Hi Readers! So chapter one is now complete! I hope you enjoy it. Glad to have new followers and to be Favorited, so thanks for that! This chapter is in Penelope's perspective, mainly because she is the main protagonist of my story. I have chosen Shailene Woodley to be the face of Penelope, and Richard Madden to be the face of Jacob. Please check out my profile page for links of pictures of these two. Disclaimer: I own nothing except for my original characters and storyline. Please leave a review after reading, they let me know if I am doing a good job or if I need to work on anything. PLEASE REVIEW!

Among the Dead

Day 58

The pile of dead bodies wasn't a big shock to her. Not anymore. But the smell would be something she could never get over. Grimacing, Penelope pulled her bandana from her backpack and tied it over her nose and mouth. She pulled one of her hatchets from the holster on her hip and began walking through the rows of bodies, mindful of the corpses that outlined her path. She swatted at the flies that encroached around her, their buzzing filling her ears.

She had arrived in King County the day before and had been forced to take shelter in a shop after a group of reekers chased her. She had been trying to make it to King County for over a month now, only to be slowed down. Be it reekers or other survivors. Not to mention the highways were a mess, blocked with abandoned cars and dead people walking around.

She chose to take the back roads, thinking they would be less populated. It had worked for a while, but she still ran into reekers

She had yet to find any trace of her brother until she found the helicopters.

Her car had given out outside of town, forcing her to make it on foot the rest of the way. It was by chance that she found the helicopters. After her night in the shop, she had cut through the park, hoping the trees would give her some cover when she saw the abandoned military outpost.

Her brother belonged to the 7th cavalry regiment and had been stationed at Ft. Hood in Texas when he called and told Penelope he was being sent north to help with the outbreak. The last day she spoke to him, all communication went down.

She had been unable to contact her dad after Jacob called, which only worried her more. She had no idea if he was okay, if he had been released, or if he was still stuck in that place.

She decided to find Jacob since she had an idea of where he was. Even though he had told her Atlanta was safe, she didn't like the idea of leaving her brother behind. Besides, it was on the way to Atlanta.

She had been rendered motionless when she saw the familiar insignia of her brother's battalion on the helicopters. She just started at the insignia, unable to tear her eyes away from the two golden swords crossing each other, a seven etched above them.

When she finally was able to move again, her legs felt like pillars. She made her way through the small outpost silently. Taking a look around, Penelope made sure it was clear before pulling herself into the helicopter.

There was blood in the cockpit near the opposite side of the pilot's seat, making her cringe slightly. It was the wrinkled photo taped to the window that made her realize she had found her brother's helicopter. It was a picture taken years ago, when she was around fifteen. He had taken her out to the base and showed her his helicopter, his "baby" as he called it. She had stolen his helmet and was smiling brightly at the camera as she sat in her brother's lap.

Taking the picture, Penelope let out a sudden sob. She fell back in the pilot seat and clutched the picture in her hand. She covered her mouth with her other hand to try and silence her cries.

After a while and calm enough, she noticed the hospital down the hill. She hesitated due to finding hospitals were a generally bad idea since this whole thing started, but she had to be sure. She had to be sure her brother wasn't there. So she tucked the picture in her backpack and hopped out of the helicopter, making her way towards the hospital.

That was when she saw all the dead bodies.

Now, as she walked through the row of bodies, she tried to see if any of them could possibly be Jacob. It was difficult due to them being wrapped in white tarps, but most had the tops of their head sticking out. She prayed she would not see his curly brown hair as she passed, clutching her hatchet until her hand turned white.

As she grew closer to the emergency door, she saw a lone reeker scrapping his hands against it. It was once a man, a doctor by the deteriorating scrubs he wore. He was probably handsome before all this, but that had faded and was replaced with a decomposing face that appeared to be melting. He probably had a life with people who loved him. Did they know what happened to him? Were they even alive?

She whistled to get the reeker's attention from the bottom of the stairs. It turned and began making snarling sounds as it stretched out its' arms towards her. She raised her hatchet and waited for the reeker to come to her.

It fumbled down the stairs, unable to coordinate its' legs. It fell and landed on its' back, but still snarled and reached for her. She brought the hatchet down and embedded it in the reeker's skull three times. Blood spewed out and flecks landed on her clothes. The reeker went still.

Penelope looked down at the reeker with pity, "What was your name?"

Unable to leave it there, Penelope found a spare tarp and wrapped the reeker's body inside it. It may not be a proper funeral, but it was something.

She dragged the reeker away from the stairs and laid it next the rest of bodies. Giving the reeker one last look, she made her way back to the emergency door.

Looking up at the exit sign above the door, she could see the power was out. That wasn't a surprise, power grids went down a while back. Penelope pulled the door open quietly and slowly, unsure of what was on the other side.

It was pitch black inside. Cursing, Penelope closed the door and leaned against it with a thud. She didn't want to go into a dark, close-quartered stairwell. On the other hand, if her brother was inside, it was the only way.

Sighing heavily, Penelope pulled the small flashlight she had found in the shop the night before. She took a breath before pulling the door open once again and peering inside with the flashlight, her hatchet firmly in her other hand.

She thought of propping the door open to let light in, but quickly changed her mind when she thought of reekers coming in. Penelope used the light she had from the open door to see that no reekers seemed to be in the stairwell, at least not this low.

Penelope was careful not to let the door slam just in case, and decided to head up. Aiming the flashlight up the stairs, she saw a small sign indicating which floor she was one. Fourth floor. There was no window to look through so she couldn't see if it was clear. Leaning her ear against the door, Penelope tried to listen for anything that could indicate reekers.

It was quiet, or at least she couldn't hear anything.

She opened the door slowly, wincing when it made a squeaking sound. She poked her head out of the door and looked. It was a mess. The ceiling seemed to have caved in, with wires hanging down. But no sign of any bodies. They must have been cleared outside.

Nearing the reception desk, she looked over the counter and began scavenging through. She didn't find anything worth taking. The lights flickered overhead, indicating the backup generator still had some juice left.

Penelope pulled the bandana away from her face and took a deep breath, she was exhausted. She hadn't been able to sleep at the shop, too afraid the reekers would somehow break in. The walk didn't help either.

She looked over and saw something written on the doors further down the hall. Pushing herself off of the desk, she made her way down the hall. She regretted pulling down her bandana when she walked into a wall of smell.

She saw a pair of doors chained together with a long piece of wood baring the doors. The words, "Don't Open, Dead Inside," were spray-painted on them. She quickly stepped back from the door when they began to move. The telltale sounds of reekers came from the other side.

She looked behind her and saw the hall stretched out further. She decided she wasn't going to go back down this way. She stopped midstride when she saw the bullet holes adorning the wall. She sighed. This wasn't the first hospital she was in the experience military collateral damage. She had been lucky when she had left her own hospital in Missouri.

Penelope shut the doors behind her, attempting to put some distance between her and the locked up reekers.

When she turned around, another pair of swinging doors lay ahead of her.

Peering through the glass she felt her stomach curl. The remains of a woman lay in the middle of the hall. The reekers had gotten to her and had eaten half of her. Her entrails were hanging out, though strangely her face seemed to have been untouched. Had it not been for her exposed body and blood, she would appear to have been sleeping.

She chose to leave the body for now, and turned to walk down the right wing. This hall seemed to be less bloody, but still was a mess with papers everywhere on the floor.

As Penelope walked down the hall she noticed a gurney blocking a door. Maybe someone was trying to keep a reeker from getting out. She approached the gurney and slid it out of the way before putting her ear to the door. She couldn't hear anything.

Lifting her hatchet, she pulled down the door handle slowly before pushing the door open. Peering inside she gasped.

There was no reeker in the room, or at least she didn't think he was one. He still looked human. A man lay in the bed, still attached to an IV and pulse monitor. It was like he was frozen in time, sleeping through the chaos going on around him.

Shutting the door, Penelope stepped closer to the foot of the bed, just in case. She studied him. He was a bit older than her, maybe in his late thirties, early forties with short, slightly curled brown hair. Stubble covered his face while a breathing cannula was strapped in his nose. He was sweating profusely.

She didn't think reekers sweat.

Looking down, she noticed his patient chart with the name Richard Grimes. She picked it up and began reading over his stats. He had been a police officer and had been shot before falling into a coma. She put down the chart and looked at the comatose man once more. He looked so helpless.

Carefully, she walked around the bed until she stood by his side. She reached out for his hand, mindful of any sudden movements. She felt for any sign of a pulse. Her brow lifted in surprise. He was alive! She let out an airy laugh, "Aren't you lucky."

How long had he been like this? She pulled back the sheets covering him to help cool him off. The IV bag was empty so he wasn't getting any fluids. Strangely she felt some normalcy as she did all this, like she was back in the old world, taking care of her patient.

She untied the gown to let his body cool off more and hissed in displeasure as she saw the bandage covering his wound. It needed to be changed otherwise he risked infection, if it wasn't' already. Who knew when that thing had been changed?

Penelope looked around the room for anything that could help her clean the wound, but couldn't find anything.

She needed to go and search the floor for supplies if she was going to help this man. She removed her backpack and laid it in the chair beside the dresser she had just ransacked. Turning to Richard Grimes, she said, "I don't know if you can hear me, Richard, but I'm going to try and help you. I'll be right back. So don't move or anything, okay?"

She chuckled before leaving the room, determined to find supplies. She may be searching for her brother, but that didn't mean she could just leave a defenseless man to die. She just couldn't. Jacob always said she cared way too much about other people.

Outside the room, she blocked the door with the gurney like she had found it, and began looking for anything she could find to help Richard Grimes.

Two hours later, she returned to the room with a bag full of medicine and bandages. Saline, gauze, anything she could find she grabbed.

Penelope dropped the bag to the floor and walked over to Richard to take his pulse once again. It was slow, but at least he had a pulse.

"Let's get you cleaned up, huh?" she said as she walked around the bed towards the bathroom. She found a small dish and filled it with water. She took the small hand towel hanging on the wall and returned to Richard.

Sitting on the edge of the bed, she began wiping his face of the sweat that clung to his skin, "You must be a stubborn man, to have stuck it out this long on your own."

After cleaning his face, she changed out the Saline bag and IV. Penelope tossed the old ones in the trash in the bathroom before returning to her unknowing patient, "I hope you wake up, Richard."

She grabbed gauze and cleaning solution from the bag and quickly changed his bandaging. There was no sign of infection, thank goodness.

She looked out the window and saw the sun was setting. She would pick up her search for Jacob in the morning. She went over to the dresser and pulled out pillows and sheets that were there, and made a small bed on the floor.

Penelope didn't like the idea of a gurney being the only thing between the door and a reeker, so she pushed the dresser in front of the door just to be safe.

Unstrapping her hatchets from her thigh holsters, she laid them down beside her makeshift bed and plopped down on the floor. She felt the day wearing down on her as a yawn escaped her mouth. She laid down and snuggled into the pillows. She hadn't slept on a pillow in a while.

She watched Richard from where she lay, wanting to make sure he was alright. Her eyes felt heavy and her eyelids began to droop as she tried to stay awake just a bit longer, but soon enough, Penelope fell asleep.

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