"Who are you?" Marley asked when the boy finally put his gun down.
"My name's Jake. Jake Puckerman."
"Marley Rose."
"Pretty," Jake half-smiled.
Marley felt herself blush. "Thanks."
Jake's face then became serious again. "We're you with anyone else?"
"No, but my best friend is missing. I need to find her. She-" A deep moan caused Marley to scream in surprise. She turned around and saw another one of those whatever-those-creepy-things-are head towards them.
"We have to go." Jake grabbed Marley's sleeve and pulled her away. They ducked into another alleyway that seemed clear.
"Please tell me what the hell is going on!" Marley shouted. Jake quickly put his hand to her mouth.
"Be quiet," he ordered. "They're attracted to noise."
"Who is 'they'?" Marley stomped her foot in frustration. "What are those things?"
"The biters," Jake said. "The dead that come back to life."
"That's impossible," Marley whispered, shaking her head. "But where did everyone go?"
"I'm sure a lot of people were bit and then turned, but most people probably either went into hiding, or fled the area. It's best not to be in a big city. That's where most of the biters are."
"How did it all start?"
Jake shrugged. "I don't know."
"What were you even doing out here?" Marley asked. "Shouldn't you be hiding someplace safe?"
"I'm kind of the go-out-and-find-stuff person in my group," Jake explained. "You know, food, clothes, anything useful."
"You have a group?"
"Well, not really a group. Just me and my friend Ryder. We had more, but…" Jake trailed off, not wanting to go further into detail.
Marley nodded understandingly. "Where are you guys staying?"
"Some old abandoned house not too far from here. We wanted to be away from all the biters but close to food and clothing sources."
"Smart," Marley muttered. "So, would you guys mind if I joined your 'group'?"
"Yeah, definitely. We need as many people as possible. Now come on. We need to get back." Jake grabbed Marley's hand and together they ran as silently and quickly as possible back to their shelter. As Jake's hand strongly gripped her's, Marley couldn't help the blush that started to grow on her cheeks. She had to admit, Jake was incredibly cute, but she couldn't be thinking of that at a time like this. She barely knew what was even going on, but she did know that things were going to be a whole lot different than they used to be.
"So how come nobody has been answering their phones?" Marley asked skeptically as she and Jake made their way to his and Ryder's place.
"Power lines are down, and I'm pretty sure any kind of service was shut off. This outbreak did a lot more damage than you think. We're basically cut off from the rest of the world."
"How do you know all this?"
"We had a radio that was broadcasting an emergency announcement every five minutes," Jake said. "The batteries on the damn thing ran out yesterday, so we've been out of luck."
"Wait, how long has this been going on?"
"Almost a week, I think. Where have you been?"
"Sick in bed," Marley said. "I was finally feeling better today, so I went outside. But, you know…"
"And you said your friend is missing, right?"
"Yeah." Marley blinked back tears. "I have no idea where she could be."
"We'll find her," Jake assured, squeezing her hand. Marley swore she felt some sort of spark.
"Dude, wake up." Jake took his jacket off and threw it on top of his friend who was sleeping on the old, tattered couch. Marley followed Jake inside the house, taking in her surroundings.
"Did you find food?" Ryder asked sleepily, rubbing his tired eyes.
"Nope, even better." Jake ushered Marley in.
Ryder's eyes immediately widened into saucers. "Well hello there," he grinned. "I'm Ryder."
Jake rolled his eyes.
"I'm Marley," she giggled.
"Well, make yourself at home," Jake said. There's an extra room you can sleep in, but there's only one bathroom."
"Oh, that's fine. I don't care. Sharing a bathroom with Kitty is probably much worse. She would always take forever."
"Who's Kitty?" Ryder asked.
Marley smiled sadly. "She's my best friend. I woke up this morning and she was gone."
"I'm sorry," Ryder mumbled.
"Don't be. I'll find her."
"Marley, I don't think-"
"We'll find her," Jake cut him off.
Yeah," Ryder said, not too convinced. "Anyways, are you in school or something?"
"Yeah, I go to NYU," Marley said. "And you?"
"Juilliard," Jake answered. "For dance."
"And I'm saving up money to afford college," Ryder said. "But I guess none of that matters anymore."
"You don't think things will ever go back to normal?" Marley asked, suddenly realizing how real this really was.
"I mean, I doubt it. Unless someone finds a cure that will stop people from turning," Ryder said.
"Do you think everywhere in the world is like this?" Marley asked.
The boys shrugged. "Let's hope not," Jake said. "Hopefully someone in some other country is coming up with some sort of cure as we speak and this will all be over soon."
"Yeah," Marley said, unconvinced. Deep down in her heart, she knew things would never be the same again.
Yes, I know this chapter was short, but I'm still kind of introducing the story, but the next chapter will definitely be longer. Hope you all like this story so far :)