"Everyone, at some point in their lives, wakes up in the middle of the night with the feeling that they are all alone in the world, and that nobody loves them now and that nobody will ever love them, and that they will never have a decent night's sleep again and will spend their lives wandering blearily around a loveless landscape, hoping desperately that their circumstances will improve, but suspecting, in their heart of hearts, that they will remain unloved forever. The best thing to do in these circumstances is to wake somebody else up, so that they can feel this way, too." ~Lemony Snicket


Slowly I pulled out of a deep sleep, feeling the sun on my comforter warming my body from the my hips down.  I don't really know why I woke up at seven on a Saturday morning, but a cold stone dropped in my stomach.  
My eye lids shot back and my eyes started to water from the bright sun.  I strained my ears to hear something, anything.  But only silence met my ears.  Throwing the covers I jumped up and pulled the curtains wide.  There was no one walking the sidewalks, no cars passed my widow, not even a bird chirped from the nearby tree.  Nothing moved.  Grapping for my phone I called every contact on my list; Mom, Dad, roommate that should have been home hours ago, even the guy I promised I was going to call three nights ago, still no one answered.
I was alone.  
That was enough to scare anyone but not me, what scared me was that I seemed to welcome it.  I welcomed the feeling of loneliness and stillness.  The world was mine for the taking.  I could do anything and everything I always wanted to without anyone giving a lecture.  
"Am I…the only one left?"  The realization started to sink in and that feeling of world domination faded ever so slightly.  Fear was building; my heart beat faster with the release of adrenalin from the newly found fear.  
Questions filled my mind, what was I going to do?  Where did everyone go?  And why was I still here?  I couldn't answer any of them and I had no clue where to go.  
Getting dressed I packed a one of my small bags of things I'd need and ran to my car.  Still nothing moved.  The air was still and the sun was hot.  Climbing into my car I tossed my bag in the back and drove away without knowing where I planned to go.
When I was a fair distance away I flipped on the radio searching for anything.  Unfortunately, as I feared, there was nothing but static.  Still I kept going.  I had to, there was no other choice.  
For days I traveled alone seeing no one and nothing.  No birds, no snakes, nothing.  But as the days turned to weeks and weeks to months people started to show up, most however, were dead.  But there had been life, that meant that life was still out there, somewhere.  

A year had gone by since I left my dorm room and I still didn't know what had happened.  But there was a radio station going now, one that spoke of hope.  I was determined to find that radio station now; it was the only thing I knew that was real.
"And that ladies and gentlemen is all for this episode of Still Living.  Until next time, keep that heart beatin'."  
I flipped off the station and listened to the silence of the world.  Spinning my tires in the loose sand I spun around and drove toward the sunrise not knowing where I was headed anymore or what I would find.  In my time traveling around the Western half of Canada I hadn't seen more than a dozen living human beings; although there had been hundreds of dead bodies lying here and there.  It had become the regular thing for me.  
A ding sounded in my ears and the light on my dash came on telling me I needed more gas.
"Great, just another day."  My voice was dry from lack of water, my lips cracked and bled on a regular basis and my skin felt like the salt lakes.  I needed to hydrate and fast.  Pulling out a map I checked all the places I had been and all of the places that had been sucked of their reserves.  There was one, not too far that I had hit only twice before and the last time I was there was still packed with needed supplies.  Shoving the map out of the way I stomped the gas pedal and sped as fast as I could to get to that little station full of food and water.
Not ten minutes later I saw the first signs, but something was wrong.  Smoke billowed from the tiny station like a warning to stay back, only thing is I couldn't.  My feline nature dragged me in and my heart started to race.  When I pulled up I could see a dark SUV with red paint staining the shiny surface, a blue minivan that had been equipped with bars over the windows and a dingy silver hummer that looked like it was some kind of landed UFO.  Lights stuck out everywhere and barbed warier was strung across the luggage racks.  I opened my door and suddenly the world was alive.  Screaming and shouting from both male and female voices stuck me like a hammer.  It had been over three hundred days since I had heard a sound that even remotely resembled this chatter.  
Deep down I hated it.  I wished I could turn it off like I did the radio when the show was over.  But right now it as better than the sweetest honey.  Inhaling deeply the dust mixed with the dryness of my throat causing me to choke violently.  
The noise of the shouting dyed down and from behind the SUV came the eyes of several living breathing human beings.  A small smile crossed my face, that was, until they aimed their guns at me.
"Shit…"
Diving for my car I hear the shots fire and the striking of bullets against metal.  I closed the door to keep the bullets from throwing it back and breaking an ankle.  The front left tire was the first to be hit throwing me against the closed door.  This was not what I expected to have happened.  An engine revved causing the firing of guns to stop for a moment.  My door was flung open.
"Grab what you need and nothing else!  Hurry!"  A girl with dark hair called from the driver's seat .  
Without thinking I let her words guide my actions.  Grabbing my gym bag that housed everything I now owned inside it I threw it out my door and into the door of the dirty silver hummer.  A gun fired and nearly hit my arm.  Flinching back I did was any human would do, I stayed still.  If I stayed still the danger would just pass, it was always like that…right?
The girl driving the hummer screamed at me to move but I could just sit there like a deer in headlights.  My muscles tensed and my eyes were glued open to the oncoming threat.  Never in my life had I been more scared then in that moment of time.  I could see the fire and the smoke come from the gun ejecting the bullet with such force it came right for me.  That tiny flying piece of metal crashed into my window causing it to explode inwardly.  Although it was safety glass it shattered.  A large chunk caught me across the left eye, blood started to pour out of my face in a single heartbeat.  Screaming in pain I felt hands grab my arm and yank me though the open door of my car.  Those same hands shoved me in the back of the hummer and the force of the driver driving their foot to the gas slammed against the back seat.  Still screaming in pain I realized that I had covered half my face with my hands blood still gushing from the wound.  Shock over came me and I quickly lost steam to do anything.  I slumped down deeper into the back seat and saw the edges of my vision start to fade.  I couldn't get knocked out, not now.  
'Stay awake!'  I kept repeating the two simple words in my head but even I couldn't obey myself.  The darkness was closing in and I couldn't, I wouldn't, resist anymore.
"Ivy, she's going out."  A strong male voice drifted to my ears.
"Keep her wrapped up, put a pillow under her head and when's she's out clean up that gash."  The girl must have been the driver.
"Your safe now, just hold on."  The guy's voice was the last thing I heard before I blacked out.