Instinct. It's the primal need to survive. Animals have inborn primal urges that are passed to their offsprings. Each species have evolved to utilize their natural impulses and biological traits. Genes that have been inherited by their parents, they are driven by their inclination to remain alive and breed for the next generation.

Humans, on the other hand, typically have to be taught survival skills. But when pushed towards the brink of death or imminent danger, even the most sheltered amongst us, will experience this innate force to fight or flight. It's our sympathetic nervous system. It operates our determination to keep ourselves from harm.

Serena Abruzzo knew early on how to pull through the roughest of times on her own. Living in the slums of Atlanta had taught her to only look after herself and her sister. As young children, it was just the two of them growing up. She and her sister were often left unattended for hours. Her sister was four years younger who was always more outgoing, so she made friends much easier.

Their father was an abusive drunk who worked too many hours for not enough pay. He was an assembly line worker at a packaging manufacturing center. So he was rarely home during the day. Their mother was a waitress at a nearby pub, and although she was caring and affectionate, yet she often turned a blinded eye to everything and spent most of her free time passed out in bed. It wasn't always bad though. Some days their father would make pancakes, or their mother will take them to the park to play. However, these lovely incidences were few and far between.

Good people aren't meant to live like this. There's supposed to be a beacon of hope that lights the way, leading people like her and her sister towards a new path. Unfortunately, that beacon never came. At sixteen, Serena lost her sister to a hit and run accident. A year later, her father finally decided to abandon them, taking all of their money with him.

Even though Serena's life wasn't easy, yet she never gave up hope. The events in her childhood had inspired her yearning to seek a better life and to help others. As soon as she was eighteen, she left home and enrolled in college right after high school. She became a registered nurse and was fortunate enough to find a job in an intense care unit at a hospital in King County.

As the years go by, Serena eventually stopped visiting her mother. A part of her deep inside still loved her, yet she resented her immensely. Now at 38 years old, she receives a call from the landlord of her mother's building in the downtown area. The woman finally overdosed on her precious painkillers. Although Serena had every intention to call the authorities to place an anonymous tip, wishing someone else would deal with her mother's remains, but she knew that was wrong.

***

When Serena finally arrived at the apartment complex, it was the stench that hit her as soon as she walked through the front door of the home. Even though she has worked in an emergency room in the past, and has seen many patients die on the operating table, but that odor was something she had never experienced before. Serena gagged as she made her way through the filthy, one-bedroom apartment. She held her hand to her mouth as the putrid smell got worse and worse. The sounds of flies buzzing intensified as Serena approached the bedroom. It was clear her mother has been dead for some time.

Once Serena pushed open the half-closed door, she was met with a gruesome and hideous scene. Her mother was kneeling down on all fours, feasting on the flesh of the landlord's corpse. Intestines and blood was spilled all over the carpet. Serena was horrified, disgusted, and devastated. Her mother's skin was falling off of her bones. The woman was rotting, but she was still "alive."

As Serena stumbled backwards into a wooden dresser against the wall with a thud, her mother's head immediately zipped around at her direction. Her eyes were bloodshot as she stared at Serena with immense hunger and rage. Then her mother let out snarl like a rabid predator, Serena's whole body froze up like a block of solid ice. Her first "kill" won't be as easy or as emotionless.

When her mother lunged at her with a growl, Serena screamed and began hurling objects such as pillows, small collectibles on top of the dresser, and anything within reach she could find. Nothing was working. Her dead mother's corpse continued and finally managed to grip onto her purple scrubs. In a distressed state, Serena fell but she was able to grab a vase on her way down.

Now on the floor by the opposite side of the room near the nightstand, her mother followed her to the ground. The decomposing woman was now on top of her, clawing at her shirt with chomping teeth. The tendons of her jaw visible from the outside. Vomit covered the front of the dead woman's white shirt. Serena screamed as she tried to stop her mother from taking a bite out of her arm, but all of her attempts were unsuccessful.

With a tear running down her cheek, Serena closed her eyes and smashed the vase against the side of her mother's head. The attacks instantly stopped. When Serena opened her eyes, she saw her mother had rolled halfway off her, putrid blood now seeping out the crack of her skull. Pushing the rest of her mother's rotting remains off her, Serena sat up and pulled her knees to her chest. She started to sob uncontrollably, but she did not have the time to grieve as the landlord's carcass began to stir and snarl.

Serena grabbed a large shard from the shattered vase, stood up quickly to make her way to the other side of the bed. With a groan, the landlord outstretched an arm towards her. As he tried to get to his feet, Serene was able to jam the glass piece into top of his head as the body collapsed on the floor. These were no longer the same people she once knew. That was not her mother. It was plain to see now. The dead aren't staying dead.

***

As the months go by, Serena can now take the dead's life without a second thought. Things are so much different now. Throughout her career, it was her duty to ease suffering and do no harm. But since she's all alone now, she would do whatever it took to protect herself. Although her heart told her she should stop to help the sick or injured, but her feet had made the choice for her.

Her body pushes her through the chaos of the city streets, then out into the wilderness of the southern countryside. She keeps running, paying no attention to the groups of living people moving away from her on foot or by car. Her legs kept pushing her forward until they ached and burned. As time went on, it became clear to her that those who were still alive were worse than the dead.

Now equipped with a machete, Serena ignores the dead who stammer towards her in the distance. She moves past them like they aren't there. They are too slow to catch up to her and a waste of energy to kill unnecessarily. It's just her now. She ignores the bombs that fall on Atlanta. That city is no longer her home. She knows she must keep going. Where she is headed, she doesn't know. She could remember times in which her mind would tell her to stop and rest, but now it is automatic.

A dark green cotton shirt clung to her skin, but every time she tried to pull it away to get some fresh air, it would snap back to her stomach with a flap. The bluejeans she wore were ripped at the knees and dirty; tucked into a pair of black boots that she found inside an abandoned car. It had taken her a long time to be all right with taking what didn't belong to her. Even though she knows that scavenging and protecting herself were things she must do now, but it still doesn't feel right to her.

A tattered backpack was draped over her shoulders. Duck tape wrapped tightly around each strap, keeping the bag from falling to the ground. It is full of random items she found along her journey. Such as a few cans of soup, a couple of plastic bottles of drinkable water, a rear view mirror of an old sedan, some string, a few wild herbs and mushrooms, a can opener, an expired half-empty bottle of Tylenol, a couple of lighters that seem to still have some fluid left, and a pocketknife that she found on a corpse somewhere in the woods of rural Georgia.

As an ICU nurse, Serena knows the types of therapies or medications used to reduce infection, or relieve inflammation and pain. However, due to her experiences with her mother's overuse of opioids, she has come to be somewhat of a specialist in natural remedies. Growing and identifying plants or fungi has been a hobby of hers, which has now become a valuable asset in this post-apocalyptic life.

***

A soft breeze blew through the north, giving her a much needed relief from the sweltering heat of the southern sun. Serena pulled at her shirt again, but it sucked back against her skin like it always does. Her torso is completely caked in sweat as the fabric of her clothes felt heavy. Another soft breeze blew by again and a sigh escaped her lips; the air caressing her moist skin.

At one point, Serena stumbles upon a Korean American woman who was also traveling alone. Her name was Kim and she said she was an accountant. Serena felt like she could trust her, however it could just be the isolation of being alone for so long. She needed a face that wasn't dead or rotting away. So they agreed to team up.

For an uncertain amount of time, it was most likely close to about a month or two, the pair of them traveled together. Taking turns sleeping and guarding, they became survival buddies. Kim's mission was to go to Virginia to search for a possible safe haven, so Serena decided to accompany her on along the way. They keep moving. Resting only to grab a bottle out of their backpacks when their throats were screaming for thirst, or a can of food when their stomachs grumbling for nourishment.

This time when they stop to rest, they hear a rustling coming from the trees next to the road. One of the dead came shuffling out awkwardly through the bushes and undergrowth, knocking it's dislocated arm against a tree as it let out a low snarl. The flesh peeled away from around its teeth, lips long gone from decay. It chomped at their direction, a skeleton arm reaching out to grab Kim.

Kim's hand fell to her hunting knife that she found on some old overalls. Without hesitation, she gripped the handle and yanked it from its holster. Taking a few long strides over to it, she held a hand to its chest to keep it at a same distance. She drew back her hand, then plunging the knife into the top of its forehead. Then the dead stopped as of a power button had been turned off. It fell to the ground with a thud as Kim returned her knife back in its place.

Unfortunately, they weren't always this lucky. One wrong move these days could be fatal. One early morning, they discover a treasure in this zombie-filled world. An abandoned shopping center that had been overrun by the dead. A failed plan turned to tragedy when Kim gets bitten on her shoulder as they unexpectedly get overwhelmed. With their bags full of whatever they could carry, the two of them make a run for it and climb up the locked gates of the parking lot to safely.

"Please. Don't make me turn into one of them," that was Kim's last request. Even though they never considered themselves to be the best of friends, yet they shared a mutual understanding and respect for one another. Serena had no choice but to make her death quick and painless. As a nurse, having to kill someone who was alive is still rough. Perhaps it is best to be alone, but she knows that is irrational. Humans weren't meant to be alone like this for so long. A total lack of contact would drive anyone to insanity.

So Serena had to continue on her own once again. For miles there was nothing but open road and thick vegetation. Every now and then she'll come across an old broken down car or SUV. Some vehicles have windows that were smashed open, and others were rolled up with an ragged blanket shoved up into the crack. Scratching and growling could be heard inside a few of them as she walked past. Here and there, Serena would glance over her shoulder to make sure the dead weren't following her. She was beginning to think she would be alone for the rest of her life.

Then suddenly, a small mass emerged through the trees off the road to her left. Serena rubbed her eyes with the backs of her knuckles to make sure she wasn't hallucinating. The moment she realized that what she was looking at was real, her breath hitched in her throat. As she got closer, a three-bedroom wood-frame house appeared before her.

As she carefully surveyed the area, there was nothing but a few of the dead shuffling around the abandoned property. As soon as she was sure the home and surrounding area was free of them, Serena was able to feel comfortable enough to secure the inside with furniture or other debris that was laying around. This'll be a good spot for much needed rest. For tonight, it'll do.

***

Author's note: This is my very first Walking Dead fanfic! I'm not yet sure where it's going or how it'll end, but I have some ideas. This is just something different for me to write in between my other works.

I feel that the main character I created is like me. Parts of her background are somewhat similar to mine. So I feel that this story is my way of expressing myself.

I'm not going to ask for votes or comments, but I am interested to see where this goes and if anyone enjoys it. Thank you for being kind! 🙂