Early Sunsets Over Belleville

I woke up with a gasp, covered in sweat and breathing hard. I looked down to see Gerard still asleep in my arms. I let out a sigh of relief and dropped my head back down onto the pillow. Another nightmare... Will they never end?

I slowly inched my way out from under Gee and got up from the bed. I looked down at him and smiled to myself. He's so adorable... It makes me wanna squeal!

I giggled quietly and looked around, my smile slowly fading as I remembered the kind of world we lived in now. Why do we have to live like this? I wish I could do something so he wouldn't have to. I'd do anything for him. That's why I risk my life for him to eat everyday.

Looking out the window, I realized that it was about three in the morning. I sighed. Still not getting enough sleep. At leafs, not enough for me to be running everyday from those...God knows whats. I walked out of the room, leaving my Bear to sleep and looked at our stock of necessities. It's so low... I didn't even get all that I was aiming for yesterday. I got blocked in by those things so I had to make a run for it. One bottle of water left. I sighed to myself. We can't share one bottle all day.

I looked back towards the room. I'm gonna have to leave again. I walked back into the room and kissed his head lightly, partially waking him up.

"Hey... I have to go out again. I'll be back soon, I promise. I love you." I whispered. He nodded and mumbled a response, then fell back asleep. I smiled smally.

I started thinking about what he said yesterday as I pulled my shoes on and grabbed my backpack. 'There's a first for everything.' I shook my head to get the thought out. I didn't want to think about not coming back. It was an impossible thought.

I peeked out the window to see if there were any of those creatures. There was a positive side and a negative side to going out in the dark. Positive side: stay concealed and sneak around quietly. Negative side: you never know what's around the corner.

I walked out the door, locking it for the sake of Gerard, and crouched down, sneaking down the driveway. Half moon tonight. Positive AND negative. I had just made it into the shadow when I heard a growl and watched the lifeless corpse pass me. My heart was racing so fast. Soon, it was safe enough for me to proceed.

I made it the rest of the way safely, got the rest of the supplies, and was on my way back. All was well when I turned a corner and ran right into one of the mindless creatures, falling down. I completely froze as it stared back at me. It didn't register what was happening till it grabbed me by the arm and pulled me towards him. My instincts kicked in and I quickly kicked it away, got up, and started running, only to be grabbed by more of the. I was getting boxed in. NOT good...

I looked around desperately for a way out and saw a low enough ledge for me to grab. Perfect. I grabbed it and pulled myself up onto it. I started climbing higher when I realized something. I dropped the backpack...