You're A Gift | Bang Chan |

EP 1: The light of hope

It was getting cold. She was supposed to run to some local shops to get some warmer clothes, but that, unfortunately, didn't go as planned.

When she got to the store, which already had most of the windows destroyed, she didn't notice anything weird. After a few minutes when she had already walked to the other side of the store and getting the last of the winter jackets, she heard some dragging noise. She held her breath trying not to make any sound at all. This was not the time to panic, she thought to herself.

If she did, she might as well call herself dead. She sneaked herself behind some shelves with her bag in her right hand, and warm socks in her left. She was crouching as quietly as possible towards the door. Just before she thought she would be able to run out the door without being noticed, her bag hit something on the shelf and everything fell down, making a ton of noise.

Then she heard the groans. Zombies. Her heart started racing and she dashed towards one of the smashed windows and started running back the way she came. When she looked back, she saw a small hoard of zombies after her. Now was the time to panic. Shit, shit, shit, she whispered under her breath as she ran as fast as possible out of the town.

She tried to think logically. Okay, think, think! What can't zombies do that you can? Then as she was running by an empty field right outside the town, she saw a tall and thick oak tree. Climb! She looked behind her again and she saw the hoard getting bigger following her. These weren't your typical zombies from movies, they were everything but slow. And alive, of course.

She felt her body getting tired and she closed her eyes tightly, begging anything and anyone that could hear her thoughts, to give her strength to run to the oak and climb it. She finally got to the tree and started climbing it, while the zombies gathered under the tree looking up, and some were tall enough to scratch her shoes as she climbed.

When she got to the lowest branch, she took a break and sighed. That was way too close, damn you, she thought. After a tiny while, she climbed a bit higher and sat down. When the zombie apocalypse started, she had no idea what to do or how to survive. She was in a group at first, but one after one got scratched or bit. When there were only a few left, they started to sleep in trees. It was early autumn then, so it wasn't cold, and it was a lot safer than staying on the ground. After a few weeks, it was only her left.

She did her best to survive, but it was hard. Food was scarce and she didn't know the place so well, because she had just moved to study at university. What am I supposed to do now then? I'm going to die if those guys don't get interested in something else living. She sighed and strapped herself to the branch so that she didn't fell in an accident. Good thing she saw all of The Hunger Games movies.

She heard her stomach growl a bit and she looked up. The sun had almost set now, and the stars started to appear. The electricity was a rare thing these days, and that meant that there was no light anywhere. When it was a clear sky, you could see all the stars appear and it was mesmerizing. She grabbed an apple from her bag and started eating slowly, to taste every single bite to the maximum, while listening to the zombies' growls and moans.

She wondered for how long she was going to stay up in this tree, and how long her food and water is going to last. She hasn't seen anything alive in this part of the town yet, so she had to think of a plan quickly. Eh, maybe tomorrow, she thought to herself. She took on the warm socks and the new jacket she took and closed her eyes to try to get some rest.

That night she dreamt about her brother, Felix. She had been worried sick about her twin, because she hadn't seen him for about two months now. She had almost lost all the hope to see her family again, but when the hard times hit, she didn't let herself to think about it. She just waited patiently to see them again, and to see them she needed to stay alive.

The next morning, she woke up from her teeth chattering. It was freezing. The zombies were still there though. She looked down at them and started to think. I wonder if they slow down when it gets cold... . Her mouth was as dry as gravel, so she took up her bottle, and to her surprise it was completely frozen. She sighed and closed her eyes tight, before taking it under her jacket to warm it. She was already cold, and that cold ice bottle didn't really help to be honest.

She looked around in hope to see anything in the horizon, but there was nothing, to no surprise. What could she expect? That some prince on a white horse is going to come, kill all the zombies and rescue her from this hell? She snorted when she thought about it, she knew that it was all a fantasy, and really deep down she knew she was going to freeze to death in that tree.

A few days passed and she had no food nor water. She was critically dehydrated, as her professor would say. Before all of this happened, she studied medicine, so she knew a few things. The zombies were still there, and the numbers were getting larger every day. She banged her head against the tree while a cold tear fell down her cheek. Felix, mom, dad, I'm so sorry I messed up. I'm sorry that I didn't say I love you every day. Felix, I'm also sorry that I stole your chocolate before you went on that trip... That made you smile slightly. I hope that you're all alive and well, and I hope that you won't be too hurt when you learn what happened to me... To die in such a miserable way... pathetic...

She started to feel really sleepy as the snowflakes started to fall on her face. She turned her head slowly to the side, to see the horizon before the inevitable end. She had to blink a few times. Am I dreaming? Right over the darkening horizon, she saw three lights moving away from where she was. They were far away, but she opened her mouth trying to shout something, but to no avail. Her voice was broken, gone, disappeared together with her last hope to survive.

She took her hand to her mouth and let out the loudest whistle she could possibly make while being completely frozen. She looked at the lights, and they seemed to have stopped moving away from her. Her eyes sparkled with tears as she started to gain hope. But her eyelids were so heavy, and she was so tired and sleepy, maybe it was just a dream...