Gracie didn't know what was happening. Everything was shaking and people were screaming. She screamed in response.
Kat felt a sense of panic she had never felt before. An Earthquake followed by a walker infestation along with the school collapsing around them. She grabbed Gracie and hightailed it from their room. She could hear walkers snarling down one hallway so she darted down another. A part of the ceiling collapsed, blocking their way.
She was part way down some stairs when it happened. An aftershock rocked the building again, causing more the fall. Kat was on the stair way when she heard a sickening cracking noise. She looked up in time to see the ceiling coming down at her. Screaming, she covered Gracie as best as she could but still got knocked down.

When it settled, Kat was pinned by the rubble. She started coughing and tasted the metallic tang of blood in her mouth. Gracie was screaming and Kat couldn't feel her legs. A quick look showed her why. They were flattened by a piece of the ceiling, likely gone. And the blood currently choking her was from the piece of rebar that was sticking though her chest. Strangely, she felt no pain. Kat felt light and far away, removed from everything.
The sounds of her daughter screaming nearby sounded like it was coming from far away. Kat blinked, her vision beginning to tunnel and go black. She saw Gracie crawling towards her, crying. Reaching out, she touched her angel's face for the last time.
[color=6ecff6]"Mommy loves you Gracie..."[/color] she coughed again, blood splattering onto her daughter.

The crying face of her child was the last thing Kat ever saw....

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Gracie cried and screamed. Her mommy had gone to sleep and wasn't waking up. The toddler pounded on her shoulder and face, but her mommy wouldn't wake up. She pulled herself up to a standing position and tried shaking her mommy's arm. Why was she sleeping? It was scary here. Where was Daddy and Aunt Nikki? They would make Mommy wake up.

The walkers on the first floor heard the screaming child, but debris from the crumbling building presented obstacles for them. Thankfully they were not smart enough to work their way around it quickly but it wouldn't take long for them to figure it out. Gracie didn't know any better than to stop crying. But it alerted not only the walkers but any living people in the area to her location...