and Brandon. Before the others could answer he blessed the two men the victim and the walker.

And heard the skittering of the car tires "What the!" He ran quickly up to the car and it drove off "Oh Shit!" He turned to the others "What the Fuck was that!" He slowly walked up to the two and slowly grabbed his baby from Lydia's grasp. "Well what do we do now..."

"I think it was--" Lydia started to reply, shifting Peter to hold him properly. But then they heard the squealing of tires and she and Brandon whipped around to see...

"My car!" Brandon screamed angrily.

"All of our stuff was in there!" Lydia added with a distressed note in her voice. "Our bows, our knives. If this is a zombie apocalypse we're going to need those things."

Brandon shook his head, feeling frustrated beyond words. Finally he said, "We'll just have to hoof it to the base, see if we can't catch a ride along the way."

So they started walking with Brandon leading the way, Lydia at his side. At least Brandon still had his gun, which he put on safety and tucked in his breeches, having no holster for it at the moment. "If we're lucky whoever took the car will be going to the base too," Lydia said, trying to remain optimistic. "Then we can get our stuff back."

Brandon grunted in reply.

"Well I'll try to call my parents," Lydia went on. "See if they can come get us before they reach the base." So she pulled her cellphone out of the pouch attached to her belt and pulled out her cellphone. She dialed her parents' cell phone and got... nothing. She tried again and again and again for about five minutes. Finally she angrily hit end and sighed, "No signal. I guess we really are hoofing it."

After a bit more walking they heard a crash and Brandon and Lydia looked at each other.

"I bet that asshole wrecked my car," he spat.

"It seems like a good day for wrecks," Lydia agreed. "You three stay together. I'll go check it out and be back in a bit." Brandon was going to argue but Lydia pulled a knife out of her boot and said, "I have some protection, and I know how to defend myself. Either I'll get the car back or I'll get our stuff at least."

Brandon nodded, a bit begrudgingly. To Francis, Brandon said, "Stay on alert. You too, Lydia."

Lydia nodded then took off at a jog. She searched the passing streets until she found what she was looking for and then headed down to see Brandon's car, parked in front of a house, rammed in front by a truck. The front was completely destroyed and the truck was in bad condition too. Lydia jogged over and checked both the drivers. The guy who stole Brandon's car was dead from the impact, the truck driver... well, he hadn't been wearing his seat belt.

Going back to the driver's side of the car Lydia tried to pry the door open, but it was stuck, so she opened the back door and crawled in. Reaching up front she turned the keys, but the engine was dead. "Damn," she curse. "Oh well. Least we can get our stuff." She took the keys from the ignition, climbed out of the car, and went around to the trunk. It opened easily and she was able to retrieve all of hers and Brandon's stuff--both sets of bows and quivers full of arrows, two knives and some throwing knives, and the spare ammo Brandon kept for his handgun. With everything in hand, slung over her back, or in her pockets she head back to her little group.

"Don't worry everything's gonna be fine" he said to Peter. Francis thought it was the right time to take out his weapon. "Don't shoot" he said to Brandon bending down and taking a mouse pistol out of his shoe "Hey its okay just think we need protection from those things ya know" Francis put his pistol in the back of his trousers and kept Talking to Peter.

"Brandon! Lydia's back!" He walked up to Lydia with Peter in his grasp "So did you get everything?" He said while examining the gear Lydia brought back.

"It's good that you have it," Brandon said as Francis holstered his gun. "We're going to need all the protection we can get."

Brandon had been watching for any other form of threat as they walked, but he looked up at Francis' words. He raised one hand in greeting to Lydia, who raised one hand in return.

Soon the gap between them closed and the four were together again. "I got everything," she said, handing Brandon his bow and quiver, which he slung over his back. "The car was totaled though. A truck ran into the front of it. Completely dead."

"Dammit," Brandon sighed. Then he tried to smile and add, "Well, at least you got everything. Come on, it's a long walk to Keesler Air Force Base, but maybe someone will pick us up along the way. I don't think we'll have any luck here. It seems to have been evacuated already."

As Lydia went to give Brandon's knife back to him he held up his hand to wave her off. "Give it to Francis," he said. "He's got a small gun as well, but a knife is always good to have."

Lydia nodded and handed the knife off to Francis before strapping her own on her belt. "I got these too," she said, handing Brandon the box of ammo.

He took them and pocketed them, saying, "Let's get going."

Francis accepted the knife he was handed and carried on with the others Peter in his arms "It'll be alright Pete" he said looking down at his son "We just gotta keep it together". As he walked with this 'group' he wondered would everything be alright or was this God's way of punishing them. Whatever it was He just wanted it to return to normal. "Guys there's more of those things" he pointed at the zombies holding his son in the other "There must be twenty or so" he handed the baby to Lydia as he pulled out his gun "What's the plan?"

"Shit," Brandon said, reaching around and pulling out his gun.

"If there's already this many of them," Lydia commented as she shrugged off her bow and knocked it with an arrow, "then things are more advanced than we thought they were. Just stay in a group. Francis, worry about protecting Peter, Brandon and I will cover you. Remember to aim for the head and don't let them so much as scratch you."

Years of reading and playing video games gave Lydia the knowledge she needed to help the group survive. She and Brandon stayed closed together with their own weapons. One by one they started taking down the Walkers with gun and bow. A mix of feelings ran through them--disbelief and a profound sadness--but these were feelings for later. Right now their top priority was to survive.

Brandon was a good shot and he took down each Walker he shot, four in total, before having to reload. Lydia's aim with her bow was initially off but soon she was loosing arrows into the heads of the Walkers. When she ran out of arrows and the Walkers started getting too close she had to resort to using her knife. Having worked at a busy restaurant for years gave her the ability to maneuver around people in a crowd without running into anyone. This allowed her to almost dance around the Walkers, shove a knife in their head to kill their brain, and then pull away to repeat the process.

Francis pulled out his gun walking with the group as they killed walkers. He didn't kill any as the others seemed to have this and the noise would just scare Peter anyway. He turned around then back to the walkers to stay alert there were only a handful left. Francis hoped this only was happening in America and not in the U.K as his family was there. "That's it Peter you help me stay alert to" he said while Peter sucked his father's fingers.

Finally the last of them were down and Lydia and Brandon were able to let out a sigh of relief. "It seems like we'll be okay for now," Brandon said, taking time to reloaded his gun again. He kept watch as Lydia retrieved her arrows, stopping to clean them before returning them to her quiver, before she searched the fallen Walkers for any items of use.

"Found a few lighters and another knife," Lydia suddenly piped up. "Nice one too," she added, holding up a large bowie knife to show off. She returned to the others and gave the knife to Brandon so that all three of them would have one, and tucked the lighters into her pouch. Never knew when you might need them. "That's about the only things of use though."

"Let's keep moving," Brandon warned. "We should still try to get to the base, but keep on guard for zombies."

Francis padded on with the group of strangers as he did he wondered we're they his guardian angels sent by God or just some really nice people he knew he wouldn't know until he died "So this base how far is it?" He said while Peter started sucking his fingers again.

"I guess you're not from here," Lydia surmised from Francis' words. "Let's see... We have to continue following Lemoyne Boulevard down into D'Iberville, go through to get on I-110, follow that down to the beach, head West on Highway 90 until we get to Veteran's Avenue, follow that down to Pass Road where we turn right. Keesler is at the end of the road. So that's about...?" She turned and looked to Brandon, wondering if he knew.

"Seven miles," Brandon concluded. "If we're lucky we'll come across someone who will help us get there, but this area already looks pretty deserted so a majority of the Coast has probably been evacuated."

A thought struck Lydia and she informed them, "If there's no one in D'Iberville we can stop by the Meineke Repair Shop there and see if there isn't a car that's been left behind."

"It's close to the interstate so it's not out of our way," Brandon agreed. Turning to Francis he added, "Whenever you get tired of carrying Pete just let us know and we'll take turns holding him."

"Her that Pete were like royalty" he smiled "Well I'm with you guys all the way if you guys stop, me too" he wanted to show the others his loyalty. Francis' arms felt tired and waited till the time was right and asked. "Can one of you hold this little guy please" he said laughing a bit and walked closer to the others ready to hand him over.

Lydia smiled a bit at Francis' words, him and Pete being like royalty. Francis seemed like a good man and she and Brandon had already taken a liking to him. If he was any good with a weapon than his skills would be a great addition to the group. Even if he wasn't that good in a fight they wouldn't just leave him. It seemed like the world was already going to hell, but that didn't mean they had to lose their humanity and ability to be kind.

"Come here, little one," Lydia said as she took Peter from Francis. She held him cradled in one arm and tickled his stomach with her free hand, causing him to giggle. "You're certainly adorable, aren't you? I bet you're going to grow up handsome like your daddy." Having been around kids her whole life due to having a large family with lots of little cousins, Lydia was used to children and fell back into her usual way of associating with them.

As Brandon watched Lydia playing with Pete he couldn't help but smile a little bit. He let her have her moment, keeping watch as they went. Brandon fell back to walk alongside Francis and he asked, "So what line of work are you in, Francis?"

Francis smiled watching Lydia with his son and heard Brandons words "Huh oh Unemployed but I used to be in the Army and you?" Francis pulled out his knife staying alert just in case they saw something but it seemed fine and pretty clear. Francis always loved his son and would never stop there was something about him that always gave him hope, maybe it was because Peter was a baby he didn't know.

Francis stayed focused and listened to the others occupation