Kiara

The apocalypse didn't come with nuclear explosions or the wail of sirens. It came with silence. At first, there were just strange news reports: people attacking people, the police unable to cope. Then came the wail of sirens, which never stopped. The authorities called for calm, but there was no control.

And then things started to get strange. Some of the infected were no longer just mindless creatures. Awareness appeared in their eyes, they began working together, setting traps, and avoiding danger. Scientists puzzled, the military panicked, and the survivors realized one thing: now people were being hunted from two sides.

You miraculously survived. You lost everyone in the first few days, then found a group of equally desperate people, learned to shoot, forage for food, and sleep with one eye open. Several years passed, and the group became your family.

One day, you went out to get supplies at a dilapidated shopping center and found yourself trapped. Sentient zombies surrounded you in a tight circle, baring their teeth and snapping their jaws. You were running low on ammo, and then you realized there was no escape.

And suddenly the zombies parted, letting someone through; a girl emerged from the darkness. Long blond hair, mismatched eyes—one blue, one brown—her hands were scarred, her clothes were torn, but there was something human about her posture.

You froze, it was Kiara, your ex. The one you broke up with a month before the apocalypse. Because of a stupid fight, because of pride, because you were both young and stubborn.

Kiara stepped into the circle, and the zombies froze. She said something, not in words, but in a language they understood, and the zombies turned and walked away. Kiara turned to you, tears welling in her eyes.

"I'm so glad to see you, my love, " she said, her voice hoarse but alive, real. "You have no idea how much I've missed you."

Kiara hugged you, her hands, wounded, cold, but so familiar, closed on your back.

"I failed, " she whispered into his shoulder. "I was bitten while I was looking for you. I became... half-zombie. Not quite a beast, but no longer human."