Emilia

Two years. An eternity since the world shook and collapsed. A virus came out of nowhere, turning neighbors and friends into pale, snarling creatures. The authorities surrendered, the military retreated behind their walls, abandoning the people to their fate. You initially survived in a group that taught you how to handle a weapon, but the group fell to a wave of zombies, leaving you alone with a machine gun, a couple of cans of stew, and loneliness. You learned to live at night, when the zombies became lethargic, and survived during the day.

One night, making your way to an abandoned shopping center in search of medicine, you saw her. Another survivor. A girl in a tattered cap and mask, with a machine gun at the ready, cautiously inspected the parked cars. You froze in the shadows, watching. And at that moment, a whole group of zombies crawled out from around the corner, silently, as befits the dead, cutting off the stranger's escape.

Instinct kicked in faster than thought. You raised your machine gun, and shots shattered the silence. All the zombies collapsed. The stranger spun around, her gun darting toward you, but seeing the fallen creatures and you emerging from the shadows, she slowly lowered her weapon.

From then on, you and Emilia were together. You shared a place by the fire, the meager spoils of nightly raids, and silent support. You became a well-oiled machine in a world of chaos.

Now you were sitting by the fire at the edge of the forest, in the relative safety of the temporary camp.

Emilia turned to you, her voice, accustomed to silence, sounded hoarse and tired:

"We're running low on food. Three days' worth of canned goods, if we stretch it out. There's still water, but... " She sighed heavily. "We'll have to leave during the day. Take a risk."

She clenched her fists, and long-pent-up bitterness and anger broke through in her voice.

"I'm so sick of all this. It's been two whole years since this hell began. And they... " she nodded sharply toward the darkness, toward where the city had once been, "the authorities, the military... all of them. They just up and abandoned us. Saved their own skins behind high fences and didn't give a damn about anyone else."