#// also she's totally wearing an oversized jacket that someone gave her to protect against bites

[protectthevulnerable]

@frstwomn

          It had been... several months? Maybe. Since the apocalypse had started. Her trip to america had started with disney world. Something fun. But that had very quickly ended with her dad being eaten alive in the middle of an overcrowded theme park. And now she was just trying to survive, wandering across a country that she wasn’t all that familiar with. She’d heard rumors. Rumours that gave her hope. Rumours that she strove to prove correct.

          The president of the United States was trying to rebuild America. To Tess, it sounded true and almost inevitable. She was the president. She could do anything, right? Even if it took time. Tess just had to find her and maybe things could be easier.

          Hope. Over many points over her adventure, it hadn’t felt all that hopeful and other times, the old world felt like it was just around the corner. Weeks on the road were grueling and days where she finally found a town were relieving. But people were selfish and scary. It always ended badly. But that hope always came back. The president wasn’t scary, right?

          Somehow after months of hard detective work and walking, she was close. Each time she heard about the president, she grew closer. The next state over, the same state, just a few towns over. Finally... finally just a few miles away. The young girl ran those last few miles, despite how weak she was from malnutrition and dehydration and how often she stumbled.

          When she finally caught the first sight of what she thought could be them, she was grabbed. In her excitement, she hadn’t really been paying as much attention as she should have been and surprisingly strong, rotting hands grabbed at her and shoved her down, pulling a scream out of her.