It was a beautiful spring day, the cherry trees lining the street in full bloom, a light shower of pink pedals drifting on the wind as he walked up the street. It reminds me of the simpler times, when everyday wasn't a fight for survival.
He turns to look at me and gestures with his hand to follow as his blue eyes sparkle in the sunlight. I often wonder what I did to get a man so handsome, so caring, and so brave like him.
"Kalyn come on, it's safe, don't worry." He says gently trying to encourage me to step outside the comforting shadows of the brick house we've called home for almost two weeks. We never stay in one place for too long in fear of raiders, but they aren't even the worst part of this new, broken down world. The dead have risen and have taken over this earth.
It started with a deadly and highly contagious virus that was quickly consuming the earths population. Scientists finally came out with a vaccine, or so we thought. Once people were injected with this vaccine, if they were infected and died, their bodies would come alive and rip apart any human they could find. Now we are forced to live in a world with monsters, taking one day at a time hoping that day won't be our last.
"Kalyn please." He begins to beg, his voice has a hint of urgency too it. This makes my heart drop to my stomach as I franticly glance around, my hand on my katana ready to use at a moments notice. The hairs on the back of my neck stand up as I hear a low groaning sound behind me.
"Kalyn, look out!" He yells as he begins running towards me. I waste no time unsheathing my sword as I spin around. A man's body comes stumbling towards me as I raise my sword to strike. Its eyes are jet black with black sludge oozing out of its mouth. Its teeth were ridged and it looked like there were large thorns poking out if its skin. I have never seen a body like that before. I can feel myself hesitating and stumbling backwards.
My foot catches on something and I tumble to the ground hitting my head hard on the pavement. I quickly try to sit up, but my aching head prevents me. The body trips over my feet, pushing me back to the ground. I start screaming and squirming, trying to break free. I suddenly feel a thousand sharp needles dig into my shoulder and rip out a chunk of my skin. I hear a gun go off and the body becomes lifeless on top of me.
"Kalyn!" He screams as he yanks the body off of me. He quickly pulls me to my feel, steps back and examines my wound from a distance. I close my eyes tightly shut waiting to hear him cock the gun and shoot, but a couple minutes pass and I hear nothing but his shallow breathing. I hesitate but eventually open my eyes to see him standing there staring back at me. He's eyes are filled with sadness, a tear runs down his face. I can't help but start tearing up as well.
"Sam, I don't want to die." I whisper not knowing what else to say. He says nothing and continues to examine me. Another five minutes pass and his watch starts beeping. We both look at his wrist as he checks it. "It's been ten minutes." He says with a little confusion in his voice.
"Okay, what does that mean?" I asked, not really wanting to know the answer.
"It takes between five to ten minutes to turn once you are bitten. It's been ten minutes."
"So what does that mean?" I ask again.
He takes a minute to respond, but eventually admits he doesn't know. He drops his backpack on the ground and takes out the first aid kit.
"What are you doing?" I ask as I join him on the ground next to his pack.
"I'm going to clean your wound. It can't get infected." He responds as he starts placing gauze on my shoulder. We sit in silence as he tends to my wound.
As night falls we enter an old abandoned gas station and begin to secure the perimeter. My shoulder aches and I'm exhausted from the long and stressful day. I plop down in the chair next to me and open a can of cream corn.
"Not that I'm complaining, but I'm not dead yet and I was bitten!" I blurt out breaking the silence.
"I know, I've never seen this before."
"What if I'm immune?" I ask with some excitement in my voice.
"Then your one lucky girl." He replies with a smirk. I start laughing at the insanity of it all.
Exhausted, I climb into my sleeping bag. Sam is close behind and snuggles in next to me.
"I love you Kalyn." He whispers in my ear.
"I love you too Sam." I mutter before I fall into a deep slumber.