Charlotte opened her bedroom door. "Mom? Dad?" She called into the house. A gunshot rang from outside and she ducked down. It was the third one she heard in the last minute.
"In here sweety!" Her mom yelled.
Running down the hallway she entered the living room, the news was playing on the tv. A frantic-looking reporter told everyone to head to the nearest safe zone when he was cut off and the screen changed to "No Signal".
"Mom, Dad, what's happening?" The girl asked, she was shaking and her hands gripped the side of her shirt tightly. The fabric already beginning to stretch.
Her Dad picked her up, holding onto her tightly, and looked directly into her eyes. "Nothing, we're going to be fine."
Charlotte tried calming down. If her dad said everything was going to be fine then she knew it would be. He never lies.
Her dad put her down and told her to grab her favorite things and put them in her backpack. So she ran back to her room and began stuffing her backpack with all the important things a nine-year-old girl would need. A couple of shirts and a pair of shorts. Paper and her favorite markers. A stuffed dog and a thin fuzzy blanket.
She looked around her room, there was still a little space left but she felt like she had everything she could need. Gripping her backpack she walked back into the living room where her mother was rushing around grabbing pictures.
"Mom, why do you need all those? Aren't we coming back?"
Her mom didn't answer the question. She rushed down the hallway before bringing out more picture frames. "Help me take these out of the frames." She handed her a picture of the three of them standing outside Uncle Smith's house for Thanksgiving.
Charlotte dutifully took out the photo and was about to hand it to her mom when the doorbell rang. She put the picture in her pocket and ran over to answer the door.
"Charlotte no!" Her father yelled. Charlotte stopped in her tracks as her father passed her to open the door. He looked out the peephole and then opened it.
One of their newer neighbors was standing on the other side. He was sweating a lot and was holding a gun. "Tom, they're here. We all gotta go. The town's overrun."
Her dad spoke, "We're leaving now. All of us, you're free to come wi-" He was cut off when a dirty man in old clothes took a bite out of his arm. He screamed wildly when another came and took a bite out of his shoulder. The neighbor shot blindly in the air. Her Dad ducked away from the gunshot.
So focused on the gunshots he didn't notice one come through the front door. It grabbed her dad's arm and he tried to wrench it free when another grabbed ahold of him and bit the back of his neck.
Charlotte backed up into the living room away from the doorway of horror. Her mom's screams and cries causing her to start crying too. "Mom!"
The now bigger group of crazy people pushed through into the house. A woman in a tattered dress fell forward and grabbed onto her mom's leg. "Get off of me!" She yelled, kicking her leg in a desperate attempt to get it to let go. Another moved forward and pulled her down. "Charlotte run!" Was the last thing she said before erupting into painful screams.
She grabbed her backpack and threw open the back door. Running to her backyard fence and unlocking it she rushed out teary-eyed into the streets of her neighborhood. Screams and gunshots could be heard everywhere. Police sirens were coming from all directions.
Two women with glazed white eyes came stumbling toward her and she bolted away from them. She didn't know where to go and her blurry eyesight wasn't helping. Heading toward the park with her favorite playground she didn't stop running until she came face to face with a large man. He was covered in blood and had the same white-glazed eyes as the other people. Before she could run he grabbed onto her arm and she struggled to try to get out of his grasp.
A gunshot rang out, this one louder than all the others and causing her ears to ring. She couldn't figure out why until the man in front of her fell to the side and landed on the ground with a loud thunk.
Charlotte stood frozen watching the blood run from the man's head onto the pavement.
"Hey! Hey girl! You with me, we gotta go!" She was picked up by a dark-haired man in a police uniform. He carried her along, one arm wrapped around her and his gun out in front of him with the other. As they ran he continued to shoot down more of those crazy people.
Charlotte wanted to know why so many people were attacking them and why they started eating her parents. Thinking about them caused a sting of pain to go through her, resulting in her eyes watering and a small cry of pain. Her dad told her that policemen were safe and to trust them so she buried her face into the police officer's shoulder. She felt his arm tighten around her.
A few minutes later he stopped to open the back door of a police car parked along the street, slowly setting the girl down in the backseat and shutting the door. He then got in the front seat and turned on the car, quickly pulling away from the curb and driving down the road.
"Where are your parents, kid?" The policeman asked. Charlotte shrugged off her backpack and set it down beside her, not bothering to bucklme her seatbelt.
"They...they got bit by the crazy people," She said in a quiet voice, struggling to get the words out. "I think they died." She erupted into tears hiding her face in her hands.
The man went silent for a while, contemplating what to do with the girl. He continued driving, swerving around all the people running into the streets.
"You got a name kid?" He asked gently.
Wiping away the tears on her cheeks she replied, "Charlotte, but I also go by Charlie." The girl kept her eyes on the back of his head, not wanting to see the chaos outside any longer.
"Well, Charlie, my name's Shane. I'm gonna pick up some of my friends and we're all gonna go down to the Atlanta safe zone," He told the girl.
Shane drove for another few minutes, the car whizzing past houses and Charlotte could still hear gunshots echoing all over the town. He weaved between crashed cars and panicking people. It reminded Charlotte of those action movies her dad loved to watch. She was never allowed to watch them but she would sneak out of her room and watch the tv from behind the couch.
The car screeched to a halt as they came up to a typical suburban house with a large porch. Shane turned towards Charlotte. "Okay, stay here, I'll be back out in a minute. Do not leave this car, understand?"
Charlotte nodded and Shane left the car and ran up to the house, knocking on the door. A woman with long brown hair opened the door and Shane walked in. Charlotte started to shake the longer she was alone, tears once again welling up in her eyes. She grabbed her backpack and set it on her lap hugging it as tightly as she could. Just yesterday she had gone to the park and played on the swing set while her parents laughed as they watched her. Now she was in the backseat of a police car while her parents were at home half eaten.
She looked out the window and saw someone with white eyes heading towards the car. She ducked down as low as she could, wishing Officer Shane could come back now.
Another minute passed and she peered out the window and saw no one. Sighing in relief she sat back up before a face appeared in the window. Growling and moaning and scratching at the glass. She shrieked and backed up to the other side of the car. "No! No! Please go away!" She screamed at it. "Officer Shane!"
The glass was sprayed with blood as a bullet flew through his head. The owner of the gun rushed out of the house with the brown-haired woman and a young boy around her age. They opened the trunk and shoved suitcases and other equipment into the back before Shane opened the driver's side door and got in. The woman got in on the passenger's side and the boy hopped in beside her. His face morphed from fear into a look of confusion as he stared at the girl next to him.
Shane started the car and drove off again as the woman in the front noticed Charlotte. "Shane, who's this?" She asked, curiously watching her.
"Kid I found on the way here, name's Charlotte."
"Hi there Charlotte, I'm Lori and this is my son Carl." She gestured toward the boy sitting next to her. He gave Charlotte a small wave.
She gave them both a nod of acknowledgment.
The car swerved suddenly causing both kids to get launched sideways. "You both buckle up, now," Lori said, no room for arguing in her tone.
A while later the car was stuck in a pile-up on the highway into Atlanta. Charlotte and Carl both leaned against the windows half-asleep as Shane and Lori talked.
"You just took her?" Lori asked.
Shane nodded. "There was no one else living around, the streets were swarmed with walkers. I couldn't just leave her." He glanced back at the girl, worry crossing his face for a moment only to return to normal when he remembered he had Lori and Carl to think about first.
Lori sighed, leaning her head against her hand.
"She told me her parents were both bit. That they're most likely dead."
They both stayed silent after that. The cars hadn't moved in a while and both were getting tired from the long and exhausting day they just went through.
The sky grew dark and Carl woke up from his nap. "Mom, are we almost there?"
Lori turned around in her seat. "We haven't moved in a while, I'm sure we'll be able to go again soon."
The family in the car parked next to them got out to stretch their legs. A man with a scowl opened the trunk and started rummaging through it, grabbing a pack of cigarettes and lighting one up. A woman with short gray hair and a young girl with shoulder-length blonde hair sat in the trunk of their car. The woman pulled out a game of checkers and began to set it up while the man moved to the side and stared out at the long line of cars in front of them.
"Mom, can I walk around? I don't want to sit here anymore, I'm bored, and Charlie's still sleeping." He stared over at the still-sleeping girl. Her messy golden brown hair fell over her face as she slept.
"Fine, I'll come with you, stay close." Lori opened her door and so did Carl, they both stepped out.
"Don't go too far," Shane called out to them. He glanced back at Charlotte. She must be a heavy sleeper.
A couple of minutes passed and Charlotte stirred awake. Stretching her arms out above her head and letting out a soft yawn. She watched as Shane messed with the radio station, nothing but static played through the speakers. He noticed her moving and met her eyes through the rearview mirror. "You good back there Charlie?" He asked.
Charlotte nodded her head and looked outside to see Carl and some girl playing checkers when a plane flew overhead causing everyone to look up. Shane leaned out of the car to get a better look.
The girl playing checkers with Carl asked her mom if they were going to go soon to which she replied, "I don't know baby, I sure hope so."
Carl turned toward his mom. "I'm hungry."
"I know Carl. We all are," Lori replied.
The girl's mom said she'd get him something to eat and Carl spoke again, "Can you get one for Charlie too? She might be hungry when she wakes up."
The nice lady disappeared around the side of her car.
Lori walked up and leaned against the front door of Shane's car. "You getting anything?" she asked.
"There's nothing," Shane replied.
"Big surprise there." Lori shook her head in disappointment.
"No, I mean there's nothing. Emergency Broadcast System stopped, and that recording about the refugee center." He got out of the car and shut the door. "It's all gone."
Charlotte hurriedly opened her door and hopped out, she desperately didn't want to be left alone again. Taking a look around she saw a big RV behind them with a man in a funny hat standing out in front of it. A truck was a few cars in front of Shane's and two scary-looking men were arguing next to it.
Shane started walking forward. "I'm gonna go up the road a bit, see what I can see."
Lori followed after him saying, "I'll come with you." She stopped next to the woman from before.
"Ed must've forgot to pack those MREs," she said holding some granola bars. "I found these in my purse."
Charlotte stood next to Lori and peered at the food she was holding. Hunger is now a prominent feeling along with fear and sadness.
"It's alright. Listen would you mind keeping an eye on Carl for a minute?" Lori asked and then glanced down at the little girl by her side. "And Charlotte?"
The woman looked at me and nodded to Lori.
Lori turned to Carl and ruffled his hair. "Shane and I are gonna go scout up ahead a bit and see if we can find someone who knows what's going on."
Carl seemed upset at this. "I want to come with you."
"Uh-uh."
Shane quickly walked up and placed a hand on Carl's head. "We'll be back before you know it. You keep an eye on Charlie over here, got it?" Carl nodded and Shane turned toward the girl in question. "You stay right here with Carl alright." She nodded again, not feeling up to talking. Shane and Lori then walked up ahead. She stood watching them until they disappeared behind a white church van.
Charlotte moved closer to Carl and the little girl sitting across from him gave her a timid wave. Charlotte only stared at her in return. The girl turned back toward Carl.
"Your dad's nice," She said.
"Shane's not my dad. My dad's dead," he stated matter-of-factly.
"Oh, is he her dad?" She nodded toward Charlotte.
"No. He found her this morning."
The ground shook and a loud explosion was heard coming from up ahead. The gray-haired woman pulled us three close to her. People started yelling and fighting.
Helicopters flew overhead silencing the fighting as more explosions shook the ground and flashes of light lit up the sky.
Charlotte whimpered and hid her face in the nice lady's shirt. The explosions only got louder and people started running around in panic.
"What's happening, Mom?" The blonde girl asked.
She didn't answer just tightened her hold on the three kids. A few minutes later Shane and Lori came back.
Shane grabbed Charlotte and Carl's hands and led them over to the car. Leaning down he spoke to them in a hushed voice, "We can't go to the city. It's not safe," Shane opened the door for the two children to get in. "There's a quarry where I used to go camping near here. We'll try and head there."
Lori thanked the nice lady for watching the kids and said, "You're more than welcome to come with us." Shane shut the door and Charlotte couldn't hear anymore and watched as the nice lady's husband got in the car and so did the lady and her daughter.
Lori got in the passenger seat and Shane backed up the car and drove into the dirt to get around all the stopped cars. Charlotte stared out the back window with Carl watching the lights in the distance go dark.