The sun had hardly broken over the horizon igniting the now empty town in a light, orange glow. The early birds chirped mellifluously from a far off nest. I wiped my sweaty palms on my jeans before holstering a hunting knife I'd attached to one of the loops at my hip. I reached up and loosened the ponytail I'd put my hair into. The tightness was beginning to give me a headache.

"You're not really going to go out there?" Claire's voice rang out from behind me. My shoulders hunched, lips curling into a wince. The day had hardly begun; somewhere different, where everything was perfect, a household would be sleeping soundly in their beds. The clock on the wall read just past five.

"Claire, go back to bed," I snapped. I had meant for the remark, brisk, to send Claire cowering back into her room, but she remained behind me. I turned around; her arms were crossed and her lips were puckered in defiance.

"You can't go. You saw what happened, just like I did."

We had glimpsed a woman running with multiple bite wounds a few weeks ago. She was there one moment, and then was taken down by a man who was covered in blood. It was exactly how Devon said it would be. I had wanted to help her, everything in my body yearned to save her life, but I had Claire with me and could not risk it. After seeing that, Claire was on the defense. She didn't want to leave the house, but it wasn't realistic when we were low on supplies, and literally alone in the tiny town.

"I'm going to be fine. I won't be gone long. Okay? But I gotta' go; we're low on food." Claire glared, but didn't say anything more. I pulled the knife out of the holster on my pants and handed it to her. "Just in case. But don't open the doors for anyone, okay? I'm serious. Just stay in your room."

Claire nodded. "Be careful."

"I will be."

She looked down momentarily, and then back up at me. "What if you don't come back?"

I held her gaze and responded with strong conviction, "I promise to come back." Claire was biting her lip unsurely, but I didn't know how else to assure her. I gave her one last glance before stepping outside.

It was warm; the sun was beating down on the small town making it feel even hotter. It was silent outside, not unusual for the time of day. The town had been empty for weeks, though. Once word got around about what was happening, everyone tailed it towards the city. We were of a few who stayed in the town.

I climbed into the driver's seat, and started the truck. The drive to the superstore was a quick one with no delays. The town was barren, and the same could be said for the store. Since the power had cut off a month ago, the town was blanketed in darkness, silence. Its only reprieve was the sun.

The superstore smelt of rotten, spoiled food. The scent was pungent and clung to the insides of my nostrils as I grabbed a cart at the door and rolled through the aisles. When I'd come to the store other times, I'd tried to take only what I absolutely needed and nothing more. I considered other people, and thought that they would come as well to grab supplies.

But since everyone had all but left the town, I figured the last of the supplies were fair game. I walked through each aisle, filling the basket with things like cookies, to batteries and lighters. When I'd filled the basket, I took it outside and stocked the back of the truck before going in again. I tried to be fast; I didn't want to leave Claire alone for long.

I went to the back of the store where the pharmacy was, and cleared it of any and all medicinal supplies. I found a variety of necessities, from allergy medicines to cough syrup and a number of prescription painkillers. By the time I finished, it must have been half past six.

I headed back to home, satisfied with what I'd scavenged. Even more so, with the fact my scavenging had gone uninterrupted. However, when I pulled up to my place, I knew that not the same could be said for Claire.

I put the truck in park, and jumped out, jogging towards the front door that was lying wide open. "Claire," I called as I pulled out the handgun tucked into the back of my jeans. Blood circulated faster as my heart rate increased; it had a dizzying effect but I took deep breaths to maintain control. I cleared the living room, noticing nothing unusual and started into the kitchen. The back door was lying open. I ran outside, and called again, "Claire!"

I didn't get a response at first. But, then, I heard them. I had heard them before; their low groans combined to create a slightly louder roar. I looked around the grounds, and saw movement in the trees. Two infecteds stumbled out of the shrubs, groaning, as they moved towards me. I noticed fresh blood smeared on their clothes and thought the worst.

Instinctively, I took a step back, before lifting my gun and shooting. My first fire missed them completely, the second hitting one in the arm. I tried a few more times until I hit them both in the head and then took their path into the woods. I called Claire's name as I ran, hoping to find her alive. Praying to find her alive. It'd been stupid of me to leave her.

I passed by another infected lying in the grass with a knife, my knife, in its head and quickened my pace. She had to be close. "Clarke! Clarke. You're back. You came for me." I looked around to find Claire, following her voice up a tree to where she was perched on a branch. She started her descent and I waited at the bottom, there to help her to the ground. Before she was even safely there, Claire threw herself into my arms, holding me tightly.

I froze at first. This was definitely a violation of my personal space. But I could feel the young girl shaking and knew I had to hold her. "You did good, Claire."

Claire pulled away and looked towards the body on the ground. "I killed him."

I crouched down in front of her and responded, "Listen to me Claire. They're not people anymore. You didn't kill a person. You did what you had to do. That doesn't mean what you did was wrong, okay?" Claire nodded her head. "Okay. Now come on, we've got a lot of ground to cover." I started walking back towards the house; Claire was hot on my heels.

She pushed ahead of me, and asked, "What do you mean?"

"We're leaving, and don't start asking me all these questions about where we're going because I don't know yet."

We traveled for weeks, stopping at towns to loot stores before continuing on. I didn't have a destination in mind. I wasn't exactly sure what I was looking for. I knew I needed to find a safe place for Claire, a place that wasn't overrun with all the infecteds. The more time passed, the worse the amount of infecteds grew. I'd taken the time out to teach Claire to shoot a gun, and work a knife pretty decently. She had a survivor's mentality I believed she'd picked up from living with her mother. But it made her adjustment easier.

Shooting the infecteds was difficult for me. I wanted to believe that they were still people, that I could still help them. I'd spent half my life learning to treat diseases and save people, killing them was going against all that.

The more we traveled, though, the less I believed I could save them. The infecteds conditions only got worse as time passed. Their bodies decomposed, and they reanimated no matter their condition – we'd seen infecteds with only half their bodies.

We'd been traveling for a few weeks when we came across an area that seemed pretty clear of infecteds. Claire said as we drove into the town, "I think we should stay here." I didn't respond right away. "At least for a little while."

I knew it was a hard adjustment for her. Living on the road, pilfering what we could find, siphoning gas from cars, and sleeping in our own truck. It wasn't the life someone so young ought to be living, but I just didn't feel safe stopping anywhere.

Still, I conceded, "Not in town, maybe on the outskirts in one of those farm houses. Just for a little while." My response made Claire's face light up in a smile.

"Maybe we can find other survivors! Maybe there's a place where they're rescuing everyone." I didn't want to get her hopes up but I didn't want to crush them, either.

I wanted her to be optimistic, believing that anything could happen. But everything was gone – phone lines, electric, water. Nothing worked anymore, and I hadn't heard from Devon. I hadn't seen any military units for over a month. My own faith had dwindled drastically.

"Hey, look," Claire broke my thoughts as she pointed, "these stores hardly look touched."

I glanced around at the small town center. She was right; they appeared as though nobody had been in them since everything went badly. I parked the trunk in front of a pharmacy, and got out, pulling my knife out of its holster. I'd learned through my travels that using guns only drew in more infecteds. It was much easier to just cut off the brain.

"Alright, let's be quick about this," I said as I reached into the backseat and grabbed an empty duffle bag. We'd looted a camping store a few towns over and had found some pretty good gear, including a number of duffles and backpacks. I grabbed another bag for myself and hopped down out of the truck. I surveyed the town for any movement before making a line towards the pharmacy door. Claire followed me in; I held up a hand to stop her, and then reached for the first thing on the one of the shelves and dropped it.

Almost immediately groaning responded. "Don't move," I said as I crept down the aisle towards the noise. An infected tumbled towards me but I kicked it backwards, hoping to knock it to the ground. It only stumbled and I had to kick again before it dropped.

I pressed the heel of my boot into its chest to keep it still and bent down to thrust my knife into its head. I strained my ears for any more sound of movement. "I think we're good; grab whatever you find so we can get out of here." Claire scurried off to another aisle, as I walked to the back where all the medicine was kept.

I went through each row, shoving all the bottles into my bag. While food and shelter were most important, I knew medicine followed. Living outside left a person open to infections, rashes, and other illnesses. Perhaps it was because I was a doctor, but I was always inclined to grab medicine first.

Looking through the prescriptions, I had a moment of nostalgia. If I closed my eyes, it was almost like I was back in the hospital. But I wasn't. I was here, in the middle of some backwoods town in the midst of what was a viral pandemic.

Once I finished off the prescriptions, I went back to the front to help Claire with the aisles. I grabbed the necessities first – bandages, gauze, antiseptics. And then things that were clearly more for comfort – razors, deodorant, lotion, sunscreen, chapstick. I went towards the register, and stuffed what was left of the candy and protein bars in my bag.

"Here." I tossed a bag of skittles to Claire. Claire looked at me blankly. "Go ahead." I looked around the now, mostly bare, store, and shoved my bag higher up on my shoulder. It was almost too heavy to bear. "I think we got everything. Let's get it to the truck, and try the other stores before we head out."

Claire nodded before leading the way out, smiling with a mouth full of the candy. We tore through the last couple of stores – a Quick Mart, and a Bed, Bath and Beyond. The food store had little, but the latter was stocked with great finds from an assortment of bedding, to soaps, and outdoor cooking supplies. By mid-afternoon we were back on the road looking for a place to stay for the night.

We drove for a few miles before we came across a small, seemingly abandoned, one-story farm house. I parked in the dirt driveway, and hopped out, turning to look at Claire, who was unbuckling herself. "Stay here."

"What? Why!"

I sighed, exasperated. "Because I said so, Claire."

I slammed the truck door, and hit the lock button on the key, before slipping it into the front of my jeans. I had a handgun tucked into the back of my jeans, a knife in a holster at my belt, and a machete hanging across my back. I preferred to use the knives as opposed to the gun because the sound drew more infecteds. I traipsed through the dirt, towards the front door. I looked back, checking to make sure Claire was still in the truck before I tried the doorknob.

It was unlocked so I let myself in, pulling the machete out of the case on my back, and wielding it in front of me for protection. The tell tale sign of undead life filled my ears; the groaning came from numerous directions. "Alright y'little freaks, where are ya'?" I whispered as I made my way into the living room.

I heard footsteps shuffling through what appeared to be the kitchen and then one infected surfaced, with another following behind it. It noticed me, maybe smelled me, and picked up its pace.

I took a breath, raising my weapon above my head, before bringing it down on the first ascenders head. It cracked through its weak-boned skull, before I yanked it out and it slumped towards me, hitting the floor. The second one reached out for me, dirty fingernails and even dirtier hands, and I dodged its grapple, before swinging my knife at its head.

I had to force it in before I severed its brain, and it died too. The third infected came up the same time a fourth came in from behind; I pressed myself against the wall to avoid being attacked. They both turned, trapping me.

They were close. Too close for comfort. I lifted my leg, pressing my foot against one to keep it back while I swung my knife into the head of the other. I put all my strength into the knife, pushing through its skull till the tip came out of the back of its head. I pulled it out fast, pressing it against the other infected to keep it away so I could drop my foot.

I heaved a deep breath, the adrenaline wearing off, before I finished off the last one. It hit the ground in a heap. I pressed my hands against my knees, gaining control of my breathing before I slipped the machete back into its sheath on my back and cleared the rest of the rooms.

When I finished, I went back out the front door to get Claire; only Claire was no longer in the truck. Muttering under my breath, I ran around the house to look for her. She was standing in the backyard, next to a woman on a horse, petting it. I watched Claire smiling as the horse nuzzled her hand, and I could only envision all the ways this could go wrong. I wasn't naïve; something like this happened in the world and people lost their humanity, fought each other, and stole from each other. Who knew what this woman wanted?

"Claire! Get over here!" I screamed, jogging towards them.

"Look at how pretty this horse is," Claire responded, still petting the horse. The woman looked at Clarke and smiled. I had to resist a sneer.

"I was jus' passin' through, saw your daughter here—."

I cut the woman off, "She's not my daughter."

The woman looked caught off guard by my snippy remark, but I didn't know her. I didn't know anything about her. And to be perfectly honest, I didn't want to. "Oh…well, I'm Maggie Green. I live about two miles down the road." I didn't say anything but I stared pretty harshly, hoping Maggie Green would get my message.

Instead, the woman continued, "This here used to be the Owen's home. Nice people…they left when everythin' turned round." When I still didn't respond, Maggie asked, "An' you are?

Claire piped in, "I'm Claire. This is Clarke."

Maggie Green looked at me hesitantly, and mumbled, "Pleasure I'm sure." Her horse started to trot forward and she held it in place for a moment. "Look if you two need anything, we aren't far down the road, there. Got ourselves fixed up pretty nicely too."

I wasn't sure why Maggie was offering, when she had to clearly see that I wanted nothing to do with her. But, I guess southern hospitality didn't shut off when the world did.

I nodded my head feigning gratitude as I said, "Thanks." Though I had no inclination on taking her up on the offer.

As Southern-sweet as it was, I didn't trust anybody, need anybody, or want anybody. My goal was, and always would be, to keep Claire safe. Not make friends and lollygag. Maggie Green nodded her head and then took off on her horse, cutting through the field towards her home, which I could make out a long ways across the fields.

"She seemed nice," Claire said with a smile.

I snarled in return, "Get inside. What'd I tell you about talking to strangers?"