Chapter 1 [Of sightseeing, dilemmas and blood]

Morning finally came though at some point it — the time — was simply crawling little by little or so it felt like. A shaky hand rose so to rub puffy eyes that haven't seen a decent night sleep for what seemed like an eternity. Whether it was the anxiety or sleep wasn't coded in her genes anymore Katherine didn't know and she couldn't afford to waste her time and sanity both while pondering what the right answer was.

Waking up, forcing herself out of the bed felt like the most painful thing and both her muscles and head ached with the fatigue and the thought of the unknown. For a moment there she simply stood in the middle of the room, looking for good enough of an excuse not to leave, not to go looking, not to move for the whole day and simply stay in the bed that seemed ever so inviting with every minute that passed. An almost violent shake of her head sent messy curls flying to all directions before landing peacefully back on her shoulders. Katherine's breathing was interrupted by few sharp-drawn breaths that were meant for nothing more but to waste time while pretending.

"Way to go, little-miss-ambitious. Choosing starving instead..." She mumbled under her nose while throwing few things that were left lying around to her bag. There was no time — and no need — to get settled in or decorate, everything was kept in one place most of the time and that place was a large black bag- a reminder that she had to be ready every second of every day to grab it and leave. That was the idea; however it didn't work out once the decision to leave had to be made intentionally rather than to simply run away from a hoard of walkers. Funny thing as at some point she even wished for it just because that and only that seemed like a reason good enough.

It took her more time than planned to finally close a heavy wooden door behind and make her way to a car safely hidden in the garage. A vehicle was probably the hardest thing to find in the streets full of nothing but parts and scraps of metal lying around, pieces and fragments left from the times when everyone was trying to run away, hoping that there indeed was such thing as away on this earth. The rest of cars got drained out of gas or taken apart piece by piece by people travelling through the town and ransacking everything on their way. Katherine got lucky, though, and the car she took to escape her own hell was still with her – old and rusty but working as a charm.

Throwing her belongings on the back seat she allowed herself to take a final look around that almost peaceful little nest that she made for herself in all those months, feeling like a little bird that finally had to leave and fly away to the broad horizons of the new world. Difference was that little birds usually weren't flying into the death trap intentionally and she, sadly, was.

Motor coughed few times until finally giving in and filling the silence with its violent purring as she slowly drove out of the garage and onto the road that welcomed her with mayhem of cars and bodies of walkers lying around. It was quite a grotesque picture and probably it was the only thing that kept her from turning around to bid those last farewells and forced her to speed away quite recklessly. One thing about the apocalypse was the fact that there was no one to give you a ticked for speeding in residential — or all other — areas.

...

As much as she hated the heat, once sun got dangerously close to the horizon Katherine started panicking. She drove for hours and yet there was no place to settle for the night as both woods and the shelter of the car were nothing more but a suicide at the very least.

"Shit shit shit..." Every word was followed by her hitting the wheel and hitting the accelerator at the same time until the car started roaring so loudly that it could've woken not only the walkers lurking there somewhere but all hell-hounds up. Eyes were desperately searching for at least something to use as the last resort until finally, somewhere far in the distance, she saw a once bright sign of CHEVRON that was now covered with dust and harsh kisses of time. Letting out a sigh she finally started slowing down, pondering just how foolish of an idea it was to stop at the place like this and spend a night with corpses of the personnel rotting — or maybe even walking — there somewhere. But it was too late to drive any further and so, sending the pebbles flying around, she pulled over behind the building so not to leave any evidence there in the open that someone was taking cover in the little building, being nothing but a sitting duck for any and every stranger.

It seemed silent as she was almost tip-toeing over to the filthy window just so to take a peek inside and make sure that there were no nasty surprises. It was deserted and for a second she finally could breathe again just until that moment when the door gave in with a loud creek making Katherine clench the handle of her knife in panic. One might think that after dealing with so many walkers people got used to it, however this was probably a thing that no one — under any circumstances — were able not to care about anymore. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that it was hard to live with the idea that at any minute someone might want to eat your face off. Or maybe because getting used to massacre meant losing those last pieces of humanity all together. And if so, what was the point in fighting so hard to stay human?

It was a welcomed train of thoughts as it distracted her just a bit, making those few steps inside seem easier. The place was swept clean — probably gas stations were somewhat of an attraction point — and it seemed that it was quite safe as well. Barricading the doors was stupid as there were so many windows to break if someone needed to, but she herself felt safer and so, after pushing some shelves around Katherine slid down the wall behind the counter until hitting the ground and burying her head in her hands. Even though she was just driving for the whole day, it took so much energy out of her that she felt as if running a marathon or two. She might've been scared and feeling uneasy but the fatigue took over and after few seconds, without even noticing, she drifted away into the dreamless sleep.

It was a loud thud that made her almost jump up into the air, pressing both hands on her mouth so not to let out any noises. Someone was definitely out there as footsteps echoed in the distance louder with every second that was wasted by her trying to pull herself together. It felt like her body was frozen for a moment however the scent of danger gave her the kick needed so to peek from around the corner of the little hideout just to see a couple of walkers peacefully making their way towards the entrance, however them being there definitely didn't bring any peace. Their slimy dead hands brushed against the glass now, giving them balance for their adventures of the night.

There was no time to think and she starter crawling silently around the counter, making her way towards the back door so to jump into the car and drive away, but... A shard of glass was enough to ruin the plan as it pierced through the skin of her palm and didn't stop until a somewhat silent whimper left her. Silent? Maybe. But it was enough for four ears to hear and four dead eyes to see a figure crouching there in the darkness.