It was such a simple task. Go to the store and grab a few things. She knew it was risky, with all the strange stories on the news, the pandemic was bound to spread to the small town where Hallie grew up. But the few things she needed were essential.
Hallie had just finished checking out and was heading for the automatic doors. She didn't even see it coming until the creature grasped a younger girls hair, standing behind her. The short, skinny girl screeched, her hands desperately trying to free her blonde hair. Her eyes had pure fear in them, the same fear Hallie knew too well. Screams erupted from all around, everyone terrified of the monster.
She quickly searched the checkout counter looking for something to knock the hideous creature off of her. The handle of a broom stuck out behind the register and she snatched it. She swung with all the stregth that her long arms could muster and hit it in the head. It let out a loud roar and staggered back, releasing the girl. But Hallie didnt stop there,running up to it she pushed it to the ground. Her hands gripped the broom harder and she repeatedly rammed the handle into its skull. Each time the broom collided with its head, dark blood and brain matter spewed out.
It finally lay still and Hallie breathed heavily, trying to regain the breath that she had lost. The screams that came from the crowd that had gathered, became louder. A mother was shielding her son from the gore while next to them was an man holding a terrified woman. How innocent they looked.
She looked at the face of the walker, It was a man a few years older than herself. There was still a bit of handsomeness to his sickly gray face and his t-shirt was tattered, with flesh showing on his shoulder. Hallie knew she had seen him before, but couldn't remember when or where. It was definitely before he had turned. She slowly stood up and turned back to the blonde girl who was attacked, her curly hair was in a tangled mess but fine other wise.
A man with a beer belly started asking questions. Hallie was still in shock and couldn't comprehend anything he was saying. She felt her heart violently beating almost out of her chest. Hallie focused on one of the many questions he was shooting at her. "I'm fine, she breathlessly answered.
"How did you know how to handle the..." He hesitated searching for the word, "thing?"
It took every bit of effort she had left to answer the wide eyed man, while not panicking.
"Experience", Hallie shakily breathed.
A shocked expression crept onto his wrinkly face, it was obviously he had never seen one before. He only nodded then, turning back to the girl. Hallie quickly grabbed the things She bought and stormed out to dark blue ford truck, in effort to escape the fear that would soon be overwhelming.
She climbed in and stared out the windshield and went over what happened, finally taking it all in. Hallie put the key in the ignition and turned it when she realized her hands had the dark blood of the walker on them. The young woman's breath came heavy puffs again as her head fell in her small hands, trying to regain the self control she lost. Her small body started shaking from the same fear she had seen in the blonde girls eyes. It was never easy for her to kill them, they were once human after all. The blood and guts didn't bother her like most people but... Hallie shook her head. This was not helping, she needed to stop thinking about it.
The grocery store would be shut down by tonight, and by tomorrow most of the people in the town will have left. They would try to find somewhere safe, to protect the ones they loved. Hallie didn't have that problem, she was not an important person in her family anymore.
She snapped out of her thoughts and started the truck. Her body was still shaking but she had to get home before the sun went down. Hallie wanted to catch the news, to see how far the horrific events had spread. The drive home seemed longer than normal, while not even paying attention to the road. She couldn't get the thought of the undead creature out of her mind. The truck pulled into the drive way and parked in front of the apartment building. She grabbed the bags of supplies and climbed the stairs to the building. Her eyes scanned the room once inside, everything exactly the way it was left. The first thing she did was reach for the remote and turn on the TV. The screen flashed on and The weather man was pointing at storms on the screen that would be arriving in two days.
Hallie walked to the kitchen and pulled out a pan, when she remembered her blood stained hands. She went down the hall to the bathroom and saw long brown hair in a braid that had become loose. The still panic stricken face had spots of deep red splattered across the defined cheekbones while her light blue eyes still had a hint of fear in them. That fear was never going to go away, forever stuck in her mind, constantly haunting.
She sighed and put her hands in the warm water from the faucet, scrubbing the blood off her tan skin. She took a washcloth and gently rubbed her face until red. She rested her elbows on the sink with her head in her hands. She took deep breaths trying to clear her clouded mind.
Hallie couldn't handle breaking down again, not of she wanted to get through this horrible mess. She stood up straight, looking at herself once more before walking out. Hallie went to the kitchen and started cooking eggs while absently listening to the TV.
"A walker was spotted and killed this afternoon at Lexington grocery store. The walker had reportedly grabbed middle schooler, Macey Parkson, but was quickly killed with a broom by an anonymous woman before any injuries were made." Hallie sat down on the worn out couch, crossing her legs with the eggs resting in her lap while listening to the rest of the report.
"The supermarket has closed down until further notice. This is the first sighting of walkers in Texas, and will hopefully be the last. There has been no response from Governor Valton yet." She shut off the TV and slowly finished the eggs. It was Thursday and there was still homework that was due tomorrow. Hallie was desperate to keep her mind off of the past weeks events, so she submerged herself with US History and Geometry.
All Hallie knew was this would definitely not be the last time she would see walkers. No, this was only the beginning.

A few days had past since the grocery store incident, and at least half of the residents had left town. Hallie was determined to go on with life as if nothing had happened, She had to hold out in this town for as long as possible. There was an ongoing investigation on who killed the walker at the supermarket, but they would never find the killer in time.
It was Tuesday and the schools were still running. She didn't know how long the school would hold out, since most of the people who had left town had kids. The High school was almost deserted, with barely ten students in each of her classes. The school day dragged on and on. The few friends that Hallie had, fled for safety, leaving her with no one to talk to. Not that she talked much, she was more of a listener. She learned from her family that saying too much would end up killing you.
"Hallie?" A low voice behind her asked.
"Yeah," Hallie said, not looking up from her English assignment.
"Why didn't you leave? I mean, you don't live with your parents anymore, so you could've picked up and left without a problem,"The voice belonged to a skinny boy who sat a few seats behind Hallie.
"I don't have a reason to leave, Carson. It's not like i'd be much safer anywhere else." Hallie explained to him. Carson's parents divorced a few years ago and he lived with his dad. Hallie had been there to comfort him when he was upset over his parents, and Carson was a good friend to her throughout middle school. They had grown quite close but upon entering highschool, something unspoken had driven a wedge between them. She didn't think about it too much, Hallie figured if they were meant to be close, fate would take over. She never tried to force anything on anyone.
"Oh," Carson almost whispered. He let the conversation drop and went back to his paper.
All of a sudden a low growl came from the hallway then a much louder roar was heard. The dreaded fear crept up her spine to her neck. She ran to the door, and silently gasped at the sight. Two small walkers were ripping away at the flesh of a girl.
"Oh God," Mrs. Doser, the English teacher moaned. It was obvious on her face that she didn't handle blood well. A crowd of students gathered around the door. Hallie took in a deep breath, mentally preparing herself for what she knew was going to happen. Pushing all thoughts back, she glanced around the room until she spotted a meter stick in the corner. Hallie pushed through the group of students and gripped it. She held it to her chest and took in one last breath. Hallie returned to the door and slowly turned the knob, with the meter stick in hand.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
So this is my first story. It's obviously about the zombie apocalypse. I'm hooked on The Walking Dead and I want to I guess give my take on it. The first is just a set up for the next few chapters. I promise it gets a lot better! Please review! Thanks