Disclaimer: I do not own the 2004 or 1978 film Dawn of the Dead; I own Angela and any other unfamiliar characters. WARNING! Rated T for violence, death, gory scenes, and any other adult content.
Chapter One
Time moved painfully slow for Angela Brown as she stared up at the clock. Dropping her pen, she began thrumming her fingers on the old, wooden desk, looking down at the homework sheets she had just marked. Whispers and mumbles filled the large classroom as her students completed their set worksheets, though Angela didn't mind the quiet chatter, as she hated a silent classroom.
Feeling her heavy eyelids droop, Angela abruptly sat up straight, taking a well-needed sip of her coffee. She couldn't wait until the last bell would ring. Sighing under her breath, she picked up her pen, continuing to mark homework.
For ten minutes, Angela marked the sheets of work, glancing at the clock every few minutes. As her eyes threatened to close again, the shrill shriek of the school bell rang, causing Angela to jump, caught off guard by the noise. Being last period, the students were quick to jump out of their seats, a chorus of chairs scraping and animated conversations filling the classroom. Before they left, Angela quickly stood from her desk, straightening her skirt as she walked to the front of the classroom.
"Remember, class, tomorrow is the deadline for the Shakespeare; the principle is coming in here tomorrow to watch you all present them." She announced.
The room was suddenly filled with sighs and moans, a couple of students looking worriedly at each other. Angela smiled as she shook her head.
"If you need some help doing last-minute touches, come to my room at lunch and I'll help, even though this was homework."
All of her students sighed of relief, some even thanking her. Luckily for Angela, she was a well-respected teacher, by her students and fellow faculty members; everyone seemed to like her, which made her job as a teacher much more bearable.
Receiving the last of her goodbyes from her students, Angela sat at her desk and sighed heavily as she looked at the mountains of work piled on her desk. Usually, Angela would stay behind at the school to finish off marking assignments and essays, but her heavy eyes were telling her she needed rest. Grabbing her shoulder bag, she dropped it on the desk and began to pack away the paperwork she needed.
With heavy bag in tow, Angela locked her classroom and began to make her way to the exit, her heels clicking throughout the empty hallway. Opening the entrance doors, Angela greeted the afternoon sun. A smile appeared on her lips as she walked over to her car, waving to a few of the other teachers. As she started her car, music drifted softly through the car and Angela began to nod her head in time with the beat, feeling much more relaxed. The drive was peaceful, the streets quiet as Angela drove through the town.
Turning the corner into her neighbourhood, Angela quickly slammed on her breaks as a police cruiser came into view, blocking her path.
"Shit." She muttered, rubbing the back of her now sore neck.
"Ma'am, please turn around or move along." A voice suddenly ordered.
Looking up, Angela saw a police officer standing in front of her car. With his arms crossed over his chest, he stood beside his cruiser, which blocked two cars from Angela's sight.
"Why, what's happened, officer?" She questioned, craning her neck curiously to get a glimpse.
Getting a better view, Angela could see that the two cars had crashed into each other on a head-on collision. Bonnets on both cars had merged into each other, the windscreen cracked in on itself. The bumper on one car had been completely torn off, lying in the middle of the road. Angela couldn't see anyone inside either car, as she hoped no one was seriously hurt, but she noticed a bloody hand print smeared across the windscreen on the second car.
Her view was immediately cut off as the officer stood in her line of sight.
"There's been a serious accident, ma'am, and paramedics are on their way." He explained. "So, please move along or turn around."
With a huff, Angela gave a small nod before reversing, taking a different route home. A few minutes later, Angela saw the familiar white, brickwork house, pulling into the paved driveway. Switching off the engine, she noticed her roommate's car, which was now parked in the usual spot in front of the house.
Grabbing her things, Angela exited her car, locking it as she began to walk up the steps that led to the porch. Before she even opened the door, she could hear her roommate laughing loudly. Chuckling to herself, Angela opened the front door and entered the house, shaking her head at the sight she saw as she closed the door.
Her roommate, Cathy, sprawled out on the couch, her head hanging off the edge of the seat as her legs swung in the air. Dressed in sweatpants and an oversized shirt, she held the house phone to her ear, her head looking back as Angela entered the room.
Giving Angela a little wave with her fingers, Cathy smiled as she laughed into the phone.
"Okay, I've got to go now, Angela's home. Love you, baby! Bye!" Cathy chirped, pressing the end button, disconnecting the call.
"Was that Mark?" Angela asked as she dropped her overweight bag on the dining table, giggling as she imitated her friend. "'Love you, baby.'"
"Oh, shut up." Cathy chuckled as she fumbled off the couch, returning the phone to its cradle. "Anyway, you're home early."
"I know, I decided to bring all the work home to mark." Angela yawned, stretching her arms. "Hey, did you see that accident up the street?"
Flopping back ont the couch, Cathy grabbed the television remote as she hummed in answer. "Yeah, I saw it on my way home from work. It looked bad, but the stupid cop told me to take a different route."
Angela frowned at her friend, unpacking the paperwork from her bag. "Wait, you've only just come home? I thought your shift ended at two, since you were in early."
"Hm, I thought so too." Cathy mumbled.
Kicking off her heels, Angela sat on the couch next to her, raising a questioning brow. "Why did they keep you in so late?"
Cathy sighed, rubbing her temples. "Today was crazy. Out of all the years working in that hospital, I've never seen so many people rushed in, and for the same thing as well! All of them had been 'attacked'-"
"Attacked?" Angela interrupted. "Like, from an animal?"
"Nope." Cathy replied, popping the 'p'. "Apparently, it's related with these riots that have happened recently, but anyway, trying to treat these people was hard enough. I mean, I was running around everywhere all day, and one of the patients bit me-"
Angela gasped in horror. "Bit you?"
"Oh, don't worry." Cathy said, waving her hand in a nonchalant manner. "He wouldn't let the doctor give him a shot of morphine, so I and another nurse had to restrain him. In the process, he bit me on the hand. He only got me a little, but I still had to have it bandaged."
Bringing said hand up, Angela cringed as she stared at the heavily bandaged hand. Carefully inspecting it, she saw that the bandages wrapped mainly around Cathy's palm and thumb, tiny dots of blood seeping through.
"Shit, Cathy. I know some patients have spat or scratched you, but bite you?" Angela mumbled in disbelief.
Shrugging, Cathy returned her hand to her lap as she began to flick through the channels on the television.
"It's happened before to other doctors and nurses; it's nothing. Just a bitch that it happened to me." Cathy chuckled, though Angela couldn't see the funny side of it.
"Anyway," Cathy suddenly said. "Now that you're home, look what I brought for us."
As Cathy began to reach behind the back of the couch, Angela curiously tried to steal a peak, but her friend swatted her away. Cathy then sat up right with a bag in her hand, revealing a very large bottle of red wine. Angela's face dropped.
"Oh, no…"
"You mean 'oh, yes'." Cathy smiled, also pulling two glasses and a corkscrew from the bag.
Angela rolled her eyes, twirling strands of her brunette hair around her finger. "You do know that we have work tomorrow. Remember the last time we drank on a work night? I ended up calling in sick while you puked up in work."
Cathy shrugged, opening the bottle and pouring the wine. "Well, we won't get as tipsy-"
"Drunk."
"-as last time." Cathy finished, though she sighed as Angela glared at her. "Oh, come on, Angela! Live a little."
"I'm too old for this." Angela moaned, rubbing her eyes with her palms.
"You're thirty-two, Angela." Cathy laughed. "You're practically in your prime."
"Sure as hell doesn't feel like it." Angela muttered.
"All the more to drink!" Cathy exclaimed. "Angela, just have one drink with me, just to relax yourself. You deserve it after all the shit you've been through recently."
Sitting there, Angela debated whether it was worth to give in to her. She was certain she was going to end up drunk again, but then again, Cathy was right; she needed this.
Throwing her hands into the air, Angela sighed. "Fine."
Half an hour later, Angela wore a pair of grey sweat pants and a yellow pyjama top, sipping on a large glass of wine. The two friends ended staying up late, giggling like schoolgirls, finishing off the bottle of wine, and watching movies. Angela fell asleep at around one in the morning, waking up in the morning very groggy and very hung over.
A mixture of a moan and a yawn escaped her lips as she stretched her whole body, waiting for a moment before daring to open her eyes. Feeling a little woozy, she sat up slightly and felt around for her alarm clock with one hand, rubbing her head with the other. Once she finally found the small, hard, plastic cube, she brought it towards her face and read the time; five-thirty AM.
Angela frowned. It was far too early, an hour before Angela even had to get up. Sitting up straight, she wondered why she had woken so early.
As if to answer her question, a startling scream, followed by a screech of tires and then a thundering crash, came from outside. The loudness of the crash caused Angela to gasp, bundling the quilt up to her chin.
"What the hell?" She whispered to herself as silence fell again.
Deciding to investigate, Angela slowly pushed the covers off herself, moaning once again as her head throbbed painfully. Feet touching the softness of the carpet, Angela rose off her bed and stumbled out of her room, careful not to make too much noise.
Following the scream she heard, Angela crept down the hallway and into the living room. Walking up to the large window on the other side of the room, she timidly pulled back the curtain, peaking through the gap, only to gasp in sheer terror a moment later. Her throbbing headache seemed the least of her worries as she stared with wide eyes at the carnage before her.
Thick smoke rose in the clear sky, forming a black cloud above two cars that had crashed into each other, creating horrendous damage. One car had flipped on its side, while orange flames licked the second car's bonnet. Beyond the wreckage, a family were frantically throwing their belongings into their car, the father shouting for them to hurry. Across the street, Angela saw a woman running with two men chasing her, snarling and screaming at her.
Disappearing down the street, the two men tackled the woman to the ground. Her screams echoed through the street as Angela saw a mob of people kicking and pounding on a neighbour's door. The one thing that disturbed Angela deeply was that she noticed half of those things had blood covered on them, as if they came from a horror film.
Hearing a blood-curdling scream, Angela jumped, stumbling away from the window as she took a shaky breath.
"Cathy!" She suddenly cried, turning away from the window.
A loud, hard thud echoed through the house, causing Angela to pause momentarily. She slowly turned towards the hallway, where another thud, louder than before, sounded again. Warily, Angela slowly ventured into the hallway, passing her own room. Noticing Cathy's bedroom door was wide open, Angela peeked in to see if her roommate was okay.
"Cathy?" Angela whispered, flinching when a bang from the bathroom answered her.
"Cathy?" Angela said again, slightly louder as she began moving towards the bathroom. "Are you okay?"
The bathroom door was slightly ajar, leaving enough room for Angela to glance inside. In the bathroom, Cathy stood still as a statue, though Angela noticed something odd about her. Her usual peachy skin was a sickly pale colour, while her head and arms hung loose on her body. Looking at her injured hand, Angela saw the bandage shredded and soaked in blood, leaving the nasty wound on show.
Knocking lightly on the door, Angela peered her head inside. "Hey, are you-"
Before Angela could finish her sentence, Cathy spun around and charged at Angela, who yelped and backed away from the door. The door slammed open, vibrating as it nearly flew off its hinges. Cathy crouched in the doorway, clawing at the wood as she growled at Angela like a wild animal.
Angela stared at Cathy in horror, noticing that Cathy eyes had completely whitened, her pupil and iris glossed over. Thickly clotted blood dribbled from her mouth, Cathy snapping her teeth at Angela before running towards her. Both of them crashed to the floor, Cathy straddling Angela as a tribal-like scream ripped from her throat.
"Cathy, get off me!" Angela screamed as she restrained her friend back.
Cathy responded by trying to bite Angela's face, though Angela held her back by straightening her arms up, pushing Cathy away. Blood splattered on Angela's chest as Cath snapped her teeth at her, but Angela had managed to slide her feet on Cathy's stomach, finally kicking her off. Cathy's body connected with the opposite wall, her back smacking it with an audible crack.
Backing away, Angela grabbed the wall for support as she stood up, eyes on her friend.
"Cathy, what is wrong with you?" She gasped as she tried to suck in as much air as possible.
Seemingly unfazed by the action, Cathy jumped to her feet, a vicious snarl leaving her mouth as she stared at Angela. Turning on her heel, Angela pushed herself from the wall as she began to sprint down the hallway, bare feet thumping on the floor after her. Running through the living room, Angela pushed a coffee table over as she ran past, hoping it would slow Cathy down, but as she looked back, Cathy leapt over the table as if it were a simple hurdle.
Running into the kitchen, Angela slammed the kitchen door shut, pushing her body weight against it as Cathy ran into it. Her fists began to pound into the wooden door, so hard that Angela could feel the door shake violently. Grabbing one of the kitchen chairs, Angela slid it under the handle, wedging it into place so the door couldn't open. On the other side, Cathy continued to punch the door, even butting her head against it.
Collapsing on the floor, Angela wept as she curled up into a ball, bringing her knees to her chin. Her heart thumped heavily against her rib cage, the blood rushing through her veins. With teary eyes, Angela stared up at the door, wondering what had happened to her friend.
"Cathy, stop!" Angela shouted through tears, but that only enraged the monster behind the door. "What happened to you?"
As she shouted at her friend, the door suddenly splintered, a large crack running down the middle of the wood. Staring at the crack with wide eyes, Angela knew that if she didn't escape, that thing would get in there.
Slipping on the spare pair of sneakers that Angela kept by the back door, she got up from the floor, wiping her red eyes with the back of her hand. Angela needed to get to her car, but as she looked for her keys, she realised she had left them in her bag, which was sitting on the table in the living room.
"Shit!" Angela muttered, smacking her hand against the table in frustration.
She looked around the kitchen in despair, thinking what she could do, when her eyes suddenly landing on a pair of silver keys on the counter. Angela sighed, feeling foolish that she forgot Cathy always left her keys and phone on the counter. Quickly snatching both items off the counter, she ran to the back door, fumbling to unlock it as Cathy continued to ram into the kitchen door. Throwing the door open, Angela gave one last glance at the woman, the former shell of Cathy, before stepping outside.
Keeping her back pressed to the wall, Angela crept along the side of the house, hearing the screams of her neighbours. As she emerged into the driveway, she choked on a gasp as she stared at the horror before her.
Only a few feet into the road, Angela saw her neighbour lying on the ground, crying for help as his wife and daughter tore his stomach open and feasted on his intestines. Angela clamped her hand over her mouth, forcing the vomit that was building up in her throat back down as she crouched lower to the ground.
"What the fuck is happening?" She whispered to herself.
An inhuman growl ripped Angela from her thoughts. She slowly turned her head to face her neighbour, or something that resembled her neighbour, that stood on the opposite side of the small, brick wall that separated the two houses. The thing stared at her with milky eyes, blood dripping from its mouth. Angela could feel the bile rising back into her throat as she realised one of its arms had been completely ripped off, flesh and muscle dangling from its shoulder.
Heart pounding in her ears, Angela slowly began to back away, only for the monster to follow. Turning on the tips of her toes, Angela sprinted out of her crouched place to Cathy's car. Behind her, she could hear the animal-like scream of the monster as it began to chase her. A scream unwillingly left Angela's throat as she could hear the thing catching up to her. Slamming into the driver's door of the car, Angela jammed the keys into the lock.
Unknowingly, her scream had attracted attention off the woman and daughter, who had left the dead body and began running towards Angela as well. Getting the door open, Angela scrambled inside and closed it with shaking hands, one of the things throwing itself against the door a few seconds later. His bloodied fists smacked against the window, leaving streaks of red.
As Angela started the engine, the other two started hitting the car, but Angela just smashed her foot on the pedal, not caring as she hit one of the monsters. Speeding off down the street, tears blurred Angela's vision as she swerved through the road, trying not to hit anything else. Her sobs filled the silence in the car, the radio crackling as she turned into another road.
Angela didn't know what to do; in a space of five minutes, her former friend attacked her in an animal frenzy, forced out of her home, and watched as those monsters destroyed her neighbourhood. Wiping tears from her eyes, Angela pressed random buttons on the radio, seeing if any stations were working. A voice suddenly crackled and Angela left it to see what it said.
"Please, stay in your homes and… up your doors and windows… If you come into contact... the infected… aim… the head…"
After the short message, the radio went dead, but Angela was left even more confused and scared.
"Infected? Aim for the head?" She questioned.
Thinking over the words, the situation sounded awfully familiar as a shiver crept up her spine. It sounded like something off a horror film, a zombie film being exact, but that was crazy. Angela knew that there was no such thing, right?
Shaking her head, Angela drove deeper into the town, her stomach tightened as she stared at the carnage around her, her eyes not believing what they were witnessing. People ran through the streets, the 'infected', as the radio called them, chasing after them. Multiple cars sped past Angela and overtook her, desperate to escape the town. Glancing in her rear-view mirror, Angela saw a car speeding behind her, until a sixteen-wheeler truck slammed into it and crushed it off the road.
"Oh, my God." Angela whispered through her sobs.
With her eyes off the road ahead and her attention focused behind her, Angela didn't notice the car in front had halted to a stop. Inside the car, the driver was fighting off his infected girlfriend, who clawed at his face. Sinking her teeth into her lovers cheek, the driver screamed as he kicked at the steering wheel, causing the horn to blare loudly. This caught Angela's attention, and as she looked forward, she screamed and swerved out the way at the last second.
Luckily, she missed the car by mere inches, but caused Angela to swerve into a closed road and crash through pylon cones and a stop sign. Angela lost control of her steering as the car sped down the rigid side road, the car taking its own course. Finally, the side road ended and Angela came to a split road, but she still couldn't take control and ended up crashing into a concrete barricade.
With the impact, her whole body flew forward into the airbag that blew up in her face, cushioning her from the hard dashboard. The engine cut off, leaving Angela in silence as smoke rose from her car.