Apocalyptic Survival (Zombie Apocalypse AU)

Chapter 1- The beginning/Friend or Foe?

(I apologise for any spelling errors or any other mistakes. They will be fixed)

"Sophie! Run!" A woman yelled as she threw something across a mass crowd of people. Except, they weren't quite "people" anymore. That "something" came in the form of a young girl as she crashed to the ground, crying out as she slid across the stones and concrete.

She pushed herself onto her knees, brushing her hair out of her face, hissing at the sting of her harsh scratched, curtesy of the concrete. Her eyes widened as she heard her mother scream, seeing a hand reaching out of the top of the growing crowd.

"Mom!" She screamed, reaching her hand out. She jumped as she heard a growl from beside her. Not even looking, she jumped up and ran, just daring to look back. Suddenly, she was picked up from the front, and she yelped in terror, squeezing-her eyes shut. "Shh! It's me Sophie." The red heads eyes widened as she opened her eyes. "Adelpha" She whimpered as she buried her head into her sisters chest. "Mom's gone." She felt her sister's breath hitch. "So is dad."

Tears fell down her face rapidly. "What are we gonna do?" Her sister continued to run. "Our brothers found a shelter. It's safe, for now. We'll have to stick together, okay little one?" Sophie nodded weakly, trying to stay awake.
"Go to sleep little one. I'll keep you safe." Is the last thing she heard before falling into a dreamless sleep.

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The girl stirred as a sudden change in gravity awoken her. She snapped her eyes open to see her brother Ethan. Or Seth, as he preferred. "S-Seth?" She mumbled tiredly, rubbing the sleep out of her eye as she yawned. "What..."

"Listen to me Soph." He said sternly as he cradled her. "This is to protect you. Our other brothers blame you for what happened to mom, and that was in no way your fault!" He quickly added in, not wanting her to blame herself. "And they planned to throw you out to the zombies. But I won't let that happen to you, little angel. I'm taking you to a shelter I've built. They don't know it exists. You're going to be okay."

He ran outside and began sneaking along as to avoid the infected. He climbed through dark ally's and over rooftops. It was really early, probably around 6am. He continued to inform the child of his plan as they ventured through the chaos. "I'm going to come back for you later tonight. I won't let them hurt you little one. I promise."

Sophie found herself unable to speak. The child could practically hear her bones rattling with the intensity of her fear-motivated shaking.  She'd never like this. How did this happen? Was it her fault? Could she have done something to save her mom? Would that have prevented this? Would they still want to get rid of her? Would Seth and  Adelpha still have tried to save her? Finally being snapped out of her internal tangent, she noticed a hut type building come  into view. It was on a higher level, probably so anything trying to get in there would have to climb, making an attack harder. It honestly looked like a big cardboard box atop some rocks. Seth settled her in a sleeping bag in the corner after clambering into the shelter. Her brother passed her a bag and smiled slightly as she looked up at him in confusion. "It has a little bit of food, a water bottle and some books in there. I know how much you love to read. I have to go. I'll be back later tonight, okay? I love you little angel. Never forget that." He took her face gently in his hands , a touch she lent into, and placed his lips on her forehead and held them there for a few seconds, before pulling them away. His sister whimpered at the loss of his embrace as he stood.

Sophie watched as he disappeared down the ladder. She pulled the rope ladder back up so that no one could climb up easily. She whimpered as she shook. She was petrified, sick to her stomach with fear and dread. She had no one now. She was truly alone. And there was some really creepy noises coming from underneath her. The redhead curled in on herself and stared into space.

Her daydreaming was broken  not too later by a scream.

"Help! Help!" A young girl, probably only a little younger than her. She ran to the edge and looked down. She saw a little girl with odd coloured hair,  somehow a mix of dull blues, her chocolate eyes wide with fear. She was running from a large crowd of infected. She quickly threw down the ladder. "Hey! Over here!" She called to her, and her head snapped up. The girl immediately crept towards the ladder and grabbed it, as if she were afraid it would be pulled away, as if it was all a trick. Sophie pulled the ladder up, struggling some with the extra weight, and the girl tumbled into the hut.

She jumped onto Sophie. "Oh thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you! I was so scared! I would usually fly away but my wing is broken so I couldn't and just oh my god, thank you!" She rambled, causing Sophie a little confusion, but she brushed it to the side. "Y-you're welcome. W-w-what do you m-mean by 'f-f-fly away?'" She stuttered. "Oh. I have wings! But ones broken right now. See?" She turned around, showing her wings, one jutting out slightly with a bandage wrapped around it.

"Woah..." The redhead breathed out. "Can... C-can I t-t-touch them?" The girl smiled. "Sure! Just don't touch the broken one. It stings like crazy." Reaching out a shaky hand, Sophie brushed against the soft, feathery wings, smiling as it flutters. The girl turned back around. "What's your name?" "It's S-Sophie" She said. She felt oddly safe with the winged girl, even though she was a stranger. She thought strangers were meant to be scary? "It's very pretty. Do you know what it means?"

"N-no. What does my name mean?"
"It means 'Wisdom' or 'Wise'. Or 'Skill'. It's from the name Sophia. It's Greek."
"Oh. I never knew that"
"Yeah. I only know it because my big sister loves these types of things."
"I have a big sister too. Her names Adelpha. What about yours?"
"Her names Rosetta. She very pretty."
"I bet she is. Just like her name"
"Heh, yeah!"

They fell into a comfortable silence, Sophie snuggling into her sleeping bag. She didn't realise she had fallen asleep until she awoken, the sky a mixture of oranges, pinks and purples. She glanced around, realising the winged girl was gone.

"H-Hello? Are you there?" No answer. There was no indication she was even there in the first place. The ladder hadn't moved from it's spot, her books were still in their little pile, none of her food was gone... Had it been a dream? But it couldn't have been, it was way too real. But so were a lot of her other dreams, and they weren't real... She decided to let it go, as a headache was beginning to pound at the back of her mind, and waited patiently  for Seth to come back.

It was then she realised the girl never told Sophie her name.