Chloe opens her eyes. She looks out the crack in the boarded-up window and notices sunlight. 

"Guess I better get everyone up," she says to herself in a tired whisper. She sits up and stretches. Her stomach then growls of hunger. She groans, wishing there was a way to get food. Wishing the apocalypse was just a dream and didn't exist.

She then realizes something for the first time since the apocalypse started. "Colin! Callie!" She whispers a little too loudly, making Jade stir a bit. A tear falls down Chloe's cheek as she worries about what could have happened to her little siblings. Not only them but her parents too. I'm sure they're fine. Colin is pretty strong and smart. I'm sure he's protecting Callie as much as he can.

She takes a deep breath and wipes her tear away. She has to stay strong so she can do her best for the group. She gets up and starts waking the rest of the group up. She walks up to Ethan, who is still unconscious, to see if she could wake him up, but realizes it's useless to even try.

"So Alli, do you have a plan?" Brian asks and crosses his arms. Alli glances around the room at the group, trying to decide what to do. She stops at Dakota.

"Dakota, would you like to stay back with Ethan while the rest of us go out for more supplies?" Dakota looks up from the ground. She glances at Ethan, then back at Alli.

"S-sure." Why me? I'm tiny and weak, and they're trusting me to protect this kid who's twice my size. She thought. Alli tells the rest of the group something, and they all scatter around finding weapons. Caleb walks up to Dakota and hands her a sword. She looks at the sword then at Caleb. "Wh-what is this for?"

"It's for protection, just in case zombies do attack. You're in charge of protecting both you and Ethan. We will be gone for a while, so you need to be prepared." Dakota holds the sword close to her as the group heads out.

She walks over and sits in the chair near the couch Ethan is asleep on. She gently puts the sword on the ground, well, attempts to at least, but she accidentally drops it and it makes a loud clanking noise.

Dakota flinches and her eyes flicker over to Ethan, worried that she had woken him up. He moves a little but does not get up. She sighs with relief and lies back in the chair.

After about an hour or so of sitting in silence, Dakota hears a bit of heavy breathing. Confused, she looks around, not knowing where it's coming from. She grabs the sword slowly off the ground and stands up. The breathing gets louder and starts to sound more like a panic attack. She slowly walks towards the entrance of the building and stops for a moment, before realizing it's coming inside the building.

"Ethan!" She gasps. She turns around and runs towards him and kneels beside him. Ethan turns around on the couch and starts freaking out. "Ethan? Ethan, what's wrong?" Dakota grabs his arm, trying to figure out what is happening.

Ethan grabs her wrist with his other hand tightly. Dakota lets go of him and attempts to pull away, but is unable to. "Ethan, let go!" Ethan starts hyperventilating. Quickly, agonized screams filled the room. Dakota gets on top of him to try to stop him from freaking out and to wake him up. She turns him onto his back and shakes him by the shoulders. "Ethan, wake up! Please!"

Ethan gasps and opens his eyes quickly before he breaks down crying. Dakota gets off of him and sits beside him on the couch. "Ethan? What's wrong?" She asks gently while placing her hand on his arm. He doesn't answer and continues to cry.

Dakota glances at his leg and remembers his bite. She lifts his pant leg and notices the infection slowly spreading up his leg. She gasps in shock and slowly moves his pant leg back down, making Ethan flinch. He stops crying and looks up at her.

"Wha-what are you doing?" He asks her as he wipes his tears away. Dakota's eyes flicker from his leg back to him in panic.

"It-it's your infection. I-I think it's spreading," She says, too quietly for Ethan to hear. Ethan looks at her in confusion.

"Y-you need to speak up."

"Your infection is getting worse!" Dakota shouts. She claps her hand over her mouth and tears start to fall down her face. She's very worried about him dying from that wound, and can't imagine what she would do without him.

Dakota has always looked up to him as an older brother, and the two have gotten close over the years they've known each other. Ethan has always done his best to help her get better, especially in band.

Ethan attempts to sit up without disturbing his leg and grabs Dakota's shoulder. He pulls her into a hug to try and comfort her. 

"Don't worry. I'll be ok. I know you're worried about me, but I'll get better over time." He says reassuringly. Dakota looks up at him and moves her hair out of her face. She wipes her tears away but doesn't say anything.

"I-I know. I'm way overreacting." Ethan shakes his head.

"No, you're not. You're worried about me and I completely understand. Now can you go get me a bottle of water, please?" Dakota gets up and walks towards the storage room where all the food is stored. As she walks in she starts thinking. He hugged me. He's never done that before, ever! He hates hugs unless it's from family. Does he really care for me?

She's always had thoughts in the past that Ethan has never really cared for her by the way he treats her. He'll say something nice one moment, and the next moment he's insulting her, so she's always received mixed emotions about how he felt.

Dakota grabs a water bottle from the package and heads back out and hands it to Ethan. He opens it and pretty much downs the whole thing In just seconds. He hands the empty bottle back to her.

Dakota looks at him then slowly backs up and throws the bottle away. She walks back to the couch and kneels next to Ethan.

"Are you sure you're ok?" She asks softly, hoping to get an answer. Ethan looks away, knowing exactly what she's talking about. A single tear falls down his cheek but he immediately wipes it away before Dakota notices it. "I'm assuming you don't want to talk about it." Ethan shakes his head.

"W-where is everyone anyway?" He asks as he realizes that it's just him and Dakota.

"Going out to find supplies and medicine."

"How come you aren't w-with them?"

"I was told to stay back with you." Ethan looks away. I'm holding everyone back with my sickness. They might as well just let me be and die in peace. I don't want to slow them down. "Now, are you sure you don't want to talk about-"

"No," Ethan interrupts. Dakota nods once in understanding and heads back to her makeshift bed. She knew she wouldn't get an answer.

Although the two are close, Ethan won't talk about his feelings and such. He's not as open as Dakota is with his emotions. I wish he'd talk about it. I've never seen him freak out, or even cry in that matter. She glances back at Ethan and notices that he's lying back down on the couch again. He'll talk when he's ready.