"C'mon Davey, faster!" Sarah screeched from ahead of him. He could practically feel the creatures breathing down his neck as he struggled to keep ahead of them. His legs have never stretched so far as he tried to take longer strides. His lungs were on fire and his heart was ready to jump out of his chest.

He wasn't made for this. Running from these creatures at any given time has proved to be beyond hard numerous times. The tiniest glint of relief went through him as their base came into sight. He threw himself through the door and slammed it behind him, pushing all the locks into place and collapsing onto the ground.

His breaths were heavy as he sat, a sweaty mess.

"You okay Dave?" Katherine asked, sitting next to him. She took his hand and stroked it with her thumb.

"A little close for comfort this time, but-"

"A little?" Sarah cut in. Her eyes were full of worry, but her voice felt more like anger. "Dave, they had you! They had you in their claws, that was a little closer than too close for comfort."

"I know, I'm sorry I just...I'm sorry."

"No David, we can't afford to be sorry! A little closer and me and Kath would of had to come back here and explain where you were to Les! We already had to do that with mom and dad, I don't think I could do it again."

"Sarah," Katherine interjected. "Calm down. He is trying his hardest." She was forever the peace maker, always trying to calm Sarah down when she got like this. David never knew what to say. He tried his hardest everyday to not be clumsy or freeze up under pressure, but he definitely won't ever get used to this.

"Not hard enough!" This sent a sudden burst of annoyance through him.

"Not hard enough? Sarah I try my hardest everyday! Sorry I'm not the fastest runner in the world or the most athletic person or the best under pressure! Sorry I'm not an avid hunter because I never thought I would find myself having to hunt for my own food! But you most definitely can NOT say I am not trying hard enough."

"Guys," Katherine attempted to calm them down but David wasn't having it.

"You know losing our parents was hard for me too Sarah. Our parents! I don't want you to have to tell Les that I'm dead because I wasn't good enough! I just- I...I don't know what you want me to say."

He looked up at her to find her face softened immensely.

"I'm...I'm sorry Davey. I didn't mean it I just-I mean you're my baby brother and I want to protect you and I want to protect Les! I want to protect all of us. But I know I can't always and I take my frustration out on you and it's not okay." She kneeled down before him and put her hands on his shoulders, looking into his eyes.

"Can you forgive me? I know I've been doing it a lot lately but I...hope you can kind of understand where I'm coming from?" She pushed his glasses up his nose with a small smile. "C'mon show me those dimples!" She poked him in the cheeks getting a tiny smile from him which was good enough for her.

That had become the norm in their lives. Good enough. Good enough for now, good enough shelter, okay amounts of food and water. It really wasn't good enough, but the more they realized it, the worse it would be.

When it started, no one had suspected anything. A few sick people here and there. More and more ending up in hospitals and no one thought twice about it until one of those doctors ended up with a human bite in their neck.

The Jacobs didn't think twice about it until their parents came home feeling under the weather. The rest of the world turned their backs until those things were running rampant through streets and society was shutting down.

And here they were now: Shut up in some old house they'd safeproofed with the last friend they had from their former life. This had once been some family's home! The portraits still hung on the walls, blood spattered and ghostly.

It almost made David sick to his stomach to look at them and think about how people were living here, going about their daily lives not too long ago. It all felt like a separate time now, and technically it was. It'd been almost a year now, or at least that's what they assumed by the changing of the seasons.

A year of scavenging and non-stop running. One whole year without their parents. David remembered that moment far too vividly. The moment they knew it was too late for their parents, whatever this disease is claiming two more. They'd spent as much time with them as they could that night, and their parents hadn't even known why.

Les understood, but he didn't know why. No one really knew what this was or where it came from, but it's here. Who knows for how long?

"How was it?" came Les' sleepy voice. He rubbed his eyes as he yawned walking up to the three.

"We got...enough." Sarah sighed. "We'll be able to last a few days before going back out again."

"That's good." he gave them all a warm hug as he did every time they came back. Les always made them feel better, reminded them what they had to work to protect. "What's for dinner then?"

"We got rabbit and peaches. How's that sound?" Katherine said with a smile as Les made a face at the statement.

"Weird when you say it like that." They shared a laugh before preparing for dinner. David covered the windows with the curtains as to hide the fire from the view of any danger coming along. Katherine started the fire and Sarah began preparing the rabbit to be cooked.

David layed on the couch, a small stream of starlight shining on his face. He often thought about the stars. How much luckier they were than them to live a simple life up in the sky while they were down here fighting to see the sun the next morning. Being jealous of a few balls of gas had never been something he saw himself doing, but here he was.

He was glad he had the others though. He knew if he had been on his own from the start he wouldn't have made it. He would just be another lifeless face in the crowd, chasing after some random living thing.

"Over there thinking too hard as usual?" Katherine spoke up.

"Nope, planning a murder."

"It better be the murder of an animal." Sarah mumbled.

David was about to retort when he froze. He sat bolt upright and peeked through the sliver of window still visible.

"What's wrong Davey?" He quieted them, looking and listening closely. He had noticed the movement of a shadow. He heard something that sounded like groaning which made him think it was just a zombie, traveling alone for some reason. He had learned long ago to tell the difference between human and zombie groans, though, and these were definitely more human.

"Help. Help me!" the shadow called faintly. David's eyes widened.

"Someone's coming!" he whispered to the others.

Author's Note

Hey to anyone who reads this! First chapter, yay! I know it's kind of short and not super dramatic but it's kind of just an intro, setting up the story and such. I hope you liked it and whatever comes next. Leave feedback if you do or if you don't! Help me improve, it would make my day. Thanks for the read :D