Chapter 1
“God damn it,” Alicia muttered, nearly tripping over a bottle that lay in the middle of her path. She was on her own searching for supplies, and nobody knew she had left. If her mother found out where she was she’d freak out and end up lecturing her about how dangerous it is to leave home alone.
She was walking through an abandoned city strip that was lined with various shops, and luckily hadn’t seen any signs of the dead so far. Looking around, Alicia began walking towards a convenient store thats entire front window was shattered.
She stepped through the opening, careful not to cut herself on any shards of glass.
The store seemed to be pretty well stocked, aside from a few bare shelves and stray items. Alicia happily shrugged off her backpack and began collecting supplies from the shelves. She had only grabbed a pack of batteries and a flashlight when she heard a shuffling noise from a couple aisles over.
Abandoning the backpack momentarily Alicia went to go check out what was making the noise. She rounded the corner to find a group of at least 5 of the dead mulling around the body of who she presumed to be the shopkeeper.
She let out a small gasp at the awful sight in front of her, alerting them of her presence. They left the body behind and started hobbling after her at a quick pace.
Alicia ran through the store, not realizing she had left her bag behind until she was already outside and it was too late to go back. She had brought a knife along for protection, but it was useless to her all the way back inside the shop.
With the dead trailing not that far behind her Alicia ran down the sidewalk, deeper into the city, away from where her family was.
She ran from street to street, taking as many sharp turns as she could in hope that she could lose her pursuers. At this point she had absolutely no idea where she was and was beginning to panic. What if she couldn’t find her way back?
Looking back over her shoulder she saw that not only had she not lost them, but they had doubled in numbers.
She took a sharp left turn into an alley, panting for breath, but not stopping. Rounding the corner, she was met with a dead end, and before she could think what to do she was interrupted by a voice.
“Get down!”
At the sound of gunshots Alicia dove to the ground, only to be yelled at again. Someone was tugging on her arm, forcing her to stand up.
“Come on, we gotta go now,” said the stranger, “The gunshots will only attract more of them.”
They took off through the streets, weaving in and out of different alleyways. When they rounded another corner they came face to face with another group of around 15 of the dead.
“Can you shoot,” asked the stranger.
“I don’t know, I’ve never shot a gun before,” Alycia replied, slightly panicked.
“Well, you're gonna learn now,” said the stranger, handing Alicia a gun. Alicia, having no idea what to do raised the gun and tried to shoot, only to have nothing happen.
“You have to turn off the safety,” the stranger yelled over the sound of her own gun firing. Alicia flipped the little switch on the side and aimed the gun again, this time successfully firing it.
On her first shot she missed, but the second time she hit one of them in the head, sending it tumbling straight to the ground. The two continued firing their weapons until the last of the dead was down, then continued on their way down the road.
The stranger lead Alicia into an apartment building that looked relatively safe and shut the door. After checking each room to make sure they really were safe, the two girls sat down in the livingroom.
This was the first time Alicia got a good look at the stranger. She was rather young, maybe a year or two older than Alicia. She had curly blonde hair and sparkling blue eyes. Alicia didn’t realize she’d been staring until the girl spoke, startling her.
“So, what's a pretty girl like you doing all the way out in the city, don’t you know it's dangerous to be out here all alone,” Said the blonde, smirking.
“I don’t exactly see anyone out here with you, so I wouldn’t be talking,” Alicia replied.
“Fair enough,” she said, chuckling slightly, “what's your name?”
“Alicia clark.”
“Nice to meet you,” said the blonde, extending her arm to Alycia.
“Seriously,” Alycia asked, staring at her outstretched hand skeptically.
“Shake my damn hand woman,” said the girl jokingly.
“Alright, geez,” said Alycia, reaching out and shaking the blondes hand. “Happy?”
“Yes, very,” replied the smug looking girl.
“My name is Elyza. Elyza Lex.”
“Well Elyza, thanks for helping me out, I'm not exactly used to this whole apocalypse thing, y’know,” Alicia said sarcastically.
“I figured that when I saw you running from those walkers, I thought you were about to cry!”
“Hey! I was running for my life, I had every reason to be panicked,” said the brunette defensively. She wasn't so sure if she liked this Elyza girl.
“Yeah yeah, you owe me one though.” She said, laughing.
You never answered my question before, what are you doing out here all alone?” Elyza asked.
“I was looking for supplies for my family. We're staying at a house about a mile away and we needed more food.” Alycia told her, “they don't know where I went, I have to get back before they worry too much.”
“No way, it will be dark before then. It's not safe out there at night, we can stay here tonight and leave in the morning,” Elyza replied.
“Don't you have to get back to your own family,” Alycia asked, “won't they be worried about you if you don't get home?”
“I don't have anyone,” Elyza told her, a hint of sadness evident in her voice, “My Dad died when I was young and my mom was killed by a walker about a month ago.”
“I'm so sorry,” Alicia said, feeling guilty for asking about them. “If you don't mind me asking, why do you keep calling those things walkers?”
“You got a better name for them?” Elyza asked.
“No, I guess not,” Alicia replied, smiling a little.
“Well, we should probably get some rest,” Elyza said, “we’ll want to leave early tomorrow to get you back to your family as soon as possible.”
“Alright,” Alicia replied, standing up from the couch.
They both headed down the hallway and into their own separate bedrooms for the night. As soon as Alicia was in her room she shrugged off her jacket and crawled into the bed.
As she lay there her thoughts drifted from wondering what the family who previously lived here was like, to the blonde girl in the next room over.
Something about Elyza caught her attention, but she wasn't sure what. She was different than anyone she’d ever met before, and Alicia wasn't sure if this was a good different, or bad.
Either way, she hoped she’d be seeing more of the strange blonde.