Don't know where this story came from in my screwed up brain, but whatev :)

So open your eyes and see
The way our horizons meet
And all of the lights will lead
Into the night with me
And I know these scars will bleed
But both of our hearts believe
All of these stars will guide us home

-All Of The Stars (Ed Sheeren)

Flashback

Noise was blaring through the streets that not even the most concentrated person in the world could stay concentrated.

Well, that's at least what Lucy thought.

The cold wind blared as she made sure to make her way as quick as she could to the dance studio. Granted, she was graduating in two years, and moving onto bigger and better things, but she still needed to make money and pay off her debts. And her apartment. And Samantha. The girl was only two, but she still cost a lot. Thank God Lucy was pretty good when it came to paying bills.

"Son of a bitch," she hisses when the cold air bites her. She could be home right now, with Samantha, watching some stupid horror or comedy movie, but no, she had to be called into teach a class some stupid dance, forcing herself to call Quinn and make sure that Samantha had someone watching her for the rest of the afternoon. She felt like shit for making this happen on such short notice, but obviously her job right now was what was keeping them both alive. Not her parents, not her school, and most certainly not her slacking around.

The door to the dance studio finally appears and Lucy smiles thankfully. Stepping in, she takes off her jacket and steps inside, placing it on the coat rack. As soon as she turns around, she is practically tackled by her boss, Sue. Her eyes were happy and her smile was fully there, but with how cold Lucy was feeling, she was finding it hard to try and find the love.

"Thank you for coming this soon." Lucy smiles and awkwardly hugs her back. She had never been that great with contact to her bosses pr anything of that sort, but as long as she was getting payed overtime, that was all that mattered.

"It's fine, Sue." She steps back and glances behind her. "Where are the lucky kids I'm teaching today?" Sue nods her head down the hallway and begins to walk, Lucy right on her heels. When she gets to the dance studio, she was already hearing OMG playing on the stereo. Something told her this was a hip hop class. Sue opens the door and Lucy steps inside, getting a good look at all the kids.

They all looked to be somewhere between the ages of seven and twelve, a simple beginner class. She could make some stuff up to give them an hour. All eyes turn to her as she steps in. Sue takes the opportunity to introduce her.

"Sorry for the wait kids, but for today, Ms. Caroline isn't going to be in. But we do have someone who is just as good, and this is Lucy. She'll be teaching you today. And I'm sure you'll very much enjoy her." All the kids seemed slightly scared of the new teacher, and Lucy could understand why. Ms. Caroline was very strict, and she didn't let them have much song choice. Lucy was much more laid back. "I'll be in the main office if anyone needs me. Take it away, Lucy." She leaves and closes the door behind her.

"Well, hi," she says sweetly to the kids. They all say hi back, some a bit more hesitant than others. "First off, when you're dancing with me, no one is limited to their opinion. If you have any suggestions, any at all, please tell me. It's always cool to incorporate what you want into the dance. I'm an open book. Second, I heard you listen to OMG. You like Usher?" Some kids cheer while others nod their heads.

Lucy walks over to the stereo and takes out the CD, then places in another one. She smiles when it starts to play, and she hears the kids gasp behind her. She turns around, her hands on her hips.

"I'm sure you'll like 'DJ Got Us Fallin'." She turns to the mirror. "Trust me. This is a fav. Ok, let's get started!"

~%~

She closes the door behind her and sighs tiredly. Those kids had more energy in them then a dog in a giant, green field in the middle of the country. She had been there for more then an hour, as the kids had persisted she stay because they didn't want to stop. Of course, being the mushy person she was, she agreed and ended up pulling something in her leg. Powering through it, she had made her way home in the cold, fall air, but now, all she wanted to do was lay down and go to sleep. But she couldn't.

"Hey," she hears a soft voice say. Lucy looks up and smiles at Quinn.

"Hey," she sighs back, getting up onto her hurt leg. "I'm so sorry I called you. I feel like shit, and the fact that I was there longer then I said I would be makes it worse." Quinn shakes her short, dirty blonde locks.

"It's fine, Lucy," she chuckles. "You know I love that little girl. She's adorable." Lucy smiles.

"Still, thank you. Here, I'll give you anything, money?" Quinn rolls her eyes.

"Keep your money. I gotta get home. Got a project to finish. Did you finish that singing sheet for Mr. Sheen?" Lucy cringes.

"I knew I forgot something," she mumbles. Quinn laughs, her green eyes light.

"I knew you'd be busy. That's why I brought my project from last year for you to use. Just make a few tweaks and it'll e perfect." Lucy grins and throws her arms around her in a tight embrace.

"Man, I love you," she snickers. Quinn was a year older then her, but felt like the older sister she never had. She pulls back and looks down the hallway. "Is she asleep? Or is she awake?" Quinn shrugs her shoulders.

"She complained she was tired a while ago, but I don't know what the heck that girl wants. She may be adorable, but damn is she confusing." Lucy laughs.

"You get used to it after spending every day with her. Hey, I'll call you later, ok? You just head back to you apartment and I'll see ya tomorrow." Quinn smiles and heads towards the door.

"Don't forget to tweak the project! Mr. Sheen remembers everyone!" Lucy nods.

"I won't!" The apartment door closes and Lucy sets off towards the small nursery towards the back. When she opens the door, she's met with a girly giggle and she smiles. Walking in, she sees Samantha up at the foot of her crib, her small hands resting on the bar, taking look at her mommy through her messy light brown locks. Lucy walks over to the crib and picks her up into her arms. She bops her small nose, making Sam giggle. "There's my pretty girl."

~%~

Lucy's eyes almost closed as she was lying on the couch watching some romance movie. She thought it was 'The Notebook,' but to be honest she didn't really care. They had never been her sort of movie. But when Sam's gleeful laughter kept her eyes open, she made sure to stay awake. She couldn't leave her little two year old out on the carpet while she slept.

"Mommy, look!" she says. Lucy looks over and sees that Sam had drawn what looked to be a big pink blob, but in her mind she guessed it was something amazing. Lucy smiles.

"It looks amazing, sweetie. Why don't you draw another one?" She goes right back to her drawing and Lucy lays her head back on the pillow, sighing deeply. She felt herself doing that a lot lately. A yawn escapes her, but before she could properly react to such an annoyance, her phone vibrated under her body. Reaching out, she grabs her iPhone, plugs in the passcode, and sees that Quinn had texted her. Her brow furrows when she reads the text.

Quinn :)

Dude, are you watching the news?

They're telling everyone to evacuate the city!

Turn to Channel 12!

Lucy's brow furrows as she places her phone down and grabs the remote, switching to the channel she had suggested, and sure enough, there was a human being on the screen, talking to the people of Long Island and Manhattan, to leave their homes and go to safe zones.

"There has been an outspread, worldwide epidemic, and government officials are suggesting a mandatory evacuation of homes and apartments for the good of the people around this area. Alarms will be sounded..."

"Well, crap," she mumbles, standing up from the chair. Looks like her nap would need to be postponed. Sam looks up with a confused face as Lucy picks her up in her arms. She grabs a small backpack, loads some clothes and child stuff into it, and heads out into the hallway, closing the door behind her.

"Where are we going, mommy?" she asks. Lucy shrugs her shoulders.

"I don't know, honey. But I can tell I don't have to do that Music project that's due tomorrow for a long time."

~%~

Present~Two Years Later~

"Mommy, can you help me?" Samantha asks as she tries to untangle her hair with an old brush they had found. Lucy steps back from the counter in the old cabin they had found, looking into the small living room to find her four year old struggling to get a brush through her mess of a hair.

Lucy chuckles and places her knife down on the counter, heading over to Sam's side. She kneels down to her height and holds her hands out for the brush. "Come on, give it to me," she states softly.

Sam sighs and places the brush in her hands, and Lucy starts to slowly comb through the messy brown knots. That was something Lucy noticed easily. Before this, Samantha's hair had been a light brown, but now, probably because of all the sun they had been getting, it was darker. More of a dark brown then a light brown.

"Your hair is so pretty, you know that, right?" she says soothingly to Sam while one of the knots finally gets worked out. Sam pouts.

"Not right now." Lucy chuckles.

"No, you always have nice hair. You're blessed to have wavy hair, you just need to learn how to take care of it." She grabs a hairband off her wrist and ties her hair up in a high ponytail, making sure to get as much hair into it as possible. Even then, a few strands hung loose around her face. "But for now, all we need to focus on is keeping it brushed and keeping it up."

"Why do you get to keep it down, mommy?" she asks, turning around and fingering a piece of Lucy's hair. She smiles and brings Sam's finger down to her side.

"Because if one of the monsters comes near us, they'll get to me first because they can pull my hair. You can get away." Samantha looks down at the ground sadly, her dark blue eyes tearing up slightly.

"I don't want to think about that," she mumbles. Lucy sighs.

"Well, if we're still alive now, I think we'll be fine. So there's no need to worry about it, ok?" Samantha looks up and smiles.

"Ok," she replies happily. "Are we staying here?" Lucy nods.

"But only for the night. I already placed some traps around here in case some of this things want to intrude, but we still need to get some stuff to eat. So we have to make it quick." She goes back into the small kitchen and grabs her knife, then walks back to Samantha with a new determinate look in her eyes. "Stay by my side at all time, remember?"

Samantha nods. "Yes, mommy." Lucy smiles.

"That's my girl. Come on, let's go."

~%~

One hour later, and three small animals dangling in Lucy's hands, the two girls made their way back to the cabin, their stomachs growling and their mouths drooling with desire to eat. Samantha looked at the little creatures. She frowns.

"I wish we didn't have to hurt them," Sam says softly. Lucy looks down at the little girl and sighs sadly.

"I know, Sam. But in this world it's eat or be eaten. This is life now. I'm pretty sure you don't want to eat no spoiled food in some old food store, right?" Sam shakes her head.

"No," she replies. "I don't want a moldy sandwich." Lucy snickers.

"Then let's eat some meat. These things aint gonna skin themselves." Sam clutches onto her mothers side as they cross over a small stream in the ground. The branch was too loose, but it fit just their weight so that it wouldn't break.

When they reach the other side, Lucy places a hand out in front of Sam to stop her from going. Her brow furrows as she listens closely. Sam looks up confused. "Mommy, what's-"

"Shh," she commands. Sam shuts her mouth and places her hand in Lucy's free one tightly. When mommy said to be quiet, you were quiet.

Lucy takes a step and finally hears what she had been trying to figure out. The sounds of many mouths groaning and gurgling, growling and hissing. There was a herd coming. They needed to get back to the house as quick as they could.

She places the animals in the small bag she had brought and unshielded her gun from her belt. She uses her other arm to lift Sam up and away from the ground. "You need to stay quiet, Sammy, ok? The monsters are coming towards us and we need to get back to the house in one piece. So keep that pretty little mouth shut."

Sammy makes a motion of zipping up her mouth and throwing the key away. Lucy smiles at her cute little action. Even in the worst of situations, the kid always found a way to make it a little less stressful.

Lucy tries to run as quietly as she could so she wouldn't attracts any of the biters attention, all while trying to dodge the trees and keeping a firm grip on her gun and Samantha. The moaning grew louder, but Lucy didn't fret. She saw the cabins wooden doors coming up.

As soon as she reached the boundaries she had set up, she quickly climbs over and goes to the door. As soon as she opens and closes the door, she sees the first of them. And there were many more. She had to make sure to keep the windows boarded up.

Placing Samantha down on the ground, she leans down to her height and starts firing off instructions. "In the kitchen, there's some more wood. Bring it to me, ok? They're small pieces." Sam nods and takes off while Lucy places some curtains and wood up on the windows to block out that there were people inside. Sam scrambles back into the room a moment later, three pieces in her hands.

Lucy takes them and places all of the wood on the last window. The moaning grew louder, but because they got the stuff up, assholes had no clue they were in there. Lucy sighs happily and glances down at Samantha with a triumphant smirk. "You did well, little girl," she says, rubbing her head of messy curls.

Samantha giggles at the gesture, only to be stopped when both hear the distinct sound of something crashing in the basement. Lucy pushes Sam behind her and takes out her knife. She did not want to believe that there were those horrible looking things in this place they called a haven for the night, but there was no chance in hell she was firing off a gun when there were maybe hundreds of those things right outside the door.

She looks behind her and makes sure that Samantha far behind her but still close enough if more than one came stumbling out. Then, kicking the door open with her foot as quickly as she could, she aims to throw her knife into the head of one of them, the joy in her eyes of watching the blood drip down their skull and onto the poorly made bed behind it.

Only to be met with a crossbow pointed straight at her.

Well, that was different.

Well, that's chapter one. What do you think? Reviews inspire me :)Luv ya!