Charlize groaned as her alarm went off. She hazily opened one eye and saw that it was 5:30 already. She must've slept through the first one. There was no time for snoozing, breakfast shift started at 6:30 sharp. She mentally scolded herself for volunteering for the early shifts, but sat up in bed anyway. She yawned, rubbed the sleep out of her eyes, and slowly shuffled to the bathroom.

The warm water helped to wake her up. Now that she was more alert, she went back to thinking about the church, about Nick. She hadn't been able to think about anything else since she had left the hospital. After she had gotten back home yesterday night, she had sat down with Haley for an hour, talking about what had happened and what she had seen. To her surprise, Haley was not as doubtful about Nick's story as Charlize had thought she would be.

"You believe him? Without having seen him or the church?" she had asked, surprised.

"Well, I'm not necessarily believing him...I don't think his friend was eating the others, but honestly, with everything that is going on, I can believe that she killed them," Haley told her. "I probably wouldn't have believed it this morning, but after hearing your story, and after seeing those videos..."

"Videos?"

"Oh shit, you haven't seen them?"

And so Haley had showed her a video of a news helicopter, filming the scene of an accident on the highway. Medics were trying to help an unconscious man, but all of a sudden he attacked the medic. The cameras showed the police entering the scene, shooting the attacker, but he did not go down. He kept coming, and coming, until he was shot in the head. Then he hit the ground like a tree.

Charlize felt sick to her stomach. What the hell was going on?


When she left the bathroom she was surprised to find Haley already up, preparing coffee in the kitchen. She was still in her pajama, which consisted of an over-sized Lakers jersey and woolly socks. Her black hair was up in a bun.

"It's not even 6, why are you up?" Charlize asked.

"Courtney..she's getting worse. Couldn't sleep with all that movement. Don't even get me started on the heat that radiates off of her," Haley said tiredly.

"The meds didn't help?"

Haley shook her head.

"Maybe you should take her to the hospital if she doesn't get better by tonight. Not much a nursing student can do right now," Charlize said and grabbed one of the cups Haley had prepared.

"Yeah, I'll think about it," Haley said as she shuffled back toward her room. "Have fun at work."


Work was even slower than the day before. There were barely any customers, even though it was a week day, which was unusual. Usually, people heading to work stopped by to at least get a coffee to-go. Even though one colleague had called in sick, she and her boss managed the business easily.

"Why is it so empty?" Charlize asked as she walked behind the counter.

"It's that virus that's going around," Suzanne said. "Everybody is sick."

"Did you see the videos of the highway?" Charlize asked and Suzanne gave her a knowing look.

"What do you make of it?"

"I don't make anything of it," Suzanne said simply. "It's gotta be fake. People just like making this virus extra dramatic."

Charlize nodded but did not answer. She'd like to push the topic away as easily as that, but she couldn't.

The morning dragged itself out. There were barely any customers, and Charlize checked her watch every two minutes. When she spilled coffee on her white shirt, she was officially done for the day.


She finished at 3 p.m., having had to stay longer because of the sick colleague, and was heading to her car when her phone rang. She checked the display, but did not recognize the number.

"Hello?"

"Charlie, I know you didn't want me to get in touch, but this is important," she heard the all-too-familiar voice of her ex-boyfriend.

"Nick..-" she started, but was interrupted by him straight away.

"No, no, I know! I'm not trying to keep you attached - I promise! You have to listen to me, please.."

Charlize was struck by his tone. He spoke with an urgency that almost resembled fear.

"You need to leave town!"

"What?" she asked in disbelief.

"This virus, the people getting sick...it's bad-it's dangerous. I don't know what's happening and no one talks about it, but it's really bad," he rambled on.

"Nick, what are you talking about?"

"Please just trust me, it's dangerous out there. Me, Mum, Alicia, Travis and his family are leaving town tonight, going to the desert, riding it out. Come with us."

"Nick," Charlize started again.

"No, no, okay. You don't have to come with us, but just-just leave, okay? Please, just leave town."

Charlize was getting tired. Not just because she had just worked a nine hour shift, but because Nick was yet again putting his shit on her.

"Nick, I can't leave town. I have work. Remember? Some people have to finance college, not drugs," she said, maybe a little too viciously.

"No, no, no, Charlie pl-", but she hung up. She had told him yesterday that this, whatever it was between them, had to be done. She needed it to be over.


When she entered her front door, Charlize was more than ready to collapse into bed and take a nap. She had passed not one, but two protests on the way home. The situation was worse than she liked to admit to herself. But yet again, life had other plans for her.

"Thank God you're here!", Haley came into the hallway, looking relieved.

"Of course I'm here. Where else would I be?" Charlize said, surprised.

"It's Courtney," Haley said, shaking her head tensely. "I wanted to get her to the hospital, but I can't drive her myself, because I can't move her by myself. She's doing really bad. So I tried to call an ambulance, but all the lines are jammed."

Charlize had rarely seen her friend this upset. "Okay, I'll help you move her. We'll drive her ourselves."

"Haven't you seen the news?" Haley said.

Charlize gave her a questioning look.

"They have started telling people not to leave the house. There are riots everywhere. They are close to calling a state of emergency."

Charlize's jaw dropped. She had realized things were bad, but not this bad. She quickly tried to think of what else to do. They were both nursing students, they had to be able to think of something themselves.

"Okay, let me check on her."

Haley led her to her room. Courtney was lying on the bed, and Charlize went to stand next to her. She looked horrible. Her face was as pale as a sheet, her blond hair wet from all the sweat. Her whole body was radiating heat.

She looked up at Haley. "We have to give her something intravenously," she told her.

"Charlie..we could get in real trouble for that.."

"I know, but you said it yourself, we can't get her to the hospital ourselves and they aren't gonna pick her up. We still have everything here from our practice trial. We have the needles, we have the IV, we-"

"We don't have the meds." Haley stated simply.

"Shit."

They looked at each other, neither saying anything, both of them at a loss for what to do. They quietly went back into the living room and sat down on the couch. The TV was turned on, flashing images of riots and warnings to stay inside.

"Okay, you go and cover her in wet cloths, try to get that temperature down. Try to see if you can wake her up enough to give her some more pills," Charlize said, trying to help as much as possible. "I'll try the ambulance again."

But it was a hopeless case, all the lines were jammed. Chalize continued to watch the disturbing footage on TV as she dialed 911 over and over again, never getting an answer. After Haley was done with Courtney, she joined her on the couch, also trying to get through the line. They sat like this for about an hour, watching the newscast and dialing 911 in silence, when they heard a rumbling from Haley's bedroom.

"Court?" Haley asked, surprised. When she got no answer, she got up and approached her bedroom. Charlize continued to dial 911 from the couch.

"Hey, you shouldn't be up. Lie back down," she heard her roommate say, and then: "Court? Courtney?"

Hearing her roommates' tone, Charlize got up and went after Haley, just in time to see her falling over, Courtney on top of her.

"No! Court - what are you doing?" Haley shrieked, pushing her arms to keep Courtney away from her.

Charlize gasped as she saw Courtney attacking Haley, the sound making Courtney look up into her direction. A cold shiver ran down Charlize's spine. Courtney's eyes were glassy, hazy, and Charlize's mind immediately went back to what Nick had said. Her eyes - they were open but she was just - she wasn't seeing me.

She knew in that moment that this person, this thing, was not Courtney anymore. In the meantime, Haley's arms were threatening to fail her as Courtney was grunting at her, pushing to get to her throat, shoulder, anything. Charlize had to act quick. She looked around the room, desperate for anything she could hit her with. She decided Haley's bedside lamp had to do, and she quickly grabbed it and hit Courtney over the head with it with all the force she could muster.

The lamp broke on impact and Courtney lost her balance, but only for a second, and soon she was trying to reach Haley again. Haley had used the second to scramble out from under Courtney and was trying to get back on her feet. Charlize hurriedly held an arm out to her, pulled her up, and the two of them sprinted out of the room.

"Do you still have that baseball bat?" Charlize almost shouted at her friend as they were running. Haley looked confused and scared, but she nodded.

"It's in the cupboard in the hallway," she said, and jumped as she realized Courtney was following them outside, her head bleeding from the impact of the lamp. Charlize bolted toward the cupboard as Courtney shuffled towards the two girls, groaning.

When she reached the cupboard, she fumbled to get the baseball bat out, her shaking hands knocking over an umbrella and a broom, and with a deep breath she picked it up with both hands and ran back toward Haley and Courtney.

Courtney was just about to make a grab for Haley again, who was backed up in a corner, when Charlize hit her in the head with full force for the second time in two minutes. Courtney was thrown to the left, the skin on her head popped as she was hit, blood gushing out of the wound.

"NO!" Haley shrieked and made a move to kneel next to her girlfriend. Charlize grabbed her arm and pulled her back forcefully.

"Haley, don't..", she started but was cut off by the look on Haley's face. She was horrified, crying. Charlize heart was hammering in her chest.

"That wasn't Courtney anymore,.." she tried to say more, but both of their focuses shifted toward the body on the ground as it grunted. Slowly but surely, Courtney got up again, turned around, and started walking in their direction. Her face was bloody, she looked dead. Haley whimpered and took a step back.

Charlize composed herself, knowing what had to be done. She had seen it in the video. She lifted the bat and brought it down on Courtney's head, hard. Her body fell, her skull already crushed; but her eyes were still open, and her mouth was still making grunts. Charlize did it again. And again. And again, until eventually, the body stopped moving.

Charlize dropped the bat and covered her moth with her hands. The sight of Courtney, and what she had done to Courtney, was making her sick. There was blood everywhere, on the walls, on the carpet, on her white shirt, the bat was covered in in. Courney's head did not resemble a head anymore.

She slowly turned around to face Haley. She was standing pressed to the opposite wall, her eyes wide in shock. The tears had stopped.

"Haley, we need to leave," Charlize started, trying to suppress the shaking in her voice. Haley's eyes found hers.

"What did you do?!" she asked, incredulously. Charlize came closer to her. "Haley, you saw her. She tried to kill you-" "WHAT DID YOU DO?" Haley yelled this time, but in the next second she raised her hand to her mouth and sunk to a siting position on the wall. She was crying again, hard.

Charlize knelt down in front of her and tried to be as gentle as she could, given the situation. Tears were flowing down her cheeks now, too. "Hales, sweetie, you saw it on TV. You saw what happens. I am so, so sorry," she said. Haley eyes found hers, and she could see that she was trying to understand, that she was getting through to her.

"We need to leave now, you understand that, right?" Charlize asked, and Haley nodded.

"Nick's family is leaving, are you okay with us leaving with them?" she asked, knowing Haley's parents were on the east coast, and she had as little family here as Charlize did herself. Haley nodded again.

Charlize got up and went to the coffee table where she had left her phone. When she picked it up, she noticed she also had blood on her hands. For a second, her breath hitched and her eyes fell on the body in the corner, but she forced herself to push through it. She dialed the number for the Clark's landline, hoping they were still there. After the fourth ring, Madison picked up.

"Travis?" she sounded anxious.

"Madison, no. It's Charlize. Thank God you're still there!" she said, and a sob escaped her lips.

"Charlie, are you okay?"

She tried to push trough it. "Yes, yes, I am. Listen, can Haley and I leave with you?"

Before Madison could answer, Charlize heard a commotion in the background. 'Is that Charlie?' she heard a voice - Nick - say. There was a rustle on the other line, and all of a sudden she was talking to him.

"Are you okay?" Nick asked, urgently.

"We are," Charlize said, letting out a breath she didn't know she had held. "Can Haley and me still leave with you?"

"Yeah, yeah, of course. We're waiting for Travis, we're leaving as soon as he gets here with his family," Nick said.

"Okay, we'll come immediately."

"Be careful," Nick said as they said goodbye. When she hung up, she turned around to Haley. She had gotten up, trying to compose herself. In her eyes Charlize saw that she was distraught, but she tried her best to function.

"We can leave with the Clark's, but we need to leave now. Grab a backpack, grab only the necessary, we're leaving in five," Charlize said and was relieved to see Haley nodding and heading to her bedroom to pack.

Charlize hurried to her room, grabbed a backpack, and started filling it. From her room, she packed some spare clothes, deodorant, a toothbrush and paste, then she went into the kitchen and packed all the food she could easily transport, including a water bottle. She was grateful they lived mainly on canned food and fruits. Broke student life was finally paying off. She was just about to leave the kitchen when she stopped in her tracks, turned around, and packed all the knives except the biggest one. The biggest one she kept in her hand. She then went back to the living room and picked up the baseball bat. She felt nauseous being so close so the corpse.

Just as she had picked up the bat Haley exited her room, ready to go. Charlize went up to her and handed her the knife. Haley took it without question. She understood the situation.


The situation outside was worse than they had imagined. People were running wild on the streets, breaking store windows, loitering, jumping on cars, setting things on fire. Charlize knew the theory of riots, she knew that if society ended, it ended quickly, but seeing it with her own eyes was something completely different. It was remarkable how quickly men forgot their civilness, how quickly the virus of panic spread. Like there was something buried deep inside humans, something raw and wild, that just waited for society to end, so it could thrive. She understood it. Seeing people riot like this, it was easy, too easy, to turn off logical thinking and give in to panic, to join them, to vandalize. To feel like there were no consequences to whatever crime you committed.

Their plan was to take Charlize's car to the Clark's, but when they reached the parking lot, they found her car, and the others around it, in flames.

"Oh God," Charlize muttered, automatically thinking of all the things she still had stored in the car. This made things considerably more difficult. She turned to Haley.

"We need to walk. It's gonna be about two hours, but I can't think of anything else."

Haley nodded. She really did do a good job of pulling herself together, but Charlize could see in her eyes that her mind was still on Courtney. They'd have to have a talk about that once they were out of danger.

"Come on," Charlize said. She knew how to get to the Clark's on foot, so they started heading north. They maneuvered through the streets like one would maneuver though an obstacle course. Charlize walked up front, Haley behind her. They came really close to being hit by bricks twice, but managed to duck just in time. Once a man grabbed Haley's wrist and tried to pull her away, but she managed to wriggle out of his grasp and they ran for it.

They were almost halfway, the veil of night had fully fallen, and the impact of the riots was even more evident now. The fires seemed to burn brighter and the people seemed to be more out of control. They were walking down the sidewalk of a less crazy street, and Charlize was just about to offer Haley some water when a hand grabbed her arm and pulled her into an alleyway.

Before she knew it, she was pinned against the stone wall, the man who grabbed her using his forearm to choke her. His eyes were wild and she could see that he was infected too, not by the virus but by the riots. The man was taller than she was, bald, and middle aged. He was panting, but his mouth twisted into a smile. Charlize felt his free hand touching her face, of him running his fingers down her cheeks and over her lips.

She was fully starting to panic now. She could barely breathe and no matter how much she struggled, she couldn't get him off of her, he was too strong. She had dropped the bat when he had grabbed her, but she was in such a state of panic that she probably wouldn't have thought of using it anyway; all her mind was allowing her to focus on was the man's face, and his manic smile, and the fact that she couldn't breathe.

The stroking stopped for a while, and she realized he had removed his hand. But as soon as she realized it, his hand was back. He was pressing his finger against her temple, only his finger felt cold and hard. With a horrifying realization, Charlize noticed that what he was pressing against her head wasn't his finger. It was a gun. Her eyes widened in fear.

All of a sudden, the man let go of her, groaning in pain. She leaned forward, hand on her chest, coughing, desperately trying to fill her lungs with air. She was panting, and he had chocked her bad enough for her breathing to be painful. Every breath burned like fire.

When she looked up, she saw the man slowly, menacingly walking toward Haley, raising the gun again. He was holding his other hand to his left side. She then looked to Haley. She was walking backwards, her right hand holding the knife Charlize had given her, only now it was bloody. She must have stabbed him.

Charlize regained enough awareness to notice that Haley looked panicked. She had stabbed the man to get him off of her friend, but judging by her wide eyes, she was not ready to do it again to defend herself, especially when he was pointing a gun at her. Charlize's eyes searched the floor for the bat, and she was relieved to find it almost next to her. She quickly grabbed it, ignoring the pain in her chest, and quickly walked up behind the man. When she was close enough, she raised the bat, mustered all the strength she could with shaking arms, and hit him across the head. As soon as she did, she got a flashback of hitting Courtney across the head, and it made her choke.

Thankfully, the man did not come back after she had hit him. For a second, both she and Haley were frozen in place, panting, looking from each other to the man on the ground. Charlize felt a wave of emotions coming up. Anger, fear - panic even, paranoia, disgust. It was overwhelming. Within the last three hours, she had knocked out two people with a baseball bat. Her white shirt was stained from all the blood. She tried with all her might to suppress these feelings, trying to stall them until they were in a safe place.

"We need to move on," she found herself saying before she could get too wrapped up in her head. She knelt down next to the man and picked up his gun. She had shot a gun once in her life, when her farther had taken her to a gun range, but she thought she remembered enough to handle this one. It was an automatic. She searched the man's pockets for another magazine, but came up empty. She put the safety on and put it in the waistband of her jeans.

They stepped out of the alleyway and continued on down the street. Both of them were silent, trying in their own way to comprehend what was happening. Charlize still could not stop replaying her hitting Courtney. The blood, the head that wasn't a head anymore, hitting the man, his manic look. She tried to push the thoughts away, but it was hard. She did the only thing she could think of and quietly grabbed Haley's hand. Haley did not say anything, did not even look at her, but she gave her hand a gentle squeeze, and that was all the dialogue Charlize needed.


The closer they got to Nick's place, the emptier the streets were. When they entered his street, they had not encountered another soul in 15 minutes. The street was completely dark - the power went out about an hour ago - and the only thing illuminating the road before them was the moon. It was brighter than Charlize had ever seen it, but then again, she had never seen it in L.A. without the light pollution.

They came up to the Clark's house and Charlize was just about to knock on the front door when Haley grabbed her hand before she could bring it down on the wood.

"Shhh", she said and put a finger in front of her mouth, using her other hand to gesture that Charlize needed to listen. After a second, she heard what Haley meant. There were voices, but it sounded like there was a commotion. She gestured for Haley to follow her. She wanted to go to the back door on the Clark's terrace, intending to follow the noises and not draw any attention by knocking on the door, in case that this was actually serious.

They got closer to the terrace and Charlize realized that the voices came from inside the Clark's living room. People were arguing. The terrace door was open and she tried to get closer. One of the voices was Travis, but she didn't know what was happening. Before she could do anything else, there was a shot.

She bolted around the corner and saw a group of people. The first person her eyes found was a man holding a shotgun. She had never seen him before. He was middle-aged and stern looking, his beard and the little hair he had left was turning grey. His face was serious. He was lowering the shotgun when Charlize saw what he had shot at. Right in front of the open terrace door was a man. He was almost facing her now, the impact of the bullet must've turned his head into that direction. His eyes were hazy, and there was a gaping hole in his cheek. That was where the bullet must have hit him. He then turned to the crowd again and started walking toward them. Travis was closest to him, and Charlize could see him raising his arms, trying to keep the man away from him, all the while still trying to talk some sense into him.

Charlize looked to the man with the shotgun, but he did not raise it again - just stared. Then, her limbs seemed to act on their own accord. Her left hand took the baseball bat from her right hand. Her right hand grabbed the gun from her waistband, her finger releasing the safety. She raised her arm, pointed the gun at the man's head, and before she could think about what she was doing, she pulled the trigger.