Author's Note: Well, here's the next chapter. I just felt so bad that I hadn't updated in a while, so I decided to make another update as soon as I could. And this is pretty damn soon, if you ask me. And please, if you spot any spelling, grammer, or punctuation mistakes, let me know so they can be corrected. :-)

And thanks to those who reviewed. You make me oh so happy!

By the way, this is my favorite chapter so far...

Chapter 4: June 24, 26, 27- The End

Josephine sat there in the middle of her living room. Her legs were pulled up to her chest and her head was buried in her knees. There was nothing surrounding her but silence. Horrible, horrible silence.

There was no electricity. There were no doctors. There were no cars. There were no gun shots. There were no police. There was no army. There was no 'help'.

There were no people. Just silence.

Josephine had never known the real meaning of being alone, lonely, until now. It was always just a fleeting thought that she never had to deal with because it was never supposed to happen. But now it has and now there was, as far as she was concerned, no one.

Her father had died on the afternoon of the 24th. Josephine had realized that he wasn't getting any better, that her undefeated chicken soup was doing nothing to bring her father back to his original, good health. She would never admit that to anyone, though.

The sun was shining that afternoon and for days all the curtains had been closed, letting no light in. The windows were opened, yes, but due to the curtains always being closed no fresh air got inside. So the entire downstairs smelled musty and old. It was making Josephine sick so that afternoon she opened the curtains and the light just spilled into the room and made it seem a little less like... death.

Josephine wandered over to her father to see if he wanted something to eat or drink. He hadn't bothered her for anything for a while and she thought it strange that they hadn't had some kind of quarrel by now. For a moment, she believed that it was because she was too busy taking care of her sister and mother, who were getting much worse.

Mr. Kenndler was on his side, he was facing the back of the couch. He wasn't moving, not even to breathe, with which he had been struggling lately.

Josephine thought nothing of it as she shook he father's shoulder. When he didn't move, though, Josephine got scared. She swallowed hard and slowly shook him again. Nothing. No movement.

"D-dad?" Josephine whispered softly as scared tears welled up in her eyes. Still, there was nothing. "Please wake up." she whispered again. She knew what had happened.

She shook him one last time and this time he slumped onto his back. His neck was enlarged and purple, his face pale, but bloated. His eyes were dead and cold.

Josephine had never screamed so loud in her life.

Her mother had died in the early moring of the 26th. Josephine had never seen her death coming. She seemed to be getting better.

It was about 6:00 a.m. when Josephine heard her mother yelling for her, but it was in that raspy voice.

"Jospehine!"

Josephine sat in bed for a moment, wondering if it was just a dream, or maybe her imagination getting the best of her. She heard it again, but this time softer.

"...Josephine..."

Josephine darted out of her bedroom and down the stairs, almost tripping along the way. Through the hallway she went until she came to her parents bedroom door, where she stopped abruptly. She stared at the closed door for a moment, waitng to hear her mother's raspy breathing. But there was nothing. It was similar to the nothing she had heard after her father died. She didn't know if that was ever possible, but now it was.

She slowly opened the bedroom door and walked into the darkness. She flicked on the light switch, but the lights never went on. She flicked it several more times before she finally just sighed and walked in deeper, towards her mother's bed. The electricity never went on again after that.

"Mom, you called?" Josephine said as she grabbed the candle that sat on the bed stand and lit it with the lighter that was in one of the drawers. She kept a candle in each room since there had been problems with the electricity lately.

Josephine held the candle to her mother's face only to find that it was just like her father's. Just as pale. Just as bloated. Just as dead.

Josephine blew out the candle and slowly put it down on the bed stand. Then she burst into tears.

And now the 27th had rolled around and she was all that was left of the Kenndler family. Or so she thought. She was too afraid to go into her sister's room. She didn't want to see her sister the same way she saw her parents.

Kimmy had been getting more and more ill and Josephine would check up on her every once in a while. The 27th was the one day Josephine never went upstairs. And Kimmy never came downstairs. Josephine sat in the middle of her living room, surrounded by silence and the rotting stench of death.

She still hadn't gone outside. She couldn't. The news and radio stations, well, before they had been shut down by the army, were saying that the epidemic had spread throughout the U.S. and everyone was dying, but the government was still hiding the notion that the bug even existed. They said that if anyone even tried to leave, they'd be shot and killed on sight.

Josephine didn't want to die. But then again, she was expecting it. She believed she would get the superflu and die just like everyone else in Cleveland, or Ohio for that matter.

Josephine's head was still on her knees when she heard something from up above. It sounded like movement, or walking, but it was just barely audible and very slow. But in complete silence, you'd be surprised what you can hear.

Josephine looked up with wild, alarmed blue green eyes. Her face was pale and thin, her red hair unbrushed, and an infinite amount of tear streaks down her face. When she looked up, you could see wet patches on the knees of her blue jeans from where her tears had stained them.

The noise moved slowly out of one of the upstairs rooms and towards the stairs. Josephine grabbed the wooden bat that had been resting next to her. She kept it with her at all times because a few days ago she heard her neighbor's home being broken into. She stood up and walked to the foot of the steps.

She wasn't scared anymore. If she was going to die, it might as well be a glorious death. Ah yes, Josephine Kenndler died today while fending off a vicious man who planned to rob her home. He walked down the steps, Ms. Kenndler's precious valuables in hand, leading to the first floor of the house but Ms. Kenndler stood there waiting for him with a wooden bat. He tried to get away but Ms. Kenndler chased him down. She laid the smackdown on him but sadly, after doing so, he whipped out a small knife and stabbed Ms. Kenndler several times in the abdomen. She died shortly after. But to this day, Ms. Josephine Kenndler will be recognized as a hero, not the petty theif who, ironically, probably stole from the man who stole from her.

Josephine smirked at her own unrealisitc daydream.

As the uknown person reached the top of the steps, she forced herself into the batting position, ready to kick some ass.

At the top of the steps stood Kimmy. "J-Joey, I'm not feeling so well." She took three steps down the stairs before collapsing and tumbling the rest of the way. This was so abrupt and sudden that Josephine didn't even have time to react and just barely enough time to catch her before she hit the bottom floor.

Kimmy looked devestatingly horrible. Her blue green eyes looked glassy and gave off this I-don't-know-where-I-am look. Her face was deathly pale and her neck was swollen. Her brown hair was somewhat knotty.

As she laid there she began to cough violently. Josephine, scared out of her mind, turned Kimmy onto her side so the child wouldn't choke on whatever it was that she was trying to cough up.

"Kimmy, just cough it up. Cough it up. You'll feel better when you do." Josephine said as she started to cry. There was no one here to help her sister.

"I-I can't." Kimmy whispered.

Then Kimmy looked up at Josephine in a way she had never seen before. "Don't let him get you, Joey. Dont let him."

"Who, Kimmy? Dont let who get me?" Josephine said. She was scared of Kimmy's answer, but knew what was to come.

Kimmy grabbed the front of Josephine's purple tank top. "The dark man..."

She said it with such fear that it made Josephine's eyes go wide and she started to shake. That wasn't the only reason. Kimmy had mentioned this 'dark man' before when she told Josephine about the man in her room and Josephine had dreamed about it.

Kimmy's eyes slowly closed and her grip on Josephine's shirt loosened. Kimmy Kenndler had died.

Josephine sat there, with the dead girl in her arms, for nearly fifteen minutes before she screamed in anger, pain, and sorrow. She then burst into tears. The one family member that she truly loved. The one family member that she was so protective over, was gone.

Josephine was now the last surviving Kenndler.

Author's Note: I really love this chapter and I enjoyed writing it. Please review!!