001. no longer alone

2023
20 YEARS POST OUTBREAK

       AURORA MILLER truly wishes that time travel was real. The idea of being able to press rewind on your life and fix the mistakes you've made, to never have to worry about the consequences because you can simply make sure certain events never actually happened. Perhaps then, Aurora would be able to stop herself from stupidly running out on her family all those years back and volunteering herself up for a life of fear and pain.

There are deep, dark circles under her eyes from the lack of sleep she's had because most of the time, she's too afraid to even close her eyes. When they shut, all Aurora sees is death in two forms — humans and the infected. The distinct clicking of the infected echo throughout her ears, their faces close to hers as the tendrils emerge from their mouths. The brunette has seen it happen to other people, watched the life drain from their eyes as they screamed for somebody to save them. She'd been a mere child then, not even remotely strong enough to actually help them, but their pained cries haunt her every time she closes her eyes. She sees them all, an older lady who threw herself in front of another woman, but in the end it was futile. That one was the worst of them all, both of them holding hands until they passed.

Perhaps her current predicament is karma, a way for the world to once again tell her that she is a coward for hiding away. It's what she deserves, Aurora has known that for a long time. She imagines it's been coming for years, all the close calls with the dreaded death, managing to scrape away from the Grim Reaper just in time.

The familiar sight of crimson stained hands takes up her vision, blood dripping from the palm at an alarming rate. She knows this could be it, her life is moments away from being stolen by the dead, the mere scent of her blood enough to draw them in.

The girl has to force her whimpers down, holding a spare piece of cloth to the cut, hoping that it may just slow down the bleeding enough to deter them. Her vision is blurry as she stares down at it, the material and her skin blending into one as she struggles to keep her eyes open. It's not just the injury, but the exhaustion that comes with running, that is posing an issue. If she's lucky enough, she will fall into unconsciousness before they begin to devour her flesh.

This is what she'd run from for so long, well it's at her door now and it's knocking so loudly that she can barely hear her own breathing. It's almost as if her lungs have just stopped working, that her body is ready to shutdown to save her the pain of what's to come.

Aurora sniffles lightly, the cloth she'd been using now soaked in her blood and no longer of any use. The groans of the dead become louder, seeking her out and ready to make her join them.

Carefully, she pushes herself up into a crouched position and peeks over the windowsill, spotting a small group of the zombies slowly dragging themselves towards her. She takes in their appearances, noticing the distinctive markings of a clicker amongst the faster beings, and she knows it's well and truly over.

Aurora's strength is depleted, her body weak and tired, and any ounce of proper fight has fled her body. This is truly it, her final fight.

Pulling the poorly made knife out of her pocket, she throws the stained rag away from herself. The excited screeches of her probable killers are haunting, echoing in her ears and accompanying the rapid sound of her heart beat. She'd run out of bullets ages ago, the only weapon being the knife she'd made from some old metal on her travels. Her only line of defense is something that is hardly sharp enough to penetrate the softest of skin, let alone the hard exterior of a clicker.

But still, the idea of going down without some sort of fight doesn't sit right with her. Simply letting them take her to death, suck the life out of her, she won't let it happen. She can't.

Aurora Miller may be many things, but being a fighter is something she has always prided herself on. It's a trait that she will carry to the very end.

The group of infected have huddled themselves around the bloody material, and she's aware that it's only a matter of time until they turn and see her. They're growing more disinterested by the second, and a few moments is all it takes for one of them to turn and look into her eyes.

"Come on you fuckers!" Aurora exclaims, all of them having been alerted to her presence by the other. "Come and get me,"

Aurora can feel her heart accelerating as they push towards her now, and it's as if her life is flashing before her eyes. Memories of her rather disrupted childhood playing over in her mind — memories of the way her Uncles had raised her with so much love, even if Joel was still so heartbroken over the loss of his daughter. The way her Uncle Tommy would throw her up in the air and catch her just before she tumbled to the group, excited screeches leaving her lips as she would call out "again! again!"

Joel and Tommy Miller, the two men who had given her the best life they possibly could in such dire circumstances. She'd love them forever, and she knows that her final thoughts will be of them. The brunette hopes they're somewhere alive, living life to the fullest and caring for one another. Because even if they don't know it, after today they'll be all the other has.

There's a small thought in the back of her mind though, a rather hopeful one when in the face of death, she'll get to see her mother again. The woman from the photo, the very one that has remained by her Uncle Joel's beside for years. The very same one that she used to press a small kiss to before she went to sleep.

A small bit of happiness in such a dire situation.

The first infected lunges at her, and she throws her leg forward, kicking it away with as much power as she can muster. It falls to the floor and she stomps down, the infected's blood splattering all over the bottom of her worn out jeans. The old shoes she wears are covered in muck, dirt and mud now intertwined with splotches of infected blood. It doesn't deter the other creatures from rushing towards her though, for death is something they live every single day.

The heavy feeling in her limbs limits the extremity of her attacks, and when she hears the familiar clicking sound, Aurora is ready. She's ready to go.

The clicker shuffles quickly, arms reaching out to grasp the teenager. It's decomposing flesh grazes the brunette's arm, and she manages to kick it away slightly. Every ounce of fight merely delays the inevitable, gives her a few more shuttered breaths and beats of her heart. These creatures, they're relentless, they will hunt you down until they physically can not anymore — and even then they still try. It's a horrifying reality, watching them close in, because where one is more usually follow.

The clicker finally manages to grab hold of her enough and lurches forward, ready to take a bite out of her neck. It's rotting teeth are no more than an inch from grazing her clammy skin when a gunshot echoes throughout the abandoned building, the zombie's blood splattering against her. She screams lightly when the deadweight practically forces her to the floor, her body covered by the now completely dead clicker.

"Get her!" A feminine voice calls from around the girl, the infected quickly lifted off her. Aurora can hardly make out the person before her, the knock to her head when she'd fallen making her vision blurry. She does, however, quickly realise that she's being lifted herself.

Fighting against the person's grip, Aurora manages to bite their forearm rather harshly. They curse at her, moving one of their arms to grab something from their pocket. The brunette feels the harsh prick of a needle in her arm and within seconds she's incredibly drowsy.

"We need to go!" The woman yells.

Aurora tries to keep fighting, but she knows it's dire. She's slipping into unconsciousness rather quickly, and then she's gone — slumping into the arms of a complete stranger who may or may not mess her life up even more.

NOTE!

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