TOUGH

Chapter 1:Lana

Three seconds was all it took. Three seconds, and the world plunged into madness. All humanitarian manners were forgotten, and pushing and shoving turned into punching and shooting. Killing. People went berserk, and the president had uttered only six words, which had a catastrophic effect.

Humans are rising from the dead.

He left out the part about them eating living humans' flesh and living until their brain was destroyed. Then, and only then, would one of the risen actually die, for good.

That's what everyone was calling them: the Risen. I personally called them Fs, which could stand for just about whatever I wanted it to. The word zombie is way too mainstream. Frankly, I didn't want to believe it. Nobody did. So I called them Fs. This could stand for Fleshies, which fit, considering they consumed anything with a beating heart. I could also use this to call them the much vulgar word of Fuckers.

I watched, as people killed one another and the dead, whose brains hadn't been destroyed, rose up several minutes later. I didn't allow myself to look anymore, so I ran. I never thought I'd say this, but thank the Lord I had no friends, or family for that matter. My parents had never been identified, since I was an orphan. The other orphans gave me space at all costs, so I never made friends either. To top it off, the staff were the equilavent to drill sergeants when it came to being rough and tough. Oh yeah, they also absolutely despised me. So, it was just me, all on my own. And in my eighteen years of life, not one person had asked about my possible adoption. Not even a possible foster parent. I guess I scared them off, being the definition if a tomboy.

So, apparently the only one who knew it would come to this, I grabbed my hiker's backpack, slung it over my shoulder, and took off. I didn't know how far I'd get in this weather, though. It's extremely hot in Arizona, and I was running top speed. As predicted, I got about two miles before I couldn't run any further, but I was a very comfortable distance from the chaos and Fs, so I wasn't complaining. However, to my extreme dismay, there were Fleshies to my left and right, and several yards behind, trying to snag a snack.

"Hell with this." I groaned.

I pulled my small pistol from the side pocket of the backpack and held it poised, ready to shoot as I jogged quickly away. Thank the Lord that I took that gun safety course. I felt something brush my bare shoulder and jumped, taking a shot at whatever it was. It happened to be a Fucker, and I had, quite luckily, planted a bullet in its skull. The others, even the ones down the small hill, had cocked their heads my way at the sudden sound.

"Stupid!" I hissed at myself.

Such a stupid mistake. Several more turned their ugly faces in my direction and began trudging across the dead grass on feet that threatened to crumble away. Their pearly grey eyes surveyed me, assuming how easy a meal I might be. About twenty of them, all of which torn and disformed in ways unfathomable, shuffled away from the city and towards me. Nobody else was out this way. They were all looking for safety in the most unsafe place, so I bolted. Where to run to? I spotted a tree with branches that were reachable, but would be a challenge. I picked up speed and dared a glance back, seeing I'd put a hundred yards between me and the Fleshies. I focused my eyes straight in front again and stared, with extreme intensity, at the branch. With a huge running leap, which caused my knees to snap straight faster than I would have like them too, I slapped myself onto the branch. I found some small footholds and kicked myself up onto the branch, trying to act quickly. I looked up to see more branches, just as strong as this one, above my head. I found a shorter branch to hang my pack on and began my ascent.

Shaking each branch to test the strudiness as I went along, I scaled about three branches before I decided to stop. Where I sat, two branches burst from the tree trunk in a V, which was big enough to support my bottom and thighs, but not so big that I would fall through. Even so, I pulled my belt from the belt loops if my jeans and tethered my middle to the trunk. The belt was many sizes too big, so I was able to tie myself to the tree securely. There was a clear patch to my right, so I peered down through the opening and saw that the Fs were just now reaching the trees. If they were as stupid as I thought they were, maybe they would walk right past. They seemed to know that I went up a tree, but weren't sure which one.