"Lexi, you cannot ever let emotions get in your way. These are not the days for being soft or trusting people."
Those were the last words she had heard her mother say. They were in the midst of escaping their town when they discovered the bite. It was then that Lexi's mother told her that she needed to continue their quest to find Lexi's brother, who had gotten separated from them in the confusion of the attack and evacuation. Her mother then met Lexi's eyes and she knew what she had to do.
After a few months had gone by Lexi had become an excellent zombie slayer. She took no mercy and no survivors, destroying everything and everyone in her path. Everyone except one, that is. Despite her mother's warning ringing in her ears, she knew she could trust Jacob. Jacob and Lexi had been friends in childhood, before their town was ravaged by the zombie plague. They had met on the road, Lexi looking for her brother, Jacob just looking for other survivors from his hometown. Considering they had such similar goals, they decided to band together in their search.
The duo worked relentlessly, staying alert to any possible news of survivors they knew while battling for their own lives at any given moment. Eventually the time came when they parted ways, as adventurers tend to do. The two could not agree on a course of action for both of them to take, so they simply decided to split up. Lexi decided to try the southern part of the land and Jacob took the northern path. Along Lexi's way she came across a struggle. This was not the usual struggle one would find during those times, the struggle between zombies fighting over a fresh kill. No, this was a most peculiar fight between a couple of zombies and a dog. Now, Lexi had come across some queer things in her travels – a small girl who was exceptional with makeup and acting and got by simply by blending in, a man who was on a determined hunt for a Twinkie – but she had yet to see a zombie-fighting dog. Lexi made quick work of the vermin and went to check over the dog.
As soon as she went near it, though, the animal bounded away from her. It stopped after a few feet and looked back at her, as though expecting Lexi to follow. Oh, why not? she thought and started after the dog. This cycle repeated a few more times before eventually they came to a slight clearing in a small grove of trees.
"Maverick! I was beginning to wonder where you had gotten to!" cried an old woman as she exited the seemingly improvised shack.
"Yeah, I found him fighting a couple of zombies back that way," Lexi said, leaning her head in the direction they had come from. "Seemed like he wanted me to follow him."
"Oh, I'm sure he did. He always wants me to meet new people. Well, you may as well eat, I've just finished fixing some soup."
As they settled down to eat, they talked about themselves and what happened to them. Lexi found out the old woman, Marie, was a wise woman who knew how to work the land and more about herbs and plants than anyone else she had ever met. She learned that Marie even learned how to make a poultice that would stop the spread of the infection from a zombie bite, if applied quickly enough after the breaking of skin. As Lexi stood to leave Marie's campsite, Marie pressed a pouch into her hand, telling her it was "just in case."
Lexi went about her way, continuing to search for her brother and slay any zombies she came across. After a while, she came across Jacob again. They shared tales of what happened while they were separated, Lexi telling him about Marie and the pouch of herbs she had. Jacob had an odd look in his eye after that, but Lexi thought it was just the gleam of the firelight. Jacob told Lexi he had found her brother. Jacob left him in safe hands and had been looking for Lexi since. As they continued traveling, they found that again, a split was needed. Jacob had heard news of a possible survivor a different direction than the one the two had been heading. He gave Lexi directions to where her brother was. She then gave Jacob the pouch Marie had gifted her as a reward for finding her brother and sending her to him.
Lexi went along the way she had been directed, following all the instructions she had been given. About mid-way there, though, she came across someone who had clearly been recently bitten. They were in their final moments as a human, and used their last breath to warn her about the army of zombies to the north. However, these were not normal zombies. They had a leader, someone who directed them with the promise of more victims and the promise of a particular one who seemed especially delicious to whoever followed his orders the best. As the special victim was described, Lexi realized with horror that it was her brother. She could not bear to hear any more and knew that this person would prefer death over zombification, so she quickly killed them. Once she discovered it was her brother who was being held captive, it did not take long for her to realize that Jacob was the mastermind behind everything. Lexi set her mind and knew exactly what had to happen. It was time for her to kill an ex-friend and rescue her brother.
Lexi continued ferociously, getting to where she had been previously directed. As she walked up, she saw Jacob. He saw the thunderous look on her face and realized she knew what was really happening. He chuckled and got ready to fight her back. As Lexi walked up, Jacob revealed that he had been previously bitten, and that was the actual reason he had gone down south. He had heard stories about Marie and her poultice, running into Lexi and manipulating it from her was just an easier way to get what he wanted. Jacob had always wanted the power, now he had a zombie army to ensure he would keep it. All he had needed was the herbs as a safety net on the chance he got bitten.
They began fighting, a flurry of weapons back and forth, with the occasional gunshot ringing out. A flash of light and a scream, and Lexi had lost a hand. It flew through the air before landing on the ground with a sickening thunk, several zombies immediately flocking to it. Just as all seemed lost, a dog leapt out of nowhere and tackled Jacob to the ground. Hands grabbed at Lexi and as she faded out of consciousness she felt herself get dragged somewhere.
Lexi woke up to her brother dabbing at the stump of arm she had left. She could feel herself burning up with a fever. Her brother told her to lay down and just concentrate on surviving. She wasn't really sure how well that would go, but she would be damned if she went that far for her brother only to die there because of a loss of a hand. As Lexi drifted in and out of a restless sleep, she heard plans to go after Jacob, being made by her brother and refined by Marie. At one point, she could swear she heard Jacob himself, but she knew she could not be sure. Lexi continued to try to heal, but she could feel something else in her that wasn't right. It was almost as if she, herself had gotten bitten by a zombie. One day she finally gathered all her strength and roused herself. As she stumbled out of the shack that seemed vaguely familiar, she saw Jacob himself tied up to a tree.
A closer look showed Lexi that Jacob was becoming a zombie, after all. Apparently the herbs Marie gave her only slowed the transformation, they didn't actually stop it. Lexi found a sturdy looking branch near her and used it to beat Jacob until he finally was no longer there, even as a zombie. Lexi dropped the branch and heard the click of a gun behind her. She turned and gave her brother a toothy smile.
"I killed him. I got revenge for keeping you hostage and taking my hand."
Turmoil was written on her brother's face, though. It seemed Lexi didn't realize she, herself, had been bitten. Despite all of Marie's best efforts, the zombification was slowly happening, turning Lexi into the very thing she hated. She didn't understand why her brother, who she had worked so hard to find and save, had a gun to her head and tears streaming down his face. She never did understand, through the fever and the transformation, and that made it all the harder for her brother. Two shots and a thud were all that was heard before the broken sobs began and he dropped to his knees, lamenting all he had lost.
