Episode 1 "Trauma"

The blizzard raged hard through the forest as Mel was now 3 days into being alone. She was watching as her faint breath filled the air around her as she walked out of the forest slowly, she was just entering Tennessee. Mel was trying to take deep breaths but struggled, she slowly marched through the snow hoping to find a warm fire and shelter soon before she freezes. Mel would occasionally look back and try to figure out if she should turn back or not. Mel took her little music player out and hit play as she put the freezing earbuds in, there was no danger due to the snow so she would be safe.

Mel pushed on with the only thing keeping her warm is her coat and the tears falling. Mel wanted to turn back so bad but also didn't she just wanted the pain to go away. Mel eventually looked at the sunrise in the distance with a faint smile, Mel wiped the frozen tears away as she pushed onward. She saw a sign advertising a school, she saw this as an opportunity, Mel picked up the pace, she hasn't eaten or slept in three days and only had melted snow to drink, Mel eventually reached the exit of the highway she was on and she just sat on the icy road and slid down to make it go faster. Mel landed on the bottom and stood up, she dusted herself off and began to walk more, she was having trouble moving but the idea of food was motivating her more than anything.

Mel approached the old elementary school slowly and looked at the old military setup there, she walked through the rubble in search of the entrance. She looked at the frozen walkers everywhere and heard faint growls. Mel kept going slowly up the stairs that led to the front door, she opened it slowly and peaked around the corner, "h..hello?!" She slowly entered with her knife in her one good hand. Mel had injured her left hand in her travels so she had to adjust to the one handed life while it heals. Mel saw as the air filled with the smell of corpses, she walked through the entrance area and into the first hallway with classrooms, Mel skimmed through each to find out they were all picked clean. Mel just walked a bit faster after she heard glass break, she assumed all rooms were the same so she pressed on. She didn't see much of anything or expect much but any bit of food would help.

"The storm's gotta pass eventually, too frickin' cold…." Mel noticed her coat wasn't working much anymore. She felt the air warm up a bit, she didn't care too much, it felt odd that out of nowhere the air warmed up and lights became visible. Mel slowly walked in and heard faint voices of children playing in the gym, she walked down the hall as if became the way it used to be, Mel was seeing things. She felt as a warm tear fell when she saw her old classmates from before the fall, she remembered the wholesome moments they had before it all changed for her. She was seeing the final moments before all hell broke loose. Mel walked in and wiped the tear away as she walked through, she saw her younger self playing with her classmates there, they were in a place where the infection hadn't reached yet, life was normal until the riots. Mel smiled as she saw them laughing and playing, she heard the door crash open as she saw the one who caused the downfall of that day. One of her turned classmates entered from the locker room with her teacher following.

Mel pulled her gun out and remembered she was out of bullets, she then was unable to move, she felt cold and numb again. She tried hard to fight it and to get their attention, they couldn't see or hear her, she cried as she saw things fall apart quickly, Mel fell to her knees as things fell apart around her. She saw a blood puddle form below her as she passed out, Mel was lying on a table in the gym of the current building, bleeding from a poorly sewed wound. Mel tried really hard to keep awake as she saw a thawed walker approaching her slowly, Mel eventually gave up and accepted her fate knowing there was nothing she could have done.

2 Years Ago:

Mel sat just inside the school gym where the surviving people were grouped up at, night fell fast and they all only wanted to go home. Mel was covered in blood and was shaking, she stared at her hands and then glanced at the people sitting around, the once smiling faces turned upside down. Mel saw the moon peeking through the windows, it was the only light they had to go off of, her best friend Ally sat beside her. The room was silent with the only noise being the moans of the dead behind the doors, Mel saw as the shadows of the feet from under the door moved around fast. Mel let a tear fall as she pulled her dying phone out, with no power they couldn't charge them, she looked through her pictures one last time, then looked at the last text to her parents begging for help.

Mel smiled as she scrolled through family photos, she was convinced she would be dying soon. Mel came across a picture of her brother, she broke down instantly, she had watched him die moments before. Mel watched as her screen dimmed, then turned off, Mel knew that was the last she would ever see their faces. Mel dropped her phone and took a deep breath, Ally noticed that and glanced at her phone across the floor as she realized she was toying with her bracelet. Ally leaned her head against the door and took a deep breath hoping it would all be a dream, "the military told us to stay put, we have been here for hours, nobody is doing well right now." Mel looked at Ally and said calmly, "I think it's over, this virus going around won, I thought the news and stories were too unbelievable but here we are trapped… Waiting to die like the rest of them." Ally chuckled when she saw her school books, "at least we won't be taking that test today." Mel also chuckled, it was the first smile from either of them the whole time. "We were too busy drinking and having fun to even prepare, I guess no more tests is one good thing to come out of this."

Ally thought back on Mel looking at the family pictures, "What if we never see them again?" Ally saw the phone she threw earlier knowing it was dead and she couldn't do what Mel was doing, "I don't know, that's all I can think of but we'll die if we leave." Mel took a deep breath and wiped the tears away, "that doesn't sound so bad right now." Mel looked at everyone huddled around in silence, few were able to sleep, Mel looked through her backpack and pulled out a birthday card she had, "can't believe things like this aren't going to matter anymore… Ya know the person this was for is right outside that door… A corpse looking for it's next meal, this morning everything was so different, everyone was happy, now we're here… Trapped, makes me prefer taking that test." Ally looked at the injured getting cared for off to the side, "those people won't make it, the way those things bite, that must mean something, it could be just an attack but maybe it's to spread this thing…. We've read the stories, watched the videos." Mel looked at the person giving CPR to one of the sick, "we got a choice then, leave or die… I think I've made my mind up already." Mel rested her head on her bad and shut her eyes as Ally glanced over at her traumatized and scared friend.

Mel opened her eyes one last time and looked around and took a deep breath, she found the faint moans calming as she dozed off, Mel began to cry herself to sleep for a while, eventually she couldn't cry anymore as she fell asleep. Mel heard the sound of Ally urging her to wake up, Mel jolted awake and saw people running and screaming as walkers attacked. Mel stood up and grabbed her bag and followed Ally, they grabbed each other's one open hand to keep together. The pair ran fast and out the door where people were running through, the moon was still high in the sky. Mel took a second to get it together and process it all, Ally looked at her and said, "come on! We need to run, rest later!" Mel didn't question her as she followed, together they ran non stop, eventually making it to the street where it was empty, no signs of life anywhere.

The sounds of screams in the distance reminded them not to stop, they eventually got far enough to slow down. They didn't know who made it out but they weren't thinking about that at the moment. "Come on Mel, we need to get going fast, you live closer." Mel nodded and they took off in the direction of Mel's home. They were at it for a little while, they noticed how empty and dead everything was. Mel and Ally slowed and stopped by a couple of cars, they saw smoke in the distance and heard gunshots. Ally turned to Mel and said out loud in fear, "it sounds like the military returned, should we go back?!" Mel didn't like the feeling of going to the fire, "it can't be safe, we should probably get going." Ally wanted to listen but was so motivated to go back and hope for safety Ally began to try to talk to Mel.

Mel quieted Ally and said, "You hear the trucks?" They got low behind a car as a military truck rolled up and stopped, Ally knew they shouldn't trust them, Mel was under the car beside them. Ally saw there was no way for her to get under the car she was by without noise but the soldiers were about to catch her, she sighed and looked at Mel. "I'll find you, just get home, maybe the school is safe, one of us should see, the other should be ready in case it isn't" Ally stood up with her hands high, "Just me!!! Don't shoot! I came from the school." The soldiers were ready to shoot on sight, "we got orders to detain, not kill." She was cuffed immediately and loaded onto the truck, "head to the school, I knew there were people there, the Civic Republic may be getting the break it needs!" Mel was wondering what they meant by Civic Republic but she ignored and stayed quiet, it took everything not to go after Ally but she listened to her last request.

Mel watched the truck go, she was so tired she put her head down and cried more, she was alone now. Mel was broken and traumatized by it all, "shit shit shit! Why is this happening?!" Mel stood up and looked in the direction of Ally and the lone walker going to her from the opposite direction. Mel looked at the bat on the ground and picked it up slowly, Mel wiped the tears from her face and sped up to the walker, she looked at it as she built up the courage to kill it, she screamed as she hit it hard on the legs, the walker fell to its knees as Mel screamed, "you took everything from me!" she began to beat its head in with full force screaming things like, "rot in hell you bastard! I hate you! You're nothing!" Eventually there was nothing left for Mel to beat so she dropped the bat and fell to her knees crying out loud. She wanted to die so badly but didn't have it in her to do it, she rested there for a while.

Mel took a deep breath as the tears fell, she stood up slowly and noticed how the screams stopped quickly. Mel wiped the tears off and made a run for the school, despite what Ally said to do. Mel ran as fast as she could and eventually made it but was met by ashes, fire and the smell of burning flesh. Mel turned around to see more bodies, consisting of former peers, and walkers. She was shocked by this as she noticed the school on fire, Mel looked around and called for Ally a couple times but not to her surprise there was no response. Mel dropped her bat to the ground and walked slowly through the bodies, she slowly entered the school and was met by bodies lined against the wall with bullet holes and blood everywhere.

Mel couldn't take any more of it in so she puked everywhere, Mel assumed Ally was amongst the dead there. She quickly came to accept it, Mel turned her head slowly and saw a fresh walker roaming the hallway. Mel heard it's moans as it wandered, she stared at it for a bit but was noticed, the walker sped up and was almost running to her. Mel turned and ran out the door and through the mass grave. Mel made it back to the street and tried catching her breath, Mel gripped her bag tight and began to walk away as the walker bursted out the door and continued roaming around. Mel was alone, everything she once knew was gone, dead, the only thing left for her is the hope that her parents are still out there and alive.

Now:

Mel woke up slowly to see the walker had tripped and was stuck in the snow, she took a deep breath and held onto the last bit of hope she had as she sat up. Mel didn't care how cold it was, she needed to tend to her wound, she was pale and thin, she was determined still. Mel removed her coat, she lifted her shirt to see the wound, she used the rag in her bag to wipe the blood away. Mel grabbed the small roll of bandages and started wrapping the roll around herself, once she was good to go she used a pin to keep it together as she put her coat back on. Mel stood up and climbed off the table, she heard a loud crack noise as she kicked the snow away to see an old corpse of a child below her. Mel was confused but she looked around and saw various parts of people sticking out of the snow. Mel was deeply saddened by the sight as she carefully walked through the snow. Mel was dealing with the loud ringing of her ears, and the bleeding.

She continued until she made it to the window that led outside, Mel climbed out and tumbled down to the ground below. Mel was struggling to move but did anyway, "I'm not gonna make it… I'm not gonna make it…" Mel used the window ledge to pull herself up and get moving, Mel slowly came across a group walking down the street. Mel walked to the figures hoping they were real, she was hopeful in that moment. Mel noticed the voices getting louder as they spotted her, a man and a woman walked up to Mel helped keep her standing, "David we need to hurry she won't make it." David looked at Ada as they walked to the others, "we got to get her to Gate City fast, Doc Green will help her I hope." The pair reached the rest of their small group as Mel looked around, her eyes widened as she spotted one of the members looking at her. Mel looked at the person and said calmly, "how? You're dead…"

END