The Killer In Me / Troy Otto

Chapter One: Part One

"Pancakes!" Emmy shouted tossing the purple patterned blankets from covering her body before she practically jumped out of bed and tying up her long wavy brunette hair into a bun as her petite feet stepped barefoot onto the wooden slated floor before running for the stairs. It was pancake day. Every Sunday, the only day when her dad wasn't working her mother would make them pancakes and they would catch up over what happened through the week. For an eighteen-year-old Emmy was still very close to her parents but she just simply got along with her mother and her father.

Pancakes and a lazy Sunday with her parents it was such a simple thing but something Emmy ached for.. Missed so much that sometimes her stomach ached maybe it was because her mother was gone now or that the world she lived in was unrecognizable. Either way, Emmy was missing, nay craving the simple things in life.

:::

"Do you think things will go back to how they used to be?" Emmy Collins asked as she continued to think about the life she used to have. She had always been an optimist even when everything fell to shit. She still clung on to any hope she could.

"The dead are walking around, Em. People killing people, trying not to be eaten by the undead. I don't think the world could ever go back to how it used to be" Brady Barns, Emmy's closest friend replied as the pair sat on the ledge that was built above the wall surrounding their base camp. Their slender legs dangling through the bars and over the fence as they watched the sun rise above the tree line.

"I wish dad would let me out more" Emmy sighed resting her chin onto the top of her hands that overlapped on one of the railing bars.

"So you can what? Fight for your life at every turn? We are safe here. Embrace that" Brady replied but she didn't truly understand Emmy's feelings. Brady was able to leave and help while Emmy had to play princess locked in a tower.

"Maybe... Ever since.." even now the words painful for Emmy to speak as she choked back on them "ever since mum died."

"Your dad just wants to protect you, Em. He loves you and you're all he has left" Brady tried to comfort her friend.

"Over protect" Emmy muttered before letting out a long sigh.

"Be glad you have a parent who wants to keep you safe" Brady turned away just saying it still stung. Emmy frowned her unkept eyebrows furrowing as the brunette deeply cursing herself for being so insensitive. She knew their past. When Emmy's parents were trying to protect her and keep her safe Brady's had abandoned her and left the nineteen-year-old for dead.

"Come on, our shift is over. Scott found chocolate on a run yesterday I could con him out of some" Emmy flashed an empathetic grin to her friend who quickly smiled in return pleased in the change of subject.

"I don't remember the last time I've had chocolate" Brady practically drooling at the thought.

"Probably before the dead got up and started walking around" Emmy spoke as they walked to the ladder and began climbing down.

"The small things right?" Brady spoke and Emmy looked to the thin blonde with her large chestnut eyes a smile beginning to form because she knew exactly what Brady was talking about. It was like the girl could read her mind sometimes.

"The small things" Emmy spoke softly as they got to the ground. Emmy scuffing her flat ankle boots against the dirt.

"Let's go then" Brady nudged her friend with her shoulder. Having to lean down for the smaller girl.

"Beat you there," Emmy said before running across the dirt to the small community they now lived in. A few buildings of a town that was in the middle of nowhere now with a large metal fence surrounding it. It wasn't much but it kept them safe and kept the walkers out so it was somewhere to call home.

:::

(Sorry for the first chapter being so short but it's more of an introduction)