-One Week Later-

Boy, I couldn't be anymore wrong. Classes officially stopped a few days ago, there were more and more reports of flu-like symptoms and students either headed home or holed up in their dorm rooms. I had done the latter, preferring Horror flicks than insane traffic and hoards of cars packing the roads.I had called my folks several times but the line was always dead. Hopefully they were safe…. I could not think about the other possibilities right now.

During the my third horror movie that day I got up to grab some food. It then became blatantly obvious that I was all out of food after checking the fridge several times. I had been putting off picking up groceries, so it seemed like today was a good day to get out. As I stepped out of the door, an uneasy feeling crawled down my spine… After a short pause, I went back into my dorm room and retrieved my M1911 pistol from top drawer of my nightstand.

My dad bought this for me as a going away to college present and at the time I thought it was a little over the top.

He explained to me over and over again, always saying "I want my girl to be able to protect herself when I'm not around."

After practicing with a few times at the range, I began to appreciate having it around. I quickly attached to my holster, grabbed several clips, then headed toward the door. The nearest grocery store was running low on supplies...It seemed everyone was filling their carts with as many canned goods as possible just in case this infection problem was the real deal.

I just needed a few things, so I grabbed a basket and proceed down the nearest aisle. The first item on my list was soup and I began looking for my favorite brand.

That is when I saw her.

At first she had only a slight cough. Quiet, and hardly noticeable from where I was standing.

Then, it began to escalate into loud hack and the woman began gasping between breaths. I turned to ask her if she was alright, and before I could she bent over and began retching right onto the floor.

I pulled my hand up in disgust, then started to advance toward her to offer my help. Suddenly, the woman stopped and her head shot up and her eyes locked with mine.

Deep black orbs stared back at me; the last of the vomit still on the woman's face. I immediately halted, something was definitely wrong. The woman's pale hands rose and she let out a blood-curdling scream that sounded anything but human. Before I even had time to react, she began to charge me. With inhuman strength the monster pinned me to the floor and I grasped its wrists in attempt to keep it from clawing at me. I let out a scream and kicked upwards and the monster wailed and tried to bite my hands.

I hear the crack of a gun and suddenly the creature above me goes limp, crashing down onto my body. Blood was everywhere as I roll the dead carcass off of myself, shuddering as I pull myself up off the floor.

"Are you alright?" A gravelly voiced called to me.

I looked up and gazed at my savior: he was an older man with green beret and a matching green outfit. The bearded man began to put away the used pistol and pulled out a cigarette.

"Yeah, I'm alright." I mumbled back as I attempted to remove the bits of brain and blood off of my face.

"Good. Because we need to get moving." The man barked. "Grab whatever you can carry and stuff it in this bag."

He tossed a large backpack in front of me, and I hastily began to pile whatever cans were still left on the shelves into the bag. When the it was full the man zipped it quickly and motion for me to walk behind him. We both headed towards the door, blatantly skipping the checkout. Suddenly, someone sprinted in front of us with his arms spread wide.

"And what do you two think you're doing?! There may be virus going around but that doesn't mean you can walk walk off with a bunch of food!" The man with a red tie and a white shirt yelled at us.

Before we could even respond, a loud screech erupted from the left of us and another black-eyed monster was running toward us. Before I could even scream the older gentleman pulled out his pistol and fired twice. The creature immediately stumbled and fell with a sickening sound. The older man turned his gaze from our dead attacker and looked at the white shirt clad individual in front of us.

"...You were saying?" The older man said around the cigarette.

"Um…." stammered the other man "Actually I think I'll be safer with the two of you."

I quickly smiled, and our savior pushed on with a grunt and the two of us followed.