When the bombs hit I had no idea what to do. The day had started out so... normal. I was in my living room eating takeout with Sam, like every other Friday night. I remember feeling a small rumble and then suddenly being thrown to the ground. I hit my head on the corner of the kitchen table so all I remember is waking up. Sam was still there. I also remember my skin feeling sun burnt from the radiation and my ears ringing.

    Nobody over the age of 18 survived the bombs and nobody really knows why. The adults all turned into zombies. They aren't exactly textbook but that's what I would call them. From what I have seen their bites can't turn you into one of them but they are cannibals with no signs of intelligence. They also look like they have been rotting, so I call them zombies or ghoulies.

   Fast forward 3 months and me and Sam are still together. Honestly, it hasn't been that bad. I would never tell this to Sam but she is the kind of person that makes you feel bubbly all the time, she makes everything better, even the apocalypse. She's also not as dumb and helpless as she led people to believe before. Apparently her dad used to take her hunting and fishing when she was young, which is something I never really did growing up. In a lot of ways she is tougher than me. Right now she is sitting on the floor by the door and lacing her large leather boots.

"Ok, I'll be back before it gets dark. I want to find as much medical supplies and hygiene stuff as I can." She hops up and dusts off her pants. I don't tell her that it makes me nervous to be alone, she would have to make fun of me.

"Ok, I'll just stay here do nothing I guess," I say but she just laughs a little and I hear the door shut. She usually doesn't even tell me if she is leaving or not, the apartment is suddenly silent. We found this place just days after the bombs hit and we have been stocking it up ever since. It might be safe and spacious but we don't have electricity or running water, so fun is limited. We spend most of our time finding bottled water or trying to find systems for showering.

I run my hands along the freshly painted photo of a sunset at the beach and frown at the details. Now, everything before seems unreal and all its memories are blurry. Its like its a million miles away. It's crazy to imagine myself sitting at a desk in school, writing an essay or talking with my friends.
  
   I spend the next few hours drinking wine (something I had never done before) and trying to paint. Before the end of the world I painted faces a lot but now the only thing I find myself painting are beaches. I imagine the skyline free from radiation and blue. Now there's a thick layer of dust covering everything, we wear bandanas outside and even then spend the night coughing every time we leave.

   The sun is coming through the large windows, when it hits my skin I can feel the intoxicating warmth. It makes me drowsy, I end up passing out on the leather couch that sits in the living room by my easel.

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Authors note:
I know the first chapter is supposed to hook the reader but I just used this to introduce the plot and the characters. I promise it will get better! This story is just for fun so I want to make it as interactive and fun as possible. So if you are reading this thank you so much!!! I will be updating weekly, you can get notifications by my message board or from putting this in your library. I hope you enjoy!!! (I will be giving a surprise/gift for anyone who tags 10 or more accounts in the comments!)