The Return of The End

Chapter two

"Max, I'm really sorry to hear that," Chloe responded, giving him an awkward side hug. They locked eyes for a moment, and strangely enough, Chloe felt her cheeks heat up a little. She backed away, and tried not to notice how his dark features contrasted against his fair skin, or his dark hair, his soft jaw, and his beautiful ice blue eyes like hers...

Chloe forced herself to speak. "So, how do you know all of these kids? They can't be related to you." She wasn't wrong; Sammy and Tommy were little and dark-skinned, Joe was tall and had olive toned skin, and Lucas was short and had warm toned skin.

"We really just found each other. Sammy was the first person I found. She was alone in a girls bathroom, screaming for Tommy--her twin brother--to come save her. Then I heard Tommy screaming back, on top of a shelf trying to shoot at a zombie with a BB gun, but he was failing miserably. I grabbed my own gun and shot it three times in the head, then I ran into the girls bathroom. I told Sammy it was safe to come out, while Timmy ran behind me. He didn't trust me at first, but eventually we came to a point where we were able to trust each other. It was a week later that I found Lucas and Joe together in a broken down building. They were stuck on the roof and being swarmed by zombies. The best idea I could come up with was for them to jump off. I went into one of the houses, grabbed a couple of mattresses, and they jumped down with almost no hesitation. Surprisingly, neither of them were seriously injured. Ever since then we've all been together."

Chloe could only stand there, amazed by how much Max and the other four had gone through.

"What about you? How did you and your crew meet?" He asked.

"Well, it's nothing close to your story. Skyla and I have been practically family since diapers, AJ is my ex boyfriend, and Sean is my other best friend," she explained to him. "We were all really close in high school."

"Your best friend is dating your ex? Yikes," Max commented, and a pang of hurt hit Chloe.

"Yeah, it sucks. Um... I'll explain it after dinner. I don't know about you, but I'm pretty hungry," she said, desperate to get out of the topic. The two traveled back to the other side of the Costco to find Sammy and Tommy arguing and Skyla looking as if she were their tired mother.

"Honestly, I don't see why you guys can't share the gun! Sammy has it for one day and Tommy for the next, or something like that! You two are being ridiculous," Skyla said, trying to keep the peace.

"No! Guns are my thing!" Tommy argued.

"So? They can't be my thing too?" Sammy rebutted.

"Hey you two, knock it off," Max said firmly, and the twins stopped, though it was obvious their quarrel was not over.

Skyla's eyes widened, then narrowed in Max's direction, who wore a smug look on his face. "Whatever," she said, sticking her tongue out at him as she started to climb up the ladder. "Alright kids, climb on up for dinner!" she announced.

"I'll pull up the food!" Chloe yelled up to her.

"Sounds good!" she replied.

Chloe put their food in a basket that was tied to a rope on a pulley system. Once it was filled, she hoisted it up to the roof, where Skyla grabbed it. When she reached the top, Skyla handed Chloe her share of soup and water.

"Okay everyone, new rule. Everyone under eighteen needs to be in bed by nine-thirty, every night," Chloe said after some conversation.

"Woah, Max has a bedtime!!" Lucas said, laughing.

"Well, no, Max is eighteen. In fact, he's slightly older than I am," Chloe replied. The kids clearly were shocked by this information.

"Hang on, since when?" Sammy asked as she crossed her little arms, while looking at him all sassy.

"Since about two weeks ago, I kind of just forgot about it. Kind of makes sense though, because we were attacked three days before, and then we were on the run for about a week, then Lucas' allergies were acting up badly, then we found the Costco, and now we're here..." Max responded.

Sammy didn't make a reply, and instead made an "o" shape with her mouth.

"Yeah. I guess when shit happens you forget the things that used to be ingrained into you," Max said in a small sad tone.

"Wow man, that's intense." Sean said with a slight chuckle, which eventually developed into everyone falling into laughter, as if everything was fine, a lie the group desperately clung to.

But who cares for now?

"I know we're allowed to stay up, but I am absolutely pooped after all of that training, so I'm gonna hit the sack. Goodnight, everyone," Joe said after a while of silence.

The rest of the kids seemed to agree, and they headed down the ladder as a group to go to bed. Even AJ and Sean turned in, leaving just Skyla, Chloe, and Max.

"You know, I'm glad you guys broke into our store. It's been fun to train you," Skyla remarked.

Max smiled. "Yeah, I think we picked the perfect place."