Episode 1: Dawn of a Nightmare (Part 7):

Dawn was breaking as the tired group emerged from the woods. They had made it onto the main road that led into the town where Luke's parents lived. Everything seemed normal so far, there was no sign of the dead.

There was no sign of anything at all.

"You reckon they got evacuated", Nick asked as the group headed in, noticing all the shops that were usually open at dawn were locked up tight. "It seems too quiet", Pete answered him with a slight frown. "Yeah", Matt added as he darted his eyes from side to side. "I don't like it". The S.W.A.T officer continued to walk ahead as the others followed him, Nick quickened his pace to walk beside him. "I feel like you're the kind of person who doesn't like much…" Nick said unamused. Matt gave him a side glare but just ignored the young man. Nick continued to harass him. "I mean, you seem pretty set on being anti-positive"—"I will shoot you and your big mouth, kid", Matt growled low as his face darkened. The two exchanged a death stare before Matt turned and continued down the road. Pete and Susan gave Nick disapproving looks as they passed the stunned man. Luke, who was now holding an awake Anna's hand, walked up to him.

[What are you doing?]

[It's okay man.]

[Let's keep moving.]

[…]

"Let's just keep movin', okay?" he patted Nick on the shoulder before following after the others. The dark haired man finally followed behind the group.

"The house is just up this road, number six!" Luke called to Matt. As they headed down the right street, Luke saw his house and let go of Anna's hand as he raced towards it. She tried to keep up behind but his strides were too big.

Luke bashed his fist on the front door of his parent's home. "Hey!" he yelled. "DAD! MUM! ANYONE HOME!?"

The light inside suddenly flickered on as the door opened. "What the HELL are you doin' boy?" Luke's dad, Joe, growled. Luke pushed his way inside past him as he began to hysterically explain the situation. "Get mum, we have to go and—we have to go and find Darren, there's some serious shit goin' on dad… I mean…" Luke placed his hands to his head as he tried not to panic. "THERE ARE PEOPLE EATIN' EACH OTHERS FACES AND SHIT! LIKE WHAT THE FUCK, MAN! You—you gotta understand! We need to go get Darren!"

Joe stared at his son in disgust as he began to speak. "How dare you come into my home at this hour high as a fuckin' kite and raise your voice speaking nonsense. And your brother's been home from college for a week, you'd know that if you'd bothered to call or visit instead of being off ya face all the time. Get out of my house!" he pointed towards the door. Luke widened his eyes.

[You gotta believe me!]

[Darren's home?]

[I'm not high!]

[…]

"Wait… Darren—Darren's home?" Luke looked at his dad, before shoving past him and stomping up the stairs quickly. Joe chased up after him. "Get back down here!" he called after Luke.

Luke ran for Darren's room.

(O)

In one smooth motion he pushed his way inside and saw Darren asleep in his bed.

[DARREN!]

[GET UP!]

[WE'RE LEAVING!]

[(Shake Darren)]

"GET UP, MAN!" Luke yelled at his brother. The eighteen year old stirred from his sleep and peered up at Luke. "What the fuck are you doin'?" he spat. "Fuck off…"

"Darren, we have to get outta here now, okay? So pack up ya shit—and uh… grab"—"LUKE!" Joe boomed from the doorway. Luke just turned to him. "Dad, we gotta pack up some supplies… get the gun—"

Luke was grabbed by Joe on the scruff of his neck, being pulled aggressively back downstairs. Luke's mum, Mary, was now awake and stood at the top of the stairs in shock, as Darren exited his bedroom to watch the entertainment. "Joe?" Mary called in panic. "What're doin' with our son?"

Joe still held Luke by the scruff. "This little prick wants to come yellin' in my house!" he opened the front door. "Then I have the right to toss him out!"

Luke tried to plead. "Dad! Wait! You don't understa—AH!" Joe threw Luke outside, causing him to fall into a lurker that was being attracted to the house by the yelling. The corpse was pinning Luke underneath it as it growled. "Hey! What're you doin' to my son?" Joe yelled angrily from the porch.

(Q) (Q) (Q) (Q) (Q) (Q) (Q) (Q) (Q) (Q) (Q)

Luke was struggling with the lurker. Luckily Joe had pulled the thing off him and tackled it to the ground. "Dad! Don't let it bite you!" the young man yelled.

Joe looked down into the lurkers eyes, noticing how they glowed white in an inhuman way. He gasped. "What is this thing…?"

Suddenly the rest of the group joined them and Matt ordered Joe out of the way, he moved and the S.W.A.T officer smashed his boot down, crushing the lurker's skull. Joe began to stutter. "Wh… wh—what is that thing?" Mary and Darren ran out on to the porch to join the rest.

"I don't know. It's not human though", Matt replied. Darren looked at the dead lurker. "Cooooool", he said in amazement.

[You see what I mean?]

[We have to go!]

[I amost died…]

[…]

"We have to go, now!" Luke barked at his father. Joe just stared at him momentarily in shock before he nodded. "Yeah… yeah, let's go".

Luke's dad had a 20 seater van for his work, so the group packed up their things and filled the van before seating themselves. Luke sat in the front seat next to his dad and Matt, Nick and Pete sat in the back close behind them as they joined in conversation. Mary and Sue were looking after Anna in the back. Darren was playing on his phone. They drove out of town as Joe began to speak. "So where exactly is this evacuation?"

"Atlanta", Matt began. "They're supposed to be setting up a main hub near the CDC there". "Atlanta?" Joe replied sceptically. "Sounds like a death trap. One person is infected in that crowd and we all go down". "I agree", Nick added. "There'll be a lot of people there. Who's to say that everyone's clear". "The army or whoever is controllin' the evacuation will be doin' checks to clear everyone", Pete responded.

[We don't know what's happening.]

[Maybe they have a cure.]

[Everything could be normal.]

[…]

"Look…" Luke began. "We don't know what's goin' on yet. I mean—I say we get to Atlanta, see how bad everythin' actually is. For all we know this could just be a regional outbreak".

Darren climbed over from the back and sat in the middle seat at the front. Luke furrowed his brows at him. "What're you doin'?"

"I'm bored…" Darren groaned. He folded his arms and slouched back into the seat, lifting his feet up to rest on the dashboard. "Get your feet off my dash!" Joe snapped. Darren gave him a dirty look but lowered them off. "What's on the radio?" he asked, reaching out and turning the knob. A news report about the infection came on and everyone stiffened in focus to listen, but Darren changed the channel to music. "Hey!" Joe said. The others were yelling for it to be changed back.

[Change it back!]

[Darren!]

[What the hell are you doing?]

[…]

Luke smacked him across the back of the head. "The HELL are you doin'?" he yelled. Darren rubbed the back of his head and glared at Luke.

(O) Change station

Luke reached out his hand and changed the channel back. The news report was still going. Everyone fell silent and an unimpressed Darren went to speak to his brother. "You're a fuckin'"—"SHHH!" Luke gestured with his hand as he stared at the radio, deep in focus.

"People are being urged to stay off the 75, 129, 20 and 23 highways when travelling into Atlanta. Please be cautious of infected individuals. Stay away from Macon, Athens and Peachtree City as they are considered High Risk areas. Avoid contact with bodily fluids of infected individuals. When entering Atlanta, avoid East Point. Report any areas of infection to hotline… Do… avoid… resist…"—"SHIT!" Joe cursed. "Lost the signal".

The group sighed and silence fell among them. Luke furrowed his brows at Darren.

[Do you not care?]

[Will you grow up?]

[Is this a joke?]

[…]

"Is this just all some kinda joke to you?" he snarled. Darren just glared at him as he continued. "There's some serious—actual serious shit happenin'! And you treat it like it's a big joke!"

(?) Darren will remember that

"Whatever asshole…" Darren grunted as he crawled over the seat into the back. Luke faced back to see his brother just put in his headphones and blast them up, pulling his hoodie over his head.

A/N: Sorry if you are unsatisfied with the names of Luke's parents :)

As you can see, also by the conversation between Luke and Nick in chapter 2, Darren is a little moody and sour towards his brother.