Author's Note: Hey guys, a few things to tell you:

1) I took extra time to make this chapter longer than most others, and I put extra work into it. There were a few small writer's blocks, but here it is. Sorry if I took too long to publish it, I've been doing lots of other things lately. With 4830 words(the most words in any of my chapters), I present Chapter 10 of Survivor(I consider this chapter to be somewhat of a "season finale" for me, given that this is the final chapter of Volume One of Survivor{I consider chapters 1-10 to be volume 1, 11-20 to be volume 2, ect.}).

2) If you want to create your own OC to be introduced into Survivor, follow the instructions given in Chapter 6's author's note. It may take some time for me to introduce them, but there's never a better time than now, when the storyline is getting more and more dynamic.

3) I'm more than open to suggestions! Although I have a relatively solid outline for the main storyline for at least until chapter 20, I would love it if you could give me your ideas for what you'd like to see in future chapters! It really helps destroy writer's block, and helps me make the chapters longer and more interesting.

4) In case you haven't noticed, I've revised a couple of the earlier chapters(1, 2 & 5 in specific), feel free to re-read them if you like.


Alice couldn't move. She was alone inside the orphanage, with shadows flying across the walls. The living room was dark and unnaturally red. Looking down, she saw the bodies of people she knew at her feet. Clark. Zella. Chandler. Miss Aileen. As she continued looking, she saw others. Riley. Dick. Kelly. Lana. Lily. The others. She was panicked, but couldn't control herself.

Suddenly, Zella's hand reached out and grabbed her leg. Zella's head turned directly to her, revealing a ravaged face with a hole in her neck. Alice wanted to scream, but she couldn't. Her mouth was wide open, but she couldn't make noise. She was frozen in place, terror gripping her.


[I've always hated nightmares. In real life, you can fight. You can run. You can scream. But in a nightmare, you don't have control. The world does, and that's why it's frightening. The truth is, sometimes the world is worse than a nightmare. You think you have control, then everything falls apart in the blink of an eye.]

Alice awoke, breathing heavily. It took her a few moments to calm down, and settle back into reality. It wasn't often that she had nightmares nowadays, but it happened occasionally. She wiped her sweaty forehead, and sat up. Dick and Riley were still asleep, and she could tell it was early in the morning. She didn't feel like going back to sleep, so she got dressed, and laid sleepless on her sleeping bag.

Eventually, Riley's groggy shifting alerted her. He was awake. He noticed she was awake, and slightly waved at her.

"'Morning." He greeted, rubbing his eyes.

"Mhm."

"The others up yet?"

"Not sure, I woke up early. Dick's asleep."

"Want to take a hike with me?"

"Sounds good. Let's get up."

Riley and Alice got ready, and walked outside to talk a walk up the trail. The air was brisk and fresh as it usually was in the mornings, and his eyes were still slightly squinting as they trekked up the path casually.

"You really think someone's stealing food?" Asked Alice, starting conversation.

"Maybe," Answered Riley, "Anything's possible."

"But who, exactly?"

"Not sure, it could be one of the newcomers, maybe even Lana. Or Kelly."

"Maybe we can search everyone's bags."

"Whoever's taking food, if they're smart, they didn't put it in their bag. My guess is they have a stash somewhere that they're saving for later."

"If someone's stealing, we'll find them. I say for now we ask around, and be subtle. We shouldn't freak out about this, it could be nothing, although it isn't worth the risk to ignore."

Riley stopped walking, and turned to face her.

"Alice," He said, "I'm not risking what happened with Chandler. Or with Mac. I don't trust anyone, not anymore. I'm not taking any chances."

[I could tell that what happened with Zella messed with Riley. He didn't trust anyone anymore, and he wasn't shy about it. I'm not so sure he was wrong. If there's one thing I've learned, it's that trust can be overrated.]

"Me either, I'm just saying we need to be careful. No need to turn on each other, not after all we've survived."

"Good point."


It wasn't a very long hike, but the others had already awoken by the time Riley and Alice got back to the cabins. They were met by Adam when they reached their cabin.

"Hey," He greeted, "Dick and the others are waiting for us back at the main cabin for breakfast."

Adam led them to the brown cabin near the entrance of the trail, and held the door open for them. The others were waiting inside, most of them already eating. Ramen noddles had become somewhat of a breakfast tradition for the survivors, and today was no exception.

"Next time you guys decide to take a early morning trip to China, let us know first." Remarked Abby sassily.

[Abby was one of the lippiest people I've ever met. She was nice, but certainly didn't mind being serious when it was needed. And if any girl could kick some ass, it was her. She was likeable, to say the least. She was a little distant and cold when she first arrived, but she changed pretty quick after that.]

Riley gave Abby a playful unamused look, and sat down at the table. A few people sat on the floor and the couch, given that there wasn't much room on the table with all the survivors. Alice decided to sit down on a chair next to the couch where Morales. Lily seemed uninterested, not interacting as much as usual.

"Anyone down for a supply run after breakfast?" Asked Dinah, "I'd like to eat something besides pasta or vegetables for once."

"Sounds good to me," Said Kelly without hesitation.

"I'm in," Agreed Alice, "I could use some excitement."

Alice turned to Dick.

"Don't look at me," He declined, "I'm gonna read a damn book."

"I'll come." Said Abby, casually raising her hand.

"Guess it's me and you three then." Settled Dinah, looking to Alice, Abby, and Kelly.

"I just fueled the car up the last time we went down," Said Dick, "It should be ready to go."


Kelly had taken an annoyingly long time to pack for the run, and it was about midday when the four women left. Alice was rather uncomfortable during the ride down from the mountain, given the fact that Dinah wasn't all that good of a driver. The mountain road was thin and twisting, which made for quite a few overly thrilling turns.

"Hey fast and furious," Remarked Abby, "Think you could slow down a little?"

"C'mon Abby," Replied Dinah, "I'm having fun."

"Well you better have some damn good car insurance if you keep driving like this." Retorted Abby, making Alice laugh. Kelly stared out the window, slightly more distracted and distant than usual.

"You gonna give me a speeding ticket, 'Officer Abby'?"

The conversation and banter between Abby and Dinah continued the same for the rest of the way down the mountain, ending when the four women finally reached their destination; a mobile home park about five miles from the bottom of the mountain, residing in the neighboring city, being one of the few neighborhoods Alice's group hadn't searched yet.

Alice shielded her eyes from the brights sun as she exited the car, shutting the door behind her. It was surprisingly warm outside, considering the fact that it was the beginning of fall. The leaves on the surrounding trees had already begun to turn red and orange, covering the ground with their colors.

Before they all finished exiting the car, a mutant began to stumble towards her and Abby.

"I got this." Said Abby, removing her sword from it's sheath. It was a relatively long blade with a slightly rusted edge and markings engraved into it's side, and she had no problem cutting down the mutant.

[Abby carried her sword with her just about everywhere she went, I must admit, she kind of intimidated me at first.]

"Nice sword." Remarked Kelly, surprisingly impressed.

"Thanks."

"Let's split up to cover more ground," Suggested Abby, having a habit of taking charge(although she was certainly good at it), "I'll go with Kelly, you two go together."


Abby and Kelly went off to go search together, while Alice and Dinah went together to the front door of a small mobile home.

Ramming through the rusted door easily, Dinah held open the door for Alice.

"After you." She said, Alice stepping in ahead of her.

The small rectangular house was messy and unkept, with furniture and dirty clothes across the floor. A body lay limp in the middle of the living room, with a gunshot wound through it's head.

"Hey, Alice," Said Dinah from the kitchen, "I just wanted to apologize for Morales, he's been pretty distant and all since we arrived, and-"

"It's not a big deal, but thanks anyways. Also, why are you the one apologizing?"

"Well, it's just, he's not exactly the type to talk. To anyone."

"Honestly, I don't think anyone's really cared, none of us are all that social, I'm no exception."

"What I'm saying is," Explained Dinah, walking into the same room as Alice, "Don't try and make him interact with you. He can be-, well, hostile when he's around this many people. He's not used to it."

[I never really understood Morales, and I never really wanted to. I was fine with leaving him alone, after all, I didn't enjoy small talk either. I certainly wasn't always that way, I'm sure he wasn't either. Before the outbreak I used to never shut up, it didn't matter who I was with, or where I was. I was a social butterfly, though I didn't have all that many opportunities to show it. The only person I ever really socialized with during my childhood were the other orphans, and my best friend Clark. He first arrived at the orphanage when I was somewhere around five years old, me and him were friends until I was adopted, not long before everything went to hell. It wasn't very often that I had a day where I didn't wonder what happened to him, I liked to think that he was somewhere out there, surviving.]

"So," Replied Alice, "What's his deal?"

"All I know is, he had a family before all this, they were with him after the outbreak. Says he met someone who took him in, some sort of survivor's camp. All I know is, it didn't work out, and his family obviously isn't here anymore."

Alice nodded in acknowledgement, and continued searching.


It was over two hours before she and Dinah finished searching, taking a rest on the hood of their car.

"God," Said Dinah, "I'm hungry."

"Kelly probably brought some bars in her pack," Offered Alice, "Her pack's in the front seat, I can get it for you."

"Yeah, let's do that."

Opening the already unlocked passenger car door, she quickly found what she was looking for; Kelly's tan hiking pack. She opened the small front pocket, finding nothing inside. Opening the main middle pocket, she nearly gasped.

"Holy shit." Muttered Alice.

Inside Kelly's pack were all kinds of supplies, from ammunition to food. The missing supplies Dick had been looking for. They were organized and prepared, most of them midden in the bottom of the pocket.

"Somethin' wrong?" Asked Dinah.

"We need to find Kelly, now."


"You're sure it's Kelly?" Asked Riley through the walkie-talkie, minutes later.

"I'm sure," Replied Alice, "I'm going to try and warn Abby, Kelly might be planning to make a move, maybe try and bolt off with the supplies."

"Be careful, we've both seen what Kelly can do."

"I know exactly what, and who, I'm up against. I've got Dinah with me, we'll be fine."

"What're you planning to do, exactly?"

"Confront Kelly, get her to leave peacefully. If not, I'll do what I have to. I'm not letting another Chandler incident happen again."

"Should I tell the others?" Asked Riley's voice over the static, "They're starting to ask questions."

"No, we'll tell them once it's over."

"Dick's on his way, he'll be there soon. You should wait for him before you do anything."

"No, it's too risky."

"Fine. Good luck."

"I'll see you later."

Alice turned off the walkie-talkie, turning to Dinah.

"Let's find Kelly and Abby, don't tell Kelly anything, we need to catch her off-guard. Let's make this quiet."


After a few minutes of searching, Alice and Dinah came upon the neighborhood which Kelly and Abby were searching.

"ABBY?" Called out Alice. No response.

"KELLY?" No response.

Looking around she saw a house with it's door ajar. She motioned for Dinah to follow her, taking the lead into the house.

"Oh God." Said Dinah covering her own mouth.

Abby lay on her stomach, limp on the floor. Looking closer, Alice could see a small wound on the back of her head. Her sword was tossed to the side, her gun unholstered and missing.

Dinah felt Abby's neck, looking for a pulse.

"She's unconscious," Noted Dinah, "My guess is someone hit her with a gun. A heavy gun."

"So she's-"

"Alive? Yeah."

"Let's keep looking. Kelly's out here, she's probably gone back to the car to find her backpack."

"I'm going to put that bitch down."

"Only if we have to."

Alice heard the noise behind her, but it was too late.

"Drop your guns." Kelly hissed from behind.


ONE MONTH BEFORE THE OUTBREAK.

"C'mon. C'mon." Muttered Alice, clicking the computer mouse.

It had been a while since she'd been adopted, and she hadn't spoken to Clark since. The only form of communication he had was email, and she'd been anticipating a message from him for what seemed to be ages.

Suddenly, she found what she was looking for; a new email from him. She nearly shouted in excitement, and opened the message.

"Hey, Alice. Sorry I haven't been able to talk lately, Mrs. Aileen's been pretty strict this week. I've got some pretty big news. I'm being adopted. I haven't met who, but it's almost certain. I may be able to talk more often when that happens. Who knows, maybe we'll meet up again sometime. If you can, try and meet me at St. Claire's park at midnight on Friday. I'll be waiting. Send confirmation." Alice read quietly to herself. She was overjoyed with the thought of seeing Clark again.

"Whatcha doin'?" Asked a voice from behind. Mr Forbes. Alice quickly turned around.

"OH, um, just checking my email, Mr. Forbes."

"Okay, have fun!"

Before leaving, Mr Forbes turned around again to speak.

"You know-...you don't have to call me 'Mr. Forbes'. You can call me dad."

Alice nodded. Mr Forbes left, making her breathe a sigh of relief.


PRESENT DAY.

Alice froze. She could tell by Kelly's voice that she was too far away to fight hand-to-hand. Setting their guns down, Alice and Dinah turned to face her. Kelly's expression was cold, as she kept her hunting rifle trained directly at Alice's chest.

"Outside," Ordered Kelly, "Now."

Kelly cautiously moved backwards, leading Alice and Dinah out the door. Through the corner of her eye, Alice saw movement from Abby.

"I never meant for this to happen," Said Kelly, "Things could've been easy. I could've simply taken my backpack and left, but things got complicated."

"How the hell could you just steal from us?!" Exclaimed an enraged Dinah.

"We don't live in a world of second chances, you know that. I'm doing what I have to to survive. Nowadays you evolve or you die."

Alice could now see that Abby was no longer unconscious, listening from inside the house to their conversation. Abby quietly snuck through the back door, into the backyard of the house.

"Just leave," Said Dinah, "We won't stop you."

"Not without my backpack. Throw it to me."

Alice reluctantly obeyed, the backpack landing at Kelly's feet. Abby had now exited through the front backyard gate of the house, emerging behind Kelly, slowly inching towards her.

"Wait!" Exclaimed Alice as a distraction, just as Kelly prepared to turn around, "Can't you at least leave something? You don't need everything in that backpack. We do."

"No," Declined Kelly bluntly, "It's mine now. You'll be fine without it."

Kelly began to turn around again, just as Abby was almost within touching distance of her, ready to pounce.

"Stop!" Yelled a quick-thinking Dinah, "You can't just steal from us!"

"Watch me."

Dinah grinned. Kelly understood, but it was too late. Abby jumped on her, grabbing her rifle. She jerked and twisted wildly, firing the gun several times in a chaotic flurry of bullets. She briefly managed to break free, and was ready to fire a bullet directly into Abby's chest. However, Abby was too quick, bringing her sword down directly on her firing arm, severing it. Kelly's haunting scream of pain ripped through the air, as her arm fell to the ground, stained in blood.

She began to hyperventilate, looking at her stump of an arm in horror. Without a word, Kelly darted off into the distance.

"Don't follow her." Said Abby, stopping Alice from pursuing, "We got what we want, and every ripper within a mile heard those gunshots. We're gonna get swarmed if we don't get out of here, fast."

Alice and Dinah nodded, retrieving their weapons.

"Let's hope Dick gets here soon, or that we can get back to the car."

Mutants had already begun to pour into the street, forcing the three women to run farther from their car, deeper into the neighborhood. A mutant crossed their path, but was quickly put down with a sideward slash of Abby's sword.

"This way, follow me!" Alice climbed swiftly onto a neighborhood wall, the other two following in her footsteps. Balancing on the wall, she ran across to the backyard of the house behind, exiting onto the street.

"The car should be around this corner!"

However, the three women rounded the corner to find their car missing. A trail of blood led to the spot where the car was parked. Kelly.

"Shit!" Exclaimed Dinah, as more and more mutants closed in, "Kelly took the car!"

Dinah put a bullet in the nearest mutant's head, the gunshot peircing Alice's ears. Charging with her baseball bat, Alice managed to put down two others. Abby did the same, doing her best to keep the rapidly apporaching mutants away.

"Over there!" Yelled Alice over the gunshots and commotion, pointing to a nearby garage, whose door was slightly ajar. She looked to the side, to see a mutant tearing into Dinah's shoulder. Abby quickly dispatched the mutant, but it was too late.

"Go." Ordered Dinah. Alice tried to object, but Abby grabbed her by the shirt, and pulled her into the garage. As Abby pulled the garage door closed, she could see Dinah salute her and Abby, then put a gun to her head.

A final gunshot echoed, the sight blocked by the garage door. Alice heard Dinah fall to the floor, the sound of feasting mutants overwhelming her.

[It all happened so fast. One moment Dinah was fine, the next she was gone. After I heard the gunshot that ended Dinah's life, I had only one goal. No matter how long it took, I would find and kill Kelly. That is, if she was still alive.]


It wasn't until at least a half hour later that Alice and Abby heard the sound of a car driving onto the neighborhood street. Dick. Dick honked the horn frantically.

The two women quickly opened the garage door, seeing a horde of mutants swarming Dick's car. Dick drove forward, killing several. Seeing their chance, they sprinted to the car, yanking open the passenger door, and piling inside onto the same seat.

"GO! DRIVE!" Exclaimed Alice, slamming the door shut.

Dick slammed his foot onto the gas pedal, speeding away, back up the mountain. Alice took one last look backwards, seeing Dinah's ravaged body lying in the street.

"Where the hell is Dinah?" Asked Dick.

"...Dead."


AN HOUR LATER.

Alice, Abby, and Dick exited the car in the parking lot of the cabins, the other survivors crowding around them. The two women were covered in blood, avoiding the eyes of the people crowded around them.

"The hell happened back there?" Questioned Adam.

[I wasn't sure what to tell them. What could I have told them?]

"Where's Dinah?" Asked Lily, with concern in her voice.

"...Gone." Answered Abby.

"Gone?" Pried Leo, "The hell does that mean?"

Abby's eyes locked with Leo's, her face said it all. It wasn't until the others realized what had happened.

"You mean...Dinah's-" Began Lily.

Abby nodded, without a word. Morales walked away, clenching his fists.

[I always knew Morales was the closest to Dinah in the group, I knew he'd take it hard, and so would the others. After all the suspicion and mistrust we had towards the newcomers(which the were aware of), one of us betrayed the group. Kelly may as well have killed Dinah herself, she was responsible, and everyone knew it. After everything that she'd been through with us, she murdered Dinah.]


Alice sat alone, deep in thought, sitting on the edge of Riley's bed. It was too much for Abby or her to explain to the others what happened, so Dick did it for them. She thought she was used to things like this, people dying. She was wrong.

[The truth is, no matter how many people you see die, you'll always feel it. Always. That's just how humans were made...Made to suffer.]

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door.

"Hey," Greeted Riley from outside, "Can I come in?"

"Yeah...of course."

He took a seat next to her, putting his hands on his knees.

"You okay?" He asked, turning towards her.

"Close enough." She forced a smile.

"I heard what happened...I can't believe Kelly just snapped like that."

"She didn't snap. It was pure survival for her. She'd been planning this, I could tell. The supply run was just the opportunity she took."

"You think she's still alive?"

"...I hope so."

"Why?"

"Because," She replied, "I want to kill that bitch myself."

"Um, I just wanted to let you know...the others want to leave. Most of them, at least."

"What do you mean?"

"Lily's group wants to leave, go on some wild goose chase to find 'Safe Haven'."

"...You think we should, too?"

[At that point, I wasn't sure about staying at the cabins anymore. The isolation was driving me insane. I was at a breaking point, and I knew it. I needed to be around other survivors, I needed to be somewhere safe. But not just that, I needed to be somewhere where I was living, not just surviving. There's a difference between living and surviving. I learned that a long time ago.]

"To be honest," Answered Riley, "I don't. We're safe here, what happened with Kelly wasn't anyone's fault but hers."

Alice nodded.

"Either way; Lily, Abby, Adam, Leo, and Morales are packing up," He added, "Dick says he wants to stay."

"Look," Said Alice, "I can't stay here with only two other people. It's not enough just to be safe. Not anymore. We need people. Things around here are beginning to feel like they did with Iris, and I'm not going through that again."

"What are you saying?"

"...I'm leaving the cabins."

Riley paused.

"You serious?"

She nodded, "Yeah."

"Then I am, too."

"You think Dick'll go along with it?"

"Yeah."

"Let's go talk to the others."

Riley stood up, and led her out of the cabin.

After only seconds of walking, Alice spotted Abby, washing her clothes alone by the creek.

"Go on ahead," Said Alice, "Tell Dick and the others what I told you, I'm gonna talk to Abby for a second."

Riley nodded, and continued walking as she approached Abby.


"Hey," She greeted, "How're you holding up?"

"I'm alright," Answered Abby, pushing a loose strand of hair from her face, "Thanks."

"You on board with leaving the cabins?"

"Yeah. We all are. Are you?"

"I guess."

"I know you, Dick, and Riley don't have a reason to leave," Said Abby, "But everyone in my group has a reason."

"What's yours?"

Abby paused, taken off-guard by the question.

"...My boyfriend-...he went missing a while after the outbreak, he's out there somewhere. I can't stand just sitting here, hoping he's still alive. If he's out there, I'm gonna find him. After all, he's the reason I'm here in the first place. Hell, for all I know, he's at Safe Haven."

"What if he's not? What if Safe Haven doesn't even exist?"

"Then I keep looking."

"...I'll talk to you later," Said Alice, "I've gotta go talk to Dick."

Abby nodded, cleaning blood off her sword with her shirt.

"One more thing," Added Alice, "I know this is kind of 'out of the blue', but...where the hell did you get that sword from?"

Abby smiled, "It's a long story. Me, my boyfriend, and a few others had set up camp in a museum, a couple rippers broke in- I grabbed the first weapon I could find. Turns out artifacts are more useful than I thought. That's the short version."

"Well," Exited Alice, "Nice talking to you."

"You too."

She walked away, quickening her pace to go find Dick. The dusty ground stirred beneath her feet, as she jogged down the trail. It didn't take long, finding him talking to Riley by the brown cabin's shed.

"Hey," He greeted, "Alice."

"Hey."

"You're sure you want to leave?"

"Yeah. Are you coming?"

"Only if you and Riley are."

"We are."

"We've been here almost since the beginning, I can't believe we're actually leaving."

"Maybe it's for the best."

"Maybe."


ONE DAY LATER.

Alice rested her head on her hand, staring out the window of the car. She was deep in thought, staring at the passing landscape. The sun had just barely risen, enshrouding the peaks of the mountain in light. Lily, Dick, Riley, and Abby- the others in the car, were similarly quiet.

[After leaving the cabins, none of us knew what was coming next. We were all tired. Tired of running. Tired of losing people. Tired of fighting. And so, we jumped into the unknown.]

She looked to her left, her eyes fixating on a nearby sign.

"Now leaving Mt. Hall, come back soon!" She read silently, as the cabins- and the memories made there- faded into the distance.


Author's Note: Well guys, thanks for reading! I put extra work into this chapter, so I hope you enjoyed.

Chapter 11, "Until The End" Preview/Synopsis: Now on the road, Alice's group struggles to deal with new threats.

Reader-Made OC credits:

Adam - Created by Cowardlygurp

Leo - Created by Grimrephr

Abby - Created by The Internet Sass Queen

p.s. I'd really love it if you could review this chapter, this chapter is certainly one I'd like some feedback on.