DYSTOPIA [hs] |Complete|

i - The Beginning of the END.

     "Run! Go, now!" The shouts and chaos of people around us rang through my ears, the whole city's in complete anarchy and being overpowered by our own kind... or what used to be our kind. Children's screams were heard as I held onto the only weapon I was able to get my hands on—a hatchet.

     Small but extremely lethal, the ultimate tool to saving my own life.

     "Man down, man down!" Derek shouted, causing my attention to turn toward where he ran off to. There were only four of us left out of nine. Carley and Derek had a grip on Steven, hauling him up as his right leg was abnormally twisted. His mouth hung open to which I assumed were cries of agony but were mute over the guns firing off all around us. "Cover us, Girl! We've gotta get out of this mess," Derek instructed me, handing me my pistol which he claimed ownership to. Out of eight only three rounds remained, making the hatchet my ultimate priority. Ammunition was vital and we were running low.

     Men and women ran amuck, some even abandoning their children to save their own souls. Everything was happening in a hurry, my mind couldn't process much at the moment, seeing as I was moving as fast as my little group was able to. An injured member of a small group with low ammunition and weapons wasn't an ideal situation, and we were just about running out of luck.

     "Jordyn, behind you!" Carley shouted. Immediately I turned, grabbing my hatchet from my shoulder sling and swinging my arm out to hit the creature in the head. No more was it a danger to us as its body slumped to the ground. The hatchet was jammed into its skull and proved difficult to remove. I stepped onto the walker's torso and lifted with all the strength I could muster, blood spilling and dripped from the blade as it unloosened and with one last pull I was able to free the weapon and continue running.

     The group hadn't stopped for me, and now with hundreds of people running as well as walkers they were nowhere in sight. They left me on my own, I couldn't see them anywhere.

     A sudden pull heaved my body down to the ground, a woman gasping heavily with bloodshot eyes held onto me. "Help me! Help me, please!" Her tears were blood and multiple gashes covered her skin. She was infected with the virus.

     Immediately after recognising the symptoms I pushed her away from me, telling her to run and doing so myself. Her cries were heard only seconds later, the fear and anticipation of looking back almost ate me alive but I kept my stare forward and began sprinting. My hair suddenly got caught in my face, noting that I had to trim it although that tiny issue was the least of my priorities. As soon as I was out of this city, the better.

     Blood and human organs scattered the floor, even bodies lay on top of cars. Suicide being a way of escaping this chaos, but little did they know that even after doing all that nothing would stop them from coming back unless it's by a clean shot straight through the head.

     .357 Magnum pistol with only three rounds, a hatchet, and a backpack with a lighter, audio recorder, and tapes are all the items I have on me. And right now all I had in my mind was escaping. There was only one thing I needed to do. Survive.

Fourteen months later ...

     "Day 427, it's getting colder. The wind seems to be picking up from the East so my only option would be to go West. Still no sign of Carley, Derek, or even Steven. I think I gave up on them the second day after escaping that Hell of a city. Derek was stupid enough to suggest taking that route, we lost five people there all in a matter of an hour. I've just being repeating myself these days, and I'm still wondering how I have kept my sanity for this long.

     "On the side note, it's now two days since I've eaten something. Those berries I found days ago did absolutely no good for my stomach, as good as it was to eat it was torture coming out. Definitely learned from that one. Yesterday I came across a .22 Repeater Rifle, it works a treat when it comes to killing the walkers but again I have to be wise with the amount of bullets I fire. And it packs a hell of a punch as well as noise, the last thing I want is to be stampeded by a herd. Looting has become difficult with the limited amount of supplies left around, and food has become nearly impossible to find."