Chapter One: Goodbye
I always knew there would come a day where I would grow up and I'd have to live without my parents. I just never imagined it'd be so soon or under these circumstances. My mom was a doctor and my dad was in the United States Marine Corps. The outbreak started early September. I remember because my dad was shipped out August 18th, they told him that it was an emergency and that a highly contagious and deadly virus made its way over to the United States. He was dad was then sent to New York City. My mom and I didn't think much of it since it hadn't made news. Truth was it hadn't made news because they thought they could contain it, they didn't want to cause mass panic.
It finally hit the news four weeks before October 31st. they told us to evacuate our homes and head to the big cities or in our case Atlanta. Luckily, my mom decided that we should take our chance here at home. A week later my dad came home, he told us that Atlanta was in really bad condition and that we needed to leave. So we did, we traveled as much as we could to avoid those things. I was twelve years old when it started, my baby sister, Lexi, was four. After about year, we realized things weren't gonna be getting better for a long time. My dad was always trying to teach me everything he knew. I already knew how to shoot, hunt and fight but he teaching me how to survive.
That was the year my mom died; she was ripped to shreds by the biters while trying to protect my sister and I while our dad was on a run. After that things were never the same. My dad became cold and distant only speaking when necessary. He blamed himself for what happened, even though it wasn't his fault. A year later my dad died, he was shot by some guy who was trying to take advantage of me, luckily my dad didn't die immediately, and he managed to kill the guy before he died. My dad was shot on his left side, causing him to bleed out. He was alive for a good fifteen minutes before he killed himself to keep himself from turning. I still remember every word he said to me before his final breath.
"Amara, you have to be strong, now. You have to take of yourself and your sister. Remember everything I taught you, because someday you'll have to teach Lexi. Don't use your gun unless you have no choice, aim for the head." He said to me.
"Daddy, No! You're gonna be fine! I can't do this without you" I shouted beginning to cry.
"Amara, look at me. Yes, you can." He tried to reassure me.
"You don't know that." I replied looking at him.
"Yes, I do. I know because you are a very strong young lady. Now stiffen the lower lip soldier," He said to me while taking off his dog tags. "These are yours now."
I put them on immediately. My baby sister was holding on to dads arm until he told me to take her and cover her eyes. I did as I was told and he did what he needed to. My sister and I sat there for about an hour. Before I told her we need to keep moving. It was like I was in bad dream that just wouldn't end.
Here I am three years later, I'm seventeen and my sister would've been nine. Six months after dad died, I left her at camp our camp alone and that was when the biters got her. I should've have been so careless. I was supposed to be her guardian an I failed. I'm on the road, I'm head to a place called Terminus. A sanctuary.