𝐌𝐈𝐙𝐏𝐀𝐇 ☙ ᵍˡᵉⁿⁿ ʳʰᵉᵉ

chapter one

𝟎𝟏 - 𝐃𝐀𝐘𝐒 𝐆𝐎𝐍𝐄 𝐁𝐘𝐄

𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝟑𝟓 𝐝𝐚𝐲𝐬, since the world lorelai walsh once knew, had turned into complete chaos. she pondered about her life, before the dead started roaming the streets, destroying everything in its path. those same 35 days, she's been alone, isolated, with not a clue if her family is dead. and she asks herself, "how tf am i still alive."

she stuffs the final things in her bulging backpack: a torch, spare change of clothes, a kitchen knife, her brothers guns, a small med kit, water, canned food and of course, deodorant. she was packing to go up to atlanta. when the apocalypse started, her, her siblings and her brothers best friends family went up to atlanta, but she knew that not all of them would be able to get up there safe, so she stayed back and scavenged the town for supplies.

she had a final look around her small childhood home, the creaking of the floorboards, the hand drawn growth chart of her and her siblings left a feeling of nostalgia. as soon as she leaves, it's like all those years, all those memories ceased to exist. but she couldn't stay here any longer, she had to leave and most importantly, she had to find her family.

photos of her and her siblings plastered the walls, with the few of her parents before they passed. her whole entire life on a singular wall, she picks up a photo of her and her siblings. they have their arms wrapped around each other and are grinning from ear to ear. she smiles softly and takes the photo out of the frame and folds it up, putting it in her jacket pocket. then she turns to the one next to it, its a similar photo but her brothers best friend, rick, and his family are in it.

"lori... carl... i hope they're okay." she says as she recalls the previous events, post-outbreak.

before the dead started walking the earth, rick entered a coma after getting shot on duty, since both him and shane, her older brother, were deputy's at "the king county sheriffs department" and ever since they met, the pair had been inseparable. rick and his wife, lori, had looked after rory and her younger sister after their parents had a tragic accident, not long after iris was born. rick was like an older brother to her, and knowing he is most likely one of those creatures, hurt her heart. the hospital he was in was one of the first places to get overrun, a part of her still hopes he managed to survive, but she knows he hasn't.

she turns around, and shakily puts her hand on the doorknob. as soon as she steps foot out of the door, she enters the real world, whatever that now is. she swings the door open, a stench of rotting flesh hit her face, making her scrunch her features and urge.

"jesus that's rank, shane is obviously around" she smirks and looks around at the apocalyptic town she used to call home. she notices a strange figure in the distance, it's probably just a dead guy, right? that's what she thought until the figure started screaming for help. her eyes widen and a confused look spreads across her face.

"oh shit, those things can't speak." she says to herself, rushing over to the screaming man.

as she gets closer to the mysterious figure, she abruptly stops, a feeling of shock and confusion paralyses her face. she stands there, unable to speak or move, a tallish man, soaked in blood and wearing a hospital gown is stood directly infront of her, with the exact same expression on his face. rory walks closer, trying to figure out if she is hallucinating or if this is really happening, he is actually alive.

"rick...?" she says to the man, shaking her head in disbelief, once again taking a few steps closer.

he doesn't reply, he stands there, staring at her not knowing what to say or what to do. then he starts softly laughing, just like he used to, it's so infectious she joins in. the two run to each other and wrap their arms around their bodies, embracing each other lovingly and refusing to let go. it's the first hug she's had in over a month, and since it was from someone she was convinced was dead, it was better than she ever expected.