Doomed - The Walking Dead

Chapter One

I've been walking for days. I'm so exhausted. I've hardly slept. I could hardly contain my excitement when I saw the sign. I'm so sick of this solitude. I'm near insanity. I keep saying my name, my birthday, and what state I'm in out loud to myself on a constant loop. Occasionally I get tired of hearing myself and stop.
I saw the sign for the place called Terminus three days ago. It's been three long days. The sign promised me a sanctuary and a community as long as I followed the train tracks. God, I can't get there fast enough.
I'm skipping along the railroad ties when I hear leaves rustle to my right. I immediately stop and pull an arrow from the quiver on my back, turning my body toward the source of the sound. I lower myself and position the arrow on my bow so that I'll be ready to pull back and shoot. I squint to look through the trees for signs of walkers.
I don't see a walker, but I see a small gray smudge skip from the roots of one tree to another. Rabbit. Thank god. I'm down to my last granola bar. I pull my arrow back and wait for the rabbit to show itself. I see its small head peak out from behind the tree and I release my arrow. The arrow is stuck in the ground and the rabbit's head is no longer grey but red.
I retrieve my arrow and my dinner and decide to stop for the day. It's starting to get dark anyway. I gather sticks from trees and build a very small fire. I stick the blade of my knife in between two sticks to sanitize it with the heat. I really need to find another knife so I can use one for walkers and one for food. When I finish skinning the rabbit with my knife, I cook it over the fire. I only eat a little less than half and save the rest in one of the ziplock bags I keep in my tan duffel bag.
     After about an hour, my pitiful fire dies down. It's almost completely dark out now except for the minuscule amount of moonlight. I take a sip from my canteen before I sprinkle a bit of the water onto the ashes of my fire. My eyes are starting to get heavy.
As I pull my sleeping bag out of my duffel, my copy of The Hunger Games falls out. This book came out about two years before the dead started walking. Katniss is the whole reason I'm alive. She taught me to sleep in the trees. She's the reason my weapon of choice is a bow and arrows.
I had this bow before the world made a mess of itself. My mom got it for me for my birthday the year before. She knew that The Hunger Games was my favorite book. The thought of me owning a weapon at 10 years old made Dad nervous at first, but he thought it would be smart to have one in case I should ever need it to survive. Needing it to survive is an understatement now.
     I hoist my duffel bag over my shoulder and begin to climb the nearest tree with the thickest branches. Reaching the safest height, I hang my duffel on a smaller branch and ready my sleeping bag. I position myself into the bag on a sturdy branch and tie the rope I found around myself and the branch, just like Katniss did.
I feel silly for being so thankful for a fictional character. At the same time, though, I would've probably been eaten in my sleep a long time ago if it wasn't for her. I've been by myself since this whole thing started. No one to change guard shifts with. I'm just glad no live humans have found me in a tree while I was sleeping. They're the real threats. They know how to climb trees. How to steal things. How to torture people for fun.
I should reach Terminus tomorrow. Oh, I'm so excited! I can't wait to have people to talk to. Maybe people to trust. Of coarse I'm going to keep my guard up for a while when I get there. Just until I'm absolutely sure that the place checks out. You can never be too cautious in this world.
My exhaustion eventually overpowers the excitement and I drift off to sleep. I dream of Terminus. All the people are kind and welcoming. Their food is so good. They have beds. Real beds! They're so warm and cozy. Even in sleep, all I can do is hope that all that becomes reality.