Survive.

1

When the flue first broke out, Z wasn't really worried. While everyone else was losing their shit and trying to shut themselves off from the world, she was using the panic to her advantage. She knew nobody in her home would really care if she disappeared (selfishness seemed to be a running theme within her clan), so she packed up everything she cared about and left. Z planned on going to her grandmas house and staying there, but she had to make a pit stop first.

The Walmart parking lot was absolute chaos, and she knew it probably wasn't much better on the inside. People where running out the doors with armfuls of stuff, some rolling around or tackling other for what they had. Z slipped into the store through the buggy dock and ran for the craft section.

Z wasn't worried about food. Between her grandma's garden, chickens, and the years worth of pickled and preserved goods, they would be set for a long time.

When she got to the craft isle, just as she had suspected, it had barely been touched. She had the insight to bring an extra bag and quickly stuffed it with as much as she could. When her bags where full she filled her pockets and used her hoodie a makeshift pouch, grabbing as much as she could carry before slipping back out.

It was nearly dark by the time Z made her way up her grandma's long driveway, dropping her bags on the porch and knocking on the door.

Abigail Young had been expecting her youngest grandchild for awhile now, and welcomed her inside with a warm hug and an offering of dinner. Z grabbed her things and gladly followed the older woman to the kitchen, knowing it would be rude to refuse her food.

While her plate was being fixed, Z dumped what she has taken from the store onto the kitchen table and organized it into groups by their craft.

"I think I got everything you asked." She said as she sat down, immediately digging into the delicious meal that was set before her. "There's more in my other backpack too."

"You did good, dear." Abigail praised, looking over the spread on the table. "We should have everything else we need here."

Z continued to eat as her grandma put the supplies away, coming back with a book and setting it before her.

Poisonous plants in the wild.

"We're going to start off easy, but just know it's not going to stay that way for long."

Z had expected this, knowing what she was in for when she came to the older women's home. Even she could see that dark times were about to fall on humanity, and if she was to survive she would have to learn.

She finished her plate and washed it in the sink, putting it away and grabbing the book. Making herself comfortable on the couch, the news playing softly on the tv and her grandma knitting in her chair, she started reading the first chapter.

This is supposed to be short, and I promise the rest of the chapters will be longer.