It was Friday and Lyla came out of her dance studio and locked up. It had been a long day. She was thankful that her MA instructor had cancelled class tonight. One of her students sprained an ankle on a jump in class and it had turned into a big deal with her mother. She just wanted to go home and eat a quart of ice cream.

Some guy in a business suit was walking towards her in a kind of slow shuffle and he didn't seem to be fully engaged just kind of sick looking. She tried the door and was satisfied so she told him to feel better and waved. She started to notice that there seemed to be more than just the one guy who was off and she heard screams coming from all over. Lyla watched as one of these sickly looking people attacked a person and bit them.

Lyla crossed the street to her car quickly and she made it roar to life. It was her one indulgence, a 1970 Dodge Challenger. She had restored it with her father, who had since died, and it was her baby. She hit the door lock when she got in. One of the 'sick' people started kind of banging on her car like she was a puppet. The young woman was bloody and looked like someone or something had bitten her on the neck. Startled Lyla pulled out into the street.

Something strange was going on and she was uneasy. People had begun running everywhere screaming and being attacked. Fear kicked in and Lyla turned the radio on while at a stop light hoping for news on what was going on. All she heard on the radio was screaming and slurping noises, and that same odd sound that had come from the man in the suit. She changed the station and it was more of the same or music that just repeated over and over.

Lyla quickly picked up her cell phone and called her mom. "Mom? Are you ok? Look, I'm coming out. There is something going on and it's not safe in the city right now." A woman in a business suit attacked a teenager in front of the school as it was letting out. Screaming and people bleeding and biting each other, it was nothing short of a bloodbath. Lyla sat there for a second stunned as tears began streaming down her face. She hung up the phone and took the quickest back way out to her mother's house on the farm. It was a bit tricky as the freeway was jammed up with more of the same. Cars parked or wrecked and those who got out didn't survive. Lyla noticed that the 'sick' were very attuned to sound. They looked more like rabid puppets with their slow shuffling walk than that of a normal person.

Once on her mother's property she got out and closed the gate. She saw Jerry's truck up ahead near the barn. She hoped beyond all hope that nothing was amiss on the farm. She pulled up to the house and moved the pitchfork that had fallen in front of the door. Lyla opened it and went in. "Mom? Where are you?" She heard what sounded like a scuffle in the back of the house so she opened the door and grabbed the pitchfork and headed in. "Mom!" She heard a terrified scream and started running. She heard her mother say, "Something has happened to Jerry!" She rounded the corner just in time to see that Jerry had a bloody shoulder and he had just bitten her mother on the arm. "NO!" she screamed as she plunged the pitchfork into his back. As he fell forwards her mother fell several feet backwards and landed out of the way. Jerry was literally pinned to the floor and he was still moving and making that odd sound. She ran over to her mother and hugged her. She saw the bite and looked for any more of them.

"Mom, what happened?" Her mother pushed her away. "Lyla I love you but I think you should get away from me. Jerry went into town he said some drunk guy fell and when he went to help him up the guy bit him. He was sitting on the couch five minutes ago. He was fine then his eyes closed and when they opened he grabbed me and bit my arm. You can see clearly that he is not Jerry anymore and that he is not alive but he is moving. What is going on Lyla? I'm scared." Lyla hugged her mother. "Is there anyone else here on the farm?" Her mother shook her head. "No, I don't think so."

"Stay here." She got up and closed and locked all the doors and windows. She pulled all the curtains closed and she went by the kitchen and grabbed a knife out of the drawer. It had a good solid edge on it. She went back into the room where her mother was sitting in a chair quietly. Lyla glanced at her but went straight to the monster that was formerly Jerry and stabbed him in the head. It was harder than Lyla thought it would be. The skull is very tough to breach and when she did the body stopped moving. The sound didn't though. She turned around to see her mother standing with that vacant look in her eyes, her head tilted slightly and that sound that they made coming from her.

"No, mom no!" Her mother's body lunged at her and started trying to bite her. Lyla backed up against the wall and through her tears she pulled the knife down into the back of her mother's head. Her mother's body slumped into her arms, the monster within her dead. Lyla held her mother through the night sobbing and cradling her. That was the last family she had. She was all alone now.

@LPFan

Lyla finished burying her mother and the farm hand next to her father in the family cemetary. It had taken her two days to do it but she wasn't going to have her mother and Jerry done wrong if she could help it. She wished she could do something about a nice headstone. Lyla looked around in her old room and found her old woodburning kit. She pulled a couple of planks off of the pile Jerry had set to fix the fence with. She took them inside and Lyla sat down and burned their names into the planks.

After that was done she started to take stock of her mother's kitchen. There was enough for a couple of weeks if she stayed and was cautious. The problem she was starting to see was that there were walkers coming out of the city and towards the farm. The animals were drawing them to her home. She barred the doors with heavy furniture and kept the drapes pulled shut and the lights off at night. It was a creepy feeling.

That first day she had pulled her car up to the back door so that if she had to run in a hurry there would be nothing between her and her car. For the next couple of weeks she stayed inside. She had seen the walkers deteriorating more and more each day. She knew it meant that their bodies would be less difficult to fight but at the same time they were gory and grotesque. Lyla cried when she heard them eating the animals, their screams were horrifying. Many of them ran, like the chickens and the horses, but the cows were basically stupid animals and stood there while they ate on them. When she peaked between the drapes she would see the most disgusting sights she could never unsee.

Lyla looked out and realized she couldn't stay at the farm. Every day there were more and more walkers and she was almost out of food. She hadn't seen anyone come down the road in a car since that first day. She pulled out the maps and determined what direction to go. Bloomington, Il was dead so was the surrounding area. She decided southeast would be better. Even if there were walkers she had to manage to survive the weather and up north without electricity was not something she wanted to try.

The morning she decided she would leave she had the last of the food and a couple of water bottles as well as a few weapons, clothes, essentials only. Lyla found some oil and an extra tire for her car. She had been stocking the car when there weren't any walkers around. She found an extra gas can and managed to siphon some gas from Jerry's truck.

Lyla stopped at her parents graves and spent a few moments speaking to them. When she was ready she went out the back door and climbed into her car. She started it up and drove out to the road and every so often she would run down a walker. She just kept going southeast. She was praying that the south was doing better than the north was.

@LPFan

James was working underneath a '69 Mustang, which was lifted up on a platform. "Hey James, were closing early today, boy!" Said his uncle, coming out of his office. James then turned his view over to him. "But the client is coming tomorow to pick up this car." Said James, pointing with the wrench in his hand towards it as he came out from underneath it. "I know. That's exactly why you're gonna stay behind and finish it. And lock the place when you're done." Said his uncle as he threw the keys to James. "What's with the wine?" Asked James. "What this thing? I invited Jenna over for dinner. She was more then happy to accept. I think I found the right one this time boy. She's way better then the others." He said while looking at the wine bottle in his hand for a second and then back at James, who instantly developed a smile on his face. "I also need you to stay away for a few hours. I don't know, go out and have some fun. You haven't had fun in a long time." Said his uncle as he patted James on his left shoulder and went for the exit. "Have fun!" Shouted James as his uncle didn't turn to him or respond but instead waved the wine bottle in the air as a sign that he understood.

James shook his head with the same smile on his face as he got back underneath the car and started working at it again. The up-sliding doors to the garage were open, James and his uncle liked it that way. Nasty air getting out, fresh air getting in. About 20 minutes after his uncle left, James was busy but he noticed someone coming in. "Were closed! Come back tomorow if you need anything." Said James without looking at the man. "Dude, I said were closed, what part of that didn't you under------stand!" The person that came inside the shop looked in terrible shape. His skin was all grey, the color in his eyes was almost gone and on top of all that he was making strange noises, that were kind of hard to explain. James looked shocked at the man as he came out from underneath the car and started to back up slowly. "Are you alright man? You don't look so good. Want me to call 911?" James recieved no answer to his question as the sickly person kept moving in his direction. "Listen man. If you don't leave right now, bad things are gonna happen. I don't wanna hurt you. But I will." He said as he grabbed the wrench he previously used and pointed it threatningly towards the man.

Once he got close enough, the person attacked James as they both fell on the ground with James dropping the wrench. The person was on top of James and wanted to bite him. He was very strong for someone who seemed so frail. With one hand James held the person by the neck and with the other he attempted to reach the wrench. Then all of a sudden, while he was doing that, a gunshot echoed inside and the person fell dead, shot to the head. James pushed away the person from on top of him and as he rised up in a state of shock as he looked towards the entrance. A man in a police uniform with a .40 caliber Glock in his hands was standing there. "Are you alright citizen?" The cop asked as he made his way inside. "I saw all the comotion and..." The cop didn't get the chance to finish the sentence as another sick person came from out of nowhere and attacked him from behind by bitting his neck. As the cop went down on the ground screaming, a shocked James put both his hands on his head and then turned behind, running towards his uncle's office and slamming the door behind him. He then looked around as if he was searching for something. He ran to the desk and started looking through the drawers. He remembered that his uncle kept a gun here. He had to find it before he would leave.

After minutes of searching James found the gun he was looking for. A stainless Springfield 1911 in .45 ACP. James checked if there was a round in the chamber and racked the slide as it wasn't. He then took the two extra magazines and placed them in his left pocket. Now he had to get out and make it to his car. As he slowly opened the door, James saw the sick person literally eating on the now dead cop. He closed back the door. "Oh Jesus Christ, I think i'm gonna be sick." Said James as he gripped the 1911 tight. "Alright James! Imagine you're hunting." He said to himself as he opened the door and shot the person dead in the head. As he made a run for it, getting out of the shop and heading to the parking lot on the other side of the street, opening the car and getting inside, closing the door and locking it, just in case. The parking lot seemed pretty deserted so for the moment he was safe. Just for the moment as he closed his eyes and took a deep breath. James's car was a 1970 Chevrolet Chevelle SS 454. Three years ago it was nothing but a pile of junk. James found it in the junkyard outside the city. He and his uncle worked at it for over a year and got it back in tip-top shape. As beautiful as the day it came out of the factory. Powerful 454 cubic inch V8 engine, red paint, black stripes, black leather interior and everything else. James restored this car back to it's original self, with nothing modern and fancy in it. Well, maybe except for the cd player that replaced the original radio.

Lyla took mostly backroads as she found the highways to be more dangerous near the big cities. She was not sure which state she was in since not all of the backroads had signs. Lyla played the music in her car. It made her sad to think that there would be no more concerts or tv. The entire world had to be infected. If it wasn't, someone would be trying to help them. Lyla was going about 65 on the backroad when she saw the red Chevelle pull out without looking.

"Oh son of a ..." Lyla turned the wheel hard and her car flipped twice in the air before landing on it's tires. Lyla was out cold for a few minutes. When she opened her eyes she was looking at a blond haired man. "Ohhh that's gonna leave a mark." She said feeling the bump on her forehead.There was blood running down her face and she opened the door and saw the steam and smoke coming out from under the hood of her beautiful car. It was pretty much destroyed.

"Oh no..." she said softly. Lyla told him. "I don't know you but you just got yourself a passenger. Get everything out of my trunk and put it in yours. I've got tools, food and other gear stashed in there, a few weapons too." She went to his car and crawled into the back seat to lay down. She suddenly had visions of herself turning into a walker.

Lyla changed her mind and crawled into the passenger seat in front. When he got in she said, "Do me a favor? If I die make sure you stab me in the head before I come back as one of those walkers. You are the only person I've seen since that first day. All the others are dead."

@lpfan

James decided that the best thing to do right now is to get home so he grabbed his car keys from a pocket and started the car. The Chevelle's angry roar surely wasn't good to him because it attracted more attention then he wanted. So he stepped on the gas and the car went off the parking lot and onto the street. As he was driving home James was looking left and right. The city of Minneapolis, where he lived ever since he moved in with his uncle, was quickly turning to hell. Dead people and blood everywhere, walkers killing and eating whatever was left alive. James started dodging cars that were randomly stopped on the streets. Luckily for him he didn't ran into any gridlocks because that would mean he had to leave the car.

James's uncle lived in a house in the suburbs. Things were a little more calm here but you could still see a walker here and there. After a few minutes, James finally reached home as he parked inside the garage, grabbed his 1911 from the passenger seat and slowly got out of the car, making his way inside. After closing the door behind him, James turned on the lights as the place was awfully dark. "Uncle Joe? Are you home?" Shouted James with the gun pointed forward. "Uncle...?" James didn't get the chance to shout for his uncle again as a walker came from a hallway heading to him. It seemed to be a woman, wearing a nice brown dress and some fancy shoes on her feet. James imidieatly recognized her. "Oh Jenna, not you too." Without hesitation James fired two shots at the walker, one missed and the other hit the right side of it's chest.

As the walker fell on the ground James ran towards it and stepped on it's neck with his right leg. As the walker was struggling to get back up James fired a round in it's head, killing it. After this episode James took a seat on the couch with the gun on his lap. "What the hell is happening? Everybody's turning into the...walking dead." He said slowly to himself as he ran his hands through his long hair and then putting them over his mouth with a look of desperation on his face as he started nodding his head in dissaproval. Then he grabbed his gun and climbed the stairs, heading upstairs.

He then headed to his uncle's bedroom where he saw an open light. After running in, James instantly dropped the gun and leaned down on his knees. "No! NOOOOOO!" He shouted as he grabbed his hair and then he let go putting his hands on his uncle's dead body which was lying on the ground with multiple bites on him. "No, No, come on, wake up damnit!" He said as tears were coming down his cheeks as he was shaking his uncle's dead body. After he snapped out of it, James crawled to the bed and leaned next the nightstand, just standing there and trying to digest his uncle's death. As he was doing that, all of a sudden his uncle started waking up as one of those walkers.

James freaked out, he couldn't get his gun as it was dropped next to the door. By the time he would get to it, his uncle would definetly try to attack him. he was one of those things now. James had no choice but to put him down for good. Then he remembered that his uncle kept a Benelli SuperNova shotgun under the bed. He quickly reached out with his left hand underneath the bed as he grabbed the shotgun just as his uncle turned around. As he tried to attack him James racked the shotgun's fore-end, loading it and then fired off a round at his uncle fell who fell dead on the floor with a face full of birdshot holes. James rose up on his feet and racked the shotgun's fore-end again, releasing the spent shell, which fell on the floor making a click, and loading a fresh one.

The shotgun of James's uncle was quite a piece. He was often going hunting with it. Benelli shotguns were some of the best in the business and with a price to match. Uncle Joe also customized his, attaching a picatinny rail, as he wanted to add a red dot sight in the future, and two side saddles. A 6-round one on the shotgun's left side and another 5-round one on the weapon's buttstock. James decided that this weapon is a keeper as he slowly got out of his uncle's bedroom grabbing the 1911 from the ground on his way out. "I can't stay here anymore. I gotta get the hell out of this city." Said James, still shocked over everything that happened in such a short time. As he got to his bedroom, James grabbed his backpack and started to put in it everything he found useful, clothes food, a spoon and a fork, a can opener, ammo for his weapons and many other things, including music and a kukri knife.

With two dead bodies in the house he wanted to wait no longer so he took a peek outside and after waiting for the right moment he got out and ran to the garage, opening the sliding doors and running to his Chevelle. James put all his stuff in the trunk, as well as tools to fix his car with, just in case. He kept the spare tire that was already inside as he was sure he would need it in the future. After closing the trunk, James got inside the car, started it and drove away.

Several weeks later, James was on the road, still alive. He slept in his car, took gas from gas stations and other cars, scavenged to stay alive and killed whatever walkers attempted to kill him. He was going south to Texas, where some of his friends lived. He wanted to know if they were still alive. He was on Route 65, as he pulled out of a backroad into another with the intention to get on the highway again. He didn't look to his right as he imagined that no one would be coming anyway however as soon as he heard the roar of another car's engine he stepped on the brakes and backed down just as the car passed him, flipped over two times in the air and fell on it's tires. "Shit!" Said James as he got out of the car and went to the blue Challenger to check on the person inside. There was a young woman inside.

The car was toast. Well at least the engine was, and the undercarriage seemed to have taken damage as well. Aside from that, the chasis was still in one piece, aside from some scratches and dents here and there. After all muscle cars were built like a tank. Powerful and durable. James checked for her pulse and saw that she was still alive. A few minutes later she woke up and started giving him orders as she planted herself in his car like it was her own. "Hey wait a second girl. Don't I get a say in this? You can't just barge into my car, boss me around and make plans for the both of us." Said James with a defensive attitude. Then he noticed she was bleading and with his right hand turned her head over to him as he checked her out. "Wow you took one hell of a blow to the head. No wonder you passed out. Wait right here." He said as he went to the trunk, took a soft piece of material that he had there, tore a part from it, drenched it in water and then squeezed it good to remove the excess from it.

After putting the water away he went back to the girl by the back of her head and started to wipe off the blood from her face and going upwards to the top of the head. There he did it gently as it hurted quite a lot there. "That's quite a nice car you've got there. And a rarity too. Trans Am Challengers like the one you have were built only in 1970. And in only 2399 pieces. You sure you wanna leave it here like that. I can fix it but i'm gonna need some extra parts for the engine and undercarriage. There's a small town about 2 miles away from here. We can do some scavenging there plus i'm certain they have a car shop I can get parts from. Maybe you have the heart to leave it here but I can't. What do you say?" Said James while continuing to play doctor.

"I'm more worried about getting parts for it. It's a new and deadly world so if you think we can get parts then yes I want to save it. My dad and I restored that car before he died. That is all I have left of him." She looked at him clearly for the first time.

"You caused this accident so Yes, I can make you take me with you. There is no way I am staying here in the open with those dead people walking around. My name is Lyla, Lyla O'Riley."

Lyla bit her lip when he hit a sore spot with the cloth. That was when she realized her lip was cut and she pulled down the visor to look at herself. "Well, it could have been worse."

The crash had made a lot of noise and there were walkers coming out of the fields and the wooded area. Lyla went to pull her weapons out and remembered they were in her car. "We have to go! They are coming. Help me get the things out of my car. We'll need them." She pushed past James and ran to her car faster than she would have thought possible when you are injured. After a few trips she was satisfied that they had everything and got into the passenger side. The Walkers were almost on them. James revvd the car to life and got them out of there. Lyla felt relief as they left the walkers behind.

Lyla felt sleepy and leaned up against the door. She locked it just in case. "What did you say your name was? Maybe we can look in town and maybe go get my car later. We need to fix it. Although a gorgeous car the Chevelle is too loud. We will need mine." Unable to get comfortable Lyla looked down at the long bench seat between them and she lay down across it. Her head rested partly on his leg. "I hope this is ok. Right now I trust you more than those things outside." She mumbled as she drifted off to sleep. In her dreams she dreamt of her handsome rescuer.

@lpfan

After Lyla fell asleep on James's leg, James kept thinking about what she said as he was driving to the town. She was right. He couldn't just leave her behind with a trunk full of stuff and a car that needed fixing. With all these walkers roaming around it was like condemning her to death and he wasn't that cold hearted. However instead of paying attention to the road he kept looking at her. She was in great shape and very pretty too. And besides that, it was nice to meet someone that was alive after all these weeks of dealing with nothing but walking dead, or walkers as James kept calling them. He didn't have the chance to introduce himself as she rapidly fell asleep.

As they reached the entrance to the town, James slowed down and started shaking up Lyla who woke up not very satisfied. "What? I told you it's just two miles, and in a car like this they pass quickly." Said James smiling. "Before we go any further...you introduced yourself, now it's my turn." Said James as he took out the ignition keys, put them in a pocket and extended his right hand. "The name's James. James Harris. I was born in Detroit but I've been living in Minneapolis with my uncle the past five years, after my mother died. He owned a car shop and I've been working with him there." Said James as he and Lyla shook hands.

James grabbed his kukri knife and his 1911 from on top of the dashboard as he strapped them to his jeans and got out of the car, followed by Lyla. The place was pretty deserted and for good reason. James and Lyla stumbled upon a gruesome image with dead walkers everywhere on the street. James checked out some of them and they were all shot in the head. He also saw some empty cartridge cases here and there. James went to one of them and picked it up from the ground. After looking at the bottom of the cartridge case James smiled.

"Hey get over here!" He said as he prompted Lyla. "Look at this." He said as he pointed to the bottom of the cartridge case. ".308 Winchester. It looks like we have a sniper in here somewhere. That's been killing all these walkers." He said as he threw the empty cartridge case away. "We better be careful before we end up on his list too. Heaven forbid! He might mistake us for walkers." He said as he wiped off his hands with one another and took out his kukri.

Lyla climbed out of the car after she grabbed her crowbar just in case. She stayed close to James and kept her eyes open. There were at least 14 bodies that she could see with bullets to the head. She didn't want to get dstracted and miss him wandering off so she grabbed his hand and held onto it.

"Let's check out the garage, It's right over there." She followed him over there and they went inside. The inside of the garage looked pretty much what it had looked like on that first day. It looked as if there had not been anyone inside it when the epidemic broke out. There was even a tow truck out back. Lyla was thinking that this was starting to look too easy. Then she remembered how badly her car was damaged and how much noise it would take for the repairs to be made. The more she thought about it the more it seemed like a bad idea.

"James, I appreciate the want to fix my car but there is another problem. All of the tools needed will make a lot of noise and this place will be swarmed with walkers. I would love nothing more than to fix it but I think we would be signing our own death warrants if we do it."

At that point she opened a door inside the office area and a walker came out at her. Startled she stepped backwards into a coffee table and landed on it dropping the crowbar. The walker lunged at her and her instincts kicked in and she raised her leg up kicking it backwards. She grabbed the crowbar and pounced on the walker and stabbed it through the skull. She checked the rest of the rooms and there weren't anymore in the building. Sighing she smiled slightly.

There was a soda machine in the back and she wrapped her arm and smashed the glass as carefully as she could to get them. She tossed one to James and sat down in the waiting room.

"So you were a mechanic huh? I have some skills in that area but most of mine are in dance and self defense. I'm a blackbelt and a dance instructor. I had to do something to pay for school. Our real problem is finding food and gas and of course, staying alive. Have you seen anyone else alive? You are the first I've seen. There has to be more but I was thinking that the living beings might be worse than the dead ones. All of humanity is going to be looking to survive in this new world and it's going to be survival of the fittest. That means it's now a kill or be killed world. I propose we stick together. I studied botany in college and I can find us food in the wild if we need it. Besides, I don't want to be all alone out there, do you?" She said looking at James.

Lyla stood up and went into the bathroom and left the door open but turned the light on. She grabbed paper towels out of the dispenser and washed her face and all of the blood off of it. She rinsed the blood out of her hair. She cleaned up and smiled at James. "You should have told me I looked like hell. Now I feel better."

@lpfan

James was gathering parts as Lyla threw him the soda can. He stopped and opened it as he started drinking from it and listening to what she was saying. It was good, a welcome break from all the water he's been drinking. Then he thought about what Lyla said. "Yeah, you're probably right. Humans are just as dangerous as the walkers themselves right now. There's no telling what they're capable of to stay alive. We better be careful if we ever encounter any. So far you're the first alive person I've seen ever since this whole mess started." He said as he watched her go wash herself of the blood she had on her face and hair from the walker she just killed.

"I know us working here is gonna make noise. But we can always close down the sliding door. That's gonna help suppress the sound. Or we can abandon the car if you're too afraid to take the risk. Honestly I thought of using this tow truck to bring it here. Most of the walkers in this part of town seem to be dead anyway." Said James as he continued drinking from the soda can. Then all of a sudden he noticed three gas canisters sitting in a corner of the shop. After going to check them out he saw that they were still full.

"Well isn't this convenient! We should take these with us." He said as he took the canisters and put them up front, near the exit. As he went back to Lyla, James sat on a chair and finished his soda. "You said you have a black belt. I know quite a little bit of fighting myself. When I was in..." Said James as he suddenly stopped, his face becoming serious and his view turning to the floor. "There's something you should know about me. Something I didn't told you but I think you deserve to know, before we go any further." He said stopping for a few seconds.

"I'm an...I'm an ex-convict. Seven years ago I was arrested and convicted for assault and battery after I attacked and beaten my mother's ex-husband. The guy stood a couple of weeks in the hospital trying to recover. I spent two years in prison because of that. But I had to do something. Even after divorce the bastard wouldn't leave her alone. My mother was too scared of him to do anything so I took matters into my own hands. But instead of going to the cops I went to his apartment and beat the living crap out of him." Said James as he rised up from the chair and started walking around as he was storytelling.

"While I was locked up they gave me this cellmate, some MMA instructor that was convicted for murder after he killed a guy that raped his wife. The rapist got away with it due to the lack of evidence so this instructor I just spoke about, followed him home one night and then tortured and killed him out of revenge. He got 25 years for that. Anyway we became friends and since we were cellmates he also taught me some MMA moves so I could protect myself just in case. That got me through those two years of prison quite well. After I got out I had to deal with the hate of society, who often pointed fingers at me like I was some kind of monster. I couldn't even get a fucking job, everybody kept showing me the door. And to make matters worse my mother died of liver cancer three months after I got out. The doctors told her that the disease was diagnosed too late so it couldn't be treated, so she killed herself. She left behind a note in which she said that she dosen't want to go through all the pain and suffering that having this disease implied." Said James as he suddenly stopped and sat on the chair again with his arms crossed.

"I don't even know why I'm telling you all this, I mean we barely just met. I guess it's better to talk with a stranger then with someone you know. Anyway, after my mother's death I decided I need a change of space, so I moved in with my uncle in Minneapolis, he hired me to work at his car shop as a mechanic. It was a small business, just me and him, but very successfull. I kept visiting my cellmate in prison, even after I moved to Minneapolis. We developed quite a bond. Honestly i'm curious to know what happened to him. Is he still alive or is he one of these walkers too? At any rate...I wouldn't blame you if you woudn't want to have anything to do with me anymore. I had plenty of that so i'm used with it." Said James with a sick smile on his face that really wasn't his, as he went to the tow truck and started checking it out to see if it's still working.

Lyla looked at James and could see how much he loved his mother. She could imagine the heartbreak he had gone through. Lyla walked over to him and sat next to him. "Are you going to hurt me?" She looked him in the eye and she knew that answer. "I am glad you defended your mother from that creep. I'm sorry you had to go to prison but at least you had a good friend in there. I am just glad your friend taught you how to defend yourself. I think we are both going to need to know as much as we can."

Lyla caught herself looking at him a little too long and blushed as she looked at her feet. "Well we can take as long as we need on the car right? So let's see if this door leads upstairs like I think it does." She said pointing to the door inside the managers office. Lyla got up and grabbing her crowbar she opened the door. There was light upstairs and she motioned to him to come up with her. She climbed the stairs cautiously just in case there was a walker nearby the exit. She peaked out through the door that was open just a little. She didn't see but one walker. She pushed the door open and stepped straight to the walker and bashed it's skull in. She quickly turned around looking for more of them. She saw James take the other one down.

They worked their way through the apartment and declared it clean. "Lyla saw that it had two bedrooms one of which was used as an office. There was electricity and she looked at James. Are you thinking what I am thinking?" His smile made her toes curl and her excitement made him smile. "We could live here for a little while and work on the car. Come on what do you think?" She smiled brightly and walked up to him and grabbed his hand in hers. "Please, please, please..." She asked.

The sparks between them were more and more obvious. Her smile brought out a mischevious grin in response and James pulled her into his arms and she wrapped hers around his neck and began kissing him.

@lpfan

Much to James's surprise, Lyla was extremely sympathetic towards him and his suffering. Besides his uncle, she was the first person that truly understood him and didn't stereotype him. James realised she blushed but didn't say anything about it. He followed Lyla through the manager's office and up the stairs into what seemed to be an apartment. Once there, James quickly pulled out his kukri at the sight of a walker, but Lyla made short work of him with her crowbar. But the two of them weren't out of the woods yet as James familiar sounds behind him. James gave the walker a right side kick to the chest as he watched him fall. As the walker was getting up, James forced him down again with his knee and with a powerful blow, plunged the kukri in his head killing it.

James then took the kukri off the walker's head, cleaned the blade with it's clothes and put it back in the sheath as he went back to Lyla and they both checked out the rest of the place together. It had two bedrooms out of which one was used as an office. James was surprised to see that the place still had electricity. Then Lyla came up with the extraordinary idea to stay here for a while, at least while they work on her car. The two of them wrapped in each other's arms and started kissing. James could feel the heat rising in his body as the two of them continued their kissing session. Then he grabbed Lyla, raised her up and they both went to the bed as he gently put her down and then he sat himself next to her. They weren't kissing anymore but their faces were so close they could touch each other, plus James had a weird sensation in his stomach.

"Sure!" He said smiling. "We can stay here for as long as you like. Besides...It's not like we are in an actual hurry somewhere are we?" He continued as he chuckled. "I wonder if this place still has water. I would kill for a shower right now." Said James as he rised up and went to the bathroom.
@Wick

Lyla heard the water running in the bathroom and James was in the shower she searched closets and found fresh sheets. She remade the bed with the clean bedding and went to the kitchen and looked for food. She found enough for now she went outside and went to the car to grab the bags out. She changed her mind. She raised the sliding door and backed the car into it and shut the door and locked it down. Pulling their bags out and taking them upstairs she locked the bottom door from the inside so no one could get in without them knowing it.

When she got to the top of the stairs she took the bags into the bedroom and set them down. The keys to the car she put on top of the nightstand. She lay backwards on the bed and waited for James to get out of the shower. "Hey leave me some hot water in there." She shouted playfully."Oh hell." She knew if the world were normal she might not have ever met James and she liked him. Plus she had been without the possibility of a boyfriend for what seemed like forever.

Lyla walked into the bathroom and took all of her clothes off and joined him. She snuck into the back of the shower and said "Please tell me you left me some hot water?" He turned around and she walked into the water and her firm and perfect body got the reaction that she was hoping for.

@lpfan

James got into the bathroom and started inspecting the place. It was clean and in very good condition and it had both a bath tub and a shower cabin. This whole apartment as well as the car shop below were still in great condition despite the outbreak. James expected this place to be raided, empty and totally useless like every other place he's been in the past 3 weeks, since this whole outbreak started.

"Okay! Here goes nothing!" He said as he opened the shower cabin and put his hand on the hot water tap and started rolling it. Shortly after that, water, actual hot water started coming down.

"YES!" He shouted in excitement as he imidieatly turned the water off and started taking his black leather gloves off, followed by his green hooded sweatshirt, the white tank top underneath, the black boots and finally the blue jeans.

James enters the cabin and turns the hot water on as he closes the door. It was his first shower since the outbreak and the sensation was divine. He could hear Lyla say something but he didn't pay attention as he kept scrubbing himself as the hot water was pouring down on him. He didn't even notice her getting in the bathroom. By the time he did she was already inside the cabin, fully naked, with her perfect body on display, only for him.

She was so perfect James didn't even knew what so say. But his smile and the expression on his face was all the answers she needed. Even Aphrodite herself would be jealous of a body like this. And James had her all for himself. It was strange, but he felt like he dosen't deserve her. James slowly pushed her against the wall as the two of them started kissing again, with the water pouring down on them both.

"You drive me crazy you know that? No other woman made me feel the way you do!" Said James as he removed Lyla's hair covering her neck and started kissing her there and caressing her with his hands on his whole body as the hot water was making them feel like they're in heaven. For James at least, that's how it felt like.
@Wick

"You drive me crazy you know that? No other woman has ever made me feel the way you do!" Said James as he removed Lyla's hair covering her neck and started kissing her there and caressing her with his hands on her whole body as the hot water was making them feel like they're in heaven. For James at least, that's how it felt like.

Lyla's nervousness disappeared as he welcomed her into the hot water. She hadn't been with anyone in so long that she forgotten how much another person could make you feel. James certainly knew where and how to touch all the right places to make her body want more. The water eventually turned cold and they shut it off and ran into the bedroom and they landed in a heap of giggles on the bed. It didn't take them long to get to the heart of the matter and they played well into the night. Lyla couldn't remember ever having been with anyone who made her feel so much. She couldn't get up without waking James and she knew how exhausted he was so she waited til he moved over a little and his grip around her waist loosened.

Sliding out of bed Lyla peaked out the window making sure to keep the curtains closed. She thought she saw something earlier and so she scanned the area as far as she could see. Lyla saw two men looking into the shop windows. They appeared to be aware that this car was new to the area. "Shit..." She mumbled. James almost scared her to death when he nibbled on her neck. She pointed out the men below and he watched a little longer and then they got dressed.

Lyla knew that this was bad. If the people were staying around here they might be ready to kill them and take all of their things. Or they might be ready to kill him and take her and their things. Maybe they looked at women as a commodity to be bought, sold and used and eventually discarded. Lyla put some rounds in her gun and loaded her knives into her jacket. She knew one thing, Lyla didn't want to be separated from James. She wasn't going down without a fight and neither would James.

@lpfan

James had a bad feeling about this. As Lyla was gearing up, he took one more look through the window. The two men were armed and seemed to talk intensely about something. They were also peeking through the window insertions of the car shop's sliding doors. Then he closed the curtains, went to the bathroom and took his clothes from the floor. "I have a bad feeling about this!" He said as he threw his clothes on the bed and started putting them back on himself. "We can't really trust anyone right now! What if these guys are part of a larger group of bandits? They'll want to kill me, take both our supplies and probably keep you as a sex toy...until they get tired." Said James as he finished putting his clothes back on and went to his weapons.

"On the other hand there is also a slight chance that these may be good people and we could be just overreacting." He said as he checked his Springfield 1911, which had 4 more rounds in the magazine and one in the barrel, then slided it inside his jeans. Then he reached out to his kukri as he pulled it out and examined it for a few seconds before putting it back inside the sheath and attaching the sheath to his jeans. "With this outbreak, it's all about survival of the fittest now, and humans can be worse then those walkers when it comes to staying alive." He said as he went to his stuff and started looking for the shotgun but only found the extra shells. "Shit! My Benelli is still inside the car." He said upset as he slammed his hands on his thighs.

In the meantime...outside the car shop...

"Hey Will, do you see what I see?"

"If you're talking about the red Chevelle then yeah, I do. That means we have a visitor, also these doors were open, up until yesterday. And there seems to be a dead walker behind the car too."

"What are we gonna do Will? You know the boss dosen't like visitors. You saw what he did to that guy last week."

"Yeah, Frankie! Ever since we stopped here two weeks ago he turned this town into his private little garden. Heaven forbid the poor fool that decided to stop here."

"So what do we do Will?"

"I have no idea! In the meantime let's keep looking through the windows, maybe we'll catch a glimpse of whoever stopped here."

Back inside the car shop's apartment...

James sat at a table, with Lyla next to him. They were both thinking what to do but nobody seemed to come up with an idea that they both liked. "Ummm...Here's what we'll do. I go down there and talk to those guys. Make them see that they have nothing to be fearful of. And you stay here safe. I don't want them to see us both and get all kinds of crazy ideas in their heads." Said James as rised up from the table and kissed Lyla. "I won't let anything bad happen to you. That I swear." He said as he started climbing down the stairs, determined to do this. As he reached the manager's office he unlocked the door, stepped inside the car shop and went to the doors and pushed a button on the wall. As the two doors of the car shop were sliding up James decides to pull out his kukri just in case.

"Who the hell are you?" Said one of the two men as they both stepped inside and started looking at his car. "I'm James. I stopped here yesterday to rest, make some slight repairs, gather some supplies and then i'll be on my way." He said as he put his kukri back inside the sheath. "Nice Chevelle. I like the Benelli shotgun too." Said the other guy as he was looking through the car's windows.

@Wick

Lyla was fit to be tied. James just took off and didn't give her a chance to object. She followed him down the stairs and stayed inside the stairwell in the dark. She could see James and the two men. They were very intimidating and seemed like they were bullies to Lyla. One of the men mentioned liking the car and the Benelli. Her stomach was doing nervous flip flops and she couldn't see where the second guy went or what happened to James.

Lyla slipped out of the managers office and was thankful that she had a silencer on her gun. She saw the one guy reach inside the car and grab the Benelli. Lyla mentally swore. That was not a mistake that they could make again. She had to get the focus off of James.

Lyla went into the garage pretending to stumble sleepily. Yawning Lyla said "James? Where are you? Why did you let me sleep so long?"

Then she looked up and saw that one guy had the shotgun and the other was closer to James then she liked. She ignored the tension in the air and walked right over to the guy holding the shotgun with a smiling innocence. Chuckling Lyla says, "My brother dearest here gives me one task to do and I forget to do it. Thank you for reminding me." She smiled feigning anything being odd.

She reached up and gave the smelly and filthy man a quick peck on the cheek as she took back the shotgun and walked back towards the office. Still pretending she said, "Wouldn't do any good anyway there is no ammo for it." She set it casually inside the office.

"So to what do we owe the pleasure of your company gentlemen?" Lyla asked wiping the innocent expression off of her face. The guy whom she had taken the shotgun from came right up to her becoming angry. Lyla had one hand behind her and she had grabbed one of her knives. "Uh uh uh! You can look but not touch." The man smiled and she could smell his rotting teeth. "Dude you need a dentist and some serious mints." She said nearly choking on the grotesque scent.

He swung his fist at her, she ducked and caught his arm and pushed it away turning him around. She used her foot to kick him in the ass and shoved him. He fell over the trunk of the car and slid to the ground. She looked at James and the man nearer to him. "That man has no manners."

@lpfan

James took advantage of the distraction that Lyla offered as he slowly reached out for his 1911 and after gripping it he quickly pulled it out and pressed it against the other guy's head before he had time to react. "Alright now! I wasn't planning for this but what the hell. Take out your weapons and put them on the ground. And don't try anything funny if you value your life." Said James all serious as the guy took out a tomahawk axe and a .9mm Beretta and put them on the ground, kicking them away. "Good boy!" Said James grabbing his gun by the slide and slamming it on the guy's head, making him fall on the ground dizzy and unable to fight back. Then James closed the car shop's doors and dragged the guy to the manager's office then proceeded to do the same thing to his buddy that got knocked out by Lyla.

In the office he took a small table and put it in the center, and then took two chairs placing them on opposite sides of the table. On one of them he put the guy he took out, tying him up with duct tape. While the other chair was for himself to sit in. He did the same thing to the other guy too, tying him up good with duct tape but leaving him on the floor. In the meantime the guy tied up on the chair woke up and started shaking himself up violently, hoping to free himself. "Calm down. You won't escape. I tied you up good." Said James taking a seat across the table and looking deep in the guy's eyes as Lyla assisted at the conversation between the two.

"Listen, you're insane. Once the boss finds out that were missing you're both as good as dead. Leave now while you still have the chance." He said stressed.

"What boss? Who are you talking about? Wait a second...I remember you. You're Frankie right?"

"I don't know what...James? James Donovan? Shit man I didn't even recognize you. You look more mature now with that beard and the long hair."

"Yeah, that's me! Now...what boss are you talking about?"

"Whatya mean what boss!? You know very well who i'm talking about. Darryl? Darryl Jones? Forgot all about him?"

James's face imidieatly turned pale, like he seen a ghost. Concerned he put his left hand over his mouth for a few seconds then lowered it down on the table.

"What happened at the prison when the outbreak started?" Asked James clearly troubled.

"Well, the guards decided to set us free and ran away. It didn't matter to them anyway, now that humans began transforming into these monsters. Most of the inmates decided to stay within the safety of the prison. But Darryl and those of us that follow him decided to leave. A week and a half ago he decided to stop here and turn this small town into our staging point. Now we've cleared the streets of walkers but there are still plenty of them in the buildings. Listen you need to leave okay? Visitors aren't greeted welcomly here. Last week some guy came saying that he's looking for food but Darryl slashed his throat and fed him to some walkers in a building while he was still breathing."

"I got one more question for you. Zack. Zack Henderson. What happened to him?"

"I don't know no Zack Henderson!"

"You know very well who i'm talking about. My former cellmate."

"Oh you mean the MMA guy? Well, he left the prison just like us. But we went our separate ways."

With that James rised up from the chair, taking Lyla and getting out of the office and back into the car shop. "Hey, hey, don't leave me here! Cut me loose! NOW!" Frankie's shouts could be heard from inside the office. James didn't even dare to look in Lyla's eyes as she was very puzzled and didn't understood anything. This was all his fault as it was his idea to bring them here. "We are in the proverbial "deep shit." These guys are inmates from the prison I was in and this Darryl Jones character that guy spoke of used to be a major drug dealer back in Detroit. But the police managed to bust him years ago. Once in prison he formed his own gang, convincing all of the black prisoners to join him. He's very dangerous and not to be messed with. When I was arrested I was sent to the same prison as these guys that's why I know them. But I survived them unlike other "pretty white boys" that became regulars at the prison's clinic. And all thanks to Zack. Nobody dared to mess with him because of his fighting skills. I'm glad to hear he's still alive somewhere, out there " Said James as he put his hands on his head and started walking around through the shop. In the meantime the guy that Lyla knocked out finally woke up and started shouting to be released too.

"I'm sorry! It's all my fault! I never should have brought us here!" He said continuing to walk around the shop with his hands on his head. Then he sat on the floor with his legs crossed.



@Wick

Lyla looked at James, who was starting to fall apart and calmly locked the door to the outside and went into the office. Lyla told the shouting man to "shut up or I'll let the walkers have you." Then she quickly made her way upstairs and repacked their things quickly checking the entire place for their things and extra food and weapons.

When Lyla got back downstairs she found James in the garage. He was checking over the car and he had put the Benelli in the back seat again. She put some of the essentials in the back seat and the rest went into the trunk. The gas cans that James had filled up he had put them in the trunk as well.

Lyla looked at him and said, "Make sure we have all the tools and spare parts we mght need and don't forget the oil just in case." She got into the car and waited for him to finish up. She laid her head back and almost dozed off. A few minutes later James got in and started the engine. As soon as he cleared the door they took off. Lyla said. "It's not your fault. I was heading this way anyway. I would have ended up there all alone so don't worry about it. At least we have each other."

@lpfan

Extremely concerned about Darryl, Chris was starting to fall apart. As Lyla went back in the office, James could hear her shout at the two men who were screaming their asses off. As he rised up on his feet he heard her climb the stairs up to the apartment. He started checking up the car and after seeing everything is okay he went into the office and grabbed his shotgun from the desk, taking one more look at the men. "You boys are gonna stay here!" He said opening the door and getting out of the shop as the guy on the chair nodded his head in dissaproval. "You're making a big mistake! Darryl is not gonna forgive this." Said the guy on the floor.

After he put the shotgun on the back seat he saw Lyla coming back down with all their stuff. Together they put everything they needed to fix Lyla's car back in the trunk together with gas and oil. Then they both got into the car as James started it and rocketed out of the shop and out of the town. "I hope Darryl won't come after us. He's a very vengeful individual." Said James as he looked back for a few seconds looking at the town dissapearing in the distance.

Meanwhile, back at the shop...

A black Ford F-150 truck stops outside of the car shop with five armed black men including the driver. Darryl gets out from the passemger seat as everybody headed to the entrance. "All of you wait for me here." He said as the rest followed his order. Once inside Darryl pulled out a SIG P226 and started walking cautiously forward. Then he saw his men all tied up with duct tape in the manager's office and ran to them.

"Boss, oh boss i'm so glad it's you." Said the guy on the floor.

"What are you two doing tied up like that? Who did this?" Asked Darryl upset.

"It was James! James Harris. He also had a woman with him. They went out of the city." Said the one on the chair.

In that instant, Darryl's face turned from anger to shock then happiness. "So, the pretty white boy survived ey? Well, I guess God does love me afterall dosen't he?" He said while looking at his men. Then he headed out of the car shop and started barking orders at his men. "You! Untie those two fools and get back to the precinct. The rest of you, come with me!" He said as they all got in the car an d the driver started the car, driving forward. "Come on, step on it. We can still catch him." Said Darryl slamming his right hand on the dashboard.

In the meantime...

James and Lyla arrived at the wreckage of Lyla's car as James stopped the car and got out of it together with Lyla. "Okay, let's start working on your car. But don't expect it to end anytime soon. It's probably gonna take about one or two days. I guess we'll have to sleep in my car." Said James as he headed to Lyla's car and rised up the hood, examining the engine.

@Wick