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day 8: home

the neighborhood was in ruins. there was no one left who would help her.

the keys to her mom's car were probably in her parents' bedroom. sam decided that she didn't really have a choice. she needed those keys. her parents had only seemed tired, earlier, not crazy. hopefully she could get out of there before they got worse.

she slowly entered her house, listening carefully for any signs of her parents. loud noises emanated from the kitchen, soon followed by her parents talking, and sam was relieved that her parents were no longer in their bedroom. quickly but quietly she hurried up the stairs.

her parents' bedroom door was wide open. she went inside and saw her mom's purse sitting on the floor next to the bed. she started rummaging through the purse, but she soon grew frustrated at how much crap there was filling it. she dumped the contents onto the floor and quickly found the keys.

sam was about to head back downstairs when she heard noises coming from outside. it sounded like gunshots. she went over to the window and peered outside. she saw military men in the street with semi-automatics.

thank god, sam thought. she was about to run out and ask for their help when she noticed a group of them entering the house across the street. a few minutes later she heard gunshots, and soon the men came back out. sam managed to hear some of what was said next.

"how many?"

"two infected and two civilians, sir," one of the men answered.

"was that the entire family?"

"yes, sir," the man answered.

sam didn't bother to try to hear any more as the men headed towards her house. she looked around frantically, unable to form a coherent thought, before crawling underneath her parents' bed.

she heard the men enter in through the front door. their boots were loud all throughout the house. a few moments after they entered, she heard gunshots in the kitchen. then the footsteps came up the stairs.

one man stood at the head of the stairs. the rest of them went down the hallway and into her bedroom. she could hear them as they tore it apart looking for her. next they tore apart the guest bedroom, they searched the bathroom.

"what's taking so long?" a voice said over their radios.

in a moment one of the men answered, "one civilian still unaccounted for, sir."

the men entered the last room upstairs: her parents' bedroom. they opened up the closet, overturned tables. suddenly, the room went quiet. sam had her hands pressed over her mouth, trying to keep any sound from escaping. her heart was racing and tears were forming at the corners of her eyes. two pairs of boots were just inches away from her, standing at the foot of the bed.

suddenly sam heard the bed springs above her moving, and she rolled onto her back as the mattress was pulled off and thrown to the side. her eyes looked directly into the gun pointed at her head, and a moment later she saw nothing. as soon as the sound of the gunshot left the room, one of the men lifted up his radio.

"all clear, sir."

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