Alicia dropped to her knees and opened her backpack. She produced two candles and set them on an overturned crate. She sifted through her dwindling supplies in her pack and brought out a matchbox, sighing as she struck one of her remaining matches to light her candles. She pulled her knees to her chest and tried recalling all the events of the last few days; most of it was a blur but when she really focused she could pinpoint the exact moment things went awry.

Thunder. She remembered hearing the loud, clashing noise as she huddled close to her mother. The sound reverberated throughout the abandoned building in which they took shelter. The beach house was the best thing that had happened to them, but it was impossible to stay there after Liza took her own life. Since that tragic, terrifying day, Travis and her mom were different people. Sure, they loved each other, but Alicia sensed a feeling of numbness that created a void between them.

Alicia glanced at her charging phone; one month. It had been one month since the day at the beach house. One month that they've been on the run. They had taken a few supplies from the house; they also stopped at any and every gas station, grocery store, and pharmacy. "Pharmacies first, then gun shops, and liquor stores" Alicia's mom recounted when they found yet another pharmacy that had been ransacked and emptied. What little supplies they could scavenge hadn't lasted them long. They had run out of gas about two weeks ago. They managed to make it out past Santa Fe before running completely out of gas. Since then, they had still been struggling to make their way east, quietly hoping to find a place untouched by this hell on earth.

Her mom pulled Alicia close to her as they remained huddled closely on the ground. Madison pulled a bottle of water out of her pack and offered some to her daughter. Alicia gladly accepted it but was careful to only take one or two sips before returning it to her mother.

"I feel bad for the boys getting caught in the rain." Madison forced a smile to hide how worried she actually was. It never got easier; each time Travis, Nick, and Chris went in search of supplies Madison still worried about them.

"I'm sure they're fine, mom." Alicia mumbled while laying her head on her mom's shoulder. "Ya know, for someone who hates violence, Travis has gotten pretty good with a baseball bat." Alicia admitted.

"And who would have thought your brother would have actually gotten his shit together and started helping the family." Madison and Alicia laughed.

Three loud bangs to the front door echoed throughout the abandoned building.

"Speak of the devil..." Madison trailed off as she hopped up with a smile to welcome her heroes back. She walked towards the front door to let them in.

Alicia took this opportunity to listen to music on her phone. She didn't get the other ear bud in when she heard her mom scream, "ALICIA, RUN!"

Alicia scrambled to her feet, almost dropping her phone. It was dark in the front room; she struggled to see exactly what was happening. At that moment, lightning flashed and she could make out the silhouette of a large man holding the barrel of a shotgun right to her mom's forehead. She froze in place; unable to move or speak. Her mouth opened slightly and she barely whispered, "mom" before Madison spoke again. "Alicia, I need you to run. Please. GO."

It took every ounce of her strength to raise her left foot and begin turning around. Her leg felt heavy like a sandbag. Then she felt herself raise her right foot.

Thud.

Her right foot hit the concrete.

Thud.

Then her left.

Thud.

She made it over to a window. She pried, struggled, and tugged, but it wouldn't budge. Frantically, she scrambled to keep pulling in hopes that it would give. Still nothing. She looked to the left and right searching for something heavy to break the window. Still nothing. She heard a ruckus in the front room. It sounded like something fell over; something big. Maybe a bookshelf? Alicia needed to focus on the task at hand. Hand. She removed her flannel shirt from around her waist, wrapped it around her balled up fist, and struck the window as hard as she could. Still nothing. She backed up a few steps and made a full lunge at the window, fist out first.

She crashed through the glass and stumbled half way out it. It didn't happen as gracefully as she had planned. She scurried through the broken glass and fell onto the mud, face first. Just as she began to push herself up she heard a gunshot. Wide-eyed and mouth agape, she turned and began to run. She ran, and ran, and ran without looking back until she collapsed onto a nearby patch of grass. Crying, screaming, pounding the ground- none of these things helped fill the gaping hole in her chest. Facing the realization that her mother is probably dead, she laid down in the grass and cried until she fell asleep.