Prologue

December 21st, Day 0

Zombies, the Undead, Zach, G's, Stenchers, Ghouls, the Walking Dead. There are many names for these… creatures. The Zombie War or commonly known as World War Z was a horrible experience for many, most of us didn't know what to do, but a few of us knew where to go and what to do when we started on the path to salvation from the Undead. The Great Panic, the Dark Years, and all that. It all sucked, especially Yonkers, which gave the Army a what for. All I can say after hearing about that is 'Thank God I'm in the Marine Corps!'

When it first began, we didn't know it at the time since the plague started in rural China so we didn't know about it at the time. Weird reports flooded in from different channels, but people thought it was a crazy homicidal maniac running biting people, so we barely paid attention, that was until it hit our country.

I was just a young Captain when it began. I was skinny, but well built. Short brown hair that's to Marines standard of hair grooming. I was tall, about 6'1" and fairly handsome. Never married or had my first kiss for that matter, which I think is weird since I was 27 in retrospect. It was a Thursday, around 1300 (1:00 p.m.) when I was in Colonel Tiller's office for some reason that I did not know what for until I got in there.

"Sir, Captain Petramala, reporting as ordered, sir!" I spoke confidently.

"At ease Captain. Do you know why I called you in here?" Tiller asked me. Now, There colonel here is a "no-bullshit, get-things-done-before-I-blow-your-fucking-head-off" type of guy, but he was a hell of a soldier. 2 tours in 'Nam, 4 in the Middle East, and was my superior during the Brushfire Wars. He's gotten every medal and awards known to a Marine, except he was never in the reserve. But, he was in the Mafia when he was nine back in Hoboken. Damn New Yorkers.

"No sir."

"You're being discharged Captain." Oh yeah, I forgot to mention: he so much of a prick the he makes Hitler looks nice.

"For what Reason?!" I demanded.

"1) you never turned in those battle reports, 2) you got 2 misdemeanors, and 3) you're being a total bitch about it, you should be happy that your getting out of the Marine Corps, you hated it didn't you? Now since you're being discharged, hand over your pistol and badge." He said while motioning with his hand to bring them forward.

"Umm sir, I'm not a MP, and I'm a sniper so my stuff is in the Armory."

"I thought you came from the range?"

"No sir, it's my day off today."

"Oh I'm sorry, wrong person. Well since you're here already, take this." He told me while tossing me a dark velvet box. I opened it up and saw it was a watch.

"Why are you giving me a watch sir?" I asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I 'm retiring at the end of the month Captain and since you were my best sniper, I'd thought I'd give it to you."

"Oh, well thank you Colonel, but I can't accept it, sir."

"You better damn well accept it otherwise I will take this phone and bash your head in, is that clear?!" He roared.

"SIR YES SIR!!" I shouted at the top of my lungs.

"Dismissed." He said then I walked out of his door. "And don't forget to shut the door!"

Once I was clear I shut his office door and put the watch on. After the cuff made a click I hear my name being called and looked to the left and all I could say was to what I saw was, "oh balls." Then wham! I was one the floor being hugged.

"What the fuck Carol?! Get off me, it's against rules to show PDA (Public Display of Infection) while on duty, I need to deliver this letter to General Wilker." I pushed her off of me then stood up and brushed dust off of my Desert Digital BDUs (Battle Dress Uniform). "Seriously, what the fuck?! You have stop that shit, Carol."

"You like it and you know it." She poked me in the chest then giggled as she brought her face up close to mine.

"Fine, I do," I lied, "can I please go deliver this message, I'm gonna get in trouble if I don't."

"Fine, same time tonight though? It's been two months since the last meeting."

"Oh that's right. 2000 hours, right?"

"Yup, 8 O' clock. Oh I got something for you so you can remember me by. Now, close your eyes or I will close them for you, forever. And bend your head down, I wont be able to reach over your head if stand straight." I just shrugged and closed my eyes shut and aimed them at the ground. Now, Carol is tall as my shoulders and she has short dirty blonde hair that goes to her shoulders. He green eyes appear able to swallow you whole and throw you into an ocean.

"Ok, open up your eyes." She told me and I did. I looked down at my chest and saw a fox head necklace, glittering in the artificial light.

"I've been looking for this since He first got it!" I exclaimed while fingering the small medallion. This medallion is apart of the Wheel of Time Series written by the late Robert Jordan.

"I got it at Comic Con last year when I was at Miramar. Man that was some event."

"I bet, well thanks Carol, but you really gotta stop tackling me every time we meet. It gets creepier the more you do it. Now, I have to go but I'll pick you up at 8!" I said while jogging backwards, then turned around and ran off around a corner.

Nothing else that was interesting happened that day, just running around delivering letters on my day off.

"You're sure?" I asked her as soon as we came up to the door and I rang the gong two times that was hanging next to the door. I don't know why it was there, but my friend Colt had it since he bought the house, but I'm not the one to judge.

"Yes, I'm sure I want to wear this." Carol told me in a firm voice. I just rolled my eyes and waited. Women. The door opened up and Colt was there.

"Carol! Pet! How long has it been since we last seen each other?!"

"Dude, we hung out just last night," I told him.

"Right, right. Come in, sorry, my memory still isn't what it used to be after the accident. He Carol, what's with sparking ball gown and shawl?" Colt here has been my friend since junior year of high school. He's tall, about my height; well he's just a couple of inches shorter. Brown haired, brown eyed and stocky now, but he's a cool laid back guy.

"I have my reasons." Carol said as she walked in.

"Pet!!" a voice called from another room as we walked in and Colt closed the door.

"Hey James." I called back.

"I'm coming, just hold on a minute." He called back. James is a stocky, short (he's a head taller than Carol though), brown haired, brown eyed, witty guy. He's also been a friend since high school. We both went to Marine Corps Boot Camp together. We were in same platoon when started out, hell we were in the same squad! We both went into the reserves and started college. After we finished college, he didn't like the Corps so he left after his enlistment was up and became a cop. "Hot cakes are almost done!"

"Really James? Pancakes?' I asked while taking a seat in the coach while Carol took the seat next to me.

"Hey…. Shut up." James replied and Colt laughed.

"Where's Robot, I thought he'd coming with you?" another voice called.

"Not really Ken. Remember: Phillips's robotic mind can't comprehend zombies." I called back to Ken. "Besides, he's been deployed to Italy. Lucky bastard." Ken is Vietnamese so he's a bit short. He has Marine Corps standard black trimmed hair, brown eyes and full of stereotypical Asian jokes. Hes also Marine just like Carol and I, but he went through college first.

"Hurry up James!" Colt shouted as he took a blue Lazy Boy rocker while Ken sat in the chair next to me and swung his leg over the arm of the chair.

You want to come do this yourself?" James asked

"You're doing fine on your own." Colt laughed.

"Who wants pancakes?!" James called as he brought the plate from the kitchen.

"I ate before I came here." Ken said.

"I'm not that hungry, thanks anyway James." I told him.

"Same." Carol added in quickly then she shot me a quick and small smile. I just turned my attention away from her after shacking my head and cursing in Spanish under my breath.

"I'll take –"Colt said before being interrupted by the sound of his gong ringing. I heard Ken mutter a prayer in Vietnamese or I thought it was prayer. I just muttered a prayer in Spanish while Carol just sat there watching me from the corner of her eye.

Colt opened up the door, while he did, a blur shot through the open door way and shouted out, "hey Michael!" The next thing I knew, I was on the ground feeling something soft and…squishy rubbing against my face. I opened my eyes and saw the face of a really tanned woman and her…boobs were on my face.

I exhaled a deep breath I was apparently holding and said, "hi Karen."

"Now that everyone is here, let's get on to the meeting." Colt said then sat down in his rocker while I pushed Karen off of me and sat down in my seat. She sat down next to me.

Before Colt could speak, the door creaked open and I heard some moaning, I pulled out my 1911, screwed on the silencer and pointed my gun as the person who had a bloody face and eyes glazed milky white. The person, who was a man, rounded the corner and twacht. The head was pushed back; the body fell with a thump and no blood poured from the back of the person's head.

"Jesus Christ!" James screamed.

"An actual zombie," Ken mused as I put my gun back into its holster.

"How can you tell?" Karen asked.

"Haven't you been paying attention?" James asked, "never mind, zombies have bloodied faces from eating flesh since blood splattered on them. Their eyes are glazed white since there is no more moisture in them and as a result, lint gets into them and makes them look white. This person has a bite mark on his neck but somehow got away. His arm has been torn off and no fluids coming out of it. His leg is broken with the bone still sticking out of the knee." He pointed to each corresponding part he talked about. "Normal humans can't walk with broken legs without feeling pain…zombies shamble if they have a broken leg or crawl if they both their legs are broken or if they don't have a midsection.

"It takes 24 hours for a normal human to transform into a zombie. It's a very horrible thing to go through, though, I wouldn't know."

"Hmm…don't care. What now?"

"Fuck! Alright, let's split up. I, Colt and Ken will get the weapons. James, you, Karen and Carol will get the food and water, then we will meet up at Mark's in about two hours." I ordered but when they didn't so I shouted, "Move! Move! Don't argue with me right now Carol, just go!" I shooed her out and shouted, "And don't forget to change!" I turned to Ken and Colt, "Let's get to Andy's gun shop guys."

Nothing actually happened after we got the stuff. The women got four big boxes of MRE's. For the guns, we got six civilian HK416's, two configured to be snipers, and all six will use 7.62mm full metal jacket bullet. We got five M1911 .45 caliber pistols with silencers and an integrated RAS system. We also got silencers for all six 416's. The regular four rifles will be configured to fire full auto, while the two snipers will be kept at semi-auto.

With the weapon's we have, zombies are going to "die" when we start out west for California. God I hate that place. We're starting out at first light.