So here we go. The first chapter. By popular demand. Of like three people. The ending of this chapter is a hard one. I don't know how I ended up writing it. Don't hate me. Warning: This chapter is going to be dark, as if the zombie genre was anything but. Character deaths ahead. And a lot of blood.

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Seven Years Ago

"How about this one? Your legs will look amazing!" Hanna held up a black skirt. A very short black skirt that Paige wouldn't get caught dead in.

"I don't know, Hanna." Paige backed away. She was starting to regret asking for the blonde's help. She just wanted Hanna to help her pick out the perfect gift for Emily's birthday. But then Hanna had started asking what she was going to wear and Paige had made the mistake of shrugging. So really she brought this down on herself.

"You have to show skin to get skin." Hanna grinned, but put the skirt back on the rack. "You don't seem to mind showing off your back and shoulders, so let's find the perfect top that does just that and pair it with some dark skinny jeans. How does that sound?"

Paige gave a small smile of relief. Hanna knew what she was comfortable with. "I'd like that."

"Good. Trust me. With my help, dinner won't be the only thing you'll be eating tonight." Hanna winked.

Instead of blushing, Paige chuckled. She had gotten used to the other girl's sense of humor. She didn't have a filter and just said whatever popped into her head. After hiding part of herself for so long, it's such a relief.

Hanna went through another rack and selected a shirt. It was a deep red top that shone in the light. It was pretty much just half of a shirt with how much it was going to show off her back and arms. "Well, go try it on."

"Fine." Paige sighed, but she was only pretending to be put off. Hanna had great taste in clothes, at least compared to Aria and Spencer. They were good looking girls, but sometimes Paige didn't really understand their choices. "And we still need to get a gift for Emily."

"Hey, the best gift you can give Emily is yourself. Wear this shirt and she'll be ripping it off you like wrapping paper. I know my best friend." Hanna smirked. "Jewelry is always good too."

"Caleb did say you liked shiny things." Paige teased.

Caleb was keeping Emily occupied. Apparently her laptop had gotten some kind of virus and he was helping her with that. Paige was sure that her girlfriend's laptop was in good hands since it was probably the hacker that was behind the virus in the first place.

"I owe you guys." She took the shirt from the blonde.

"Yeah you do." Hanna pushed her towards the changing rooms. "I'll be right here waiting for you. I want to see how hot you look."

But before Paige could get into the one of the changing rooms, an alarm started going off. "Uh. Should we be doing something?"

A saleswoman sighed. "It's been doing that all week."

Paige had a bad feeling about the alarm. It couldn't mean anything good. She could also tell that the alarm was making Hanna uncomfortable too. She moved closer to the other girl.

Two security guards ran past the store's entrance. Someone had started screaming and then there was more shouting. Paige moved Hanna behind her. Some other mall patrons were moving quickly in the opposite direction. A couple of gunshots rang out.

"Okay. We should be leaving." Paige said to Hanna. She looked for another way out. There was a fire exit in the back of the shop.

"No. Everyone stay put." A older woman motioned to them. She must have been the manager. She went to the front of the shop.

A man ran up to her and knocked her over. He was on her and she was screaming. Another customer ran over to help and Paige wanted to help as well, but Hanna was holding onto her arm tightly. The Good Samaritan customer yelled and pulled his arm back clutching it to his chest. His girlfriend started screaming just as the store manager stopped thrashing and stilled.

The attacker looked up, blood covering his mouth.

"Oh shit." Paige pulled Hanna along behind her. She didn't slow down as they reached the fire exit. The door shut behind them and they found themselves in a drab hallway. Paige glanced up and down and moved away from the door they had just come through.

They kept running in what Paige hoped was the right direction. She heard people behind them, but she didn't stop to turn around. As long as Hanna was still holding her hand, then she would keep going. There was a door in front of them. She pushed through that too.

They were in a parking lot filled with more chaos. Paige couldn't remember where they had parked. But that didn't matter since there was a car with the driver's door open in front of them. Again, she pulled Hanna along towards the car.

She registered a middle aged man standing over a prone body with a cell phone up to his ear. She yelled at him, trying to warn him. But the body lunged at him and he fell backwards. The body was soon on him.

Paige pushed Hanna into the car, and got in behind her as soon as the blonde scrambled into the passenger seat. The engine was still running so she just put the car into reverse quickly and then drove off.

She quickly pulled out of the parking lot and got onto the street. She felt like throwing up. She had just stolen a car and left the owner to die.

But if what she thought was happening was really happening then there wasn't much she could have done for him.

"Those... those things were eating them." Hanna was shaking.

"Yeah." Paige herself was gripping the steering wheel tight..

"Thanks. For getting me out of there. You saved me." Hanna continued.

Paige focused on driving. She didn't want to start speeding like the other cars out on the road. She checked her blind spots and side mirrors. She was extra careful at intersections. They'd get into an accident and then they'd be screwed. But she still saw the man's face twisted in agony as his intestines were torn out.

"Paige. You saved us. You did what you had to." Hanna put a hand on her thigh. "He was dead the moment the zombie bit him."

"You think that's what this is? Zombies?" It sounded crazy to her. But if Hanna was thinking the same thing. She turned on the radio.

ABBA's Dancing Queen blared out of the speakers. Paige gritted her teeth. Now was not the time. Even Hanna was annoyed as she flipped to another station.

"Whoa, wait. Right there." Paige shouted out. Hanna stopped flipping through the different stations.

"...issued an outbreak of a highly contagious virus. Reports from various sources state that outbreaks have occurred in multiple hospitals across the county. Symptoms include uncoordinated movement, confusion, and eventually sudden death. Reports have stated that those infected have acted out in a violent manner. Citizens are advised to avoid those with these symptoms and to stay indoors until the situation is dealt with. Stay tuned for further information."

"I have to call my mom. She has to know I'm okay." Hanna's eyes went wide. She glanced around in a panic. "I dropped my purse. My phone was in there."

"You can use my phone. It's in my front pocket." Paige stated calmly. She slowed the car down to take to it out of her pocket. They had gotten this far without getting into an accident and she wanted to keep it that way. They had just driven past a crashed car surrounded by blood but no bodies.

Her phone started to ring. She pulled her phone out and saw Emily's name flash on the screen. She answered it. "Emily!"

"Paige! Thank God you're okay. Where are you?" Emily was relieved, but there was still a lot of urgency in her voice. "Are you with Hanna?"

"Yeah. Hold on, let me put you on speaker phone." She wanted to focus on driving.

"Hanna, Caleb is still here. Please stay safe." Emily cried. "It's all over the news. It's-"

"We're on our way. I'll be there soon, Em."

There was a banging on the door in the background. There was shouting too.

"Paige, I love you." There was a panic in Emily's voice

"We have to get to Emily's." Paige glanced over at Hanna, who was nodding in agreement.

"Try to get in touch with your mom." Paige gripped the steering wheel hard.

Hanna punched in the number. Paige thanked whoever was listening that the blonde knew the phone number by heart.

It hurt to hear Hanna's mother say goodbye. Paige wished they could do something. But New York was far away. And so was Scranton. So they tried to get to whom they could. Paige just kept her eyes forward.

Maybe it was heartless to ignore the chaos that was surrounding them. But she could only think about Emily. If she got to Emily they would be safe.

They were almost to the Fields' house.

"Hanna, I need you to look in the back of the car. See if there's anything we can use."

Hanna agreed. Seemed like she could use the distraction. She was quiet as she crawled into the back seat. She checked the back of the station wagon.

"Um, what do guns look like?"

"What- why?" Paige wasn't that fluent in Hanna-speak but she was getting there. Still, she was confused.

"Because unless skis have triggers, this car has has couple of rifles."

"Okay. That's good. What else?"

"There's bags and stuff." The sound of a bag being opened reached her. "Oh. Looks like that guy was the outdoorsy type."

Paige grimaced. She knew their was nothing she could do for the man. Once that thing ripped into him, he was dead.

"How do you know?"

"He has things for camping. Like a tent and gas stove. Trust me, I saw this stuff at fat camp. Awesome, there's a shovel and a hatchet."

"He had things." Paige added the guns to the equation. "He must have been a hunter."

"Paige," Hanna sighed. "You did what you had to. Once the zombie had him, he was dead."

There was that word again.

"Are we sure these things are zombies?"

"What else could they be? They act like those things in the video game Caleb taught me to play." Hanna frowned. "And the movies Emily loves."

"Hey. We'll get to them."

Hanna didn't say anything.

Paige drove up as close as she could to Emily's porch. "Hand me the shovel. And you get up here. Once I get out of the car, I need you to get behind the wheel."

"I'm coming with you." Hanna crawled back into the passenger seat.

Paige controlled her emotions. She didn't know what she would find inside. "No. You need to stay here. That way we can make a clean get away when I get back. If... If I don't come out. You drive away."

"I can't do that."

"You're going to have to. Are you ready?" Paige asked.

"Just come back." Hanna shook her head.

Paige slowly opened the door, and just as slowly she closed it. She had played the same games Caleb had. She had even played with him online. She didn't know the rules yet. If loud noises attracted these things. If they were the fast kind or the slow creeping ones. There were rules and she had to be careful until she learned them.

She gripped the shovel tightly and made her way to the front porch. The front door was slightly open. That wasn't a good sign. She pushed it open with her foot and went inside.

"Emily? Caleb?" Paige called out softly as she went into the dining room. "Mrs. Fields?"

She made it into the kitchen. It was empty. But it looked someone had been in the middle of making sandwiches. Slices of bread were laid out with a packet of sliced turkey. Paige frowned.

She left the kitchen and headed towards the back of the house. That's when she saw the blood and a broken wooden stick. The back door was wide open. She could only guess at what happened. That a neighbor had run up to the door bleeding and screaming about how someone had bit them. Emily, the kind soul that she was would let them in to help. She was too nice.

But if the infected had turned, then there should have been more blood or a body. Bodies. God, what happened here?

There was a creak. And Paige turned to the sound.

There was the body she was looking for. It was standing there at the foot of the stairs. She moved closer with shovel raised to bash in it's head.

As if sensing her movement, it swiveled its face towards her.

With relief, Paige realized that it wasn't anyone she had been looking for. But it was someone she recognized. It was the hypothetical neighbor made real. Mrs. Romano lived next door. The woman would glare at her every she came to see Emily. She was never outright nasty to her or Emily, but Paige knew the woman had been disgusted with their relationship.

Her skin was sickly pale and she had dark circles under eyes. She would have looked like she was only severely ill if it weren't for the dried black substance around her mouth. She gave her a hungry look, and barred her teeth. It was the only warning she got before the woman charged. But Paige had been ready and slammed the shovel down hard. Even though the woman had been a judgmental jerk, Paige felt a twinge of guilt. This had been somebody's wife and mother.

"Holy shit."

She looked up to see Hanna standing with a revolver in her hands.

"Paige!" The blonde screamed.

The body was starting to move. She brought the shovel down hard again, making sure the head was completely destroyed.

"I thought I told you to stay in the car." Paige was shaking.

"I'm not very good at following directions." Hanna shrugged.

"Nope, but thanks. Where did you get the gun?" Paige raised an eyebrow at what she was holding in her hand.

"It was in the glove compartment. It's cool right?"

"Do you know how to use it?"

"Point and pull, what's so hard about it?"

Paige stared at her.

"God, what do you think? Mr. Fields brought us to the firing range a couple of times. I liked it. I was actually better than Spencer. She was pouting the whole way back."

"What about Emily?" Paige asked suddenly.

"She was loads better. She said she had been going with her dad since she was old enough. I wanted to be on her team if we ever did paintball. Guess we'll never get to."

That made Paige think. It was almost like Mr. Fields had been preparing Emily and them for something.

"Paige!"

"Hmm?"

"I was asking if you knew how to shoot a gun."

"Yeah. I do. My grandmother taught me every time I visited their farm. Rifles and pistols. She was a champion marksman."

"That's like really convenient."

"Not as convenient as Mr. Fields making sure his daughter and all her friends knew how to fire guns." Paige moved towards the den.

"When you say it like that….."

"There's no one here." The den was empty as well. The tv was on with an XBox hooked up to it. Left 4 Dead of all things had been what Caleb and Emily had been playing.

"What's that?" Hanna was moving towards a huge bag.

It was the kind someone in the military would use. Which made sense considering that Emily's dad was a lieutenant colonel in the National Guard. Another convenience.

"There's a note."

Paige,

Emily was sure if anyone would survive this, it would be you. Which is why she refused to leave you. But Wayne convinced her and Caleb. I'm so sorry we couldn't wait. There was no time. But we're all safe. Here are some supplies.

Once you read this, you need to get to the old state games land near Tremont, off Route 209. You'll know when you get there. It's a safe zone. Bring Hanna and whoever you can save.

Stay safe.

Paige looked up at Hanna. "They're safe."

"Could you check the bag? I want to grab something upstairs." Hanna nodded her head towards the stairs.

"Okay. But hurry."

Paige went through the bag quickly. There were MREs and canteens filled with water, as well as water purification tablets. There was medication and a first aid kit. There was also a machete, a shotgun with a bunch of shells, and a handgun with boxes of ammo.

"Hey," Hanna called her.

"I was thinking. We should get Aria and Spencer."

Hanna looked stricken. "They didn't even cross my mind. I'm a terrible friend."

Paige nodded. She had been the same way. She wondered about her friends and Pru. Her friend was on some class trip. There were a lot of people that flashed across her mind. It was scary how they couldn't save everyone.

"Hey, I think it's okay to have tunnel vision in this situation. But Spencer is closest, right?"

"Yeah. Her being a huge nerd means she's probably at home studying. Her house is just on the other side of the woods." Hanna looked towards the back of the house.

It was true. At the edge of Emily's backyard, there was a few trees that separated the Hastings property from the Fields. There was a shortcut through there, Emily had said.

"We're going to have to drive around."

They got back into the station wagon with the military pack and another hiking bag filled with some food from the pantry. It wasn't long before the car turned down Bridgewater Terrace.

Paige hated that there was a gate. Peter Hastings's snobbery made for a difficult rescue mission. Luckily Hanna knew how to get inside. Soon, they were driving up the long driveway.

"Whose car is that in behind Spencer's?"

"I think it's Wren Kingston's."

"Um, the doctor?" Paige knew the name from when Emily told her about how A had drugged her with human growth hormone. She thought it was weird how the young doctor knew to order tests for that.

"He's a snake in the hand."

"Snake in the grass." Paige corrected her.

"Whatever, he's poison. Don't let that accent fool you."

"Well, it would be good to have a medical doctor with us." Paige shook her head.

"Just as long as he keeps his lips to himself. I don't need his mouth all over me." Hanna shuddered. "I call shotgun."

"Whoa. Not so fast. The recoil on that thing is going to be a bitch." Paige frowned. "Just stick with the Shield."

"The what?" Hanna scrunched her face up in confusion.

"The name of the gun. It's a Smith & Wesson Shield. My aunt has one at her cabin." Paige wondered about her aunt. She hoped she was okay.

"Fine. But I am going with you."

Paige grabbed the machete. Video games made it look so much easier to carry around an arsenal. But she knew she didn't have to reload a bladed weapon.

They crept up slowly to the house. Hanna pointed at a door. "Kitchen."

"Cover my back." Paige told Hanna.

The door was unlocked. She always wondered about that. If there was a maniacal shadow out to get you, wouldn't you keep the doors locked? That was a silver lining in this. A was the least of their problems.

She opened the door, and went inside this time with the machete raised and ready to come down.

She took a step and slipped. She landed on her back with a thud. She groaned and propped herself up. Her hands were in something wet. She examined her hand. She had slipped in blood.

There was a lot of blood in the kitchen.

"Shit."

Something grabbed her ankle.

She cursed herself for dropping the machete. She kicked out and her foot connected with the infected's face. It let go and she scooted backward on the blood.

It came forward again and she grabbed for the machete. She twisted to bring the blade in front of her. Her brain had enough time to recognize it as Peter Hastings before a gun went off and a part of his head disappeared.

"Oh God. I shot Spencer's dad in the face."

"Hanna," Paige got to her feet. "That wasn't Mr. Hastings anymore. You saved me."

"Okay." Hanna was trembling with tears in her eyes.

With Mr. Hastings dead, things didn't look didn't look good.

They heard a pounding. Something told her it would be stupid to investigate, but she couldn't live with herself if she didn't know what happened here. She couldn't just leave without making sure there were no survivors here.

The pounding stopped. Then there came a shuffling. They turned and saw a thing creeping towards them.

"You're definitely going to want his mouth nowhere near you." Paige had the machete ready. She stepped towards the zombie. "Dr. Kingston, I presume?"

"Did you just?"

She ignored Hanna as she brought the machete right into the thing's head. She struggled to dislodge the blade from the skull, so she kicked it and it fell over. Since the thing was still, she moved away.

"This is so messed up." Hanna swayed on her feet.

Paige had her arm around her. "Don't fall apart on me, okay? I need you."

Hanna set her jaw. She nodded determinedly. They moved as one towards the direction the pounding had come from. They found a door with bloody handprints on it.

"It's Mr. Hastings's home office."

Paige put her hand on the doorknob. She opened the door but it wouldn't budge. She pushed harder and whatever was against the door budged. She pressed into the room.

There was nobody inside. And there was no body. There was more blood. Whoever it belonged too was no longer alive. To Paige, it meant one more zombie to take care of.

The trail of blood went out the window. Hanna was already looking out of it.

"The barn."

Hanna was pointing at the small building. Beyond it was the copse of trees which hid Emily's house from view. She had to wonder if they had come here on foot, would they have been able to prevent the bloodbath.

It was probably for the best. They could have been bitten and killed themselves.

They probably should have turned back, but Paige was already climbing out the window. She was pulling a stunt that would have had her yelling at a character in a horror movie for doing. She helped Hanna come through. Then they made their way to the barn.

It was a nice little building. She knew Spencer had been working on converting it into a living space because she would not shut up about it during sophomore year.

They followed the blood to a door on the side. Again, she reached out for the doorknob.

"Wait. I can't. What if Spencer is in there and she's..."

"I understand." She looked at the door. "Hello," she shouted through it.

"Don't come in here," came a muffled reply.

Both of their eye's widened. Paige twisted the knob. She tried to push the door open but was once more met with resistance. She pushed her shoulder against the door with more force. It did the job and moved whatever had been against the door. Hanna and Paige rushed inside.

"No!" Melissa Hastings was backed against the wall.

"It's okay. We're not infected." Paige held her hands up in front of her.

"Well, I am." Melissa held up her arm. "I was bitten."

"We don't know for sure that's how you become infected." Paige said. But she knew she was trying to convince herself as well. In all the movies and games, once you got bitten, you became a zombie.

"Yeah. Well, Wren came over raving about how a patient bit him last night and he comes down for brunch and instead of the eggs Florentine, he takes a bite out of my mom's neck." Melissa clenched her eyes shut. "My dad pulled him off of her. But she was losing so much blood."

"I'm sorry." Paige reached out to comfort her but Melissa jerked away.

"We tried to get my mom to someone that could help. But she died here." Melissa slid down the wall.

"Paige," Hanna whispered in her ear, motioning towards a pair of legs sticking out from behind some cardboard boxes.

"And then she came back."

"Shit." Paige murmured.

"Spencer was so relieved. She ran to her... It." Melissa corrected herself. "But I knew that thing wasn't our mother."

"So you pushed Spencer out of the way. And that's how you got bit." Paige shuddered.

"Spencer had to fight it off with her field hockey stick. But it was too late for me."

"So where is she?"

"Hanna!"

"It's alright. I know you guys never liked me. But I was always looking out for Spencer." Melissa coughed. "I told her to run to Emily's. Thought she would be safe there"

"You were right." Paige realized that the broken wooden stick at Emily's house was what was left of Spencer's field hockey stick. That the blood at the back door had belonged to Veronica Hastings. "She made it. And Mr. Fields took her with them. She's safe."

"That's good." Melissa was shaking.

"Why does it smell like gas in here?"

Paige noticed the smell now. She saw the lighter in Melissa's hand. She saw the liquid all over the floor.

"Kerosene actually. And some vodka. Gin." Melissa wheezed. "I wanted to make sure I didn't come back like that. I'm glad Wren was a smoker. Bastard came through in the end. But then again, it's his fault."

Paige realized what Melissa had intended to do. She was going to burn down the barn with her still in it.

"Did you take care of him?" Melissa coughed again. This time there was blood.

"Yes." Paige nodded. "If you'd like I could..."

"I'd like that." Melissa sighed.

"Hanna, give me the gun."

The blonde complied. "Melissa, I'm sorry I thought you were A."

"If you guys ever see Spencer again, tell her I love her." Melissa was shaking hard now.

Paige pointed the gun at Melissa's head. "We will."

"One more thing, don't forget to save a bullet for yourselves." Melissa said through clenched teeth.

Paige was shaking hard. She couldn't do this. Zombies were different. They were already gone. Hanna was crying, and so was she. That explained the blurred vision.

"Do it!" Melissa shrieked as she convulsed.

Paige pointed the gun and pulled the trigger. It was done.