This isn't listed in the categories but I think more people should probably give it a chance. It's inspired by the old radio dramas and is about a group of survivors trying to live in a world overrun by zombies. This started out as a recurring dream and I couldn't get it out of my head. The characters are mine and not from We're Alive. I hope you like it. All comments are welcome.

Chapter 1

Come to think of it, it's been months since the outbreak started and we were no closer to discovering what the hell happened, I think to myself as I stare at my reflection in the SUV's window. I'm leaning uncomfortably against the door, trying to calm my nerves when a hand reaches back to me to offer me a piece of what we called sweet, sweet heaven: a gummy bear.

"You should save a few until we get back to the compound," I tell Aenne as I pop the little red bear in my mouth, knowing that she would eat the whole bag if anyone let her. It had been weeks since we had scored any sugar and we had set aside a little for ourselves.

"And let Lily sniff them out the moment we drive in? Moll, what am I, crazy?" she asked and I stared at her for a full minute before she relented. "Okay, so it was a risky move but so worth it!"

She laughed as I looked in the back of the vehicle at all the food we had managed to swipe before getting spotted by them. Granted, they weren't as fast they used to be but still a fresh meal prancing about was enough to send the cry out and that was our cue to get the heck out of dodge. Well, in this case, a small town miles away from where we set up base and had hoped it would be somewhat clear by now. Out of all of us Aenne was relatively sure it would at least a year until we might be truly safe.

Safe to roam the streets without a gun in my hand and feel like there's a neon arrow above my head that called out Lunch is served! To be able to go home and try to go back to some semblance of a normal life, even if that is no longer possible. Even without them running around the streets…once they're finally gone, what's left for us?

When this all started I was visiting my cousin and everything just seemed to go hell. He woke me up and threw clothes at me, all the while gathering up every piece of hardware he could carry. He had been in the military, as had much of the men in my family, and now worked at a private security firm so I wasn't surprised when I saw the amount he had amassed. As the only daughter I was strongly discouraged from joining, as I had a hard time dealing with authority. But it didn't mean I didn't spend all my free time learning to shoot with my crazy grandfather who no one spoke to. And I was a quick study. So when Roadie, also known as Rodney Mulholland, handed me a gun, I asked no questions as I grabbed my pack and we sped out of the apartment.

Roadie had been recalled early that morning to the compound out of where he had been based and where I was hoping to apply for a position. When we got there, we found very few had made it back. We tried reaching the others he had worked with for hours but couldn't get through. I checked my phone and found posts of weird attacks everywhere in the country and even a few overseas. When it was obvious no one else was showing up, they set the building on lock-down and set up watch rotations. We took turns checking the monitors for any new arrivals and calling out every hour but by morning the phone lines were down. I was beyond worried about my own family back home but could only hope things would calm down soon. If anything, I had hoped the military would step in to try to restore order.

And so we waited.

It was at least a week before I won the argument to go out into the city to find out what was happening. We only got the Emergency Broadcast screen shot when you turned on the television but without any useful information and there was nothing but static on the radio. I wasn't sure what we would find but it was difficult to drive into what was normally a busy metropolitan area and find that it was now in complete chaos. There were fires everywhere the eye could see, with abandoned vehicles making it difficult to get anywhere in the city. It didn't long to notice that there were no people roaming the streets. Situations like this usually brought out every sort of rioter and it was if everyone had disappeared.

It wasn't until later that we spotted one shuffling a few blocks down. He at first looked like an ordinary man and it wasn't until he turned his blood stained body towards us and screeched that we knew something terrible had happened. We barely made it out, having been separated from the only other volunteer who wanted to make sure his girlfriend was alright. I felt badly as we drove like hell out of the city for not being able to go back for him as we were chased by a large group, hoping that he had enough ammo with him to make it somewhere safe. And so we made it back to the enclosed compound, knowing it was possibly the only safe place for us.

Once we decided we needed to look around for possible survivors, Roadie and I took one of the well armored vehicles back into the city to search around. That's when I first met Aenne Cole. She was about to become "lunch" when Roadie and I heard her screams and I ran in, in my usual impulsive fashion with guns drawn and took them down. We checked her for bites, making certain she was unharmed before taking her with us. For a while she would just sit in the corner, staring off into space. I spent weeks trying to get her out of her head and knew she would be okay once she finally broke into a smile when I gave her sweets.

"Moll, are you feeling better?" asked Gabriel Redgrave, our driver.

I briefly looked at his dark blue eyes that were looking intently at me in the rearview mirror and nodded at him. I tried not to admit it but the sound of his deep voice affected me on some level but we were a team and I didn't need the complications. I picked up my phone, glad for the distraction even if there was little left to see.

"Why do you even carry that? No one has posted an update in months," he commented and I could see Aenne try to cover a smirk as she turned towards her own window and stuck another piece of candy in her mouth.

"You never know, Gabe. Someone out there might still be able to read my updates. I need them to know we're still going out looking for others," I said as I logged in.

Hailey Mulholland at thelightbeforethedarkness.