The sound of one of the undead fucker was the first thing to register in Tallahassee's mind. The next was the sad fact that his gun was too far away. The third thought was the ironic idea that he's been caught taking a piss. The last was the sound of a gunshot.

Tallahassee turned around to see the zombie land in a heap a few feet away. His eyes traced back to the source of the shot and confusion flooded his mind when he spotted a girl. She took a few steps forward cautiously aiming the pump shotgun at him. He just stared at her like an idiot with his dick out for everyone to see.

"Are you trying to get yourself eaten?" she asked at length.

"No, how about you?" he countered coming to his senses. He put himself away and zipped his pants. She came closer, entering the light so he could see her better. She wore not overly tight jeans, a black t-shirt, combat boots, and a deadly arsenal of weapons. In the back of his mind he realized how attractive the blond was while the front of his thoughts belonged to the fact that she had a gun on him.

"Not really," she smiled resting her shotgun on her shoulder. He relaxed a little. "I'll make a guess that it was you lighting up the theme park a while back?" she sighed. He sighed and looked around the gas station where they stood.

"Some friends of mine, yeah," he nodded.

"There are others?" she asked interested.

"Three others," he said starting to wonder about her intentions.

"Where?" she demanded more than asked.

"Why?" he replied getting suspicious.

"Because I know this city a lot better than you I'd bet, and there are some places you don't want to be. I don't need all of you stirring up my neighbors," she said shortly.

"They're at an old bank on the east side," he replied.

"What are you doing here?" she asked without a pause.

"Twinkies," he shrugged. It wasn't his only goal, but it was all she needed to know. In truth Tallahassee had been gathering up a new arsenal of common objects that he could use to claim zombie kill of the week. She didn't reply, but her eyes had gone wide. A tingle ran up Tallahassee's spine. "What?" he asked realizing that she was fixated on a point over his shoulder.

"Run for your truck," she whispered. He turned his head to see over his shoulder. A mob of twenty or thirty zombies was moving around a hundred yards away.

"What about you?" he asked. She pulled something out of her pocket. He watched her yank the pin out of the grenade and throw it as far as she could. It still didn't land even close to the mob. "What good does that do?" he murmured.

"Hey!" she screamed getting the full attention of the horde that proceeded to charge. Before Tallahassee could register what was happening she had taken off in the direction of the truck. He followed her after grabbing his gun from where it was leaning against a nearby trashcan.

She reached the truck ten feet sooner than he did and jumped into the driver side. A twinge of panic sat in. Tallahassee envisioned her driving off and leaving him for dead, but instead she waited patiently. The grenade exploded as he reached the truck. Most of the zombies had been taken care of but a few continued their charge. Yanking the back door open he jumped in and she floored it mowing over the remaining undead before squealing out onto the road.

He looked out the back window at the destruction they had caused. "Nice," he nodded approvingly.

"Your friends are probably in trouble," she said in an all business voice.

"Everything was quiet when I left," he said crawling into the front seat.

"Always is, then you come back and everyone is mauled really well," she smiled sweetly. "Nice wheels by the way."

"Thanks," he shrugged opening a Twinkie. She glanced sideways at him.

"Really?" she asked trying to decide what to make of him. He looked at her innocently. "Are you going to give the girl who just saved your ass a bite?" she chuckled. He held out the Twinkie and she took a bite while keeping both eyes on the road. For a moment he wrestled with the thought of thanking her for saving him. "Don't even bother," she sighed.

"What?" he asked wrinkling his brow.

"You're making that 'man face' trying to work up a thank you. Don't even bother it was nothing," she smirked. He looked away from her finding the conversation very unsettling. The last thing Tallahassee wanted was to be locked up with a fucking mind reader. She continued to wear a sly smile.

He didn't speak until they reached the bank. Everything seemed quiet when they pulled up. "I told you everything's fine," he said knowingly. The girl just sat watching the bank as if waiting for something. Then it came. A gunshot echoed from inside the back causing Tallahassee to whip his head around towards the bank. "Shit!" he hissed staring to move, but the girl was already ahead of him.

Side by side they ran into the bank. First zombie down went to the girl. Columbus, Wichita, and Little Rock were all assumed to be in the giant safe that the zombies were storming. Tallahassee shot two zombies before taking out his very large hunting knife and hacking his way forward. Upset didn't even begin to describe what he felt as the girl stole a zombie that he was about to kill. She finished off the last one in the room leaving the count at seven kills to five kills by Tallahassee.

Less than pleased he moseyed his way to the safe and knocked. "You can come out now," he said lazily. The door opened slowly and the three kids made their appearance. "Everyone ok?" he asked looking each one over.

"We're fine," Columbus sighed in his normal nervous voice.

"Nice family," the girl said. Everyone looked at her.

"Who are you?" Little Rock asked.

"No names," she shook her head.

"Whoa, she's scary like you," Wichita smirked at Tallahassee, who grimaced.

"I'm Little Rock, he's Columbus, she's Wichita, and you've already met Tallahassee," Little Rock said. The girl looked at each one.

"I'm Chicago," she said.

"Great now that we're all introduced lets get the fuck out of here," Tallahassee muttered pushing past everyone. The three kids followed him but Chicago stayed in place. Columbus stopped at the door looking back.

"Are you coming?" he asked. She thought for a moment. The kid seemed like a push over. The cowboy was just annoying and the girls would probably be trouble in some form. On the other hand they had a good set of wheels and were the only non-zombies in a thousand miles. Chicago didn't have a choice. If she wanted to complete her mission she would have to go with them.

"Only if sunshine won't mind," she sighed rubbing the back of her neck.

"It's not a problem," he replied.

"Thanks," she smiled following after him.