Once his body hits the ground, everything around me is silent. My ears slowly process the sound around me again. I know what I have to do, but I can’t bear the thought of it. I look around the room.  Alan lies in front of me with his eyes on the floor. Then I slowly look towards Justin. His eyes catch mine in time and we immediately lock our eyes. He nods his head as if he was saying it is okay. The weight of the gun in my hand seems to get heavier by the second. I lift it up, so it’s pointing towards Lisa. She starts to whimper like a puppy does when it’s crying. My heart beats against my chest and it’s so loud that my ears start to hurt.  A tear slowly makes its way down my cheek. I quickly wipe it away with my free hand. I make eye contact with Lisa and she looks back at me. I pull the trigger and the bullet instantly kills her. I quickly look away as her body hits the ground accompanying Eric’s body. I hear Justin’s voice as he says “Amber, its okay. You didn’t have a choice.” Justin takes a big breath after a few quiet minutes and starts towards the bodies. Alan gets up and helps him carry them away. A pain pinches at my heart for shooting Lisa and Eric, but it had to be done. They were infected with the Keene Virus.  The virus is the most tragic thing to happen to a human being when they are still alive. A virus that slowly decays your body when you’re still alive and you don't feel it happening. Soon your body shuts down, but that’s only the beginning of it. Somehow your brain reboots and controls your body, but you have no say in what you do. Killet’s is what we call the people who turn before we can handle it. The virus gives your brain orders to kill and attack anything and anyone in your path.  Once the order is given there is absolutely nothing you can do about it. Although those are the bad side effects, there are good ones. You become faster and stronger. Any wound in your body heals over time. The only way to kill a Killet is shooting it in the head. We do not call them humans once the transformation is complete. Killet’s soon become bodies walking around with no purpose. The only thing they know how to do is to kill. Some have become more advanced than others. Like how some Killet’s eat their prey. It’s the most vicious thing they can do. They use their teeth and some have been known to grow long nails to cut through the skin. Many of the Earth’s population vanished from this man eating disease. What was left built great walls to protect us and create shelter in our broken world. Some people think it was God’s doing and others think that scientist did this. A lot of theories have been brought up to the conflict that we face now. The one’s left do everything and anything to survive in this terrible world. Many do not believe it is our world anymore. Now, everyone call it The New Beginning.
Chapter 2
Breathing
That night I dream of Lisa and Eric when they were still alive. When they could think about the choices they were going to make. I remember how Lisa’s laughter would make everyone laugh. How Eric could always crack a joke at the most serious moments. My mind soon creates an image when Lisa was with me after my mom was shot. She had instantly hugged me and pushed my head into her shoulder, letting my tears soak her shirt. She was always like my big sister. In more ways than one, she would find a way to protect me. Always came by when I was working and ask about my day. She was there at my mom’s funeral holding my hand. Whispering that it would be okay and that I was stronger than I thought I was. She taught me to keep hope in myself. It’s the thing I will always remember about her. My mind switches to a scene of when I first met Eric. He was a survivor that my group have found when looking for supplies. It was funny when we found him because he had locked himself inside a storage facility. He had created trip wires and strings of tin cans all around the entrances.  Great big sharp sticks were put around the front and the back entrances catching anything that tried to get through. We only found him because he had his music blasting throughout the whole building. We finally gotten inside and laughed at what we saw. Eric was dancing mindlessly all around the room with his eyes closed. When he finally realized we were there he quickly stood still and looked every one of us in the eyes. His face showed no sign of fear and then a smile slowly was made. He soon became one of survivors taken to the city within the walls. All those happy moments with them, came to an end too quickly. Suddenly I hear an alarm go off and notice it’s not coming from my dream.