We're Still Alive(Book1)BEING REWRITTEN

Three

 Boston, Mass.

    Cora was laying flat on the train,  still gasping from the climb up. When she first started, she thought it would be easy, but it was a lot harder than it looked. Getting on top of the train wasn't the only struggle, though; she also had to avoid being seen. But as time passed it got easier.
      She had her medium-length black hair tied into a ponytail so it would be out of the way. She knew to be careful when train surfing, as she and her group called it. One wrong move could get them caught or even killed.
      She had started train surfing two years before when she was 13. She surfed with her friends Jay, Cassidy, and Mica, who was the closest thing they had to a leader.
      She held onto the roof of the train as they started to move. Though she couldn't see, she knew that the two behind her and the one in front were doing the same. They were just outside of Boston and hoping to ride the train back into the city. Cora flattened herself on her stomach and set her palms flat against the roof of the train. They were underground so there wasn't as much wind as there would be on a normal train, but that didn't mean that they didn't have to be cautious. It wasn't long before they were moving at full speed. Cora lifted her head slightly, letting the wind run through her hair. She could almost feel the roof of the tunnel above her.
      It was barely 20 minutes later when the train started to slow down. As soon as it did, the four of them grabbed the edge of the train and hung over the side facing the wall. When the doors opened and people started to walk out, the group dropped to the ground and walked around the front of the train to join them. They climbed the stairs out of the subway tunnels and walked down
 the street.
      "Tonight went pretty good." Jay said beside Cora.
      "Yeah, no trouble or anything," Cassidy added.
      Her boyfriend, Mica, replied, "We've definitely had worse days." Cora just nodded quietly. She looked up past the street lights at the clear sky filled with stars.
      She was brought back to attention by Cassidy as they came to her apartment building. "I'll see you guys tomorrow."
      "Yeah, we'll see you tomorrow." Mica added, following her in. Cora and Jay exchanged looks and smiled. After that they continued down the street. Once they reached Jay's house the two of them said goodbye. Cora lived barely a block away, but she still hated walking in the dark alone. It was only a few minutes before she had made it to her apartment building.
      Her parents had divorced a few years before, and Cora had stayed with her mom, although she stayed at her dad's on weekends. Her mom usually worked late, so Cora wasn't surprised to see that her car was gone. She was about to walk inside when she noticed movement out of the corner of her eye. Looking over, she saw the silhouette of a person walking down the sidewalk. No, not walking, she noticed, but limping. She could also hear the person wheezing, as if they couldn't breathe. She took her hand away from the doorknob and walked slowly over to the person. It was an girl, probably about the same age as her, but Cora couldn't tell much else by the way she was hunched over.
      "Hey, are you okay?" She asked, setting her hand on the girl's shoulder. As she did, the girl's whole body seemed to seize up. Then she spun around and lunged forward with surprising strength and speed. Cora jumped back, barely avoiding the girl's lashing hands. That was when she saw the light glinting off  the girl's eyes, which were pale and clouded, with barely any color left to them. She was bleeding heavily from her neck. She lunged forward again, her mouth gaping open. Cora ran inside and slammed the door before running up to her apartment on the second floor. She ran inside and locked the door behind her, then leaned against it, gasping for  breath. She heard muffled thumps coming from the bottom floor where  the girl was trying to get inside, followed by the sound of splintering wood. She pushed a chair under the doorknob and ran to her phone. She started to dial, but stopped when the screen went black and the words, "low battery" appeared. With a frustrated sigh she threw the phone down and looked around. Just then  she heard a loud  crack from the bottom floor where the girl had broken through, and then ragged breathing and slow footsteps.  Cora didn't have to look to know that the girl was inside now, wandering the hallway. It was dark in her apartment, but she didn't dare to turn on the lights in fear of attracting attention. The slow footsteps were going up a set of stairs, stumbling every few steps. She held her breath and waited for what felt like hours until the girl had passed her door and continued down the hall. She let out a deep sigh, then ran into her mom's room. It was far enough from the front door that it felt safe to turn on the lights. She spent a few seconds digging around under the bed, then crawled out with a 9mm pistol in her hand. Her mom had always kept it there in case of an emergency. Cora had never shot it herself, but she knew the basics to shooting. She didn't care that she might be acting overly cautious, she could tell that girl was dangerous. Something about her was seriously wrong.
      Next she grabbed the box of bullets that had been under the bed by the gun and quickly loaded it. She was distracted by the sound of a gunshot echoing through the city. Something was definitely wrong. Suppressing a shiver, she walked back into her living room, gun in hand, and watched the door. She didn't entirely know what she was watching for. Maybe it was her mom, who would be home soon, or maybe it was the sick girl wandering around the building. Maybe one of her friends might show up. Besides Jay, Cass, and Mica, she didn't have many other friends, at least none that she talked to outside of school. 

        No one showed up, though. The night was quiet except for the occasional gunshot, which grew more common as time dragged on.

      She didn't remember what time she fell asleep. When she woke up, there was bright sunlight shining through a window and onto the couch that she was sleeping on. Cora sat up, blinking the sleep from her eyes. Looking up at the clock, she saw that it was almost noon. The door was still closed and locked, the chair still stuck under the doorknob. She yawned and stood up, walking over to the window. She half-expected everything to be normal, like every other day, but when she looked out, she wished she hadn't. The street was littered with cars, some of them turned over, some parked  awkwardly in the middle of the street, and others that looked like they had just been abandoned, while a couple tried to navigate through the wreckage. A few of them looked like they still had people inside, but they clawed and bit at the windows instead of actually getting out. There were people wandering around the street, but something didn't seem right about them. Some stumbled around the street while others seemed to move in quick, small strides and they looked almost like they were sniffing the air. Like animals. The slower ones didn't seem at all aware of their surroundings. She kept looking, then gasped when she saw one of them look up at her. It wasn't just a random person, but her mother, or at least what was left of her. She was covered in blood from head to toe and had a distant look on her face. Cora pulled the blinds down and backed away from the window. Her grip on the pistol tightened. She almost jumped out of her skin when she heard a pounding at the door.
      She lifted the gun and called out shakily, "Who's there?"
      She heard Jay's slightly muffled voice yell, "It's me, let me in!"  She relaxed, dropping the gun to her side, and quickly opened the door, pushing the chair to the side. Jay ran in and slammed the door behind him. Cora noticed the crowbar in his hand as he did. The end of it was dripping with blood. She helped him lock the door and push the chair back, then sat back down on the couch.
      "Are you okay?" He asked, looking her over quickly.
      She nodded, "I'm fine. What about Cassidy and Mica? Have you heard  from them?"
      "They're fine," he replied, "I called them earlier. I also tried your number, but it wouldn't work."
      "My phone died."
      He nodded, then looked at her gun. "Where'd that come from?"
      She shrugged. "We've always had it, in case of emergency. My mom..." she stopped suddenly and looked down, trying to force the tears back. She felt an arm wrap around her shoulder.
      "I saw her." Jay said quietly, pulling her close.
      "What about your parents?" She managed to ask.
      "I don't know. They never came home." The two sat in silence for almost half an hour until Jay's cell phone rang. Cora looked at him expectantly as he looked at the screen then back at her.
      "It's them." He said quietly before answering and setting it to speaker phone.
      They heard Mica's voice first. "Jay! Did you make it?"
      "Yeah, we're okay." He replied.
      "We need to meet up." Mica said.
      "How?" Jay asked, "I barely made it here without getting eaten."
      Cora looked at him in surprise. "Eaten?"
      Ignoring her, Mica continued, "Try to get to Cassidy's apartment; there's other survivors in here, and we have some weapons for protection. Also, try to bring as much food and water as you can."
      Jay nodded, "We'll be there in a while."
      He looked over at Cora, who jumped up almost immediately. "I've got some bags, we can use those to carry what we need." The two got to work, stuffing water bottles and as much food as they could into two backpacks, along with an extra one for coats and blankets. It only took them about 20 minutes to finish.  Once they were done, they headed for the door.
      "You ready?" Jay asked.
      "No," she replied, "but we have to go sometime." Jay nodded and opened the door.