Two weeks later, everything was back to the way it was before.

Except that was a lie.

John was still acting like a husk, not at all the John we were used to. I don't blame him, but it was getting too much to be around. So here I was on my own, with his car, a fair distance away from our home base. Cabin fever was starting to set in and that, combined with the gloomy atmosphere, was becoming too overwhelming for me.

So I volunteered to do a perimeter check and when Ethan said he would go with me, I declined his offer saying that I would be fine. He was stubborn about it, but I fought for my independence in this matter. I needed to be properly alone. The others weren't happy about it, but I think they understood.

I packed the backpack I borrowed from John with extra ammo for my stolen 9mm gun and some food and water for my day trip. And an extra pair of clothes and my shiny new hunting knife, just in case. I was planning on just driving around the roads that surrounded the property, to make sure that there were no signs of infected or anyone else, but I became side-tracked. There was a road that went in the exact opposite direction of the cabin that had called to me instead. After all, the perimeter thing was just a guise so that I could get away for a few hours.

The gravel road led me to an open field, surrounded by trees. I had been driving for almost an hour, so I stopped at the opening and killed the car. The sun was shining bright above me as I climbed out of the car. Not a cloud in the sky. I closed my eyes and inhaled deeply. I was starting to really appreciate the southern weather. Usually by this time of year in Vancouver, it was raining and overcast all the time. The air smelt of wildlife; the flowery fragrance of the field grass was a welcome one.

As you can imagine, six people living in close quarters did not smell all that great. I looked around for any signs of, well, anything. I was completely alone for the first time since the infection had taken over like a conquering army. I scooted myself onto the hood of the car and leaned against the windshield, my new backpack right beside me. I propped my hands behind my head, intending to fully enjoy this brief reprieve. The warm sun was making me drowsy and I let myself start to drift, listening to the sound of the wildlife.

That was one thing that didn't seem to be affected; the ecosystem. Animals, plant life, bugs; they all seemed to be thriving, while the humans were decimated. I hoped that one day this world would not end up lost to the bugs. That was an even more disturbing thought. Didn't they say that cockroaches could survive nuclear war? I stopped thinking about it, trying to push out the image of people sized cockroaches roaming the empty streets.

A gust of wind rustled the trees even more and I sat up, making sure it was just the wind. I was trying to relax, but fear always was waiting silently in the back of my mind. You could never lower your guard in this new world. I sank back down to the windshield, confident that it was just the wind.

Darren had been pestering us all about going back to John's gun shop to grab more ammo and guns. Unfortunately, John said he didn't have any type of perimeter monitoring equipment. He also showed no desire to go back to his store. We had come to the conclusion that we would go in the next few days. Ethan's arm was getting better, but we still needed as many capable people as possible. So it was to be Darren, Ethan and I, while John and Zoe stayed with Chloe.

Zoe didn't seem to have an issue with staying behind; she wasn't the most aggressive person, not looking to run head long into danger. I remember back when we had first started university and were at the bar with other students. Some drunken bitch was pissed that Zoe was getting hit on by a member of the school hockey team and decided to go up and shove her, all while calling her a chink. Zoe was like third generation Japanese and barely looked Asian, but if there was one thing I couldn't tolerate it would be racism. And that someone was heckling my friend.

Zoe just kind of stood there, not willing to shove her back, so in my drunken wisdom decided to stick up for my friend. I shoved the girl from behind and she whirled around and sucker punched me. At this point I got pissed and grabbed the girls hair, smashing her face into the bar counter. Then proceed to punch her on the ground. I wasn't lying when I said I was a mean drunk. Zoe pulled me off of her and we ended up being banned from the bar.

I remember all the pats on the back I got the next day a school, all while trying to hide my shiner under makeup. The girl had a few inches of height on me and definitely had some pounds on me, but I had managed to win anyways. That was the most violence I had ever committed, up until now that is. Maybe it was there all along and this apocalypse was just starting to bring it out. That was an unsettling thought.

It was nice to have quiet for once. Usually someone was talking or yelling in the cabin and it was impossible to avoid. I had never spent so much of my days outside as I had during the last three months. We were starting to grow restless. Obviously help was not forth coming and unless we planned to live out our lives in that tiny cabin, we had to come up with some kind of plan.

Maybe I could find a car and try my luck heading north, back to B.C. That plan seemed less and less crazy as the days went on. That was also a worrying thought. Looking at my watch, I realized that I had been sitting here for two hours. I hopped off of the hood and threw my backpack into the passenger seat. I reversed out and back onto the gravel road, deciding that I should finally get around to what I had supposedly come out here for. Trees whizzed past me and gravel was tossed up behind the car as I sped back the way I had come.

An hour later, I had been up and down the main artery that passed by the road to the cabin and it looked clear. I wasn't sure, but I could swear I saw movement in the bushes. The car came to a slow stop as I pressed on the break and hopped out. Using my hand as a shield, I blocked out the mid-afternoon sun shining down from above. Maybe it was just my imagination. Everything seemed still now. I shook my head and decided that maybe a drink of water was in order.

I rummaged through my bag for my water bottle, as I started down the road again. It kept sliding away from my grabbing fingers, staying just out of reach. I sighed and turned my head towards the stupid backpack. Finally, I managed to fish the bottle out of my backpack of no return, just in time to see a body in my way. Slamming on the breaks did no good since I was on gravel and the car continued to skid forward.

I managed to swerve to the side, only clipping the human shaped form. It went flying into the ditch as the car eventually came to a stop. Hurriedly, I rummaged through my bag for the hand gun. Gripping it tightly, I got out of the car leaving the engine running, just in case I needed a quick getaway.

"Hello?" I prompted.

A moan was all I got for a response and I had no idea if that meant the person was infected or just injured. I risked getting closer, peering down into the ditch dip. A mangled hand reached towards me, two of its fingers missing and not from the crash. The man was wearing a shredded business suit and his dingy skin was starting to bubble and blister from the unrelenting sun. He tried to crawl to me, his teeth grinding together excitedly.

I took a deep breath and stepped towards the crevasse. I had a better chance of hitting it if it was down there. The gun weight was lighter than my Berettas were, so I had to watch how I shot with this one.

One minute the ravenous face was looking at me, the next it was face first into the grass. In one shot I had hit the top of its head, ending its climbing attempt. There was no silencer on this gun and you could tell from the echoing sound of the gun shot.

The rest of the drive was not a pleasant one. Now I was sure I had seen things moving in the trees. My knuckles were pulled taunt as I gripped the steering wheel and floored it back to the cabin, hoping it didn't take me an hour to get back.

Nowhere near soon enough, I finally turned left onto the road that lead to the cabin from the main one, immediately having to swerve around another infected standing in the middle of the road. I heard the sound of its fingers dragging along the car as I passed, no doubt wrecking the paint job.

More infected were lining the road and coming out of the woodwork. I felt like I was playing a driving video game, having to swerve all over the road just to avoid unwanted pedestrians. There would be no points awarded this time, just death if I managed to crash the car and have to make it through this on foot.

I needed to get back to the cabin to warn the others, if they haven't already found out for themselves.

"Get off the road!" I yelled to no one in particular, after yet another infected ran towards the car instead of away from it.

One of the headlights cracked from the impact and a fair amount of dents were more than likely adorning the front grill. I gritted my teeth, my breath coming out in short spurts. Finally I reached the gate, cursing when I remembered that I had closed it behind me.

Except it wasn't closed. It was wide open.

A group of infected had formed behind me, chasing after the car so I had no choice but to go forward. The closer I got to cabin, the more I realized I should be panicking. Ethan's truck was gone and I didn't spot anyone outside. Infected were everywhere; the whole property was overrun.

I got up to the cabin door and jumped out of the car, taking out the two that were banging on the front panels. The door banged against the wall as I burst through and I slammed it shut. I looked into the two bedrooms, only to find them empty of people. The room was spinning and I realized that it was me, so I stopped my feet from going in circles. It looked like things had been hastily packed, bags and supplies were everywhere. On the floor, counter, furniture.

It looks like I had been left behind. I braced my hands on my knees; breathing was starting to become difficult. There was no way they would leave me behind, they just... couldn't have. Alright, I would have to keep that thought out of my mind for right now. I ran to the ammo stash and threw as many of the remaining cases as I could find into a plastic Wal-Mart bag, then grabbed some of the food bags and tossed them all by the door.

Peeking out the front window revealed that a couple more infected had made it this far up the drive way. I took a breath and flung open the front door, not wasting too much time with my aim, I managed to take the two that had just approached the car. I reached back into the cabin and grabbed the bulging plastic bags, then threw them into the back seat.

My head whipped around as I tried to scan for signs of anyone, eyes landing on a bobbing head just beyond the fence line; my heart sunk.

It was Chloe.