''Staring at the sea, will she come?
Is there hope for me after all is said and done?
Anything at any price, all of this for you.
All the spoils of a wasted life, all of this for you.
All the world has closed her eyes, tired faith, all worn and thin.
For all we could have done and all that could have been

Ocean pulls me close and whispers in my ear.
The destiny I've chose, all becoming clear.
The currents have their say, the time is drawing near.
Washes me away, makes me disappear.

I descend from grace, in arms of undertow.
I will take my place in the great below.

I can still feel you even so far away.''
Nine Inch Nails - The Great Below

(Sorry about that, but I just felt that the whole song was a perfect summary of Andy's state of mind. lol Don't go thinking you don't have to read to understand though!)

Notice: I do not own any rights to the movies 28 days later or 28 weeks later

The following is the basic text structure that I use in all of my chapters.

Text in Italic: character's thoughts.

Normal text: narrating.

Text in Bold & Italic: dialog or outside voice.

28 weeks after the original Outbreak, on the coast of Europe

Where am I?

The sound of waves crashing on the shore could be heard in the distance, the smell of salt floating about.

Why is it sand that runs through my fingers?

Andy slowly opened his eyes, flashes of memories rushing in his head: the monster, the fall, the cold…

Mom?

The sky was of a clear blue, darkening slowly with the hours. Andy didn’t know how long he had been there nor how he had gotten there.

I had a bad dream, mom: I was flying and Tammy was with me. We were getting away from something, but I can’t remember what… But then it caught up with us, somehow… We got separated and I fell and I fell… It was as if I was gonna fall forever but the water caught up with me, just like the monsters had…

He closed his eyes a moment and took a deep breath.

I don’t know why, mom, but my chest hurts… I vaguely remember this old man in my dream… He was trying to kiss me, I think, and then he became one of the monsters. His eyes turned red and he was twitching and screaming…

Mom?

Andy kept his eyes closed, reaching out to his smiling mother, her hair flying in the summer breeze.

Mom, why does it feel like you are so far away? Where is Tammy? Where is dad? I wanna go home…

When he opened his eyes once more, the reality had come back to him like a slap in the face. He remembered what had happened in the safe zone, the people running from the infected, the screams, the sound of flesh being ripped and pierced by the guns. He remembered it all: Doyle, Scarlet, Tammy, Flynn, his dad… The look in Don’s eyes when he had held him down in the tunnels… Tears started pouring out as he laid still, a pack of white birds flying high over him. Until now, he had been able to stay strong, more so than most people could have been, but all of that was something of the past. He felt like his hearth had suddenly shattered in thousands of little pieces. Everything he had ever held dear was now gone, most likely forever. He was only twelve years old, but he knew that much. Nothing would ever be the same and he was alone, so deeply alone.

Mom…

Andy knew she would not answer his call, but it didn’t matter. All of his body was shaking from the pain and the cold, the evening wind brushing on his wet clothes. He cried for hours, silently, clawing at the sand and digging, deeper and deeper. He wiped his face with his sleeve, adding more sand to his cheeks rather than removing some, and sat down to look at the horizon. With a little hesitation, he removed a folded picture from his pants back pocket. He lowered his eyes and unfolded the ruffled photo: his mom, dad and sister looked back at him. He kissed each one of them, remembering their laugh, their voice, and then placed them in the hole he had dug. With each grain of sand that slowly buried them, he said good bye, losing a part of himself in the process.

I love you mom. I love you dad. I love you Tammy. I always will.

After a moment, he got on his feet and looked to his right: there stood the village, eerie and dark. Andy started walking, listening carefully for any alarming sounds. While making his way to the nearest house, he noticed pools of blood staining sand and grass, sign of the horrors that had taken place earlier. He had seen this before, once, in London, and it made even more terrifying. This virus, this plague, was following him. He finally reached a door, grabbed the knob and turned it slowly, looking inside for any movement: everything was calm and quiet, the weight of tragedy hanging heavy in the air. He stepped in, closed the door and locked it behind him. Andy looked around him, his eyes getting used to the darkness, and noticed he was standing in a small kitchen. He brought a hand to his stomach as it growled of hunger. He had not really thought about it considering the circumstances, but he had then realized how hungry he was. Andy spotted the fridge and walked towards it, his mouth watering at the thought of all the goods it would contain. He wrapped his fingers around the handle, hesitating a moment, then swung the door open. A bright light filled the room and his eyes widened. He pushed the door shut with his whole body and stopped breathing for a moment, still, listening. He stood there, his back against the fridge, blood rushing through his veins, afraid he had caught someone’s, or something’s, attention. He waited a few seconds, a few minutes… and no sound came to his ears. With a sigh of relief, he went over the counter and grabbed a can opener that was lying there. Andy headed back to the fridge, holding the can opener tightly.

1… 2… 3!

He swung open the door once again and, with all the swiftness his arm was capable of, he hit the light bulb, engulfing the room in darkness.

Alright! Consider this chapter as a 13-A cause I’m not quite done yet! You’ll be reading some more about Andy very soon! Once again, if you have any comments about the story, the writing, the grammar, please don’t hesitate to send me a message. Every of them is greatly appreciated :)