I sat there trying and trying to get my old Dodge to run one more time. Everything I did made no difference, time was running out. I tried to think of possible solutions but they all were suicide with the surrounding infected. I couldn’t stop thinking about my family, who I would be able to be with soon enough. But this wasn’t the way I wanted to go.

It was just another day in this crazy world. My family and I were fighting for survival just like everyone else. My wife, Katie, has been the one of the few shining lights in this world. She was 21 when we met at a Red Cross camp in Chicago. She had attended Chicago University and was stuck in the city when it was made into a quarantine zone. Like every other city though, it too was lost to the infected. Katie escaped with a group and they travelled north, and we ran into each other in Grand Rapids (where I was going to school). The group I was in and Katie’s group merged to create The Survivors. We have created a community for us, with walls and some self sustainability. We had organization, leaders, and everyone had a job that had to be done to prove they were still useful to the community.
Today was a run day, where a group of us would go make supply runs for a week or two and then come back, and it just happened to be my turn. I wasn’t too worried as this was probably my tenth run. I thought to myself while preparing, “I can handle myself, I hope one of these new jackasses don’t get me killed.” The part that worried me most was leaving Katie and our two boys behind, even though they had been safe every other time.
“How are you doing today, you ready for the run?” Ned said.
“I’m doin’ alright, you ready to look after the new guys? I asked.
“Nah that’s your job man”
“Absolutely not, it’s all you.” I said in a cheerful tone. I hate looking after the new guys, it always makes me seem just that much more at risk. And I know I’ll get chewed out if they die on my watch, so I always tried my best to make sure that someone else would be looking after them. Ned was tasked as being the leader of this run, even though I should’ve. This was my first time not leading a run I was on, making me a little nervous.
The run was set to begin at noon, allowing us time to get fully prepared and to say, what could be our final goodbye to our family. This was going to be the last time we saw any of our group for at least a week. I left our home around 10 in the morning to head to the armoury and pick out a gun and some knives. Business conspired as usual: Ned pick the AK-47, I picked the M-16 and the rest of the group picked from various rifles and pistols. Once everyone selected their weapon, we had a little bit to eat and then prepped the food we were bringing. We had picked out some salted meat, various fruits and vegetables, and some canned food. With being armed to the teeth and having enough food and water to last two weeks, we had figured this run would go smoothly.
“Just another day in The Safe Haven (name of the community)” Ned exclaimed.
“Yeah, hopefully we don’t run into any of the Governor’s people. I don’t feel like killing anyone this run.” I said.
“Wasn’t your last run the one that 20 of those f***ers attacked you guys and your took them all out?”
“We were unscathed too, but I don’t want to take another chance with them.”
“Man that’s f***ing legendary man, kinda wish I was there.”
“No you don’t, I still have nightmares of us slaughtering those 20 people. They had no idea who we were and what we were capable of. There were children and women shooting at us, we killed everyone.” Ned shut up after that and barely said anything until we left.
Katie had a bad feeling about this run, she was worried sick. She always seemed worried, no matter the situation, it complimented me well as I didn’t worry much at all. Katie and I were opposite in almost every aspect of our personalities: she was outgoing, I wasn’t; she was unsure, I was decisive; we were perfect for each other. Her worryin made me worry sometimes, especially when she worried about runs.
Everything was going as scheduled. We left at noon sharp and we were off on our run. We left in my old Dodge, ready to face whatever was thrown our way. The group consisted of me, Ned, Sean and Tyler, this worried me though as our best fighters were all going out on this run, leaving the Safe Haven vulnerable.
Our first stop, a warehouse, was about 20 miles south. This was our first time going this
direction in a couple months, usually anything south is just a cluster and more times than not someone dies. But recently it’s been quite clear and safe so we figured the warehouse would be a gold mine.
“Are we there yet?” Tyler said anxiously.
“Yeah the warehouse is just around this corner.” Sean said.
Sean knew this area better than anyone. We found him running from a town, called Huron, where he was faced with an ultimatum: submit or die. We took him in and ever since he has been a vital part of our group, his skill set is unparalleled. He’s made his way all the way up to being second in command behind me. Our personalities and decisions compliment each other perfectly, making the Safe Haven one of the strongest communities around.
I took point and we entered the warehouse after making sure there wasn’t any infected inside. The warehouse was full on non perishables because it was a grocery store warehouse before the infected. We loaded up my car, planning to go back to the Safe Haven, dropping this stuff off, and then going back. We made a couple trips with no issues, and we were able to restock most of our supplies. We continued on our run after taking the last of the supplies, and the destination in sight was a gun depot about 100 miles away. The depot was almost certainly untouched because it was a secret government facility Sean found.
The trip took about 3 hours as all the main roads were blocked or too dangerous to travel. The depot looked weary and something didn’t feel right about the place. As we approached the building we started to hear noises inside, but we thought there just a few infected rustling around. We banged against the windows to get the infected our and to kill them, but nothing came. Sean took lead to enter the building, I followed him and told Tyler and Ned to stay outside. Screams came from outside so Sean and I ran outside. Both Ned and Tyler were dead, their throats were slit. Sean and I hopped in the car and pulled away as fast as we could. Out of nowhere, two Jeeps began to follow and shoot at us. They were on our tail for 60 miles, then we were able to lose them and return home.
When we arrived at the Safe Haven, it was all but safe. The front gate was torn down, fire spreading everywhere, and infected now had taken the community.
“What the f*** happened?” Sean pleaded for answers.
“Our families... it’s all gone,.” I added
“It’s over Micah, it’s all over.” Sean said as he was taking his gun to his head.
“Don’t do it, they could’ve gotten out. You don’t know!”
“I don’t want to find out, goodbye old friend.”
He did it. He killed himself right in front of me. Every infected heard causing them to start to surround me. I tried to get me car to start, but it wouldn’t. I only could think about my family, knowing that they probably were dead. I wasn’t going to let the infected get me. I took a grenade from my pocket, pulled the pin and boom.