1 When you wake up in the middle of nowhere

The mist in the air around the abandoned parking lot gave off an eerie, abandoned look. Not the slightest bit of movement could be noticed in the dense plant growth around the aged pavement. The slightest chirping of grasshoppers could be heard if you listened, and maybe a ribbit or two from frogs in the streams that flowed randomly through the grass and crumbled asphalt.

Her body ached all over, head throbbing from dehydration. She sat up warily, her eyes fluttering open. She blinked, once, and then twice. She looked around at her surroundings to be in utter confusion. Where was she, exactly? Not just that, but WHO was she?

Looking down at the palms of her hands she noticed her arm was covered in scrapes and bruises, not just that but she was extremely dirty. She reeked of BO, blood, dirt, and other unidentified substances. What had happened to her?

She tried standing just to stumble back to the ground, landing hard on her rear. Examining the ground around her closely she noticed an aged piece of paper not from where she had woken up. Reaching for it and just barely tapping it with her finger to drag close enough for her to fully pick it up, she examined the back, it was blank. She flipped it over to see writing.

The note was written hastily in ink, from a piece of paper that was most likely torn from a notebook of some kind. The note said,

"If you are reading this note then I am dead, I had found you laying barely conscious in the middle of the road while I was running from the crazies. I dragged you to this abandoned parking lot in the middle of nowhere. You had passed out soon after I set you down. I decided to go in search of first aid and water, since you had looked like you'd need it. Let me tell you what's going on in case the after affects of your car crash caused a problem with memory, oh and I didn't mention this earlier, but you had been flung from your car windshield and landed on somebodies dead body like it was a cushion. You told me your name was Luna when I picked you up. Anyways, back to what's going on, crazies are brainwashed people. I know that doesn't make sense so let me explain. I don't know exactly what's going on but I'll give my hunch. People randomly went crazy, they had started inflicting injuries among themselves and trying to hurt other people. I assume that some chemical was released in the air or that some sort of radio wave caused them to behave like this. Any bite from them causes your bodily functions to start failing while you turn into one of them. They'll still tear you limb from limb so if you're bitten, it's in your hands wether or not you die horribly or become one. If you manage to escape from them with injuries I advise making sure you weren't bitten in any way. Since I didn't come back I either died or died. There's no other reason I wouldn't come back. This is getting sort of long so I just have one last thing to say. Luna, keep moving and don't look back. Walk as far as you can in as unpopulated areas as possible. Avoid any signs of movement unless you hear talking. If you do hear talking, say something before you move, otherwise they may attack you thinking you're a threat. I wish you luck on your journey and hope you survive."

Trying to stand up again, she got on her knees and pressed her palms to the pavement, giving her more support for standing. When she was finally on her feet she looked down at her body. Her t-shirt was ripped across the stomach and her jeans were grass-stained and bloody. Closely looking over her whole body for any severe injuries, she noticed a huge cut on her thigh and a light but long cut on her stomach.

Scanning her environment for anything useful, Luna found a bag. Shakily walking towards the bag she went through it's contents. String, fabric, and a pack of sewing needles. Jackpot.

Sitting down next to the bag she began to dig for maggots. She found three and carefully laid them in the cut on her thigh so they could eat any dead flesh or harmful substances. Watching them eat at her leg, Luna grimaced. It was disgusting. When the maggots started to crawl out of the cut to look for more food she grabbed the needle and string and started sewing the deep cut closed. Clenching her teeth to deal with the pain, she then tore pieces of the fabric to makeup for the lack of bandages. Wrapping it around the cuts on her arms and then carefully sewing the end to another part of the fabric.

She also sewed the opening on her shirt closed to cover her exposed stomach. Gazing around the empty lot, all she saw was plant life and road. Luna shivered. This was the most terrifying thing she could imagine waking up to. And she didn't have to imagine it because she had actually woken up to it. A nightmare.

"Ok now what..." she whispered to herself as she listened in for any sounds of movement.

All of a sudden she heard a rustle of leaves from behind her, she swiveled around to see a dog. This dog was a bigger dog with a fluffy coat. Examining it closely she started to recognize its breed, German Shepherd.

"Come here boy," She called to the dog. It pricked it's ears. "Come here boy." She called again.

The dog slowly started walking towards her, it was hesitant though.

"That's it buddy, come on I won't hurt you." She soothed, trying to lure it closer.

She kneeled down and the dog jumped at her and started to lick her face.

"I must be the first friendly face you've come across, huh buddy?" She said in a baby voice.

Glancing at the dog's collar she read his name. 'Dawson'

"Dawson! What a cute name for a cute dog!" She cooed. The dog continued to lick her face but then suddenly stopped and looked over into the wild plant growth with it's ears alert.

"What is it buddy...?"