Imagine That: Fifth Harmony

Lauren • Love-Hate Relationship

It hadn't been long since the thing had happened. I call it a 'thing' because technically, there's no official term for it. I heard lots of other kids calling it a zombie apocalypse, or a zombie infestation. Some actually believed that it was a giant prank being played on us by the government.

No one knew how it had begun. Or where it originated from. All we knew was that anyone over the age of twenty would change. Die. Turn. Whatever it was called.

The point is, a lot of time had passed since the world went haywire and all that was left was rabid, man-eating creatures that many, including myself, believe resembled the undead. Hence the term 'zombie' being used frequently. At least I think it was a long time. I stopped counting the days when I lost track. Or was it when I lost my calendar...?

At first, I tried to keep everything about my life as organised and in track as I could. Well, as best as I could when I had to fend for my life around every corner I turned. But that was who I was, even before the 'apocalypse' hit us. I preferred to keep everything neat and in line. It reduced my stress because God only knows how bad I got when I stressed about pointless things.

Then again, I only ever had to stress about handing in a piece of homework in on time. Or making it to school before the bell went.

Now, it was much much more.

But as I was saying. As soon as we were 'struck', it was practically a fend for yourself kind of idea. After everyone realised that this wasn't just an opportunity to rob things without getting caught, people turned selfish. Protected themselves and only that. However, as time passed, I soon stumbled across a group of kids about my age.

It was probably the best thing that had happened to me since I had lost everyone I knew and loved.

This group of kids had progressively built up, all of us travelling around and trying to live as best as we could. I even gained four new friends: Dinah, Camila, Normani, and Ally. They were pretty great. And sometimes, when it was just us hanging out whilst the others were asleep, I would actually believe that we weren't stuck in a hell hole. That our life was actually pretty normal. That I was hanging with four of my friends at a sleepover of some sort.

But I was kidding myself and I knew it.

Anyway, in our group, we tried our best to find other struggling kids. Our age, eighteen, or younger. Maybe even slightly older, if the disease hadn't gotten them first. We wanted to help them. I knew how horrible it felt to be alone. Especially in a world like this. So, I insisted that we all be truthful and fair to each other, and only then would we all have the best quality of life you could get in a world like this.

Which brought me to where I was now.

"They're a bunch of orphans," Normani explained, a tinge of sadness evident in her voice. "They've been living in this building for a while now. You know, defending themselves and collecting food. But they're running low."

I nodded to show I was listening, and only when she was finished speaking did I reply. "Well, it's a good thing we found them."

I glanced around and saw that there was at least fifteen of them, ranging in ages. 'My' kids, so to say, were already treating them like family, and I smiled at the sight of even the tiniest bit of humanity we had left in this world.

"Excuse me? Are you Y/N?"

Normani and I both turned around at the sound of someone calling me, and I saw a young girl, around the age of fifteen, standing there with a curious expression. Her mousy-brown hair was slightly dishevelled, and just like many of us, she was slightly underweight. But that was better than a lot that I had seen, and I didn't look any better, so I was no one to judge.