Thread: My Journal, Writing Samples, And More [Comments Welcome]

More Samples Zombie Invasion Just One Bite . Character's Pictures See more Samples See more Rena Richards - 18 - Hider Day of Outbreak, 2 years ago - Age 16 On her way to ballet class, Rena noticed that there were three traffic accidents. One of them was right near her home, one of them was at the halfway mark on her walk, and one of them was just a block from the building she danced in. She also noticed that it seemed eerily quiet, despite the accidents and nobody seemed to be in the cars or around. She figured rescue had already came and gone, but it was strange that they had not blocked off the areas where the cars crashed. There was blood and glass all over the pavement. Why hadnt the police blocked it off? She wondered if the cleaning crew would have it cleared before her class ended. Accidents happened, so she tried not to think on it too much, but could not help but feel sorry for the people in the cars. How many of them had died? Had they suffered any pain before dying or did their death come quickly? If there had been any casualties, she hoped they had been instant. She could not stand the idea of pain and suffering. Rena had enough of it in her life and did not want to see it around her anymore. Even though she had been three at the time, she still vividly recalled the way her mother and father were brutally stabbed and shot by two burglars who had broken into their home. That memory would always be with her. The last thing her parents did before dying was to hide her in the closet the moment they heard someone breaking in through the front window. The burglars had seemed surprised to find her parents home. Rena watched through the slats on the closet door as the male intruder reacted as if by instinct, grabbing a knife out of his belt and thrusting it into her fathers stomach. Her mom had looked at the closet, knowing Rena could see them, her eyes begged her to not make a sound, so she had forced herself not to cry as she watched the female burglar pull out a gun and shoot her mom once in the chest and twice in her lower stomach. By the fate of God, Rena had not been discovered as they robbed the house. When they left, Rena left the closet and called 911 as she had been taught to do in case of an emergency. She shook away the memory and walked into the dance studio. She frowned when she noticed only a handful of people had shown up. That was odd. Her classmates were all very serious about their work and almost never missed a day. Did you notice anything strange today? She asked her dance partner. He looked over at her as he was doing his warm up stretches. She watched as he turned to face her. I mean Ive never seen the place so deserted and I saw 3 traffic accidents on the way, but could not find anyone around, no one blocked the areas off, either. I think a lot of people are out with the flu, he answered. The next event was a blur to Rena. There was screaming and people were running around. She saw someone laying on the floor, gurgling up blood and someone some person was biting her dance partners throat. Her first thought was really ridiculous. Vampires. But she did not believe in things like that. She did not even remember how she got from point A to point B. One minute she was doing warm ups and the next everything was in chaos. It was as if the whole town suddenly woke up and were going crazy. She took a deep breath and told herself to calm down. Remember mom and dad, she whispered to herself. I need to be calm and collected like I was during their murder. I need to keep my head. She dodged the person creature that had been attacking her dance partner and started to take action. She needed to get out of here and somewhere safe. She grabbed her backpack that had all her dance supplies, water and energy food and also grabbed a pile of clothing. They werent hers, but their owner was now. Rena looked over to where her partner was twitching on the floor. He was dead but starting move! How did that even make sense? She stuffed everything into her backpack, but managed to pull his jeans on over her leotards. Still wearing her pointe ballet shoes, she ran out the door. It was like the world had turned into the set of a horror movie. People who looked dead were shambling about, making groaning noises and if they got close to someone who was not dead, they attacked. Luckily, they were really slow, so Rena was able to dodge them. She passed the maintenance shed and grabbed a shovel and ax, just in case she needed a weapon. She put the ax down the front of her pants and held the shovel at ready. Her backpack bounced on her back as she ran. Its just like in all the movies but how in the world can something like this happening so fast? How long has it been going on? She murmured to herself as she carefully walked the streets back to her home. Once she got there, Rena was not sure what her next step would be. She hadnt expected her adoptive parents to be home, but even so Rena felt a spark of sadness digging into her lower stomach. They were most likely gone if the outside world was any indication. Her mother had a bad limp from a skiing accident and could not run very fast and her father was considered obese. Fate would not be on their sides. Even though they were her adoptive parents, she loved them dearly Mona and Chase Richard had been there for her in her hardest time and helped her cope with her emotions. They were the ones who made her start learning various forms of dance. Mona had said being active was a good way to help channel her feelings. It had worked too. Of course, she was still sad, and she had nightmares all the time, but now she was making friends, dancing every chance she got and doing stuff with her life. At least she had been. What now? Rena looked around their two story home. All in all, it was decent. Not too fancy, but not too shabby either. She locked the doors and pushed the plush couch in front of it for added protection while she went through the living room, making sure she was really alone and there was no horrible surprises waiting for her. The living room was clear. Squeezing the shovel in her hands, she started for the kitchen and her parents bedroom. Clear. Bathrooms. Clear. Upstairs. Her bedroom. Clear. Dance studio. Clear. Well, the house is clear. But how long will this last? If those things were what she thought they were I am not going to say the Z word. She shook her head and sighed. There was no doubt about it, for some reason, the dead were really coming back. First things first, she needed to prepare. She went around the house, found her camping backpack, and put all her most needed supplies inside, including her all her ballet slippers and pointe shoes. The undead be damned, she would still be a dancer. She went to the kitchen and put in a can opener, some canned goods that could be ate cold, bottles of water, her energy snacks, and food that didnt need to be in a fridge. She stuffed it until it weighed quite a lot, but being a dancer, she was really strong and was able to put it on her back, no problem. She put on one of her dads old work belts the ones he used back before he gained all his weight. In the belt, she put two flashlights, extra batteries, her dads old hunting knife, a larger butcher knife, and the ax she had grabbed before. With a cringe, she even added her dads old hunting rifle, his handgun and extra rounds of bullets. Rena hated guns, hated hunting in general, but knew that she would need to eventually use them if she wanted to survive. And she wanted to survive! I'll hide until it is safe. Just like my birth parents made me do before. Once she was finally ready to head out and find other people and a hopefully safer place to use as home base and hide from those things, she heard a scream coming from a few houses down from hers. The scream reminded her of the sound her birth mother made when the intruder stabbed her birth father. She pushed the couch out of the way and cautiously opened her front door. The road was mostly clear, but there were a couple of shamblers across the street. They did not seem to take notice of her. Rena wondered how they sensed people if they were dead. They should not have a sense of smell if they were no longer alive, let alone the ability to hear. Whatever, nothing made sense. She looked down the street and saw a girl a little older than her, on the ground and being slowly approached by a little boy. A dead kid. From the way the woman was acting, she knew him personally. Probably her brother. Didnt she knew what was going on? With the grace like a cat, Rena ran across the three houses that separated her from the woman. Get up, she said urgently. He cant be reached now. Come on. Do you want to die, too? The other was at least a foot taller than her, slender, but not ballerina slim like she was. Nevertheless, she had no trouble reaching down and pulling the woman from under her armpits, even with the backpack weighing her down. They're everywhere. Just like the movies. Get up. Run. I-I can't, the girl said. I've already been bitten. Please... please, end it for me. A tear fell down her cheeks. And for him. Present Day - Age 18 The dancer peeked out of the shades. She was hiding in a house not too far from the crumbled remains of a diner. She knew that had to be her next stop because she was running low on food. Rena glanced back at her supplies and winced. I should not have let myself get this low... She was even out of all her bullets, her father's guns now useless. She now wore a bullet proof safety vest she had found ages ago. It was even camoed, though she doubted that helped much against the undead, but it did help hide her from those left alive. She needed to fill up the empty pockets with ammo as soon as possible. On her back, she still had a backpack that she wished were full of food and clean clothes. All her clothes were dirty and covered in dirt and blood. None of it was hers, thank goodness. Grabbing her trusty shovel This is the third one she's used since the outbreak and exited the back of the her hideout. She kept low to the ground as she walked toward the diner. Rena looked in the window and felt a rush of relief when she saw no signs of dead or alive. The last thing she imagined was that soon enough, she would find herself face to face with another survivor. See more While going through some cabinets in one of the storage rooms, Rena heard one of the floorboards creak. Her body tensed and she felt her heart rapidly beat in her chest. The brunette stood up and glanced outside the room, straining to see in the dim light. She felt a little better, but not by much, when she saw the noise was caused by a human girl, and not one of the undead. At least she seems to be alone, and she does not look dangerous, she thought. Though I know looks can be deceiving. Hopefully, she will not come back here. Maybe I can slip out the window? She looked at the only window in the room. It was small, but she was positive she could contort her body enough so that she could fit through. There was ragged bits of glass all over the window edge. Someone had broke it a long time ago. If I brush the glass away, it might alert the girl and I wont get out in time before she notices me, but if I leave the glass, Im going to get all cut up and possibly attract the undead or other unsavory wild animals. She bit down on her lower lip, and looked out the door again. The girl was opening one of the other doors and going into a room that looked pitch black. No, dont go in there, she thought, her instinct to continue to hide, but also wanting to stop the girl from the unknown dangers of a dark room. The unknown really scared her. Hiding had served her, but it was lonely. It would be nice to make contact with another human being. This girl, and that room, both had possible horrible outcomes. Before she could even decide to warn the girl away from the room, the strange girl was already running back out into the main room of the diner, seeming to be in a panic. Rena tensed up again. Was it more undead? She counted to ten in her head, but nothing followed the blonde. Shes fine. I should go now. Turning away from the door, she edged toward the window. She tried not to step on any glass. Her choice of footwear was not the most protective after all, but Rena was not about to give up her past life. It was one of the reasons she still wore the ballet attire. In the two years since the outbreak, she had raided quite a few places and had a good stash of extras and was always on the lookout for more. Right now she had on a pair of tan colored leotards they were covered in holes in various places, but she didnt care. Over them she wore a green tank top that was a couple sizes too big for her, and a trusty pair of pink colored ballet shoes. Of course over the tank top was the ugly camo vest. She only wore it because it protected her and had a lot of handy pockets. She still danced every chance she got, the undead be damned. As she was attempting to climb out the window and avoid most of the glass, her hand crunched down on a piece and she could not help but gasp out loud at the sudden shock wave of pain that went through her. See more Rena froze when she heard the voice telling her not to move. She warily glanced back at the blonde and reluctantly climbed back into the diner, thankfully avoiding more cuts. She chewed on her lower lip and waited for what was going to come. She hoped she had not walked into some sort of trap. Could the other truly be alone? Rena knew that a lot of people worked in groups and there were the ones who preyed on young girls, or people in general. The blonde claimed she meant no harm, but Rena did not believe her, not even for a minute. She followed the girl and set down at the table. It was rather surprising when the blonde started to doctor her hand. She winced as the stranger started to touch the tender flesh around the wound, but tried not to call out. It would be bad to show any weakness. Rena could tell by the way the blonde was looking at her that she was expecting her to call out her comrades or something. The brunette just sighed. Thanks.. um Rena, she said after the blonde offered her a drink of the whiskey and asked about her name. She had never been one for drinking, before or even after the outbreak, but made an exception this one time, taking a huge gulp of the nasty tasting liquid. Before she could even fully taste it, a shock wave of pain caused her to gasp. The girl had spilled the stuff on her wound. Rena's eyes widened in surprise. She winced a couple more times as the glass shards were picked out of her wound, tears coming to her eyes and threatening to spill over. When her hand was all bandaged up, she sighed in relief, though wished she had something to take for the pain. She could handle it though. It was nothing compared to the things she saw every single day. I was watching you, she admitted. But I was not like spying or anything. I heard the commotion from the back room, but once I saw you were okay, I tried to get away... She shrugged helplessly. As you can see, that did not exactly work out. Who are you?