Anna sat against the base of a large tree with her little sister Julia sleeping beside her. For weeks now the girls have been running for their life from the walkers that now plague the earth. The sickness came out of nowhere and consumed their whole family. Anna only got away with Julia by killing their mother who was trying to rip their faces off. Now they wandered around the forest hiding from anything that could threaten them. Living off of berries and the few animals they could catch would only last them so long and as Anna looked over their rations she counted only one or two more days. Julia stirred in her sleep and Anna watched as her large brown eyes fluttered open and smile upon seeing her big sister.
"Morning sweet heart." Anna brushed her sisters dark brown hair out of her face. Julia sat up and stretched, Anna couldn't get enough of her sisters innocent smile despite everything she had been through. Then breaking through the morning silence church bells rang bringing the girls to their feet. "Come on Julia." Anna grabbed her belt which carried a gun with no bullets and a knife that she had used too many times to save both of their lives. Holding her little sisters hand Anna and Julia ran through the forest towards the bells of salvation. As they saw the church in the distance they saw the large group of people running to it from the other side. Three large men, two with guns and one with a bow were charging ahead of everyone looking for where the bells came from. "Julia stay close." Anna and Julia stayed low as they hid behind some of the tombstones, they needed to know that these people were safe and not going to kill the girls the second they saw each other.
"Come on Anna, we have to go see." Julia stood up and slowly walked towards the group. For only being thirteen Julia was just as brave as her twenty five year old sister still hiding behind the farthest tombstone. Cursing her sister under her breath Anna ran up to her which caught the groups attention. The men pointed their guns at the girls and they froze in place and slowly raised their arms.
"We're not zombies...I promise..." Anna called out and slowly they put their weapons down. "We came to find out where the bells were coming from. But I guess it's not here since there's no steeple." Anna said kicking the ground. The one in a sheriffs uniform stepped forward.
"I'm Rick this is my wife Laurie and son Carl. How long have you two been out here?" The man said with a thick southern accent. A woman with long brown hair and a pale boy stood by his side.
"I'm Anna and this is my sister Julia, we've been wandering around for about...two or three weeks. It's hard to tell, everything becomes a big blur." The people looked back and forth at each other before an elderly man in a Hawaiian tee shirt spoke up.
"Do you girls need some water?" He held the bottle of water in his hand out to the girls and Julia's eyes grew wide. She looked to Anna who gave a little nod and Julia grabbed the bottle and almost chugged it all in one go.
"Hold on, if you drink it all at once you'll get sick." Anna nudged her sister who slowed down and gave an innocent little smile. Looking over the group they had seemed to accept them since they seemed more interested in the church now. The three men with weapons went into the church and saw sitting in the pews was three walkers. Anna instinctively reached for her knife but the two sheriffs and the redneck took them out. As he walked up to the statue of Jesus, Anna couldn't take her eyes off of him. There was something protective and somehow dangerous about him that made Anna want to keep close to him. The bells started ringing again and everyone rushed outside, the Asian guy opened a control box on the side of the church and shut off the timer.
"It's on a timer." He said and everyone looked pissed off. Anna looked to Julia who shrugged and looked at the little boy who wouldn't stop staring at her.
"What are you guys looking for?" Anna asked and the woman with short hair started to sob. Laurie went to her side and comforted her. The red neck approached them and glared at them.
"We're look for her daughter Sophia...you seen her?" He stood proudly with his bow by his side. Anna shook her head and looked to Julia who also said no. They haven't seen people since the outbreak, so seeing a little girl running through the forest would have raised some red flags. They looked around slightly defeated and got ready to move out again. After talking with the people inside the church Anna had learned all their names and roles within the group, the redneck Daryl was their hunter, the Asian guy Glen was their runner and Rick was their unofficial leader. Rick and Shane decided to go looking around the forest while the rest decided to head back to the highway where they had a camp set up for the time being. Anna and Julia watched as the people started to walk away leaving them behind, leaving them to their own devices. Daryl looked back at the two starting to head back into the forest on their own. "Hey!" He called out to them and they looked back.
"Yeah?" Anna called back holding Julia's hand. He pointed towards the rest of the group who were watching the two.
"The highway is this way dummies." He started walking the way he was going already and with large smiles on their faces Anna and Julia ran and joined the group. Carl was given permission to follow his dad out into the forest and he smiled at Julia before running off to join him. For the first time in weeks Anna and Julia could talk to other people, share their story and hopefully find the meaning behind life in this hell hole.