Chapter 1

Trying to run as quietly as she could, but still maintain a good pace, June noticed that the sun was going to be setting soon. Knowing that it was more dangerous at night, she started to think of her options. She knew the woods should be fairly close. They’d offer cover and she’d be able to hear if anything comes close - but so would everything else. Not preferable, but it wasn’t permanent. As always, she took life one day at a time.

But with the sun setting quickly, she didn’t have too many other options other than huddling down in a house somewhere; but most of those had already been taken over by the dead or were so busted up it could barely be called a house anymore.

The woods it is. She thought to herself, picking up her pace and heading towards her left. The woods weren’t that far, she could make it before it got completely dark. So that’s where she ran, holding her knife close and keeping her guard up.

Once she reached the tree line, she did one more quick look around before ducking into the woods. It was starting to get dark now, so she had to be quick. She went about half a mile into the thick trees and found a small clearing. It was a little muddy in some spots, but it would do the job.

Just in time. June sighed.

It’d been a long day, and she needed some rest. She carefully laid out a small blanket she had in her backpack and sat down. Her legs ached from all the running, and her thoughts were racing about what had happened.

She and her family had been trapped by a swarm. She was the only survivor. Her sister had been bit trying to protect her from being bitten and had died shortly after June got them upstairs in their bedroom. She didn’t even have time to turn before the dead busted in the door, forcing June to jump into a tree for safety and attacking her sister’s lifeless body. Her mom and dad were the first to go, giving up everything they had for their two daughters to have a chance at surviving this nightmare.

I lost everyone. June cried.

Then silently sobbed.

The only stable thing in her life right now was the ground she was sitting on and the tree she was using to lean on. Everything seemed to be falling apart, including her backpack, which had a small hole at the top. She had had it since she started freshman year of high school. She was 19 now.

Eventually, she was able to calm herself and lay down, hoping to fall asleep. But she was too worked up and was too busy listening for the sounds of the dead to sleep. So she just lay there, trying to rest the best she could with flashes of her family’s death flashing in her head like a movie on repeat.

As the sun began rising the next day, she slowly pushed herself up. Her whole body ached from the lack of sleep and the abundance of exercise.

June knew she had to find food. Her stomach ached from having no food in days. She had a couple of cans in her bag but decided she should save those for when she needed them. Instead, she grabbed her knife and began hunting.

It wasn’t easy, but after a few failed attempts, she was eventually able to kill a small squirrel and start a fire. Her father had taught her the basics of surviving in the wild at a young age. At the time, he didn’t know he was teaching her skills she’d use to keep herself and her friends alive.

After she had eaten, she quickly picked up her things and began the task of finding other people. She figured staying in the woods wouldn’t make it any easier, so gripping her knife a little harder, she made her way out of the trees and started walking to the interstate. Once she reached the once-busy road now filled with abandoned cars, she took a deep breath and headed south. She was in Tennessee now and figured she’d head down to Georgia. Maybe she could find a little house somewhere and settle down.

That sounded nice. She wanted nothing more than to just settle down somewhere and start fresh. It’d only been a year since the outbreak started, but it felt like an eternity. It had taken so much from her and given so little.

June walked for a few hours, hoping she’d come across someone. But she didn’t have that much luck, at least not today.

Oh come on, my only goals today are to find a better weapon than a pocket knife, and to find at least one other person. Is that too much to ask? She thought to herself.

Getting tired of walking, she decided that she would start trying the cars, hoping one would turn on. She figured she could cover more ground that way. Turning over engine after engine, she was beginning to get discouraged. When she finally hit the jackpot.

One car did start. It was just an old beat-up toyota corolla, but it filled her heart with joy.

It’s always the corollas. June laughed to herself before crawling in and shutting the door.

It’d been forever since she’d driven, and she was excited to be behind the wheel once again. She only had a quarter tank of gas left, but that was more than she could have asked for. It was just enough to hopefully get to the next town or two and help her look for more people. Live people, that is.

Pressing the gas, she sped off. Following the interstate, she went deep into Georgia and took an exit towards Dalton.

She pulled over to a gas station and parked the car.

I need to find some gas or go the rest of the way on foot. June thought to herself as she got out of the car and began looking for gas cans or anything that might have some gas in it. After looking for about half an hour, she gave up and decided to go inside the corner store and maybe find some food or something useful. She shouldn’t waste all day searching for gas and not something else more important.

Stepping through the broken glass door, it was obvious June wasn’t the first person to search the store. Going up and down the isles, she found some old batteries, wrappers, empty soda cans, and a stray pencil.

She decided to check the back rooms when she heard the sound of footsteps.

Panicked, she dove behind a shelf and held her knife close, her heart pounding in her ears.

She heard the footsteps enter the store, followed by two voices.

“I told you, there’s nothing here.” It was a man, she noted. Sounded young. Maybe around her age?

June’s heart began beating faster. People. She found someone.

“Yeah, but it’s worth a shot. We can’t leave until we got everything we can use.” Another voice responded. This one was a woman.

June heard the footsteps getting closer and decided it was now or never.

“Don’t shoot!” She called out before slowly coming out from behind the shelf.

She heard the people stand on guard. Once she was standing in front of them, she was able to get a good look.

The man was kind of shaggy, it was obvious he’d been running for a while. He wore a simple stained white shirt and blue jeans with his dark hair looked like it hasn’t seen soap since the outbreak. June noted that it probably hadn’t. The woman’s hair was blonde, and she wore tennis shoes with jeans and a band T-shirt. The man seemed friendly, the woman seemed cold.

“Do...do y’all mind if I join you?” June asked, still holding her hands in the air.