Shit, shit, shit this is the worst. Was all Eric could think of as he shivered behind a tree in some forest she found while escaping for his life. For him, the epidemic rushed into his city and quickly killed off most of the population while some managed to escape. Though he didnt know how he managed to escape. Though he was a B student in college, he lacked the proper street smarts for a situation like this. His long chocolate hair was now matted and tangled from running so much. In his tiny frame, it seemed impossible that Eric could have survived such an outbreak, but he did.

His pool-blue eyes scanned the floor in front of him, shakily holding a stick in hopes to defend himself. His tan face was stained with fearful tears as he huddled himself into a fetal position. Why, oh why was I spared?

The apocalypse supposedly started in other cities days ago, but only arrived at his city today when a mindless zombie of sorts came to his city. His college called for an immediate evacuation, which they all knew the drill so well. It was only when a math teacher was attacked did the students begin to panic and flee. Eric had almost come face-to-face with one zombie, but quickly ran from the area as fast as he could. He didnt even stop to get any supplies; he just ran. Ran until he was far away from those retched creatures. Ran until he felt just a little bit more safer in his slowly crumbling city.

Jacqueline or Jack for short had seen the epidemic coming. There were all sorts of signs that it would happen. Animals had disappeared and even all supernatural things seemed to have vanished from the surrounding towns. Jack, her dad and other hunters had seen it happen. However, no one dared to enter the cities with hungry zombies roaming, dragging and even running around. Jack however had different idea's. With her own double barrel shot gun, pistol and baseball bat she picked up from one of the high school baseball players (who had been infected, died within hours and revived within minutes after dying.)
Her short bleached hair was slicked back with wax, or rather had been slicked back, because it was a complete mess now after all the running and slaughter of the infected.

The numbers were overpowering and Jack's sneaking was no use now, they had her smell and the other human's. Swiftly running, pistol in one hand, baseball bat in the other, shotgun strapped to her back she ran, through the woods, to the west. Jack had managed to kill and shake off a couple of hunting zombies. With a grunt she jumped over a log and immediately huddled against it, clutching her shotgun to her chest now. She needed a breather and this was it. She glanced to her right quickly only to see a guy of her age, huddled in a fetal position.
She whistled softly to get his attention, but when he didn't seem to move, she whistled again. "Dude...?!" she hissed. Still nothing, she then picked up a small twig and carefully tossed it at the male's head.

Eric jumped when he felt something hit his head. He looked up and around to find his eyes rest on an intimidating woman with a shot gun. He sprung to his feet and placed his hands out in front of him, as if that would shield him from the gun. "Oh please, don't hurt me!" He cried, "I have nothing on me. No food, weapons, nothing." He lowered himself until he was kneeling, almost submissive. He began to shake and did not even want to make eye contact with the woman. If it weren't for her voice, Eric would have mistaked the woman for a man, being that she had short hair and the fact that she held a rifle. Compared to him, he looked like the girl.

He fell down to the floor where his rear end hit the ground, causing him to grunt softly. He tried to make himself calm by tightening his muscles on his arms but it didnt hide his scared expression. "I'll do anything, just don't hurt me. You can take my clothes if you want I probably won't be living much longer." His arms began to hurt after being tense so he unclenched, allowing his body to shake and shiver from undeniable fear.

She was startled by the guy suddenly jumping up and shrieking at her. As he went down on the ground, the blonde could only frown, shake her head and move one hand from her gun into the air in confusion. 'The hell you doin' dumbass? ' she thought as she watched him beg for his sorry life. Jack simply, shook her head as she looked at him, however her mocking looks turned into a serious stare within a blink of an eye.. "Shut up!" she spat before she held out her hand to him, showing no hostility. "Shut it!" Suddenly she moved over to him , still in a crouching position, the gun pointing at him, but not quite. Then slowly put down the shotgun, she pulled out her pistol and aimed, first at Eric but then a bit more to his right. Only to fire it as if it was nothing. The noise of the gunshot was followed by a grunt and the sounds of liquid and other organic material splatting on foliage and trees.
She quickly stood and threw a quick glance over her surroundings. There was no other noise, than Eric's panicky breaths. "Zombie." she claimed before she put away her pistol, picked up her gun and walked with big steps over to Eric, only to grab the collar of his shirt and tugging him onto his feet. "We gotta move."

Eric nearly froze when the woman went to shift around to put a smaller gun in her hands. His breath caught in his throat when he heard the gun fire. Out of sheer luck it seemed, he survived. At the mention of 'zombie', Eric understood why the woman fired. Before he could respond, he was hoisted up by his collar and forced to run. It's not like he could complain; it was an outbreak after all. He ran after the woman, who was much quicker and more agile and he was. Every so often he would trip on something but quickly got up and continued to run after the woman.

"Wh-where are we going?!" Eric called after the woman, trying his best to keep up with her. He started to feel cramps on his side, but even so he continued to move quickly with the woman. Eventually she stopped, which made him skid and stop as well. His hands went to his knees as he began breathing heavily after their sprint away from the zombie. He looked up and around to check his surroundings. "Are-Are we safe here?"

She wouldn't comment on him running so slowly, she wouldn't turn and actually talk. Once they stopped, she looked around and wiped her hands at her plaid button shirt. "We are going to find a place where we can stay the night." she answered briefly. "There is a small house just over that hill there, but I wanted to give you a bit of a breather." Jack looked at him before she simply smiled. "We'll be reasonably safe. Given if we're not killed by other survivors who want safety and don't trust others.' slowly she moved up the hill and glanced down at the small wooden lodge. "Now, if there are others, let me do the talking newbie. There is a high possibility that they are a bit hostile. I know how to deal with it. Also, hold this for me, you know how to use it right?" she said as she held out her pistol with the handle to Eric.
"The name's Jack by the way, you are?"
Jack wasn't a person of much words when she was out in the open. She didn't want to give away her location, especially with these noise sensitive things around them. The green eyed girl hated zombie like things with a burning passion, and she wanted to burn the infection out of every single one of them personally. But alas, she knew she couldn't.
Her jeans were ripped at her knees and at the back of the legs, showing that she had worn them a lot of times or at least the longest. Her button shirt was tucked into her high waisted jeans, showing that she didn't have much of a bosom to show. No jewelry around her neck, only a sturdy leather band with a watch decorated her left wrist and two small buds in her ears, indicating that they were pierced, like many girls had. Her boyish hair more of a mess than it was before.

Eric fumbled with the weapon Jack gave him, smiling sheepishly at the question she gave him about using one. It couldn't be any more different than a squirt gun, right? He found the trigger and carefully wiped his hand around the handle of the gun. He more than hoped he wouldn't have to use it.

"Oh, uh, I'm Eric." The boy responded shyly, looking down at his own shoes. He tried his best not to say much, in case he did say something wrong which would anger Jack and have her leave him out to die. Which also made Eric think. Why did she save him in the first place. In a situation like this, why would anyone try to pair up with people, let alone him? When Jack settled off again, Eric looked up and began following after her. Once he made his way up the hill, he saw the little lodge the girl was talking about. It looked reasonably safe, sturdy and almost abandoned. Although Jack obviously knew more than him so he couldn't be sure.

They reached said lodge in a couple of minutes. Jack signaled for Eric to be quiet so he obeyed. He almost dropped the gun but quickly put it back in his hand pointing at the ground. The girl slowly went up to the lodge and checked for any intruders. As she guessed, there was a group of survivors in the lodge. They began conversing, but Eric was a bit too far away to hear. A man from the group glared at him, which made Eric glance at the ground nervously. I really really don't like this. He thought to himself as he almost dropped the gun again due to the sweat in his hands.

"Hi Eric, nice to meet you." she said before she just looked at him. He was a bit of a quiet one, wasn't he? It didn't matter to her. the Quieter they were the better.
As they got to the lodge, she had signed the boy to trail behind a bit. She got into a discussion with the only man in the group. Apparently, it was a family consisting of a mother, grandmother and two small infants. Jack had guessed that the man was the father of the kids, and was correct. "Please sir, we will leave first thing in the morning, we can help to barricade the doors and I know how to fire my guns." she tried.
"John, just let them in." The oldest woman said. "We cannot leave them out in the open for those... Things to grab them. You wouldn't want Mary and Billy to be left outside if they were standing at someone else's door." she continued. "We got to help the other survivors who show no hostility towards us. That and they're just kids, John."
The slightly overweight bearded man had frowned deeply. "Alright, but we only share our water, not the food." He had grumbled as he eventually stepped aside, allowing the two younger folks to enter the lodge.

Jack had smiled and thanked him by simply bowing her head deeply and telling him that she was grateful. Slowly she turned to Eric and waved at him to come on over. "We can stay, but we have to leave first thing in the morning." With that she walked into the lodge and put down her backpack in the corner at her right hand, claiming that small space for her and Eric by doing so.
Once the door was closed, Jack did as she had offered; barricading the doors and windows. She was working quickly, but with one board she had a bit of an argument. "Eric, come and help me, please.' she said, turning her head to the boy she had picked up.

Eric looked up when Jack approached him. His eyes glistened with a sliver of happiness when she told him they could stay at the lodge. Good thing, too; he didn't know how they would possibly be able to survive out in the forest with little to nothing to last them a few days. He followed her into the lodge, pointing the gun at the ground away from them so that he wouldn't accidentally kill them. Once inside, they settled down their things and Eric put down the gun beside the stuff, letting out a sigh of relief. Jack went to, what he thought was, barricading the lodge for the family while he himself stretched out his body and took some time to relax.

Eric nearly flinched at the sound of his name. He looked at the direction from which the voice came from and stared wide-eyed. He didn't know how she could possibly expect him to do anything. He barely had any muscles, save for the essential ones. Nevertheless they were most certainly not for lifting heavy objects. Despite all of that, he went up to help Jack anyway; he most certainly didn't want to get on her bad side.

"Uh, alright." He muttered and took the other side of the plank Jack was holding. Eric grunted and groaned, but with enough force he was able to lift his side of the plank. Jack directed him where he was needed and he moved with a little struggle. Halfway to where the plank was needed, Eric felt a sharp pain in one of his fingers. He let out a sharp cry and let go of his side of the plank. His side fell heavy to the floor right on his feet, causing him to cry out once more. He bit his lip so that he wouldn't let out anymore painful cries as the man from the other group rushed to lift the plank off of him. Even with the weight off, his finger and feet still pulsed with pain. Eric examined his finger to find that a small splinter was in his middle finger. He groaned and tried his best to poke and pick it out. One woman from the other group went to stop him and went in search of a pair of tweezers and a bandaid. While that was going on, he looked back at Jack with a red-tinged face. Not only was it embarrassing for him to be such a wimp, it was embarrassing showing it in front of a woman. Jack only huffed and began pulling the plank by herself to where she needed it.

The barricading of the doors and windows was done quickly. The family seemed to be pleased with the extra smart and strong hands the two new-comers provided. Well, what Jack provided, she worked quickly and somehow managed to answer all the silly questions the two kids threw at her, while staying polite and saying: "Sorry." or "Just one sec." whenever she had to put a nail between her teeth.

Once Eric came around to help her a hand, she saw how he struggled. Not much of a brawler, but perhaps a brainer. Jack thought to her self as she was ready to nail her side to the window frame. Until Eric caught a splinter in his hand. Jack looked at his comical way of crying out in pain over the small splinter. Jack however had to let the plank drop as well, because the weight of the entire thing was too much for her to handle. She dropped it and caught the side with her foot, holding it off the ground before gently putting it down. She had to bite her tongue though, to keep from laughing so hard at the guy. "You're going to need better boots." she pointed out before she managed to lift the plank herself and this time nailing it shut too.

Once everything was settled, Jack moved to her bag and opened it, only to pull out a plastic container and opening it, taking out brown bread with cheese and ham. She took out another sandwich and held it out to Eric. "Here, you must be hungry." she said as she offered him the food. Once it was taken she settled down against the wall and began to eat. "So, tell me, Eric. What do you think about this all?" she asked in a quieter more laid back voice. "I mean the zombies and other nasty critters that suddenly roam the earth. It seems so weird that they are here and not one by one, but just all at once. I mean, government doesn't do experiments near these small towns, and yet, here they are, all the infected all at once." she babbled about between bites of her sandwich.

Suddenly her attention was drawn from the conversation because one of the kids was crying. The parents of course tried to calm the four year old, but with no success. Jack couldn't help it and stood only to move over. Knowing kids in these situations she would keep on crying and giving away their location.
"Hey." she started softly as she gently stroked the girl's red hair. "What you crying, sweetie?"
The little girl hiccuped and shook her head while rubbing her eyes. "I'm betting you're tired, no?" Jack continued and to that she got a firm nod of the girl and a sudden: "I miss Mr. Ducky!" Jack looked up at the father and shrugged.
"'tis her stuffed animal. We couldn't grab it for her when we had to get away from those things. They overrun my truck and we couldn't have it with us. We tried to explain it to her, but you know...Kids." he said in a hushed voice.
Jack nodded simply. "I think I can help a bit." she smiled while pointing at the torn and useless striped curtains. "Just give me some time." she smiled before getting said curtains and taking it back with her to her bag, only to plop down again and grabbing a small sewing kit.
She looked back at Eric then again. "Sorry about that, continue."

Eric took the sandwich from Jack warily. It felt strange having someone who intimidated him be so genuine to him. It wasn't like he didn't like it; it was just odd. "Thanks." He smiled and took a few nibbles at the food. He looked up again when she asked him his opinion on the situation. "Oh," He started and took another bite of the sandwich, "Well, everything happened so quickly, I guess. I was supposed to have class today, in college. Then we had a fire drill and the principle said that it wasn't a drill, which was odd to me because it's not that weird to have a fire drill that wasn't-" He was cut off when Jack excused herself to do something. She stood up and started walking towards a crying girl. Eric tilted his head as he watched what was happening.

Apparently the little girl wasn't able to get her prized stuffed animal because her family was trying to get away from the zombies. It was understandable to an adult, but of course it wasn't to the child. Eric felt sorry for her and he wished there was something he could do. Jack began to console and comfort the child, then went somewhere to get something. Eric furrowed his eyebrows at what was going on, until he saw that she retrieved a sewing kit. She went back to sit with him, asking him to continue his response to her question. Women always seem prepared for everything, don't they?

"Oh, uh, well," Eric started again, "Like I said, I was in class and it was a fire drill that wasn't a drill. I didn't think none of it until I heard my math teacher groan and scream. Some...something just...jumped on top and grabbed him. It just kept tearing and eating at his skin, mercilessly. It wasn't normal, and that made everyone scream and panic. The teachers really didnt make an effort to calm us, cause they were panicking as well. I ran away as fast as I could from my school and into the woods. I didn't really think to get any supplies. I guess it's a miracle you were there." Eric curled his lips into a smile, then his it by taking a bite of his sandwich. "In answer to the controversy about it, I honestly don't know. I've always been anti-government, but never really ever voice my opinion about it. It could be planned, maybe not. All I know is that there's something out there that caused it, and we're here to survive." Eric shrugged and averted his gaze, realizing that was the most he had said during their whole time meeting. He looked up once more, "What about you? What do you think?"

Jack had listened to him, being genuinely interested in what he had to say in the matter. They all were in the same boat, right? So why not share thoughts etcetera etcetera.
She did feel guilty of leaving him so suddenly, but she couldn't have the little girl crying, she would get the attention of the Others now.

Once she had settled down and set to work on making the kid a new doll to play with, she had her ears open to her new companion.
She made small sounds of acknowledging his story, while she kept her eyes on the work in her hands. To her it seemed like a normal day. But then again. She was raised being warrior and killing almost everything and everyone.
When she was asked for her opinion she looked up and seemed a bit confused at first. Jack never was asked for her opinion on matters.
"Well.." she began softly as she moved her eyes back to her little craft and poked a few holes through the fabric she was working on, pulling thread through it.
"It's a virus or other infection, that much is clear. I don't know how it's spread though. The first generation, to call the first of these monsters, don't really seem to have abnormalities. No wounds, no weirdness, except for their behaviour. Now I know that there are fungi that can cause zombie-like behavior that we've seen. But I don't know what caused it. All I know is that your town wasn't the first nor the last to be plagued by this." She said before looking up again.
"I'm not going to find out though. I just want to make it to my family's safe house that isn't haunted by these things. Meet up with dad and then see what our plan will be." she said as she started cutting another piece of fabric.
"So, our next step is to get some more supplies. I'll run out within two days with the two of us living off of it. And we need transportation that is efficient and silent. Noise lures these things in." she said seeming a bit more human rather than a killing machine.
Jack looked up and smiled at Eric. "If you need anything, feel free to search through my bag. Just leave the side component alone. Nothing of use in there for you, unless you need cotton on a string." she chuckled.

"Oh...uh, thank you." Eric smiled shyly and finished the rest of his sandwich. He had to admit, after being with Jack for a few hours, she wasn't as menacing as she made herself out to be. She really was a gentle soul, but hostile upon first impression. For the time being, he didn't need anything from Jack's bag; for now, everything was fine for him. He leaned back, supported by his hands and contently watched the girl work. Despite the circumstances, everything seemed fine. Almost nice in a way. He snapped out of his dazing off when someone rapped at the door. Every head in the cabin turned their head towards the door. The family all looked at each other and then at Jack and Eric. Simultaneously, they shrugged their shoulders. A low groan growled from the door, along with more impatient rapping. "Zombies." Eric muttered fearfully. He began to back himself away, trying his best to move somewhere with some sort of weapon he could use should the circumstance arise.

"Everyone, get back!" The man said to his family, "The girl barred the doors and windows. We should be okay..." Despite his best efforts, even the father of the family had fearful tones in his voice. More groans and impatient rapping.

"H-how many do you think are there?" Eric asked Jack softly. As if the zombie heard him, another groan came from the outside; this time, it was near one of the windows. Eric backed away once more, going too far and hitting his head on the wall behind him. Three voices groaned from the outside excitedly and started scratching their way to where they heard Eric hit his head. Eric stood up and backed away into the middle, this time looking where he was going. His hands began to shake as he looked at Jack for the answers and commands of what to do.

Jack had just continued sewing on her little project when the noise came from outside. She slowly rose to her feet and slid over the floorboards, trying her best not to make any sound. She could see a group of maybe, 5 or 6 zombies wander about the cabin. Quiet as a mouse she slid back again and turned. "I saw 6 of them out front, could be more..." she whispered.

Taking in information as much as she could, Jack looked around, biting her lip before bringing her hands up to her head, thinking of a plan. She looked at the family that were huddled together in the center of the wooden house before she nodded. "Let's stay in the center and let's stay as quiet as possible. Maybe they're just passing by and our talking attracted them." she thought aloud in a whisper. At that point one of the zombies broke a window and it's fingers came through the cracks in the wood. Jack immediately picked up the poker for the fireplace and hit the zombies hand as hard as it could.
It shrieked and immediately took back it's fingers only to make a sound that was similar to a pain cry. Slowly the loud wailing sound seemed to pan away from the house until it couldn't be heard any longer.
Jack frowned and shook her head. "That was not supposed to happen..." she said before she stepped back and rubbed the back of her neck. "It feels pain. Meaning that this isn't a regular brainless zombie. It was not supposed to feel that." she turned to Eric.
"Eric, are you sure you didn't see or hear anything out of the ordinary for the past few days in town?" She then turned to the family, with a questioning look, asking them the same thing.

The eldest woman thought deeply. "Well... My neighbor did say that she felt feverish, as if she was getting on with the flu or something. So she went to the doctors to get a shot. But after that I didn't see or hear from her." she explained briefly in a hushed voice.

Eric shook so much that he was afraid his teeth fall off from chattering so much. He nodded his head at the question Jack gave him. He had only known about this...this outbreak...not moments ago. He glanced at the woman who recalled seeing her neighbor fall ill. So...these...zombies...are really the government's work? Eric thought to himself and frowned. He was always anti-government, yes, but in a way he didn't want it to be true. He was one of those people who truly wanted everything to be alright. No bloodshed, no conflict.

The groans of the zombies dissipated and everyone collectively let out a breath of relief. Even Eric knew they all had to move out. When the perfect time was, was another question. He looked up at Jack, with eyes as big as a doe's. "We...we have to move out." He said softly, "We can't stay here with these...things around, right?" He rubbed the back of his neck nervously. In the back of his head, he knew that this girl would eventually leave him because of how incompetent in this situation he is. He wouldn't blame her, he would leave himself too if he could. In truth, he hated feeling useless. He would eventually have to learn how to dome thing, if Jack were to leave him or not.

"Can...can you teach me...h-how to use a knife?" His cheeks nearly flared a deep red. It was embarrassing to assert his weakness, especially to a female. Yet, it had to be done.

Jack had listened carefully and took out a small note book, jotting down some notes and encircled it before stuffing it away again in her backpack. "Right, this is information that could help us." she smiled and looked around the group of survivors. Everyone looked terrified and exhausted. Jack herself wasn't all that tired, but still, they needed rest. As the groans, moans and other inhuman noises ebbed away, Jack sat herself down again near her backpack before she looked at Eric. "We're not moving now. If we move now, in the dusk, we'll be easy targets. We cannot see in the dark and lights will draw them to us. We need to wait for dawn before we can move our asses out." she stated matter of factly. "And seeing how everyone is slouched, I'm betting we can use a night's sleep." with this she looked up at the father of the family. "I'll take the graveyard shift to five A.M. if you'd be so kind to take the other three, I'd be delighted." she said.
The older man nodding and setting himself on one of the couches, his children at his side at once. "Welp, better get some shut eye then." he sort of ordered every one.

Jack nodded, bid everyone good night, before continuing her little project. It wasn't before long before Eric opened his mouth. "All you really need to know, is to stick 'em with the pointy end." she chuckled softly before getting out her knife and held it in her hand. "Also a firm grip on it wouldn't hurt. Don't make big gestures when wanting to slash or stab. You'll be vulnerable. Try to keep your arms close to your body, loose limbs will get hurt more easily. Also, don't stab directly forward, unless you're a hundred percent sure you're going to hit your enemy." slowly she stood and showed him small gestures that would do damage. "Don't try to kill people, injure them or stun and run." she said, letting him know she wasn't a strange murdering machine with a knife. She flipped the knife in her hand and held it so that the blade ran along the outside of her lower arm. "Holding it like this, is difficult, but may be easy to punch and stab." demonstrating her little surprise attack, by punching the air, short and then moved her hand back in the same manner, showing that she would've punched or slashed and then stabbed something in the neck. Her left arm close to her body, her hand up by her chest. "If you're scared that you'll let your arm flow in the air, don't be afraid to use your clothes as a guideline. Grip that shirt of yours, you won't have your arm far away from you like so." She stated demonstrating the same movement, but this time her hand gripped a fistful of shirt, showing that only her elbow was flaring out a bit. She then sat back down again and sheathed the blade before handing it to Eric. "But stick 'em with the pointy end is the most useful."