Chapter 2

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~picture of Scott, Lauren, and Kyle.~

I woke up the next morning and confused and wondering why I was in an RV for a moment until I remembered that I had decided to spend the night in there. I got up from the seat, slung my backpack over my shoulder, and headed out of the RV.
            I began walking down the street, but after a few blocks, I heard snarling and multiple footsteps coming towards me from the forest on my right. I glanced to my right and saw a small herd of dead ones. There were about five of them.
            I unsheathed my Ka-Bar knife and easily took each of them as they came to me. I put my knife back in its sheath and continued on my way down the street for about a mile until the forest ended and a field started. I came upon a red SUV and unsheathed my knife again. I approached the car, but a few feet away from the car, I came upon a dead woman.
            It had long greasy brown hair, gray skin, milky, disgusting eyes. It wore a dirty, bloody blouse that was ripped in places to reveal the ribs, and that was it. There was only the top half of it. Everything from its lower abdomen and down seemed to have been ripped apart from the rest of the body. All that was in its place were bloody, decaying intestines and a blood-stained spine. It reached for me from the ground in vain. I looked down at it before piercing its skull with my knife. I knew that dead ones like this were dangerous for survivors who don't look where they step.
            I stepped over it and proceeded towards the car with another dead one strapped in the driver's seat. I opened the door and quickly killed it before searching the red car. I found a kukri with it's shearth and a trench knife still in its sheath attached to the belt on the dead one in the car. I came over to the back of the car and opened the trunk. Unfortunately, I found nothing that would help me there; however, I did find what appeared to be rotten legs stuck under the back left wheels of the SUV.
            "Well, I found your bottom half," I muttered to the woman.
            I attached the kukri's sheath to my belt and put the trench knife in one of the pockets in my backpack. I returned to the road and began walking again.
            I didn't mind being alone. In fact, I considered being alone to be better than being in a group. The people in a group would just become some more things to kill in the end.

Flashback
I woke up after what seemed like a few hours, but it only turned out to be less since my parents and the other adults in the group were still outside talking and laughing. They were still talking about what they did for a living.
            I lied in bed wide awake and glanced over at Kyle who was also awake. I sat up and got out of bed.
            "Hayley, what are you doing?" Kyle asked.
            "Something doesn't feel right," I said.
            A woman outside asked, "What about you, Scott?"
            I froze and listened. I heard my father's deep voice answer, "I was a Lieutenant in the Marines before all this began."
            "And you, Lauren?"
            My mother's quiet, calm voice replied, "I was an orthopedist."
            "Ah! How convenient in this world!" a woman beamed. 
            "Have you taught your children to kill the corpses and deal with injuries?" another man asked.
            "We have," my father confirmed.
Flashback end

            It was true. At a young age, my father had taught me how to shoot a firearm, use multiple melee weapons, and different skills, such as adapting to my surroundings. My mother had taught me how to take care of injuries. My brother, however, didn't receive everything that I have learned yet.
            When the world began to fall apart, my father made sure to give me two guns, ammo, and a Ka-Bar knife to help me survive. I quickly learned how to fight the dead ones and scavenge as my family joined a group to survive with. I felt prepared for this world. At first, I didn't realize how challenging and dangerous living and surviving in the beginning of the end was going to be, and underestimating it was a big mistake.

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