The sun peeked through cracked and broken blinds, rays landing on the face of a young brunette woman who lay splayed out on a mattress. Her nose wrinkled as she scrunched her face up and groaned, arms stretching out above her head (one hand held a blade that she kept a firm grasp on even in her sleep). 

[i]Alright, Natalie. Time to rise and shine.[/i]

Finally, she willed herself to open her eyes and sit up. She found herself sitting on the same mattress, in the same motel room that smelled of mildew and dust as she had every morning for the past three months. It wasn't the coziest of places for her to shack up, there were far nicer pads in the city that she could've taken refuge in. But those fancy security systems and electric fences that the wealthy employed didn't do much good in a city without a grid. 

Instead, she chose this roach motel in what was once known as a sketchy part of town. Metal bars across the windows and double locks on the doors from the long gone days of gang activity mean that Natalie has to do less work to make sure she doesn't get mauled to death every night by the likes of the new thugs that roam the streets. 

Natalie rose off of the stale mattress and walked over to the broken sink in the small bathroom of the motel room. A mirror that was cracked with a million splintering spiderwebs completed the dilapidated look of the place, sending a plethora of Natalies looking back at her, as if she were being judged by a panel of selves from another dimension inside the looking glass. 

A sigh escaped her, and she unscrewed the water bottle that sat on the unbroken edge of the sink. Using the last of the bottle, she brushed her teeth with Spongebob toothpaste and threw the rest on her face. Luxuries like running water and whitening toothpaste weren't things to be afforded these days. Take what you can find. 

Speaking of find, it was about time Natalie went out and scrounged up some more supplies for her little motel haven. Problem with being here for the past few months is that now, Natalie has to venture further away to find anything due to depleting the closer resource caches. It was a bit of a chore, but she didn't mind the fresh air and getting to knock off a couple walkers. If she was really lucky, she got to deal with a Shocker or Screamer. It keeps her in shape. 

Natalie pulled her brown hair back into a baseball cap and began preparing her bag for a day out on the town. Before all of this, she didn't have much experience with the 9mm pistol she now placed in a holster on her side, or for the K-BAR knife she held as tightly in her sleep as she did in her waking hours, and the AR-15 that she strapped to her back was once something she had only used for sport, not survival. 

Natalie was never too cautious when heading out on a scavenge, always packing all of her important items. It had been a long time since Natalie had crossed paths with another human survivor, but she didn't risk leaving her ammo and supplies lying in wait for someone to raid while she was out. 

Taking a peek through the peep hole of the door, she stepped out into the daylight. As she closed the door behind her and took her first step into the parking lot, a strange noise caught her attention. Something between a fizzle and a hiss, almost like a firework. Natalie knotted her brow together in confusion, turning and hoping the noise wasn't some strange new breed of zombie getting the jump on her. What she discovered, instead, made her heart drop to her stomach. 

The bright red light flickered high in the sky, teasing her at its peak before plummeting towards the ground as it faded away. It couldn't be more than half a dozen blocks west. A million questions ran through Natalie's mind, all at the same time and at rapid speed. What was it? Who was it? Why? How many? Trap? Rescue? Life? Death? 

The questions all could have very different answers, but one things was for sure: she had to find the source of the call and see for herself what it was about, even if from a distance. So, she carefully began making her way towards the source of the flare. 

Ten minutes later, Natalie's train of thought was cut off when she heard the shuffling of feet several yards behind her. Looking over her shoulder, she saw that the same noise of the flare that caught her attention has gathered the attention of the locals. A lone walker began making its way towards her, so to keep from attracting any others, she takes her K-BAR and approaches carefully. Dodging a lunge by the zombie, Natalie countered with a stout jab to the neck, twisting the knife and ending the zombie's second life. 

Only this was no regular walker. As she twists the knife, it lets out an ear-piercing scream, sending Natalie to her knees for a moment before the zombie falls lifeless to the concrete. A busted ear drum didn't keep her from hearing the moans of those around her that had now been alerted of her position. She swooped down to grab her knife and left in a sprint down the alleyway towards the nearest road. 

Behind her, a small group of zombies was gathering hot on her trail. They stumbled over their fallen comrade, but a pair of them leapt ahead of the pack with the speed of a star running back. 

[i]Runners and screamers?![/i] 

Natalie panted as she ran full speed ahead, her eyes focused on making it to the road for an open area to fight, or even better, a building to try and lose them in. Her hands found the pistol at her hip and she fired off shots over her shoulder, not risking slowing down to line up a decent shot as she charged forward in the direction of the road and the flare, now hoping there really were more survivors there to get her out of this mess she found herself in.