The sound of the cans clinking together pierced the silence as a hand rummaged through the shelf. The fingers wrapped around the can and pulled it off the shelf.

"Raviolis," The man whispered to himself as he looked down at the can in his hand. His hazy blue eyes shined with a glimmer of joy. He lowered the can into the sack slung on his shoulder and began gathering the rest of the cans on the shelf, putting them one by one into the sack.

"What a find." A second voice sounded from the other side of the kitchen. The voice belonged to a second man. The man was on one knee in front of an open closet and was tearing open a case of water with the hunting knife he held in his hand. His dark hair stood messily upon his head, showing signs that it hadn't received a proper cut in a while. He put each water bottle into the open backpack that was lying next to him on the floor. After all the water bottles were in his backpack he zipped it shut and slung it over his shoulder. He walked over to where the first man was standing and picked up a can.

"It's the best we're gonna get." The first man declared.

"It ain't perfect, but it'll do. Life's not how it was before." The second man responded.

"I know… it's hard to believe. I'll take that." The man outstretched his hand. The second man dropped the can in his hand. The first man packed the can into his sack and pulled the opening shut.

"GUYS! Come see this!" A third voice called from another room. The two men gathered their belongings and headed into the other room. A third man was looking out of a window. He was larger than the first two and his broad shoulders were intimidating. He shared the same wispy golden blonde hair and hazy blue eyes as the first man. He pointed out the window. "Look."

The two men looked out the window to see what the third man was signaling at. Outside the house walkers lined the street in a large quantity. They traveled aimlessly around the neighborhood, their feet shuffling along the pavement and grass. They were not heading to an end destination; they just walked until something caught their attention. Besides the walkers, the neighborhood was empty. It was deserted a long time ago. Doors were in left open when the families who once occupied the house left in a rush.

"They're building up." The second man observed.

"We should probably start heading back." The first man declared.

"We still got one more house to search."

"Do you not see what's out there?" The third man interjected.

"It's a straight shot across the street. We book it; kill any of them that get in our way." The second man's eyes flared, their hazel green color contrasting against his dark hair. "We always finish a run."

The first man breathed out heavily and ran his hand over his wispy blonde hair. He weighed the options in his thoughts.

"Fine, it's a straight shot. No noise." The first man finally ordered as he pulled out a hatchet. The second man nodded and readied the crossbow in his hand. A bolt was in place and the string was drawn back. The third man stepped away from the window and pulled out his own hatchet. Suddenly the stairs creaked as a fourth figure climbed down them. In his hand was a pistol, lowered at his side. The first man repeated himself. "We're heading straight across the street. There's a lot of them out there, so no noise Jarrod."

"Alright." The fourth man, Jarrod, nodded. His blonde hair was curly and his eyes were emerald green. He holstered his pistol and pulled his knife out of its sheath.

Without saying another word, the men opened the door to the house and stormed across the street, sprinting as fast as they could. A walker came close to the first man and he struck out at the walker with brute force. One strike to the head and the walker crippled, falling limply down to the ground. The man pulled the hatchet out of the walker's head and continued his path to the house. Another walker stood in front of the porch stairs blocking the entrance to the house. A bolt soared through the air and hit the walker square between the eyes. The second man pulled the bolt out of the fallen walker's head as he rushed by. The four men trampled up the stairs and into the house. Seconds later the sound of walkers knocking against the door could be heard.

"Let's move quickly." The first man panted, still catching his breath after the sprint across the street. "Jarrod you look around in the bathroom for medicine. Brady and I will check the kitchen. Ethan you head upstairs and check the bedrooms."

"Got it." The second man replied. He readied his crossbow and climbed the stairs. With every step he climbed his weapon remained aimed at the top of the stairs in case something unexpected appeared. Once he reached the top he continued down the hallway until he reached a door. He extended his hand out and turned the knob. The door began to open, but something on the other side caught the door and prevented it from moving very far. The second man, Ethan, pushed his weight into the door and knocked over the chair on the other side forcing the door open.

"Shit…"Ethan whispered as he peered into the room. A young woman was backed against the wall. She held a small knife in her hand and fear was spread across her face.

When the outbreak began to spiral out of control, the National Guard was deployed to help set up and organize camps for survivors in buildings that were evaluated by the National Guard to offer the maximum amount of protection. The National Guard brought stray people into these camps and offered them physical protection. They also supplied food, water, and other necessities. The number of casualties increased as time passed and members of the National Guard were transferred to other camps to deal with the losses. Eventually some camps were abandoned altogether. This camp was set up in the local high school.

The high school was located at the end of a small street. It was surrounded by parking lots and fields used to host athletic events in the past. Surrounding the fields were woods. The woods offered protection from the dead. They would often become lost among the trees and never find the school. The National Guard easily spotted stray walkers that stumbled into the open field and quickly disposed of the threat before a problem could occur. There were two streets that were connected to the campus. One of the streets was located along a hill and was barricaded at the top. The other street was used to access the school and led to the front of the building.

There were only a few doors to the building that were still accessible. The other doors were barricaded. Inside the building, classrooms were made into bedrooms that were split between families and individuals. The people could use the showers in the locker rooms to bathe, but shower time was limited to conserve water. Many of the inhabitants gathered in the cafeteria to spend their time. There were numerous tables scattered across the large room, offering enough space to have private conversations. The gymnasium was used as a space for the children to run around and play in. Although the school wasn't home, the people staying at the school were content with their shelter.

The National Guard running the camp had dwindled since the organization of the camp and only a few remained stationed at the school. The few that were left had grown attached to the people living at the camp. Numerous people at the camp had stepped up and taken a leadership role along with the remaining guardsmen. The National Guard armed those that stepped up and they were organized into groups that were deployed on runs to gather supplies. As the National Guard grew close to the survivors, they allowed them to participate in making some of the executive decisions regarding the camp.

The night darkened the camp. The survivors were gathered in the cafeteria. Since food had to be rationed, meals were distributed at certain times and the people had just finished their dinner. Using battery operated lanterns the people sat at the tables immersed in various conversations. The windows were covered by sheets so the light could not be seen from the outside. The light would attract the countless walkers stumbling about the school grounds. The walker built up on the school grounds during the periods when the guardsmen didn't clear them out. At one of the tables the children were playing a game with a deck of cards.

"Go fish." A little blonde girl claimed with a smile on her face.

"That's not fair!" A small boy with red hair complained. He held the most cards out of all the children and was becoming frustrated.

"James. It's just a game." A woman who looked like his mother interjected as she walked by. She ruffled his hair and went on her way. She had the same bright silky red hair as the child. Her facial features were tender and a charm radiated from her appearance. Her voice was soft and caring. Her name was Hannah Carroll. Hannah, her husband Andrew, and their son James were rescued by the National Guard when they made a sweep through various neighborhoods looking for families. She made her way over to a table occupied by three other women.

"Hey girls." She smiled to the other women.

"Here, have a seat Hannah." The woman closest to Hannah greeted, patting the open space on the bench next to her.

"Thanks Karen." Hannah said as she sat down in the empty space offered by Karen. Karen's chestnut colored chair flowed wildly down over her shoulders. "How is everyone?"

"Same old, same old." One of the other women replied. Her hair was blondish brown and her eyes were a gorgeous deep green. Her name was Janice Harrison. Janice and Karen were the younger of the women sitting at the table. Janice was a nurse working at the local hospital when the outbreak occurred. The hospital staff was divided into groups and assigned to the survivor camps in the area. Karen Kendall was working as a waitress in order to pay off her student debt. She constantly joked about how the outbreak paid off the debt better than any job she had ever worked. The final woman was Amelia Morse. Amelia was a guidance counselor at the school they were staying. Her husband Mark was a mechanic. He helped scavenge cars and other equipment for the camp. The couple was accompanied by their two children. Emily was the older of the two and at seventeen years old she felt she needed to rebel against the world. Mike was her younger brother. Mike was thirteen and always found a way to stir up trouble even if it was unintentional." Amelia shared a similar hair color to Janice, but stress of raising a family dulled the shine.

"You don't want to go hoping things change though." Amelia interrupted. Her brown eyes emanated a feeling of warmth. She was right. The camp had not faced a casualty in a few weeks and most days were overwhelmingly calm.

"She's right." Hannah agreed.

"This can't last forever." Karen proclaimed. "I can't wait to get back to the night life."

"Some of us are too old for that life." Amelia laughed. Her statement caused the rest of the women to laugh and smile. Their laughter was quickly interrupted by the sound of the cafeteria doors opening. Four men stepped into the cafeteria. They were accompanied by a young woman. The woman stared down at the ground awkwardly avoiding all the eyes that were focused on her.

"New arrival?" A man in camouflage asked as he approached the group. The man, Tim Sylvester, lead the camp at the school. He stood tall and proud and his muscular built filled the uniform he was currently wearing.

"Her name is Alexis." The first man replied. "We also gathered quite a bit of supplies."

"That's good to hear, Jacob." Tim turned to face Alexis and extended his hand. "And Alexis, it's a pleasure to have you in this community."

"Thank you." Alexis said timidly as she shook his hand.

Two of the men from the supply run sat at one of the tables in the cafeteria. Both of them were eating canned raviolis. Jacob Connors and Brady Connors were brothers. They shared the same wispy blond hair and hazy blue eyes. While Brady was larger than Jacob and far more intimidating, Jacob was the older of the two. Upon arriving at the camp, the two brothers did anything they could to contribute and Jacob quickly took up leadership in the camp as National Guard members were transferred to different posts. Jacob had led the supply group on the earlier run through a neighbor to pick up and medicine and food they could find.

"I'm glad we found these." Jacob smiled as he shoveled another ravioli into his mouth. "You lose appreciation of how good this food actually is when you're able to eat… well, you know… better food."

The two brothers laughed.

"I know what you mean." Brady continued. "Who would eat this shit when they can go to a five star restaurant?"

"Now this is the five star restaurant." Jacob laughed. The laughter subsided as the two continued to eat the raviolis.

"Can I ask you something?" Brady stared down at the bowl in front of him.

"Go for it." Jacob replied.

"Do you miss them?"

"Them?"

"Yeah, you know… Mom and Dad." Brady's voice began to quiver at the mention of their lost loved ones.

"Every second." Jacob responded without hesitation. "But we have people to look after now and that keeps me strong."

"It's just hard to realize..." Brady paused as he looked around the room. "Everyone here is in the same boat. We're not the only ones. Every person has lost someone. It's tragic."

"It's a terrible world out there now, but we got each other's back like always." Jacob replied.

Alexis sat alone at a table. The new camp and all the new faces overwhelmed her. She kept her face lowered and her curly brown hair dangled over the table. Hours earlier she had been sitting alone in an abandoned house, thinking about everyone around her who had been lost. Now she was surrounded by countless living souls and it was a great deal to take in.

"Here." A hand tapped Alexis on her shoulder. She looked up and the man who rescued her was standing next to her. His arm was outstretched, offering the granola bar he held in his hand to her.

"Thanks." Alexis replied quietly as she took the granola bar from his hand. He took a seat across from her and opened his own granola bar. "You never told me your name."

"What?" the man replied.

"You never told me your name. The other guys said something, but you didn't."

"Ethan Levitt."

"Well, thank you Ethan." Alexis smiled.

"For what?"

"Saving me. I heard the guys talking about how you were the one who didn't want to finish the run without going through the last house. Thank god you did."

"Yeah, some luck huh?" Ethan smirked.

Hannah opened the door to the classroom that served as her family's own bedroom. Her husband, Andrew, was sleeping in the cot positioned up against the wall. James was sitting on the floor besides his own cot playing with two super hero action figures.

"I think it's time to go to bed James." Hannah scolded.

"Yes mom." James responded obediently. He placed the action figures in a bucket and reluctantly stepped on to the cot pulling the sheets over him.

"Goodnight. I love you." Hannah whispered as she kissed her son on his forehead. She stepped on to her own cot and wrapped her arms around her husband.

"I love you Andrew. You know that?" Hannah said softly.

"I love you too babe." Andrew replied half asleep.

"Can I tell you something?"

"Sure, anything."

"I feel so bad for James. Everything we were able to experience as kids; the luxury of a nice home, new toys, all the candy on Halloween, he's going to miss it all. He's so young and innocent, but we both know one day he will lose that innocence. This new world is tough, Andrew, and he doesn't deserve to have to go through all this. I just wish I could make this all go away and give him what he truly deserves, a real childhood."

"This will all be over soon." Andrew reassured her. "Before you know it, this'll be a thing of the past. They'll figure out a way to fix everything and our lives will be back to normal. This isn't permanent."

"I have a bad feeling about this though. There's so many of them. No one other than the National Guard has come to help and all the power lines are down. Even if it's not permanent, it's not going to be over soon. And when it does get over, it'll be too late. I need help to be strong." Hannah could feel the tears starting to drip down her eyes. Andrew turned around and held her tight. That was all he could do. The new world they now lived in was cruel and merciless and Hannah had come to accept that.