"Morning, handsome,"

Ed opened his eyes groggily to see a smiling Diana propped up on her elbow beside him. God, this woman was an angel. He still had no idea how such an amazing woman chose him of all people to be her husband. But none of that mattered. He was blessed with two beautiful girls in his life, and he couldn't have been more proud.

"Hello yourself," he replied, giving her a quick peck on the lips before sitting up and heading towards the bathroom of their hotel room. They'd been coming back to Savannah every year since their honeymoon, and stayed at the Marsh House every time. They had some fond memories of this place over the years, and they'd sort of grown attached to the atmosphere of the people. The boats and the view of the water were nice touches too.

"So, what's the plan for today?" Ed asked, drying his hair with a towel.

"I thought maybe we'd rent one of those little motorboats they have down at the pier, maybe do some shopping and then eat. We need to pick something up for Clementine."

"What do you think she'd like?"

Mulling it over for a bit, Diana considered her options. "Well she's already got enough souvenirs to fill her treehouse, and I don't think she'd want another hat. She really seemed to like the one you gave to her."

"Good. I was worried she'd think it was lame or something."

"Give yourself some credit," Diana remarked, before an idea came to her head. "How about a colouring book? She's used enough paper to cut down two trees, wouldn't that be nice?"

"Sounds good. How's about I go rent the motorboat and meet you downstairs after?"

"Sure, but I might need a while to get ready."

"You, my darling," Ed smirked as he placed his hand on the doorknob, "don't need anything to make yourself beautiful."

"Now you're just trying to butter me up."

"Is it working?"

"Maybe."

Thirty-five minutes later…

"Come on… seriously, how long does it take to have a shower?" Ed mumbled to himself, leaning against the brick of the Marsh House as he looked to the sky. His thoughts drifted to his daughter, and he hoped that she was doing alright. Secretly, Ed was pretty sure that Clementine could take care of herself if she really wanted to, but a part of him still wanted to keep her safe and sheltered. Parental instincts, he guessed it was.

She truly was growing up too fast for his liking. Ed just wanted her to be his little girl forever; his little princess that was the big source of his genuine happiness. But he knew one day that he'd have to let her go, regardless of the pain that might cause him. Nevertheless, when Ed got home he'd make sure to take his daughter out for one of their little fishing trips that he sometimes planned. Oh, how he missed those.

Ed's thoughts were broken as he heard what sounded like a… moan? He wasn't exactly sure, but whatever it was, it was coming from a man trudging aimlessly out in the middle of the road.

Not wanting him to get hit, but also concerned that he was sick, Ed slowly walked towards the man.

"Everything alright?" he asked, not getting a response or even an acknowledgement that he had heard him. Frowning slightly, Ed walked straight up to the guy and carefully placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Hey man, are you okay? Did you need any help…"

The eyes were wrong. So very wrong. They were grey, foggy and empty of any emotion except… an unrelenting hunger, it looked like. The man's face was starting to peel away in strips, and Ed thought he was going to be sick himself. Without warning, the sick man snarled venomously and lunged his head forward, his teeth taking a chomp into Ed's shoulder.

"Shit!" Ed yelled out, shoving the guy to the ground and sprinting as fast as he could back inside the Marsh House. Not turning around to see if the man was following him, Ed ran up the stairs and almost smashed into his wife, who was startled and concerned when she saw blood seeping through his shirt.

"Oh my god, Ed! What happened to you?"

Grunting and letting out a hiss of pain, Ed lowered his collar so that she could get a better look. The wound looked really painful, and it looked as though it was only going to get worse if they didn't get some medical treatment.

"Some guy bit me out there!"

"What?! He bit your shoulder?"

"Yeah! I went out to ask him if he needed help, and then he turned around and bit my shoulder! There was something weird about him though," he placed a hand on the side of his face for added effect. "He had blotches of skin missing, and he didn't even look human!"

"Ed, come on, don't be ridiculous," Diana shook her head.

"I'm dead serious!"

"You're probably just in shock, honey," Diana soothed, rubbing his arm tenderly, "but it sounds like he might have had rabies. Come on, we need to get you to the hospital."

Since Ed insisted that they not go through the front door in case the crazy person was still there, they exited out the back towards the parking lot where their old Chevrolet was situated. Turning on the ignition and driving out into the street, the couple were alarmed at what they were seeing. Masses of people were yelling and running all over the place – some of whom were yelling at Diana to turn back around.

"I'd better call Sandra and let her know what's going on," she mentioned, shaking her head in disbelief.

Message one: Hey Sandra, this is Diana! We're still in Savannah, umm Ed had a little incident with some crazy guy near the hotel so we had to get him to the hospital and have it checked out. Anyway, he's probably not going to feel well enough to drive back tonight so we'll be staying an extra day. Thanks so much for looking after Clementine and I promise we'll be back in time for your spring break!

"I'm sure I'll be fine, hon," Ed tried to say, but his wife was having none of it.

"With all this going on I'd be surprised if we could even get out. And by the looks of things," she pointed towards the large traffic jam gathering close to the hospital, "I'd say we're gonna be a while."

"Looks like the boat ride's out of the picture."

"Seems that way."

Later that afternoon…

"Everyone remain calm! We've got this all under control! But we're going to need your cooperation!" the army lieutenant shouted into the megaphone, surrounded by a team of soldiers who were doing their best to keep the people from rioting.

This of course was all happening outside, thankfully, as Diana almost ran several people over in her attempt to get Ed into the ER for treatment. She watched the scene with horror as hundreds of frightened civilians were marching towards the hospital… If only they knew that they wouldn't be able to get inside.

"Excuse me, Diana?"

She turned around and sighed with relief as one of the doctors stood before her.

"Oh thank goodness, is Ed alright? I haven't heard anything yet."

"Ma'am, we've given your husband several antibiotics, but frankly this is an infection we've never seen before," he explained sadly, "We're going to keep monitoring his condition until something changes, but you're welcome to see him if you'd like."

Nodding vigorously, Diana quickly followed the doctor to Ed's room, where he was jacked up to some kind of machine that she couldn't remember the purpose of. That's not what was scaring her though. Ed's complexion had turned to a ghostly pale colour, his eyes were only slightly open and he looked incredibly weak.

"Ed? Honey, can you hear me?"

Relief swept over her when he gave a weak "yes", but it was quickly replaced with worry as she realized what the doctor had told her.

"This is an infection we've never seen before…"

"What's going on… out there?" he asked, referring to the yells of people that even he could hear from inside his hospital room.

"I'm not sure," she admitted, grabbing hold of his hand and squeezing, "I'm not going to leave you though, okay?"

"Thanks… Have you… talked to Clem yet?"

"The line's been busy all day."

About two hours had passed, and Ed's condition was only getting worse. What's more, most of the hospital staff had tried to flee, but the couple was shocked as they heard gunshots roaring down the hallway, and military officials barricading the doors with whatever they could find.

Are they killing people?! Diana thought horribly, poking her head out into the hall to see if anyone was coming for them.

"Hon… try calling… Sandra…" Ed wheezed out, pointing a shaky hand at her cellphone that was sitting on one of the hospital chairs.

If Diana wasn't freaking out before, she certainly was now as she frantically dialed their home number. She just prayed that this time it would actually…

Message two: Oh my god, finally… I don't know if you tried reaching us – all… all the calls are getting dropped. They're not letting us leave and aren't telling us anything about Atlanta… Please, please just… leave the city and take Clementine with you back to Marietta! I've gotta get back to Ed. Please let me know that you're safe!

"…Ed? Honey… please wake up… oh my god, no, please no…."

"…tell Clementine… I love her… and Daddy's so… so proud…"

Try as she might, Diana could not get Ed's heart back up. His pulse was gone and the spot where that man had bit him was swollen, bloody and gruesome. His eyes were completely shut now, and Diana was heartbroken.

Ed was dead.

She cried beside his bed in a complete state of despair. She had waited for a doctor all night after her last phone call, but deep down she knew that nobody was coming. Diana could hear the low moans coming from outside earlier and as she looked out the window, all she could see was madness.

People were dying left and right – the military was unable to restore order, and in fact many of them had been killed by those… monsters. That's all she could call them, monsters. Whatever happened to make them like this definitely wasn't a simple case of rabies. It killed her husband, and with all likelihood was going to kill her too.

There was only one thing she could do now, as Ed reopened his eyes and groggily scanned the room, eliciting a low growl when she spotted Diana sitting in the chair opposite him.

Message three: Clementine, baby? If you can hear this, call the police… That's nine… one… one… We love you… we love you… we love y-

The phone dropped uselessly to the floor as Ed lunged forward, silencing them both forever.