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]]

Amelia Anderson (16 years old). Let me tell you something about her. You know that popular people that always look attractive, throw amazing parties and have a wonderful social life? Right, she's exactly the opposite. Everyone is considering her a nerd, and obviously she has that crush that will never like her back. She goes into her natal country for holiday and there she finds him. *** "I'm scared" I said when I pulled back from the kiss. "Why, babygurl?" He asked kissing me one more time. "You know, when we go back to England will be different, what if I lose you? What if your friends don't like me?" I was serious, looking into his eyes. I was actually scared, it was true, what are his friends going to say when they find out he's going out with a nerd like me. Bad boys don't go out with good girls, even if Jason wasn't a bad boy, for me he wasn't, but his reputation said something else. He was popular and cool, I was nerdy and unattractive. It was a big difference. ***