The streets were swarmed with the sick.

Dead bodies rotted in the streets, pearly white bones picked clean by human hands. The hot air only made the smell of death worse, and Catherine was left covering her nose, coughing and sputtering.  Some bodies were half alive, gasping and clawing, anything to prove that death wasn't just around the corner, but it was. Catherine shuddered, imagining that one day it may be her lying to herself. It may be her against her own, decaying mind.  Her body, half rotten, infected with what took away her happiness, with what was tearing the world apart.

Catherine was breathing fast, her pulse racing.  She forced herself to breathe normally, taking three seconds to breathe in, and three to breathe back out.  She was still scared, though.  She couldn't change that.  She never would be able to, no matter how hard she tried. 

Stepping over corpses, Catherine made her way down the street.  Screams echoed from houses, voices cried in her head. No, she was just imagining them. They weren't real. They weren't real. They were not real. Thinking that, over and over and over again, they went away. Catherine released a breath she didn't even know she was holding.

"Hey!  You!"  A tall male figure started running towards her.  She shrunk away, trying to make her body take up as little space as possible.  He still came towards her, and she snarled at him, baring her teeth.  "Go away!"  She hissed, hoping it sounded menacing.  She glared at him, and he stopped abruptly.  "Listen, I just want to talk."  He sounded as though he meant it, but she didn't buy it, even for a second.  She took a few, slow steps backwards, before bolting in the other direction, jumping over corpses.  She didn't risk looking back, hoping her wasn't chasing her. 

Eventually, she reached a forest.  It was large, and there were no signs of any human living things.  Without slowing down, Catherine shot into the woods, looking for a place to hide.