I opened my eyes, and blinked a few times.
The light in this room was bright and harsh, and I squinted to be able to see better.
"-tle are you even listening to me?" someone snapped at me. I suddenly became aware of my surroundings, I was sitting at the table in the kitchen and my mother was yelling at me.
Shaking my head, I looked at her. "Sorry mom, got lost in my thoughts again," I apologized, and she sighed.
"I SAID, we need to start packing our stuff. Your grandparents are waiting for us, and it's a 15-hour drive to Atlanta from here. I don't want to be unnecessarily late," she huffed, "and we still have to pick up Theo on the way."
Ah yes, my mother planned a 'family vacation' to see my grandparents. Luckily, I was able to convince her to let me bring Theo, my boyfriend, along. Don't get me wrong, I love my grandparents, but it gets boring being the only one my age after a few hours. Hit with a sudden wave of drowsiness, I let my eyes fall shut.
I opened my eyes once again to see the back of a car seat. I looked around and saw Theo snoozing beside me, a small snail trail of drool coming from his mouth, giggling at the sight.
"Finally up?" Mom asked, peering into the rear view mirror at me. I rubbed my eyes. "I think so! How long left do we have?" I replied, before rummaging through my bag for my water bottle.
"Oh, probably 3 hours or so left. Want to drive? I could really use a nap" She whined.
Laughing, I agreed. Mom pulled the car over and got into the passenger seat. "I'll hook up the GPS for you, go slap that N on the car" she called, and began fiddling with the device.
When I opened my eyes this time, the three of us were standing outside of my grandparents' house, and mom's finger was just leaving the doorbell. Moments later, the seasoned faces of my grandparents appeared at the door, and ushered us in quickly. They gave us hugs and kisses and exchanged greetings before shooing us away to get situated.
Later that evening, after dinner, we were all lounging in the living room with the TV on, getting ready to watch the news.
"I wonder if there is any update on that sickness going around," my grandfather commented, with a hint of worry in his voice.
"Sickness?" Mom asked, letting out a nervous laugh, and he nodded. "There seems to be a plague going around farther south than us. All sick people have been quarantined, and everyone deemed healthy enough is being evacuated to Atlanta, or other major cities. From what I heard it's pretty bad." He replied, worry straining voice. "Thankfully the farthest it has come so far is Macon."
Finally, it hit 6 pm and we switched channels to watch the news, and we were confronted with a terrifying reality.
"BREAKING NEWS Live, now! I'm Linda Jackson and this is Atlanta News coming at you with new and urgent news. This just in from sources at the CDC, cases of this new virus are spreading quickly, turning people into unresponsive, cannibalistic, walking carriers. The disease has been seen as far north as south Atlanta. Pack the necessities and get to safety as soon as possible." The tv said, and turned to static.
We all sat there in dumbfounded shock for a few moments before scrambling in panic to get things together.
Mom sat there in shock, and after a few moments began to hyperventilate. She never was good with emergencies. Theo rushed over to comfort her, as myself and my grandparents began packing up necessities.
My grandfather appeared next to me with a back pack in his hands.
"This is for you, my rose. Do not let anyone else see the contents, not even your mother. People do scary things in rough situations, and I don't want you to risk it. This is for just in case everything goes to shit and we must part. I know you know how to use these." He said firmly, and began running stuff out to the car.
I peeked in the bulky bag, and it was full of non-perishable foods, ammunition, 2 pistols, 3 knives, a book on edible American plants, a first aid kit and some other assorted things. Thankfully my father, bless his soul, was obsessed with survival training.
He taught me how to shoot with an assortment of guns, how to hunt and dress wild animals, and most importantly, how to survive.
As I finished packing, my grandma came toddling around with bandanas. "Tie these to your face, so that the cover your nose and mouth," she explained, and left to help Theo get my poor mother to the car.
I opened my eyes with a panic, as I felt the car rattle around me.
I still had the backpack strapped to me, and we were all in the car, on our way to somewhere, anywhere away from Atlanta. As I looked out the window, all I could see was orange fire and I could hear explosives being dropped on Atlanta.
Theo gripped my hand. "It's okay babe, it'll be okay" he said in a soothing voice, though it was laced with terror.
I could hear my mother crying softly beside me, my grandparents in the front seat. I looked up at his face to find comfort, safety, but with a jolt of panic I realized I could no longer see any of his features, his face was just hazy gray.
Suddenly feeling like I couldn't breathe, I look over at my mother. Even though I could hear her quiet sobs of terror, there was just a hazy gray in place of her face.
"Are you okay, sweetheart?" my grandmother asked, and with the last shred of hope in my heart I looked up at her. Instead of her soft, wrinkled face, was a hazy gray cloud. Bolted in my spot with immobilizing fear, I screamed.
Suddenly, the car melted away, along with the gray faces of my family.
I was in the forest, running and running, out of air for a long time but I couldn't stop running. I could hear Theo panting just behind me, but didn't stop to let him catch up.
Then all I could hear was screaming, and the moans of the dead. Letting out a sob, I pushed myself to gain a small burst of speed, trying to outrun and lose the group of walking dead behind me.
I felt my foot catch a root and my body hit the filthy ground with an 'oomph'. The last thing I heard behind me before my vision went black, was the last thing my boyfriend would ever scream.
"THHIISSTLLE…." Before fading off into darkness, my name echoing in my ears.