I opened my eyes and saw the normal. A room with gray paint curling off the wall, as if it wanted to be free from its job. The tan carpet was stained with, what I think, coffee stains. I rolled over in my red sleeping bag, so I am facing the left side of the room. In the middle of the left wall was a shattered window, dark grey clouds threatened to drop rain onto the deserted streets below. Sick of the gloomy look, I craned my neck too see the wall that was above my head. It was lined with trash, dirty blankets, cloths, and rubble of the roof. The roof fell in on that side of the room a few days ago. Grumbling under my breath, I flipped over to see the right side of the room. It had only one thing to look at, a shattered mirror that was centered to the wall. A sixteen-year-old female was staring back at me. She was snuggled into a red sleeping bag that was torn beyond repair. Her black hair that was normally smooth and straight, was mangled and knotted from sleep, and dirt was smeared on her left cheek. She looked so young… But her abnormally red eyes betrayed her, they saw too much to be considered young. She was wearing a permanent scolding look. She never felt love, nor did she express it. That female was me, Scarlett.

                I pulled my black leather jacket over my red t-shirt. After flipping my hair out from underneath the jacket, I pulled my black, lacy, knee-high boots over my tight dark-blue jeans. I grabbed my black and red backpack, grabbed my hairbrush, and started to brush my hair. Instantly, it was straight, soft, and silky. I bent down and rolled up my sleeping bag. After I stuffed it in the backpack, I took a deep breath. Standing, I swung the backpack over my shoulder. I looked over the room one last time. Finally, I turned to where the foot of my sleeping bag was. The whole wall had fallen down years ago. Beyond it, was many other ruins of buildings. My ‘room’ was on the second floor. The only way up to it is the rubble from the fourth, fifth, and sixth floor. No one can ever sneak up on me, because the rubble shifts with the slightest movement. I hopped around the rubble, dodging stray pipes.

                My boots clanked against a metal panel. I stepped off it, and started to walk down the deserted street. I saw the ledge that I normally get into the main city with. Slowly, I crept behind a building that might have been a pizza place. Peaking around the corner for any danger, I ran for the ledge. It is more like a mini-cliff. I walked to the very edge, with the wind blowing my hair off to the side. I looked over the ruin city. Mother Nature was reclaiming the stone forest. Grass was peaking up through the pavement, vines and ivy ran up and down buildings, and wildlife ran freely across the streets. This was the result of a zombie apocalypse. Or, as the elders call it, the Virus. It was spread through a bomb, killing what it hit, and infecting those who were exposed to the radioactivity. Now, we built a giant wall to protect the Survivors inside the Main City. My ‘house’ was feet away from the Great Wall. This was my world. No, this is the new world. One where everyone fights for each other. As one.