We're Still Alive(Book1)BEING REWRITTEN

Fifty

Jared and Cora had both volunteered to take first watch. They stood on the roof of the bar, staring out into the darkness with their guns drawn. Jared preferred being up here anyway; better than sleeping on
the ground or a hard wooden table, both of which smelled strongly of alcohol. There was the pool table, but he wasn't about to climb up there with Tom and Renee. They had wanted to find a better place to
stay the night, but the bar was the best thing they could find when they realized they wouldn't make it back to the mall before dark.
   "Do you think they're okay?" Cora asked. Jared turned to look at her barely visible silhouette. "Bill's team, I mean. Bill, Allison, and Gavin and Jack." Jared remembered that Jack was with her when he first met her group. Bill had started out in Jared's group, and Allison and Gavin were both new.
   "I hope so." He answered. "They can take care of themselves until then."
   "They better." She said, and he cracked a smile. It was gone almost as soon when he heard the growling from somewhere on the street below them. It was on the side of the building facing the main street, and Jared and Cora peered over the edge. He could barely see it, but once his eyes adjusted, Jared made out the shape of a person. He also saw the torn clothes blowing with the light breeze, and blood glinted off of the small light that the full moon offered. It looked up at them, and Jared felt the grip on his gun tighten. It was staring him straight in the eyes. He wanted to look away but found himself almost locked to the monster. Then it smiled, and he remembered the one at the gas station. It had its chance to kill him, but used up that bit of time to, what, scare him? Show him that it wasn't a brainless
freak?? They'd proved that to him when one hid in the mall until Cassidy became its target. All these thoughts and memories going through his head, and he still couldn't pull himself from the zombie's
stare.
    He remembered something he'd heard once when he'd gone to see Bear World years ago. His dad loved animals and knew almost everything there was to know about them.
   "You see those wolves? They look so calm, probably actually lazy. They're not like that in the wild. If you see a wolf in the wild, they're a lot more active than this. Especially if you challenge them."
   "How would you challenge them?" Jared asked.
   "If you look a wolf in the eye, that tells him that you're challenging him, trying to show dominance over him. If you look away first, you lose." He answered.
   "What happens when you lose?"
   "If you lose, he'll kill you, and the pack will help." Jared's mom reached over from the driver's seat to smack his dad.

   "What?” He asked.
   "Jared?" Cora's voice came out shaky. "What are you doing?"
   "Its challenging me." He said quietly, not taking his eyes away from it. "I think that when I look away, it'll attack."
   "Why not attack now?" She asked.
   "Cause it's like a wolf." He answered. "That's all they are. Just a bunch of wolves with opposable thumbs." He clenched and unclenched his hand on the handle of the gun. It was sweaty. He felt like the thing was staring into his soul, but when he stared back, all he found was darkness. He sat down on the roof, still keeping his eyes locked with the zombie's, and rested his chin in the palm of his hand. He wasn't
giving in. The zombie seemed to notice this, because a few minutes later it hesitantly looked away and disappeared into the night.
   "Jared?" Cora was standing behind him.
   "Yeah?" He asked, staring in the direction the zombie had run.
   "That was weird."