Prologue

"You need to relax." Her soft voice cooed into her ear, gentle hands clasped around her wrist to stop her pacing. She was pulled slowly into a deep embrace, her body settling into her lap, and her head resting against her chest. Her heartbeat thrummed softly in her ear and she felt herself being calmed by its rhythmic beating.

She felt soft lips press themselves against the top of her curly red hair, muscled arms tightening around her waist, but mindful of her belly. She tried to relax, but she just couldn't. They were running out of food, and those monsters were becoming more and more restless. Their groans of hunger and bloodcurdling shrieks rang in her ears, freezing the blood in her veins, haunting her dreams. She buried her face into the woman's chest, inhaling her sweet scent.

"How can I, Beca? We're going to run out of food sooner or later, and Stacie's still too weak to travel."

She sighed heavily. Stacie, one of their group members and her childhood friend, had been critically injured in a brawl with another hostile survivor group about a week ago. Originally, she wasn't expected to survive the night, but she was a fighter and was still desperately clinging on to the living world.

With a broken leg, a few fractured ribs, multiple cuts and bruises, and a concussion, the odds were clearly stacked against her. Especially when one needed to be in top condition to stand a chance in this new world. Her girlfriend, Aubrey, refused to leave her side. Showering and bathroom breaks were the only exceptions. The lanky brunette needed constant vigilance in case anything happened or God forbid she fall into a coma.

Beca and Stacie were out on a supply run when the hostile group attacked, fighting over what was left of the small convenient store. They usually went on runs together because they were the two fastest runners throughout the entire group. They'd been completely outnumbered, but they needed food for a heavily pregnant Chloe and a few other group members who were close to starving to death.

Stacie had engaged the leader, a bulky woman who'd been at least five inches taller and fifty pounds heavier, wielding a wooden baseball bat. Needless to say, Stacie had been beaten to within an inch of her life, the result of trying to retrieve the bag the woman had snatched out of her hands. Beca had saved her life at the last possible moment, emptying a clip of M9 rounds into the woman's body as she went in for the killing blow.

Her group mates tried to retaliate, but the gunshots had attracted a horde of those horrible creatures and they fled instantly, leaving a significantly smaller Beca to haul an unconscious Stacie to safety before a few of their group members found them about an hour later. The two boys carefully carried the injured brunette back to the safe-house, Beca picking off infected who strayed too close.

Luckily, they had managed to scavenge a few things before the group arrived and Beca gave most of her share to her pregnant girlfriend. Chloe was about eight and a half months along, and Beca, as well as the rest of the group, wanted Chloe to be at full strength when she delivered their child.

It's been roughly four months since the world ended due to a dispute between the USA, Russia, China, and Japan. Long story short, one of the four unleashed a virus, capable of destroying the host's body from the inside out, turning them into radioactive, flesh-eating freaks.

Once you're infected, whether it be a bite, scratch, or their blood coming in contact with an open wound, you had about twelve hours before you became one of them. Those monsters were relentless. No matter how many clips you unloaded into their bodies, they'd get back up, never stopping, not bothered in the slightest. The only way to put them down permanently was a shot to the head, or bashing its brain in.

Chloe shifts against Beca's chest, smiling when she feels a tiny kick in her abdomen. "They're kicking…" She whispered into Beca's neck. They didn't know the gender, both of them wanting it to be a surprise when the child was born. The group had already made assumptions and collected gender friendly clothes. Of course the boys wanted a little boy and the girls wanted a little girl. Chloe honestly didn't care. She couldn't wait to meet their baby. She hoped the child had Beca's eyes… those stormy greyish-blue hues she loved so much.

"We'll go on another run soon. We need to find some medicine for Stacie too. If her wounds get infected…" Beca trailed off. Chloe grasped her hand, bringing it to her lips and kissing her bruised knuckles.

"Megan will take care of her. She's a great doctor." Chloe said, referring to the pretty black doctor who'd been found by Aubrey and offered a place in their group. She was indeed a great doctor, but without a proper hospital or medicine there was only so much she can do.

"Let's go visit? I'm sure Aubrey can use some company." Beca said softly. Chloe kissed her on the cheek and nodded.

The lanky brunette was lying on her back, her head resting in Aubrey's lap while the blonde dabbed at her sweaty forehead with a damp rag. Stacie had thick bandages wrapped around her upper body, bruises littering her arms, and the side of her head had been shaved in order to stitch the deep gash on her temple. Her breaths came out in ragged pants, wheezing painfully with every inhale and exhale. Her broken leg was taped to a 2 by 4 in a makeshift splint, and her hands covered in Band-Aids. The rest of the group made themselves scarce, either patrolling, resting, or keeping watch.

Aubrey smiled upon seeing her pregnant best friend and the little brunette. "Hey."

"Hey, how is she?" Chloe slowly lowers herself onto her knees and gently runs her fingers down Stacie's cheek, frowning when she felt her heated skin.

"She's got a fever. I think it's just a cold. None of her wounds show any signs of infection."

"Has Megan looked at her?"

Aubrey nodded. "Yeah, she thinks it's just a cold too. But if it's not treated, it could escalate to pneumonia…"

Stacie whimpered in her sleep. Her beautiful face was scrunched up in pain, her fists clenching the dark fabric of Aubrey's sweats. Aubrey leaned down and kissed her head, feeling her tears well up at being so completely helpless.

Chloe rubbed her back while Beca shrugged off her jacket and slipped it over Stacie's shivering body. She whined again, biting her lip harshly before falling unconscious once more.

Chloe grabbed the blonde's hand in one and Beca's in the other, resting them over Stacie's abdomen.

"She'll get through this. We'll all get through this. We just can't give up hope."

If you are interested, leave me a review. This is only the prologue; I promise there's so much more to come. Mind you, Beca does have a G!P, but in this story, there's not going to be any random, insignificant smut, unrealistic crude scenes, or anything that will make you shake your head in disgust or scoff in contempt.

I promise to do my research, (Wow, that sounds weird...) and to do everything humanly possible to make this story as realistic and addicting as I can. Everything will be explained in upcoming chapters, but if you have any questions, concerns, thoughts or feelings, feel free to contact me.

Thank you for your time, I look forward to writing more.