Smoke wreaking of death and sickness filled the air as I stared into the fire.

No one said anything to me after I killed Kim and Tanya.

Everyone had been surprisingly helpful after my horrible murderous behavior. Suzie had given Celia and Andrea some of our clothes, and they'd cleaned up well, but on the flip side, they used way too much of our water.

Derek and Andrea remained attached at the hip during unpacking duty. Everyone helped unload, which was nice.

My hands were sore as hell. I'd washed them relentlessly as soon as I realized I'd created open wounds right next to two infected girls. How could I have been so stupid?

"What's going on between you and Thomas?" I twisted to find Derek standing beside me without his plus one. It was the first time I'd seen him alone since we left my house.

"Are you kidding me right now?" I scoffed. "I just murdered two girls, and you're asking about Thomas and me?"

Derek's eyes blazed as he stared into me. "I saw you hugging him. You looked like you were going to kiss him."

I let out a deep breath. "Did you see when I beat the ground until my hands were bloody, Derek? Did you stand there with me while I gunned down two innocent girls?"

Derek's gaze slid to the fire as he played with something in his pocket. "No. I had to help—"

"Andrea. I know. You have no idea what I'm feeling right now, so just go help your girlfriend. I don't need you to make me feel any worse. It's been a long day, and I don't have time for your bullshit." I turned away from him and walked inside.

Passing by Matt and Celia shockingly cooking in the kitchen, I found the room Suzie and Grant were staying in. Mindy's laughs were always pleasant and would help me calm down.

Suzie smiled wide as Grant tickled Mindy. The three of them were a Godsend. Grant's helpfulness with everything had become priceless. He always helped with Mindy and was there for Suzie when I couldn't be.

I was growing to care for the boy I'd once called a slithering piss ant. I smiled at the thought.

To think Grant would ever treat Suzie wrong was pure stupidity on my part. It was obvious. Grant was head over heels in love with Suzie, and I could tell she adored him.

Thomas was perched at the end of the bed with his head in his hands.

Closing the door, I leaned my gun against the wall.

Without interrupting the happy trio, I slowly made my way to Thomas, kneeling. "Hey, are you okay?"

Thomas's smoky gaze found mine. "Yeah, I'm just going through some shit. It's not easy having to burn all your dad's stuff, you know?"

I chuckled and nodded. "I know."

His eyes searched my face. "I guess you do, don't you? I'm such a pussy. You've been through way more than I have. I only lost one parent. You lost two in the same night."

I closed my eyes as I shook away the fact that I was about to crush my friend. Better to rip the bandaid off quick, right? "Thomas, I have something to tell you."

Thomas's hand fell on my shoulder. "Hey, it's alright. What is it?"

A weak smile crossed my face. He was about to find out what a horrible friend I'd been. I'd listened to Derek when I should've told Thomas the truth three days ago.

"Come on now, you can tell me anything." Thomas's words did nothing to soften my betrayal.

I bit my lips together as I nodded. "Okay, but before I tell you, just please know we thought it was best at the time. I just can't keep this from you. You deserve to know."

Thomas noticeably stiffened. "We?"

"Derek and me." I forced my eyes to meet his, and the pain I saw on his face was torture. "We saw Mitch in the group of biters that passed by my house the other day."

Thomas abruptly stood, his eyebrows slammed down. "What?"

I stood, facing him head-on. "Mitch was—"

"That mother..." Thomas was out the door, walking down the hall.

My heart raced. Where was he going? I grabbed my gun and took off after him.

When I found Thomas, he was out front, holding Derek by the collar of his shirt. "You son of a bitch! How could you not tell me?"

Derek's eyes flickered to me and examined my worried expression as realization dawned on his face. "Dude, I'm sorry. I couldn't. You were hurt, and I didn't want to make it worse."

"I had a fucking right to know! Since I lost Mitch that night, you know I've been beating myself up over it. I should've had the chance to kill him. Mitch deserves better than being a damn killer for the rest of his days." Thomas's voice cracked as he yelled at Derek.

Thomas had an incredible ability to grow in stature when he was pissed. Even with his injury, Thomas lifted Derek off the ground without wincing from his gunshot wound.

Moving fast, I put a hand on Thomas's shoulder to calm him down. "That's what worried us, Thomas. You were hurt, and we didn't want you running after a group of zombies to kill Mitch. I wanted to do it for you, but it was too dangerous. We have to be smart and use our heads."

Thomas glanced at me, and the raging fire in his eyes dimmed. He eased Derek back to the ground, but still held tight to the collar of his shirt.

"Dude, Casey's just pissed that I was helping Andrea. That's why she told you about Mitch." Derek's words hit me like a kick to the knife in my heart. Who was this person? What was this? An eye for an eye?

My head started to pound. Today's drama was all too much. I couldn't be here anymore. I needed to be alone.

"At least Casey had the fucking balls to tell me. You would've never told me. I don't even know you sometimes. You're supposed to my brother, but you ain't no brother. You're just a scared pussy running back to your manipulative bitch just like I said you would." Thomas yelled directly in Derek's face.

His loud voice echoed, yanking me out of my trance. With my head still pounding, I pulled my gun up, searching for anyone or anything that might hear them.

"You fucking asshole. You've been waiting to steal Casey from me since the moment you met her." Derek shoved Thomas.

"Quit, you guys." My words fell on deaf ears as I continued to analyze our surroundings.

Thomas laughed mockingly. "You gotta be kidding me. You had her, and you still do. I told her if she wanted you, I would stay out of it, but you fucking left her out here to kill those girls all by herself. Have you ever killed an innocent person, Der? Have you ever had the balls to look someone in the eye and pull the trigger?" Thomas pointed at me with pride. "This girl right here just fucking did that, and where were you? You were tending to your bitch. As usual."

Derek's face flashed with a mix of regret and anger as he looked between us. "Just keep your hands off of her. She's mine."

"Who?" Thomas crossed his arms across his chest.

Shock crossed Derek's face as he glanced at me. "Casey?"

I glanced around for any threats. No one. We really needed to build a fence like pronto. This constant checking was exhausting. We needed to set up a day watch and night watch.

"Casey?" Thomas called me back to their argument.

I stiffened, glancing at their angry faces. "What?"

"Are you with Derek or not?" Thomas quirked his head to the side.

"Not." It just came out. It was the horrible truth I'd been trying not to face, but I had to face it now.

I knew I couldn't compete with Andrea, and Derek still hadn't apologized for how he'd treated me. I didn't have the patience to fight for time with Derek. I'd done that with Matt and it had shattered my heart.

The pain that lashed across Derek's face was palpable. I wanted to go to him and tell him I was sorry, but I couldn't. I had a hard time understanding how he could expect me to be with him when he was so focused on Andrea.

Derek had been emotionally absent during the most awful moment of my life, and he'd been only steps away. He'd completely forgotten about me and left me to deal with Kim and Tanya on my own. Then he'd chosen to argue over a hug that I'd shared with Thomas afterward.

Thomas chuckled, but it was fake. "See? Another one bites the dust to your infatuation with Andrea."

"I'm not fucking infatuated, and Casey is off limits!" A vein pulsed in Derek's neck before he tackled Thomas to the ground, punching him in the face, twice.

I tensed, cringing at how horrible a punch to the face must feel. "Guys stop!"

With blood streaming from his nose, Thomas rolled, positioning Derek under him. Thomas punched Derek three times in the stomach.

I winced. Damn. These guys were ruthless.

Derek grabbed Thomas's head, holding him in a headlock, then punched him in the top of the head four times.

My hand flew over my mouth.

Thomas rolled them again, forcing Derek to release his hold. Thomas winced as he stood and gave Derek a swift punch to the gut on his way up. Derek bent over, holding his stomach.

Both of their faces were still flushed with rage.

Thomas wiped the blood from his nose, spitting more at Derek's feet.

"Enough!" I said as Derek poised himself to throw another punch.

This time they both glanced at me.

"Here's the deal. Derek, you were a complete jerk earlier and never even said you were sorry. It's not because of Thomas. He and I are only friends. I can't be with you because your ex is hanging on you like a monkey and I can't ask you to pick me over her since I understand you have history." I raised my eyebrows. "You know I'm not a back-burner girl. I feel horribly sick about what happened to those girls, and I want to kill all the assholes who did it, but you and I are no longer a thing. You're free to do whatever you want."

Derek cocked his head to the side, gazing at me. "She hasn't slept in days, Case. She's passed out, and you know it. We can spend time together now."

My cheeks heated. "That's not how I work and honestly, I don't want to be around you right now. Not with how you came at me a few minutes ago."

"What did he do?" Thomas clenched his jaw. "He said some off the wall shit, didn't he? Der always does that when he hangs out with her."

Unwilling to relive the Derek and Casey show, I just shook my head. "Whatever. I'm going inside. You guys kill each other or whatever. I just can't be out here anymore."

Trudging inside, I made my way to an empty room, fell onto the bed, and cried.

I cried for Kim and Tanya. For my parents. For my sister. For Mindy. For Derek and Grant. And I cried for Thomas. The tears came out for what seemed like forever. Eventually, fatigue took over, and I fell asleep.

When I woke up, it was dark, and I could hear people breathing near me. I wasn't alone. With slow, precise movements, I reached in my pocket, fishing out my mini flashlight.

Clicking it on, I wanted to cry again once I discovered who was with me. Suzie and Grant were in the corner asleep, Mindy was in bed next to me, and Thomas was sleeping on the floor. They'd moved all their stuff to this room to be near me. I had the best family in the world. Only one person was missing. Derek.

I missed Derek. Would he leave with Andrea? It would break my heart, but seeing him kiss her would break my heart too. There was no fix in a situation like this. I had to get used to him coddling someone else and being emotionally unavailable.

I'd been so spoiled by him before, and now my Derek was just gone. He hadn't even checked on me after I'd killed the girls. Tears came to my eyes. Why did I always choose the wrong guys?

I swallowed down the lump growing in my throat as I moved to get comfortable again.

A stirring from Thomas made me click the light off.

"Hey," Thomas whispered. "I thought you might wake up in the middle of the night since you crashed so early."

I didn't answer him. I didn't want to talk about what happened earlier.

"Case?" Thomas whispered.

"Yeah?" I gave in.

"You okay?" A shuffling of blankets came from his area.

"Fine," I said.

"Really?" Thomas was suddenly right next to me.

I flinched. "Damn it. I hate when you do that."

"Sorry." Thomas let out a breathy chuckle as he sat next to me, lightly pulling one of my sore hands into his.

"What's up?" I stared at his shadow.

"Do you think the biters are alive inside or do you think the soul leaves first? Because I've been thinking, maybe the biter is just a soulless body walking around trying to eat every living human in sight. You know like a bug or something."

Of course, he was thinking about this. He was worried about Mitch, and I couldn't blame him. I would be worried too.

I sighed. "I don't know, but I remember when I was sick I was pretty out of it and wishing for death. So I think the soul leaves the body when it dies. Since the biters are dead, I think it means none of them have a soul."

Thomas squeezed my good fingers and brought them to his lips, placing a light kiss to the back of my hand. "I'm so grateful you're alive. I don't know what I would do with myself if you weren't here."

I laughed. "You would do just what you've been doing. You're amazing with my sister and Mindy, and you've done nothing but help everyone around you. You're a good person, Thomas."

"You think?" Thomas was actually curious. How could he not know?

"Are you serious?" I said sarcastically. "You know you are."

Thomas rubbed my fingers. "You sure you're okay? I heard some crazy girly sounds when I checked in on you earlier."

"Shut up." I kicked him. "I had a crappy day."

"Can I sleep on the bed?" Thomas asked out of left field. "I'm not trying to get some action if that's what you're thinking. It's just my side hurts, and after my fight with Derek, I can't get comfortable enough to sleep on the floor."

I should've told him to go sleep in another room, but I felt safer with him here in the room with us. I didn't know if anyone was keeping watch tonight, and I didn't want to ask. Plus, I was exhausted and needed some time off.

"Yeah, I'll take the floor." I sat up, but Thomas pushed me back down.

"Nah. We can put Mindy between us. It's a queen so we should all fit just fine." Thomas moved to the other side of the bed.

I wasn't going to argue. I'd rather sleep on the bed. Pulling Mindy closer, I made sure Thomas had enough space.

"Thanks," Thomas whispered after he got comfortable. "You can scoot Mindy to the middle, so you have room."

Gently, I moved Mindy to the middle of the bed, resting my hand on her. "Goodnight."

Thomas moved his hand over mine. "Goodnight, Sweetheart."

**Please VOTE and COMMENT**

Thank you so much for reading!

💙 💙 💙 💙 💙 💙