They'd said stay in your homes. The voices on the radio and the spokespersons on the television, they'd announced with calm voices and solemn looks for all civilians to lock their doors. Close the blinds. Draw the curtains. They'd said, don't panic. They'd said, the situation was under control. And before all that, the newspapers had just said it was just an illness. A small epidemic, nothing to be concerned about.<br/><br/>Thinking back on it, she wasn't sure if the media had been lying, or if they'd been lied to.<br/><br/>She'd stayed in her apartment building at first, had stayed home like a lot of people had. At first, it'd been like a vacation. Lay around on the couch, drink some orange juice from the carton, play a couple hundred games of solitaire. Gossip with the neighbors about what the hell the military was up to this time around. But that'd changed quick after the power went out, and then those...those sick people started running around. Started jumping people, biting and chasing. She'd stayed in her apartment for only a week until the clawing at the walls had gotten to her; she'd kicked down the fire escape and headed towards her workplace, ducking behind cars and jumping into trash cans whenever she heard someone, more like something, stumble by to close.<br/><br/>No one was there, not even looters. It'd been locked up tight, the sign in the window sill with its yellow smiley face still claiming it was closed. She'd went around back, moving quickly into the alleyway and opening the door that she had a key too, slipping into the restaurant.<br/>