Ellie's tears fell softly onto the withered pages of her friend's diary; the tattered leather book she held so firmly in her hands had a strong smell of perfume and coffee. Ellie began reading the entries, and imagined hearing Jenny's soft voice reading every word aloud, as if she was right beside her.

December 18th 2072

Earlier today in the city, she was greeted with her long awaited death. The whole Earth stood still - watching as the others prayed for her survival. All but me. However I shall always remember that it was on this day she stopped fighting, and instead, she took the easy way out. She finally accepted her gentle embrace into the afterlife.

December 22nd 2072

She had a happy funeral. Nothing short of what a good mother deserves. But then again she never was a good mother. It was today that I actually began to question whether I possessed any human qualities what so ever - I did not mourn my mother's death, and unlike most of the other survivors I was unaffected by seeing loved ones die. I guess I am just a freak of nature.

It's not all doom and gloom, things have become somewhat better recently. The air is cleaner, and I can breathe without a mask on when I'm outside. There are less infected hunting near the quarantine zone, and the crops have given a pretty good harvest this year.

But having said all that, there are this group of power hungry bastards who claim to have royal blood surging through their veins; they think they are going to become the next world leaders. I say it's all complete bullshit, they clearly didn't learn a thing from the last bloody mistake. They think that re-industrialising our lives will somehow secure our future. These power hungry fools are going to be enforcing new laws upon the city, and quite possibly be responsible for the next war.

January 1st 2073

Today was the first day the new laws had been enforced, and somehow I have already managed to earn myself a prison sentence. Let's not go into details as to how I was sentenced to imprisonment, I guess they just don't like the idea of us having any power, anyone who scares them will be locked up. A word of warning to any prying eyes, if you see this make sure you keep well away from this harsh new government, there is no bullshit with them in power.

But you know me; I will not be put down by a bunch of fascist twats. I plan to escape this dump tonight.

So I guess this is my last ever entry before the big move, but before I go I have a short message for the lucky person who finds this; I ask you to tell my story to the world, every word of it. Inspire others to stand up for what is right. This has been Jenny Carter; see you on the other side old friend.

January 2nd 2073

No words can describe my frustration; to be honest a fool like me deserves to be hanged. I didn't make it outside and I never will, I guess all I do now is wait for death. I wonder if my Mum will be happy to see me.

January 9th 2073

There was another suicide on Tuesday morning, which makes it four in a week. Mind you it'll be my turn soon; I am to be hanged on January the 12th at 4 o'clock in the afternoon.

Bloody government. My grandma said they weren't any different from the ones before the outbreak.

January 12th 2073

This is the big day! I'm ok I guess, I'm not scared about death, that's been a long time coming. But I am slightly concerned about what my friends might do, planning some sort of rescue mission to try and save me. I have told them not to mess with this power; they just get themselves into trouble. I am as prepared as I am ever going to be - so I guess this is the end of the line. See you on the other side old friend.

"Stop it - stop reading the bloody book Ellie. Ellie! Listen to me! Give me that book now". Emile's frustration was building with every breath he took. "Put the bloody book down!" All the attempts to help Ellie rid herself from the clutches of the diary had failed, it was as if her eyes were glued to it; she truly was lost in her thoughts. Her eyes began to well with tears, and all of a sudden she began sobbing uncontrollably.

Amongst all this chaos Peter stood fixed to the ground staring at this trembling wreck, as if he were in awe. He was utterly useless. He didn't think to comfort her, but instead it seemed like he was fascinated by the sight of her crying; his eyes just glued to her shaking body.

"The others are waiting for us. If you want to save your friend we have to go now." Emile's tone conveyed a sense of emergency, however Ellie remained still. There was a deafening silence, and then - she looked up. Her bloodshot eyes stared into Emile's and Peter's soul, as her trembling hands lifted Jenny's old revolver towards her head. But before Emile could utter a word, or try to stop Ellie, someone began to bash down the eastern door.

Meanwhile across the airfield Jess was eagerly awaiting their return. "God dammit where the hell are those guys? We only have a few minutes left before we have to go!" Jess, Mike and Ross continued staring hopefully towards the rusted hanger where they expected to see Peter, Emile and Ellie emerge. Mike tried to convince Jess to leave.

"Look we will just have to do the best we can without them ok?"

Jess smirked sarcastically; "If you think you can get through a dozen men, maybe even more, with only three of our own; you're almost as hopeful as those nutters still lookin' for a cure."

Ross remained silent, he had been edging closer towards the hanger to try and hurry the others when he heard a bellowing gunshot that echoed across the runway.

They tumbled across the scorching concrete, their bare feet singing with every step, they heard more gunshots as they got closer to the hanger. Ross and Mike wrestled with the lock on the door in an attempt to get inside. Meanwhile Jess was aiming down the sights of her rifle when she heard both Peter and Emile screaming stop, over - and over again. The hanger door burst open, and there was a tremendous crack as Mike's finger splintered on the lock of the rusty steel door. Mike cowered in pain as he bandaged his broken finger; meanwhile Jess was looking down the shattered scope of her rifle when she witnessed the sight of bodies littering the floor. Ross rushed towards Peter and Emile to ask if they were alright.

"Emile what the fuck happened here? Is everyone ok?"

"Yeah just about. Half a dozen border guards came in from the east; I still don't have a bloody clue why they were still here. But Ellie took care of them, put a bullet in each of their skulls."

Ellie's face was covered in blood. She raised her hand towards her neck and clenched down on her bottom lip as her hand met her skin. Hot molten lava spilled from her shoulder, she was in excruciating pain. She looked at the others, and then put Jenny's revolver right in between her eyes and pulled the trigger...

Nothing - her trembling hands made feeble attempts to reload the revolver but it fell to the floor as Emile clenched her tightly, bringing her close to his chest. The person who shook, and shivered in his arms was no longer the person he knew and loved, Ellie was a mere shell of the person she used to be. She let out an ear splitting cry and struggled against Emile, eventually breaking free. She looked around he hanger with desperation, and noticed delicate flakes of glass scattered across the floor; she followed their path to a single shimmering shard, dancing in the sun. Without hesitation she lunged towards it. The glass slipped swiftly into her throat as she fell to the ground; she didn't struggle or splutter, but instead she held Jenny's diary close to her chest as her soul climbed to heaven.

A couple of hundred yards from the hanger Chris was pacing in his room, and the old floorboards creaked with every step he took. There was a strong smell of whisky lingering in the close air of the house. Chris looked around aimlessly while he waited for Laura to return. It almost seemed like a bit of paint was flaking off the walls every second, like the house was about to fall to its knees; the photos that told many stories of everyone's friendship began to rot and fold at the edges. Their house was dying.

Suddenly Laura opened the door and limped inside holding a rag to her face. She walked up to the table completely ignoring the look of utter confusion on Chris's face.

"Do you want one?"

She asked as she poured herself a rather generous helping of whiskey. But instead of giving an answer Chris walked towards her and took the rag from her face to reveal bruises and cuts.

"Who did this to you?"

Blood dripped from Laura's brow; she didn't want to look at Chris - she couldn't bear to look at Chris.

"Look I'm ok"

"God dammit Laura you're not ok! Just tell me what happened, and the names of the bastards who did this to you?"

Laura gathered her thoughts and pulled out a stool from under the table, she took a deep breath and sat down.

"I was at the dock early this morning bringing back the ration cards from Sean. It was on my way back that I bumped into two of Richard's men. They seemed pretty pissed, with both of us; look all I know is that Rick wants us dead, and I have no fucking idea why."

"And all the blood on your face?"

"So Richard's men got a couple of good hits in but it's not worth worrying about those ass holes."

Chris smiled at Laura and rested his hand on her shoulder.

"And are these ass holes still with us?"

Laura smirked and gave Chris a kiss on the cheek.

"What do you think?"

They both went outside in pursuit of James and Joel but instead Laura opened the front door to find Peter carrying Ellie's lifeless body over his shoulder. Peter lugged Ellie into the bedroom and laid her down on the bed. Peter's face was drained of all colour, he was both traumatised and exhausted. Chris went to comfort Peter while Laura gently closed Ellie's eye lashes and kissed her forehead.

"Peter, are you alright? Do you wanna' lie down?" Peter's reply was interrupted by short breaths as he recovered from his exertion.

"I'm fine, just running on fumes"

"What the hell happened?"

"Ellie obviously thought it was time for her to leave. Her sister died last week, and then her best friend gets sent to be murdered this week. I cant imagine what she was going through. Even though I keep saying suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem, that seems to have had very little effect on how ever many people have died this week. Its not like we haven't seen it before Chris; but we need to focus on the task at hand, I don't fancy loosing another friend today. I mean just look at the bloody  time, were probably too late."

Chris stood up and grabbed his machete "Not if we don't get goin' now. You fit enough to move Peter?" Peter nodded and grabbed his rucksack kissing Ellie's forehead as he left the house. "Hey Peter don't worry Laura and I will be with you in a couple of minutes, were just waiting for Chloe, go with James and Joel to find the others."

There was a moment of silence as Chris and Laura grew more impatient while waiting for Chloe to arrive. They both looked towards Ellie and could still feel her presence right beside them. Anger began to intensify in Chris's face.

"Jenny wouldn't have wanted any of this to have happened Laura, and what the hell was it all for? Ellie died for nothing!"

"Face it Chris she was gonna' leave this world sooner or later, she had always dreamt of a better place. And while it might not be what Jenny would've wanted, it's what she wanted."

Chris explored his mind for something to say but he was interrupted by the rumble of an engine nearing the house. They went outside to investigate.

"Oh thank god it's you Chloe, I thought it was gonna' be... hang on a second - what the fuck are you doing with Sebastian's truck? He is gonna be so pissed!"

"You bet he is!" Sebastian said as he stuck his head out of the window.

"Well look who decided to show up, I thought you weren't commin' Sebastian?"

"So did I, but your friend Chloe here can be very persuasive."

Chris didn't want to waste any more time so he hopped in the back of the truck, followed by Laura. "Well the more the merrier! We should get going, lead the way Chloe."