Perfection.

Her room was the perfect shade of baby pink all around with the cursive word perfection hung up over her equally as pink bed. Her mom had a great eye for detail and had hung up cheer paraphernalia, flowers, and other pretty things across her room. Fluffy white carpet and an equally fluffy bag-chair decorated the floorspace of the teen's bedroom along with a pristine vanity with quality make up. The entire house was well decorated and maintained by the matriarch of the family.

Everything has to be in its place at all times no matter who was or wasn't looking. Hair smooth, make up clean, and clothes ironed - Josephine's parents always demanded perfection. Her mom was a nurse at Seabrook Hospital and her dad an officer in the Z Patrol, there was always a need to do better and to be better.

After all, Josephine Jackson was perfect. She laughed when she was supposed to, made excellent grades, always did above and beyond in everything, and most of all she did what her parents wanted her to do without question. Just like everyone else in the city, her mother was a cheerleader and her father a football player at Seabrook High School many years ago.

Surprisingly enough, they hadn't known each other existed until after college when they moved back to the small town and bumped into each other during work. Her dad was on call in Zombieland when something went wrong and he had an encounter with one of those monsters. He solved it quickly and he walked into her mom's care. He loved to show the scar off on his neck.

Love, just like that.

Then her brother was born, the perfect child. He played football just like his dad, one of the best Seabrook had ever seen, before heading off to college to study Pre-Med after being Valedictorian of his graduating class. His graduation photo hung proudly at their front entrance and the boy was sent off for his own first year last week at the prestigious Mountain College. The same school both her parents attended and the same one she would attend as well.

Yes, Josephine had a perfect life. She did what her parents told her to do and that was why everything was perfect. Her brother did the same and look where that had gotten him. She was going to be a cheerleader, just like she was supposed to be, and she'd be a lawyer within the decade.

"Do you have everything for school, Josephine?" Her mom asked from across the table. The three were enjoying breakfast together which was rare as usually one or both parents were usually gone at work. They were well known for being hard workers even in school taking double shifts to help out their community. Moments like these were rare when the family got to eat together, but the two had decided to take a break for their daughter's first day of school since they no longer had their first born to help out.

"Yes, mom. Thank you for the new water bottle, it goes perfectly with my backpack." Josephine said gratefully with a smile. Her mom returned it with full force, pride on her face at the manners her daughter had. The water bottle was an exquisite pink that matched Josephine's lunchbox, backpack, outfits... It went well with the family.

"Good, and remember cheer tryouts are early in the semester so figure out the dates before you leave school today. Write them on the calendar when you get home." Her dad said seriously, sipping on his cup of coffee and enjoying the newspaper. He very rarely had time to read it so he did when he could. "Your brother did well following in our footsteps, he might not have been a wide receiver like your dad, but he played well."

"I'm so excited to watch you as a flier, Josephine." Her mom said with excitement, her eyes glazing over as old memories flashed through her head. The woman was no cheer captain, but she had been your average Seacoast cheerleader wearing the pink and green proudly. With a small sigh of content, she looked back at her daughter who only smiled back. "I know you're a... little… tall for a girl your age, but I just know you'll be just like your mother. Soaring, flying, it's a wonderful feeling spinning in the air and-"

Ah yes. Her imperfections. Smile and bare with it, it was all because they loved her.

"Alright sugar pea." The patriarch said gently, a loving hand placed on his wife's shoulder. "Let's let Josephine go. She needs to get an early start, you know how she is with times. I'm sure we'll be watching her at the next game high in the air very soon."

Josephine ignored her stomach dropping and said her goodbyes to her parents. She headed out to get her bike from the side of the house - she lived near the edge of town - and resisted the urge to see how fast she could get to school. She waved politely to the people of the town, throwing a good morning here and a 'its good to see you' there, before arriving at the school. Freshmen to seniors were hanging out on the lawn while a few older boys with letterman jackets threw the ball near the front door.

Her brother had been a kicker on the team, the only thing her dad complained about regarding her brother, until the boy had basically kicked every single goal and got himself into college on scholarship. Even when he failed, the boy couldn't lose.

While locking up her bike, Josephine's eyes wandered from the football over to the newly built fence and she frowned.

Zombies.

Her nose scrunched up in distaste as all the stories from her dad started to pour through her head. Monsters, no brains, undead, absolute terrors to society that deserved to sho-

"Oh, Josephine!"

Woken up from her hateful thoughts, Josephine's eyes locked onto a familiar face and even though she wore pink, she felt green. The smiling face of Addison Wells stood in front of her.

"Hey, Addison." Josephine said kindly, pushing down the jealousy in her stomach as the two began walking to the school. "How's your morning going?"

Being put into cheer camp by her family for her entire life it was a guarantee to see Mayor Missy's daughter, Addison, who succeeded in everything with an almost supernatural ease. Cheer came easy to her as opposed to Josephine who spent hours on weekends with her mom clapping at her along to beats in the backyard. Somehow the two girls were friends seeing as Josephine's parents enrolled her in whatever Addison was doing.

"It's going great! I'm a little nervous, new school you know?" Josephine nodded in understanding, high school was scary enough but now they had to be in the same building with freakish monsters who wanted to eat humans... talk about stress. Her eyes darted over to the boys again, they were throwing that ball really half-hazardly. "Plus, cheerleading... it's everything I've ever wanted to be and now... this is it."

Miss Perfect nervous about anything? Everything she did was right since she was born. There was no way that the blonde had to worry about anything. Her mother was the mayor, father the head of Z-Patrol, and her cousin was the current cheer captain. In no nearby parallel universe was Addison Wells not going to become a cheerleader. Now, maybe if a zombie visited the girl at night, ripping her face off, then she'd have something to worry abo-

Josephine had to swallow her hateful thoughts down. They would do no good in the end so might as well push them away. "You'll be fine, Addison. You're amazing at cheer and the team will be lucky to have you." Dad said being emotional would get you nowhere and you can't fight someone whose already perfect.

"Thanks, Jett. I really appreciate it." Addison said kindly with a smile at the brunette. She gave a small hip bump as they approached the front doors to school and Josephine grinned back down at her friend. "You'll get in too, I know it."

"Yeah, but my parents still talk about how perfect your performance was at junior cheer camp this summer." It took everything in Josephine to not bite the words out as the memory of her parents gushing over Addison Wells reared its ugly head. The words echoed through her head and she repeated her mother's praises. "You fly like you were born for it."

Addison stopped their walk at the steps of the school and looked over at Josephine to reassure her that she was also awesome, but Josephine's eyes darted over the blonde's shoulder at a sudden movement. There were only seconds to react properly as a small 'heads up' was attempted to warn the girl. Josephine elbowed Addison out of the way before catching the football that nearly hit the cheerleader in the back of the head.

After she caught herself from being pushed out of the way, Addison looked over at Josephine with wide eyes as she sent the ball in a perfect spiral over to the group of boys who only called out quick apologies before returning back to their game. Josephine scoffed at the lack of decorum.

"Wow, that was amazing, Jett!" Addison said with excitent, looking at the girl with gratitude. "Thank you for that."

Josephine shrugged her shoulders and rubbed the back of her neck in barrassment. "It's not a problem. You would do the same for me." She'd probably have flown over there with a cartwheel, hand spring, and back flip... Something so much more graceful than the throw that made the catcher stumble back.

"You're going to be great at cheer-"

"Wow, that was an amazing catch! And an awesome spiral a-and that distance!"

The brunette whipped around to the fence and took a few steps away from the chain-link, the voice that interrupted Addison stared at Josephine in excitent. Josephine felt her lip curl automatically.

Green hair, pale skin, sunken eyes... the undead just walking in their town as if they were one of them. She made eye contact with the taller zombie with curly hair and he grinned at her, she just looked away feeling disgust crawl through her. Josephine couldn't look at them any longer as fear started to build its way up.

"Are these freaks bothering you cuz?" The man, the myth, the weirdly self-obsessed Bucky Buchannan appeared from behind the two girls, placing a hand on Addison's shoulder as he also looked over at the zombies and started to make deaning faces at the taller one. When the zombie smacked against the fence, Bucky and Josephine took a step back in fear - the former letting out a shriek.

"Come on you guys, leave them alone. We've got to go to school."

"We just have to make it through the second invasion first." Josephine sneered at the freaks. The one who attempted a conversation between races visibly dropped in mood, shoulders down, eyebrows turned up. She couldn't care less what happened next as they were properly dealt with by security.

Addison faltered in her step at the hateful words and fell back - Bucky and his cheerleaders staying back with her - Josephine continued her walk since she didn't want to be anywhere near the green headed monsters. She couldn't believe the council voted on this to take place - did they not care about the future of Seabrook?! It was only a matter of time before the sirens went off and the disgusting creatures were ripping the human citizens to shreds.

Her first two classes went by without issue. Josephine was quickly climbing the social ladder by talking and smiling at everyone she could. Her parents taught her to be perfect and that meant getting approval from others through positive interactions - like cheerleading.

It was between the second and third block when the red alert went off and the first thought in Josephine's head was of course. She couldn't even find it in herself to panic like everyone else as she headed into the closest zombie protection room in annoyance. Maybe she could take a snack from the rations, they always did have the best jerky.

Her mom wouldn't be happy with her ruining her dinner though, so she best not do so.

When she opened the door, she looked behind her and wondered if she should do something about the chaos behind her. There was a worm wiggling in her brain of what her mom and dad always taught her, to sacrifice for others. But with her hand on the door and the red siren's making her heart race... what if she thought about herself?

In every safety room across Seabrook were these metal poles that were about three feet long and they were the first designed anti-zombie weapon that didn't require any training to use. The length of the pole could keep a zombie away from you, the weight of it could brutally bring it down, and in a pinch could be used to jump over obstacles. As an officer in the Z Patrol, her dad ensured that his kids knew how to use the weapon to its fullest capabilities.

There were movies about the incident from 50 years ago that show girls using the mop-like instrument to take the foul creature's heads from their necks, pierce them onto walls, or even depicted in different ways to keep yourself alive in the woods. Supposedly, this thing should be used to protect herself and others from whatever was attacking the school.

But, Z-Patrol would be on their way by now. If she stayed in the room and locked the door... she would be safe without a doubt. No one would be able to get in and all she'd have to do is wait for the all clear from the professionals. But... How many others would die?

Worst first day ever, honestly.

Josephine shook her head, grabbed a metal pole, and immediately went to go round up students and show them where the safe room was. It would look terrible if she was the only one in the safe room and had locked it, preventing others from safety. She would just go gather a group of students and bring them in, lock the door, and say good luck to everyone else.

There were no zombies that she could see and the hallways were pretty hectic. Were people screaming for no reason or were they running from a zombie? Josephine was getting pretty annoyed on her first day so far, but ensured to hide it behind a face of composure and polite kindness. She was Josephine Jackson, daughter of community servants and a future defender herself.

She hadn't stepped more than four feet from the shelter when her eyes locked onto green hair and she felt herself freeze in fear.

Zombie.