[color=0076a3][i]November 11, 2017, that's when it all started as close as I can figure based on how long it takes people to die once their sick. The people I've seen get sick, it's so...quick. First it was homeless people who didn't show up to their usual corners, there wasn't big fuss about that though. Why would there be? Unless you were like Bri no one cared what happened to those people. There was this one guy who used to do magic tricks in the park for kids, they loved it, he always had his cart full of props and after he was done with this show he'd make balloon animals for the kids. I always loved magic and I caught a few of his shows while I was on lunch, he was good. Then he just wasn't there one day, or the next day, or the next day. And he wasn't the only one. Bri told me that there were less and less people coming to the shelter every day. Which was odd because there were several of my employees that had called in for a couple of days and then just stopped calling. There were some CDC PSA's talking about a virus going around and to stay indoors to limit exposure. Of course I went to Bri's apartment instead of home.

The first news reports hit about a week later talking about disappearances all around the world, in the beginning the police assumed it was some sort of global cult slaughtering entire families for human sacrifices, but they had no idea what happened to the bodies. Men. Women. Children. All slaughtered in their beds, pieces left behind but no bodies. At least in the first reports. A few days later is when the stories got really weird, or at least they seemed weird at the time, in hospitals people coming in with those high fevers from the virus were dying and seemed to come back to life, people were attacking other people in airports trying to bite them, and there were stories of police shooting suspects with dozens of rounds and they just kept coming.

The reports came in quickly and steadily all across the globe for a solid week maybe two and then slowly but surely there was nothing but static. That was about a day before the lights went out, we made a night of eating the rest of the ice cream in her fridge. But winter in Boston is cold and with no power and that was when it really hit me for the first time that life was never going to be the same.

We spent the rest of our time in Boston gathering supplies, fighting the dead, fighting wild animals, even Mrs. Kinney's dog Buster attacked us one day, he almost got me pretty good but Bri stopped him before he got a bite. I don't think I'd ever been so scared in my life up to that point.

Four months of hell, four months of gathering, four month of survival and we're finally on our way to Michigan. I've only got one job in this mess and she's all I care about. She's all I've ever cared about, I mean [/i]really[i] cared about.[/i][/color]

[b][h3]March 15, 2018 - Framingham, Massachusetts - Walmart Parking Lot[/h3][/b]

With his Ruger in his hand Grant cautiously made his way toward the Walmart entrance listening for any sort of movement from within. He was anxious to get out of the cold, it was freezing outside and there was just enough snow on the ground to make a crunch under your shoes as you stepped. When his nose started to run he didn't want to sniffle so he quickly ran his gloved hand under his nose and then his glove on his pants. He shifted his eyes slightly behind him to see if Bri had seen but he couldn't really tell, not that it mattered he supposed. He was tired of being cold and he knew she had to be cold. This would be a good place to stock up on basically everything assuming it hadn't been picked clean yet, or the rats hadn't gotten to all the food. But it wasn't a big town and he couldn't imagine that many people had survived or passed through here yet.

He stopped suddenly and held his hand up for Bri to stop. With wide but focused eyes he surveyed the area. There was a noise that came from near the building but it turned out just to be a fat raccoon jump into the dumpster.

Nothing.

He turned to Bri, [color=0076a3]"I think we're good."[/color] His breath visible in the cold air as he spoke. He looked back toward the store to and took a few more steps until the doors came into view, they were in tact. [color=0076a3]"Well look at that,"[/color] he relaxed and looked at her with a smile, [color=0076a3]"looks like it's our lucky day."[/color] He holstered his gun and approached the doors as quietly as possible.