CHAPTER ONE

It was midnight. I woke up groggily to the sound of breaking glass and a shrill scream. The undead had been coming at us relentlessly for days now. I kicked my legs over the side of the couch and ran to the master bedroom where the scream came from. Out of habit now, I grabbed the gun and had it aimed for the walking corpse by the time I reached the door. I shot, not hesitating to reload my gun. The dead man toppled backwards before splitting his head on the bed post.

He was dead long enough to the point where blood wasn`t even in his system anymore. "Sickening.", I said to nobody. As I spat on the creature, a little face popped out of the closet.

"Is it gone Joey?", asked the little girl.

"Yeah. It`s gone. Who knows what he did to deserve that."

My name is Joey Haston, and with my two sisters and my three best friends in tow, we`ll make it to safety. A paradise where the decaying flesh of poor, lost, flesh-craving souls can`t reach us. It was supposed to be in the middle of a huge forest in Washington. Right now, we were in Nebraska, coming in from Iowa. It would take a long time to reach our goal, but I know we can do it.

Hershel came in with Sam clamped tightly to his arm. Hershel is my absolute best friend. We`ve known each other since I can remember. He has a neatly cut head of black hair and blue eyes. Sam, who is the older one of my sisters is 12 and scares too easily. I don`t blame her though. She has light blonde hair that`s short. My hair is the same light blonde, but I keep mine in a high pony tail. However, where she has gray eyes, I have dark green eyes like Heidi my other sister.

Stan and Isabel were the last ones to come in as we regrouped to check each other for bites and scratches. Stan ran a hand through his brown hair and held me. We were engaged when this epidemic started, but now we`re not just in case one of us dies. Isabel turned to the body. "Josephine, what the hell were you thinking? Tù es una chica loca!"

I nodded and grabbed Heidi`s hand. "We need to start moving before the others come to feast on their fallen comrade. Let`s go."

We grabbed what we could carry. With guns and ammo strapped to our backs and three big backpacks filled with matches, food, water, spare clothes, soap, and a first aid kit, we marched out the door in a group. Standing back to back with Sam and Heidi in the middle, we made three blocks before the first moans came into earshot. I swung my rifle in front of me. Sam whimpered behind me and Heidi clutched on to her.

Armed, we walked warily past the city limits and into the countryside. Most zombies hang out in the city, where majority of people would rather be. Not to mention other fellows of the undead. By the time we reached Kimball city limits, it was already light out. The place was a ghost town. I mean, it wasn`t very big to begin with, but compared to now, it would seem like a buzzing metropolis.

Papers fluttered across the ground and a mix of dust and dirt formed dust devils on the pavement. The gas station was have burned down and the buildings were covered with blood stains. I heard Sam and Heidi start to cry. Stan sighed, "Poor guys. This whole place was probably lunch. Promise me if I ever die, you`ll shoot me three times to make sure I stay dead."

I nodded and put a hand on his cheek. "I promise. And in return, you do the same for me. But make sure Sam and Heidi don`t see."

"Of course, Joey. I`m not so cruel as to make your little sisters watch you die. They`ve seen enough."

Hershel pointed out an alley. "You guys hear that? Someone`s rummaging a trash can."

Isabel tensed and said, "How do we know it`s not something? Besides, allies lead to dead ends. That`s the last thing we need. Not only would things be trying to gnaw on us, we`d be stuck and have to use our ammo."

Heidi`s quivering voice surprised us all. "Well, if it`s a person, we can`t leave them. Can we Joey?"

I sighed, "Stan and I will check it out. Heidi and Sam, take the machetes. Hershel and Isable, please keep watch."

Everybody nodded and Stan took my hand as we tiptoed toward the sound of clanging metal. Old candy wrappers, plastic containers, papers, and crushed cans littered the pavement. The street was filled with puddles where potholes had filled with rain water. We heard a splash, a swear, and saw a metal garbage can hit the brick. A man yelled, "Screw it! I`m gonna die and turn into one of those freakin` monsters! Damn it all to hell!"

Stan yelled in a lighthearted voice, "You should watch your language. People`ll take you for an asshole!"

A head of 23 year old man appeared. With a gun. He poked it toward us. "And you are?"

I spoke clearly, "Survivors. Plain and simple. There`s six of us. Four teenagers and two children. Who are you?"

He emerged wearing an old, stained t-shirt and jeans filled with holes. "I`m also a survivor. It`s jus` me an` my dog. I`m lookin` for people to travel with. Better survival chances. Can I come along with you?"

Stan nodded. "Sure. Don`t even try to steal our stuff and leave us. That makes more blood on your hands."

He put his gun down and kicked it towards us. Walking towards us slowly, he picked it up again and walked in front of us all the way to the rest of the group. He smiled and said, "Well, if we`re travelin` together, might as well get acquainted. I`m Frank and this-". He let out a shrill whistle and a big shaggy dog came out of nowhere, "is Buster."

Gesturing to everyone and then myself I said, "This is my boyfriend Stan, my two sisters, Sam and Heidi, Hershel, and Isabel. And I`m Josephine, but I go by Joey."

He lifted his chin up and replied. "Nice to meet you, Joey. I think Buster and your sister are gonna be great friends."

I looked over my shoulder. Sure enough, Sam was cuddling Buster while he licked her. That`s good, I thought, she needs something to give her a sense of security. Heidi giggled as Buster nudged his nose into her shoulder and licked her ear. She squealed, "Eww! Dog spit!"

Everyone was laughing. We made our way through Kimball in less than half an hour. By now it was about eight in the morning. Heidi was sleeping piggy-back on Isabel and Sam was walking next to Buster. I yawned and Stan let me lean into his shoulder while we walked. I thought of how different things were two weeks ago. Stan had proposed three days before the epidemic got out of quarantine. It spread like wild fire. We had an apartment in Des Moines, but my sisters and parents lived in Sioux City.

We had hitchhiked before cars were too dangerous and risky to use. By the time we got to the house in Sioux City, I had to use the emergency shot gun on Mom and Dad. Stan found Heidi in a closet and Stan locked in the bathroom with a butcher`s knife. I felt tears roll down my cheeks as I thought about my parents. My mom was one of the prettiest women I`d ever seen, but she was down to earth. We fought a lot.

Stan stopped and hugged my suddenly. He whispered gently, "Hey. You okay Joe?"

I nodded and wrapped my arms around his waist. "Yeah, I just hate what`s happened."

We kept walking as he said, "Everyone does. But this`ll blow over and everybody`s going to be okay."

I grabbed his hand. "And then we can get married and start a family, right? And Heidi and Sam can live with us."

He kissed the top of my head. "Right."

Frank turned around. "Hey! Lovebirds! We`ve got company."

Everybody got into the group with backs to the center. Sam held her machete in front of her while Heidi stayed behind her. Buster bared his teeth and let out a low growl as a decaying mound staggered over the irrigation pipes. Frank loaded his gun and said, "Stay outta the cornfield and shoot only when necessary."

I attached the ammo belt to my bag and loaded my own gun. Frank and Stan took point while Isabel and Hershel took the back. I stayed with my sisters and the dog. This one had been dead a while. It`s fingers were broken and it had patches of green-blue decaying skin. It smelled like rotting flesh. I`m pretty sure the zombie used to be a girl. She looked like she had been no older than Sam.

The dead thing threw itself at Frank and Stan. One shot sounded and it fell over. The bullet hole was straight between the eyes. Isabel tensed as one more fire rang out as a check to make sure it stayed dead. We kept walking with the guns pointed out as a roll of thunder swept over the fields.

The rain thumped against the ground. I grabbed the spare hoodies and travel ponchos I brought. Heidi and Sam too the ponchos while the rest of us took the already soaked hoodies. The group of zombies we saw up the road in pack were scattered now. They were making their way towards us, but now they were aimlessly wandering bumping into each other. I heard Hershel mutter, "The hell-?"

As we passed on the side of the road, the dead didn`t even notice us. I took a memo recorder out of my pocket from my days as a live action news caster. "Note to self: Rain thwarts zombie`s sense of smell."

Stan gave me a questioning look, but I shook him off. He wouldn`t understand why, of all things, I always manage to keep the recorder on me. Isabel looked at the sky and said, in her thick Spanish accent, "Why aren`t they acknowledging us?"

Frank shot her a funny look. "You want them to?"

She smiled. "`Course not. But this is really weird, isn`t it?"

"Yeah. But we should talk about this later and not waste this blessing."

She shrugged. "I guess you`re right. Joey, you get a note of it?"

I nodded. "Sure did. But I agree with Frank, we should keep moving." It took us five more hours to find an old shed filled with farm supplies and set up camp. Lucky for us, there was some dry firewood in there. Only half the roof was on the shed, but the rain hadn`t reached this far, because the ground was dry. I laid out a few blankets and Hershel started a fire. Isabel flipped radio stations to see if she could get anything other than static. It was impossible.

We started a small fire, which wasn`t the smartest idea, but we were all cold and wet. I served canned ravioli to everybody. Surprisingly, canned ravioli doesn`t taste too bad when it`s cold. It just gives you really bad breath. Sam and Heidi fell asleep on Buster as Frank stroked the dog`s head. Isabel was in between Hershel and Frank. Hershel and Stan were having a low conversation while I stoked the fire. I tied a piece of twine to loose bolt in the shed over the fire. The hoodies and ponchos were hanging above so they could dry, along with everybody`s socks. Hershel`s parents had passed their extreme sports survivalist tips to him. The first thing he made everybody do was take off their socks.

He said, "Well, you wanna walk on blistered feet. `cause nobody here`s inclined to carry you." I admit the socks would get all crunchy the next day and it would be painful to walk. It was only 1:30 in the afternoon,but everybody was completely wiped out from last night. We didn`t get into bed until nine and we were up and moving again by midnight. I was surprised that Isabel wasn`t grouchy. She gets grouchy when she`s sleep deprived.

Being out in the middle of nowhere, in a small shed, in the middle of a wheat field, was the safest place we`d been in two weeks. Every other night we`d been on the ground floor of an apartment building, or in a house. We were going through hell right now, so this "safe" forest, better be worth something. I drifted off into a light sleep, cuddling my gun and Stan`s arm.