1 Chapter 1

We sat around the campfire in eerie silence, nobody saying a word, almost as if the instant anyone said anything something bad would happen. Though im not sure it could get much worse than it already was. Im just about to clear my throat when I notice Arin and Tori standing apart from the group, whispering. What are they plotting now? Probably thinking of how to sneak away and go survive on their own. I can't blame them for wanting to, they've never really been fond of many people but themselves. still, I am a bit annoyed that they're being so secretive about it. it's not like anyone here could do much if they wanted to leave.

"Hey, what are you two whispering about over there?" I shout over to them. I don't exactly have the friendliest tone to my voice but I was getting a bit annoyed with them, what with all the antics they've pulled over the time I've known them.

Tori glances over her shoulder, clearly annoyed that I pulled her away from her conversation with her twin brother. "It's really none of your business." She replies. and quickly returns to chatting. We sit in silence for a while, nobody really knowing what to say.

"So, what are we gonna do now?" Mae asks after a while. she doesn't sound concerned like I expected her to, more just tired. Like she's sick of everything that's happened over the past year. I can see her pale silhouette slide down the log she had been sitting on just a moment ago, and tilt her head up towards the stars, which were just starting to peek out from the hazy blue curtain of sky up above. Her skin had an orange glow from the fire, which was just starting to burn out.

"I dont know." I say. Nothing seems like it really matters anymore. I thought we had made a new life, that we were safe. I knew I was stupid for thinking that. I just never thought it could turn out this badly.

"I guess we'll have to find somewhere to spend the night before it gets too dark, we're as good as dead just sitting here." Lucas sighs. I can tell he feels sick of it all too.

As we look for somewhere safe to sleep I let my mind wander to the first day of what would be the apocalypse.

I remember getting off the bus to see Mae waving her arms above her head, trying to get my attention. We walked down the hallway gossiping about boys, and how we still hadn't done the homework that was due tomorrow, and other things that teenage girls would usually be talking about. After stopping by our lockers to grab our things we went our separate ways to our first period classes.

Everything was fine until roughly twelve during an extra long biology class. We were just about halfway through when the announcement was made. The principal calmly told us there was an evacuation order and that we should stay put while they call our parents to come pick us up.

We had been waiting for about five minutes when someone walked in. He looked sickly and wasn't talking, just making slight groaning sounds. Our teacher asked him if he was ok and if he needed help. He looked her dead in the eyes and started towards her. Nobody had bothered to do anything until he had already started biting into her skin.

From the moment he walked in I knew something was wrong, I was a major fan of zombie movies so I automatically assumed the zombie apocalypse was happening. I told myself I was being irrational but apparently I was right. though I wasn't as happy as people usually are when they're right about something.

I rushed out the door within an instant. there was no use in trying to reason with him. he was already gone and so were the rest of my classmates, unless they were smart enough to get out of there while they still could.

I headed straight for the exit until I remembered Mae. it would be better to have another person with me, and I could use her survival skills. I remember thinking about the possibility that she might be dead. but I quickly shook the thought away and made a beeline for her classroom. 3B, it was up two flights of stairs from where I was but I still ran up them anyways. down the hallway, to the left. bodies littered the halls every turn.

When I was finally there I burst through the door only to find that she was nowhere in sight, everyone who was there was either dead or had run away. I scan the room more thoroughly and see her hiding behind the teachers desk. the cause of all this gore is kneeling over one of the bodies. I just barely recognize her as Layla, one of the girls in my art class. Half of her face has been torn to shreds, with her jawbone just peeking out through all the blood. Surprisingly the other side of her face is fine, exept for a little blood. I guess you do turn if you get bitten, or eaten.

Both Mae and formerly Layla have noticed me. Layla starts towards me and I motion for Mae to grab the fire extinguisher from its holster. I attract Layla to my location by waving my arms at her. Mae used the bottom of the fire extinguisher to slam down on her head. it was a bit of a mess, but we had both seen worse.

Mae runs over and hugs me, she starts to cry but I tell her we need to keep going. She nods and we both sprint through the corridor and back down the stairs, thinking that we had made it and that we were going to be alright.

We burst through the front doors only to see the same destruction that we had seen inside. I'm not fully sure what I expected, some sort of happy ending like in the movies. That we had made it through the worst and now things could back to normal. I was stupid for thinking that. Of course it's only going to get worse.

After that things get a little blurry. All I remember is that we were heading towards a small town nearby called Redfield. it had a fairly low population count so we were hoping the outbreak hadn't reached it yet. And that maybe there would be some other survivors that we could join. On our journey there we found Tori, Arin and Lucas. Apparently they were also headed to Redfield with the same hopes as us. When we made it there we found a group of thirty or so survivors, and we had been living with them up until today.

I was slightly more attached to everyone we lost here than the people we lost on the day of the outbreak. Afterall, we had all known what it's like to lose everything.