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Danika's heart raced and her feet pounded the hard packed earth. Her mother had taught her to never look back. And she hadn't. Not once. Like the sound of a million flapping wings, a relentless beat drummed behind her. Her small body ached and her stomach cramped in knots. Blood streamed into her eyes, but her arms were too busy propelling her through the dry pine forest to wipe it away.

Danika had never known the world before the turning. Her mother had told her stories of what had once been, but to a child of the apocalypse, they might as well have been fairy tales.

In their travels, she'd seen the cities, burned and scarred from the initial fight. But her child's mind couldn't imagine living in a place covered in concrete, under the shadow of towering glass and steal.

Even twelve years after the fall of civilization, no one knew the cause of the plague that turned humans into monsters. And that knowledge wouldn't help her escape them now that her mother was gone.

How long had she been running? How long had it been since she'd seen her mother pulled into the center of a swarm?

The images washed through her mind, threatening to stop her. She could still hear her mother's screams as she was bitten by a hundred mouths. Was she turned? Was she dead?

Her small feet were covered in wet sores. But fear was like a drug. It kept her upright and alive.

Danika knew the strength of her body. She'd been tested many times at ten years old. It was impossible to survive this world otherwise.

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But she could feel her power waning, feel the fatigue and dehydration taking over, pulling her down.

She'd have to rest soon. Find water and food. Shelter and protection from the cruel sun. The rough bark of dry pine trees glowed gray in the bright daylight.

Sweat mixed with the blood on her brow, stinging her eyes, blinding her. She reached up to wipe it away with the back of her hand, causing a momentary laps in the pace of her pounding feet.

Her foot caught on a jagged stone, tipping her to the ground. Gasping, she held back a scream as she slammed down onto her palms and knees.

The hard packed dirt broke the skin on her hands and ripped the fabric of her jeans. She scrambled up, looking over her shoulder for a split second.

She'd expected to see a herd of the undead in relentless pursuit. But all that was behind her was an empty, dry forest bleached by the light of the noon day sun. Head swimming, mouth dry, she took in her surroundings for the first time.

Danika placed her hand against the rough bark of a nearby pine tree, holding herself upright. Confusion. Desperation. Thirst. Thinking hurt more than her wound covered feet.

She didn't want to stop because then she'd have to remember. She'd have to relive what she'd seen done to her mother.

Stumbling like one of the shambling monsters, she tripped her way through the parched forest. Her mouth was like a desert, her tongue swollen and sore.

She needed water. But the red packed dirt and the hot wind gave no clues where to find it.

Images of her mother's final moments rose in her mind's eye, threatening her sanity. If her body could have produced tears, they would have streamed down her cheeks. But there was no moisture to spare, so her eyes remained dry.

Danika kept moving, ignoring her aching feet. Her too small cowboy boots pinched and gnawed at her flesh.

Her mother's final sacrifice had saved her life. She'd thrown herself between Danika and the swarm, screaming at her daughter to run and to never look back. She'd done what her mother asked, but not before witnessing the horror of what had happened to her mom. The image was burned in her mind so deep, she wasn't sure it was real.

The girl sobbed, her eyes still too sore to cry. But the sorrow and pain could no longer be ignored. Her shoulder smashed into a pine tree, and she gasped for breath.

The heat of the day blared down on her from the relentless sun. She'd never make it. Never survive. Now that her mother was that thing, did she even want to?