If Only We Lived Through the Night

Chapter 1— A Day Like No Other Day

Haley James opened her eyes to the bright sun shining through her bedroom window. It was the first day of junior year and she was determined it was going to be the best year yet. Haley had laid out her favorite outfit the night before: blue jeans with a knitted poncho. Her best friend Lucas Scott thought it was ugly, but it was one of her favorite gifts.

The house was eerily quiet. Haley had a large family and expected a large amount of racquet to be occurring downstairs. However, there was nothing. No voices, no rattling of dishes, not even the sound of the television could be heard. "This is strange," Haley thought.

Haley walked down the stairs cautiously, thinking some embarrassing prank was about to occur. When her foot hit the bottom step, she stopped dead in her tracks. Her house was completely ransacked. The dining room table was turned over, the television busted on the floor, and blood smeared the walls. "What the hell happened?" Haley asked mortified, "Mom? Dad? Is anyone here?"

No answer came. Something terrible had clearly happened here. This was supposed to be a special day, but it had quickly turned into a nightmare. Haley snatched the phone off the receiver and dialed 911. The phone rang but no one picked up. "Why isn't anyone answering? Haley yelled, "What is the good of having police if they won't even answer the phone for an emergency?"

Haley quickly text Lucas, hey something terrible has happened and I can't find my parents and the police aren't answering. Can you come over? I'm freaking out!

Haley walked to the front window and peered out. The streets were deserted. Mr. Parker wasn't riding his bike, and Mrs. Stinson wasn't walking her annoying dog down the road. It was a small town and everyone had morning routines. However, not a soul was in sight. "This is so creepy," Haley thought.

The silence seemed to finally weigh on Haley's shoulders. Her parents weren't here, and there was blood everywhere. The horror struck her like a bullet, her parents were probably dead. Now the question was how was she alive?

Haley stepped onto the lawn. The grass was about the only thing alive on the street at the moment. "Hello?" Haley yelled, "Is anyone out there?"

It sounded so cliché, but Haley didn't know anything else to say. Once again silence was the only thing her ears could hear. She decided her best plan of action was going back into the house. She didn't feel safe out here in the open.

Haley knew her dad kept a gun the mattress. Haley took the steps two at a time and bounded through her parent's bedroom door. She reached her hand under the mattress and pulled out the .22 pistol. She had to admit she felt a little safer now, though not so much when she remembered she had no earthly clue had to shoot it.

She walked back into the hallway. Just as she was about to go back downstairs a creak sounded behind her in the guest room. Haley turned around but no one was there. "Strange," she thought, "I could have sworn I heard something."

An awful moaning sound came from her right and she turned just in time to avoid getting grabbed by an ill looking man. "Who are you?" Haley screamed backing away at a brisk pace.

The man said nothing just continued to moan. Haley remembered the gun and raised it in front of her. "Back away or I'll shoot!" Haley threatened.

The man just continued dragging towards her. It seemed she might be about to have a similar fate to her parents. Haley closed her eyes and pulled the trigger. Nothing happened, no loud bang or anything. She now regretted not going to the shooting range with her father when he had offered.

The safety. Haley remembered it from one of those cheesy action movies Lucas loved to watch, the bad guys always seemed to lose because they forgot to turn off the safety. She threw herself through an open door and glanced at the gun. She had no clue what she was looking at, but a switch on the side seemed like her best guess right now.

Haley flipped the switch and raised the gun once again. This time, when the strange moaning man appeared in front of her, she was greeted with a loud bang when her finger pulled the trigger. The bullet hit the wall behind the man. The gunshot, however, didn't even seem to faze the guy. He simply kept on moaning and coming towards her.

"Don't you know when to give up?" Haley asked frustrated.

Still no reply other than that aggravating moan. The man was now only about 5 steps away from her and her back had made contact with the wall. She was trapped with nowhere else to run. She knew if she didn't shoot him this time, she would be a goner.

Haley steadied her hand as much as she could. She aimed at the man's chest and let a shot ring home. This time the bullet hit flesh. Blood seeped from the wound, but it didn't appear the man had even felt it. His hands closed around her throat. "Why wasn't this guy dead? She had shot him in the chest."

The man opened his mouth and advanced towards her face. His breath smelled like a dying animal and his hands were wrinkly. Haley threw her hands on his chest and pushed to keep him from being able to get his face any closer to hers. It was in that moment that she recognized the man as her next door neighbor, Fred.

Haley screamed at the top of her lungs, "Fred why are you doing this?"

No reply. Fred just struggled to try and break her hold, which wouldn't take much more. A loud noise sounded from the hallway and Fred's head exploded. Haley was too shocked to even scream though.

"Haley are you alright?" a voice asked.

Haley started crying. She didn't even have to look up to know that the voice belonged to Lucas. She closed the distance between them and threw her arms around him and sobbed uncontrollably. "Oh, Lucas, it's terrible. Fred tried to kill me and I can't find my parents, and there is blood everywhere. What is happening?" Haley asked through her tears.

Lucas tilted her head towards him, and said, "You aren't going to believe this, but we are smack down in the middle of a zombie apocalypse."

It must have been the stress, because despite all the horrors, Haley laughed out loud. "Lucas, seriously? This is no time for jokes."

"I only wish I was joking, Hales," Lucas whispered, "But I'm not. I'm being deadly serious. No pun intended."

The zombie apocalypse? Lucas had clearly lost his mind. Maybe none of this had been real. Maybe she had been dreaming all of this because of her anxiety over school. The students were like zombies, perhaps this was her mind's sick idea of a joke.

It was all too real though. Believing it was a joke was wishful thinking and Haley knew that. She didn't know if it was really a zombie apocalypse, but something terrible was happening here in Tree Hill.

"Is there anyone else?" Haley asked as her and Lucas descended the stairs, "Alive, I mean?"

"Yes, my mom and Keith are both alive. I assume there are others. I heard a radio transmission that the school is being used as a temporary safe place," Lucas answered.

Well this was about the only good news Haley would probably get today. She wasn't alone and she would be with people she loved. That was better than nothing she supposed. Haley prayed to the powers that be, please let my parents still be out there somewhere and please keep me and Lucas safe.

They stopped at the doorway. "Are you ready Hales?" Lucas asked reaching for the doorknob.

"As ready as I will ever be Luke," Haley answered solemnly. With that the two friends headed outdoors into an unfamiliar place that wore the same appearance as home.

A/N—Okay so this is chapter one of my One Tree Hill au. I hadn't planned on starting this until I had finished my Loki story 'I Turn to You' but I couldn't help it. The idea has been in my mind all day, so I finally gave in and started it. I don't know how often I will get to update at first, but if you guys like it and follow/ review a lot, then I will make sure to update more frequently.

This chapter was basically an intro, so it won't be as interesting as future chapters. When everyone meets up in the next chapter or 2, things will heat up. There will be romance, angst, and adventure so hold on tight.

Thanks for reading and leave comments and constructive criticisms.