The setting: New York City. The year: 2031. The problem: Everything has hit the fan and the zombie apocalypse that everyone said they wanted and no one actually did is finally here.

Hi. I'm Trey Baxter. Just your normal, average, everyday 19 year old guy. Except that I've been living in a world where every day is a fight for my life, and I've never had a night where I didn't sleep with one eye open.

I guess you'll be wanting a little bit of back story, a little information about how the whole thing went down. Well it all happened a lot faster than anyone thought it would. From the announcement that John Hopkins was going to start human trials with the experimental DNA (it came from infected people somewhere in Asia who got a virus that no one had ever seen before) to the first attack, it took about 6 months. Fast forward to now and I'm sure you can tell that things only got worse.

Now, I'm sure you're wondering how a kid who was only 2 when things went south survived. Truth is, at the beginning humanity was really good at keeping itself together. The government quickly set in, quarantining everyone in New York who was still human within walls, with military and volunteer forces keeping the zombies out. I spent most of my childhood within these walls, growing up with the other survivor kids.

School was pretty different from what I heard the adults talking about - instead of math we learned how to shoot guns, instead of literature we learned how to treat wounds... You get the point. I never got to travel outside of New York, but from the reports I overheard, it was easy to tell that this is how it was all around the US.

Well, the walls held really well for almost 10 years. Not that long after my 12th birthday though, someone let their guard down and let a single zombie in. And that was all it took.

Chaos ensued for a brief period, but the damage was done. Those who could escape from the walls did, and I don't know if they're still alive or not. But what I do know is that my dad gave me some of his guns and told me where I could find more ammo in the future, and my mom gave me an old knapsack with some cans of food, and I was sent out of into the great unknown to fend for myself.

And that's how it's been ever since. At first finding new clothes to change in and out of as I grew was easy, but over time, the zombies became settled in to their own territories it became harder and harder to find new clothes. Honestly, I've been wearing the ones on my back for just about 2 years now. I have to tell you, duct tape works miracles on boots and jackets.

The disease travels through blood. So while it makes breathing a whole lot easier, it's really hard to kill a zombie without risking getting infected yourself. I'd seen people around when the walls fell use bats and wood and other blunt objects to kill a zombie, only to turn into one themselves because the blood sprayed in their eyes and mouths. Guns are definitely the way to go. The downside is that ammo is becoming harder and harder to find, and guns are loud. In the 7 years I've been out on my own, I can count the number of times that I've had to use mine. It's around 50, for those of you wondering.

The life of a survivor is hard. I sleep in weird holes that I find in dirty alley ways, and it's always with one eye open and at least 2 escape routes. Food is scarce, but it's not that hard to stock up when I come across it, and ammo is harder to find. But I've managed to survive for 7 years on my own, so I'd like to think that that's a success. You just can't let your guard down for even a moment, or else it's all over.

Well, that's about it. I need to get going, seeing as the sun's starting to set. That's one of my biggest rules, and it's one of the ones that I know for a fact has kept me alive all these years.

Never be out after dark, or else you'll fall asleep and wake up as one of them.

Profile by: Ringo
Story by scout
Art by frigidloki @ tumblr