That was three years ago now the world was now facing the apocalypse. After Ella left the laboratory she saw that the nearby city had fallen to the virus. She thankfully was able to survive and keep herself from getting infected for a while.

Now she was running away from the evolved infected as they were far more dangerous than the normal infected. Ella looked around the area where she could take cover till the evolved infection passed on. However it wasn't easy to find a hiding spot as she had to run and look. Obviously this caused her to miss a lot of areas where she could hide. Thankfully Ella soon tripped and fell into a crater that had been made by a bomb. Ella found a small crack in the hole's wall she'd be able to hide in.

So Ella got up off the floor and ran to the crack, she shimmied her way into it and once far enough in it she waited. The evolved infected came to the area where they saw Ella run to, they looked around for her so they could chow down. Ella remained in her hiding spot holding her breath, praying that they'd go away. The evolved then heard a noise coming from somewhere else in the area. Thinking that it was their meal they roared and ran to where they heard the noise coming from. Ella stayed hidden for a little while longer, just to make sure the evolved had indeed left.

After about ten minutes, Ella believed that the evolved were indeed gone. So she simmied her way out of her hiding spot and looked around the place. She couldn't spot any infected around so she decided to cut her supply run short for the day. Ella climbed out of the crater and went back to her current safe haven till the next time she had to make a supply run.

Ella walked out of the city and into the nearby forest. The woods used to be a camping and tracking range, it was pretty isolated and far from the city. Originally Ella could travel to this place with a car and it would take her only two hours. However, by the time she got there, the sun was starting to set, and she still had a ways to go.

Like most forest ranges like this, there were fire watch towers scattered all around different parts of the forest. Ella had managed to take refuge inside one of the local fire watch towers as it was safe and isolated. Ofcouse she had to make some adjustments to it, but it wasn't too hard for her as her dad used to show her some old fashioned tricks on how to survive in the wild. Even after he passed she'd keep on teaching herself survival tricks in case she ever needed them.

Ella walked into the old forest range, looking around at the destroyed entrance to the site itself. The old ranger hut had broken windows and doors, with dried blood splattered all over the place. In front of the house was a grave that Ella had dug for the old forest ranger and his wife.

She saw that the wife was infected and her husband had killed her, he then self terminated out of what she assumed was guilt. Ella buried the bodies and put their wedding picture on the grave to give them proper rest. She felt bad for them, but hoped they were happier in the afterlife rather than living in this hell.

Ella stood there staring at the makeshift grave for a bit before continuing on her way to the tower. Ella went into the forest and started hiking along the trail that will take her to where she needed to go. By the time she got there the sun had well settled and now the moon had taken over the sky with the stars. Ella was hoping to get a good shower in the nearby river as she was sweating up a storm in her bite proof suit.

She finally arrived at the tower, and she looked up to see the hulking beast of a tower standing over her like humans to bugs. The tower once belonged to an old fire watcher but now it belonged to Ella as her new home. She fitted it out with barbed wiering and a spiked fence at the bottom and on the staircase. At the top the once wooden door was now a metal door with metal spikes on it. She hoped that the spikes could impale the zombies if they tried to get into her. Ella also boarded up all the windows with mahogany wood as it was pretty tough. She also made sure to use long nails when putting them up as they went all the way through and could act like spikes. There was also a makeshift zipline on the roof of the tower, Ella put it there to make sure in case she needed a quick escape. All the work and effort Ella put in she hoped would work quite well if she was ever attacked.

Ella went up to the tower and was jumped by an infected that used to be the old fire watcher in the tower. Thankfully he couldn't do anything to get her as Ella had locked him in a cage that was originally meant to hold injured wildlife. That way they could be safely taken to a care center without risk of making their injuries worse. The cage was big enough to hold a fully grown bear so it was enough to hold a human being.

Ella had kept the infected around and named him Philup as she felt like having at least some form of company was a good idea. Even if he was a zombie she felt as if it was better than nothing as desperate times call for desperate measures.

"Hey Phil, you missed me?" Ella asked as Phil tried to grab at her.

Phil just groaned in response as he couldn't talk anymore, and Ella just nodded her head.

"I'm gonna empty out my supplies and once I'm done with that I'll come back down to wash up in the river. I'll be right back Phil, don't bite any strangers who might come around here!" Ella called out as she left Phil and went up the tower.

Once there Ella unlocked the door with the tower key she had taken from Phil when they first met. After opening the door Ella went in and the place had some guns, firewood, gas for the heater inside. The kitchen was well kept and Ella had been able to salvage a decent amount of food. Ella also manages to find some clothing to change into from the city when she'd go out on supply runs. She'd also manage to get the radio working and constantly try to find any other survivors out there. She hoped that she'd find someone soon as she didnt want to believe she's the only one left.

"Ugh! Alright supply run is done, now it's time to get clean!" Ella stated to herself.

She then peeled off the suit she was wearing, revealing her sweat covered skin and hair underneath. Ella let out a sigh of relief as her body started to cool down from the intense heat. Once the suit was fully off, Ella collapsed on the floor, exhausted from the long day she had on the supply run. She sat there for sometime thinking about everything that had happened in the last three years.

"I still can't believe that this is all happening to the world." Ella said to herself.

She then raised her right arm and looked at a scar on her arm that she had gotten two years ago. Ella laid there examining it for a while, but soon decided to get some water and clean herself up. So she got up and went up to the counter where she had placed a water bottle for herself. She'd already drank all the water she'd brought with her on her supply run so she'd always leave some for herself when she got back. Ella took the bottle and started downing its contents like her life depended on it.

After drinking it all Ella took a moment to breathe and relax herself a bit. She then collected her stuff and went down the tower, then to the river. Apound arriving at the river Ella took off her clothes and began washing herself up. As she was cleaning herself she listened to her surroundings, crickets chirping, the river flowing, Phil groaning and banging against the cage.

Ella allowed herself to relax and melt into the river, feeling so much calmer then she did a while ago. Ever since the apocalypse started Ella had not had much time to relax as she was always trying to survive. So when she could relax during moments like these she enjoyed it to its fullest.

"Ah this is nice, one of the few moments I have to feel better... but I wish I could have someone to talk to... who aren't undead like Phil." Ella said to herself.

While Phil was nice to talk to, she did wish she had someone who was alive and sane to chat with. So far whenever Ella had met another living human they had lost their mind and Ella either had to flee or kill them in self defense. However this did not destroy her hope to meet someone who was alive and sane to partner up with.

Ella soon finished cleaning herself and once she was finished she dried herself off and got dressed in a pair of sweatpants and tank top. She then went back up the tower, once inside Ella collapsed on the bed and passed out dreaming of the good old days of times before the apocalypse. She also dreamt about finding a sane person who could fill the empty hole in her heart.

After a few days Ella was once again on another supply run getting more food. While she was collecting food Ella started hearing footsteps coming her way. She looked to the direction of where she heard the footsteps and saw normal infected coming her way.

When Ella saw them she didn't run and just went back to what she was doing. The normal infected then walked right past her and she just didn't bother them. Once Ella had collected enough food she went to another place to find supply.

As she was walking through the ruined and destroyed city more normally infected where in the area but none of them bothered Ella. As she was walking Ella looked down to her arm and pushed up her sleeve to take a look at her arm.

She looked at the scar on her arm and observed it for a bit. The scar was a bite mark from an infected she had gotten two years ago. A year after the apocalypse Ella was surprised by an infected and bitten on her arm. However something unexpected happened to her, instead of turning into an infected she remained alive and human.

Her injury had even healed up and now all that was left was the scar from the bite. Ella had also noticed some changes in herself after the attack. The normal infected now no longer bother her and just leave her alone, even if she attacks them they don't attack back.

However that wasn't the case for the evolved infected as they still attack her and try to bite and kill her. While Ella doesn't understand what happened to her that prevented her from turning into an infected. Unfortunately because the evolved infected still went after her she felt like that they could still kill her. So she still avoided them as she doesn't want to get bitten and risk becoming one of them.

She soon came across an old, abandoned, and beyond rundown apartment. Ella decided to go inside and cheek to see what supply was inside as she needed whatever she could carry to stay alive. So she made her way into the apartment to check out the supply inside. When she went inside the building looked just as good as the outside did, completely and utterly destroyed. Furniture was turned over, the rugs were ripped up, and there was blood spilled all over the building.

"Ugh! This place has seen better days!" Ella exclaimed as she gagged at the horrific stench that entered her nose the moment she stepped through the doors.

Despite the awful smell she continued on through the building determined to live. The elevator seemed to have crashed a long time ago as Ella saw the doors open, but the box was laying on the ground looking partly crushed.

"Eh, never liked those to begin with, I always felt like they were about to fall and plummet me to my death." Ella said out loud as she observed the damage.

Ella then decided to go up the staircase as that was her only available option. With each floor she descended to Ella looked through all the rooms she could. Most of them were empty but some did have some useful supplies such as food, water, and even some guns with bullets.

After some time passed Ella was on the eighth floor and was about to turn a corner, when she heard footsteps chreeking the old and decaying wooden floor.

Unsure as to what was around the corner, either a normal infected, an evolved, or an insane survivor, Ella got out her gun to prepare herself. The gun she pulled out was a modern 8 mm revolver, she checked the casing to make sure it was loaded.

To Ella's relife it was loaded up, she then turned the safety off and mentally prepared herself for what was to come. She took a deep breath and jumped to the otherside of the corner and pointed the gun at whatever it was.

"WOWOWOW! DON'T WORRY! I'M NOT INFECTED!" Ella heard a familiar male voice scream in panic and fear.

She opened her eyes and when she saw who it was she couldn't believe her eyes. Standing about a foot away from her was a familiar face she never thought she'd see again.

Ella stood straight as her legs were positioned to balance herself for when she'd fire the gun. She also lowered her gun and took off her helmet to get a clearer view of the person standing in front of her.

When the man saw her face his eyes widened and his jaw was hanging open. The two couldn't believe that they were both here alive and well, let alone sane.

"E-Ella? Is that you?" the man asked in a shocked voice.

"Stanley? You're alive?" Ella asked equally as shocked to see her old college friend.

A friend she'd never think she'd see again after they went into different companies. One had worked for a good company while the other worked for an exploitative company and slowly had their soul drained from their body.