Chapter 1: Losing It
I woke up, breathing deep as I came back into reality.
"Man, that was one hell of a nightmare..."
It had only been a day since the events at school and now it seems to be world-wide. In a matter of twenty-four hours, already world-wide. Things were bad, no, worse than bad.
I was all alone. No one here to socialize with, no one here to survive with. I'll be just fine on my own, I thought to myself. I knew it wouldn't work out though. This was definitely not my idea of "fun". I regret even wishing that such a terrible thing would happen to the world just to have "fun". Now look at me. Sitting here, in an unfamiliar house in an unfamiliar neighborhood.
The previous owners are downstairs. Face-flat on the ground as the lie in their own bloody mess. It was horrifying. Having to drive an every-day kitchen utensil to the skulls of a mother, father, and son. It made the day a whole lot worse. There was nothing else to do though.
I had to do it, I had to! It was either that or become one of them! Already sick and tired of this whole situation, I began to shed tears. Why... why did they take them away? If I had been there a little earlier I would be with them...
----
On the day that everything happened, the army decided to evacuate all surrounding locales. By the time I got back to my house, it was empty. In fact, the entire neighborhood was deserted of all life. Nothing but a couple of shamblers and chewed up corpses. I found a note sitting on our door mat.
It read:
Ronnie/Alannah,
If you are reading this then we are sorry we could not stay. We hope you are okay! Me and your father are being taken by the army to somewhere safe. Please please please watch over your sister Ronnie and stay safe. We'll come looking for you when the army tells us its okay to go!
Love, Mom and Dad!
I was in shock. Left behind... with... with these monstrosities... Could it get any worse? And Alannah... seems like she didn't make it either. At least, not with mom and dad. It was confusing. I didn't know where to go from here.
Turns out I ended up making my way North for no particular reason. It gave me somewhere to go and the roads would be familiar for a while.
Screams of horror filled the air as people were being chased or eaten by loved ones and strangers. Cars were ravaged with stains of blood and broken glass upon impact of one another.
I grew tired with all of this delirium. I decided to take shelter in a close by home. The door was wide open and a rancid stench ran through its airway. It was a stupid decision to go in, but at the time, I just wanted to rest on a nice comfy bed. Besides, I guess everyone has to go brainless sometime. I grabbed for the kitchen knife I had tied to my bag of items I salvaged from home and readied myself for anything that might pop up and eat me.
Sure enough, there they were. Three bodies in the living room, feasting on another. It seemed like a family meeting; mother, father, son, and daughter. Looks like the daughter didn't quite make it... It didn't take long for them to notice me as I was just standing there. They began to moan that cliche zombie moan. In movies it might have not done anything, but in real life it sent goosebumps right down my spine.
Alright, calm down. They are slow and you are fast. No way you'll let them bite you! I thought as I clenched even harder on the knife handle. Father was the first to reach me and with a quick jab at the torso, he stumbled back. Ha! I did it! It was as if I had lost my mind already. Wait... Aim for the head dumb ass! Father proceeded to get back up and try again. This time, all three of them were able to reach me. I pushed Son back to avoid more weight of conflict than I could handle and stabbed Mother through one of her eyes. Father grabbed hold of my arm and forced it towards his mouth for a nice clean bite.
"NO!" I screamed in utter fear. I immediately unsheathed the knife from Mother's head and straight up the mouth of Father. "I WILL NOT BECOME ONE OF YOU!" I yelled as Son attempted to get back up. I lunged towards him to stop him before he got the chance and hit him right on a the temple.
Tired and scared, I fell to the ground, sitting. Those people... they used to be like me. I killed them. I killed them. But... they tried to kill me...
"I can't take this anymore..." I said with a shaky voice. I looked at my blood-drenched hands and seemed to have not cared. Shower... maybe that will calm me down...
----
Cheer up, huh? You're safe for now. Go have fun! I thought, trying to relieve myself of the troubles around. And so I did, or at least tried.
"I wonder what they have for breakfast! Other than human flesh... Ha ha."
I took cautious steps down the stairs, peering over to make sure no one new was in the house with me. Everything seemed to be in order, three bodies on the floor just as I left them. I went into the next room which appeared to be the kitchen. Apart from the living room, the kitchen was way cleaner and shiny. It felt like home. They even had a mini-tv mounted on the counter.
"I hope the news is still on." I told myself as I turned on the tv. Most of the channels were just static with the usual kshhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. I was able to only find one channel working normally and, thankfully, it was Fox... again. Reports were coming in through a four-way split-screen of people placed in different parts of Chula Vista and San Diego.
As the reporters babbled on, I found the fridge. It was nice that power was still working so the food wouldn't go bad on me, but there was only one problem. Seemed like this family was full of vegans. Ironic that they became flesh-eaters... I smiled. Nothing but tofu and salads.
I tried the freezer and found something way more satisfying. "Nooooooo way!!! Is that... No, my mind is playing tricks on me... can't be..." Maybe there was still some happiness in the world for me. "IT IS!!! PIE!!!" I quickly grabbed it and opened its box. Even better! Dutch Apple Pie! I thought in extreme excitement.
I am a really big fan of pie. In fact, last year I had a birthday pie as I despise the taste of cake. Frosting is just too much for me. That's why pie is the ultimate taste for my taste buds. It's just so delicious! I don't think there is a pie out there that I haven't tried that I hate.
I continued to pop it in the microwave and set it to defrost. My mouth was already watering, tasting the pre-savory taste!
As I wait there in anticipation for the 4-minute timer to ding, I decided to turn my attention to the news.
"-for all those people surviving out there and staying in homes of the infected, make sure you have completely rid the area of the living dead. Do not lose track of them because it may mean that they could still be alive. Make sure to keep a body count so that no discrepancies will over throw you."
Sounds likes a good idea, I should be fine right now though. I went and checked the living room to find the three bodies still in the same position as they were yesterday. Yep, Father, Mother, and Son, that makes three... But something disturbed me... again, goosebumps crawled up my back. Wait... what about Daughter, she... she isn't here anymore! It's like bad timing in a video game! Someone announces it and then it happens! Where could she have gone?! My sense of alertness rose.
I headed back into the kitchen and looked for another kitchen knife as mine was upstairs. I was able to find one closely related to a butcher knife. It made me grin a bit as I played the 'Zelda Item Found Theme' in my head after pulling it out of the drawer. Too much like a video game...
It was clear that the entire downstairs was safe, but what about upstairs? I would have to go up eventually. I left my bag up there! I braced myself for anything as I slowly crept up the stairs. I got to the top and turned towards the room I had slept in. Right away, I heard moans from behind me.
"AH!" I leapt up and turned around, holding my knife out. Nothing was there. Nothing was there until I noticed that it was crawling on the floor, with only an upper body. Out of all the things, WHY a crawler? I HATE crawlers. Crawlers freak me out to the point of jumping out of my skin. It's just plain creepy. I let out a sigh of breath and said, "Time to go meet your family, yah?" and drove down the knife. Blood spurted out like a fountain for a second or two. Hmph... looks like a fountain of kool-aid!
*Ding!* "Huh? Oh hey! The pie's done!" I said, as if completely forgetting about what happened. I should probably get my bag before I head down...
After retrieving my bag, I made my way downstairs and treated myself to some "breakfast". I guess I could get used to this after all...
