REANIMATION

[21]

It was awfully cold, especially for a June day.

Perhaps it was mostly the wind that chilled her body, or maybe it was the bitter sting of loneliness and regret.

She wished she'd brought her thicker jacket with. In her rush out the door, she grasped the nearest one—it was the same one that had been splattered in zombie blood, evident by the stains it had left even after an attempted wash.

She hadn't seen anyone since she left Tree's house.

     She felt like she was in some sort of fever dream, wandering out on the vacant streets that once bustled with noise.

     If the virus hadn't swept the island, maybe she'd be back out on those busy streets at that very moment. She'd be hanging out with her friends as they walked down town, wandering into random buildings to pass the time. They'd just be counting days until the amusement park opened later in the month so they could go every single night and win all sorts of prizes. They'd reunite with old friends, seeing them for the first time after their high school graduation.

     But that'll never happen now.

     No matter how hard she dreamed, she'd never be able to escape the reality that was this sickness. If she wasn't infected there'd be hope in the longterm for all of them to return to a normal daily life, live out their early adult years without a care in the world.

     But that was all it was.

     A 'what if' scenario.

     A scenario that she knew full well would never come to flourish.

     She knew deep down the others could live on without her, which was both torture and solace simultaneously.

     On one hand, they'd all be alive and safe.

     But on the other...

     She'd be forgotten, lost with time—she would simply be remembered as one of the many casualties to the virus that swept through their home island.

It was one of her biggest fears, but...

She was willing to put it down if it meant her friends would be safe.

Yet, her care for her friends is what got her here in the first place; walking out in the cold, the only sound to break the silence being the wind and the dragging of her feet against the pavement.

What she would've given to see anyone in that moment—even Stapy or Foldy would've been more comforting than this... eerie silence.

The sun was nearly completely set and the sky had darkened, making it much harder for her to see where she was going. Everything seemed clouded and blurred.

Where...

Her head lifted, eyes struggling to adjust.

Where am I.

She could've sworn she knew the city like the back of her hand, but she'd never felt so lost in her life. Nothing felt familiar anymore, not even herself.

With one final burst of energy, she hauled herself into a wedge between two buildings, almost an alleyway of sorts, but too tight to be considered one. She sighed, bending down and falling into a laying position, eyes screwing shut. The mix of mud and pebbles made for an awfully uncomfortable resting place, but a cozy place to lay down was the last of her worries—if she even had worries anymore.

It was much better than the alternative open street, after all. The buildings blocked both the wind and opportunities for someone to spot her.

     There was a lot on her mind... but at least she had gotten somewhere sorta safe.

     With that in mind, she dozed off.

     If she had a dream, she'd forgotten it.

     Next time she awoke was when the sun began to rise, her best bet was probably around 6 AM. First thing she did was push out of the gap between the two buildings, only to be instantly greeted with the blinding rays of the sun. She winced away, giving herself a moment until she was able to adjust, then began to brush the mud and dirt off her clothes. She could barely feel her left arm, and what little feeling she did have was a stinging sensation. That was to be expected, though—the place she slept was rather... cramped.

     Next order of business, she looked around for any sign of life, movement, anything, only to be greeted with the same crushing disappointment that had hit her the day prior.

     I thought... an apocalypse would be more eventful.

     She stretched out her legs, jaw parting with a yawn, and took off further down the street.

     Instead I'm just... lonely and waiting out my days.

     She wondered where the closest supermarket was.

     It hadn't really hit her until that moment that she hadn't eaten since last morning. She was probably too exhausted and overwhelmed with emotion to have realized the night before.

     Thankfully, she had a sense of location again. She was able to recognize where she was and how to get to the closest place. From where she stood, she knew there was a gas station not too far from her, at least a 20 minute walk. It was on the edge of the city, closer to the forest.

     The forest.

     She tried to shake the thoughts and memories that began to cloud in her head and took off down the street, mumbling to herself.

     "Get a hold of yourself, Liy. You're strong. All you need to do is survive, and in an apocalyptic setting like this it shouldn't be too hard to accomplish if you just steer clear of the zombies."

     With thoughts of encouragement in her mind, it fueled her to continue pressing on, even if the words had come from her own mouth.

     The walk down to the gas station was complete and utter silence, which she saw coming from light years away. It was almost funny, even the zombies didn't bother trekking around.

     She reached the gas station. A lot like everything else around her, it seemed grim and dead, the lights that once edged the building with illuminating colors now dark and colorless.

     She trudged toward the door, only to notice the thick, glass door has been shattered, and was now spread out in tiny shard pieces all across the area.

     Someone must've already been here.

     She made sure to avoid the glass shards. Even though she had shoes on, she didn't want to avoid the possibility of one somehow getting lodged into her foot.

     She took a few steps into the building.

     Then she froze.

(a/n: for anyone wondering if this book has any presence of a schedule its basically just i post chapters whenever i get them done, but if i have more than one done at a time i space the updates two days apart, if all goes well there should be an update sunday)