Alone. That’s been life up until now. Now I have people that depend on me to survive and I don’t even know how it ended up this way. You see I’ve always been alone, I have never had people look to me for anything. I was always the black sheep in my family and I kept to myself. I didn’t put much stock into relationships because I had hobbies. Heh, hobbies if that’s what you wanna call them, I call them activities that kept me busy.

It all started when I was a teenager, I would go out into the woods and practice with a bow I got when I was fourteen. I would shoot from the time I woke up till my mom would scream for me to come inside. I just wanted to be left alone but she would drag me to dinner parties or community dances to try and turn me into a lady. It never worked, I would find my moment and escape without her knowing and run back home. I kept at archery for a while until I got bored of it at sixteen and never went back to it. 

I picked up sewing then, it was fun. I made all kinds of clothes, I made a few bucks mending neighbors' clothing and stuffed animals that were decades old. I only did that for a year and I saved what I made. I ended up using that money for a fishing pole and a tackle box because my dad was an avid angler. He didn’t force me to be a lady like my mom did. I could go out and play with the neighborhood boys and wrestle or play football with them. I loved going fishing with my dad, we had so much fun catching dinner and he taught me all about the different knots and techniques his dad taught him. But fishing didn’t last long. 

I turned eighteen, mom ended up leaving us and dad turned to the bottle most nights. Which meant he didn’t want to fish and neither did I. I avoid him most days because he became a different person once he hit the bottle. Her being gone meant I had to take on all of the housework and at times the bills. My dad worked but he mainly worried more about stocking bottles than stocking groceries in the pantry. So I got a few jobs, I worked at the local grocery store during the day and at the gas station most nights. 

I picked up Kenpo a few weeks after mom left because I needed an outlet for my anger, it taught me how to channel my anger. It also doubled as my self-defense learning also because working nights at the gas station was dangerous in our small town. Lots of drifters and hitchhikers. I enjoyed the hell out of Kenpo. I kept it up for two years. I felt like I worked through my issues and got tired of going to class. I realized I couldn’t save money to leave this town if I was buying dinner every night, so I decided to take up cooking classes. It was the most brilliant idea I had! Oh man, the dishes I was able to create with the few groceries I would manage to buy shocked the hell out of me. I eventually got bored of cooking after a year and a half of classes and competitions (when I had the time of course) I just didn’t have the drive for it anymore. I wanted to get out of this town. 

I was working my shift at the gas station when the alarm on my phone went off. I dug it out from my back pocket and looked at it. It said “National Emergency: Please stay inside and lock your doors. If you are on the road take shelter now!” I had to read it a couple of times to fully comprehend what I was reading. I turned on the news and there was broadcast after broadcast covering zombies. Zombies. What the actual hell is going on? I had to turn up the television to make sure I was hearing correctly when people started pouring into the store taking everything and anything they could carry. I grabbed my keys and my bag I was going to run out the door when I stopped. This is my chance, grab what I need here, head to the house and get what I can use, and leave. Forever. I turned on all the gas pumps before I started filling my bag with essentials: water, canned food, lighters, a gas can, over-the-counter medicine, and cigarettes in case I need to trade. 

I got in my car and pulled up to a gas pump that was free and filled my car and the gas can. As I was getting back into my car a man came and pushed me away from the door. I grabbed his shirt collar, turning him towards me, and kneed him in the crotch before kicking him in the chest. He landed hard enough that I heard his head hit the pavement. I got into my car and sped off towards my house. 

Luckily I live on the outskirts of town, once I got to my house I parked in the back close to the door in case I had to make an escape. When I entered the house I could hear the television blaring from the living room. The news stopped covering the zombie attacks, on my way over the last thing I heard, was that so far only heavily populated areas have been hit. That meant I still had time, our small town was two hours away from the closest city. I walked into the living room and saw my dad still sitting in his recliner, he was snoring. I went to check on him, I could hear his breathing. It was labored and thick. I looked around the room for anything I could use, just in case he had turned. I didn’t see anything I could use. I didn’t like the thought of my dad being a zombie but I mean he might as well have been one already. I stopped before reaching the recliner, I called out to him, “Dad?” Nothing. I tried again, this time I heard a thick guttural growl coming from the recliner. 

My heart sank as I saw my dad rise up from the recliner with his insides hanging from his body and dragging on the wood floor I helped him lay when I was a kid. Tears welled up in my eyes as I stepped backward and started looking for something to defend myself. I ran to the kitchen and my dad followed, growling and snapping his jaw at me as he entered the kitchen. I watched him trip over his own insides and I felt bile begin to climb up my throat. I forced myself to swallow as I climbed on the island and looked around the tops of the cabinets when I saw it. My bow and quiver full of arrows. I leaped to the countertop by the fridge and reached on top of the cabinet to grab the bow and quiver. I hopped off the counter and drew an arrow back, I aimed at my dad’s head and loosed. 

That was over 7 months ago. Now I have four people that depend on me to make the hard choices. It started with just one person, I didn’t really want to bring him with me but I decided he may come in handy if I run into any other men. I realized I liked the company and I let three more people come with us. I don’t even know how it happened that I became the de facto leader, but I did. All the hobbies I took up throughout my childhood have played a vital role in our survival. My bow helps kill zombies quickly and quietly allowing us to be able to move around faster undetected. My bow also allows me to hunt for small game and keeps us fed. The fishing I learned from my dad allows me to feed us when we are near water or if we can’t find any small animals to hunt. We have had a few injuries, my sewing came in handy more than a few times because I just sewed the wounds with some fishing line and a hook. All of these would be kinda useless if I couldn’t cook so those cooking classes made that possible. We scavenged for any vegetation that we could find to keep our caloric intake up. The Kenpo classes I took after my mom left saved me more than a couple of times, it’s more useful with people than zombies.

After having used these things I’ve taken up throughout my life and seeing how I can save not only myself but others well, I want to teach others what I know. I suppose as a legacy, or maybe that is a bit selfish of me. Selfish or not  I have no idea how long we have until we either get killed by humans or eaten by zombies. But you can bet your ass I am going to use all my hobbies to keep us alive and human.