Dusty, William, and Samantha had been sitting huddled together in the dim light within their basecamp, the Jewelry store that has become their home, crackling flames casting dancing shadows across their faces. As they stared into the flickering fire, their minds had wandered back to the day when it all began, the day their world had been torn apart. That day, that seems so long ago, when the horror of the apocalypse had first reared its ugly head and changed everything.
"Even today, I still can't believe it," Samantha said, her voice barely above a whisper. "It all happened so fast." They were each sitting in their own classrooms listening intently to their instructors covering materials which now seems so unimportant. At the time it was their stepping stone to their careers and to their futures, but now, it was just a memory in their past.
Dusty nodded in agreement, his eyes distant as he recalled the chaos and confusion of that fateful day. "It was like something out of a nightmare," he said softly. "One minute, we were at the college, going about our lives... and the next, it was like hell had opened up and swallowed us whole. Who knew that when that fire alarm went off everything would change. I left the building thinking someone had pulled the alarm as a prank or they pulled the alarm to get out of some assignment they were required to do. How wrong was I."
They fell into a heavy silence, the memories of that day weighing heavily on their hearts. But despite the pain and sorrow that lingered in their minds, there was also a sense of gratitude – gratitude for the bond that had formed between the three of them, for the strength and resilience they had found in the face of an unimaginable adversity.
"We were lucky we make it out alive that day," William said, his voice tinged with relief and sadness. "Not everyone was so fortunate."
Samantha nodded, her eyes clouded with sadness as she remembered the faces of those they had lost – friends, classmates, loved ones, all swallowed up by the tide of chaos and despair that had swept through their world like a tidal wave. They remember seeing what came to be known as zombies attacking people as they exited the buildings. They would attack people with their claws and teeth, person after person falling dead. But then, something strange happened, some that had been bitten appeared to come back alive, standing back up and turning on others, attacking them. The zombie numbers seems to grow and grow as people tried to escape.
"We had to get out of there," Dusty said, his voice filled with determination. "We couldn't stay and watch as everything we knew and loved was torn apart before our eyes."
And so, they had run – run for their lives, heading for the woods behind them they run until their legs ached and their lungs burned with exertion. They had run until they could run no more, seeking refuge in the safety of the dense woods that surrounded the college campus.
For two days and two nights, they had huddled together in the darkness of the forest, the sounds of chaos and destruction echoing in the distance. They had listened in horror as the screams of the dying pierced the night air, the stench of death hanging heavy in the air. They stayed afraid to move until finally the noises had come to an end.
But despite the fear and uncertainty that gnawed at their hearts, they had refused to give up hope – hope that someday, somehow, they would find a way to survive, to rebuild, to reclaim the world that had been stolen from them. On the third day they decided to see what had happened, what was left for them to come back too.
And when they finally emerged from the safety of the woods, they had been greeted by a scene of devastation – bodies strewn across the streets, buildings reduced to rubble, the echoes of violence and despair ringing in their ears. Looking at the buildings, left in rubble, they realized that at some point the army must have been called in as well. As they looked around they could see soldiers dead among the bodies, how many had died, how many had been turned into zombies? They had no way of knowing.
"We had to find a way to defend ourselves," Samantha said, her voice filled with determination. "We couldn't just sit back and wait for the end to come."
And so, they had ventured out from the campus into the ruins of the town, searching for anything they could use to protect themselves against the horrors that lurked in the shadows. They had stumbled upon a hunting shop, its windows shattered and its shelves ransacked, but still filled with weapons and supplies.
They had taken what they could carry – guns and ammo, knives and swords – anything that they could find that might give them a fighting chance against the undead hordes that roamed the streets. They had fired rifles as kids but only at targets. Would they be able to shoot at real people, even if they were zombies?
But as they had learned the hard way, guns were not always the answer anyway – during their first encounter, they had found the will to fire at the oncoming zombies but the noise from the guns seemed to attract more zombies than they could handle, leaving them vulnerable and exposed. And so, they had turned to the swords, honing their skills with each swing, each thrust, each parry.
Now, as they sat together in the light of the fire, they knew that they had to keep moving forward, to not give up, to stay safe on a day to day basis, and to keep searching for a safe haven in this world gone mad.
"We needed to find a base," Dusty had said, his voice filled with determination. "Somewhere we can fortify, somewhere we can call home."
And as they set out that day, the echoes of their footsteps fading into the memories of their lost world, they knew that the journey ahead would be long and treacherous – but with each other by their side, they were ready to face whatever horrors lay in wait, ready to reclaim their future from the clutches of the undead. That brought them to where they are today.