A flu. That's all they said it was at first. Nothing more than a virus. They say it started on the West coast of Africa and somehow made its way across to us. And that's what everyone believed it was. I mean, what else could it be? The doctors didn't know. They had never seen anything like this before...and they sure as hell couldn't explain it. People were terrified so they had to tell them something. A flu? Yeah right. People actually bought that too, well you know, up until the dead rose and started feeding on the living. We should have believed it was vampires before we believed anything the government wrote it off to be. I mean what kind of virus can reanimate a dead brain? What kind of virus turned you into one of those things...It was simple enough at first.

You got infected.

You got a fever.

You died.

Nobody mentioned the part where you came back.

That's how this shit destroyed the world...well most of it anyway.

The beginning

Zoe, Layla and Alex lay slumped over the couches in Layla's living room gossiping about the latest dramas at school. It was past midnight and the muted TV and the girls phone screens lit the room with a faint blue light. All in pyjamas and swamped by blankets, the trio caught up with one another in one of their long over due sleepovers as going to different schools made the quality time they spent together pretty scarce. None the less, the three were almost inseparable being practically raised together as their mothers were also childhood friends.

Alex, being sixteen and the eldest of the three, was outwardly a quiet and reserved girl who got along civilly with even the most difficult of people. She was smart, mature and rational but had a tender heart. Her willingness to put her friends before herself coupled with a fierce determination to do what was right made her a valuable ally to those she loved. However, her defiance in the face of pain made it easy for her to mask her emotions which made opening up to people harder than Alex cared to admit.

Zoe was a petite girl with innocent hazel eye and faint freckles littering her fair complexion, making her appear younger than her actual age. Her innocence stretched into her personality making her worry too much about everything. This however left room for her to see a good side to everyone. Being only fifteen, some saw it only as childhood naiveté but the kindness Zoe showed pure. Layla on the other hand was another story.

She was your typical "Mean Girl" with a sass level much higher than her IQ. One false move around Layla would leave a person victim to death glares and sarky insults for the rest of time. Layla hated school and the people in it only tolerating a few fortunate souls. For these select few, Layla showed the same compassion and vulnerability of any other fifteen year old girl, shedding her 'bitch mask' to let her caring side shine.

The three made a dysfunctional friendship group but despite their differences, got along in harmony.

"Ugh Shannon is such a slut!" Scoffed Layla dropping her phone in disgust.

"Shannon Gordon?" Alex asked, confused, taking the discarded phone in curiosity. "Isn't she your friend?"

"Not with pictures like that all over her profile." Layla grumbled snatching the device back and bringing up said pictures on her screen "Why would you even take photos like that in the first place?"

Alex didn't know what to expect but was confronted with a picture of the young girl she vaguely recognised in shorts and a crop top; cleavage on show and posing in her bathroom mirror.

"My parents would kill me if I wore anything like that." Alex laughed turning her attention back to her own group chat where her and her friends were trying to arrange a trip to the cinema.

"Lemme' see." Zoe piped up from the opposite chair. Layla tossed her phone and Zoe caught it with ease.

"Jesus Christ," she exclaimed, raising her eyebrows in mock horror. "where is her mother?"

They all chuckled at her comment as Zoe threw the phone back

"Ugh I've got a tonne of homework to do before we go back to school," Alex groaned, burying her head under the duvet "and my French course work isn't even finished."

"I did all mine at the start of the holiday." Zoe commented absentmindedly, not taking her eyes off the tv. Layla wasn't even listening. Alex just rolled her eyes. It was coming to the end of the February half term holiday and the girls were having a last catch up before they became swamped 1in school work for the new term.

"There's nothin' to watch" Zoe sighed picking up her phone and the music of one of her addictive games played causing the other two to groan.

"What time is it?" Alex yawned lying on her pillow, bringing her duvet over her head.

"Just gone one." Zoe yawned as well burying under her own duvet and picking the remote back up to go through the channels.

"Put BBC on or something. The news is probably on." Alex replied rolling over to face the couch "I'll be asleep soon anyway. I'm shattered."

"Lightweight." Layla mumbled, still not looking up from her phone, chewing her nails.

The tv flickered as the news began with same old headlines; it had been like that for weeks now. 'Deadly disease wipes out hundreds in African village' ... 'Symptoms seen in widespread Asian towns' ... 'Two men dead in South America' ... 'Aid workers kept in quarantine in England'

It was odd but they assured it was nothing to worry about. News coverage told them it was just a flu strain that had mutated, killing people with poor health care. Doctors offices up and down the country were jammed packed with people of all ages with symptoms this strange flu. High fever, headaches and delirious behaviour. Some people were sent off to 'intensive care' units but nobody seemed to know if or when they would return. There were rumours of some people burning up with a fever and dying within hours. Other whispers spoke of a demented behaviour would take over the victims causing them to attack others. But they were only rumours. What was the strangest of all was when the funerals were stopped. People were told to alert the authorities when a relative passed away. Their bodies collected within the hour of them passing by a team of government medics. But they assured the nation they had it under control.

"What a load of bullshit." Layla moaned again looking up from her phone for a second "The press just glorify everything..."

She looked down at Alex who's breathing had already evened out and was fast asleep. Zoe the same, curled up on the opposite sofa.

Sighing, Layla switched off her phone and lay down onto her pillow, closing her eyes. It only took a few minuets for her to slip slowly into sleep just as the tv signal failed, filling the room with the sound of soft, even breaths and the dull hum of static.