My head hurt. My shoulder hurt. My legs hurt. Everything was dark and quiet, other than the loud ringing that was present in my ears.

When I was finally able to fully open my eyes I found that it was dark. Everything, still a bit blurry, seemed so empty yet so hectic. Dead bodies, crashed cars, an occasional lone zombie walking around. I turned to my left to see that the man who had hit me was still in the driver's seat lifeless.

I looked down at myself to try and see any injuries. Extreme shoulder pain and arm pain as well as red-stained jeans. I looked up into the rear-view mirror to see a bloodied forehead, bloodied nose, and a cut lip. I ruffled my hair a bit, flipping my bangs back over my forehead in hopes to hide the intense cut there. Not for anyone else, but mostly for me. I just wanted to forget it was there. I unbuckled myself and leaned over to open my glove box to take out a hair tie. I would keep a lot in there in case, due to the fact I lost them all the time. I put my shoulder-length hair into a ponytail and looked around me.

Surprisingly the glass of my car wasn't completely shattered. Although I could tell that if you just touched it lightly all of the cracked shards would fall. I tried to keep my breathing slow and quiet, not sure what was outside of my vehicle. It was hard not to panic in this type of situation, but I watched enough zombie movies in my spare time to know that it was best to keep quiet and to myself.

I looked around my car in hopes to find anything that I could use as a weapon, but obviously, there was nothing. I grabbed my backpack and emptied it with everything that was entirely useless. As soon as I saw my math book hit the bottom of the car I looked at it for a small second. Sure, math was boring, but that was the class I got to spend with Ethan. I didn't know that yesterday was going to be the last day that I would get to see him. I sighed as the thought hurt. Knowing everyone so important to me was gone. Maybe they were alive, but I doubt I would ever be able to see them again.

After I completely emptied my bag, I put in the rest of the hair ties that I left in my glove box in there. Although not a complete essential, I thought I could find it useful just for the future. I put my keys in my backpack as well and was getting prepared to leave the vehicle. Sure, my blue jeans were mostly stained red and my blue letterman jacket also had some blood splattered on it, I at least knew that you couldn't see my blood on my black shirt and sneakers. That didn't make me any less uncomfortable though.

My first stop had to be my house. Hopefully, find my family and also grab some supplies as well as clothing. I sighed deeply knowing they had probably already left. Were they waiting for me? Are they worried about me? I never came home. I wonder how they are.

To the best of my ability, I climbed to the opposite side of my car to exit out of the door that wasn't blocked by another vehicle. I slowly opened it, hoping not to attract anything near me. Luckily enough, I was able to get out without alerting anything. It was strange to see this place be so empty. I assumed there would be zombies everywhere. Although, it was possible they just weren't in my area at that moment. So I had to move quickly.

With my bag secured on my back and the adrenaline kicking through my veins enough to help me ignore the excruciating pain that was coursing through my legs, my head, and my left arm, I walked towards the direction I knew my house would be.

I was lucky enough to be able to avoid any hordes or even stand-alone zombies by the time I made it to my home. Though I was even luckier to have a house that wasn't too far of a walk away. I would've been fine with walking home and back to school but I preferred to drive in case I wanted to go grab some food after school before heading home and such. Plus, driving was just so much more peaceful to me. Now it felt like it would never be peaceful again.

Arriving at the front lawn of my house it seemed so grey, so abandoned, so dead. I was only out for a couple of hours, wasn't I? I walked up closer and saw that the front door was also ajar. I opened the rest completely to see the place completely ransacked. It was destroyed. It didn't just look like my parents grabbed what they needed and up and left, it looked like someone came in here and destroyed the place most likely in hopes to find supplies to survive with.

It hurt to see my childhood home look this way. It used to be so peaceful and serene, so happy and full of love. Now it looked nothing but terrifying. That was what scared me the most. Seeing my once happy place turn into something that makes me feel nothing but fear.

Took slow steps around the hallway, peaking through doors to make sure there weren't any zombies around. I did hope to see my parents, though I wasn't sure how. I would love to see them alive, but would I want closure as well? See them as a zombie or even dead just to know what happened to them? Or would I prefer to just have never seen them again and live onto that little piece of hope in me knowing that maybe they're out there thriving?

The place was empty. I guess I was somewhat happy about that. Mostly just because then that meant I wouldn't have to deal with anyone just to go through my own home. Anyone or anything I should say.

Going to my room it was by no surprise a wreck along with the rest of my home. If I could even call it my home anymore. It didn't feel like a home anymore, let alone mine.

The first thing I did was go through my closet to see if I could find any clothing there that I could need. The least I wanted was at least some clothing to change out of what I was currently wearing. Thankfully I did have some clothes around. I grabbed a couple of my jeans that were left hanging around, some simple t-shirts, underwear, and socks to stuff into my bag. I decided to might as well just stick to the shoes I had on already as they were the best shoes I could use for walking long distances or even running.

I kept one pair of jeans, a t-shirt, underwear, and socks out to quickly change into. I was tired of all the blood I was covered in. My only issue was there was one thing I was refusing to leave behind even with the hints of blood on it. Ethan's letterman jacket.

I sighed looking at it. I didn't want it to go anywhere. So I just put it back on over my new black shirt while it hung a bit past my hips over my new blue jeans. I was more comfortable and with the jacket, I felt a lot safer. Ethan may have not been with me but I felt like he'd still always be by my side as long as I had that jacket with me. And that was what meant the most to me.

I checked my drawers to see if I could find anything else I could need. Nothing but my phone charger. Probably not something that could be used anymore, but I took it anyway. Then I went to the bathroom. I did take a roll of toilet paper since I could only fit one roll. I also took some tampons because that time of the month is going to be a fucking bitch with zombies everywhere, huh?

I sighed, sad that my life had to have come to this. Why did it have to be this way? Why did it hurt so much?

And why did I miss him the most?

...

It had been a couple of days. I camped out in my home for a small bit as I was too scared to go anywhere else, but when more and more zombies started to take a liking to my area I knew I had to find somewhere else. So, I snuck out the back door and found a small cute convenient store nearby. I used to visit that place all the time, especially with Sue.

I miss Sue.

I decided to start camping out there. It was small, it still had some nice stock around, and it was pretty easy to protect. Not a lot of people came to this area anymore, probably because this was where the majority of the zombies had come from. Yet, being the scared little bitch I was, I decided to stay. I guess that area was all I knew.

It wasn't too hard to make that area my camp. I used the biggest things I could find to block the door. I found chairs, I had found some boxes in that back that were mostly more stock but were incredibly heavy so I felt they were at least something I could use to block the entrance and just slide to the side whenever I'd need to leave. Though, I was too terrified to even leave. I was alone and I couldn't find anyone else. I wasn't strong. I was small, I was fragile, I spent most of my time studying in hopes to get into the same college as Ethan. Being the sportsman he was he was getting offered an athletic scholarship to a school that wanted him on their team. For a man who only slept in class, he was easily able to get into a decent college just for the fact that he could throw balls easily.

Now here I was no longer needing all of those notes I always took in class. Maybe I should have taken on a sport but unfortunately, I was just bad at everything athletic. Now that's something that can be my downfall.

I didn't know how long I was going to be cooped up in that little shop but what I did know was that I needed to survive.