[i]July 30th, 2037[/i]

The day started off like the others had the past few weeks. Nicholas knew it was a lousy idea of his father's to stay behind while others of their neighborhood trekked off in search of the refuge settlement that had not long since been established. There was no way of knowing exactly where it was, and for all Nicholas knew, it could have been less than ten miles down the road. But he wasn't going to take any risks. His father already had - and it got him infected. Now, Nicholas had his ill mother and traumatized little sister to look after. It wasn't easy. It was the hardest thing he'd ever been through in his life. This whole thing was. It was never supposed to happen. He cursed himself for having talked so animatedly to his friends about having a zombie apocalypse. How [i]awesome[/i] it would be.

[i]Awesome now, ain't it?[/i] the voice in his head spat.

His eyes focused on his work - his sister had been bitten and he was trying to patch up the wound the best that he could, while praying that she didn't get infected as well. Their mother was not looking good. Nicholas expected to have to put a bullet in her head before the week ended.

"It's okay, Alissa," he said softly to his sister. "It will heal. You'll be fine."

She was crying, and for the right reasons. There was little chance that she wouldn't become a walking corpse. From what Nicholas had seen, it took significantly less time for the infection to spread through bites than any other contraction of the illness. It pained him to think about it. His father was gone. His mother was...pretty much gone. Now, his sister faced the same inevitable fate. How long before he, too, would become a victim?

"I'm scared," Alissa said. "I want to go home."

Nicholas did too. They were currently using their local Wal-Mart as a shelter. Not bad, considering. Except all of the supplies, food, etc. had been ransacked. They were left with almost nothing. Which reminded him of what he needed to do soon: go looking for supplies.