Prologue
"A with-hiss" woke me from my doze and I quickly removed my headphones just in time to be thrown to the side as my mom frantically tried to stop the car. A loud "screech" accompanied the black spots that danced in my vision, and somewhere in my subconscious I realized that the car was on fire.
I fumbled, my fingers scrambling uselessly at the seat belt. When I finally got it open, I clambered out of the car and stumbled around. I fell onto the road. I got a feeling that the car was likely to blow up soon. I crawled to the side of the road and exhausted fell down the side of the steep hill. Somewhere on the way down I hit a rock and all went dark.
Chapter 1
I woke up, sore, battered and bruised, pain and hunger being the only things on my mind. I tried to roll over, but the agony was too much. I gave up and fell unconscious once again. When I woke, this time, I was able to move; but was still starving. I had to find food and fast, I was becoming weaker by the second.
I slowly rolled to my stomach and got up, moaning in pain. As I got up I looked around, scanning my surroundings. I was in the bottom of a ravine, a tall one at that. I did a physical check. Nothing was broken but I had a large bump on my head and a burn along my arm. Not to mention various cuts and bruises. I also happened to be starving. I looked up at the sky. It seemed to be about 11 o'clock in the morning, but daylight was burning fast. I needed to find shelter and food. Or people.
I walked in to woods trying to remember exactly what happened. I walked a little while until I came to a stream. Being extremely thirsty, without a thought I immediately drank. Then a sat down on a flat rock and tried to think, to put everything in order.
My mom and I were driving down to Florida. Because my mom (Amy) was a scientist, she moved around a lot. She also didn't make much money and was married to her work. I had been homeschooled. Because of my mother's profession, I knew a lot about science, and her job. We were headed on our way down to St. Petersburg Florida because a new job opportunity came up. She had been acting strange and hadn't told me much about the job. One night she left her computer on while she took a shower in the hotel shower so I looked at the page that was up. I hadn't been able to read much because she came back out a few minutes later to grab her towel, but what I had read was talking about a new brain virus that was happening in an institute in Florida, hence the need for my mother's presence. It worried and confused me. Why had my mother been so secretive? I would like to say my mom and I were close, but we weren't really. She never talked about my father and never had me meet any of my relatives. I knew she had a sister Elizabeth, but she had died years ago. It was just my mom and I. And now she was probably dead. The realization hit me, and the grief that came with it. I tried to choke back a sob, but failed. I started crying. I never knew much about my mother but she had still been a great mom who loved me. She was also my only family.
When I was out of tears I stood up, feeling new. Almost hollow inside I stood up. I had always been a brave person but now I had to be braver. This wasn't about facing bullies or other more normal problems; this was about surviving in the Florida wilderness until found some civilization. I had no idea where I was so I chose a direction and stuck to it. I was a fit, 15-year-old girl roaming throughout the forest, trying to remember what I knew about eatable plants. Luckily it was late July so there were so berries and other small plants I knew that I found on my way.
Soon it was mid-afternoon. Time had passed so quickly. All of a sudden I stumbled out of the woods on to a place I thought to be St. Petersburg Florida. I had seen a picture of the town on my laptop when I looked it up in a Café that had free Wi-Fi. I stumbled down the embankment tripping and falling. Then I walked slowly to the town, hunger eating away at me every step. I stopped and looked around. It was a ghost town.
All too quickly I heard a loud rustle, some footsteps and something jumped at me. I heard a low unhuman-like growl and kicked out in panic. My foot connected with something and I kicked out again. Then I heard a gunshot and the weight fell off me. I scrambled backwards and put my back against a wall breathing hard, trying to figure out where the sound came from. After a few seconds I stood up slowly, ready to run at a moment's notice and started to slowly turn around. Suddenly there was a hand over my mouth and a knife at my throat. I started to struggle but soon stopped.
"I'm going to give you the benefit of the doubt because one of the turned attacked you but you better answer me quickly, are you bitten?" A man hissed in my ear. He brought his hand of just enough for me too reply.
"I have no idea what you're talking about but no I'm not bitten." I answered.
He slowly brought the knife away and his hand. I turned around and got a good look at him. He looked like he was in his twenties and had dark hair and green eyes. Behind were 2 other people, a boy and a girl about the same age. The girl had brown hair and blue eyes, and the guy had brown hair and brown eyes.
"What the hell did you mean by have you been bitten? Also who are you and what was that!" I asked pointing to the corpse.
"I'm Cheyenne" answered the girl stepping forward "This is Russ" the brown-haired guy nodded "… and this is Ryan but you'll hear us call him Cry. Also where have you been the past three days? Surely you would've heard about the outbreak!"
"Um well I kind of was in a car accident and..." I started to say but then I was interrupted.
"Alright look the suns going down and they probably heard the gunshot and will be coming, we should get inside. Come with us and we can share stories then." Interjected Ryan.
"He's right we really need to get inside" agreed Cheyenne
And so I followed them, being ever so careful and quiet, thinking to myself. What's one of the turned? Who's 'they'? Why should I trust these people I just met them! And what is so familiar about Ryan, Russ and Cheyenne?
