Author's Note: Sorry I haven't updated in a while. I'm back in school now. What a bitch...

Chapter 9:

July 1- Playground

Josephine sat up straight and yawned and then stretched. She looked out one of the windows in the back room she was in and saw sunlight streaming through. She glanced at a clock that sat on the wall. It was nearly 11:00 a.m.

"Holy shit!" Josephine yelped as she jumped up and grabbed her bags. She didn't expect to sleep in this late. She wanted to wake up nice and early so she could get moving and get out of Cleveland as fast as she could.

She yawned a second time as she walked out the door and into the main store area. She was still in a sleepy daze as she wandered outside into the sunlight. It was a beautiful day. She sighed in discontent as she soon realized that this wasn't just some distorted, warped dream. Cars were still piled up, cities were still distroyed, people were still dead. She grunted as she remembered her family.

She was going to now try to take side streets so she wouldn't have to deal with all the car pile-ups.

She continued to walked down the street, whatever street it happened to be since she wasn't even keeping track anymore, heading away from the city. She looked around as she passed houses and cars and people. It was horrifying.

She looked to her right suddenly when something caught her eye. It was a something that Josephine Kenndler had remembered since she was Kimmy's age: the drive-in. Joesephine smiled as she saw the several huge screens that towered over the trees. There were no cars in the lot. It was totally abandoned. There was something about that that made Josephine's heart yearn for the days when everything was alright...

She hopped a fence and walked towards the small playground that sat in the middle of the all the screens, near the concession stand.

She stood in front of the swingset as soon as she reached the playground. She dropped her bags to the ground. She smiled as she sat down and began to move her legs in and out. The warm breeze hit her to and fro, depending if she was going up or down. She looked up at the sky and smiled. She wished, for just a brief moment in time, that everyone in the world could see through her eyes for just a moment and experience what she was experiencing. It was awesome.

But she was pulled out of this happyland of hers when she heard a horn. It was distant, but it was coming closer.

Her legs abruptly stopped moving and her eyes got wide, not really believing what she just heard. The random honks got closer and closer.

"Oh my God, people..." Josephine said breathlessly as she jumped off of the swing ans almost fell flat. She scooped up her bags and ran as fast as she could to the fence she just hopped. She didn't wanna miss this.

She didn't know what she would do if she did.

A black shiny truck came rolling past and Josephine began to scream. "No!! Hey, wait!"

Josephine could see a group of maybe four or five sitting in the back of the truck and about two or three in the front as she ran closer and closer. Someone in the back pointed at her and the truck slowly came to a stop.

She shook her head as she ran towards the fence and hopped it once again. She could finally thank this God for something.

A strong arm to her left and a dainty, feminine one to her right hoisted her up and into the back of the truck. She didn't even bother looking up at their faces. She was too out of breath to even lift her head

She finally wasn't alone anymore, though. And that's what counted. Right?

But some things aren't always what they seem.

Author's Note: Ok, I was really hoping that this chapter would be a bit longer, but I decided that since I've gotta get to work on the second chapter of my zombie fic at fictionpress, that I'll leave this chapter be. The next one will give some light on some things involving Josephine and these new people. Please review.