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ONE
N O R M A L ____________
THE FIRST TIME I saw them, I was sure that I was having a nightmare.
In the last days of the outbreak, everyone thought that. There was no way that the world was actually being overrun with the diseased undead corpses of our friends and family. No one could possibly be stupid enough to let that happen, not the scientists, the doctors, the military, not even God himself. And yet here I was, at the end of the world, with a wall built out of old lumber and tires from the auto shop on Oakley being the only thing standing between me and a world of walking corpses who yearn for my meat and bones.
Well, that's not entirely true. My mother worked herself near to death every day to make sure I, along with my brother and the rest of our peaceful community, survive. And there was always the rag tag militia she was heading, the ones who take turns watching the gate and keeping the rest of us oblivious to everything outside of it- or so they believe.
Not many residents of Woodbury were here before the biters started to, well, bite. Most of us came from outside, after months and months of running and hiding from the new predator at the top of the food chain. It wasn't something people liked to think about, or even acknowledge that it ever happened. But everyone here I've met has the same story: they ran until they couldn't run anymore. And that's when they found Woodbury- or rather, Woodbury found them.
I had lost count of how long it had been since I last saw new faces in our town. Not since Sal and Eileen managed to stumble upon our town a few months before the first snow fell in the winter. It was hard to keep track of, since no calendars would ever be made again. Like ever.
It was honestly miraculous that I had somehow managed to sneak a peek at the new arrivals. Normally, Reese has his buddy Leah watching me like a hawk while he helps do extra construction on the other side of town. But for some reason that day she had fallen asleep, and that meant that as long as I was quiet, I could easily sneak out and be back before she even realized I was gone.
I remember that day better than my own birthday. It was just after the white and the frost had melted from the grass, when the breezes of a new year grew warmer and I could actually stand to be outside of our crummy home without a sweater.
It was business as usual in Woodbury, the adults were all working hard to keep our town safe from the horrors beyond the wall. The day started like most usually did, with a strong hand shaking my shoulder to wake me up for breakfast.
"Em, wake up, babe."
Mom sounded pretty tired, but she still kept her volume nice and soft, knowing my history with insomnia kept me from a very restful sleep. As I stirred, the feeling of the knitted blanket weighing down on my body became all too familiar.
