Gemma is a nobody. She knows it. Her parents know it. Everybody at school takes advantage of it. She accepts the fact that everybody is going to treat her badly. She can't do anything about it. She will forever be the doormat, somebody to shove homework at, someone to take anger out on. She goes about her business quietly, doesn't mess around. But then Gemma makes a mistake. She goes out at night, again on a useless mission to keep the peace. She runs into one of the most dangerous gangs in America. And she makes an impression. Liam Henderson is someone you don't mess around with, people cross the street to avoid crossing paths with him. So what will he do when a little school girl named Gemma gets under his skin? And it all started with a Tampon.

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]]