Laura's POV

I nodded my head slowly, as a single tear trickled down my cheek. Mom came up to me, swiftly wrapping her arms around me, hugging me. She began crying tears of joy, as I did as well. 'Finally... I'm reunited with my real mother at last.' I thought to myself. It was like a dream come true for me.

Mom was barely shorter than me, about '5"6. Her dark, red hair was in a high ponytail, with her bangs hanging off the sides of her face. I could tell that I had her vibrant blue eyes, but her skin was more of a white peach skin tone. Claire was wearing a dark red leather jacket over her white buttoned up blouse, dark blue skinny jeans with a blue belt, and short black leather boots.

"I missed you so much Laura," She whispered softly to me, as she continued to cry softly.

"I've missed you too Mom," I whispered back.

She pulled away from me—wiping away her tears off her cheeks and calmed down. Managing to smudge some of her mascara in the process.

"Oh my gosh, you already look all grown up," Mom stated with an astounded tone of voice, as she was scanning me from top to bottom.

"I'm only sixteen years old, Mom," I pointed out. "Well... as of today officially."

"I know Laura. Happy Birthday by the way dear."

"Thanks Mom." I wiped away my tears carefully, so I wouldn't smudge my makeup.

"My gosh, look at how tall you are. You're only sixteen and you're already taller than me."

"I know Mom, I get that a lot from people."

"Anyway, since today's your birthday, what do you want to do Laura? We can go do anything you want."

I thought for a moment, until something came to mind.

"Really, well..." I stuttered.

"What is it?" Mom asked me, as she raised an eyebrow.

"I wondering if we could go to that new roller derby that just opened down town last week. I've never been roller skating before, and I thought it could be something we could try together."

"That's fine with me Laura, let's go," Mom grabbed her purse off the chair she was previously sitting in, before heading over towards the doorway.

"Hey! Wait up for me!" I said, as she stopped at the door.

"Only if you can't catch up," She teased, as she left.

"Hey Mom, I'm coming! Wait up!" I said, as I caught up to her in the hallway.

***

"Here are your skates ladies," The gentleman said, as he handed us our roller skates.

"Thank you," Mom thanked him, as we took our skates and walked over towards an empty bench. Sitting down to put our skates on.

"So Mom, have you ever been skating before?" I inquired, while I removed both of my boots off my feet and placed them on the ground beside my feet.

"Only a few times, I haven't been skating in a really long time though. I loved it as a kid. The last time I went skating was with my older brother, Chris, when I was around thirteen or fourteen years old. Oh god, just talking about it makes me feel old," Mom answered, as she was tying the laces on one of her skates.

"You're not that old Mom, you look like you could be around your late twenties," I complemented her, as I tied the last skate on my foot.

"Thanks, but I'm actually thirty six years old," She clarfied.

"So... you were twenty years old when you had me?" I noticed her grimace slightly when I asked her.

"Yeah, I was. Come on, you ready?" Mom asked me, as she got up from the bench with both of her skates on.

"I've been ready, I was just waiting for you slow poke," I said, as I got up too.

We both placed our purses and shoes all in one cubby, before heading out to the skating rank. Once my skates touched the cold, polished, wooden floor, I began having difficulties with maintaining my balance. The floor quite slick with skates on. So, I stayed close to the wall to help maintain my balance.

When I glanced over at Mom, she wasn't struggling at all with her balance. Of course she had more experience than me with skating, despite how long it's been since she skated last time. Mom made it look like it was a piece of cake.

"Need any help?" She offered.

"No, I got this," I replied back.

Eventually, I misplaced my footing. Slipping and falling very harshly onto the wooden floor. This was my first time skating and I already fell on my butt. I think I bruised my thigh too, but not too badly. I glanced up—noticing Mom hovering over me, as she chuckled and held out her hand to me.

"You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. I just slipped, that's all," I grabbed her hand, as she helped me back up onto my feet.

"Here, let teach you how to skate," Mom suggested , as she started instructing me.

For the next hour or so at the roller rank, Mom has been taking her sweet time to teach me and help me learn everything I need to know on how to skate properly. From the basics like maintaining my balance and stopping myself, to more difficult stuff like foot coordination and speed control. It was fun and enjoyable experience that I was glad to share with her.

"Hey Mom, can you give a ten second head start? I want to try skating on my own without any help," I asked her.

"Sure, I won't be too far behind incase you need any help again," She replied.

"Mom... I'm sixteen remember. I'm not a little girl anymore," I stated, as I began skating far ahead of her without realizing it.

Eventually, I finally got the hang of it. Quickening my path with each step I took. I was glad to enjoy this learning experience with my mother, since it's the only thing she's taught me. You could literally see the look on Mom's face of how proud she was of me. While I was skating, I caught of Cat and Shelby sitting at one of the tables in the lounge area. I started freaking out a little bit.

'Ok Laura calm down, as long as you remain positive and you ignore them nothing bad will happen today,' I mentally told myself. I calmed myself down and ignored them. 'There's no way I'm letting those bitches ruin my special day.'

***

"Wait, you actually work for TerraSave???" I asked her, using a shocked tone of voice.

"Yes, I have been for about more than ten years, I was very young when I started. Huh... time really seems to fly by quickly." She told me.

We were sitting at table at my favorite restaurant, the Winchester Steakhouse. After skating for so long, we left the roller rank. Deciding to show Mom all around Seattle, since it was something I always wanted to do. We went to the Space Needle, did a little bit of shopping at the mall, and ending the day by eating at my favorite restaurant. We had already ordered what we wanted, so we were waiting patiently for our food to come.

"Oh I have a question, do you happen to work with a girl named Moira Burton?"

She raised an eyebrow at my question. Glancing at me in confusion.

"How do you know her?"

"I don't, she just ran into me on accident last Friday at school during our career fair. It's quite funny actually, after she apologized we talked for a little bit. Then she left saying that a friend was waiting for her. She seemed very nice though," I explained to Mom.

I gazed over at Mom—seeing her text someone on her smartphone.

"Who are you texting Mom?"

"You'll see," She said, as she looked up at me, then starting looking throughout the restaurant for someone. 'I wonder who...'

A few moments later, I see her wave to someone on the other side of the restaurant. I turned around, spotting Moira as she was coming towards our table. Mom scooted over, allowing Moira to sit down beside her at the table.

"Hey Claire. Oh! Hey Laura, I didn't see you there."

"It's fine Moira."

"Claire, wasn't there something you wanted to tell me?" Moira asked, resting his arms on the table top while glancing at Mom.

"Yes Moira, you're one of the very first few people I'm telling this to, so please understand what I'm about to say." She took a deep breath.

When she was about to say something, a blood curling scream was heard throughout the entire restaurant. I immediately sat up from my seat, to look up and to see what the hell was going on. We all peered over—seeing a young man attacking one of the restaurant's waitresses. His back was facing me, so I couldn't get a good look at him at first.

She was on the floor, trying to hold off her attacker from hurting her. There was a bite wound on her forearm, bleeding tremendously and spilling down onto her work uniform. One man got up from his table—rushing over to them and yanked the guy off her. At that exact moment we were all horrified at what happened next.

The young man lunged for the guy's neck—biting into it. As he sunk his teeth deeper into its victim, his screams became more loud and agonizing. As the cannibal munched on his meal, blood began to pour out of the guy's neck. Spilling everywhere around him and staining the floor beneath them. People were screaming at the horrific sight.

Right then, I was able to see what the attacker really looked like. His skin was deathly a greyish-pale and rotten, his eyes were very white with discolored irises, and there was blood stained all over his black business suit. He looked like a monster. A B.O.W.

Panic overcame everyone very quickly, as they began fleeing the restaurant right as more infected bursted in through the windows. People were screaming and running for their lives, it was starting to become chaotic.

"We gotta go now! Come on!" Mom shouted, as we all got up.

Mom and I grabbed our purses, before we headed for the front entrance with Moira, but halted halfway there. The front entrance was crawling with infected, as more and more of them were starting to pour in through the entrance. Attacking people and feasting upon them as if it was a free buffet.

"This way is no good, come on let's go around back! Hurry!" Mom said, as she grabbed Moira and I. Rushing through the kitchen to take the exit in the back. Once we got there, I tried to open it, but it was locked.

"What's wrong?!" Moira asked, with a alarmed tone of voice.

"Dammit! It's locked!" I yelled, as I tried to open the door forcefully. Pulling on the door handle.

"Stand back Laura," Mom commanded.

I backed away from the door, then Mom kicked it very hard using her leg. When it finally opened, we all rushed out the doorway, but something grabbed ahold my arm. Stopping me. I quickly turned around, and see that it was another B.O.W.

"Mom! Moira! Help!" I shouted for help, while trying to pry the infected person's grasp off me.

For someone dead, it had a suprisingly strong grip on me. The situation would been easier for me only if I had my customized B.S.A.A. knife Dad gave me a long time ago, but it's at home. 'Damn it! Why out of all days did I leave it at home!'

Mom sprinted towards me, kicking the creature in the face. Causing it to let go of me, as it tumbled back onto the ground. Then, Mom and I dashed out the door, while Moira waited for us outside. The three of us were now in a alleyway, located in between the restaurant and the building next door

After we made it out of the restaurant, Moira went over to a nearby large dumpster. Using all of her strength to push it to block the back door. Mom and I quickly caught on to her idea, hurrying over to help her. It didn't take long for us to block the door with dumpster, since the three of us were working together to push it.

"Follow me! The parking lot isn't too far from here," Mom told us.

We followed after Mom, as we ran even further in the alleyway. A few minutes later, we arrived at the small parking lot.

"Over here!" Mom quietly shouted, as she pointed over to my car that was only like five to ten feet away from us. We took my car instead of calling a taxi here, because it's cheaper.

We all sprinted as fast as we could towards my car. While we were running, I grabbed my car keys out of my purse, throwing them over to. Since I was pretty sure that she wasn't going to let me drive right now, especially with all this chaos and maelstrom going on.

Once we made to my car safely, she pressed the 'unlock' button on the car clicker. Automatically unlocking the car. Mom got in the driver's seat, while I sat right behind her, and Moira sat up front on the passengers' side. Right next to Mom. She placed the car key into the ignition, starting up the car right away.

Mom shifted the gear out of park to reverse, backing out of the parking spot quickly as the car turned on. Next, she shifted the gear to drive, speeding quickly out of the parking lot and onto the highway. All while pandemonium began to overtake the city.