#survival #FoundFamily #Apocalypse #Emotional #multiplePOVs #Gritty #Angst #MorallyGrey #ChapterOne

MARIN:

I had bruises everywhere and cuts and blood covering my body. I kept pushing forward to find somewhere to stay the night. I need to get shelter. And I refuse to die like this. I refuse. 

I hear high pitch distorted growling. A hollow. I drop and roll behind a trash can. It’s behind the ruins of an old building on the path I’m using. I look around for anywhere 

else I can go. Nowhere. I look in the trash can I’m right next to. I quietly dig around. I find a glass bottle. I chuck it in the direction I need it to go and Its ears twitch and it moves away from the path. I hurry down the hill keeping my eyes on it so it doesn’t see me. 

I scurry behind an old building. It’s the school. I know these halls. I look around the back for anywhere else entrance. Instead I find an open window. I grab the rim and yank myself through. I hear movement inside. Before I can turn my head I hear the 

click of a gun loading. I slowly turn my head, eyes wide. It’s him. The knife boy. Same messy blond hair in his face. “Who are you?” He demands. I slowly stand up and he flinches. “Put that down.” I tell him with a firm voice. 

“Don’t move!” He orders. I slowly step closer to him. He steps back. “Put that down“  I jump to the left so he can’t shoot me. Before he turns to point the gun I dive forward onto him. He falls to the ground and I wrestle him for the gun

“I’m not them!” I shout. He doesn’t stop fighting. “Stop!” I order. He’s still trying to pull the gun away from me. He sees my wrist and pauses. I take that chance to rip the gun out of his grasp. He grunts and rolls to the side and I immediately get off him. 

“Your wrist.” He says. “Yeah, I just told you I’m not them. Remember?” I say sarcastically brushing off my pants. Theres shuffling from the pile of rubble in the corner. I look at the boy. He doesn’t hesitate to grab the gun out of my hands and walk up to the rubble. As he approaches a boy comes out with his hands up. “Hey, hey, hey” he says nervously trying to look harmless. “I’m not them either.” He tells him. Another boy with longer 

dark hair steps out of the rubble. “You really love waving that gun around don’t you.” He says brushing dirt off himself. “Pop!” Everyone flinches. He shot the gun at the wall. “Hey!” I shout. “Watch the fucking attitude!” He tells the boy with longer dark hair. “Quit playing around.” The dark haired boy says. “Ok, ok, let’s- let’s not.” Says the other boy who came out first with lighter brown hair.  

“Just- can we not wave a gun around.” I say pushing the gun down out of aim of the others. “Show me your wrists.” He orders. The dark haired one shows him his wrist. It the same as mine. The other one stalls. “Wrist. Show me.” “He’s fine. I saw him in the 

sanctuary.” The dark haired one says. “You snuck in-!?” He shouts. “I- it’s hard to get in when you had nothing valuable to trade.” He shrugs anxiously. “When I tell captain Jackson. You’ll have nothing left at all.” He says. 

“Quit acting tough. Everyone else is dead.” The other one steps in. The blond one swings his head around. “You don’t know that.” He says stepping away. “Well, fuck this I’m out.” I say Hopeing to actually find a real place to stay. Then, growling. One of them grabs my arm and yanks me down. 

The windows still open. They all duck behind the wall. The hollow is getting closer to the window. I see it’s hand, like a decomposing corpse. It grabs the window sill and begins climbing through. The blond boy jumps up and shoots the gun at the hollow. Now it sees us.

It screams and charges at him. He keeps shooting. The boy with light brown hair dives Infront of the one with the gun and they fall to the floor. “Run! This way!” I shout standing near a back staircase. He keeps shooting while running. We charge up the stairs with the hollow screaming and crawling after us. We hide in the first room we 

find. We run in and close the door. The dark haired boy puts a chair under the knob. We stand there heaving. My heart is going 100mph my eyes dart around the room making sure we’re safe. 

“Why would you shoot that gun?” I whisper loudly at the blond one. “So everyone would shut up.” He says. The dark haired one rolls his eyes. We hear scratching at the door. Everyone freezes. “We stay in here for the rest of the night.” Orders the dark haired one. I scoff. “I don’t even know you people. And one of you isn’t even marked.” 

I say. “How do I know you’re not already turning?” My voice serious. “I mean- it just means I want sheltered properly.” He responds. “Exactly.” I say rubbing my face and walking away. “I refuse to die like this..” I groan

“I can’t believe I’m stuck here with strangers.” I groan. “I’m not too flattered either.” The dark haired one says sitting on an old table. “At least we aren’t being eaten.” Says the light brown haired boy next to the one on the table. He laughs under his breath anxiously. “Oh, since we’re all stuck together. I’m Kylo.” He says. No one responds. We just look around the room pretending not to care. “That’s Kieran.” He 

points to the boy on the table. He shoots him a look that says “stop.” Kylo looks away to me. “Who are you?” He asks me. “I’m not telling a rando my name. Sorry.” I say walking away to the end of the room. I hear them talking behind me. I go to touch the wall and wince. My wrist. It’s still burned, and I still don’t have a home.