We're Still Alive(Book1)BEING REWRITTEN

Thirty-One

Ohio

          Cora angrily fired her pistol again, sending it into the head of a zombie that tried to jump at the truck. She hated them. Those things had made her life, all their lives, a living hell. And there was nothing she could do about it. At least she had something to take her anger out on; she knew better than to vent on her friends. She shot another one. It was farther away and didn't even seem to notice them, but she didn't care.
          "Don't waste your bullets." Jay's voice said from behind her. "We might need them later." She sighed and sat back, knowing he was right. He was trying to stay calm, but Cora could see the swirling emotions on his face. He felt the same as her; scared, confused, disappointed, and most of all, angry. He was mad that they'd tried to hard and risked so much to get here, only to find that 'here' was probably more dangerous than some of the previous towns they'd already driven through. That was their last chance, and it had been so painfully ripped away from them.

          Finally Cassidy pulled the truck into a large parking lot outside a mall. The area around it wasn't practically swarming with the zombies like some places, and Cora figured it couldn't hurt to rest here a while. Cassidy was smart; Cora knew this, so she didn't dare question her. Instead, she helped the others take down the few zombies surrounding the place and piled out of the truck. No one went inside, though. Who knew how many of those were in there. It was a mall, after all. There were probably a lot of people there when it started.
          They stood in silence. Avery had Ben pulled close to her, still sitting in the cab of the truck. Cassidy was leaning on Mica. Jack, Cora, and Jay stood with their guns ready. After taking the guns from the bodies of the people that attacked them on that first day, there was enough for everyone except for Avery and Ben to have one. Avery had said she preferred to not have to shoot. The four friends had gone shooting a few times before all this, most with Cora's mom, so they were all fairly good shots.
          The silence that surrounded them went on forever. It was unusual, eery. No one really looked at each other aside from the occasional glance. Cora was busy listening, watching everything out of the corners of her eyes. It felt good to relax and think about everything, but they couldn't let their guard down. The silence soon became overwhelming, though. Cora opened her mouth and tried to think of something, anything, to break the deadly silence. Before she could get any words out, something else caught their attention. It was distant, barely audible. But it was definitely there. She could tell that the others had heard, too. There was a truck, no, two trucks, driving their way. She exchanged a glance with Jay and knew they were thinking the same thing; someone had escaped from the 'safe haven' and was coming to help them. Maybe they were a part of the military who'd been set up to guard the place. Maybe they knew what was going on. Cora took off at sprint towards the main road where the sound was coming from, and she heard the others following. When she reached the road, she saw the approaching trucks. The first one was actually a jeep, while the second one was similar to Mica's pickup. Jay was now beside her and waving his arms. Cora joined him, and soon the whole group was either standing on the road or on one of the grassy islands off to the side. She felt a twinge of nervousness as they came closer. Her thoughts jumped back to that first day. She remembered how close to death they'd been, how easily she shot them. It hit her like a rock,and she stopped waving. It was too late to change her mind at that point, though. The jeep and truck were pulling to a stop in front of them. There were five people in each one. The windows were slightly tinted, but Cora got a good look at the people as they climbed out. Her heart dropped and she felt a sense of dejá vu. Except this time, her group was the one outnumbered.