It was hot. Really hot. The first things through Sienna's mind were sweat, gross, and hot. She turned on her side as the itchy sheets rose up her midriff scratching her bare stomach. There had been a lot of things she'd envisioned the end of the world to be…but stuck in the south during the wicked summer with a bunch of the undead outside her cabin was not among the guesses. She glared at the ceiling as a bead of sweat slowly made its way down her temple. Tomorrow she would have to bathe. She hadn't been to the river for a water run in nearly eight days and she was out. The tiny glow in the dark stars winked at her fading into the darkness of the ceiling in the nights wake. No matter how much she wanted to change it she was alone. This house wasn't even hers. It had probably been someone's summer cabin holed up in the dank woods. She used it now. She'd found three bodies inside a closet to the back; a family. It had been a mother, son, and father who'd ended it before the undead had gotten to them. She didn't blame them. It was a disgusting way to live like this. There was an almost maddening silence encasing her at night. It drove her nuts. She desperately wanted to hear someone else talk, say something, anything. She'd stolen a CB Radio from an old trucker tank on the highway but no one had ever responded.

Turning on her side she stared at the window she'd boarded up with planks of plywood from the cellar of the place. Every window in this cabin was boarded up and nailed shut. Those things were strong and in numbers could bust glass like a balloon filled with water. Sienna had learned from her first apartment on the ground floor just outside of the city that if they saw or smelled you inside the homes they would climb in like rats. It would be glorious though to see the moon just before she closed her eyes. She knew better though. Going outside at night was a death sentence unless you absolutely had too. There was a noise outside. A shuffling followed by a dry groan that sounded like sandpaper mixed with a yelp. One of those things was searching for food. Sienna stiffened in the old twin bed gripping the sheets. There was no way it would even smell her through the walls of the cabin but if she could hear it…well, it scared her. Over the last few months she'd killed enough of them, ran from enough of them, and fought enough of them to let fear drive her instincts. She reached under her pillow for the coal hunting knife gripping the edges until her knuckles stretched in protest. Shuffle…shuffle…gurgle…The thing kept moving like a train on never ending tracks. She sighed letting a wave of relief calm her nerves. The door to the room was bolted shut with a new key and lock kit she'd found in an old convenient store down the highway not far from the woods end. She'd also made sure to block it with furniture like the oak dresser to ensure that anyone who broke in at night wouldn't be able to break into this room without waking her up.

Sienna was pretty sure that it had been about a year since shit had hit the fan. She wasn't sure because her phone had died, she'd never found a calendar, and she didn't really care anymore. When your goal was to wake up, grab your gun, and survive everyday sometimes the larger things in life like the date didn't matter so much anymore. The TVs had all promised government bases filled with supplies and safety for families. That had been a total bust. Every encampment that she had found with military gear had been ransacked. The men there had tried for total control of the citizens and there had been so much panic. People had turned on people, killed each other, and then those things had broken the edges of the camps. At times they moved in herds like slow moving cattle fixated on one purpose; to find food. No amount of fire power could hold back three hundred dead bodies pushing and grappling for people behind those makeshift walls. The ones who survived were small groups and individuals. Sienna hadn't been able to find any groups alive and she'd been separated from her friends in college. She didn't have any family, well none that wanted her, so when the world ended she didn't bother finding them either.

She'd lived in a small apartment off campus near the edge of town when this had begun. Her major had been biological studies which was a joke with the things they were facing now. She'd tried collecting blood samples but with no fridge to keep them in and nothing to test them with she wasn't helping society any. Sienna wasn't sure there was much she could do to help anyway. By this point it was possible that the disease had spread beyond the United States and into the world; across seas. There was a daft draft filtering through the room from the attic upstairs and the loft overhead. It was a welcome reprieve from the heat pouring into every cell of her body. She reached up rubbing the back of her hands over her eyes tiredly. Sleep seldom came anymore for her. It had gotten harder and harder the longer she'd gone without human contact. Sienna knew that she was facing total isolation and that it was possible not many had survived. She glanced at her gun propped up in the corner appreciating how many times it had saved her life. She'd pried it from a dead soldier's arms in a camp and stolen shells from under his bunk. The end of the world really sucked. She feared she was coming closer and closer to going freaking insane and if she came to that point she was just going to take a bullet to the skull.

There was a strange crackling in the bottom drawer from the dresser beside the door. She shot upright and quickly threw the wool covers off scrambling over wooden floor her feet slipping since they were slick. She slid and caught the dresser hitting it with her hip sucking in a sharp breath. She yanked the drawer open her eyes wide and heart thumping in panic. Could it be? Oh please don't be going crazy…this had to be real…she couldn't take it if it weren't…

"Hello….Hello…Is anyone there….?" A voice called over the CB she kept stored away. For a long moment she couldn't even think to respond as tears began to well in her eyes. A human being…that was alive! RESPOND her brain shouted! She grabbed the receiver and clicked it.

"Hello!?" she rushed out her voice gruff and scratchy. There was silence. Her heart began to sink. She'd only imagined it…

"HELLO…Who is this? Are you safe? Is there a safe place to travel too? We are just outside the city…" dead air. She couldn't believe it. Her heart was literally about to beat outside her chest.

"Yes! Yes there is a safe place! Outside the city, old route seven…how many are there?" she asked.

"Two. There are two. We're brothers…oh thank god…I didn't think we'd hear from anyone…ever…Can…Can we join you?" the man added solemnly.

"Can I trust you?" it was an important question. Again silence.

"That's really something you'll have to ask yourself." He said irking her patience.

"Route seven. Go about nine miles out, hang a left, if you have a car leave it at the old cracked tree by the road. I'll meet you there at sunrise. If you're late I'll shoot…is that clear?" she said in what she hoped was a stern voice.

"We understand. We'll be there…" she was about to go sit back on the bed to collect herself, "Thank you." The man's voice said gently.

She wasn't the last person alive…others were out there...