PROLOGUE
end of beginning

Have you ever ran so fast in your entire life that you felt your chest start to burn as though there were not enough oxygen in the world that could make that burning sensation go away? Danielle Walsh hadn't known that feeling until the world ended, the way her legs pumped as she sprinted through the foggy woods — missing the twigs that could potentially make her stumble, by only a centimetre.

Danielle lived the same day over and over, the cycle that called itself depression made it nearly impossible for her to live her life the way she wanted to. She wanted to have friends, to be extroverted, to meet a boy in a bar or a coffee shop and have one epic romance. But instead, people judged her, she became introverted and boys told her she was too difficult to be in a relationship with so therefore she stopped trying.

And then there was her brother Shane Walsh, the last living relative Danielle had. The same brother who constantly told her she wasn't worth the time he would have to take out of his day to come see her. Shane was everything Danielle wanted to be. Unlike her brother, depression was a constant in Dani's life and despite feeling the way she felt, she wouldn't change that. She finally knew her place in the world, she had longed to know what made her feel so different from other people. Even as a little girl, she had felt trapped until she was diagnosed.

The world finally made some kind of sense and with her medication, some days were better than others. However, that all changed on the day of August 26th, 2010. The young Walsh had been cleaning the dishes when her phone rang, she placed the cup down so she could dry her hands before picking up the phone to see her brother's contact appear. Ultimately, Dani had been confused as Shane rarely ever called.

He had made it abundantly clear that he wanted very little to do with her after the death of their parents. She had respected his wishes as best as she could but she still loved him. He was her big brother and she always looked up to him. He always played nice around others, especially when his best friend, Rick Grimes, was around. Danielle and Shane often had dinner at the Grimes' home  — the man always invited her and insisted it wasn't because she was just Shane's sister, but because she was family.

You could say that Rick and Dani were the closest when it came to the friendships that the girl did have. Lori, Rick's wife also made sure to involve Danielle as much as she could even if that meant coming over to play games with Carl. But recently that had stopped. Shane and Rick were Sheriff deputies and the latter had been hurt in the middle of a shoot out. This left him in the hospital, a coma specifically. Danielle had been at Rick's side almost every day. She would leave the bakery she worked at and hop on a bus to come see him, she didn't care that he couldn't speak back to her when she rambled on about her day  — the most important thing to her was that he was alive.

"Hello?", the girl's small voice echoed around the silence of her home as she answered the phone. Dani walked over to the couch as she waited for her brother to speak.

Suddenly, a panicked voice cut through, "Danielle! I need you to listen to me carefully", but she simply pulled a confused expression since she had never heard her brother speak like that before. Shane was anything but cool, calm and collected but panicked was new for him.

"Shane, what's going on?", she questioned lightly. Concern began to seep through the cracks of her calm facade, growing worried that something terrible had happened. Questions formed in her racing mind but there was one that remained consistent — was Rick dead?

"I ain't got a lot of time to explain but you need to pack some stuff and get to the city", Dani could tell by his hushed voice and heavy breathing that he was moving around. Distant voices spoke in the background, cars speeding and even some yelling.

"Who are you with?", she asked curiously as she heard the familiar voices but couldn't quite place them.

"God! Can't you just do as I've asked for once in your damn life?", Shane shouted at her through the phone causing her to blink and roll her lips together sadly. She could hear his frustration but also his worry. Dani wasn't sure if that emotion was placed for her or for the people he was with.

"Right, of course. sorry. I'll get my stuff", the Walsh girl stood from the couch and walked to her bedroom to start packing some clothes and essentials she'd need for the road — still confused on what was happening.

Before she could ask again, a car door slammed on her brother's end, "I'll call you as soon as I can. Bring food and water and get to the city", Shane then spoke in a rush before ending the call — leaving Dani standing alone in her cold and empty apartment, not knowing that the world was ending.

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