Allie opened her eyes and it was a crisp 8 in the morning. She sat up and she blinked for her blurry vision to subside. She rubbed her eyes and yawned, arms stretched out and she slapped her bed sheets. She turned and saw Millie, typical of her to still be asleep after the alarm sounded. She was coiled up again, and Allie knew she was going to have to wake up her again. She launched herself into Millie’s bed, and Millie found air-time as she too was launched into the air from the bounce of the spring mattress. Allie heard Millie grunt midst air and she hugged her other twin hard. Allie had no idea why she was particularly happy today but she was in a good mood. She had no memory of any important plans for the day and she saw no real reason to hug her dear sister other than just sibling love. A: “Come on, fatass!” She sped off downstairs. The parents were always there before them, always busy doing something, and always patiently waited for the girls. The fragrant newly-cooked breakfast, the scent of dad’s strong coffee, the quaint aroma of the newspapers piled on the tabletop, they perfumed the hallway to the dining room. It has always been like this since the two sisters were born. There were no real arguments or bad memories to stain the peace and sanctity of the stronghold that housed the To family. However, she turned the corner of the doorway, and saw no one there. Though this was not impossible, it proved worrisome for the light-hearted Allison. She yelled out at the ceiling where their rooms would be: A: “Mom? Dad? Where are you?” She ran back upstairs, passing her room to her parents’. She knocked silently and whispered A:”Mom…? Dad…? You in there…?” The door was ajar, and her knock pushed it further open. Then she recognized a familiar smell that didn’t belong – the smell of blood. She pushed the door all the way in and she choked on her breath to scream. There laid her parents, their faces and bodies mutilated and bloody. Allie would not and could not have known they were her parents save the fact that the unrecognizable cadavers were laid and posed as a loving couple hugging one another, as if to savour their last breathing moment before it was taken away. She continued choking. She wanted to cry, and she wanted to scream. She didn’t know what to do as she collapsed to the floor. The house was silent and Allie’s muffled cries were loud and resonating in the echoic rooms. Then Allie heard footsteps. Millie. A: “Millie…? Millie!? Millie!” She baby-crawled out to the hallway to meet Millie, only to be shocked that she, too, was horrible disfigured and gruesome. A:”Millie… No…” Allie tried to crawl backwards, her watery eyes obscuring the bloody mass that lurched and ravenously jumped at her. The back of Allie’s head met the floor hard as she closed her eyes. When they opened, she saw the open road ahead of her. It was a ghoulish dream. They were on Highway 35. ---- Millie had found them a car just luckily the same day they were attacked – the same day their parents died. The apartment complex they stayed in had a garage, and though everyone was desperate for escape and surviving, there were still parked cars. Ominously there were signs of fights and stains of blood pooled the whole area. The twins gathered what they could in their piteous backpacks. They didn’t garner much. They got in and drove out. Their knowledge of geography was terrible, and both Allie and Millie were still taking driving lessons. Their only plan was to head to the same direction their guard Leon had been taking: South. It was a sad sight. Millie took to drive first; she had the clearest mind of both. Allie was still distraught after what just happened and she was still crying at the back. Millie had to drive them both out of the city. As Millie drove, she saw families being separated by crowds and obstacles, all the while these… things… were clawing, gnawing and sprinting at anything that moved. It was a horrid sight, and Millie disciplined herself to keep looking forward, minding the roads and keeping them safe. It was a dreary, monotonous drive along the highway 35. The entire road screamed with military vehicles flashing by on the other lane. On Millie’s lane however, there were only so few cars. She assumed the infection had either not spread that far enough of … or it did and barely anyone made it out. Millie caught Allie sleeping next to her. She was jealous. She too wanted to sleep, and not take it for granted. She looked at her intently, and upon seeing the necklace their parents gave them on the day of their birth, she started to tear up. She already missed her parents. Millie turned her attention back to the road just in time to swerve the car away from a fiery carcass of a police car. Allie woke up. It was 6:30 pm. ---- By 7 pm they could see the horizon of Jefferson County. They could easily see military presence. The traffic was monstrous and it stayed to a standstill. They were stuck in a sea of cars, right in the middle of the lane, which seemed to have materialized out of nowhere. Helicopters whizzed towards the county and Allie and Millie both thought that that did not bode well. There was something in the air that seemed as though something was wrong and as Millie tapped her fingers on the steering wheel, Allie gasped. Allie and Millie both watched the people who seemed to be running away from something. Allie turned around while Millie looked at her mirrors to see people just running, and bright floodlights glared at their faces. The wild yelling and wolf-whistling added to the figures standing, hanging by the side of the moving object towards them. Allie’s eyes adjusted just enough to see the sharp contours and blocky, tan metallic being that was climbing over the cars. A: “Is that… “ M: “That’s a [i]fucking[/i] tank.” They both stared at the tank crushing the vehicles, both dumbfounded as to how those people got their hands on it when Allie jolted Millie to get them out of its rampaging way. They essentially hauled ass out of the car doors. They fought through a crowd and went in the same direction. But Allie knew they were not going outrun a military vehicle that reached 40 kilometers per hour. Allie pulled Millie out of the highway and into the open land. Allie, on her feet, ran in the opposite direction of the tank. Millie followed suit, yelling her name, and eventually caught up and grabbed her arm. M: “What are you doing!? We need to go!” A: “The tank is in the middle of the lane. There are bound to be cars working and abandoned! We can get in!” Allie pushed aside her moral compass and thought for herself and Millie. She did not have time to feel bad as Millie looked on ahead where the tank had just been. She knew her sister was right. They ran side-to-side to find one. They ran to a blue car whose doors were open. It was on the outer-lane unscathed. Up ahead they could see people also eyeing and running for the car. Millie grabbed on Allie’s arm and they charged for the car. They reached it and got in just before the man in his postman uniform did. He bashed on the car window and as the car screeched forward and out into the field, away from the highway. The tank a long way’s away but the carnage was still audible. They sped off alongside highway 35. It was 7:13 pm. ---- Millie woke up in sweat and tears, the window moist with their body heat. They had fallen asleep next to a tree deep in some shrubbery and forestry. Millie knew they past the border of Texas. She had no idea where they were though. The dashboard clock read 7:13 am. Millie turned to see the door open, and a few yards away Allie, squatting and possibly… peeing. Millie walked over as Allie had just finished. A: “Hi…” M: “Hey…” A: “I just peed.” M: “I know.” A: “Barbaric to have to pee outdoors.” M: “I thought it was second nature for you to be barbaric.” A: “Shut up” as a small, fleeting smile broke through her grimace. Allied walked closer to Millie with her arms open - intending to give her twin a hug. M: “Ew, go wash your hands.” A: “Shut up and love me, sister.” They embraced and they chuckled lovingly. They got their backpacks that had clothes from the apartment. Though some didn’t seem to fit, they left it there and they trudged onwards towards a town they could see a mile away. They stopped in front of a sign A: “Gainesville. Texas.” M: “Yup. Christ…” They silently walked along the middle of the road into the city, and they noted that it was suspiciously silent. It was desolate, even for a place with just low-rise buildings. Every store they saw was dark and empty, and it seemed ransacked of its life and wares. Then out of nowhere, there was barking. A dog appeared out of an alley. A: “Aww! It’s a dog, Millie, look! Come here, boy!” The dog barked again, louder and more excitedly. Allie walked towards it, beckoning it to come forward. Millie followed closely, surveying the area. The dog ran back to the alley by the time Allie was close enough to touch it. Allie and Millie stood together as they looked into the alley where the dog had gone. The barking continued, and suddenly it ceased. Instead, whining and deathly, gut-wrenching cries replaced them and ended just as quickly. Allie and Millie gasped. Next, a brief devilish growl emanated from the dark place and what came next was this bizarre clicking noise that made both Allie and Millie raise their eyebrows in confusion. A+M: “What the hell is that?” they both said in unison, looking at each other. The creature, similar to the ones they’d encountered, walked out of the shadows and hurriedly the twins turned to run the other direction only to stop in their place when they saw another one that also made a clicking noise. M: “Here!” she yelled as they ran into a bookstore whose window was broken. They jumped through and ran to the back of the store through a door and slammed it close. A: “Oh God what do we do? What do w-“ her sentence cut short when Millie forced her hand to her mouth to cover it. There was another one behind Allie, and Millie pulled her to a standing bookshelf hoping that the thing didn’t see them. Books fell from the shelf, and the monster came closer. Allie and Millie dared not to move and slowed their breath to a minimum, which was more of a struggle to Allie who was holding down a scream. The creature jolted its head around in angles. It did not know where they were. A: “It’s blind.” She whispered to Millie. But it was still too loud and the creature growled and raised its arms to reach for the twins. Almost like a psychic bond, the two pushed the shelf forward to crush the creature. It only pinned it down and the thing was still reaching for them. A: “Keep it down! I’ll get something.” M: “God, hurry!” Allie looked for whatever to try and stop the thing. She found a broom and threw it to Millie. Millie, with the pole end, struck it at the ticking beast’s head, silencing it forever. Millie was panting and Allie had to help to bring her down from the book shelf. A: “Let’s get out of here…” M: “Yeah…” she eyed the thing before exiting from the emergency exit, not knowing it was still active. A: “Christ! Run!” Allie and Millie ran to the nearest staircase they could find for high ground, and stumbled upon a single room. It was an apartment. It was locked, and Millie kicked it down with the might of her boot. They ran in, and grabbed the leather sofa and pushed it to prop the door closed. The shutters were drawn and it was a 4-room apartment. They sighed and breathed heavily. They knew that the emergency exit alarm would attract those things over to that area, and away from where they were. The twins looked through every room to see if anything was there. Nothing. They double-checked to make sure that there was no way any of those things could get in. A: “The owner of this place must have left town before all this happened.” M: “Lucky them.” They both sat down on the floor at the same time. A: “This will do... for now. We can stay here and rest.” Millie was already snoring when Allie looked at her and shortly so did Allie.