Layla Camdon's Story

The red sun was rising up over the rural skyline, casting pink and orange hues across the sky. Layla sat on her roof, legs pulled to her chest, eyes peering into the sky. The day the world decided to end had the most beautiful beginning. This was her favorite time, when everything was silent and still, like she was the last person left on this miserable planet.

“Layla?” Her dad’s voice danced into her ears. She turned and smiled at him as he took the last steps off the ladder and crawled towards her. “What are doing up here?” She smiled slightly and laid her head down on her knees.

“Talking to Mom,” She replied. Her dad reached over and put a muscular arm around her shoulder, pulling her close to him.

“Is this where you disappear to every morning?” He asked. She nodded and brushed one of her long, crimson ringlets behind her ear.

“At least before I go running. She waits for me here every morning,” She whispered. “Just like she always did.” Her dad hugged her tightly, as if he let go, she’s disappear too. Layla remembered sitting up here with her mother, watching the sunrise every morning before school. She’d call her little Beauty and hold her tight. This was their space and he’d invaded it.She managed to squirm her way out of his grasp and stand up. “I need to get going, Dad.”
“Are you ok, Layla?” He asked as she made her way to the ladder. She nodded and forced a smile. She loved him but his presence here was unwanted and she wanted to make that clear.

“I’m never ok, Dad,” She climbed partially down the ladder and then slid into her bedroom window. Quickly grabbing her ipod and slipping on her Nike’s she bounced down the stairs and out the door. She flipped the mp3 to a good song, then began to sprint. She ran until her muscles ached and her lungs burned. She ran until her body was on fire. The pain reminded her to never forget.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
“Oh you little-“ Layla screeched into her Xbox headset. She slammed the buttons on the controller as hard as she could, anger boiling through her. The angrier she got, the worse she did. Finally, she gave up and turned on the radio, throwing herself onto her bed. She closed her eyes and bobbed her head to the beat of the rock music, letting her mind wander. After a moment or two the music stopped abruptly and a woman’s voice came through the speakers.

“We interrupt for an important warning,” She said. Layla recognize her as the normal dj of this station. She was normally bubbly and spoke very quickly, but now she spoke like someone held a gun to her head. “The CDC has issued a severe warning. A deadly virus has gone airborne, infecting all those who it comes in contact with. An immediate evacuation of the area is mandatory.” Layla’s heart began to race. A virus? What kind of virus? What the hell happened? She turned up the stereo and continued to listen. “The following towns are exempt from the evacuation because of possible contamination. These towns will go on lockdown for the time being. The CDC will be in soon to run tests and try to get out any residents who are unaffected or immune to the disease.” The woman began to ramble towns, most of which Layla recognized. Her breath caught in her throat when she heard her town. “May God have mercy on you. Be safe and be strong.” The woman stopped talking, but the music did not return. Only silence echoed from the speakers now. Suddenly, a loud crash rang out through the house. Layla sprang to her feet and sprinted down the stairs.

“Dad?” She cried as she rounded the corner into the kitchen. Her father was lying on the floor, stomach clutched in his arms. “Daddy!” She ran and kneeled by his side. His skin was pale, the whites of his eyes were tinted yellow. She couldn’t tell if her was breathing. She began to panic. Was he having a heart attack? Oh god. Oh god. She grabbed his arm and pushed up his sleeve, trying to check his pulse. She winced. Small patches of his flesh were ripped open and bloody, skin hanging off by strands. She covered her mouth and backed away, eyes glued to her father. Could this be the disease? Was he infected? She reached into her pocket and grabbed her cell phone, dialing 911 as quickly as she could with her shaking hands.

“911 what is your emergency?” A woman answered. Layla took a deep breath and turned away from her father’s body.

“My dad,” She started. She was breathing too heavily to talk and calming down wasn’t an option. “He’s-he’s not breathing!”

“Ok, I need you to calm down, hun.” The woman said. “Are his eyes yellow?”

“Yes,” She said, “And he’s bleeding.”

“Are you feeling ill at all? Dizzy, nauseous? Are your eyes or skin itchy?” The operator rambled. Layla took a sharp breath. Did she think she was infected too? She ran to the mirror in the hall bathroom and stared at her eyes, they weren’t yellow. She took another long breath and walked back to the kitchen.
“No, I feel fine. Can you help him or not?” There was a long pause.

“What I need you to do it to get out of that house as quickly as you can. Those who become infected with the virus have a limited time before they lose all human brain functionality except the most basic needs. They become very violent and have been seen…” She stopped mid sentence.

“Seen what?” Layla asked. She never got her answer. She dropped the phone as a searing pain erupted through her arm. She turned to see her father’s teeth digging deep into her muscle. She screamed and panicked, grabbing the closest thing to her, which happened to be a knife and stabbed towards her father’s cheek. The knife ripped straight through the cheek and into his mouth. Blood starting spurting from the wound. He let go of her arm and began to shriek.

“Daddy, stop!” Layla screeched, shambling out of the room. She managed to half fall up the stairs and into her dad’s bedroom. She slammed door shut and locked it, hoping that would buy her enough time.

“Oh shit. What do I do? What do I do?” She cried, her head spinning. “Mom, what do I do?” Despite her vocal questioning she knew what had to be done. He wasn’t her father anymore. Her Dad would never have done that to her. She walked shakily over to the gun cabinet in the corner and pulled a small pistol off the rack. She sat on the bed, carefully loading bullets into that clip. She could hear what used to be her dad clawing and screaming behind the door. She turned off the safety, cocked the gun and walked to the door. She unlocked the handle and took a deep breath. She counted to 3, then swung open the door.

“I’m sorry, Daddy,” Bang. Blood and brain matter splatter all over the white wall behind him. His now lifeless corpse fell to the carpet, a pool of red forming beneath him. She stepped over the corpse and walked slowly towards her room. As she entered her bedroom, she bit her bottom lip. Everything was different now. The room that she'd called hers for so many nights now seemed so unfamiliar. Like it was the setting from a dream she'd had. A dream she could never have again. She picked a dirty tshirt off of the ground and wrapped it around her forearm. The adrenaline was finally starting to wear off, allowing the pain of the wound to peek through. She flipped the safety on and dropped the pistol on the bed, making her way to the window. She climbed up the ladder and took her perch on the roof, starring into the midday sky. Below her was complete chaos. Like a scene from the horror films she'd seen so many times. She pulled her knees into her chest and laid her chin to rest on them. Somehow, in an instant, her world had fallen apart. Not just hers. The entire world had fallen apart. And suddenly, just like she always feared, Layla Camdon was completely and utterly alone.

The radio started blasting into Lena's ear, waking her. Lena shot upright with a yelp, then realised that she wasn't in her own bed. Looking around, she had the oddest feeling that the place was familiar. Then it all came back to her.

Uncle Robert had died. Since she was the sole living relative, she'd inherited everything of his, including the massive house she'd spent her teen years in, getting beaten up and yelled at. The house held so many terrible memories for her, and she was very much inclined to sell it.

However, Jenna, the housekeeper, had nowhere else to go. She'd begged and begged Lena not to sell the house, and Lena, being Lena, had relented. She'd decided to just take what she wanted and leave the house to Jenna, who was delighted.

Suddenly, a warning came over the radio. "We interrupt for an important warning," a voice, tense and frightened, came over the air. "The CDC has issued a severe warning. A deadly virus has gone airborne, infecting all those who it comes in contact with. An immediate evacuation of the area is mandatory. The following towns are exempt from the evacuation because of possible contamination. These towns will go on lockdown for the time being. The CDC will be in soon to run tests and try to get out any residents who are unaffected or immune to the disease. May God have mercy on you. Be safe and be strong."

Lena gasped, her hands flying to her mouth. A virus? And Highgate is one of those towns! What am I to do? Suddenly, she remembered she was not alone in the house. "Jenna!"

Lena got up, having fallen asleep in her clothes from the day before, and scrambled to pull on a pair of sneakers, which she'd thrown aside carelessly the night before. She raced downstairs, grabbing some toast and stuffing it into her mouth. "Jenna? Jenna!" she called, searching for the housekeeper. "Oh, Jenna, where are you?!"

Suddenly, a thump sounded behind her. Lena whirled around. "Jenna?"

She screamed. A decaying body was slamming down the hallway, headed straight for Lena. Its appearance was truly terrifying, but there was no mistaking it - Jenna. The body reached for her and lurched forward, but Lena managed to duck. She whirled back around and ran. Behind, she could hear its footsteps thumping on the wooden floor.

Finally, Lena reached what she'd been looking for - Uncle Robert's guns. She reached for a pistol and fired, once, twice, thrice, until the body slumped to the ground, no longer moving. Lena stared at it, unable to comprehend what she'd just done. "Oh, Jenna, I'm so terribly sorry," she whispered sadly.

Lena stopped and thought for a minute. The best thing to do right now is to get out of here, she decided. Grabbing a large bag, she threw things she knew she would need inside; guns, food, a radio, all that necessary stuff. After she'd packed, she rushed outside. Thankfully, there weren't any more of the infected around.

Lena looked around, trying to find a way of transport. Just then, a truck came around the corner. Lena could see a red-haired girl behind the wheel. Hopefully, the girl would sympathise with Lena and help her. Waving her arms, Lena stepped into the road. "Hey! A little help here!"

With the gunshots from the shopfront and the sounds of a scuffle beyond the emergency door Natalie was left deliberating which one was the safer option. Gunshots probably meant a survivor, but in this type of environment panicked people with fire-power might not always be her friend. She thought of the dead cashier with a whole in his chest. The sounds outside could be a waiting hoard of infected or a stray cat; it was hard to tell through a good inch of door over the sound of gunfire.
“Stuff this!” Natalie growled, growing impatient with herself.
She leaned against the wall next to the storefront door and pulled it open without putting herself out in doorway. “Don’t shoot!” she called, then poked her head around the corner.
She observed the infected fallen in the aisles and just inside the entrance, more outside her truck and another. A red head girl picking her way over the bodies in the entrance looked up at her, a shotgun propped ready against her shoulder.
Natalie, having taken in the carnage, raised her eyebrows impressed, “Good job.”
A sound from the back drew both their attention.
“Oh, um, yeah… There’s an emergency door back there. And I don’t think that’s a cat. And despite possibly better judgement I’m going to go check it out and hope I don’t let another emergency in.”
Concluding her sudden bout of rambling Natalie ducked back into the office. With her crowbar held like a baseball bat Natalie leaned against the door, pressing on the metal bar across it that allowed it to open outwards.

Natalie's stomach growled as the pringles reminded her of all the meals she'd missed recently. She smiled at Jin's remarks, but the smile faltered as movement outside caught her eye. She looked past him and the red haired girl to the truck that had just pulled up rather suddenly out front.
A man dressed all in black stepped out with a phone to his ear. Seriously? It was open season on the unifected and he was deciding to take a stroll and chat? But hey! More survivors! Movement in the truck's cab suggested more than one. Even as she thought this a bruenette got out and stalked towards the gas station door in -where those frickin' stillettos!?
"Oh goody," Natalie said in a deadpan voice thick with sarcasm.

(OOC1: Just a heads up it's the wee hours of the morning for allimagination and I so we won't be posting again for a few hours yet so don't do too much without us. Also I don't wan't to post much more until pink's done an update)
(OOC2: Also, If I'm incorrect in the assumption that's your gas station's the same as our gas station let me know and I will renege this post)

Darcy screamed as she tried to stop the thing - it didn't even look human any longer - from biting her. But it was too strong and just when Darcy thought she was a goner a shot rung out and the thing slumped down on her.

Darcy pushed it away as fast as she could, breathing heavily. It's lifeless corpse fell back with a loud thud.

"Ew!" She said looking down at herself, her grey top was covered in blood. She pulled the top over her head and threw it on the floor. "So gross!"

Standing there in her black skin tight leggings, designer heels and a bright pink lace bra, Darcy posed pouting, popping her hip out at an angle and resting one hand on it; she looked up at a bunch of gobsmacked faces.

Huh? Darcy hadn't seen these people before when she walked in. They were awfully quiet. Coulda helped! She thought irritably. Marcus had come in and shot the thing straight through the head. She could kiss him right now! Tempting . . . but she'd make him work for it.

Lilith and her barking dog stood by his side. Utter terror written all over her pale face.

"Thanks." She said as casually as if she hadn't just been attacked by a weird ass creature "Anyone got a spare shirt?"

Marcus ran up right behind Lilith when she entered the gas station. He was a little surprised when he ran up to her and she was stopped dead in the doorway. He pushed her aside and saw a strange creature atop of Darcy. It had a human figure but nothing about it seemed human anymore. It's eyes had become covered by skin and it's jaw had dislocated and become three times the size of a normal humans. what the fuck was this thing? He didn't have time to question he just raised the rifle and pull the trigger. The round pierced the things skull and sent the top of it's head flying everywhere and then it dropped re-dead on the floor. Darcy stood up then stood up.

"Ew" then she stripped off her shirt into her pink bra. Damn, Marcus thought, this isn't such a bad day after all "Does someone have a spare shirt?" he noticed her looking over to the side and thats where he too saw some poeple. One was Asian American, and was dressed like a thug. the other was a red headed young women. Shit, he thought, this whole thing was about to get way out of hand. He looked back at Darcy's body and grinned to himself, its worth it though.

He forced himself to focus back on the survivors looked them over, checking for anything of an immediate threat then said "Who fuck are you two?" and I swear if any of you are bit I'm going to lose it, he thought.

"I am me and this is her," Jin said in response to the foul language and rudeness of the man in the black jacket. It didn't really matter to Jin whether he pissed this guy off or not. Jin didn't really take kindly to authority or bullies. The establishment needed an overhaul anyways. Granted this, he thought looking around, was not what he had in mind.

"You got a plan? Has anyone heard any news about what is happening here or what is being done fix this situation?" Jin's knife was by his side but his grip was tense. People were hard to trust in times like this. This guy seemed high strung and quite paranoid. Dangerous mix when put into stressful situations. Jin's knowledge of such people ended that. He dropped out of the psychology fairly early and changed his major to the Art.

"What does biting have to do with anything?", Jin said with a raised eyebrow looking at Natalie with a shake of the head and a shrug. He popped open the pringles containing and pulled teh seal off and reached in grabbign two chips and eating them at the same time.

He looked at the other people with the man.
'Pink lace,' he thought as the image was seered into his brain. 'Interesting group, but they don't seem particularly reliable,' his thoughts continued.

"At least you have wheels," he said as he offered Natalite some chips. " You going someplace in particular?" he asked as he reached in offering some to the high strung man and his group.

"Are you alright?" Lilith asked Darcy, as she poked the horrific thing with her sword.

"Yeah, I'm fine . . . thanks." Darcy answered hesitantly and slightly annoyed.

The others haden't even bother to help whilst she was being attacked by this freakin' creature! And Marcus? Marcus had just gone into Solider mode and started questioning the strangers, it seemed he didn't even care there was a half naked women in front of him! Yeah, that was annoying her the most. Besides the slight interest he had shown.

Lilith's dog was showing her more attention as he sniffed around her, she laughed genuinely for the first time since this whole mess started as the dogs slightly cold wet nose prodded her here and there. She ruffled his fur with a hand.

"I have some spare clothes in the truck," Lilith added thoughtfully, "But I doubt you'd want to wear any of them." Then she called towards Marcus. "Jake recons their clean, I'm going to grab some more food."

"As long as they're clean and not covered in Zombie gore, I'll wear anything." Darcy replied taken by the girls generosity, although Lilith clearly disliked her. "But first food sounds like a good idea."

Not caring she was half naked, Darcy grabbed a sandwich and a cool drink from the fridge and sat down on a chair behind the counter. Tired, she contemplated the day so far whilst eating and watching Marcus with interest as he delt with the strangers efficiently. Darcy studied him quietly as she ate. Marcus Foiler . . . The man held a lot of secrets, like that mysterious phone call; his name was only the tip of the iceberg . . . And she liked him . . . really like him . . . This could be a problem.

Her thoughts drifted away not wanting to deal with the enigma that was Marcus Foiler to Josh. He was still out there somewhere and as soon as Marcus found whoever he was looking for then he could help her because she knew he wouldn't let up until then. She just had to bide her time till then. Her brother could take care of himself . . . but for how much longer? Darcy shied away from the scary thought.

Looking across the counter Darcy noticed a small rack with packs of safety pins hanging from it. Perfect she thought as she snagged a pack. If the clothes Lilith had in the truck were as baggy as the one's the girl was wearing now then she'd need these. There was no way Darcy was going to walk around in a shirt that was probably actually made for a man and was XXXL and that looked liked it had eaten her up. Argh!

"At least you have wheels,". She heard the Asian kid say to Marcus as he offered him some food. " You going someplace in particular?"

Interesting . . . But it wouldn't do well for him if he kept antagonising Marcus, she'd had first class experience, remember?

"Look kid, I don't know who you are or where you came from but I didn't invite you to come with us in our 'wheels'." Freelancer studied the knife in his hand and a hundred different scenarios ran through his mind of what the kid could do it attack...each one ending with how Marcus could kill him. "Look if your useful I may let you come with us. I'm looking for somebody, a man named James Hill. You guys know him?" Freelancer asked as he saw a pack of Twinkies on a rack and grabbed them, then put them in his pocket. Before either of the two could answer Freelancer once again spoke directly to the Asian, he could tell he was Korean by his eye orientation and other small facial features. You spend enough time fighting shadow wars with China, North Korea, Vietnam and the rest of those Asian countries you got good at telling them apart. "Now put that knife down before you poke your eye out...Koreans with weapons make me nervous"

"Any lower and it would be on the ground, so no way. You are going to have to deal with it soldier man." Jin left the blade by his side still not relaxing his grip. The racist remark hung in Jin's mind. If the man was in fact was military, which was quite likely, Jin didn't stand on the same footing with this man. Not in any combat situation anyways.

Having a man like this was a double-edged sword. He showed little interest in the survivors around him. He would probably leave them behind he he.deemed it illogical. That was one reason Jin disliked government flunkies. They were just fucking cold robots.

"I didn't say I would go with you. I asked if you heard what's going on?"

This kid liked to play hard ball didn't he? Freelancer didn't like it, he was going to be a problem. It was obvious he wasn't going to give him what he wanted willingly so he turned to the red head and the other women beside her "How about you ladies? You know a James Hill?" completely ignoring the Asian.

"Who cares what the fuck is going on!? Can't you see with your own damn eyes, we're surrounded by freaking Zombies! All you need to worry about is getting the hell out of here." Darcy stated over the counter, annoyed at the kids defiance. She didn't have time for this bullshit. Josh didn't have time. "And this guy is probably you best option, so why don't you do as he says and put the knife down before he kicks your ass."

"Three. There are three of us," Natalie out to the rude man in black. "You know, that number that comes after two."
Though she supposed he could have been distracted by the infected, where had it come from? Buried under the pile left by the red-head probably. Or perhaps he was more distracted by the bruenette waltzing around in her lace underwear.
She munched on the pringles from Jin, not her favourite flavour but by this stage she wasn't about to complain. she had food in her bag but they were travel supplies, she'd grab a snadwich like Miss Shirtless in a moment. Meanwhile she had to adress this dude was such a racist arrogant jerk.
"Listen GI Joe, everyone here is fighting for their survival so we're not goin to put down our weapons just because your feeling insecure. Red over here had a shotgun for crying out loud. And both she and I have wheels of our own so not everyone's relying on your 'generosity'. And I don't know anyone in town. I only rolled in a couple of days ago. With any luck I'll be rolling out again soon."

Darcy smirks at the girls front and asked sarcastically, "You mean that piece of crap outside?" Referring to the girls car. She was surprised that thing hadn't fallen apart yet.

Natalie laughed, "Oh honey, it's like you think you're actually insulting me. It's my second car, bought on a fickin' student's salary. It runs, has aircon, and radio. It's only meant to get me from one side of the country to the other before I sell it again and fly home."
This bitch was hilarious, probably some pampered princess living on daddy's money. Natalie grabbed a sandwhich and hopped up onto the store counter to eat it, crossing her legs and placing the crowbar less than discretely next to her. She grinned like a cat with cream and raised her eyebrows challengingly at Sassy and Soldier.

Freelancer looked out the door and saw that a few zombies had crawled out from the woodwork and began wandering around the vehicles There were bound to be more of them soon, he had to make a decision now "Look I don't need you people I'm looking for somebody and your holding me up. Stay here or come with us I don't give a shit." Freelancer walked towards the door "Anybody who wants to live feel free to tag along." He looked at each survivor with cold emotionless eyes "Otherwise you can go off on your own and end up dead. And that I can guarantee you." He looked to Darcy, she was a beautiful women "I do hope some of you are smart enough to come with me." he gave one last look at Lilith and opened the door "Don't take too long, I don't have all day." he said before drawing his silenced pistol to take care of the infected that had stumbled into the street. Live or die it didn't matter what happened to them as long as Ghostfather was secure...well at least by the government standards, He thought of Lilith and Darcy. But maybe not his. Not anymore.

What was with all these self helping chicks, like they were the only ones that worked hard. She'd worked hard. Yeah. Just because she had money didn't mean she wasn't capable or hard labor, she was doing it right know.

Darcy looked up at the girl with a raised brow without commenting and then headed out the door right behind Marcus. It wasn't even a choice Darcy had to think about, she didn't care about anyone else.

Leon saw a distant glow at a gas station not that he needed to go there or anything but it looked like there were people. He didn't want to run straight up to them because they seemed to be arguing. He got back on his bike and wheeled a little closer and hid behind the buildings. Just creeping forward a tiny bit just to hear the conversations. His vision could clearly see now and it was fixed on a women in a .. bra? Leon rubbed his eyes making sure his vision didn't change. Yep, it was true the woman was in a bra. Wearing no shirt in a zombie apocolypse, did this woman know? Must be a crazy woman but by the looks of it seemed she was rich. All the times his mum took him along to bra shopping it was the worst but he did bother look at other girls in the store. They weren't in the lingerie but only certain women bought this kind of lingerie. He chuckled nervously at his thoughts and then moved on to the next person judging each one differently. They all seemed like different people, Leon realised how judgemental he was but they wouldn't know. He was all the way over here and there were over there.

He suddenly smelled a horrible smell, it just got gruesome. He was just about to creep closer when he felt a firm grip grab his shoulder he turned around and saw the yellow-eyed demon with its flesh hanging off of it. Leon would've made a gagging sound if he didn't scream in terror quickly retrieving his sword and sling the zombie straight down the middle. He kicked it in anger and stabbed its head making sure it was dead. He turned around and hid behind the wall again. Did they hear him? Did they see him?

"Shit, shit, shit! Good one Leon!" he muttered.

Jin sighed at the chaos unfurling. The girls were arguing and insulting each other.

"Why exactly are labeling them zombies? Is that why you are worried about bites government robot?" He asked but before getting an answer he heard something outside he maneuvered around the people and stepped out. He saw all the noise they were making in this quiet town was drawing more of these things.

"Anyone there?" he said loudly knowing it would attract attention but it might also get someone's attention. "We are at the gas station on Neyshire Ave." hollered. It was then that he looked at the robot again.

"Did you check the yellow pages for his house? Or google him if the internet is still working. Facebook?" He smirked as he added the last one"

"Anyone there" Darcy heard the Asian guy shout after she'd left with Marcus, as if they weren't attracting enough attention. "We are at the gas station on Neyshire Ave." he hollered.

Asshole.

She stopped a few yards behind Marcus, which was perfectly fine for her as she put on her tinted Gucci aviators and watched him take out half a dozen of those freaks of nature without so much as batting an eyelid.