Act 1

Chapter 1

The town of Danville was one of growing hopelessness even before the infection hit. There were makeshift gangs and corrupt government officials running the nice little stretch of town like it was just a garbage dump. Shops were being closed frequently and finding a job was like climbing up a greased ladder with the weight of the world on your shoulders.

Many people have lost their dreams in this town but it wasn't all bad. There are the few people in it with undying hope and everlasting faith that would eventually climb up that slippery ladder and find the will to leave it all behind, setting up a life in a better suited environment. These people are few and far between, and you probably wouldn't recognize them on first glance.

To other functioning members of society these people would appear to be like any other Danville-ian: dirty, malicious and worthless to anything greater than themselves. Only time and patience can show these people for who they really are. They are heroes in the lightest sense of the word but compared to what they are living with they appear to be something of mythic proportions.

It's hard to really say who these people are, but that is one thing that the so called "zombie apocalypse" has done for me. It has the strange way of bringing out the best and the worst of anyone and everyone. You don't fully know someone until they are faced with death, and even then you have to see them overcome it to know who this person really is.

That's where this story starts, in the town that has been dubbed "mini-Chicago". One of the first off branch towns to be hit, and definitely one of the bigger of these first infected, Danville is home to a battleground that is unforgiving and deadly. It is also home to a few heroes, some who die but others who live. Others that are seen for what they truly are.

It's cold and the wind is blowing fiercely across the packed parking lot of the town's YMCA. Many people with the aspiration to begin living healthier lives are scurrying towards the main entrance located on the south side of the building. They are all carrying bags filled with extra clothes, towels and other accessories necessary as their legs cart them the short length up the stairs and through the double doors.

The lobby is warm and greeting as the delightful people behind the counter take ID cards and slide them into their computers to confirm the memberships of the aspiring health aficionados. Many people shed their coats and other extra clothing as they make their way down the main hallway to the stairwell that leads down to the locker rooms.

Coming out of the locker rooms with a bright smile shining on her nicely kept face was Taylor. Slung over her shoulder was a small towel with a nice emblem stitched into it. She headed up the stairs and back into the main hallway. Half jogging half walking she made her way to the end of that hallway and through the double doors that lead to the fitness room.

She stood looking around at the various treadmills and stationary bikes before finding the person she was looking for. He was keeping a moderate pace on one of the treadmills hugging the wall on the far side like he normally did. He'd sit there jogging with his head phones in, starring out of the giant windows stretching along the wall at the road that runs through the entire city; Route 1 was its proper name.

Route 1 is the heart of Danville and its neighboring cities. It is probably the sole reason as to why the infection hit Danville so fast and continued to spread even quicker afterwards.

Trying to make sure he didn't see her, Taylor crept up next to his treadmill and hopped on to the one next to it. She started it up, set it to the same pace as his and began to jog along side of him trying to match his footsteps. A smile splayed across his face as he set the pace up a few notches.

The game they would usually play was cut short by the most terrifying and life changing event either of them had ever witnessed. As quick as Taylor had appeared next to this guy, she was taken screaming as loud as she could. He watched through his blue-green eyes as disfigured hands grabbed at Taylor's legs and forced her to fall face forward on the treadmill. Her body, after connecting with the conveyer, was shot back onto the hard carpeted floor.

The creature that had ran in, biting and clawing several people quickly adding themto the undead population, was over Taylor trying its hardest to turn her into one of them. The boy she had been running with didn't even give it a second thought as he kicked as hard as he could at the beast that was trying to kill a dear friend of his. His foot connected with its head, knocking it clear off of her. It wasn't dead of course but that wasn't what the boy was aiming for.

Taylor was gasping for breath as blood filled her mouth. She tried to scream but she couldn't, she could hardly even figure out what had just happened. She was on the treadmill and the next thing she knew was that she was being carried out of the room and into a stairwell.

The boy sat her down at the bottom of the stairs and began rummaging through her pockets until he found her cell phone. Taylor watched as he nervously dialed three numbers onto the numeric pad before holding the phone up to his ear. He had blood on his hands, she felt guilty for some reason; most likely because it was her blood.

His mouth began moving but she couldn't hear anything he was saying. She panicked momentarily before realizing that there was music playing in her ears. She chuckled as she realized that the guy had put his headphones into her ears, most likely so she wouldn't have to hear whatever it was that was going on.

Everything seemed so chaotic but she couldn't help but feel fine. Her body was pumping all of its natural pain killers into her blood stream and she had the soothing sounds of a piano in her ears. He always used to show her nice piano songs. She smiled again, the nostalgia filling her head and blocking out the organs that were hanging out of her body.

The phone met its end as the boy slammed it on the ground and fell to stairs. His head found his hands and there it rested, his dirty blonde hairs looking like spider webs strewn across his head. His chest was rising and dropping exponentially fast and it looked like he was shaking to Taylor.

"Tommy." She tried to say it, but it came out sounding like she was six feet under water. He heard it though and he turned to look at her with his slightly blood smeared face. Without fully standing up he slid over next to Taylor and looked into her eyes. He knew she was going to die and she could see that in the reflection of his eyes.

"I'm sorry." He said, turning to sit next to her instead of in front of her. As his back lay against the wall Taylor's head fell to his shoulder, her faded blonde hair becoming stained with blood. He did his best to brush it from her face but it just seemed to make it worse. She made an attempt to stop his hand but she was weak, she could hardly move.

Tommy reached down onto her lap and grabbed the MP3 played that had the soothing music on it. He turned the volume up forcing Taylor to block out everything else as her body went into a numb state. She wished she could talk, she dreamed of being able to stand and she hoped that maybe Tommy could save her if she could do those things. But that's all she could do was dream, and wish and hope.

That's all she did as she died.