Moans and growls filled her ears jolting her awake, it was still dark out. The smell of rotting corpses filled her nose forcing bile to immediately fill her throat. The bodies of dead growlers laid across her, but a live one entered her sight. Its hands reached outward grasping for her. She felt around her waist remembering her belt, grabbing the knife. She struggled to plunge it into the growler's head, it took her far longer than she would have liked.

Every movement caused her pain. She rested her head back for a moment gathering any strength she could. She hoped that Melanie and Nelson had gotten away safely. The flashlight was gone, she didn't know where her bow was and she had a clip, maybe two, for the handgun at her side. It didn't look good, but she supposed things have looked far worse before.

Using all of her strength she heaved the corpses off of her before sitting up, feeling her skin crawl as she crawled away from the bodies that once laid over her. Her breathing was ragged, trying to wipe away the innards of the dead smeared all over her. She scanned the area as best she could trying to look for any threats. Was that man still around, stalking the waters like a hungry shark? She couldn't be certain but everything was held at chance.

Standing up she felt a sharp pain from her abdomen and ankle. Her hand moved down only to feel fresh blood spilling, panic washed over her as she lifted her shirt to find it was only her own blood that covered her stomach. Her ankle felt like it was possibly sprained if not anything worse. Her body ached everywhere. What she wouldn't give to snuggle up into a soft bed after this night.

She knelled down for a moment searching the ground for anything she could have dropped, she felt a hard piece of metal. She grasped onto it excitedly, it was her bow!

Only to find as she picked it up it had snapped on the fall down. She let out a sad sigh in mourning for her beloved weapon, tossing the pieces of it aside. Her gaze moved up to the trees hoping for some sense of direction, she wasn't quite sure what to do now. She had no idea where Melanie had gone and she hardly wanted to head back to the town they had spotted in the distance earlier. Regret sat at her side, remembering she'd forced her friend out of there but Charlie was certain she couldn't survive without water.

She needed medical attention, she was bleeding badly and bruised everywhere. Her ankle was on the edge of broken at this point. The first aid kit had been with Melanie but with the rush of the herd, she knew that was the last thing her friend would grab. She had next to nothing to patch herself up with. It looked bad for her.

Charlie stiffened her upper lip, remembering her dad would tell her that when she was younger and needed to toughen up. She moved on through the darkness, leaning on whatever tree she could with her knife ready in one hand and another pressed gently over her stomach. The cut bled a little more with every move she made.

Somehow she continued her painful journey, clinging onto branches as the sun began to rise, painting the sky pink and purple. It was a beautiful sight, she stopped for a moment to take in what could be her last sunrise, shoulder pressed against the rough bark of a tree that was holding her up. Out of nowhere she heard the raspy breaths of a growler before the body slammed into her. She hit the ground hard, her head ringing and sight blurry. She blindly pushed back at it, shoving it off of her enough for her to use the knife in her hand. Once the noises stopped she let out a sigh. Her head burned with pain, the morning sun blinding her. She couldn't stop now though.

She pulled herself to her feet, grimacing at the pain that ignited inside of her body, stumbling through the woods. With a hand pressed to her temple, she could feel the blood loss hitting her. Her body felt like it was sinking. Before she even knew it she hit the ground again. She let out a cry of pain. I'm not getting back up this time, she thought to herself. Charlie stayed on her back, staring up at the sky. It was hopeless.

In the distance she could hear a dog barking, her first thought was of her own dog. Maybe Nelson and Mel were right there! Though, a part of her feared that her friend could do nothing to save her at this point, she would only be able to watch her die a second time.

"It's going this way!" She heard a man's voice.

"Why are we following this dumb dog, he's got us on a wild goose chase." Another man complained.

Charlie felt the familiar sensation of a dog licking her cheek. Her hand tried to move up to pet him but she was so weak she couldn't manage it.

"Nelson?" She breathed out, her energy was spent. Her vision was blurry as she tried to focus in on his face; Nelson cried, nudging her hand with his nose.

"Well look at this, the mutts not so dumb is he?" she heard a low voice, her eyes opened only to see a tall man with salt and pepper hair and a severely receded hairline. His smile was menacing.

"Where's your fearless leader now?" He crouched down in front of her, pushing her head back so he could get a better look at her face.

"Tie him up." He commanded another. Nelson growled, yapping as Charlie heard rustling and some sort of struggle.

"Don't." She cried, using any strength left to reach for her dog but they proved to be faster as they grabbed him. All she could do now was listen to Nelson's barks of distress as they pulled him away. Charlie tried to sit up to move away but as she did darkness tunneled in on her.

'This is it.' This last thought rang through her mind.

42 days earlier.

"Mel." Charlie watches her friend tromp through the woody area. Her heavy steps create puffs of dust behind her feet. Nelson stays close by.

"Melanie stop." But Melanie doesn't slow her march, her fists balled up at her side. Charlie jogs to catch up to her, pulling Melanie's shoulder back. Melanie brings her arm up in defense towards Charlie but she grabs her wrist to stop her, the knuckles of her fingers almost turning white.

She stares at her. Melanie's face softens with the threat of tears rimming her eyes. Charlie loosens her hold on Melanie's wrist, slowly bringing her arm down.

"Did you see it?" Melanie gestured back towards the way they came. "You saw what he did, he was the one doing it, how-" her words drop off with frustration.

The sound of the wind rustling through the leafy trees filled their silence. Nelson sniffed around them, stopping to give them a curious eye before going back to cluing around.

Finally Melanie focuses her red, puffy eyes on her friend. Charlie nods towards her.

"Just you and me now, okay? We stay out of sight and we keep moving." Charlie says, she feels the sting of tears now threaten her but she takes a deep breath in, giving a reassuring squeeze to Melanie's hand. She looks down and makes a failed attempt to rub the dried blood from her friend's hands.

"Let's go." Charlie pulls her friend forward, wrapping an arm around her shoulder.

The sun was so bright, the light forcing its way into Charlie's eyesight, even with her eyes closed. She frowned, grimacing at the beating her body took. Every movement sent searing pain through every part of her body.

Her eyes averted just ahead of her at the backs of two men, both strapped with rifles. Their clothes were not covered in as much filth as she expected most people to appear. She looked down at her feet and followed her body as far up to her chest. She rested her hand on the part of her stomach where the gash was, now roughly bandaged up, her blood seeping through. She was being carried on a stretcher, taking note of the four men carrying her, walking on each side of her was a man and a woman. A group of men, ten or more, stood around staring coolly at her.

They were no longer in the woods. Where she expected to see lush, green foliage was now a concrete desert. Her senses, though weakened by her physical state, were on high alert. She wanted nothing more than to run. The familiar, hungering sounds of the growlers filled her ears, she turned her head slightly to her right. Growlers were chained and staked outside of a chain-link fence.

Flashes from the night haunted her memory. The drooling jowls hungering for her flesh. The glimpses she painfully took in as Melanie ran. The hope that her friend got away safely was small, but present.

They made their way into a building, glimpses of fluorescent light glowed above them as they walked through what seemed to be dark tunnels. Footsteps echoed through the dim walkways, mumbling voices caught her ears every so often.

"In here." A woman's voice commanded. Charlie felt the carriers set her down, catching eyes with one of them. He was stern, his eyes cold as he looked down at her.

"She's lost a lot of blood already, don't know if she'll even make it the night." He breaks his eyes from her as he speaks to another person. He then buries his hands under her back as she feels another secure his arms under her legs. Charlie cries out, the pain too much as they lifted her up, sending her back into complete darkness.

A buzzing sound filled the room; every few seconds she felt a rush of cool air fall over her body. I'm in my dorm room. Charlie was certain. Slowly she peeled her eyes open, quickly filling up with disappointment as she scanned the somewhat drab room through blurry vision. It definitely wasn't her room back at college.

Charlie groaned, stretching her head just enough to see her stomach was still bandaged, though it was a fresh one as she realized there was no blood seeping through anymore. She grimaced noting she was only wearing her bra on the top half, suddenly feeling violated.

"I survived the night," she whispered to the empty room. She sat up on her elbows but the motion made her ache all over, she was still very sore and the cut was far from healed. There was no choice but for her to succumb to her current state, her body was weak and she would indeed need time to get better. But her walls remained heightened, she still had no idea where Melanie was, wondering if she successfully escaped.

A hard knock on the titanium door sent shock waves through her. Charlie jumped, goosebumps formed on her arms and legs. She struggled to reach for the sheet to cover herself with.

A woman walked in, looking down at her with surprise but quickly hardening her expression. She turned back and reached for a tray, leaving the door open. Two men stood next to a rolling cart, neither changing the icy looks on their faces. The woman approached her bedside, setting the tray roughly on the nightstand.

"Eat."

Charlie frowned immediately, forcing herself to sit up. She hissed through the pain. The woman chuckled a little, shaking her head. "You got a long way to go before you can use this again." She toyed with one of Charlie's knives in her hands, spinning it around before setting it back in her belt. Charlie huffed at her, pushing the tray away.

"You think I care?" The woman reached down to check Charlie's bandage but she swiped her hand away.

"It's fine." Charlie insisted, pulling the sheet all the way up, once again groaning from the pain.

The woman laughed again, throwing her hands up, "he'll be paying you a visit, you better eat up sunshine." She made her way back to the open door.

"Oh by the way," the woman stopped, "cute dog." One of the men loosened the leash Nelson was on, he immediately picked up Charlie's scent. Charlie lunged to the end of her bed, while Nelson whined and snapped at the woman so as to get to his beloved human.

Charlie screamed at her, "don't touch him!" staring at the trio until they closed the door behind them. She held her hand against her mouth, crying for the first time while Nelson's yaps got farther away.

It only took a few seconds before she decided the best option was to leave. Charlie heaved her legs over the bed, clenching her stomach as she felt the stinging pain. Her breaths were short.

Go. Her own voice filled her mind as she replayed the moment she demanded her friend to leave. Flashes of Melanie running rushed before her. Charlie shook her head, pressing her palms against the bed to get herself up. As quickly as she was on her feet she fell to the ground, meeting with the concrete floor and landing on all fours. Charlie did her best to stifle her outcries.

She took a few breaths before grabbing onto the small table, pulling herself up. Charlie scanned the room, spotting a set of neatly folded clothes sitting in an armchair that was adjacent to her bed. Her legs shook as she made her way to the chair, excitedly she unfolded them.

She stared at the clothing, slumping back into the chair. She held it outward, confused. It was a black dress, Charlie was a taller woman, the dress wouldn't even cover her knees.

"What?"

A slow knock came at the door. Charlie swallowed, staring up at the small window. There was a man standing at the door, waiting there though she couldn't make out his face. She listened as they unlocked the door realizing she wouldn't have made it outside of that room.

I'm a prisoner.

The same woman filed in like a soldier with two other men, pride still clearly read all over her face as she looked down at her. A pitiful little thing. Charlie was ready to vocalize her thoughts about the woman but a deep voice stopped her.

A fourth person strode in, chuckling, leaning back ever so slightly. A mean-looking bat slung over his left shoulder, barbed wire wrapped tightly around it. Charlie kept her cautious gaze on him, putting the dress in front of her. She suddenly felt exposed and vulnerable.

He stopped first facing her bed, slowly turning on the heel of his motorcycle boots, an arrogant smile spread across his lightly bearded face.

"Who do we have here?" His voice was low, almost growling, but he never stopped smiling.