A New World

This is my first try at a fanfic. Please comment and review.

Chapter One: The Change

I had tried to steady myself as I held my pistol. I hear my dopey partner behind me saying, "Maybe we'll get on one of those cop shows."

"Just focus and make sure your safety is off," Rick said.

"Would be kind of cool to get on one of those shows," my brother Shane laughed. I could always count on Shane to make light of a bad situation.

Shane and Rick had been best friends for as long as I can remember. Me being the little sister always seemed to follow them around. Part of the reason I had decided to join the King County Sherriff's department was to show that I was every bit as good as Shane. Our father had wanted another son so it seemed as I was a disappointment. I guess that's why he still named me after his father. Theodora was a hard name to live up to so I always answered to the name Shane had given me, Teddy.

The wailing of police sirens brought me back to the present. We had previously laid stakes in the road to stop the pending car chase. The lady on dispatch said there were two men in the car and they were armed. So 3 long time cops and me a rookie should be able to handle them.

"Teddy, just make sure you don't shoot yourself in the foot," Shane said to me.

"This ain't my first rodeo," I replied. Little did he know that I had scored higher than he did on the marksman test.

The screeching of the classic car's tires was deafening as it skidded across the spikes. The car flipped and rolled down the nearby embankment. We took aim at the vehicle. The door to the inverted car was kicked open and immediately the driver and his passenger opened fire. Rick took down the passenger and as I took aim on the driver Rick was hit in the chest hard. I fired and the driver was now on the ground.

Rick was jarred but he straightened up, turning back towards us.

"Caught it in the vest, neither of you tells Lori. Wow, Teddy that was one helluva shot!" Rick exclaimed as a third passenger emerged from the wreckage and opened fire. This time it missed the vest and Rick was on the ground covered in his own blood. Shane took him out as I ran to Rick.

"Leon you get dispatch on the line now and tell them we have an officer down!" I exclaimed. Shane rushed to my side and applied pressure to the wound while I tried to keep Rick awake.

It seemed like an eternity later that we were in the waiting room of the hospital waiting with Lori, Rick's wife, for Rick to come out of surgery. The news was on in the background and I heard them talking about strange stories of people going cannibal. "Looks like the whole world is going to shit," I thought.

The surgeon finally emerged telling us that Rick was out of surgery but still asleep. He was in a coma the doctor said and the next few days were crucial. The doctor told us we could go in a see him but not to stay too long. Lori and Carl went in first, then Shane and I.

"You know Teddy picked these out for you, cause I don't have a clue. We want you to come back real soon," Shane said as he set the vase of flowers on the table beside Rick's bed.

I leaned in and kissed Rick's forehead and whispered, "Get better, I…I mean we love you."

Over the next few weeks Rick didn't seam to get any better and the cannibal's stories were more than just stories. The National Guard had come in to try to control the situation with no success. People were being bitten and turning into something else. No longer alive but not quite dead. And it was happening here too.

Shane had told Lori and I that he was going to see that Rick was care flighted to the hospital in Atlanta and that we needed to get as much gear together as we could carry in his Jeep. We needed to get out of town now.

I had my bag packed waiting on Lori and Carl to finish when Shane arrived. I could read my brother and the look in his eye told me that Rick was dead. His words to Lori and Carl confirmed it. I felt the tears form in my eyes but did all that I could do to hold them back. I didn't want to make it worse for Carl. He's such a good kid.

"I know it's hard Lori but I've got to get you and Carl out of here," Shane said as he held Lori in his arms, "Somewhere safe. Rick would want me to do that for you." He grabbed our bags and threw them in the storage area of his Jeep and ushered Carl and I into the cramped backseat.

"Teddy, I know you and Carl are tight back there but I trust my Jeep a lot more than your old junker," he said as he started the engine and put it in gear. We had almost made it to the highway when I saw first hand what I had been seeing on the news all this time. I recognized my 3rd grade gym teacher growling and snatch an unsuspecting man from his vehicle and take a large bite from his neck. The man was screaming as he was devoured. I pulled Carl closer to me to shield his eyes as Shane put him down.

"I never like Mr. Stewart that much anyway," Shane said as he put his gun back on the dash. I didn't like him either but I couldn't stop the tears from forming in my eyes. I knew that everything had changed.