FOUR DAYS IN

Natalie was extra glad she snuck out today.

She runs down the street, away from the man he saw rip the throat out of another woman. She was horrified, the man didn't even look human anymore, just dead. So she ran away from it, and the image it planted firmly in her head. When she had to stop for breath, she took a look around. Buildings on fire, people screaming as far as she could hear, and the sounds of car crashes could be hear every so often.

A gunshot rings out behind her and startles her into running again. She has nothing on her mind except for the overwhelming need to get out of the city, she knew it would be trouble. She turns a corner, and finds someone leaning against the wall, bleeding all over himself. "Please... Help me..." She backs away in horror, tripping over the curb. When she looks back up, one of the monsters comes up behind the man and tackles him to the ground before ripping open his back and tearing out his guts.

She screams and scrambles to get up and run away again. She's nearly grabbed by a monster, but manages to throw it away and keep running, despite how much her legs ache and how tired she is. "No more..

Please no more..." She whimpers as she runs down the street.

Meanwhile, a few blocks away, Fizz is beating a walker's head in with a piece of a gutter. "Just, fucking, DIE!" He slams the piece into its head and pants. Devin and Karl look on in disbelief. "Are you... Okay...?" Devin asks hesitantly, moving towards Fizz a bit. "Oh, yeah, I'm just fucking great! Haha! Things are fucking fantastic right now!" He yells sarcastically, gesturing around wildly.

Karl looks around, starting to get annoyed that they chose to keep their instruments with them. "Dude, keep your voice down!" Fizz stares a him, furious, before starting to scream various obscenities at him. Devin and Karl both step back in surprise, and Fizz eventually burns himself out and groans. "Let's just keep moving... We need to get the hell out of the city." They start running down the street, passing several people in the process of being eaten.

"This is fucking insane! What the actual fuck is happening?!" Karl yells as they run down the street. "The apocalypse, that's what's happening..." Fizz mutters in response. "Which way is out?" Devin runs up next to Fizz. "Fuck, uh, left!" They all turn left and run faster, the sounds of groaning starting to overpower the screams.

Natalie runs down her own street, her exhaustion starting catching up with as she begins panting heavily. "No... No... I need to keep going..." She wheezes, before collapsing to the ground in the middle of the street. She struggles to catch her breath, and a groan from a nearby alley causes her to freeze.

A monster, rotting beyond belief with one of it's eyes hanging out of it's sockets stumbles out of the alleyway, reaching it's arms out and growling at her. She screams and forces herself to a sitting position. She starts scooting along the ground, backing up into a truck nearby. She hits it, and looks up at it, only taking a second before getting up and throwing the door open. The monster is right behind her, but doesn't manage to catch up before she climbs up and shuts the door.

She curls up into a ball in the middle of the backseat, whimpering to herself.

The other three stop to rest near an intersection nearby, when they get startled by some walkers and are forced to move again. "Why are these things everywhere?! Can they fucking teleport?!" Fizz yells angrily, struggling to keep pace. "Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised!" Karl yells back, almost completely worn out. "Truck!" Devyn screams, pointing ahead to the truck that several walkers have now started banging on.

"Maybe it's owner is alive! We can get a ride out of here!" Fizz charges at the walkers, knocking two of them aside and kicking the third to the ground. "Get on the other side and get in!" He screams. The other two don't bother debating the choice, and the three of them pile into the truck, shutting the doors.

"Uh, Fizz?" Karl mumbles, scooting against Devin in the backseat. He looks back, and sees a girl curled up in a ball. "Oh, hello? Are you alright? ...You're not bitten, right?" She uncurls and sits up, her face soaked with tears. "Who... Who are you people?" The walkers hit the truck particularly hard, and the keys fall out of the mirror on the driver's side. "Haha! It's our lucky day!" Fizz grabs the keys and starts the car, immediately racing it down the street, and towards the edge of town.

ONE MONTH AND TWENTY FOUR DAYS IN

Natalie shoots up in her bed, a cold sweat running down her body. "Fuck... Fuck, I'm okay, I'm fine... I'm not there anymore..." She flops back and sighs, looking out her window, which shows the hotel courtyard. "Safe..." She whispers to herself. She jumps as a noise from outside her room startles her. Someone can be heard grumbling outside, and she goes to her door to look out the peephole.

She can see Fizz rubbing his eyes and moving down the hallway, holding the wall. She frowns and opens the door. "Fizz? What are you doing up?" He looks at her with tired eyes and sighs. "I had a nightmare. Everything finally caught up with me I suppose. Same story?" She nods. "Where are you going?" He looks down the hall. "I dunno... The lobby? I didn't feel like staying in bed."

She steps out into the hallway and shuts her door. "I'll come with you then... Better to talk about these things, as they always say. Or, said, I guess." He nods and gestures for her to come along. They walk down the stairs, into the lobby, and they sit down on a couch.

"Those first days really messed with you, huh?" Natalie nods and looks out the window. "You never forget the sound of someone getting their throat ripped out... It's horrifying." He nods and rubs his eyes again. "We saw someone get torn apart in the middle of the street. They were just... Tearing him open, and apart, and he was howling in pain, it was scarring." He shivers. Natalie pats his shoulder. "We're safe now, at least... Maybe not for long, but still."

He sighs and looks out the window. "We've cleaned out everything from the buildings nearby. If we want to stay, we'll have to go out farther." She looks over at the food supplies, sitting at the reception desk. "How much do we have left?" He shrugs. "I keep a count, but I don't ration. Ask Karl." He turns to her again. "Are you doing alright? You look more tired every day, and-" She cuts him off by shaking her head and holding her hand up. "I'm fine. I can handle nightmares, I'll just get some extra sleep during the day."

"You sure? I don't want you passing out on us." She nods. "I'm sure. You guys can always leave me behind if I pass out though, I give you permission." Fizz looks mortified. "We're not leaving you behind, are you kidding me?!" She laughs and hits the couch. "It was a joke! Sorry, sorry, that's probably in poor taste these days." He puts a hand on his forehead and sighs. "Damn, I thought you were going suicidal on us for a second..." She looks at him with a glare.

"I would never, NEVER, commit suicide, alright? I don't care how bad things get, I would never do that." He's surprised on her resolve, and immediately a few questions pop into his head, which he decides to leave there for the moment. "Alright, good. I'm glad." She shakes her head and gets up. "Come on, we should head back to bed. Everyone won't like us sneaking around."

Fizz nods and stands up as well. "Yeah... Look, I'm happy you don't want to kill yourself. I want to make sure you're okay still." She turns to him and smiles at him. "And I appreciate it. But I'm fine, trust me." He gives her a thumbs up and an awkward smile before turning and going towards the staircase. She rolls her eyes and follows him, heading back to her room.

The next morning, everyone gathers in the lobby. "How much food have we got, Karl?" Alex asks, walking over to the desk. "About three week's worth. Since we raided everything nearby, this is all we've got unless we go down the highway and find something." Alex hums and starts looking through the food bags as everyone on the couches look at each other.

Fizz is the first one to speak. "So how was everyone's night? I'm sure it was just peachy." Devyn nods. "Absolutely, the nonstop faint groaning of the walkers upstairs really makes for a great lullaby." Natalie chuckles. "Can't we kill them already?" Fizz shrugs. "Absolutely, if you want to go up there and deal with a dozen or so walkers, be my guest."

She shakes her head. "No thanks. Everything may be complete shit right now but I'd rather not be dead at the moment." Devyn nudges her. "Ya sure? Hell can't be any worse than this!" She laughs and pushes her away. "Please, as far as I'm concerned, we're doing just fine."

"As well as we can be anyway." Fizz nods. "I'm sure there are people out there who are doing much worse than us." Natalie nods. "Surprising, considering we're a bunch of teenagers."

Devyn looks over at Ashley and Katlyn. "What about them...?" The two are currently hugging In a corner, staring at nothing in particular. "I think the reality of all this finally hit them. Near death experiences will do that." Fizz mumbles. Natalie nods. "They might be a problem later on... If they don't improve."

"Maybe we should keep an eye on them, just in case. We don't want them doing anything drastic." Devyn says. "They should be alright as long as we're somewhere safe. They can recover over time." Karl and Alex come back over. It seems like we'll have to go down the highway to find food if we want to stay here."

"Fine. I'll take somebody with me down to the nearest exit." Fizz stands up. Natalie stands up as well. "I'll go. I need to get out of this stuffy hotel for once." Karl shrugs. "If it stops me from having to try and hold conversation with this guy I'll gladly take a break for today."

Fizz flips him off as he goes over to the pile of gardening tools they use as weapons. "Pick your favorite and let's get moving Natalie." She nods, grabs a weapon, and they head out to start their trip down the highway.