The next morning, I awoke to find myself still in the same spot as I'd been the night before - on the couch. 

My blanket had fallen to a heap on the ground and the fire had long since been snuffed out, making my lips dry and my skin cool to the touch. 

The weather was warmer during the day than it had been in the hotel, but the nights seemed to be just as cold as ever. 

I heard footsteps down the hall and then a door open. Some voices. Then another door. 

Everyone else was getting up, so I heaved myself up to a sitting position and ran my fingers through my knotted hair. 

"But why Zombie?" I heard Nugget whine. 

"Don't you want to see Ringer and Teacup again?" Zombie's asked, his voice still groggy from sleep. 

"No, not really," Nugget responded. 

I could just imagine Nugget shrugging, his face reading of complete and utter honesty. I frowned slightly. He was not the same, sweet boy I'd met back at Wright Patterson. He was different now. He didn't care about his friends, he treated his sister like shit, and I no longer seemed to mean anything to him. 

Nugget probably thought all that made him more mature, more like the rest of us. But it didn't. He was just a sad boy, trying to push everything away so he wouldn't have to deal with the pain anymore. 

Zombie let out a gruff sigh of annoyance. "Yes, you do," he said, his tone cool. "And even if you truly don't, We're still going to find them." 

I stood up from the couch, tossing the blanket on it. 

"We're?" Nugget asked, a spark of hope tinging his voice. 

I could imagine Zombie shaking his head, closing his eyes momentarily in  order to maintain his cool. 

"Dumbo, Canary, and I," Zombie said. 

"Why why can't I go?" Nugget whined, "I'm just as strong and smart and trained as the rest of you." 

I crossed my arms, tiptoeing quietly to the wall adjacent to the hallway.

"You're right Nugget. You are strong. That's why I need you here, at the house, to protect everyone else," Zombie's tired voice echoed back. 

"But I want to go with you," Nugget said, "Canary can stay here and I can take her place. I mean, Canary got shot that one time and then was strangled! She's not that strong," Nugget pleaded. 

I grit my teeth in annoyance, pressing my folded arms firmly against my body in order to restrain myself from barging over there. 

Nugget could suck up to Zombie and beg with him all he wanted, but he sure as hell wasn't going to throw me under the bus to get his way. 

"Canary is strong and that's why she's coming," Zombie cut in, his voice harsher and more severe than before. "Her getting shot and strangled was not because she was weak," he said, "it could've happened to any of us-"

"But-" Nugget started. 

"No," Zombie said, cutting him off. "I don't want to hear it anymore. Canary is coming because she knows restraint and when to back down. So is Dumbo. You're not coming on any missions until you learn," he continued. 

Nugget didn't say anything. He didn't offer any form of protest and he didn't start his hysterical sobs or tantrums. 

I took my sleeve to my forehead and wiped the stray hair from my face before stepping into the hallway. 

"Zombie-" 

"Ugh! I hate you!" Nugget said. Rushing forward, he knocked into me and sent a feeble kick to my shin. 

"Nugget, " Zombie warned, "Go to your room and chill out." He pointed down the hall to where Nugget's door was. 

Nugget let out a single sob before pushing past Zombie to his room. 

"I hate you both!" he yelled over his shoulder. 

When he was gone from view, I reached down to grasp my shin. The feeble kick hadn't been as feeble as it'd appeared. 

"He's just upset he's not coming with us," Zombie said, explaining. 

I nodded. "Yeah, I heard." 

Zombie gave me a stiff nod before running his hand through his hair slowly. "You ready to go?" he asked. 

I pursed my lips, returning his stiff nod with one of my own. "Oh yeah, just finished throwing my swimsuit and sunscreen in my suitcase," I said sarcastically. 

The corners of his lips twitched, the slightest smile peaking through. The smile disappeared almost as quickly as it'd come, the blank expression returning to his face. 

"Do you have the guns?" he asked, his voice softer. 

My eyes quickly darted away, settling on the floor boards. "Yeah," I said, my voice barely above a whisper. 

If Zombie sensed a change in my mood, he ignored it. "Ok," he said, sounding satisfied. "I'm getting Dumbo. We'll leave after I let Evan know we're leaving. I want to get out of here before Sullivan wakes up. If she knows we're leaving, she'll throw a damned fit." 

With that, Zombie moved around me to go talk to Evan, who I guessed was patrolling the house or doing other Evan-type things. 

I bit the inside of my cheek, wrapping my arms around myself. I wasn't overly concerned about leaving Grace's house. I wasn't even concerned too much about the silencers, even though I probably should've been. But I was concerned about Zombie.  

I shook my head softly, knowing there was nothing I could do to help or calm Zombie. I had a feeling he'd be on edge until this whole thing was over...if it ever ended. 

~*~*~*~

About ten minutes later, Dumbo, Zombie, and I had set out. 

We had walked through the dense forest, leaving the shrinking house behind us as we made our way to the main street. 

We were now making our way toward Urbana, the town Zombie had shown us on the map not too long ago. 

Dumbo had seen the map before, when Ringer was planning her trip at the hotel. He'd glanced at it briefly, nodding stiffly, understanding where we were going. I'd taken a longer time looking at, my eyes grazing every inch of the torn brochure. 

Urbana marked halfway to the caverns, as well at the beginning of the silencer territories. I also noticed it was fairly big, with only one road going through it. There wasn't much in the ways of coverage around it either; traveling around was probably more dangerous than going through. Needless to say, the second half of our trip would be much worse than the beginning half. 

Zombie was currently leading the group, instructing us quietly with swift movements of his hand. 

His hand stretched outward, palm facing us. Stop. 

His hand fell, only to raise again to the side of his head, whole hand moving back and forth. Move forward. 

We moved on like that, Dumbo and I playing a game of Simon Says... or Zombie Says. We stepped over rusted car parts, aluminum cans, and other debris as we followed the road. Every now and then, we passed a pile of blackened bones- far beyond-rotted corpses that had been piled high during the third wave. 

Before, I would've quickly diverted my eyes, letting them rest on the ground or the sky or on anything other than the painful reminder of the past. 

Now, I couldn't tear my eyes away, feeling the need to take in every bit of the image. I let it fuel my desire to destroy the Others; I let it fuel my rage. 

 We continued through the day, the sky shifting from dawn to dusk in what seemed like a matter of minutes. 

None of us said much of anything until Zombie stopped abruptly, holding his hand up promptly. 

He was standing in front of a sign. Welcome to Urbana. 

"We're here," he stated, as if Dumbo and I couldn't tell by the sign. 

Dumbo nodded. "What next, Sarge?" he asked Zombie, looking up at the older boy for directions. 

I crossed my arms, my eyebrows furrowing. Dumbo's question hadn't been directed at me, but that didn't stop me from interjecting my own opinion. 

"Take a short break and then keep going," I said decisively, "we can make good time during the night- it'd be safer with the silencers and all."

Zombie's jaw clenched at the sound of the silencers and his gaze met mine briefly. 

"Ok, we take a break and then we keep going," he confirmed after a moment of still silence, nodding toward Dumbo. "Let's find some place to lay low for a little bit." 

"Already on it, Sarge," he said, moving a little ways ahead of us to start scoping out the area. 

We walked a little forward, buildings coming up on either side of the street. Their windows were boarded up or blown through. Their exteriors were in shambles. Dented and mutilated cars were crashed in a few of the buildings, no doubt a product of the first wave. An old newspaper, tattered around the edges with a splotch of dried blood coating its' once light gray surface, blew in the light breeze. 

It was a ghost town, with no sign of life in sight. But no matter how barren and quiet Urbana appeared, I couldn't help but feel like someone was watching. 

I slid my hand to rest of the gun that was on my hip, pulling the bottom of my shirt up so I could grasp its' cold handle. 

"Canary," Zombie breathed, falling into step next to me. His voice was full of concern. "What is it?" he asked. 

My eyes darted behind me, my heart starting to beat faster. 

Maybe I was going crazy. Maybe there was no one here. Maybe it was just us. 

"I feel like someone...that someone is here...watching us," I said softly, "I don't- I don't know..." 

Zombie followed my gaze, scanning our surroundings. 

"It's probably nothing," Zombie said, not sounding completely convinced himself. "Let's just keep moving." 

His hand pressed gently against my lower back, ushering me forward. 

A shiver went down my spine, whether is was from Zombie or from our unsettling surroundings, I didn't know. 

Not too long after, Dumbo found a place behind a crumbing wall in an alleyway, concealed by the shadow of the buildings around it. 

We sat down on the ground and I leaned my head against the back of the wall, closing my eyes momentarily. 

I felt Zombie settle down beside me, descending to the ground with a sharp breath. 

I opened one eye, looking down at his leg. 

His leg was better. But it still wasn't healed. The day's worth of travel must've been hard on him. Zombie probably needed a break more than the rest of us. 

I stretched my aching legs out in front of me before closing my eyes again. 

I must've ended up dozing off  because when I woke up, Zombie's jacket was draped over my body and both he and Dumbo were talking. 

I jolted upright from the ground I'd apparently ended up falling asleep on, ignoring the protests of my heavy eyelids as my eyes widened. 

"What-" 

Dumbo burst out laughing, muffling the sound by putting his hands over his mouth. "You have something on your cheek," he whispered, pointing his finger at my face. 

I instinctively reached my fingers up to my cheek, realizing with horror that I'd been drooling. 

I felt my face heat up as I took my sleeve to the side of my face, wiping the evidence away. 

Out of the corner of my eye I saw Zombie smiling. "Ha-"

Then Dumbo's own eyes widened with horror, but with a different kind of horror. He wasn't embarrassed. He was scared. 

Dumbo reached out, his hands in front of him and his feet moving to push himself off the ground, propelling him toward Zombie. 

Zombie's smile disappeared. He moved his own arms to shield his face, confusion and surprise screaming in his eyes.  

And then, Dumbo fell. 

<><><>

Hey everyone! I meant to post this yesterday for my birthday, but alas, I did not. 

It's kind of late, but I hope you enjoyed chapter three anyway! A little bit of a transition chapter (Zombie/Canary scenes to come for all you Zanary shippers!) so hang in there! 

Let me know what you hope to see in the rest of Perish! I may be taking some of your comments and incorporating them into the storyline (even though I already have  a pretty good idea of how the story is going to end!) 

Rock on.