Today was significant. It was the first day Morgan had set foot outside on her own since the quarantine began. Before now, she had always been accompanied by Daniel. Today, she had only his leather jacket for company. And she was terrified. 

It had been three days since he'd disappeared, and the carefully rationed food was beginning to run out. Between anxiety and a serious lack of food, she had already lost so much weight. She couldn't afford to drop too many more pounds, not if she wanted to survive any decent amount of time. Daniel had been out scavenging three days ago, and hadn't returned that evening. She'd stayed up all night waiting, praying that her friend was all right. But he still hadn't returned. Two days later, she knew she had to go out and search for him. Daniel's leather jacket was too big for her, but she'd put it on anyways. Her own jacket had been locked in the university residencies when they'd fled, and he'd had an extra. 

Morgan walked quietly, silently. She constantly checked over her shoulder, scanning her surroundings for any sign of motion. She took each street at a jog, hiding in doorframes and empty alleyways, always checking that the coast was clear. Every time a breeze blew, rustling some garbage or disturbing a pile of dead leaves, she panicked. Several times now, a plastic bag had caused her to go scurrying off into the nearest alleyway. It didn't help that she had no idea where to begin searching for Daniel. Where had he gone to look for food? She refused to allow her mind to entertain the concept that he might not be alive anymore. She refused. Turning around a corner, she started cautiously down another empty street. 

At that moment, crackling static sounded through the city. It increased in a deafening feedback loop, getting louder and louder with each passing second. 

Fear froze Morgan in place. Her hands flew up to cover her ears, and she looked up and down the street in terror. All along the road, the infected seemed to be coming to life. They were attracted to the noise, and she was standing in the middle of the street. She was standing in the middle of the street, and she was undoubtedly going to die. 

She turned tail and sprinted, straight to the nearest doorway. It was some sort of tiny convenience store. Mercifully, it was unlocked. She tore the door open and slammed it quickly behind her, kneeling down to hold it shut. A body slammed against the door, one of the infected, and she squeezed her eyes tightly shut. A second time, the door rattled as the infected person outside slammed his weight against it. A squeak of terror escaped from Morgan's throat. Outside, the static was clearing, forming instead into proper words. Morgan was far too preoccupied with keeping the door closed to even begin to pay attention. She opened her eyes once more, looking up at the doorway to the convenience store as the infected charged it again. Her weight wasn't enough to keep it closed, and it opened several inches before she could slam it shut again. But she had seen what she needed to. There it was, the lock. She reached up and turned it quickly, locking the door. It wouldn't hold for long...

At that moment, she heard a yell, a human yell of pain, sound from outside. It was loud enough to be heard above the sound of the the speakers, and loud enough to attract the attention of the infected outside the door. Morgan knew whoever yelled was as good as dead already. If they weren't inside a building, they were gone. But she couldn't help but cringe in sympathy for him. 

The message had said something about Memorial Park. She knew where it was, but she didn't have a hope of getting there alive in a day. Not by herself...she needed to find Daniel first, and she needed to find him alive. She rubbed her hands against her face, fingers shaking from the close call, and backed away from the door. Straight into one of the convenience store shelves. Empty plastic containers clattered to the ground, and she fumbled to catch them. In doing so, she managed to knock the entire metal shelf over, and it clattered against the ground. "Crap!" she hissed under her breath, backing away as quickly as she could.