Vayla Sailor had been living independently for three months, having fled the home she once cherished after the zombie outbreak devastated her small town. She vividly recalled the night her father burst into her room, urgently exclaiming, "Vayla, wake up, we must leave." Once outside, they were confronted by a horde of zombies. Her father entrusted her with his shotgun, professing his love with a kiss on her forehead before he dashed past the encroaching zombies, shouting back, "Run, Vayla." In that moment of desperation, Vayla fled with her two dogs. As she traversed the desolate streets with Rumbo, a four-year-old German Shepherd, and Tetch, a two-and-a-half-year-old Border Collie, she carried her father's shotgun over her shoulder and wore a backpack filled with emergency supplies he had prepared. Despite Tetch's youth, he understood the importance of remaining silent while they scavenged for necessities. Vayla harbored the hope that her father had survived the onslaught, imagining him in a safe place. A gentle nudge from Rumbo snapped her back to the present, revealing that they had arrived at the abandoned grocery store, a familiar stop on their supply runs. Inside, Vayla carefully selected canned goods, sandwich meat, ready-to-eat pasta, pasta sauce, several bottles of juice and water, two four-pound bags of dog food, and two loaves of bread, all fitting snugly into her backpack, which was just adequate for two weeks' worth of provisions. They stealthily made their way back to the house in Madison, Wisconsin, which her father had purchased two years prior to the invasion. Remarkably, the lights remained on, as there was no one at the electricity company to cut off the power.
Upon returning home with the dogs, Vayla noticed that dusk was approaching. She resolved to prepare her dinner while there was still light, as she intended to extinguish all the lights once darkness fell to avoid attracting any zombies. She promptly fed her dogs and heated some olive oil in a frying pan, adding fettuccine noodles to cook. While the noodles simmered, she opened a can of anchovies and asparagus, incorporating them into the dish. Although Vayla had always detested anchovies, she found them inconsequential given her current circumstances. Once the pasta was ready, she transferred it to a bowl and added two slices of ham to the remaining olive oil. Fetching a bottle of apple juice from the refrigerator, she dined at the table, illuminated only by two small candles, having already turned off the lights. After finishing her meal, she cleaned the bowl, fork, and saucepan, placing them on the drying rack. She then settled into bed, reading a page from her book before drifting off to sleep. In her dreams, she reminisced about her father and the happier times that preceded the zombie apocalypse, while Rumbo and Tetch rested at the foot of her bed.