The world is on fire, the people are screaming. I open my eyes to a new world. I look at my walls to see them alight with an fiery orange. I get out of my bed to look out my window. I see the neighbor across the street, their house ablaze. People are running in the streets, their screams echoing throughout the resilient town.

"What the fuck is going on?" I ask no one at all. Everyone is too busy screaming to actually pay attention to the confused girl in the window. I put my hand up against the glass when I see it. Zombies, every where. Those weren't people running, they were zombies chasing.

I try to force air out of my lungs. This isn't real, this isn't real. But the longer I stood there, the more it felt real. I whirl around to the sound of an window breaking. I dart to my door, locking it and shoving my computer chair under the knob. I take slow steps away from the door as I hear a gurgling noise followed by rough breathing.

This is it, this is how it ends.

But if that was true, then this story would suck pretty badly wouldn't it?

I grab my back pack, dumping all of its contents. Folders, calculators, pencils, they're all strewn across my bed. I pause for a moment before grabbing a piece of paper and scribbling four fateful words on it.

THE DEAD HAVE RISED.

My scrawly handwriting reads. I take it to the wall and continue my search for my water bottle. I run to my bathroom, filling it to the top. I shove the water bottle into the bag. I find small snacks throughout my room, Cheez-its, pringles, an apple that's turning brown, but it'll do. I grab a few packs of gum and shove them into the sack. I grab a small first aid kit, plenty of clothes. I change quickly into ripped shorts and a tank top, putting on a black and white cardigan over it. I switch out my fuzzy cat slippers for my biker boots.

It took me a while to realize the screaming was coming from my house. I shoot a tear-filled look towards my door, the door that has a CM Punk poster taped to it hastily. The screaming doesn't stop for a few minutes.

I close my eyes and listen.

So that's what death sounds like.

I hurry to my window, throwing it open, I note there aren't any zombies on our lawn. I glance over to see my sister's balcony. I'm weighing the options, do I make the dive and possibly die? Or do I just drop down and leave her to her fate?

I don't have time to weigh the options because I'm diving. My hand grabs another hand when I realize I've missed the ledge. Someone's pulling me up over the ledge. I look into the glistening blue eyes of my older sister, Crystal.

She's shaking so badly, she's holding a small blanket to her chest. Crystal had this blanket since she was born, holding it in her small knuckles. She accordingly named it 'her blankie'. Sure I thought it was a rag, but if it kept her from falling apart, hell, she can keep it.

"Brie. What's going on?" She asks, her voice barely above a whisper. Her hair is shoulder length and her small frame seems to be breaking. She's wearing a white cardigan, a floral shirt, and a blue skirt.

I look out in the streets to see zombies, "Our worst nightmares, they're alive." I whisper back, "Did you pack?" I nod towards her backpack on her shoulder.

She nods, swallowing hard, "I grabbed all the food and water I could. I found some knives, pocket knives primarily. Also pepper spray, but that probably won't kill the.." Her voice breaks then, "Zombies." She finally manages to get out.

I pull out a handgun out of my boot, "This was in my room. I must have stashed it in the closet for protection a while back." I load the handgun, clicking off the safety. I eye the old charger in our driveway, "We should make a run for the car."

"You won't leave me, will you?" Crystal whispers, her eyes teary. She's never looked more terrified then she did in that moment. That frail look in her eyes, she honestly thought she was going to die.

"Of course not." I shake my head, because the idea is so insane my mind can't form around it.

"What about Mom and Dad? What about Jed?" Crystal asks, looking down the street at our half brother's house.

I shake my head again, though it's not because the idea is insane, "We can't."

I don't have the heart to tell her the screams were coming from our house. I can't do that to her. She's so close to falling apart already, I can't let her shatter just yet. I would move the sun and stars for her. But I couldn't make the monsters banging on our doors disappear.

"We have to save ourselves, okay? For them. We have to live for them. They'd want us to survive this." I try to rationalize the idea, but the idea just sounds so inhumane, I feel sick.

I don't even believe myself, I don't know how I got her to nod her head.

"We'll have to jump. I have the keys in my pocket. When you hit the ground, run for the car, be aware." I turn towards the ledge, "I'll go first." I breathe, "So if something is down there, I can get rid of it."

Crystal seems unsure, but she steps a few feet back and shuts the doors to her balcony. "Okay." She says softly.

I take a deep breath, then I throw myself over the ledge. I hit the ground rolling. I barely manage to push myself up, my muscles screaming at me. I make it to the car, opening the drivers side and flinging myself in.

I see Crystal drop the the ground, she manages to land on her feet. She darts for the car, I reach over and open the passenger side. She hops in and I'm already pulling out of the driveway.

"What kind of God does this?" She suddenly whispers, turning to me with tears in her eyes. "No one deserves this."

I peel down the street, pondering her statement. Finally I decide, no God of mine.

We stop at a gas station, I quickly fill up the tank. I decide to go into the station and search for supplies. Crystal is busying herself in the car with an old newspaper we found on the side of the road.

I enter, it's quiet, too quiet. The lack of life in here is astonishing. I finger the knife in my belt, pulling it out. I find beef jerky, cans of gas, and matches. Right as I'm about to leave, I feel a hand pull me back.

I turn around, stabbing a knife into the skull of a zombie. My first zombie kill, completed. The disgusting gurgling creature drops to the ground. Making one final nasty sound before dropping.

I breathe, because if I don't, I'll pass out. I just killed someone. I had just stabbed someone that had used to be a person. The idea is so overwhelming. This person used to be a son, an brother, maybe a father.

"I'm so sorry." I almost sob, I turn on my heel and head back to the car. It was survival of the fittest now.

"Find anything good?" Crystal asks, not looking up from her crossword.

I hold up the cans of gas, "Gas, jerky, matches. Simple stuff, nothing extravagant. The place has been looted a few times. Everyone just left behind the crappy stuff for us."

"Apocalypse comes and people are still being dicks." Crystal mutters as she fills in one of the rows. "I fucking hate crosswords." She suddenly says.

I climb into the drivers side, Crystal climbs into the passenger seat. "Then why do you do them?"

"To feel normal." Crystal bites the end of the pen, "This apocalypse shit makes me feel like I'm just living an incredibly long nightmare."

I nod, "I can agree with that."

"You've been pretty.. weird about this whole.. apocalypse thing." Crystal turns to eye me suspiciously. "Are you okay, Brie?" She asks softly.

I swallow hard, "I'm fine. I just, I'm so fucking worried all the time. What if this is it Crystal? What if this is just the end for us? No happy ending, no ride off into the sunset, no bathes filled with money? Is this really it for us?"

Crystal stares at me with astonishment as I continue ranting.

"That can't be fair though, can it? Why are we the only generation that gets absolutely nothing? Here's an apocalypse, enjoy slaughtering each other. How is that fair?!" I snap, hitting the steering wheel with a fury. "Why us?!"

Crystal puts her hand on my arm, "Brie come on, it's going to be okay. It'll be over soon." She says reassuringly.

"How can you be so certain? Did you mark the calender? It's been days now, maybe even weeks. The government still hasn't stopped the 'this is not a test' messages. The cities are flooded with those.. things.." I shudder at the thought of them, "There is no one to help us."

My loss of hope is so overwhelming I have to breathe.

Instead of letting Crystal try to reassure me again, I start the car and tear out of the gas station.

Hours pass, and the list gets longer. I kill three more walkers as we head North, I don't know where we're going, I just know we have to keep moving. Crystal wants to stop and sleep, but I tell her she'll have enough time to sleep when she's dead.

After I say that, she ignores me for hours and tries to ignore the fact she got stuck with her hopeless little sister for an apocalypse.

Crystal is relatively shielded from the entire apocalypse. Thanks to me, of course. I don't want her to see the horrors that humanity has become. I want to protect her from everything and everyone.

I'm so afraid I'll lose her, it causes a knot in my stomach.

Soon enough, she comes back to life, though she's sleep talking. She's listing names of the friends she had.

"Emeline, Jessica, Lauren..." The names keep going until she starts to get to family. "Dad, Mom..." Her voice breaks a little after she says Mom, and I see tears streaming down her face. "Jed." She hiccups, "Hershel, Beth, Patricia, Otis, Maggie..." The names come faster and faster until she bolts up, awake. "I can't sleep, I have dreams about them, Brie. They won't go away!" She's almost screaming now.

"Crystal!" I pull the car to the side of the road, "Stop!" I shout at her as she tries to yank out her hair.

"I can't do this Brie, I can't do this alone, please don't make me do this." Crystal repeats over and over again. She clamps her hands over her ears, pulling her knees up to her chest, profusely crying.

"Don't make you do what?" I ask her, grabbing her shoulders and shaking her. "Do what?!" I shout louder.

"Don't make me survive an apocalypse. Please don't make me watch people die. Don't, please." She whispers so quietly I barely hear her. She looks up from her knees, tears in her eyes. "I can't."

I sigh sadly, frowning, "Crystal."

"Just, leave me alone." She snaps at me. I realize the sun is coming up, she realizes it too, because she stops and she watches it. The soft orange glow lights up the dark abyss that has become the sky. The stars begin to fade into the soft pale blue as the sun rises. Dew has fallen on the grass, glistening in response to the sun rising.

Crystal opens her car door and starts running.

"No!" I shout, opening my car door and racing after her into the forest.

Damn it, don't make me lose her now.

Please.