God, She was beautiful. The type of beautiful I would immediately fall forward on my knees for. Even with that massive knife strapped to her waist and her pistol aimed at my face, I stared in awe. She no doubt had more weapons hidden away in her boots. Her eyes were a series of impossible greens. Dark green with a ring of pale green around them, and above all that even darker spots of green flecked her eyes. Her golden-streaked brunette hair fell over her shoulder in one smooth straight lock, standing out against her black tank top like a lighthouse in the darkest night. Even though I knew a shower in this day and age was rare, she looked pure and clean. Her hair gleamed and her eyes flashed dominance and hatred. But, was that a brief look of wonder? I could've sworn I saw something else in her eyes. But I can't afford to think like this. I snap back to reality, quickly ducking and rolling to the side. I swear I could feel the bullet whiz by my ear, but that's better than a blown out brain. As I sprang back up, I took a defensive stance that could turn into something dangerous in a seconds notice. She scowled, and even then she looked beautiful. Stop thinking like that. I scorned myself.

"Look, I see that this hasn't been the best start." I said, my voice cracking ever so slightly in the middle of the sentence. I mentally hit myself for it.

She inclined her head to the left. If I would have known her, I would've taken it as a hint of sorts. But I don't know her. I wish I did. Stop.

"I suppose you're correct." She said smoothly. Her voice was so confident. I could just tell she's been through a lot. I could tell she was a tough opponent, but I want her as an ally. But just her stature, the way she carries herself, She's young. But she's tough. Hell, she might as well be better than me. She just gave off that vibe, Mess with me and I'll mess you up. But that was fine with me.

"Well.." I faulted. I swallowed down the knot in my throat, looking for the best way to approach the situation. In any situation, no matter what, there's always a way to talk the enemy out. Whether it's to hold back a few seconds for help to arrive or to wait for the proper time to attack, there's always a way. But I just want to talk to her. There's always a way to assess the situation. You've just got to find it. There's usually a logical way and a gut feeling-way. I dropped my weapons to the floor and straightened up.

"My name's Matthew. Yours?" I exhaled a silent sigh of relief. A puzzled look found it's way onto her face. But it didn't last long, her guard went back up almost as quickly as it had went down. She kept her gun aimed at me, but she loosened her grip a bit. She was smart. You should always be prepared for someone to trick you. They may look harmless, but you should always be prepared for a worst-case scenario. No one can be trusted. But maybe, one day, that statement would change.

"Alice We-" She stopped. A sudden look of gloom filled her eyes.

"My name is Alice." She continued in a melancholy tone. Yet her voice was still strong. If there were any chinks in her armor, they would be hard for anyone, even the best to find.

Possible Continuation, idek

"My name is Alice." She continued in a melancholy tone. Yet her voice was still strong. If there was any chinks in her armor, they would be hard for anyone, even the best, to find. But the name. I'd known someone with that name before. In fact, I was very familiar with that name. That was my best friend's name. Well, that was long before this all happened. I met her over some stupid game I starting playing when I was little. I had been planning to stop playing for the longest time but something kept me there. Then I met her, we became friends. We started talking more often. It got to the point where I would call her everyday and we'd talk for hours. Sometimes we'd talk about the most random crap just to keep the conversation going, and I was thankful for that. Talking to her made my day. But I never got to meet her. I remember the last time I talked to her.

"Matt?"

"Yes, princess?"

"He's back.."

"So..Is this the last time?"

"Of course not. No one's worth losing you."

And then of course I remember the last time I tried to talk to her. The news in Chicago had been going crazy. There had been a recent outbreak of some disease that caused patients to become very hostile. Hostile was the best word to describe it then. Of course there had been tons of jokes, "It's the zombie apocalypse!" my friends would scream. I had laughed about it then. They said they had the outbreak in control. Obviously, they didn't. As soon as it spread to the outer parts of Chicago, I called. And called. And called. I don't know why she was the first thing I worried about, I hadn't even talked to her in months. Then the cell services went down.

Yet this girl. This girl brought him hope. There was a one in one-hundred chance this would work, but damn if he was right, it was worth it. He took a step closer to her. She tensed up and corrected her grip on her weapon. But he wasn't scared.

"Princess?" I asked softly. I saw the realization spark in her eyes, like electricity suddenly shocking life back in to her. And I grinned. God, I grinned. A smile had seemed foreign on my face, I never smiled. But this girl was always the one who could make me do it. But she never got to see me smile. Now she has. She stared at me with disbelief. Her arms shook uncontrollably, causing her G18 to fall straight to the floor with a clang. She took half a step forward before her knee buckled. She caught herself with a pained grace.

"Matt?" She barely whispered. Her voice shaky for the first time in a very long time. A random memory flitted across my mind, the day she bruised her kneecap at school and came home crying, calling him first. Her voice had sounded like it did now. This wasn't the same girl he had known before, but it was definitely her. A single tear streaked down her cheek. Followed by a second, then followed by a wave. The wall she had built for herself had come crashing down all at once. She broke down.

I couldn't stop myself.

I ran forward and wrapped my arms around her. She sank into me, sobbing into my jacket, but I didn't care anymore. We slowly fell to our knees and I just held her there. I brushed her hair softly. I had never even seen her in person before today, let alone touched her. But this felt so normal. Nothing felt normal these days. Night wasn't just night, it was absolutely dangerous. Rain seemed to fall upwards. People seemed to never be trustworthy. But I already trusted her with my life. I had dreamed of finally meeting her, and this is definitely not how, but I was fine with it. Now I could actually be here for her. I could finally show her how much I care. I could finally protect her. I pulled myself up to my feet, slowly helping her up with me. I helped her up slowly, careful to be easy on her knee incase she still had that lingering injury from so many months ago. Just to show her I remember. She glanced up at me and I had the urge to gingerly wipe the remaining tears off her face with my thumb. So I did. I removed one of my hands from her shoulders and cupped her face with my hand. Brushing my thumb across her cheekbone in a slow motion, I dried her tears. She sniffled and then covered it up with a laugh, like she's always done. I could always tell when she had been crying or was about to cry, she would always laugh. She thought crying was weak so she laughed about it. That was something I loved about her, she was so strong. She never knew how strong she was, she was so oblivious. But I think she knows now. I think she knows.

-Random entry because I don't like this transition 12-30-14-

"Hey, Aly, We're setting up camp right here. Okay? You need to sit down. I need to know what happened. Okay?" She silently agreed and took a step back. She corrected her posture and gathered her gun off the floor. She briefly smiled at me, then tucked her gun in her waistband and set her backpack down. We were in one of the few wooded areas near Detroit, the perfect place to camp for the night. I set up a small quick tent that I kept in my bag and my one sleeping bag. Alice had wondered off into the woods, only to return moments later dragging a fairly-sized log behind her. She was strong. She was independent, but I wouldn't let her be independent for long. I rummaged through my bag for my camping hatchet and found it when the sharp edge pricked my pinky. I sucked on the small wound and with my other hand pulled out the hatchet. She drug the log beside the tent and I hacked away at the end of it until I had a nice small pile of wood shavings and firewood. I make a hasty fire pit in front of the wonderful one-night home of a tent and our lovely wooden log-couch. I tossed a match into the kindling as the sun started to set. Now there was only thing we were missing, a nice lovely dinner. I jogged out into the woods and I heard Alice stifle a laugh as I got out of earshot. She was probably not used to the though of me running. But I don't get winded as easily as I used to. So let her laugh, she needs to. Life's tough now, more tough than it's ever been. I know I've always complained about my life. But now I regret wasting my time talking to her by complaining about the little things. But that's okay now. A branch above me shook, dropping a loose acorn onto my forehead. I glanced up to see a squirrel poking it's head out, staring me down as if it meant to do that. I chuckled to myself, quietly though not to scare the timid creature that I'll soon call dinner. Shooting it would be close to useless. It'd be a waste of a bullet and the impact would likely destroy much of the good meat on the squirrel. The squirrel didn't seem like it was going to be moving anytime soon. It was almost as if it wanted to die, hell, maybe it did. I can imagine life as a squirrel being pretty tough. Being high up in the trees where nothing could get me, not having to worry about food. Sounded like a hard knock life. I drew a knife out from my pocket and opened it with a flick of my wrist. I drew it back and threw, the knife expertly landing on its exact target. The squirrel fell from the tree with a damp thud. I walked out of the woods with a smug look on my face, gripping the dead animal by the tail.

"Ew." Alice said sarcastically as I wiped off the bloody knife on my pant leg.

"You've never seen such a sick puppy." I replied and she smirked. I used to say that all the time, a quote from my favorite artist and an inside joke between me and her. It flooded my mind with warm memories, old conversations and late night phone calls. I shook it off and hastily gutted the squirrel, being careful not to harm any of the good meat. I stuck the meat on a stick and handed it to her, doing the same for myself. And so here I sit next to the girl of my dreams on a log in the dark, roasting squirrel over a fire as if it were s'mores. Although the situation seemed much less than perfect, it was perfect to me. She retracted her stick from the flame and waved the charred meat under her own nose. She inhaled with a small smile and nibbled at the piece.

"Hey Matt?" She said without looking at me, her eyes fixated on the flames that danced back and forth in her eyes.

"Yes Princess?" I replied as I normally would. To me, princess wasn't just some nickname for my best friend. She was my princess, and I, well I was her loyal servant. But as I said that I swore I saw her shiver out of the corner of my eye.

"You-" She faulted, shifting her shoulders like she was trying to shake something off.

"You smiled earlier. I saw you smile." I looked her dead in the eyes. Her beautiful, flawless green eyes. So bright and full of life even when surrounded by nothing but death and destruction.

"I never meant to keep you waiting so long." I said with all seriousness. She looked at me and I couldn't help but think this is what I've always wanted. She blushed slightly, but not enough to be too noticeable.

Between the two of us, there was only one sleeping bag. Alice needed the sleep and I didn't mind staying up, so I stood watch. She slept in the tent, cozied up in the sleeping bag. She looked so peaceful. Like there was nothing wrong in the world. Maybe she just looked peaceful because I was here to protect her. No. That can't be right. I just wanted to sit by her, hold her, stroke her hair. But that'd be weird. Technically, I had just met the girl. But, I already know her. I already know all about her.

"Honestly, I think I've always loved you. It might not have always been in an romantic way, but I definitely loved you. If you weren't there, I had no idea what to do. When you were with someone else, there was just this hole in my chest. I would go find other people to try and make the feeling go away but it wouldn't. Even if you were mad at me, I tried not to talk to you. I tried to stop talking to you completely, But I couldn't. I just kept finding myself clicking on your profile again or hitting send on another message. I love you. I loved you then, and I love you now. Only now, I can show it better. I can actually show you.."

"Hey, Matthew," She spoke, her eyes never leaving her feet. "are we cool?" We had been walking together, side by side, for about an hour now. Walking in pure silence, the only sounds being the cool autumn breeze occasionally blowing through the leaves.