Ethan Park didn't ask permission.
He walked straight to the counter like the store belonged to him, like the world hadn't ended—like the rules were still the rules and all he needed was a clipboard and a plan.
Justin watched him go with a tight, careful stillness. It wasn't the movement that bothered him. It was the certainty in it. The way Ethan didn't glance around first, didn't check for shadows or listen for moans outside, didn't hesitate like everyone else did now.
Confidence was dangerous in the apocalypse. Sometimes it kept you alive. Sometimes it got you killed and took everyone with you.
Ethan leaned over the counter, rummaged through the junk with quick hands, and pulled out a dusty paper map of Savannah—one of those laminated tourist things you'd expect near a register. He flattened it with his palms and grabbed a marker like he'd been waiting to do this all morning.
"Everybody. Over here," Ethan said.
Not loud. But not polite either. Command voice. The kind of tone that assumed you'd obey before you realized you'd been ordered.
Justin's jaw clenched. He didn't move immediately. Neither did Mari. Renee and Marcus exchanged a look, then drifted over because honestly—what else did they have?
Dot followed slower on her cane, muttering under her breath, "Lord, we're drawing maps like it's a field trip."
Lila hovered at the edge, eyes darting toward the windows like she expected something to smash through them any second.
Kenzie stayed near the shelves with Barbie tucked close, watching Ethan like you watched a dog you weren't sure would bite.
Tally was the last to step forward—because she never rushed when other people were calling the shots. She came over slowly, chin lifted, daring anyone to tell her to hurry.
Ethan clicked the marker cap off with his teeth. "We're figuring out where we are. Then we're figuring out where we're going. That means I need everybody's last known location."
Justin finally stepped closer. Close enough to hear every word. Close enough to see the map clearly. Close enough to stop Ethan if he tried to turn this into some kind of takeover.
Mari came beside him without touching him. She didn't need to. Justin could feel her tension anyway.
Ethan pointed the marker at Renee. "You said Montgomery Cross Road."
Renee nodded, rubbing her knuckles like she'd forgotten they were split. "Off Montgomery Cross. Not far from the Publix."
Ethan made a quick circle on the map. "Okay. Marcus—Abercorn and White Bluff."
Marcus leaned in, eyes narrowed. "Near the intersection. Traffic locked up there. That's where I ditched the car."
Ethan marked it.
"Lila. Armstrong."
Lila swallowed. "Armstrong campus area. I… I don't know the streets. I just know the campus."
Ethan nodded once like that was fine and made a mark anyway. "Dot. Middleground Road, right?"
Dot's mouth twisted. "Middleground. Yes. And don't say it like it's some cute little neighborhood. Folks over there been acting like Savannah's too good for problems for years. Looks like the problem finally found us."
Ethan marked it. Then he tapped the marker against his palm and said, "My group was on the bridge."
Justin's focus sharpened. "Which bridge."
Ethan's eyes flicked to him. Not hostile. But assessing. "The bridge going toward the islands. We were trying to control movement. We held it for a few hours."
The phrase my group sat in the air like a badge. Like he wanted them to know: I've been in charge before.
"We got overrun," Ethan continued, voice flattening. "Crowd panic, then infected mixed in. We got separated in the chaos."
"How many?" Justin asked before he could stop himself.
Ethan shrugged once. "Enough."
That wasn't an answer. That was a man swallowing a memory he didn't want to relive in front of strangers.
Ethan turned his attention back to the map. "Now I need to know where you came from."
Justin didn't answer. He didn't want to give Ethan anything extra. Not yet.
Tally did it for him.
"We came from past Georgetown," she said, like she was proud of it. "The newer housing development. You know. The nice one."
Dot and Marcus both made the same little noise at the same time—half laugh, half oh that makes sense.
Marcus raised his eyebrows. "Georgetown."
Dot smirked. "Big money over there."
Tally straightened, taking it like a compliment. "Yeah. It's—" She glanced around, like she expected admiration. "It's not a bad area. My mom's a doctor."
Justin's stomach dropped.
Mari's face did something between disbelief and are you kidding me.
She lifted a hand in a silent "oh my God" gesture, fingers spread wide like she wanted to grab Tally's words out of the air and shove them back into her mouth.
Tally turned her head sharply. "What?"
Mari didn't even bother lowering her voice. "Tal. Stop talking."
Tally frowned. "What are you—"
Justin cut in fast, voice low and sharp. "Tally. Enough."
Tally's eyes narrowed. "Why? It's true."
Ethan looked up slowly, marker still in his hand, and Justin hated how quickly the man's face shifted—how his eyes sharpened at the mention of doctor, at the mention of money.
It wasn't greed exactly. It was calculation.
Justin remembered his dad's voice—Ellis's calm warning tone from a thousand conversations Justin had half listened to growing up.
Never tell people what you have when you don't know what they want.
Ethan didn't say anything about it. He just turned back to the map and started tracing with the marker along streets like he could see the city even without GPS.
"Georgetown… newer development… you'd likely have come down—" he traced, paused, then tapped near a cluster of streets. "You're on Apache Avenue. Or damn close."
Dot leaned in. "Apache, yeah. That makes sense if they're by the mall."
Marcus nodded. "We are near the mall. I can smell the smoke from those restaurants even now."
Justin felt something loosen and tighten at the same time.
They weren't lost anymore.
Which meant they were now responsible for every decision that came next.
Ethan capped the marker, then looked at Justin like it was his turn to report. "Where were you headed?"
Justin hesitated.
This wasn't just information. This was his sister's life. This was his family.
Mari's eyes flicked to him: careful, warning.
Kenzie was watching too—quiet, but alert. Not naive anymore.
Tally, meanwhile, crossed her arms like she expected Justin to say something heroic.
Justin exhaled through his nose. "Wilmington Island," he said finally. "After-care program."
Silence fell into place.
Dot's expression softened. "A child."
Justin swallowed. The word child felt too small for Ella Belle. Ella Belle was everything.
"My little sister," Justin said. "She's six."
Lila's hand flew to her mouth. Renee's eyes shut for a second like she couldn't handle another thing.
Ethan nodded once. "Wilmington Island isn't close from here."
"I know," Justin said. "We were trying to get there last night. Roads were blocked. We had to keep cutting around."
"Who's watching her?" Marcus asked.
Justin didn't answer fast enough. Because the answer was: nobody. Not in a way that mattered now.
"She was at a program," Justin said. "And when everything hit—" his throat tightened, "—she didn't make it home."
Mari stared at the floor. Her jaw trembled. Justin could see how hard she was holding herself together.
Ethan's gaze didn't soften. "And your father?"
Justin's eyes lifted. "Hunter Army Airfield. Works on base. Ellis Leesburg."
The name felt heavy leaving his mouth. Like a key.
Ethan's face changed. It was small—blink-and-you-miss-it—but Justin caught it.
Recognition.
Not of Ellis personally, maybe, but of the type of man that name represented. Base. Clearance. People who got information before the public did.
Justin pressed, because he needed to know. "You heard of him?"
Ethan's mouth tightened. "I've heard the name."
That wasn't reassuring. That was dangerous.
Justin forced himself to keep going. "If we're going anywhere with safety… base is the best shot."
Ethan nodded. "Agreed."
Tally's head snapped up. "Wait. What?"
Justin glanced at her. "We can drop Ethan and you off on base."
Tally stared at him like he'd slapped her. "Excuse me?"
Justin kept his voice even, because if he raised it, she'd explode. "Tally, you'd be safer with Dad."
"No," Tally said instantly. "No. I'm not leaving you."
"Mari and I are going for Ella Belle," Justin said. "That's the plan."
Tally's eyes went shiny. "You can't just—" She glanced at the others, then tried to shift it into anger. "That's stupid. You can't even get to her. You're just going to get killed."
Justin leaned closer so only she'd hear the edge in his voice. "And you think I'm going to stop looking for her?"
Tally's mouth opened, then closed. She looked away fast like she couldn't handle the truth of what she'd just implied.
Ethan cleared his throat, as if he wasn't interested in family drama. "Base has fences. Guns. Food. Water. Command structure. That's where we should all go."
Renee straightened, like she'd been waiting for someone to say something she could latch onto. "I need to get to my sister," she said. "Her name's Kimmie. She's pregnant. Complications. She's all I have."
Justin's head turned. "Where is she?"
"Near Oglethorpe Mall," Renee said quickly. "Not far. We can just—drop me off. I'm not asking for anything else."
Mari's eyes narrowed. "You really think it's safe to just walk into a neighborhood right now?"
Renee's mouth tightened. "I don't think anything is safe. But I'm not leaving my sister."
Justin held her gaze. He understood that kind of love. It was the same thing burning his lungs.
Renee added, voice turning bitter, "And her husband—Troy—he's an asshole. He'd be no help."
Justin forced himself back to logistics. "My Jeep can fit us," he said. "It's big enough if we pack tight."
Tally scoffed. "It cannot fit eleven people."
Justin didn't rise to it. "It can if we make it. Back seat, trunk area. We've got room. But we need gas."
The word gas landed like a new problem with teeth.
Ethan pointed at the map. "Nearest stations are—"
Marcus shook his head. "Those are death traps."
Dot muttered, "Every place with supplies is a death trap now."
Justin nodded. "We get one shot at it. One."
The room went quiet again.
Not because anyone wanted to argue.
Because everyone was thinking about loved ones.
Mothers. Sisters. Kids. People who could already be dead and they didn't even know.
Phones were useless. But people still tried.
Lila pulled hers out with shaking hands and stared at the dead screen like she could will it back to life. Marcus tried his twice, then shoved it in his pocket like it offended him. Renee's hands shook as she typed something into nothing.
Dot didn't even pull one out. She just closed her eyes like she was praying with them open.
Kenzie sat with Barbie and watched everyone unravel in small ways, and her own chest tightened—not because she was thinking about calling someone, but because she didn't have anyone to call anymore.
That grief sat in her like a stone.
And it made her watch Tally with a quiet, simmering hatred she didn't put words to.
Because Tally still had people.
And she still acted like she was the only one scared.