Part of the Darkness

Prologue

The prologue

Ivy wandered along the streets of an old, abandoned town. She didn't know its name, nor did she care. Names don't matter anymore, the only thing that matters now is life and death and everything in between. In her right hand she held her baseball bat. It was covered in guts and blood from all the undead and living she had killed. Her messy, blond hair hung loose on the sides of her face. She looked like a mess and that was exactly how she felt. She had taken so many innocent lives ever since the world turned into the shit-hole it is today. One innocent life stood out the most. It haunted her, tortured her. She still sees the young boy's face whenever she closes her eyes. They way his eyes sudden widened and his jaw dropped, she'll never forget. Ever.

She walked from one town into another. The small, residential houses soon turned into bigger buildings that were mostly business, she guessed. A green sign read Indianapolis. She had heard of it before. It wasn't a big city so she wasn't expecting a lot of walkers.

Her legs felt heavy. Every step she took, it felt like her joints had been replaced with glass. It was hell. However, she had gotten used to it over the past few months or weeks.

She didn't know how long it had been since the apocalypse started, but it felt like a decade. But it was probably only two years at most. Her eyelids, they were heavy too. She wanted to close them. She knew she couldn't afford too, survivors must make use of their all their senses, all the time. But she did anyway and went in against all basic rules. She saw the young boy's face again. You could see the horror in his eyes as he looked at his hands which were covered in blood.

His own blood.

She heard groaning and quickly opened her eyes. She didn't know how long she stood there, but it was enough for an entire herd to come into hearing-range. Within seconds she fled into an alleyway. She was heavily panting from only a short a moment of running. Her back was flat against the wall as she was trying to catch her breath. 

Being an asthmatic is not great in the apocalypse.

She had almost caught her breath when a zombie suddenly lurked around the corner. She tightened her grip on the bat. She cast one good look at the walker. It was a young boy, no older then ten. A true tragedy. He sported a yellow shirt and matching cap.

Yellow... That was his favourite colour...

She raised her bat and swung it at the lurker's head. She didn't stop bashing his skull until she saw more walkers coming. She took a few steps back until she was backed up against a fence. She looked around for another exit, but saw none. So she had to fight them off.
She tried to estimate how many undead there were. Five ,maybe seven. She didn't panic. She could easily take them on.

She bashed one skull, two skulls... She started hyperventilating.
Three skulls, four skulls... Her legs became even heavier then they already were.
Five skulls, six skulls.... She started feeling dizzy.
Skull number seven... Finally, no more.

She collapsed onto the ground. All her fighter's spirit was gone. Thoughts bubbled into her head, thoughts of doubts. Fighting off the dead everyday, but what for? Just so she could see all innocent faces of those she's killed when she tried to get some sleep? So she could spend the next day doing exactly the same thing? So she could spend everyday alone besides the undead and her own  thoughts?  Maybe she should just give up. Everyday she was hoping for things to get better, for someone to find a cure.  But it never happened and everyday there were just more and more zombies and less people. It just felt like an endless battle. It felt like there was never going to be an end. This was the world now. A world dominated by the dead. The world was theirs now, they owned it. There was no use fighting them. 

Her eyelids felt even heavier than before, she couldn't hold them open anymore. Ivy had been walking for days on end without a break. She started feeling the pain in her body again as the adrenaline boost made it way out of her system. Everything hurt, her legs, her arms... Everything. She opened her eyes one last time before falling into a deep slumber. She could have sworn she saw someone human or maybe just the dead, but that didn't matter anymore now.

Because she quit.
She quit fighting against everything, because the only thing that matters now, is trying to stay alive. But what if there's nothing to stay alive for?