Every day had been the same since the day her father was shot, every day except today. Leya was used to this new routine. She got off work at 3:30, then went straight to the hospital for an hour before going home. Her mom would bring Carl with her when he got off of school, and they would sit together for a while, making sure he felt their presence even if he couldn't see them. 

Sometimes, Leya had to admit that it was discouraging. Every time he breathed a certain way she thought it was him stirring back to consciousness, and she would get excited. She knew better than to get her hopes up too much, but she couldn't help but feeling a bit frustrated. She just wanted him to be okay. But she knew she couldn't give up hope. Her mom was a wreck, and although she tried to keep it together the best she could, Leya could tell she was terrified. So Leya knew she couldn't afford to unravel now. 

She had to stay strong for herself, and for her mom and Carl. For all of them. 

So, day by day she continued to serve at her post. She brought him things like flowers and books to read, and she was currently half way through the first chapter of the Odyssey when everything went to hell. At that very moment, she was blissfully unaware the world had turned into chaos, as the dead rose and society crumbled. But amid the chaos, she had one singular focus: her father. Alone in the room, she didn't have much else to think about. As far as she knew, everything was still perfectly in place. 

Her mom and Carl had already departed for the afternoon, and she was alone with him. As much as she loved family time where it was the four of them together, she liked it when it was just her and him, too. Even though he couldn't acknowledge her, it still felt like it was special for them. Like they were having father-daughter time even when he was unconscious. Besides, she liked taking care of him, especially after everything her parents had ever done for her. It was nice to feel like she could finally repay them in some way.  

She squeezed his hand as she flipped the page to start another passage, but her narrative was abruptly cut off. "Leya, there you are. We need to go - we can't stay here," Shane Walsh's urgent voice pierced through the background noise, which was becoming heavier with each second. She had been so lost in her reading she barely had a chance to notice. 

"What? What's going on?" she asked, her eyes narrowing in suspicion. If there was one person in this world that she didn't trust, it was Shane. He was her father's partner and best friend, but that meant little to her. She had known him for a long time, but she had lost all respect for that man. He had already proved long ago that he wasn't someone she could rely on. Not after what he had done. 

No one else knew what she knew, though. 

It was hard for her to be around someone like him after that, but he was constantly around. It was suffocating. It was like the rest of them were under his spell, but she refused to fall for it. She had always kept a distance from him after that day, but the fact he went out of his way to find her like this made her think something was wrong. 

Shane's expression was tight, his eyes flickering with urgency. "There's no time to explain," he said, stepping closer to her, his tone edging on desperation. "The whole city's going to hell, Leya. People are panicking, and there are these... things out there. I don't even know what the hell they are but we need to get out of here, now."

Things? What was he on about? 

Despite her curiosity, Leya's grip on her father's hand tightened, her eyes flickering with defiance. "I'm not leaving him, Shane. I can't just abandon him."

Shane's face hardened, a flicker of frustration crossing his features. "Leya, listen to me. Your dad would want you to get out of here. He'd want you to be safe. Staying here isn't going to help him. It's only going to get you killed."

Getting her killed? That was a bit dramatic, she thought. She knew cops were paranoid, but as far as she knew, there was no immediate danger. 

Leya shook her head, refusing to budge. "I'm not going anywhere without him. If it were the other way around, he wouldn't leave me behind."

She thought he was going to say he was joking, or something along those lines. When he didn't budge, she stood up from the bed as she went to the window to see for herself. What was he even talking about? Her eyes widened as she looked out to see the city had sprung into chaos. Military vehicles were pulling up, with soldiers shooting at civilians. Normal people seemed to be losing their minds as they turned on each other. It made no sense. 

There was a scream down the hall, followed by a big clash and other sounds that were out of the ordinary. Shane was right about one thing - something unusual was going on. 

As her mind reeled with questions, Shane's patience began to wear thin, with fear and uncertainty in his eyes. She had never seen him like that before, not when he was always so sure of himself. He reached forward tugging on her arm, his firm grip as he tried to pull her out of the room. The hairs on the back of her neck stood up, and she felt a rush of panic as she looked back at her father's sleeping form. 

"No!" she exclaimed as she tried to pull away. "I don't care, I'm not leaving without him." 

"God, Leya. We don't have time for this," he said, his brows furrowed in frustration as his grip tightened. "He's not waking up. If he was going to be conscious again he would have been by now. He's gone, and we need to get you out of here. He wouldn't want you to stay in danger-" 

"You don't know what he would want," she snapped, tugging her arm free. She hated it when anyone touched her, especially him. She scowled as she turned back to her dad. "He's not dead. I won't abandon him." 

She refused to believe he was dead, not when she was just feeling the pulse in his hand. She could see the rise and fall in his chest with each breath. His heart was still beating. That was far from someone who was supposedly dead. 

Tears welled up in her eyes as she thought about him. He was the one man who had always been there for her, the one who had been her protector and her rock. The thought of abandoning him in this chaos was unbearable, even if the world seemed to be falling apart around them. There was another sound outside, this time a snarling sound that wasn't human like. 

The snarling sound sent a chill down Leya's spine, and she turned back to the window, her heart pounding in her chest. The scene outside was even worse than before. People were running in every direction, some covered in blood, while others fought against whatever monsters had been unleashed. The soldiers were firing at everything that moved, and the air was thick with the smell of smoke and fear.

What were those creatures? They looked like people, but their movements were jerky, unnatural, and they attacked anyone in their path with a ferocity that was terrifying to witness.

Shane's grip on her arm tightened again, more urgently this time. "Leya, we don't have time for this," he insisted, his voice low and desperate. "Whatever those things are, they're coming. We have to go now, or we're all dead. We can't save him if we're gone, too."

Leya felt the tears spill over as she looked back at her father, her vision blurring as she struggled to make a decision. She couldn't leave him, but she couldn't stay either. Shane was right about one thing—whatever was happening outside, it wasn't safe. But how could she abandon her father, the man who had always been there for her, lying helpless in a hospital bed?

"Leya, please," Shane said, his tone softening as he saw the conflict in her eyes. "I know this is hard, but we have to go. If there's even a chance that you can survive this, you have to take it. Your dad would want that."

Leya's breath hitched as she tried to swallow back the sob threatening to escape. She knew Shane was right, but that didn't make the decision any easier. Her father wouldn't want her to die here, not when there was a chance she could live. But leaving him, abandoning him in this chaos, felt like the ultimate betrayal.

"I love you dad," she said as she squeezed his hand for what felt like the final time. "I'll come back for you, I promise." 

As she released his hand, her fingers lingering for a brief moment, she felt a deep ache in her chest, as though she was leaving a piece of herself behind. She blinked rapidly, trying to clear her vision, but the tears kept coming, blurring the room around her. This wasn't how it was supposed to be. They were supposed to get through this together, as a family. But now, she was walking away from the man who had always been her protector, leaving him vulnerable and alone in a world gone mad.

Shane's grip on her arm tightened, pulling her back to reality. "Leya, we have to move. Now," he urged, his voice filled with a mix of desperation and impatience. He glanced nervously toward the door, as if expecting the horrors outside to burst in at any moment.

With a final, tearful glance at her father, Leya nodded, forcing herself to turn away from the bed. The pain in her chest only deepened as she took her first step toward the door, each step feeling heavier than the last. But she kept moving, driven by the promise she had made, the promise to return.

As they left the hospital room, the sound of chaos grew louder, assaulting her senses with screams, gunfire, and the unsettling moans of the creatures Shane had warned her about. She jumped at each loud noise, every crash putting her on edge. The hallway was a blur of motion as doctors, nurses, and patients alike rushed in every direction, some pushing past them in their frantic attempts to escape. The air was thick with fear, and Leya felt it clawing at her, threatening to drag her down into panic.

Shane led her through the madness with a firm hand, navigating the labyrinthine corridors of the hospital with the confidence of someone who knew exactly where to go. Leya clung to his side, her mind racing as she tried to process everything that was happening. The world outside had changed in an instant, and nothing made sense anymore. The creatures, the chaos, the sudden collapse of everything she had known—it was too much, too fast.

"Shane, what the hell is going on?" Leya finally managed to ask, her voice trembling as they rounded a corner. "What are those things?"

"I don't know," Shane admitted, his voice grim. "All I know is they're dangerous, and we need to stay as far away from them as possible."

Leya's heart pounded in her chest as she followed him, her thoughts consumed by the image of her father lying helpless in that room. What if the creatures got to him? What if she never saw him again? The questions tore at her, threatening to overwhelm her, but she pushed them aside. She couldn't afford to break down now. She had to stay focused, had to survive.

They reached the hospital's main entrance, and Leya was hit with a blast of hot, chaotic air as the doors slid open. The scene outside was even worse than she had imagined. The parking lot was filled with people running in every direction, some trying to flee in their cars, others screaming for help. Bodies littered the ground, some motionless, others writhing in unnatural movements. And amid the chaos, the creatures Shane had described were unmistakable—once human, now twisted into something monstrous, their eyes vacant, their mouths open in silent, ravenous hunger.

Leya's breath caught in her throat as she took in the horrific sight. This was the apocalypse, the end of everything she had ever known. This was the end of the world, and there was no escape from it.