ch.1

"hello?"

"beep,, beep,, beep..."

my eyes fluttered open as i glanced around the room, wondering where i was. i looked up, noticing the beeping that had just woken me up came from a holter monitor.

i sat up slowly still trying to figure out my surroundings. wincing in pain from my shoulder, soon noticing the dried blood on my scrubs.

i pulled myself up off the cold floor, seeing a puddle of blood that must of came from my wound. glancing around the room, i figured out i was in the hospital that i had been completing my residency at.

i walked through the doors of what seemed like an abandoned hospital. supplies and equipment thrown around everywhere.

all the rooms were a complete mess and had no patients. after awhile of wondering around, i came to a realization no one was here anymore.

the exit sign that used to light up a bright red, was no longer lit. i walked out the back entrance of the hospital to see abandoned cars and junk everywhere.

"what the hell happened here?" i whispered to myself in shock of what my eyes were seeing. i started walking to the main road when i realized a movement that made me jump.

the movement was a guy, who looked to be around mid thirties. he was dressed in a hospital gown with shorts. the hospital gown was fully opened revealing a dressing on his abdomen.

i must've completely blacked out after seeing him because all i remember was waking up in the middle of the road where i once saw the man. i picked myself up again and started running to where i had seen him.

but when i got there, he was gone.  my eyes started to search the place, trying to find him.  my body froze, hearing a growling noise coming from behind me.

it wasn't an animal to my surprise, but a human. the women looked sick, her skin tone was close to a light grey, with dirt all over her body.

"hello? ma'am are you okay?" i questioned, but got no response. the only thing that escaped her mouth was more growling and slurred words as she came closer.

i soon realized that she wasn't what i was, the living.

she reached out her arms in an attempt to grab me, but i bolted the other direction before she got the chance.

i didn't look back. i just kept running, not knowing what was going on. not knowing where i was going.

i ran around the hospital building, trying to get away and shake the thoughts about what i just witnessed. the dead. to only run into a huge herd of them. men, women, and kids.

my body started to shake as they all began to close in on me. "help! someone please help me!" i exclaimed, not knowing what they were and what they would do.

they weren't living, they were dead. the walking dead.

   i tried to back up, stuffing my hands in my pockets, trying to find some kind of weapon. i groaned, feeling nothing of the sorts.

   i heard a loud snap from underneath me, causing me to fall back on the ground. "shit" i mumbled, realizing i tripped over a branch.

a loud boom, in which i assumed was a gunshot, went off right before they got to me. they were no longer coming for me but heading the other direction towards the sound.

i scooted back quickly, getting away from where they were only to run straight into what i thought was one of them.

i swiftly turned around, jumping to my feet to realize it wasnt the dead, but the guy i seen from earlier. only he was no longer wearing a gown but a police officer uniform.

  i backed up unsure of who he was and what his intentions were

  he reached out his hand for me to shake, "Rick Grimes" he greeted, my eyes watched as his lips tugged into a grin.____________

   this guy really thought i was gonna shake his hand, after everything i just witnessed.

    "nice to meet you too." the man scoffed sarcastically, causing me to look him up and down. still not processing what was happening.

   "did you get bit? your shoulder looks pretty bad" he asked, pointing to my bloody shoulder that i had completely forgot about.

my eyes  looked down at it, my mind wondering what happened. it looked like a bullet wound but i wasn't quite sure. i couldn't get a good look at it from my point of view.

    "no, i don't think..."i mumbled, still not sure if i should trust the man.

   "you look just as confused as i was a couple days ago. do you know what happened?"he questioned, looking at me curiously with his hands on his hips.

   i hadn't known what was going on, but i knew something was definitely wrong. the dead was living and it looked like i was their next meal. i shook my head at him and his eyes left mine as he started to talk again.

    "walkers that's what they're called, they live off of human flesh and blood." he started, looking at the ground, "it"ll be harder to survive at night, and i dont think we have much time before then."

   my eyes widened as the words left his mouth. "what do you mean they live off of us! these things only happen in books. i'm dreaming, this isn't real." i stopped myself, raising my hand to my mouth. realizing too late that i was talking aloud and not to myself.

   he laughed and my eyes flicked up to his, giving him an annoyed look. did he think i was amusing? he just shook his head at me before continuing.

   "we're gonna be their next meal if we don't get out of here soon." he stated, causing me to look at him. i wondered if i should believe him, what do i have to lose now?

   going with him might save my life, i would rather get kidnapped than be feasted on by these creatures.

   "come on" he pleaded, motioning me to walk with him, "we're heading to the city. let's see if there's life out there."

__________

   we headed to the highway searching to find a car. on the way he talked about how he was in a coma when the infection broke out, and how he didn't know where his wife and kid were.

   "i'm sorry. wish i could say differently too, but i don't know where my family is either." i uttered, memories flooding my mind from when we were kids.

   i didn't know where my family was either. i had moved away when i turned eighteen, me and my mom never saw eye to eye on everything. we thought it was better for our relationship if we didn't have to see each other all the time. my sisters and i on the other hand spread out across atlanta when we got of age.

   just thinking about it made me sad. me and my mom drove each other crazy, but that doesn't mean i didn't  love her.

   i had moved to atlanta, got an apartment and finished college. before this whole thing started i was completing my residency in a hospital outside of the city.

   i still didn't understand how i made it as far as i did, a lot of my memory seemed blurry. i couldn't remember how i got wounded.

   rick checked out my shoulder and i was right, it was a bullet wound. even though it still didn't make sense of how it got there.

   as we moved along, we didn't cross paths with a lot of walkers, that's what rick called them. walkers.

   rick had managed to get a weapon for me in an abandoned car, a knife, but no luck getting an actual car... which is pretty unfortunate.

   while rick was looking through cars, trying to find ones with gas, i looked around at my surroundings. "this world has gone to shit" i mumbled, causing rick to chuckle as he appeared out of the car.

   i opened my mouth to say something but before i could, i caught movement out of the corner of my eye. my head turned to see a horse trotting in a field of grass near the highway.

   me and rick walked up to it trying to get it closer to us. i ran my fingers along his hair, smiling. "looks like we aren't taking a car" rick laughed as i looked up at him.

   he wasn't the bad guy, and little did i know he'd be the one to save me.

________

   after we got ourselves situated on the horse we began our journey. after i would say an hour, we reached the city.

   the grey skies made it less enjoyable, but i've always liked visiting the city. something about it just made my dreams seem real.

   rick guided the horse past the buildings, it seemed too peaceful to be true. there wasn't a lot of noise, just the horses hooves against the pavement.

   we rounded a bend, my eyes widened watching as a dozen of walkers wondered through the city streets. i knew it had been too good to be true.

   their eyes landed on us, and soon the herd was coming towards us. "try a different way!" i shouted, pointed in a different direction, causing rick to nod.

    rick backed up going another way, and before we knew it we were trapped. walkers came at us in every direction.

   "we need to run." rick exclaimed, and before i could even think, he jumped off the horse and grabbed me down.

    he grabbed my arm, pulling me with him as he ran. the walkers bony hands reaching out to grab us. my eyes soon landed on a tank smack dab in the middle of the street.

   "rick, there!" i shouted, pointing it out to rick who now hurried, switching directions. he climbed under the tank and before i followed, i pulled out my knife and killed the closest walker to me.

   "woah" i uttered, that felt different. it was as a whole new experience.

   i turned around and followed rick under the tank, crawling up through the bottom of the tank. sitting down with our backs against the wall, trying to catch our breath.

   but before we could, a walker inside the tank appeared and reached out for rick. i quickly jabbed my knife deep into its skull, pausing in shock as i ripped it out, letting the walker fall back to its original place.

  "thanks" he mumbled, causing me to nod as i wiped the walkers blood from my knife with a piece of my shirt.

     i sat my back against the tanks walls, finally catching my breath. sorting out the things my mind was thinking about. i now knew, things were about to get a lot different.

________________________________2/4/2021