By the shore of Lake Michigan is where I last saw him. A dark night, one that we spent in our hideout by the lake, not realizing that it would be our last together. We gazed across the lake, the fires from uninhabited buildings lighting the night. After the plague hit we were forced to escape our homes. The only place that was safe was away from everyone else.

"Lilyana, we're running out of food..." Eli stated worriedly.

"It'll be alright, we still have the berry bushes. Plus, we can hunt if we run out of everything else." I said back in order to quell his anxiety.

"We don't have any equipment to hunt! The berries will last us a day at most and after that, we'll starve. I have to go find food tomorrow."

"But what if you get infected? Eli, there are still dangers. There are still people who are infected and those who aren't could attack you for supplies! What chance does a 16-year-old boy have of fighting off a gang of grown men or plague zombies?

"Lilyana, you know that I have to. There's no other way. If I don't, both of us will die. I have to try... I promised your brother that I'd take care of you no matter what and I will not break that promise."

A stray tear ran down my face. I knew that if he left, he was doomed. I would be left all alone to fend for myself.

"Fine, get food. I'm coming with you." I stated obstinately.

"No! I have to protect you."

"How will you protect me if you're not here? What if someone comes by and sees me? You will be somewhere else while I'm here, all alone with nothing to defend myself with. We have no weapons, nowhere to hide. We're lucky that no one has come over here yet or else we would be in trouble."

He pulled his favorite baseball cap off of his head and scratched his head in frustration.

"Fine, but only because we have no other options. We'll go back to the general store in the next town over. It's a small town so if anyone was infected, they should be dead already. Hopefully, there's some food and supplies left. We'll head out in the morning, okay? Then we'll go somewhere else, somewhere where we can live in peace without fear of being attacked or infected."

"Okay."

After that, we curled up in our large sleeping bag and fell asleep to the sounds of nature and collapsing buildings in the distance, keeping each other warm.

********

The next morning, we ate a breakfast of berries, trying to save as much of our food stock as possible. We set off as soon as dawn came so that we could beat all possible competition and avoid any confrontations. We arrived in the town when the sun was still low in the sky, at about 8 in the morning. The main street of the town was deserted, a few stray papers blowing in the wind like tumbleweeds across a barren desert landscape.

We approached the store, being very wary as we went along. We crossed through a small park in front of the entrance to the general store. As we went along, a hand shot out of a bush right in front of my feet. I jumped away as quickly as I could before the hand could touch me, stifling a scream.

Eli slowly approached the bush, pushing me behind him. He picked up a stick and slowly moved the branches and leaves aside, revealing the person who the hand belonged to. An old man's blind, lifeless eyes stared back at them. His body was scratched and bruised, signs of the plague. His appearance gave away that he was in the last stage of the plague, stage 4.

The first stage is shown by the symptoms of changing eye color and slight hostility towards others.

The second stage is marked by biting and scratching others, aggressiveness, and memory loss for short periods of time.

The third stage's symptoms are total memory loss, weight loss and death due to starvation, absentmindedness causing injuries, being very aggressive and trying to spread the disease through contact or wounding others.

The fourth and final stage has the worst symptoms. Blindness, starvation, cannot speak or move very well due to deterioration of the brain and mental skills, yet they still try to spread the disease. The man in the bush sniffed at the air and then swatted in my direction, causing me to jump. Eli and I walked away from him, knowing that he was unable to chase us.

The front window of the general store was smashed and the first few shelves were toppled over. We carefully climbed over the broken glass and into the store. The shelves were stocked with basic necessities for camping such as rope, matches, a first aid kit, water, and various cans of food. Eli called me toward the back of the store.

"Come here Lilyana, I found backpacks that we can load the supplies into!" he said as he handed me one. "Go fill it with supplies and then we will be on our way."

I headed towards where I spotted a first aid kit. I loaded it into my bag, along with some matches and two bottles of water that I was able to find on that shelf. I moved towards the next aisle, with food. I put cans of food into my bag, along with packets of seeds that we could later use to plant a garden.

A noise came from a few aisles over, a clattering sound.

"Eli?" I called out. There was no response. I approached slowly, picking up a machete that was on a nearby shelf. As I got closer, I could hear sneakers squeaking against the tile and muffled cries. I peeked out from behind the shelf, only to see Eli being restrained by two men. A third was nearby, looking for something.

"Find the girl and apprehend her!" whispered the first man. "We need to get back to base."

The third man started down the aisle next to me and I cowered in fear. I peeked back around the shelf, only to see Eli making eye contact with me. He bit down on the hand that was covering his mouth, drawing a cry from one of the men.

"Run Lilyana!" he shouted towards the back door, away from me. The third man reappeared and headed out the back entrance to where he thought I was hiding. My eyes filled with tears and I was hesitant to leave. He nodded at me and I began to run. I heard the other men cry out as I left, Eli fighting them to get away with all of his might. I ran back into the woods at the edge of the town and climbed a tree. There I had a faint view of the general store. As watched as the men lift Eli and carry him out of the store, I remember something that he has said to me before we arrived.

"We'll meet by the shore of the lake if anything happens to either of us in three months' time."

I climbed out of the tree and ran into the woods, heading back to our little lake camp to wait for Eli.

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A.N. This one was written by me. It was originally for my English class, pretty much the only good thing to come out of it. Hope you enjoyed it and I'd appreciate any feedback :)