Author's note: Unfortunately, my school year is extremely long (one week early + one week late T_T) Fortunately, I've got many breaks sprinkled in-between so while I'm gone, PLEASE rate and review this first chapter! :D Still figuring out how to make tabbed spaces (really gets on my OCD nerves HURRR)

I was looting a remote city's grocery store when it happened. For the past five months, I've been surviving this hellish event by laying low, picking off what I could find. Only I didn't rely on homes for protection; only the trees and rope I trust. Any and everything I need fits into a light backpack I looted. I can only manage to have up to three outfits at a time though. The only things that I've managed not to lose since the start were my cadet cap and my trusty pair of Nikes.

I was rummaging for food when all of a sudden, the back door flew open. Reflexively, I bolt straight out the front door, where the teds were waiting for me. I had absolutely no weapons with me at the time, so naturally I dashed off into the woods for refuge. I only managed a step, when the first ted was shot down. The shot then jump started my next stride, accelerating me into the woods. A deep southern voice called for me to come back. I turned my head to the side and I saw a man in clothing just as gritty as mine. I kept running.
Then everything went black.
The next time I woke up, I was back in the grocery store, gauze wrapped around the right side of my face. I bolted into sitting position, only to be set back down. "I was only tryin' to help you," said the man. I didn't reply. I couldn't anyway because a strip of cloth wrapped my head in some sort of strange frame. "You and that tree became good friends the moment I came after you," he said. He was crouched down, faced away from me, rifle pointed out a large hole in the window.
I spotted my bag set in the entrance to an aisle.
I got up, slowly, and made my way to my bag. Then, I ran to the back of the store. He must have heard my shoes squeaking against the floor because once I was halfway there, he yelled, "Hey! Git back 'ere!" I then made the same mistake of looking back. I misstepped to my left a tad too much because when I turned back, my head made contact with the stainless steel doorframe.
The next time I woke up, my right hand was zip tied to the cashier counter, and the cloth that constricted my speech was gone, bandages in its place. There was also another bandage straight across my forehead in a vertical line.
"If you ain't learned yer lesson yet, I don't know how many times yer gonna have to hit yer head. Now speak to me boy, why do you keep on runnin' away?" he asked. I stayed silent. Then, rashly, he grabbed my throat, growling into my face commanding me, "Talk boy." I stared down into his deep blue eyes. I swept his hand away from my neck.
Dryly, I managed, "I thought you were out to kill me."
"Kill you?" he broke out into a hearty laughter that seemed to last for ages, "now why in the world would I do that? I shot down them creatures and yelled for you to come back!" He shook his head, glaring at me from the side of his eye. "Kill you, can you believe this boy. Good lord, why would I fix you up, only to kill you later on?"
He had a point. Except I was talking about when I ran out the store. "Okay, okay, I'm sorry. It's just that I have some pretty serious issues with my gut and trusting people," I confessed, attempting to put my hands up. "Now let's get out of here 'cause who knows when the next group of people are coming to loot this place."
He stared at me for a moment. It was finally then that I noticed his short cut (or at least what used to be short) blonde hair, dressed in a plain white tee and khaki cargo shorts. He then got to cutting my thick zip tie. After minutes of slicing only to make it short of three millimeters, he got out his gun and shot off the zip tie.
"What are you doing?" I lashed out, "you're going to attract all the teds!"
"Teds?" he said, cocking his head.
"That's what I call them. Short for resurrected."
"Hmm. I haven't really thought of giving these things a name."
I spotted my bag again behind the cashier desk. I needed to stall him again so I could escape.
"Yeah," I said, aimlessly, "you know what let's get our butts out of here before the next group decided to rob us stark naked."
"Fine." He turned slowly and walked even slower.
"Perfect," I unintentionally said out loud.
"What?" he glared at me.
"What?" I said, trying my best to keep my legs steady. "What?" he kept glaring at me. He finally turned around, only to take a quick glance back at me. I leaned back against the counter, raised my eyebrows, and exposed my palms, in a gesture that suggested I was returning yet another "what". He was a few feet away from his belongings. I slowly sneaked over to my bag grabbed the strap, and slid away from him.
I was half a step away from being hidden by a large shelf when he decided to turn around to say, "You know-"
Our eyes locked. He glared again, and I sprinted off. I could hear him gaining up on me. I finally learned my lesson, because I knew not to turn back. I rounded the shelf, going back to the front entrance. He was quickly gaining up. Every stride I took, he gained one more. He must have been a trained policeman because in a split second, he managed to jump towards me, grab my legs, and pin me down to the white tiles, elbow forced up against my chin. His weight glued my to the floor. As I fell, my backpack managed to fly off my shoulders and land five feet away.
His eyes were locked on mine. I pleaded for him to let go of me. He pulled back the hammer on his gun in preparation to shoot me in the head. Of course Ryan, cause if he shoots me anywhere else, I'll come back three hours later as a ted. But, in the three seconds that had elapsed, I heard a gunshot, and blood everywhere. I thought I had witnessed my own death. Then, I thought, that's not possible. Yet another man, only with dark hair, a flannel shirt, and long jeans, with a gun, still smoking from the shot stood at the other end of aisle. I was covered in some stranger's blood.
The second stranger lifted the first stranger off me. Right as he lost contact with me, I ran off. The first stranger also turned. "Crap," I thought. I grabbed the second stranger's gun, and shot the ted version of the first stranger right in the head. I dropped the gun, grabbed my bag, and flew past the front doors.
I passed at least three parking spaces when the second stranger came out and yelled, "Come back! I"m not going to hurt you!" I kept running. "Oh no, I'm not taking anymore chances," I thought.
I reached the forest after at least five minutes of switching between running and jogging. I continued to walk through the woods for at least another ten minutes, when suddenly I screamed out, "CRAP!" I decided it wasn't worth going back to the town. I finally found a pack of saltine crackers in my backpack. It was torturous trying to swallow a single bite down without even a swig of saliva to moisten it.
After enjoying my makeshift meal under a large tree, I searched the tree for any nubs to assist me in my way to a good branch. I had no luck finding any. I then threw my rope across the nearest branch, tying the ends together to avoid being pulleyed back down. I then slowly made my way up to the top. I pulled the tied end to the top. I untied it, then retied the rope, cinching myself to the tree to prevent myself from falling down, if by chance I happened to fall asleep.