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03:22 PM

The streets were empty and eerily silent, as Elaine Baker walked down the center of the small town road where she could easily keep an eye on the surrounding establishments. A small gust of wind blew over her, sending bits of paper and trash sliding and rolling across her path. She reached up to brush the strands of her long dark chocolate brown hair from her face, as her hazle eyes scanned the area. The town looked awful, as most of them did; windows shattered, half boarded up doors, walls tagged in colorful paints, not a living soul in sight, and not a single dead one either. Rays of the hot midday sun that loomed high above the town fell upon her face, causing her to feel a little less than comfortable in her short leather jacket. The jacket was a little much for the warm weather, but it served as good protection from the ripping teeth of the infected.

Elaine was stepping around debris and broken down or totaled cars when she spotted a small white corolla parallel parked in front of a small post office down the street. The vehicle seemed to be in running condition, and despite the blood stains that were smeared about the paint and windows, it looked untouched.

Picking up her pace she made her way quickly down the street, constantly aware of her surroundings. She stepped around a metal overturned trashcan, hopped over a large truck tire, side stepped a small black suitcase... Things like that always made her wonder, but not for long. She'd seen a lot of crazy things since the beginning of the outbreak, and had learned not to dwell upon them too much.

When she reached the vehicle she was relieved to find it unlocked. Flinging the door open she searched the tan fabric interior, the center console and then the glove compartment for the keys, but to no avail. She sighed as she slumped into the drivers seat of the small car, go figure.

The black and brown sawed off shotgun that she carried lay in the passengers seat beside her, strap dangling to the floorboard. She didn't have more than one, maybe two shots left in the gun, which could prove to be an issue if she left herself out here in the open, unprotected for much longer.

"I'll have to try and hotwire it," she mumbled to herself. Talking to herself wasn't unusual. She had been alone for so long, she found it comforting to hear a voice, even if it was hers. Sometimes she talked just to remind herself she were still human. Sliding out of the car to kneel beside it, half in the floorboard, she ripped the plastic covering from under the steering wheel. She'd done this many times over the last few years and found it to be a no brainer. Elaine could hotwire anything, with her eyes closed.

In less than thirty seconds the car sputted before turning over and continuing to run with a low hum. Smiling to herself, Elaine stood and slid back into the drivers seat and closed the door, her smile quickly fading. She leaned forward resting her forehead on the steering wheel. "Why me?" The gas light was on, the tank was empty, and the chance that a gas station in the town had any gas left was one in a thousand.

She sat there for a moment with her forehead rested on the wheel when something caught her out of the corner of her eye. She raised up to jump nearly out of her skin, as a zombie was reaching for the window. Elaine's heart was racing as she put her hand to her chest, assessing the situation. He was slowly scraping at the window, smearing a mess of blood around as he moaned down at her. His shirt was bloodied and he had a clear bite on his forearm that looked puss covered and green. He was clearly a level one zombie, and her window was rolled up, doors... now... locked.

Adjusting her rearview mirror she saw a small team of zombies slowly making their way towards the vehicle. No problem, she thought, they're all slow moving, I'll just back out and let this heap take me a few safe blocks before it putts out. But suddenly in the small team of the infected came two quicker zombies, pushing through them as they ran towards the car. Elaines eyes widened as she threw the car in drive and peeled out of the space, making a quick left since the zombies were behind her and the main road ahead was blocked with a large pileup of wrecked vehicles.

Her foot was heavy on the gas as she swerved to miss debris, a van, an army vehicle, a stroller... The corolla took her suprisingly far, almost to the other end of the small town. This side of town appeared to be cleaner, without as many broken and boarded windows, or debris in the road and on sidewalks. There wasn't any tagging on the walls and telephone poles welcoming the apocalypse. Elaine shook her head thinking of the morons who would write such things. They were probably dead now anyway.

The small car lurched forward once, then the lights on the dashboard flickered off and the car slowly came to a stop in the middle of the road. Elaine dropped her head back onto the headrest. Great. She grabbed her shot gun and glanced around her surroundings, checked her mirrors and made sure it was clear before she pushed the driver side door open and stepped out. This town was clearly still inhabiting the infected and she didn't want to be out in the open come dark. To the right was a string of small businesses, boutiques, a cafe, an H&R Block, and to the left, a super store. Maybe there was still food, and hopefully water inside. The car had placed her right where she needed to be, her luck held strong.

Elaine walked across the street, stepped up the curb and made her way through the near empty parking lot to the double automatic doors of the store that were pushed open far enough for her to step easily through. The store was enormous, and suprisingly clean. No blood puddled in the floor or sprayed the walls, no zombies ran towards her, no windows broken or things scattered around the floors, it was untouched. It took her back to a time before the world was taken over by the parasite, toxoplasmosa gondii, and she smiled.

This was going to be the perfect opportunity to stock up on some gear, and eat. She took a left at the front of the store, her black leather boots buckled over her tight pants, hardly making a sound as she silently made her way towards the sporting goods section. As she approached the section she immediately spotted an army green camping pack. Ripping the tags off of it she made her way up and down the isles adding a lighter, a handful of light sticks, a flashlight, a compass, a map, a first aid kit, a handful of non-perishable energy and vitamin bars, a small pair of binoculars, rope, a swiss army knife, and a few other small things. Before heading towards the grocery section of the store she shoved a covered, six inch steel blade into the side of her boot and found a pair of fitted black leather fingerless gloves, pulling them on in satisfaction.

Elaine threw the pack lazily over one shoulder, knowing she'd be setting it down soon, and headed towards the other end of the supersized store to find some food and water. She was just past the middle of the store when she thought she heard a man's voice. No, she was just imagining things, it'd been months since she'd seen another normal human being, and the few she had come across had not been civil to say the least.

Unsure of what to believe she heard, she dropped the pack and pulled her shotgun over her head, holding it at her side pointed straight ahead as she slowly crept down the front of the store, isle by isle.