After I found shelter on that first night, it seemed as if I was the only person left alive, the streets were deadly silent, and electricity had gone out a few hours before. Lucky for me, the mall that I had walked to had a backup generator. I grabbed some perishable food and a backpack and boarded up the doors in a small shoe store called 'Shoe Good To Be True.' I stayed there for eight days, leaving each day to refill my food supply. It seemed like a good system; I would've still been there now if it wasn't for Emily. I couldn't believe my own eyes when a six-year-old girl walked past the window of my store. I almost contemplated letting her walk on, but the guilt itself would have killed me, and plus, what else could I lose now? I ran up and kept going until I was in front of her.

"Shh." I whispered, putting my finger to my mouth. She was strangely calm and followed me back to where I had been living. Once we got inside, I put the wood back over the doors and sat down on the couch. She didn't say anything, she didn't really do anything except grab a bottle of water and hand it to me. She gestured for me to open it and immediately drank almost all of it as soon as the lid was off. She even ignored me when I told her that she could speak in here, I kept the radio on most of the time when the doors were closed, after all, I didn't know how much longer the batteries would last for.

"What's your name?" I asked and again received no answer. "My name is Cassidy."

I thought that maybe the tragedy that had happened scared her into silence, I would later learn that Emily was mute from birth. She was staying with a babysitter while her parents were on a trip to Cancun. She spent two nights with the decomposing body of her babysitter, she slept under her parent's bed but after a while she ran out of things she could eat and make by herself, so she left. When I think about how tough it's been for me, I remember that Emily walked four miles, staying in unlocked houses and eating the food she found. She was all alone, nothing but a 'Dora' backpack filled with stuffed bears and a bottle of water she'd refill when she could. I'm not nearly as brave as she is. We left the mall three days after that; we decided that maybe we could find some others and even help them. Emily thinks that I saved her, but really, she saved me. She gave me a reason to keep going, I think the only reason I'm still here is because of this maternal instinct I have to protect her.

We've been living in this community building that used to be used for town meetings and bingo nights. 'We' is Emily, me, a thirty-one-year-old called Sarah, a fifteen-year-old boy called Sam, a thirty-year-old man named Jordan and a fourteen-year-old girl called Kiersten. Despite the fact that we've only known each other for about a week, it feels almost as though we're a family. Things haven't been so bad lately, no sightings of living monsters, Sam and Jordan even walked to a nearby toy store and brought back more stuffed animals and some board games for Emily. The sun is shining today, it's windy outside and colourful fall leaves cover the ground. It's almost peaceful. And that's where our story truly starts.

"Good morning, Cass." Kiersten says with a smile. She has dark brown eyes and same-coloured hair to match. She's tall for her age and spends most of her time singing quietly to herself. Her favourite song to sing is 'Can't Help Falling In Love,' by Elvis Presley. Before the end of the world, she was very interested in music, she played guitar and had singing lessons on Tuesdays and Thursdays. We found her in a home just a few streets away, she saw Jordan on a supply run through her bedroom window and ran to the door; she was the last person to join our group. She doesn't talk about her family much, the only thing I know is that she was living with her dad and one day after work he never came home. She was in school when they attacked, the only reason she survived is because some woman saw her and took her back to her place. Kiersten told her that she had to go back home to her dad, but after she realised that he wasn't coming home, the kid walked back to the woman's house to find it empty. She was alone up until two days ago.

"Good morning, kid. Sleep well?"

Kiersten nodded and continued out to the kitchen casually, where Emily and Sarah were sitting eating pancakes as if everything were normal.

Everyone who was left had a story, a tragic past and a countless list of lost loved ones. Sarah had lost her husband, Jordan lost his girlfriend and Sam lost both his parents. I lost everyone, though, I never had much to begin with. My grandparents lived in a house just a few blocks away, I tell myself that I don't need to go there because there's no hope of them being alive, but truthfully, I'm afraid of finding their bodies. I'm afraid of a lot of things these days. I was scared that surviving was the best-case option anyone had, but after finding this group, life feels worth living. Maybe even more so than it used to be before this happened.

I joined the girls and ate pancakes, listening to them swap stories and laugh at Emily throwing bits of her food at Kiersten, which she then threw back. I never had this. A family. My grandparents took me in after my mom abandoned me at age 2. They took care of me, but they could never give me the sense of acceptance and joy I felt here, with people who could relate to me.

"Mornin', ladies." Jordan smiled, followed out by Sam who greeted us just the same.

"Morning." I replied, "Anything exciting planned for the day?"

"Thinkin' about hitting the store and seeing if we can find fishing gear." Sam explained, grabbing the glass of orange juice in front of him and taking a drink.

"Fishing gear? What for?" Sarah asked with a confused look.

"Take a guess." Jordan said sarcastically. I let out a laugh at the dejected expression left on Sarah's face.

"Ha ha." She huffed, rolling her eyes.

"We're gonna sweep the houses on Clooney Street too." Sam smiled, "Check for canned foods and survivors."

"We haven't taken in anyone since we found Kiersten, what makes you think today'll be any different?"

"There could still be people out there who are looking for people like us." Kiersten spoke up.

"And there could be people out there like the hunters we seen." Sarah told us.

The day that we found Kiersten was also the day that we found a small group of men, armed to the teeth with guns, driving around in a red Jeep, shouting obscenities and firing into the air. They weren't as friendly as we had been. You see, the apocalypse is good for a very specific faction of people- those who are lucky enough to survive and those who would do the unthinkable just for a chance. There are people out there who are only alive today because they've used others, killed innocent people and sacrificed anyone but themselves to get to where they are now. Sarah calls them 'hunters.'

"It's a risk going out looking for people, we all know that already, but there are still humans left, ones like us. There are good people out there right now, maybe even ones who need help. Surely the benefits outweigh the risks." And although I believed that what I thought was true, Sarah's worries were justified too. Looking back now I wish I would've just listened to her. This story isn't about monsters or aliens or whatever the creatures are. This is about humans; more malicious than animals and far more dangerous. The creatures kill because it's all they know; they don't have the ability to differentiate what is 'good' or 'evil.' That's what makes humans so much worse, they know the difference between right and wrong and they make bad choices anyway.

Jordan and Sam didn't make it back that night.
By the time the clock hit five pm an overwhelming sense of uneasiness took over the small building that we called 'home.' The boys had left hours ago, they'd usually be back by midday and yet there was no sign of them. It's impossible to describe the worry and fear I was left with, I almost felt physically sick. Maybe that seems silly or impractical, I'd known the two for less than a week and still my heart ached thinking about the dangers they could be in. It's not as easy as simply forgetting them, the trauma had bonded us beyond any simple friendship could have.