Day 1

Run. Hide. Eat. Protect. Run. Hide. Eat. Protect.

That's been my routine. Who have I been protecting? My little brother. He was the only one left from the initial attack and now we were running through the streets and countryside of Georgia. There was only one goal in life, and that was to make it to the city in hopes of finding shelter. All communication was basically cut off. We'd lost our radios already. The only message we finally heard was about going to the city of Atlanta for shelter and supplies. Like that was easy.

"Lynnie," my brother tugged on my hand. I looked down at him, away from the crank I'd been watching from behind the car. We were crouched behind a car, trying to find a way into a grocery store for supplies.

"What?" I hissed, worried that he would attract the attention of the zombie and possibly its friends. His almond-shaped eyes stared back at me with a slight frown.

"I think I saw something move inside the building," he whispered back, pointing at the supply store we were going to enter.

"We'll take it down then," I told the boy simply. He huffed before rolling his eyes.

"Of course we'll take it down. What I'm saying is that-" a sudden snarling from in front of us interrupted our supposedly hushed conversation. I looked back at the crank I'd been observing before realizing that it was nowhere to be seen. Instinctively, I grabbed my brother, pulling him in so that he was covered by me.

"Where did it go?" I muttered to myself, looking around frantically.

"Lynnie." My brother interrupted my thoughts. I squeezed his shoulder a bit.

"Hold on," I took out an arrow from my quiver before hooking it to my bow. I pulled the arrow, scanning the perimeter for it.

"Lynnie," my brother called again with more urgency. I loosened the bow's tension and looked at him with annoyance.

"What?" His eyes were wide with fear as he pointed behind my shoulder, opposite where I'd been looking. Several zombies were coming over with as much speed as they could, several feet away from us. I cursed internally for being so stupid as to not check behind us. I heard Rennie, my brother, yelp before hearing the snarl and the cold hand of a crank on my shoulder. I grabbed it before hurling it off the car above us and onto the ground in front of us. I dug my knife into its skull and kicked it away after it died. Rennie's eyes were wide as he grabbed my wrist again as the zombies advanced, making me realize that there was more than just one.

"C'mon!" I grabbed him and pulled him up beside me before running with him. He followed me, holding my hand in his in a vice-like grip. We bolted towards the only shelter we could see, the supply center we'd been scoping only a moment ago. The door swung open violently and crashed as I shut it behind me, quickly looking around for something to block the zombies from following us.

"The desk!" My brother pointed at a wooden table a few feet from us. I let go of the door for a second, moving with a speed I'd never possessed before. I shoved the table up against the door in time, jamming a broom through the door handle just in case.

Finally done, my brother and I took several steps back, sighing in relief. I remembered where we were and tensed up again, checking aisle by aisle.

"Stick with me," I whispered to Rennie.

"I know the drill," the little boy huffed at me before grabbing his taser and holding it like a gun. I rolled my eyes before walking down an aisle with food. Rennie put his taser back before packing his backpack up to the brim with junk food. It was all we had but anything was better than nothing. I heard something clatter from a distance and froze up instantly. The noise had come from a room some distance away from me. I motioned for my brother, who had finished packing, to follow me quietly. Closer and closer I crept towards the room with the door ajar. My arrow was loaded and well gripped by my fingers, the bow shaking a bit from my tight clamp.

I finally reached the room before kicking the door open completely with all the force I had. My brother slipped in behind me and shone his flashlight around the room. I heard a yelp of pain from behind the door and quickly looked, the flashlight following close behind. I was met with the view of a young man or boy, about the same age as my older brother and me. I only needed one look at him to know that he was a Korean, just like me.

"What the hell was that for?!" the guy groaned, clutching his forehead.

I didn't say a thing, only lifted my arrow higher so it would shoot his brain if needed. An empty threat, of course.

"Whoa whoa! Don't shoot, please!" the dude's eyes widened as he slowly lifted both hands.

"What were you doing behind the door?" Rennie inquired. His eyes were narrowed in suspicion.

"I thought you guys were one of those things out there," the boy explained quickly, obviously not wanting to be shot by my arrow.

"Well, I don't think my sister and I have developed any sudden hunger towards your flesh," Rennie rolled his eyes. Typical of my little brother.

"Look kid, I'm just tryna grab supplies and hide. I'm not the bad guy here," the guy whose name I still didn't know protested.

"I'm not a kid, dude," Rennie bristled. "I'm twelve years old!"

"And I'm twenty-two. Ten-year difference, kiddo," the man shrugged a bit.

"Yo-"

"Enough," I snapped at the two of them, lowering my weapon. I glared at the man, unsure of what to do before I stepped back. Rennie followed my example.

"So I'm free?" the man looked at us hopefully.

"Sure," I nodded towards the door which was shaking from all the zombs trying to enter. "Be my guest. And make sure you scream while running away."

"Oh."

I rolled my eyes in irritation. Just who was this man? This was not supposed to be happening.

"My name is Ben," the bo- no, Ben, scratched his neck while getting up. "Ben Seo."

"Nice," my brother answered. An awkward silence followed.

"What's your name?" Ben finally asked.

"Leo," Rennie smirked. I smacked him upside the head. "Aren! And this is my sister Lynnie."

"Arlynn," I corrected him. "If you wanna be called Aren, you don't get to call me Lynnie, Rennie."

Ben watched the two of us with a small wistful smile, almost as if he was getting a flashback.

"What?" Rennie demanded. Ben shook his head, smiling.

"You remind me of my friends."

Crashing interrupted the moment. I looked to see that the zombies had finally cracked a large window and the wooden door had splintered. My brother grabbed my hand tightly once before letting go and watching the situation with wide eyes. Ben cursed under his breath, looking around the place, possibly for an exit. What was I doing? The usual meatshield stuff.

"This way!" Ben shouted over the noise, grabbing my brother's hand before running in a direction. I followed suit, pulling away my arrow from my bow. It wouldn't do any good to run with an arrow bouncing around in a bow. I saw what Ben had spotted. It was a small window near the ceiling. Ben tried to open the hatch but kept fumbling as the stubborn lock groaned.

"Any time now," I remarked, finally releasing an arrow and knocking down a walker who had been too close.

"I'm…trying…" Ben struggled desperately. My brother huffed.

"Oh c'mon. Get out of the way," he said, grabbing a can of corn before chucking it at the window with all his might.

"Behind you, Arlynn!" Ben shouted. I turned around to see a female crank lunging for me. I grunted from her weight as I desperately tried to grab my knife from my belt. It snarled at my face as I barely kept it away by using my right arm. I remembered to close my mouth before stabbing it in the head. It slumped, dead, onto the floor.

"C'mon, Lynnie!" I heard my brother shout behind me. I glanced towards the window before shoving my bow and backpack first. Grabbing the edge, I pulled my weight up and squeezed through the small window before dropping. I flinched, expecting the hard ground to meet me, only to open my eyes in surprise when it registered that someone was holding me up. It was Ben.

"Thank you," I spoke sheepishly while grabbing my stuff from my brother.

"Anytime," Ben rubbed the back of his neck. Another crash sounded from within, making the three of us jump.

"Aw man," my little brother groaned, knowing what was gonna happen. Ben looked from him to me in confusion.

"C'mon," I beckoned the two of them towards the woods after me. When we'd gone a safe distance, I struck a match before lighting it to a torn piece of my cloth. I took precarious aim at a car next to the building, aiming for the gas tank area and scoring. The car slowly went up in flames, buying the three of us precious time before exploding and setting the store on fire with the walkers inside.

"Why would you do that?!" Ben yelped, his eyes wide. "You're practically sending a signal to everyone around us."

"Let them come," I grimaced, walking further into the woods. "They'll find nothing but remains."