Her pen scribbled non-stop as she sat there writing down in her notebook, her glasses sitting on the bridge of her nose as she stared intently at the words she was writing. She didn’t care if she was writing on the lines or not, she just wanted to get her thoughts written down as fast as she could – time was a precious thing now a days, something nobody knew how much more they had left. Once she was done she shut the book and stuffed it into her messenger bag, looking around at the others who all seemed to be doing their own thing. Slowly she got to her feet, walking over to the window and looking outside to see that it was overcast and that the streets were pretty much empty with the exception of the scattered empty cars and the few of those…things. It seemed more and more were appearing by the day, which made her all the more scared over how bad it was out there after two weeks. She found it funny how fast the days had gone to where two weeks had already gone by, two weeks since she last saw her parents. Avery could remember the look on their faces as they got into the evacuation copters the government was using to get people out of the city; her mother crying and trying to reach out to her as the soldier held her back. At that moment, her heart sunk and her mind began to panic. Thankfully for her, Demian was able to direct her to safety when they announced there were no more evacuation vehicles available to take them.
Demian Verilis, someone Avery hardly knew, yet this guy came out of nowhere and saved her just when she thought she was going to be eaten alive. Sadly, he came a little bit too late, she had been bitten on her arm. That was the absolute worst, seeing the marks of the teeth in her arm and her skin look as if it was infected around the bite. She had seen numerous wounds before in her medical textbooks, but seeing the real thing was much worse. The others were cautious around her when they learned he had gotten bitten, locking her in her dorm room and just waiting to see if she would turn. There were times she was able to hear them through the door, hearing them talk about what they would do if she turned. One person in the group, Ethan Woods, was especially pushing the idea of killing her, but thankfully the others didn’t seem in a rush to do just that yet. After five days of isolation and still showing no signs of being sick, they were in shock to learn that she was immune. To be honest, Avery herself was surprised as well.
Slowly she left her room, walking down the hall to see the other rooms that looked completely ransacked. The whole entire college looked like a mess; the mental images of the students shoving each other to get out of the classroom and hearing their screams filled Avery’s mind. Her own roommate had been the one to shove Avery when they were trying to get out of the building. She expected the dorms rooms to look like this; no doubt the students who couldn’t get out of the city came back for their stuff before going into hiding. They all stayed on the upper floors of the building, barricading the hallway so they were safe…for now. The only food they managed to get was whatever they were able to raid from the vending machine on the floor; reaching the cafeteria was out of the question since the lower half of the building was infested with those monsters. It would be suicide if they even tried. The situation they were in was putting everyone on edge, especially when everyone realized their supplies were running low. They were barely lucky to reach the infirmary to grab a couple of bandages and pain pills; the nurse had been turned and tried attacking them. Avery had used a roll of bandages to cover her arm, since it wasn’t the prettiest thing to see and it gave her a sense of normality since lately she had been feeling like a freak. Lately the group had discussed about where to go, since they obviously couldn’t stay in the college forever. It seemed like the government wasn’t going to send evacuation teams back here to get them; anyone left behind was basically dead to them. Avery was the one to speak up though in the end, mentioning how she overheard one of the soldiers mention a refugee camp in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. The only problem was getting there. After a little debate, mainly Ethan complaining about how they were to get out of the building, they thought of a plan. Jun, another member of the group who Avery didn’t know much about other than the fact he would hang out in the library as well sometimes, was a computer expert. It was an easy task for him to hack into the campus speakers so that it played music to lure the Infect away.
It was a simple escape after that, thankfully nothing went wrong for them to get spotted. However, once they were outside, they realized they had no supplies with them to handle a trip to Harrisburg if they were all to walk there on foot. Sure they could try starting a car, but the noise would likely attract them. Not to mention some cars were either crashed into or stripped of pieces; besides there was the risk of one of those things being inside the car. But they needed to take it one step at a time, which meant getting the stuff they needed for the trip. As cautious as they could, they made their way to the mall that was only a few blocks away. Thankfully as they got to the mall, they looked inside to see that it was clear, for the most part. It seemed like the Infected hadn’t been able to get in here, or maybe they did and already ran off looking for their next meal. Avery merely followed as they headed inside; some of the lights inside the mall completely dead while others flickered above – way to make it feel creepier. As she walked around, she kept her eyes looking everywhere, even up high on the upper floor of the mall. Her eyes widened however as she suddenly felt her foot get caught on something, making her fall backwards and land on her behind. She winced as she rubbed her side before looking to see what it was she tripped on, but when she did look, she wished she didn’t. Laying there on the ground was the mangled corpse of a woman, her once bright blond hair now covered in blood. Her eyes were wide, as if she was literally scared to death, with no trace of life still in them. What made Avery nearly gag was the face the woman’s entire upper torso was ripped open, with traces of her organs hanging out. Her right leg was twists so badly, but Avery’s green eyes eventually noticed that the woman was surrounded by glass, which made her look up to see that the woman most likely fell from the second floor.
She moved to get up, however she felt a slight pinch and winced before looking at her hand, seeing it bleed from a glass shard she was careless to not see. Carefully she got up, ripping a piece of her shirt to cover the cut on the palm of her hand for now. They were in a mall after all; she could find another shirt somewhere. “Let’s just get what we need and get out of here.” She said, trying to act like seeing a half-eaten body did not just scare her, but her shaking hands gave it away that she was indeed frightened. Slowly she made her way to the sporting goods store, knowing that they had backpacks that would work well for what she had in mind. As she walked through the store, she saw clothing racks and mannequins knocked over - no doubt everyone was either in a rush to get out or trying to run away. The place was a mess, but she was able to find the section of the store that had the backpacks. It took her some time, but she eventually found a bag that was light and still big enough to work for her needs. She slung it over on one arm as she turned to headed around the store to find her next item - a proper rain jacket. The weather was getting colder, so she figured getting a coat to shield her from the cold and rain would be best. Again, the section was a mess, but it wasn't as hard as when she was trying to find the right backpack. It was a simple black and grey jacket, which she stuffed into her backpack. Now she only needed to stock up on clothes, food, and any medical supplies she was able to find.
