A small town in the midwest called Highgate

Etriah ran from one alley to another silently. Zombies where everywhere, tearing up shops, eating things. Her worst nightmare has just begun. Etriah was running to her mom's workplace. She didn't think that her mom turned into a zombie, but she was desperate. Slowly, she walked into the building. Everything was dead silent. Cautiously, she kept into the office where her mom worked in. All she saw was blood and ripped cloth. She inhaled sharply, trembling, and not trying to cry. Apparently, her mother turned into a zombie too.
Etriah was still in elementary school, she didn't really understand that the fact about the 'air born disease'. Slowly, she kept out of her mom's office. Tears filling up her eyes, she didn't know where to go anymore. She tripped on something, making a small thump sound. Something crashed behind her. Shocked she turned around, and she saw four zombies coming her way. Scared she picked herself up, and started running as fast as she can. Then, she heard another crash in front of her. Shaking really badly, she ran up the stairs. On the way up, she found a small cellphone. Quickly, she made a dive at it, and called 911.
"Hello?" She cried.
Nobody picked up. Etriah screamed at the phone. She ran up to top of the building, and looked down. The zombies where walking towards her moaning, and thirsting for food. Etriah trembled and climbed over the fence, ready to jump.
I would rather die from height than get eaten... Etriah thought. Then closing her eyes tightly, she jumped.

There he was, right there and now he was gone. It had all happened right then and right there. He could feel a tear fall from his eye and fell to the ground almost as if it was in slow motion. It had happened so fast and yet he could play it in his mind over and over again.

"No, Liam!"
"Leon! Look!"
" Liam, Watch out!"

Leon layed in bed eyes now wide and staring at the ceiling, he hadn't a good night sleep since a year ago. The moonlight shone at his light green eyes, making them sparkle as he looked at his necklace that had a picture of a child in it. He sighed and sat up holding the necklace in his hand. He groaned and walked to the bathroom removing his shirt, he turned his head looking to the mirror and saw his scar that ran across his back from his shoulder to his hip. He shook his head trying to make the flashbacks go away and removed the rest of his clothes and stepped in the shower turning it on almost instantly, he laid his head on the shower wall soaking in all his thoughts and emotions.

He hopped out of the shower, slipped his necklace and pants on looking in the mirror and ran his hand through his short, dark brown hair and styled it, smiling with satisfaction. He looked out the window noticing how long it took for him to have a shower, he laughed thinking how it would affect his parents but just shrugged it off.

"Leon Joseph Silver!" Rang a voice from downstairs which made Leon groan.
"What is it Mother?" He yelled, his voice sounding a bit hoarse.
"Leon!" Another scream came.
"Lauren Skye Silver, what do you want?" He replied, his british accent showing loudly.

He only got silence from his mother, shoving his head through the hole of his blue shirt he groaned, making his way downstairs. He scanned the room but all was still and all he heard was silence. Something was off and he could feel it deep down, he looked down to his necklace, kissing it. He crept down the last step and heard a sudden scream.

He ran to the scene and saw a figure on the floor, its flesh ripped open and a horrible smell filled the room. Leon held his arm over his mouth and nose and inspected the body, he rolled it over finding that the body had similar features to his mother. He slid against the floor to his knees and looked at the body in silence until he spoke.

"No, no, no Mother. Not you too..."
Just as the words left his mouth the bodies eyes opened. It was a bright yellow colour and shone really bright. Leon jumped back as his mother started to growl and nip at him. She got up slowly her arms reaching for him. He heard something drop behind him he looked back to his dad standing fairly close. The man swung his arm around, Leon quickly ducked and bolted to the corner. All that was going through his mind was "What the hell was going on?"

His mother and father almost sprinted towards him, Leon got a sudden shock and backhanded his father sending the body to the floor. He ducked his mother and poked his fathers body, his body suddenly growled and got up instantly. Leon's sad feeling shot out faster than a gunshot. He jumped up running to his room with his parents close behind him and shut the door. He could hear his parents banging on the door. The scratching against the door was s powerful it seemed as if they were ripping through the wood. Leon looked around the room and grabbed one of the many swords he bought off of a site and walked to the door slowly, he turned the knob and opened the door. Out came his parents sprinting towards them. He closed his eyes and swing the sword hearing a loud thump. Opening his eyes in terror he saw the sword in two pieces and his parents shaking their head.

"I knew this was rubbish when I bought it." He mumbled to himself
He looked towards the wall on his room where a whole collection of weapons were stored on shelves. He had always been a kind of nerd buying random weapons online but it was his guilty pleasure and he loved every one of them, except this one that hadn't saved his ass when he needed it to. He shook his head getting the thoughts out of his mind, his parents were still after him, except that they weren't his parents. Well not anymore. He grabbed another sword from the wall and felt the side.

"Arghh!"
Yep it was definitely real and bloody sharp! The blood ran from his finger down his arm to the floor, his parents going crazy he got into a fighting stance. Thank god he had taking fencing classes for no reason as he stabbed his father in the chest. But his father pushed against the sword still coming towards him, the sword went right through the man and he just kept pushing, trying to reach Leon. Leon, running out of ideas grabbed a small knife beside him and stabbed it's head making it slow down and eventually fall to the ground. Leon pulled out the sword and sliced his mother's head. He backed away shaking his head with grief...

Freelancer slammed the doors to the station and locked them tight. The zombies banged against the door, growling as they tried desperately to gain entrance. He backed up slowly and stroked his hair with a steady hand, Damn, it's like Somalia all over again. Except over there just wanted to drag me through the streets not eat me. He backed up and observed the police station, then he noticed the dead cops lying in a pool of his own blood

"Hmm, nice place you found here." Freelancer said as he continued to look around "They have an armory in this place don't they?" he asked as he drew his Kabar from his belt and dug it deep into the cops skull, then into the women's just to make sure they were down for the count.

Lilith answered "I think.". He retrieved the cops gun and magazines and handed it too Lilith "You know how to use this?" he asked, and she answered.

"Okay looks like you have the keys, I'm going to look for an armory or something we are going to need it." He then began to search the department, singing "Somewhere beyond the sea" to himself, making sure to clear every room as if he were back in a war zone. You never knew what you could find when you turned a corner.

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!"

Lilith nodded, accepting the gun. She'd find a holster somewhere, this placed be full of stuff like that. She allowed Marcus to go in search of the armoury, despite being fairly certain she knew where it was. She had something else she wanted to look at. Slipping through the building, on the alert for any movement she headed towards the kennels. She might not be willing to risk her life for the animals, but she wasn't going to let them starve to death either. If they were infected she'd shoot them or leave them and if they weren't she'd let them out.

She wandered down the hall, surprised she couldn't hear any whining or barking. Walking into the room though she could saw blood splattered walls and pacing dogs. They all looked restless and uncomfortable but paused when she walked in. Still not making much noise apart from quiet yips to get her attention some of them moved towards the door of their cage and others just kept pacing. They all looked healthy enough, but she could hear muted growling coming from one of them.

She began unlocking the kennels, opening the door and letting each dog take off as she did so. They all looked healthy until she came to the second last one. Pauli hadn't been a well dog, he used to be but he was getting old and had adopted a tendency to get ill. He'd definitely gotten ill now. He leapt at the bars of the cage snapping and growling ferociously at Lilith. The dog in the cage next to him edged forward slight, growling, but Lilith had already reacted. The shock of the jump had her drawing the gun and she didn't show any hesitation in firing it.

The first thing that'd jumped to her mind when she saw the dog had been 'rabies'. She doubted that was it with the new virus going around-plus she doubted rabies caused the minor deformities the dog seemed to have picked up, it was sickening-but she'd still reacted to the situation as though it was an animal with rabies. Put it down and don't let it near you. Breathing heavily she moved onto the final cage. The dog whined and moved towards her, sniffing cautiously.

"It's ok Jake," she assured the dog, unlocking the door and allowing him to tentatively sniff at her. When she'd realised that they were going to give the dog away because he was meeting par she'd offered to take over his training as part of her own. She'd named him Jake, partially as a joke at her friend and partially because it was the first name she could think of.

"C'mon, we've got to see if Marcus has found the armoury," she said, petting the dog. Police dogs were very loyal to their trainers, and she wasn't about to leave him on his own. The German Shepard followed her from the room as she made her way towards where she believed the armoury to be. Lilith noted vaguely that her stomach hurt a bit. What was that about? Had she swallowed some of the zombie blood? She thought she'd spit most of it out but now she wasn't sure. She didn't have a clue about medical stuff, but the virus was airborne, she wouldn't get it from swallowing a small amount of blood, would she? The people in the zombie games never seemed to ingest blood. Lucky bastards.

She reached the door to the armoury, and promptly threw up. Little flecks of blood dotted the vomit. Lilith groaned, "Charming." Well, at least her stomach hurt a bit less.

"This is such bullshit." Freelancer complained as he searched the ID's of the dead prisoners "Where the fuck is this guy." he slammed the door to the locker and continued to snoop around. He didn't have a problem with doing his duty but they always gave him the jacked up missions "Oh go to Afghanistan and walk around the desert, Go to Somalia and kill General Al-muha while he is in the middle of five thousand supporters, it won't be that hard. Oh now go to a fucking zombie infested town to look for some asshole." he complained to himself as he strode his way over to a set of computers on a long desk. Now he had this girl with him that he wasn't entirely sure wasn't going to stab him in the back, literally. He pulled his PDA device and plugged it into the computer's USB port. In a few seconds the PDA had cracked the passwords and broke into the police database. He typed in the name of the man he was looking for, and presto one entry came up for the city of Highgate.
"One count of public drunkenness three years ago. Damn never known you as one to drink old friend." Freelancer printed off the page and stuck it in his pocket, then he went back to find Lilith.

As he walked he heard a gunshot ring out through the halls "Lilith!?" he called as he raised his rifle and started towards the sound of the gunshot. He found a back room where a dead dog lay with a bullet hole clean through its head "Seriously? A caged dog?" Freelancer lowered his rifle and shook his head "Oh God this girl is going to drive me insane I can already tell." He continued to search the station for Lilith and found her in a small room containing the armory. She was messing with some stuff inside when Freelancer walked up and the German Shepard began to growl "Huh, I see you found dinner." he said, talking about the dog.

Lilith said something and came out to met the man she knew as Marcus and the dog calmed down. That's when, for the first time since they met, he noticed her bandaged arm. He took note of the vomit on the floor and saw the blood inside it. Oh shit, he thought, don't tell me she got bit. He decided to not say or do anything for now but took good note to watch Lilith from now on

"You know that special someone I was looking for? Well here he is do you know him? and whats the deal with koojo over here?" Freelancer asked as he handed the paper to Lilith and she read the name at the top of the page

James Hill

James Hill. The name rung a vague bell. She might even know where he lived. Whether or not he was still there was another story. Thoughtfully she tucked the pistol into her newly claimed holster. She'd also picked up a few other things, not that the police station of a small town would be overly armed, but she'd put a fair bit of spare ammo into her duffel bag and picked up a rifle, though she was still favouring her swords.
She felt better now. She assumed the slight sickness she'd felt had something to do with the zombie blood being toxic, even if it didn't change her. The continued nausea would just be blamed on the fact that she'd gotten zombie blood all over her person and in her mouth! So gross! She wasn't mentioning this to Marcus though, he was kind of creepy.
"Yeah," she replied, nodding at the paper, "I think I know where he lives. Also the dog's name is Jake, he's mine and I'm keeping him but he's well trained so he shouldn't attack you and I think they already figured out that the zombies are bad news. The dogs here were all very intelligent. Anyway, you wanted the armoury, help yourself."
She gestured into the little room full of weapons, leaning herself against the wall. As Marcus walked past, though, she grabbed his arm, remembering something.
"Look, I'm with you all the way, so long as I get to stay alive," She said firmly, even though she was fairly certain if he wanted to the 'National Security Agent' could end her fairly easily, "But you threaten my dog again, even jokingly, and I'm out of here. No offence to you personally, but he means more to me than you do."
As though to affirm her point Jake gave a little huff and shuffled closer to her, eyeing Marcus. Lilith let him go and stepped away from the room slightly, tapping her blade on her shoulder as she moved to make sure nothing snuck up on them.

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.

The top of her convertible had to come up as soon as she'd entered the town center; the place was crawling with these freaks of nature. Darcy had sped up driving way faster than the 30mph restriction. The Zombies were hitting her car like crazy! The bastards were going to scratch it all up.

Now, she'd stopped outside the Town Hall where her fathers office was on the second floor. Her Porsche was surrounded by green/yellow skinned monsters that were bleeding every which way and they were rattling her car.

“Calm down. You can do this.” She reassured herself as she filled the small pockets of her leather jacket up with all the ammo for the .45 she could fit in there.

Then she put her backpack on which was not easy to do in the confines of the car. Having both straps over each shoulder made her feel like a dork. Yet better a dork than dead, right?

Alright, it was time to go. Darcy took in a deep breath and pressed the release button for the convertible. The moans outside intensified as the roof of the car started to move back and Darcy had jumped up onto her seat and ran across the back of the car. Jumping over the still declining roof onto the boot of the car and then jumped to the ground. Having no time to look back, she ran across the paved path to the entrance of the old town hall. The Zombies were fast and right on her tail. She could hear them groan and hiss at her in exasperation as they came after her. Lucky she was used to running in heels.

The entrance of the Town Hall consisted of electronic rotating doors. As soon as Darcy came through she jammed one side with the fire extinguisher automatically causing the doors from rotating. The beeping warning from the door was overcome by the horrifying sound of flesh crashing into glass and soon enough Darcy couldn't see anything except Zombie flesh plastered to glass. They looked like wriggling worms in a glass box.

Darcy breathed a sigh of relief. She didn't care what they did as long as they were on the outside. She turned around and looked around the foyer of the Town Hall. The lights were low. Paper and blood were strewn everywhere. The semicircular receptionist desk where the three old biddies – as Darcy used to call them – Mildred, Betty and Edith used to sit was empty.

The Town Hall in it's self wasn't a huge building. It wouldn't take her long to find Josh and get the hell out of this hell hole. There were three rooms upstairs one of which was her fathers office and the great hall, where Town meetings were held straight across from her behind the desk. Darcy checked there first. It was dark and empty as it was most of the time when it wasn't in use. She'd doubted Josh was there but looked anyway.

Taking the spiral staircase, gun held out in front, Darcy climbed slowly upstairs. Heels thudding lowly. A chill ran down her spine. She headed for her fathers office first. Josh had to be there. The door was partially open. Darcy stepped inside slowly. Her breath caught in her chest.

“Daddy . . .” the word barely a whisper on her lips.

Her father swirled around like a bolt of lightening and made a menacing sound. He looked nothing like her once jovial father. His skin falling off bloody eyes and lips, suit tattered, a letter opener sticking out of his chest. . . and he was coming right at her. Darcy didn't hesitate and popped straight through the skull. Stopping suddenly, her father fell to his knees and then straight down on his face. A pool of blood accumulating like a crimson halo around his head.

Darcy stumbled back a little. She couldn't think about what she'd just done. Josh! . . . She needed to find Josh. Frantically scanning the room with her eyes; there was no sign of Josh and nowhere in here he could hide. Taking the key from the door Darcy closed it and then locked it from the outside. She didn't want one of those bloody creatures feasting on her fathers flesh if they managed to get inside.

“Okay, concentrate Darcy!”

She had two more rooms to search. Josh had to be in one of them. She checked the room to the left first. Nothing. Just more strewn papers, files and blood.

Come on Josh! Where are you?

Entering the room to the right, Darcy almost ran to the window. There on the carpet lay Josh's phone. She picked it up and looked around.

“Josh! You here? Joshua? Where are you?!”

No response and nowhere to hide. Josh wasn't here. He couldn't have possibly left could he? Darcy looked out the window contemplating her next move. She wouldn't leave town without her brother. Just because he wasn't here didn't mean he wasn't alive. Josh could take care of himself and she would find him. He couldn't have gotten fare.

Looking down on the street below, Darcy could see her car was a no go. Ten or twelve Zombies still surrounded it and the rest weren't that far either below at the entrance to the Town Hall. She'd have to come back to her car later. For now she had to go by foot.

Slipping her brothers phone into her pack, Darcy headed down and back through the great hall to the back door she knew was there. She slipped out into the open air. The crisp air soothed her nerves and there were no Zombies in sight.

Where to now?

To the right lay the shopping district of the small town. That had to be crawling with these creatures. To the left was the HGPD. The police department seemed the sensible choice. It wasn't like the Police in High Gate were any good, what with the crime rate at a near 0%. Those fat cats had nothing to do except sit around and eat doughnuts or on the odd occasion to go shut down teen parties when their parents weren't around. Darcy had had plenty of experience with the latter in her teenage years.

So the station it was. Maybe those good for nothing cops might be able to help her find Josh or maybe Josh was even there. And as luck would have it, Darcy thought with a coy smile, she didn't have to use the front entrance there either. This alleyway led straight to the back entrance to the HGPD.

No Zombies! Score!

Two minutes later, Darcy slowly opened the back door to the HGPD and stepped inside. She'd come this way many times with her dad as a child. The back door led to a room that was a kennel that housed the Police dogs. It was lit. A stomach retching stink filled the air. Darcy located the stench to a dead dog locked in one of the kennels. It was a ill looking, eerily similar to those things outside. Thank God it was locked inside. The other kennels were empty.

Darcy walked across the room as quickly as humanly possible and out the door opposite. She stopped a moment to get her bearing. Gun held out in front. She heard some muffled shuffling sounds.

Fuck! More Zombies.

Jin stood over the body panting as the emergency door opened up and there stood a young woman high teens low twenties. She was shorter than him and she had slim waist but soft and curvy body. She had a fading tan, was lightly freckled, with long dusty blonde hair and grey-blue eyes. She's was dressed casually with faded jeans and tank top and a collared shirt over it.

His eyes then took note of the crowbar.

"Whoa! Whoa whoa whoa. Hold on there, good looking," he said lifting his bloody hand and knife, "I just came to help, and apparently ... you are ok and in no need of it." He lowered his hands and his bloody carving knife. "Names Jin. Crazy day, huh?" He said as he stepped away from the dead body listening for groans and moans
"Okay, so if you aren't going to hit me with that, could you put it down?" he said his eyes travelling from the girls face to the crowbar. "So, What's your name?" He asked as he moved closer to her and nudged her back inside. "I saw your truck, Do you have anything important inside?"

Natalie didn't know exactly what she'd been expecting. Some of the infected wandering about perhaps. But the guy in a baggy sweater with spikey black hair and was certainly a far more pleasant sight, even with all the blood and an artist's knife. A tool she recognised from her own work.
She stood in the doorway for a moment, with the crowbar still at the ready, distracted by the sight. Apparently it made him uneasy. But not so uneasy as to prevent a compliment. She smirked and lowered the crowbar, letting it hang in one hand by her side. She was beginning to like the weight of it in her hand.
"My knight in shining armour, huh? Or a sweater anyway," she laughed. "My name's Natalie."
Jin came forward moving them back inside. He was taller then her, though most people were, and she was left sort of staring at his chest.
"And uh... the truck..." she stammered for a moment before regaining her cool. "Oh, it just has my travel bag in it. Until recently I was on a roadtrip, but yeah... crazy day. That was kinda impressive," she added, tilting her head to indicate the dispatched behemoth he had left behind. She frowned then, looking at the dark alley, and reached around him to close the door, lest something decided to sneak in behind them. She looked back at Jin. "Yeah... Speaking of which, come and meet company with me." She smiled rocking back on her feet and thumbed over her sholder in the direction of the storefront.

"I wasn't threatening your dog little lady, I was just making an observation that one day he may become dinner." Freelancer joked as he finished reloading the last 223 round into his mag and filled his pockets and backpacks with the rest of the boxes. He then walked out and looked Lilith straight in the eye, "And as far as I'm concerned you need me a lot more then I need you." He then patted her on the head patronizingly "So don't get your pretty little head to steamed." Lilith let air seep past her lips in a 'screw you' like manner and made some smart ass remark.

Freelancer just chuckled and started to walk out of the door when Jake began growling at the back of the department where the door to the kennel area was. Freelancer stopped dead in his tracks and held up a hand signaling Lilith to stop. He turned and made a quiet gesture and signaled Lilith to take hold of Jake as he secured his rifle to his body and drew his silenced pistol. He ducked down and crept along the wall in the shadows up to the side of the "kennel door". He could here someone coming, they were light footsteps but they were in quicker concession then those of the undead. It must be a survivor, the next question was was he or she friendly? He waited as still as a statue in the shadows next to the door as the foot steps got closer and closer, his heart was beating and adrenaline started flowing into his veins. He saw the shadow first, still trying to decide if it was a threat or not. Then he saw the hands holding the gun and the decision was over.

Freelancer reached out as fast as a mouse trap that had been set off and grabbed the slide of the gun. He pulled the person forward before titling the gun forward and the turning it violently to the right. There was a blood curdling crack as the persons index finger broke inside the trigger guard, then a short scream before the figure took Freelancer's elbow straight to the side of the face. All of this happened in an instant, and before the figure knew what happened she was on the ground with the silenced muzzle of Freelancers gun to her temple.

"Move, and you die right fucking here"

Darcy screamed and curled up in agony as she'd ended up on the floor faster then she cared to think about. Luckily she had moved her face with the direction of the incoming elbow but it still hurt like a mother but at least it wouldn't swell up.

"Move, and you die right fucking here.”

Darcy looked up into a handsome face. The gun pointed at her temple just made her madder though and before the guy knew it Darcy had hooked her foot under his booted feet and he was on the ground next to her.

“That,” Darcy said with a smirk as she nursed her finger “was for breaking my finger asshole.”

Jin took in the the young woman's frame. She would make a good model. At least he would he paint her. He liked the twisted scene with the crowbar now that she was more relaxed and he wasn't going to find his head on the other end of it

"I'll be your knight if you wish, Natalie. But I don't think armor will help much in this situation," he smirked as he sniffed the air of the store. He was feeling hungry again.

He stepped pass Natalie ,and looked around the store as he made his way to the front. His hunger hit harder as he was about to look for one of those Pringle Cool Ranch tubes,

"So where is this comp-" he started to say as he looked out the front door. "Ah, okay then. There it is." He looked back to Natalie. "I guess she is as trustworthy as me, right?" He stepped over the bodies on the ground getting closer to the window. He gripped his knife out of reflex given the current situation.

"Shall we?" he said as if they were going to prom or something. Jin had a weird mechanism where he tried to look at problems with a sarcastic light.

It only took two minutes after repairing the phone for Leo's stomach to remind him that he was hungry.
He didnt really feel like eating what was in the fridge, mostly because there was just a few pieces of lettuce, two tomato's, and a green pepper, and Leo wasnt in the mood for making a salad.
Walking downstairs, Leo glanced at the front door that looked like it was ready to bust open at any second.
Leo chuckled to himself, I bet they dont even have brains anymore, He thought, a grin on his face, Its to stupid to realize it can turn the door handle or enter through the window!
Putting his headphones back over his ears, Leo turn on his iPod and listened to music as he chose a blueberry muffin from the shelf under the counter, and began to eat.

Once he was finished, Leo became aware that the clawing at the door had stopped, and was replaced by and eerie silence.
Frowning, Leo remembered a scene from a horror movie he had watched where the girl thought she was safe, then at the last second the killer jumped out at her.
However, even though he knew it was a bad idea, Leo ignored his conscience and walked up to the door anyway, unlocked it, then slowly opened it.
He wanted to make sure that the zombie-or whatever it was- was really gone or not, and that turned out to be one of the stupidest things Leo had ever done.
A rotting pale yellow hand grabbed his arm and pulled him outside, when Leo saw the zombie's face, his mind froze for the second time that day.
What the hell was he supposed to do now?
Its face -mostly its mouth...- was covered in blood, and its eyes were still yellow, but for some reason looked even more horrifying than last time. The thing launched its teeth into Leo's arm, and Leo stumbled backwards when he saw blood begin to seep out of his skin.
"Let go!" He shouted, then cringed when he his brain came to realize that having something dig their teeth into his arm actually hurt, "Stop it!"

He didnt have any weapons... heck, he didnt have anything that would be useful at the moment, so Leo did the first thing that came to mind, he used his free hand to punch the thing in the face.
This action resulted in a huge wave of pain, since as the zombies head moved backward but didnt release its grip on Leo.
Biting his lip, Leo held back a scream, then started to pry the zombie's mouth off of his arm.
When that was done, Leo didnt have a second thought about making a run for it, and immediately bolted down the street.
As he ran, he zipped off his hoodie and tied it around his bloody arm. It wouldnt work as well as an actual bandage or medicine, but it would have to do for now.

When Etriah fell off the building, she somehow landed on something soft. Etriah didn't know what it was, but she quickly slip off of it, and ran away from the building. She ran down the alleyways and ran to her house. Her streets were dead silent. Etriah looked around with tears in her eyes and quickly went in her house. She ran to her room to grab her teddy bear, and her sewing kit.
She needed to get a weapon. Etriah didn't know what the zombies were afraid of; or if they WERE afraid of anything. Etriah took a huge pair of scissors, and decided to go and search for food.
She sighed, and slowly opened the door and looked around.

That's what he was talking about, a women who could kick his ass. He liked that. He rolled over onto his stomach then got up and kicked her gun into the far corner of the room and pointed his on gun at the women. She wasn't bad looking at all, in fact she was better looking then Misty was, before and after he shot her in the head.

"Not bad, especially for a women." He checked her out, scanning over her body lean body "Now just don't move please." he said as he walked over and forced her onto her stomach. He patted her down for weapons, savoring the feeling of her body, then backed off and put his pistol to his side after he thrown the rest of her weapons to the far side of the room "You can stand up now." he said calmly and the women did. He could tell she wouldn't be much of a threat, at least not a big enough one for him to worry about.

"Sorry bout your ah finger there, can't be too careful." He said and the women made some remark.

"Lilith you can come out here now!" Freelancer called to his companion, he then looked at the women with friendly smile like he hadn't just broken one of her bones "So whats your name?"

James had only been asleep for a couple hours when he heard a faint yell echo into his room. His eyes broke open and he tossed his blankets to the side, in a rush he jumped out of bed and got to his window. He peered up and down the empty street, nothing. James decided to look once more and this time he could see a figure running down towards his house. This figure was small, it could almost be a child. ON its arm was some sort of device or clothing, James was not sure. All he could grasp was that it might be a survivor. It could be someone like him.

With this in mind James drew open his blinds and window and turned on his light. The light from his window penetrated the darkness that enveloped the street. Going even further James grabbed a flashlight off his desk and turned it on, aiming it onto the person who was running down the street. When the figure got closer he yelled.

"Hey, survivor! Up here." James was shaking the light so it would be easier seen.

She let the Jeep pull to a stop in front of her ho- no, it was not a home anymore. It was the newest addition to places she lived, but it had never been a home.

"Home is where your heart is, and your heart was never here." She reminded herself as she tucked the keys into her pocket and grabbed the bat.

Luckily, the trek into the house wasn't too bad. She'd only had to take out one zombie, and even it was easy to take down. Her worry was mainly seeing Chase. She didn't want to hurt him. He was her only sibling and it had been her duty to take care of him, though she had obviously done a terrible job at doing so. Pushing the front door back with a soft squeak, she held her breath and sprinted once more to her room. It was still as she'd left it many many hours earlier. She shut and locked the door behind her as quietly as she could and began to rummage through her closet for the duffel bag she used for track meets. She found it stored in a backpack which she also decided to grab.

Filling the backpack with as many "necessities" as she could find in her room, such as deodorant, body spray, brushes, combs, even travel sized tooth paste, with a small toothbrush attached to it, went into the bag. On top of that, she stored clothing to match all weather, as well as two pairs of tennis shoes. Her heart begged her to bring her laptop, so she threw it in the bag and added chargers for it, her phone, and her iPod. She strapped the lumpy bag onto her back and cautiously opened the door to her room. The outside world was silent. Reighlan had never been much of a food freak. Her mild anorexia caused food to be a thing followed by hatred, but as she entered the kitchen, her heart melted with joy. She began tossing cans into the duffle bag. Nonperishables, bottles of water, packets to give the water flavor. She even added a bag of apples for the car ride, as well as for her pure enjoyment. When they got rotten, she and her father would take them out back and he would pitch them to her and she would send them soaring into the wide expanse. The thought caused tears to momentarily blind her, but even through the tears, she didn't miss the figure standing in the doorway of the kitchen.

"C-Chase?" She choked, feeling her knees go weak.

In response to her words, the zombie lunged at her, shrieking like a maniac. Reighlan fumbled with the bat and swung as her little brother got just close enough to take a decent sized bite out of her arm. She held back the urge to scream and continued to let mad swings fly through the air. She gave up on aim and just let the frustration soar through her fingertips.

As she stopped and looked at the mess, she fell to the ground, tears now falling freely. "I couldn't protect you, baby brother. I tried so hard." She took a deep breath and finished stocking her bag, then walked to the car, still crying steadily. She dug the keys out of her pocket and started the bloody car, tossing her supplies into the passenger seat. She drove with her headphones in, listening to a playlist of sad love songs that made her feel insecure and alone.

"Hey, survivor! Up here."

Leo stopped running, who had said that? Looking around, he spotted a bright light shining out of a window, holding it was a man with a face that Leo didnt recognize.
A faint smile forced its way onto his face, maybe this person was willing to help him?
"Um..." Leo mumbled, unable to think of anything to say, "Hi?" He called, tilting his head upwards so he could see the man.
He didnt know whether the person wanted Leo to come inside the building, where it was most likely alot safer than outside, or if he simply wanted to let Leo know that not everyone was dead.
His hoodie was beginning to come loose, and even if it had stayed in place Leo was sure that it wouldnt be much help seeing that for the most part it was drenched in blood.
Leo wondered whether the man had any medical supplies, and if he did, would he let Leo use it?
Whatever the answer to that was, Leo didnt really care, because he was already searching for the door to the building, which was rather hard for him due to not having very good eyesight in the dark.

Darcy lay there boiling with quiet indignation as the guy felt her up - she had a strong feeling he was enjoying this - removing her backpack and the kitchen knife in her boot, not bothering with the bullets in her pocket she guessed because they were no good without a gun; then let her up onto her feet. Seriously, if this guy turned into a Zombie, she was going to enjoy shooting him.

"Sorry bout your ah finger there, can't be too careful." He said as if he hadn't just broken her finger.

“Jerk.” Darcy grumbled.

She peered in the corner where her weapons lay. Too damn far away. She wished now it was Zombies instead of people she stumbled upon. Darcy examined her finger again, it wasn't as badly damaged as she'd first thought, in fact it wasn't broken at all.

"Lilith you can come out here now!" Called out the guy and asked with a sexy smile that was getting on Darcy's nerves “So what's your name?”

She turned away from the uninteresting girl and walked across furiously to the tall, dark imposing guy getting right up in his space.

“What's my name!?” Darcy spat mad as hell as she poked him in the chest with the index finger of her good hand for every point she made “Why don't you ask a girl that before you attack her. Or is that the only way you can get close enough to a women.” She stopped suddenly and looked up at him askew; he really was good looking . . . His lips curved irresistibly up at the left corner as if he knew what she was thinking. Realizing she was still touching him, Darcy pulled away and reminded herself firmly, that this was the guy who had attacked her. “You're damn lucky,” She added for good measure “that it isn't broken or I'd be suing your ass right now!”

Darcy scowled at the guy, there was something about him . . . he was messing with her brain. Turning so she wasn't focusing on him; her attention was directed towards the gangly looking tall red haired girl, no more than seventeen or eighteen years of age who'd appeared around the corner a moment earlier. The girl was as thin as a wreath, Darcy mused, and needed to fill out more or it could be those hideously baggy clothes she was wearing. A huge German Shepard was loyally at her side. Must be out of the kennel guessed Darcy.

"You kidnap children, as well as wailing on girls?" Darcy smirked and asked the guy.

Walking away, looking down at her dislocated finger, man this was going to hurt. Darcy took in a quick deep breath and then without a seconds thought, agonisingly pulled and righted her injured finger. She half bent over hissing in pain, refusing to scream out loud at the aching sensation.

“Fuck!”

But that hurt like a mother.

The survivor was indeed a child, or a teenager, James still could not tell.

"Hi?" said the young boy as he looked around the front of the house.

"Here, come in.." James then disappeared from the window for a few seconds. Once he returned he opened up the window and tossed down a rope ladder, kind of like the ones in the old adventure movies. "Can you climb?" James asked the young lad. To James this was exciting, there were other people who were not affected by the virus. Perhaps they would find more, make plans and look for a way out of this hell-hole. But James was getting ahead of himself, the boy looked hurt, and James needed him to be well and alive if they were to get anymore help.

The ladder cascaded down the side of the house, landing right at the base. James held onto the top of the ladder tightly, this would allow the boy to climb in. The doors rendered useless now since James barricaded them. He hoped the zombies, or whatever they were would not be so smart as to use a ladder to climb 20ft up into a window.

Leo studied the ladder, then looked at his arm, and uneasy feeling came over him.
"Uh, yeah..." He replied, narrowing his eyes and grabbing the ladder with his good hand and began to pull himself up, there was no way he was going to let this guy think he wasnt capable of doing something as easy as climbing.
However, Leo found it difficult, since his left arm was basically useless since the zombie had torn into it like it was food, and every time he dared to move it it began to bleed again.
Leo growled something under his breath, frustrated because this was taking so long and he was only halfway up the ladder.
I hate this... Leo decided, then managed to get his left arm to move so his hand could grab the ladder and use it to climb.
He reached the top and was sure that his facial expression looked pissed off, "Thanks," He said through gritted teeth as he scrambled through the window.

James held tightly onto the ladder, using his strength to hold up the kids weight. Lucky it was not a bigger person thought James as the kid neared the top. After one more struggle the kid climbed in and flopped to the ground. "Thanks," said the boy.

James brushed off his hands after pulling up the ladder and placing it on the floor. "I'm James, sorry about the door, i have it...barricaded." James then inspected the kid, the sweater he had was covered in blood. As James looked closer he saw a wound on the boy's arm. "What happened?" James asked as he shut the window and pulled down the blinds. James had medical supplies, he always did. His training in the Marines taught him to always keep some in case of emergencies. James would aid this young person, if he needed it.