After escaping a stalled elevator into a zombie apocalypse, Emily must learn how to trust people again or risk losing everything in this terrifying world. ***** For Emily, every day of the last two years have been a blur. She keeps her head down, takes her college courses online, and only goes out to work at her mandatory internship. But all that changes on the day the office elevator breaks down, leaving her trapped when the screams begin. And when the doors finally open, revealing a dystopian world ruined by bloody teeth and disease, Emily is launched into a terrifying run for her life, caught between the strangers she's not sure she can trust and the man-eating monsters that hunger for her flesh. Now she must learn not only how to survive in this new and dangerous world, but also how to overcome her own inner demons before they cost her something more precious than her life. [[Wattys' Shortlist]] [[Promoted by AMC]] Content and/or Trigger Warning: The story contains some gore, violence, strong language, and dark themes. [[word count: 100,000-150,000 words]]

Keira is a survivor. She doesn't fall for tricks, she turns her back to the past and walks on. She carries secrets as her burdens. Guilt and sadness curdle inside her, but she's learned how to mask it. Cares and carelessness cause her to make mistakes, the mistakes that cost her dearly. But she's learned how to ignore it. She is alone and scared. She has nobody to cling to, and maybe she doesn't want anybody like that. Keira is a survivor, but maybe she isn't. Maybe what she's hiding will make her unhinge. She's clever, but she's naive. She's careful, but not quite enough. Keira is a ticking time bomb. Someday she's going to implode. If only there was somebody to fix her. • Ø • Ø • Page count: ~344 Word count: ~35,255 Grammar Nazis will be satisfied. Highest rankings: #1 on "carl grimes" tag!!! #59 on the fanfiction tag!!! Started: 11-21-15 5k reads: 3-17-16 10k reads: 4-12-16 500 votes: 4-28-16 500 comments: 5-11-16 Finished: 6-4-16 25k reads: 6-7-16 1k votes: 6-11-16 1k comments: 7-14-16 50k reads: 7-24-16 75k reads: 8-25-16 100k reads: 10-7-16 5k comments: 11-9-16 150k reads: 11-22-16 5k votes: 11-26-16 175k reads: 12-11-16 200k reads: 12-30-16 Alternate ending: 12-31-16 250k reads: 3-24-17 300k reads: circa 6-28-17 10k votes: circa 11-5-17 350k reads: circa 11-25-17 400k reads: circa 5-6-18 Warnings: •Dark •Gory •Cussing •Spoilers (Seasons 5-6)

A countdown to Christmas with 25 malec oneshots.