'will you still love me when i got nothing but my aching soul?' - lana del rey

ISADORA O'SULLIVAN was always a joyful child. a bright smile with a bright future. this is how it was till the world died and took everyone along with it. the outbreak hit everyone so differently but yet so similar. isa had just gotten home from school to find an empty house. she waited a few hours for her younger brother zephyr, zee, to burst through the door chanting with excitement about the birthday dinner they are having for their father tonight. 

finding a comfortable spot on the couch, isa plops down with a good book right as zee slams the door behind him. "isa! you home?!" he shouts throwing his bag on the kitchen counter. "where's dad?" zee asks turning around to look at his sister. she shrugs not letting her eyes wander from the page. he sighs. "think he forgot?" he asks and isa shrugs more sympathetically this time. their father, ryan, had promised the kids a pizza night out to celebrate his birthday but so far he's a no-show. "i bet we can find something here to make." isa says setting her book aside and leading her brother to the kitchen. 

she flings open the fridge and makes a mental note to remind her dad they need groceries. "okay, how about mustard, pickle, peanut butter soup?" isa says naming all the ingredients in her fridge. "gross." zee complains. isa pulls some rice, chicken, and peas from the fridge and starts up the stove. "peas? i want pizza." he whines. "you can eat peas for once in your life." isa replies pouring some water into a pot. "no, they will infect me with the pea virus!" zee exclaims then jumps from his chair pretending to die. "alright, more for me." isa says. zee smirks jumping back into his chair, pulling out his homework. 

the two siblings talk about their days and what their father's excuse will be tonight. after their mother's death a few months ago he had been working extra hours just to be busy doing something to keep his mind off his deceased wife. after isa had finished putting zee to bed she sat back down on the couch turning the tv on for background noise. "no comment today from the austin police department regarding the rash of violent outbreaks across the city, some suggesting a new street drug is to blame. more on that when we return, with manuela sancnez reporting live..." distracted by her book, isa jumps as the front door opens and her father walks in tossing his keys onto the table.

"you locked the door for once." he says taking off his boots and sitting down beside isa as he sighs. "it's 10." isa says and ryan groans. "i know. they gave us the wrong-sized headers. that doesn't mean anything to you. i'm sorry, dorie." he apologizes. "where's your cake?" isa asks and her father doesn't reply. "come on, man." isa exclaims. "i know, i'm sorry. i'll pick one up tomorrow. i'll take an extra long lunch break and we'll have pizza and cake." ryan replies. "promise? or you don't get you're present." isa says and ryan smiles. "you got me a present?" he asks. isa had in fact got him a present, with his money of course. she smiles and pulls a small box out from behind the pillow on the couch.

he shakes the box a bit and opens the lid revealing the watch isa's mother, molly, had gifted ryan for their last anniversary before she died. he had broken the watch while at work and never got around to getting it fixed. "fixed it for you." isa says and ryan holds the box up to his ear. "you sure?" he asks confused. "no way." isa says jumping over to see the watch working just fine. "not funny." she says and ryan chuckles. "a little funny." he replies taking the watch out and putting it on. "dorie, this is great. where'd you get the money for this?" he adds. "drugs. i sell hardcore drugs." isa replies and ryan laughs. "good you can help out with the mortgage." he says setting the watch on the coffee table. "i have something else." isa says remembering the present she had borrowed from the neighbors. "two?" ryan exclaims resting his arms back on the couch. 

she hands her father the movie she borrowed the other day from the box office and he looks at the back of the case. "this is the one with the deleted scenes!" he exclaims. "let's watch it, while it's still you're birthday." isa says snuggling beside her father. "don't fall asleep." ryan says switching the channel to the movie. "are you kidding? who falls asleep to horror movies?' isa says and ryan chuckles and shakes his head.

the last thing isa remembered when she woke up in her bed was watching someone being chased by a herd of zombies. isa never liked zombie movies she always thought that zombies were a stupid concept. dead people rising? yeah, right. isa throws the covers off and opens the door but is quickly stopped in her tracks as her father's door is open and the tv is left on. she takes a detour from the bathroom to ryan's room quietly pushing the door open. the tv is on to the news channel and she watches as a reporter stands in front of many burning buildings in what must be the city. she looks around the room and no sign of ryan.

a loud boom rumbles through the house and isa starts to panic. "dad?" she calls out. "isa, what are you doing?" zee asks rubbing his eyes. "i can't find dad." isa says grabbing zee's hand to help him down the dark stairs. "dad?" isa calls out again as the two turn around looking into the office. quickly ryan runs in clutching his gun, closing the glass door behind him and locking it. "are you both okay? did anyone come in here?" he asks all frazzled. "what, no? who would come in here?" isa asks holding on tight to her brother. "stay back." ryan says cocking his gun. 

"dad, i'm scared." zee whimpers squeezing isa's arm so tight she almost missed what looks like their neighbor, kenny, crashing through the sliding door and ryan quickly shooting him in the head. zee screams and isa looks at her father in disbelief. "you shot him." isa mumbles and ryan runs over and hugs them both. "we need to leave, now." he says grabbing zee's hand and isa follows close behind. they pile into ryan's truck following the roads. they approach hundreds of people in cars who had the same idea. "dad, what do we do?" isa asks holding her trembling brother. 

"hold on tight." ryan says swerving through a field and onto a backroad they follow up into the city. people are running and filling the roads. "i can't fucking see!" ryan exclaims attempting to back up away from the crowd. "dad! watch out!" zee shouts and right before isa can look out the window the car flips and she lands in between the seats with her arm pinned in between some pieces. "isa!?" ryan calls out. "isa, answer me!" he calls again and isa looks around for her brother. "my arm! it's stuck!" isa shouts in pain and her father peaks in from outside the car with zee beside him all scraped up. 

"hold on, zephyr stay here." ryan says climbing into the crushed car and pulling her arm from the seats. she screams in pain as ryan pulls her from the car. "can you run?" he asks and she nods through tears. ryan picks up zee and grabs isa's uninjured hand. "zeph, keep your eyes closed. don't open them." ryan says as they run past a group of people crouched on the ground. "dad!" isa cries as one stands up and starts running after them. the three run through a store and out into a field where a gun is shot killing the thing chasing them. a man dressed in military armor shines his light on the family. "please help, i think my daughter broke her arm." ryan pleads and the man speaks into his radio. 

"i've got 3 civilians on the outer perimeter." the man says and a voice must have replied back because the guy starts speaking again. "but sir, there are two kids." he says and after a moment he points his gun at the family. "yes sir." he says and starts shooting and the next thing isa knows is she's pushed into the tall grass behind them. a single gunshot rings through the air and she wonders who got hit. was it her baby brother or her grieving father that she had just lost? "dorie?" ryan quietly calls out and isa crawls out from the grass looking around for any danger. zee sobs and runs into their father's arms. 

carefully she stands up and looks at the dead soldier on the ground and his gun hanging over ryan's shoulder along with a few new cuts on his face. "we need to leave." he says picking up zee and leading isa to a truck parked behind a building. ryan starts up the engine and 4 of those things run out from the building banging on the windows while zee screams and cries. ryan hits the gas and they start driving east. 

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it had been months since they left texas. the truck had broken down somewhere in mississippi. after the truck, ryan decided to take their journey by foot. after leaving austin, ryan planned on giving new york a chance considering isa's grandad and nana live there. over the past months, isa and zee hadn't grown very fond of this new lifestyle. zephyr had gone mute for a few weeks and only recently started speaking again after witnessing the horrors of outbreak night, isa had discovered she was a lot more hungry and tired than when she had food and a bed available and ryan had found that travelling halfway across the country with 2 kids isn't ideal.

isa had prayed they didn't run into any of those things and so far her prayers had been answered. nothing but empty cars creating traffic had given the family trouble. "okay, how bout a driving lesson?" ryan says with a yawn. he grabs his gun and exits the truck. "me?" isa asks looking at her father as he opens the door and nods. she climbs down and into the driver's seat. "are you sure?" she asks and her father buckles his seatbelt. "i can't drive all night and day anymore. you need to learn. there is no one else on the road, you'll be great." he says, and zee just quietly watches in the back. 

"okay put this foot on the break you can get a feel for the steering wheel." ryan says pointing to the pedal. isa slowly presses down and the truck moves forward slightly. "see good job." ryan says. isa takes a few circles around the abandoned gas station they are stopped at and finally is ready for the gas. "okay so just carefully press the other pedal and if you need to stop, slowly press the brakes." ryan explains and isa does just that. she goes laps around the gas station it almost makes her dizzy. 

"you're a big help, isa." ryan says smiling. "okay now just keep going straight till i say turn." he adds and isa drives straight down the road turning when told. the sun starts to set and ryan takes over the driver's seat. isa climbs in the back and zee rests his head on her lap and quickly falls asleep. "you think there is anyone left?" isa asks watching the sunset in the distance. "yeah. there's gotta be." ryan replies looking back at her with a smile. "i love you, dad." isa says lying beside her brother. "love you too dorie, more than you know." he replies. the sun falls into the trees leaving the sky sparkling with stars. today was a good day.

the sound of a truck engine wakes isa. she notices ryan is missing from his seat and she assumes he's out to the bathroom, the noise that awoke her slips her mind as she sits up and covers her brother with the blanket that has fallen off the two. a few minutes pass by and ryan still hasn't returned. isa starts to worry now and peers out the window. she looks up and down the road and notices a few bags dropped out by the truck. she looks down and is met with fear she has never experienced before. laying before her is her dead father covered in blood and wounds. tears start uncontrollably falling down her face and she carefully opens the door and crouches down beside ryan. "dad, wake up." isa cries trying to wipe away the blood from his face. 

"daddy, please get up!" isa sobs but he doesn't move. reality sets in and isa is now left to care for her brother all by herself. ryan's lifeless body lies on the road and isa examines his wounds. no bites, it was people who did this, people who could still be around. isa wipes her tears and notices her dad's watch still ticking on his wrist. she carefully removes it and puts it on her wrist. "i love you, dad. i'm so sorry." isa sobs as she drags herself into the driver's seat of the truck and leaves her father behind.

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

so yeah i wrote ANOTHER twd ff LOL but this one i actually have motivation for 

i will get to this sorrowful life at some point but in the meantime here is isa and her story to entertain you!

thank you for all the support on my tiktok and on my previous book so far it has made this whole experience way more enjoyable and i would love it if you could comment LITERALLY ANYTHING and leave a vote cause that helps me out a lot and i want to talk with you guys LMAO

A

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