It was his stare.

The way his blue eyes–for she had focused so much on them that she knew they were a dull blue–stared at the world around him, searching for things non-existent.

The way his blue eyes glared at anyone who would remotely piss him off, and the way they would gaze at the group-appointed leader, listening to him speak and only adding input when he felt it necessary.

The way he would burn holes into the back of her purple blazer, the only thing she was able to retrieve from her mother's body hours after it ripped her nieces apart. The corpse would have gotten Su, too, had it not been for the bullet she put inside of her mother's dyed blonde hair.

It was a moment no number of zombie movies could have prepared her for and she had spent the better part of a month locked inside of their typical Florida home, mourning the death of her dearest family. What had once been a glorious yard full of plants, animals, and her family's loud voices, soon became a cemetery. Whispers in the dark recesses of Suyapa's mind told her she was better off with them, buried between the small koi fish pond and the tall palm tree, planted after her initial move from Honduras. But the truth was, she was too much of a coward to put the gun against her temple the way she had put it against her mother's.

There was really only one entrance into her home, a dark heavy-duty wooden front door; it was sealed shut with long iron bars. Her protection was further secured by the cement walls surrounding the backyard. The house had been designed to match Su's love of her culture, partially designed by the woman whilst in college and studying Spanish Colonial Architecture. It started out as her dream home, but now it was her fort.

Soon the food ran out and even the trees produced fruit as putrid as the bodies that had unsuccessfully tried to get through the front door. That was when Suyapa placed the last bunch of flowers on her family's graves, said a prayer to a god she wasn't sure existed anymore, packed her suitcase, and drove away.

She didn't know where she was going.

Hell, Suyapa had never been anywhere but four places in her life. So she took off on the I-75 going North and hoped for the best. She would often find roads closed off by dead ends, forcing her to turn back and look for other routes, but she persisted. For days she drove on, stopping at every chance she could to try and scavenge. Sometimes she would find gas stations prepared with auto shops, and she was increasingly grateful that her grandfather had taught her the basics of car repair. Sometimes she would find abandoned stores that she could raid for food, her looting guilt relieved by the many signs that read, "help yourself and God bless."

In fact she hadn't really encountered many straggling corpses walking around, and the rare moments that she did, she was able to hide long enough for them to move away and give her a chance to sneak back into her car. She never entered homes.

Of course, as the world fell deeper into the hell of the walking dead, her luck would also plummet and one day she found herself running away from one of them and into a forest, too far from her car.

And so, our story begins.

Su drove her fingers into the bark of a tree, pushing off one of the branches next in hopes that it would knock out the thing chasing her. But as soon as the large branch snapped off, she fell to the ground, her muscles doubly aching at the pain of the impact and her sprint. Panic-stricken eyes looked up, hearing the groaning and snapping of teeth, but were relieved to find that the wooden limb had impaled the creature to the ground. Suyapa let out a quivering breath, her heart continuing to pound against her chest, when she noticed the creaking of the branch as the creature moved around and reached out for her. Not taking any chances, she shot up onto her feet and started running as fast as she could.

Her dash eventually slowed to a jog, which, after an hour, slowed down until she had walked for hours. Her stomach growled in hunger and her legs throbbed at the pain of being overused. But no matter how much she walked, Su eventually accepted that she was completely lost.

She looked up into the sky, hoping for some sort of sign; maybe she could figure out the lateral directions based on the sun? Stopping to lean against a large rock, she wiped her short black hair back, sighing in frustration. The wind picked up speed, blowing leaves onto the ground and stirring the ones on the floor. Soon her shaky breaths became quiet sobs in the hours of darkness.

She awoke some time later in the night at the sound of rustling leaves, fear entering her immediately. She jerked her head up, waiting to see one of them nearing her, but was surprised to see a pair of angry eyes a good ten feet away from her. Her fear did not lessen at the sight of this new man, though unknown hope blossomed that maybe she wasn't alone after all this time. She allowed herself to stare back at him, taking note of the large crossbow in his hand, aimed right at her. Maybe he would kill her, commit the act she couldn't perform herself; she let out a slow breath.

"You bit?" a deep southern voice called out; the voice of the stranger.

"N-No." Suyapa cleared her throat, the hoarseness caused by lack of speech.

"You hurt?"

"No…" She cleared her voice again as it began to give out. "Just lost."

The man took a second to look her over once more, finally nodding his head slightly when he approved of her and assured himself she wouldn't cause any problems he couldn't deal with. Though Su did notice his hand never left one particular spot over his pants; most likely another weapon.

"You seen a girl 'round here? 'Bout this big?" His hand measured to his shoulder.

Choosing not to speak, as it was still uncomfortable for her throat, Suyapa just shook her head. No, she had not seen any little girl in the forest; she hadn't seen anyone since her mother and her nieces, anyone alive at least.

The man continued to stare at her, most likely trying to figure out what to do now, when he simply turned around and started walking away. As she noticed the way her breaths began matching his retreating steps, Suyapa suddenly felt very lonely. No, that was a lie, she had felt lonely since the moment she had placed her 4 year-old niece's body in a shallow hole in the ground, but it was different now. She had seen someone alive and suddenly felt the loneliness overwhelming her in a way she never could imagine. Suyapa quickly stood and ran to catch up to him, noting that he briefly glanced in her direction but said nothing and kept on walking; she took it as an approval.