Author's note: I apologize to everyone for keeping you waiting for so long. The past year has been pretty hectic, and I haven't had much of chance to keep up with the story. Now I found myself with lots of time. Chapters 22 and 23 are finished and waiting to be posted, while the final chapter is currently in the works. The first 21 chapters were done on a computer without spellcheck, so I'm going to go back and fix them all beore I put 22 and 23 up. I will also make revisions to these chapters once the stroy is complete. I want to thank everyone for the comments they have left for me. It's definately given me inspiration to write more knowing that people actually like what I do.

Surviving the Dawn

Chapter 1

I looked across the ocean of swaying, brainless bodies gathered outside my new "residence". I don't know what happened here. None of us know the answer to questions beginning with 'Why'. All we know is that these zombie creatures were trying to kill us. We don't know if they wanted to kill or if they needed to kill, and we frankly could care less. So far what we knew was that if you were bit, then slowly you would be turned into one of them. We also know that only a bullet to the head would stop them.

I turned to see the other survivors doing whatever they could to pass the time. The closest one to me was Travis. He seemed to be the leader of us, for he seemed to know best what was going on. He was sitting with his legs hanging off the top of the building and staring at the horizon. He wasn't speaking or blinking. You could just tell that he was trying to form a plan to get out of here...or he was thinking about his family.

Pacing back and forth nearby was a girl named Kate. She kept repeating something quietly over and over, but I couldn't quite hear her. She had an angry glare on her face and was walking quickly while kicking the rooftop gravel all around.

My eyes continued to wander and they found a second man. His name was Joshua. We called him JJ though because of his initials, but also because their was a large "JJ" tattooed on his back. He had a large gash on the side of his head that was bleeding into his shirt. He was checking the weapons lying around him, but never spoke. All the guns we managed to gather before being trapped in here was under careful inspection by JJ.

The last survivor with us was a small, quiet girl named Amanda. She didn't talk a whole lot, but she laughed every once in awhile. It was always one of those nervous laughs, but it still managed to break the tension. She was the only thing that reminded us we were still human: Emotions. Those creatures on the ground were brainless and emotionless. Amanda kept to herself mostly, but she was always nearby for fear of being alone.

My name is Mike. I'm just another one of the lucky few that managed to arrive here. I use the term 'lucky' very loosely. Sure I'm still human, but it's as if I'm some kind of monkey trapped behind the bars in a zoo. All these zombies are the tourists watching me, the trapped little monkey in the theater. I suppose I should talk out our living quarters. The five of us were trapped inside a movie theater. It was one of those larger theaters with 15 screens. We wandered the building aimless for a long time to get our mind off the moaning and groaning of those waiting to feast upon us. At least one form of entertainment we had was film. We never got anything new, but we never watched all of the movies in one day. We would go insane if we had to watch the same thing over and over. There was also a little television that only got channels with news broadcasting. Often times we would watch this to see what was happening outside of our home.

As of now the stations were all off air, but they come on every once in awhile. This is how we learned everything, no matter how little it may be, about these creatures. They didn't want food per say, they wanted human meat. We, on the other hand, wanted meat. Our only food was popcorn, candy, and soda. If we wanted water then we'd have to get it from one of the bathroom sinks. It sounds like every child's dream, but it was taking a toll. We could not bathe or shower. We didn't have any spare clothes. The smell was beginning to build, but we were also getting used to it.

Kate and JJ seemed to form a very close relationship. Whenever we were lounging around, she would always be hanging off of him, and it wasn't uncommon to find it hard to locate them. Travis seemed to be more focused on survival than on relationships, but I often times caught him watching Kate wherever she went. Not in a stalker type of way. When he watched her, it was as if he admired her. Amanda and I both had a little thing for each other, but it wasn't a huge thing. I'd hold her whenever she was scared, and she always kept me company. Kate and JJ's relationship was more sexual than sensual. I suppose it was the only thing we could do while being trapped here.

Our ammunition supply was very high. We had two guns for each of us, and enough ammo to fight a small army. We never used any out of rage, for we knew how important it was to spare. We had no plans for escaping because we weren't too sure if there was anyone else alive besides ourselves if the news wasn't broadcasting. I looked back to JJ as he checked and cleaned the last weapon. He put it back together, and set it with the others.

After brushing himself off he smiled and motioned at Kate. She moved towards him and sat on his lap. I looked over to Travis who knew where Kate went even if he didn't see her. He shook his head and looking down into the mob of zombies at the doors. I didn't know if he was thinking of jumping, but I put a hand on his shoulder just in case. I looked across the roof to see Amanda throwing rocks and the zombies and laughing. She smiled at me before walking to me and giving me a large hug. She held on to my waist as I watched JJ and Kate head inside the building. I started to head inside with Amanda still attached to me. I called towards Travis and he gave some notion to me so I headed inside with Amanda.

"We're stuck here," said Travis aloud to himself. "We're stuck here forever..."