When Times Are Forgotten

Prologue

PROLOGUE:

Heavy breathing escaped Katica's lungs as she ran, tightly holding her injured daughter, Ambrosia, in her arms. Blood was everywhere and she no longer knew if it was her own blood or her daughters. Katica was also decently injured, but Ambrosia's injuries were fatal. She knew that much. Anyone could tell that the wounds were fatal, even if they lacked a medical background just as she did. All Katica knew was that she had to get to a safe place, tend to her daughter's wounds as much as possible and hope that young Ambrosia wasn't going to die, that she wasn't going to lose the only person she had left in her life. Tears blurred her vision as she ran. Eventually the terrified mother came across a building, old and boarded up. She searched the premises for a way in. Katica saw a gaping hole in the back wall.

"Oh, please be clear.." She whispered to herself as she cautiously stepped into the building. Katica slowly navigated the building, searching for any signs that she should turn tail and run, but was surprised to find nothing as she approached a set of rickety wooden stairs. A hoard of undead were behind her, so she had to move quickly, but also very quietly.

Slowly she moved up the stairs, testing each stair to make sure it wouldn't break under their combined weight. She could hear them: their inhuman groans, and the awkward shuffling of their feet as they chased her and the scent of fresh blood dripping from Ambrosia. She reached the top of the stairs and turned to watch as the zombies struggled to follow her up the stairs. Each one climbed over each other, shoving themselves on the fragile staircase all at once. CRACK! The staircase went down, under the combined weight of each zombie, each one crashing to the ground. She was relieved to see it go down.

"Okay...okay. We're safe, for now.." Katica uttered to herself.

"Mommy..." Ambrosia weakly coughed. Katica looked down, at her daughter, worry plaguing her beautiful face . "Mommy.."

"Shh, honey. It's okay. You'll be okay." She lied, a tear slowly falling down her dirt-stained cheek. She knelt down and gently set her daughter down on the cold concrete floor. Gently she held her daughter's hand as if it were a fragile trinket. The color began to fade from Ambrosia's normally bright eyes. Ambrosia's breath slowed and her heartbeat faded, her eyes fluttering shut and her head fell lightly to one side.