When We Were Young

Prologue

One Year Ago

"Danni, something's wrong with mom and dad!" My little sister, Grace said as she ran from the house, meeting me in the front yard. I had just gotten home from after school soccer practice and my head was killing me. I wasn't in the mood for whatever my sister was yapping about.

"What, did they tell you that you couldn't go over to Joey's house again? I'm not gonna get them to change their minds so don't even ask." I signed and picked up Arch, our large tabby cat and walked past my sister and into the house.

"No, Danni, don't go in there." Grace grabbed my wrist and pulled me back. I turned to her with raised eyebrows.

"And why the hell not?" Arch hissed in my arms and then scratched at my skin to get free. I opened my arms and he dropped to the ground and ran down the street. "What the hell…" I trailed off, holding my now bleeding arm. I ran to the end of the yard, trying to spot the fat cat, but instead of seeing him I saw a large group of people—at least I thought they were people—slowly heading towards us. The closer they got the clearer I could see them; they were horribly disfigured, moaning and flesh falling off their bones. Some were bleeding some had limbs missing. Either way, this wasn't natural. "Grace—" I turned when a sharp scream sounded behind me. My sister had fallen off the porch, and a woman was on top of her, trying to claw at her. I ran and kicked the woman in the head, causing it to fly off and land on the porch. I knew playing soccer would come in handy.

"It was mom, Danni." Grace said in a shaky voice as I pulled her up.

"What?" I asked with wide eyes. I looked to the head on the porch, and sure enough, despite all the disfiguration, it was my mother. My mother…

"I told you," Grace looked past me to the others who were slowly approaching. "Mom and dad…something happened to them. They turned into one of those…things."

"Where's dad?"

"He was in the house… What are we going to do?" She asked. The moaning from the street was getting louder and louder and I knew that we couldn't just stand here like bait.

"We have to go in the house. Lock all the doors and windows." I walked into the house, dragging Grace with me. I shut the door and did a double take to make sure that it was all locked and secured. "Are you sure dad's one of those things?" Grace nodded, very sure of herself. She was crying now. She knew what I had to do. "Alright, listen," I turned to her and put my hands on her shoulders and stared her in the eyes. "Grace, these things…they're not mom and dad. Mom and dad are gone. Okay? There's nothing left of them except an empty shell that's been taken over by a monster. You understand?" She nodded. "You have to be strong, okay?" She nodded again, showing me that she understood, but I knew she was just as scared as I was. "Now you go make sure all the doors and windows are locked. I'm going…to go see…" I couldn't bring myself to say the words. When Grace saw that there was nothing more I could say, she removed my hands from her shoulders and went into the kitchen to make sure that the door was locked in there.

"He was in the bathroom, Danni. I locked him in there." She said, walking back into the living room with one of the many guns we had in the house. She placed it in my hand and gave me a hard look. "I'll go get the other ones." She turned away from me and walked up the stairs, taking two at a time.

My little sister was stronger than I was in this type of situation. I needed to rise to the occasion. For her. I was the one to protect her, not the other way around.

I crept to the back of the house to the bathroom. I held the gun out in front of me. A flash back raced through my mind of when I was ten. My father taught me how to fire and reload a gun for protection. For self defense. I just never knew this is what I would have to use it for.

I stood in front of the closed bathroom door, listening to the scratching against the door. The moaning was erratic. I gulped. Sweat mixed with tears as my hand began to shake. I mentally slapped myself. I needed to be strong. I reached out and took the door knob. Quickly, before I had the chance to change my mind, I swung open the door, closed my eyes, and fired three times. The body was down on the floor, still twitching. The head… I thought. All those movies I've seen, all those TV shows, all those video games and books… I fired one last time, aimed for the head, and the body stopped moving.

I dropped the gun and leaned up against the wall, holding my hands over my mouth. I screamed until my head hurt even more than I did before. This had to be a nightmare…none of this should be happening. How could this be happening? It was all science fiction; at least, I thought it was. I quickly pulled myself together and grabbed the gun with a spastic hand and walked back into the living room. I pulled the curtains over the windows and pushed the couch up against the door. I had seen the movies. I had played the video games. I knew enough to get my sister and I by. At least for a little while.

A/N: Huge Walking Dead fan, even though some of the characters piss me off. This takes place after season three. I don't know how season three is going to end, but bleh. Enjoy the story! Another update in a few days if I get reviews to add more. Sorry the prologue is so short. :P Review!