Sleepy Hollow, NY

We finally pulled up to what was once the high school Hammond was talking about. However, the vehicles, or the team of killers that Hammond was expecting were nowhere to be seen.

Instead, we were met by the sight of smoke and small flames rising from various cars and piles of rubble. This place was for sure raided- recently. Hammond's buddy was the first out of the car, followed by the man himself who pushed him back.

"Get back in the truck." Hammond ordered, to which the odd man obliged. The Lieutenant raised his gun and took a few steps forward, walking up to a Z. Correction- half of a Z that was trying to crawl out from under an SUV.

"Is it them?" Murphy asked, getting nothing in response. He spoke louder. "Hammond! Is it them?"

"Yes, Murphy. It's them." He responded, putting a bullet through the undead soldier's brain. 'Murphy' shrugged it off and got out of the car, announcing that he had to pee. Warren and Garnett got out as well, and I jumped out of the bed of the truck and walked around the sassy man to stand next to Warren.

"Don't go far." She warned, and Murphy promptly walked to the back tire and unzipped his pants, telling her not to worry. I scoffed and rolled my eyes, Warren did the same and we started walking towards Hammond.

"This guy." Roberta muttered under her breath, myself nodding in agreement. Hammond met us half way and started speaking.

"My reinforcements are dead."

"Oh, really? Didn't notice." I mocked. He ignored me yet again.

"We need to make a quick search for any survivors and supplies." He looked at the person he'd been protection for- supposedly- the entire apocalypse and pointed to him. "You! Zip up and stay close to me." Addy, who had been using her little Hero camera to film the scene before us from the bed of the truck, spoke up.

"Hey, where'd all the Z's go?" She asked. Doc was quick to reply.

"Movin' on, like locusts." Hammond nodded, agreeing with the metaphor.

"Yeah, but they'll be back." He started giving orders. "Garnett and Warren, you clear the building and you 4," he pointed to Mack, Addy, Doc and myself, "check the vehicles." As my team jumped out of the bed of the truck, I could feel anger rising.

I know that guy didn't just order me around. I looked up at Warren and she looked back at me, shaking her head slightly- warning me not to say anything. I huffed and followed Mack, Doc and Addy.

Obedience isn't exactly my thing.

3rd Person POV

"They never even had a chance." Garnett said to Warren, but she instead set a hand on his side and shushed him.

"You hear that?" She asked, listening.

"Hear what?" Garnett questioned, confused. Suddenly, whimpers and cries could be heard from a nearby car- and they weren't coming from a Z.

"There." Warren looked at Garnett, who nodded once, silently telling her he heard it.

"Sounds like a... baby?" The duo cautiously moved forward, ready to draw their weapons at a moment's notice. Warren quickly put her gun away when she spotted the baby in question sitting in the backseat of a car that had gone through the side of the building. She quickly opened the door and proceeded to reach for the infant.

"Hey, it's okay sweetie," she tried to sooth the whimpering child, "we're gonna get you outta there." As she started unbuckling the carseat, Garnett spoke.

"How's that diver?" Roberta glanced at the woman in the driver's seat, presumably the mother.

"Dead." She stated simply before turning her attention back to the task at hand.

"Turned?" Garnett demanded clarification.

"Looks like she took a blow to the skull. Brain dead on impact." She gave the needed clarity.

Meanwhile, Addy, Doc, Mack and Alrrami were doing a quick sweep of the premises.

"Hey, Mack?" Addy pointed to a Z trapped under a collapsed fence, stepping over its legs and continuing to walk. The man in question killed it before following his girlfriend around the now useless fence.

Alrrami had separated herself from her designated group; something was bothering her. She had the overwhelming feeling that they were being watched- not by Z's, but by a human; almost like they were being stalked. She shook this feeling, summing it up to her nerves, and continued her given task.

"Yeah, I know." Warren spoke to the baby as she pulled it out of the car, holding it in front of her to examine it- arms fully outstretched as if the infant would turn at any moment.

"Woah, it's a real life baby. I haven't seen one of these in years." Her eyes went wide when the baby started crying. "And it won't stop crying. Here, what do I do." She looked at Garnett pleadingly, stating her question more than actually asking it. He chuckled and took it from her, holding it to his chest.

"Maybe don't hold him like he's a live grenade." He teased, rocking and bouncing slightly to calm the fussing infant. Warren brushed her hands on her pants before resting them on her hips.

"Okay, okay. Me and babies? Not so much." She looked at the dead mother, then the baby. "What was she doing out here with a baby anyway?" Garnett, still rocking slightly to keep the baby calm, simply shrugged.

"I don't know, maybe they were looking for shelter when this place got overrun?" He suggested.

"What the hell are we gonna do with a baby?" Warren questioned in exasperation, looking between the infant and Garnett, who grew a grin.

"Beats me, I stopped planning 2 minutes ahead years ago." His grin morphed into a small smile.

Meanwhile, Mack, Addy, Doc and Alrrami walked around a large pile of rubble, and were met by the sight of a dozen Z's surrounding what looked like a cage.

"Heads up." Mack warned, everyone slowing to a stop.

"What are they after?" Addy inquired, taking in the scene ahead- both with her eyes and her camera.

"Only one thing." Alrrami shrugged and walked forward. "Come on." As the group of four approached the cage, they all used their various melee weapons to pike the distracted zombies. This revealed a girl squatting in the cage with her head resting on her knees. As Addy killed the last Z, Mack walked to the front of the cage.

"Hey." He didn't receive a response, so he hit the cage a few times with the palm of his hand before trying again. "Hey, you alright?" Again, no response. He looked at his friends, before proceeding to break the chain with a metal pole.

Alrrami switched her hunting knife out for her rifle, keeping it raised and trained at the girl's head before Mack could even step foot into the enclosure. Addy spoke Alrrami's mind, and warned her boyfriend.

"Careful, she might be dead." Mack kneeled next to the girl, and in the blink of an eye she had him pinned to the side of the cage- a small knife to his neck. Alrrami kept her aim spot on as Mack grabbed her wrist and attempted in vain to push her back. Addy panicked as she watched the scene unfold. Fearing the worst, she decided to interject.

"Woah woah woah, hey hey hey." The redhead rushed, trying to snap the girl out of the trance she seemed to be in. Doc just started laughing.

"Well, she ain't dead!" Alrrami held back a chuckle at this, her rifle aimed for the side of the threat's head. Addy tried again to calm the situation.

"Hey, hey! It's okay, it's okay we're good people- we just saved you, okay? Don't hurt him." The female glanced at Addy, before looking back to Mack, who slowly and hesitantly released her wrist from his grip and raised his hands, showing he didn't mean any harm.

The girl slowly lowered her knife and took a couple of steps back, before putting her weapon away and running a hand through her hair. Alrrami, trusting this was over, lowered her weapon as well.

"Sorry, I didn't know where I was. I must've fallen asleep." She explained. Alrrami raised an eyebrow.

"Asleep? How long were you in this cage for?" She asked, shocked that someone could fall asleep in the situation she and her friends had just fixed. The girl paused before looking at the strangers that just helped her out.

"Two days?" She responded, sounding unsure of her answer. The group looked at each other, before letting the girl follow them inside the school where everyone else was already waiting. Alrrami explained to Garnett, Warren and Hammond who the new girl was, while everyone picked a spot to relax for the time being. The baby was crying pretty much the whole time.

1st Person POV

"Somebody better shut that kid up before he attracts Z's like flies." Murphy snapped. I rolled my eyes before leaning on the wall next to the boarded-up windows.

"Hey, it's a baby. It makes noise, okay?" Garnett defended, bouncing the child carefully in his arms.

"Shut up." Hammond barked at Murphy before looking at Garnett. "And you, do what you can; he's right about the Z's." I'm getting real tired of this guy thinking he's the boss of us.

I watched as Hammond offered the girl, who's name I learned was Cassandra, a flask of water. She eyed it suspiciously for a second before tearing it from his hands and proceeding to chug it. I didn't mind this, as she must've been without anything to drink for days, but Hammond wasn't having it.

He took it back from her, and looked at Addy, who was leaning back in an old chair with her feet propped on top of an old filing cabinet.

"Hey." He called to who I consider to be my older sister. Once he had gained her attention, he tossed her the flask and looked back at Cassandra.

"That's kinda fucked up." I muttered under my breath, earning a slight nod in agreement from Warren.

"Why would somebody lock you in a cage and leave you to die? What'd you do?" Hammond started his interrogation.

"I didn't do anything." She defended, looking around the group. "I locked myself in the cage for protection."

"Do you have the keys?" Hammond pressed, eying her suspiciously.

"I lost them." She responded, avoiding eye contact with all of us. We all shared a glance, faces filled with different expressions. Warren decided to take this time to ask a question.

"Why are you dressed like that?" This is when I noticed Cassandra's outfit. She was wearing a red cropped tank top, a gray hoodie, and khaki shorts. Why was she dressed like that? Cassandra remained defensive as she gave her answer.

"I don't have to justify myself to you." She stated, Hammond yelling over her.

"Maybe you do." He lowered his voice slightly before continuing. "We were supposed to meet the men in those vehicles. What happened here?" Cassandra answered, irritation evident in her voice.

"Those men showed about a week ago. They cleared out the school and set up some kind of camp, but word got out that there was food- lots of it- from the bomb shelter. Yeah, it didn't take long, there was too many people. The soldiers shot some of the locals, and that brought the Z's. You can guess the rest." Before Hammond could put together any sort of response, Murphy spoke up, rushing over to his protector.

"What are we wasting time talking to her for? Give her the baby, and let's go." This didn't sit well with Garnett.

"We can't just give this girl the baby and leave." My leader stated.

"Well they can't come with us." Murphy snapped back. Hammond tried to respond, by saying 'listen', but Garnett interrupted him.

"No way am I leaving the baby, and her, behind. Not gonna happen." Garnett was glaring daggers at Murphy, who didn't seem to be affected, as he continued to piss my leader off.

"It's just a baby. It's not like he's gonna grow up to be a fine young man someday."