Day 1,733

   I could hear the screams, smell the rotting flesh, feel the adrenaline pumping through my veins.

   The hallways were dark, doors locked, no where to hide.

I couldn't let them find her. I had to lead them as far away from her as I could.

Finally, a door gave way.

I ran inside and slammed the door behind me, pushing a nearby shelf in front of it.

The banging on the door was unbearable, they wanted me and they would do anything to get to me.

I looked down at the pistol in my hand, then over the detonator in the other.

The door in front of me started to splinter, bloody teeth baring at me, decomposed hands reaching for me.

I closed my eyes, my hand tightening around the detonator.

"You're our only hope now, Laila. Don't let us down..."

   My name is Iris and I never expected to be humanity's savior. I was deployed to rural New York when the outbreak hit. Our platoon was part of the evacuation process. We did our best to reach every last person we could find, unfortunately the outbreak spread faster then anyone could anticipate. My platoon was ripped to shreds in a matter of hours, the civilians didn't last much longer.

   I was the only one who managed to escape, taking refuge in a small, abandoned farm house. The weeks passed slowly, uncertainly, frighteningly. The world around me eventually withered away. Government, cities, normal life eventually became non-existent. The survivors that were left avoided the cities, kept to themselves, and only went outside during the day. Rural America became a safe haven.

   I never saw much of the survivors, but I had to believe they were out there, waging their own war for survival. I never ventured into the city unless I absolutely had to and I never went looking for anyone. I was determined to live out the rest of my life alone, unbothered, waiting for my inevitable death.

   Then, I met a woman, her name was McKenzie. She was traveling with a girl. A girl she was determined to get out of New York. A girl she was adamant could spell the end to this disease that killed our world.

This is our story...

Day 1,727

   The day started just like any other day. The sounds of the dead startled me awake.

   I peaked through the window, seeing a small group just outside my fence line. Maybe a dozen in total, simple.

   After getting ready for the day, I headed out towards the fence.

   The small group became louder and more frenzied the closer to them I got. Their flesh ripping away as they jammed their hands through the chain link fence. Their only motivation was to get to me. They had no care for their bodies, or what was left of them. Talk about a one track mind.

   I grabbed a long metal rod I sharpened to a point a little while ago and started stabbing each one right between the eyes.

   Body shots didn't seem to work, you had to kill the brain.

   One by one they dropped, the pile of dead bodies growing. The smell was unbearable, but there wasn't much I could do about that.

   The farmhouse I chose to take refuge in was on a huge piece of open land and had a barn a few yards from the house. Whoever lived here must've been preparing for something because the fence was already here and the basement was filled with supplies and weapons. No one's ever come by and claimed the property so my guess would be they were part of the ever growing pile of bodies surrounding the fence.

   After taking down the group, I headed to the barn and slid open the huge door.

   Inside sat a 1970 Chevrolet Monte Carlo. It sported a big block V-8, a roll cage, steel reinforced body panels, bulletproof glass and the meanest looking bumpers I've ever seen on a car. It really makes you wonder what exactly the previous owners were preparing for, but it served me well.

I stepped in and started it up before taking off down the long, gravel driveway towards the main gate.

I pressed the button hanging from the sun visor, which opened the gate, before driving onto the main road. Making sure the gate fully closed before heading on my way.

New York City laid in ruins. As a last ditch effort, the government decided to bomb every major city in the U.S., hoping that would clear out most of the undead. Unfortunately there were a few hundred million people in America and they didn't all live in big cities. The undead eventually overtook every state, turning three quarters of the population into mindless, walking corpses.

The only thing that seemed to drive them was hunger. And, from everything I've seen, an apple a day wasn't gonna tame them.

On their own they weren't very dangerous. They moved slow and at this state of decomposition, they weren't very strong. But, if you get caught up in a group of them, you'd better save the last bullet for yourself.

Burned out cars and buildings lined the streets, a handful of undead crept along the sidewalks, the former city was eerily quiet. And, honestly, it scared me.

But, I needed fuel to keep the generator running, so in I went.

The deeper I got into the city I started to notice a trail of undead following behind my car. My guess was the loud rumble of the exhaust attracted them. Noise seemed to have that affect on them.

I pulled into a gas station parking lot and shut the car off. The undead shuffled towards the car, their groans becoming louder the closer they got.

   I reached behind me, flipping up the cushion on the rear seat, revealing a fully automatic, sub-machine gun.

   After screwing the silencer onto the end, I stepped out of the car and took aim before pulling the trigger. Heads exploded, bodies hit the pavement. It was cathartic in a way. They may have outnumbered us a million to one, but all it took was a well placed headshot to remind us who was still at the top of the food chain.

   After clearing the hoard, I filled up a couple gas cans, returned them to the trunk, and headed home...

   Night was difficult. Sure, during the day you had the sounds of the undead to keep you occupied, but night was always eerily quiet. It always made me feel like the last living person on earth. Hell, maybe I was.

   I laid down in bed, memories of all the horrible things I've seen lulling me to sleep.

   The screams of the fallen rattling through my ears, the smell of rotten flesh permanently burned into my nose. Hell walking the earth trapped behind my eyes.

   'Wouldn't be comfortable without a little company.' I thought, closing my eyes.

   "Somebody! Please, help us!" The muffled voice rang out.

   My eyes shot open, the voice sounding all to real.

   I grabbed the pump shotgun from under my bed and ran to the nearest window, peeking through the curtains.

   That's when I saw them. A woman and a young girl, just outside the fence line, screaming for help. My help.

   "Shit..."