Cannon Fodder

[I walk into the library and find Andrew sitting alone at a table reading a book called Choke. He looks up and sees me. I sit down.]

Well before the war I was in love with a girl, a girl who was my best friend. I would have killed to get a chance to go on a date with her, she was my everything, but you see the thing is, she didn't like me, at least not like that. I was like a brother to her, and it didn't take a genius to see it.

So the night before our towns outbreak, I finally got up the courage to ask her on a date, expecting rejection. I was surprised when she said yes. I almost cried I was so happy.

But then…

[He pauses]

Then the outbreak happened, it was horrible, people were being eaten on the street, everyone was dying.

Didn't your town see outbreaks before?

They did, but this was The outbreak to end them all, if your catching my drift. So it was only natural that she was the first one I was thinking of.

I ran, I ran without stopping for a mile. I just Needed to know. She was my everything remember?

So when I reached her house, there were about thirty Zed Heads out side of her door, I then heard a scream, Her scream. I thought I was to late, the girl I have loved all my life, gone, never to be seen again.

That's about the time I blacked out.

What happened?

Well, when I came too, My head was on her lap, she was stroking my hair, and I was crying. I had managed to kill every Zed Head.

So why did she scream?

Her dog was being eaten in the backyard. [He giggles]. I had managed to come in time, she told me afterwards that they were breaking through. [He pauses]. We stayed together in that house, for what seemed like hours, with my head in her lap, just stroking my hair, I could relive that moment over and over again. [He smiles]. I still do, ever day.

So what happened after you left the house?

Well, we spent some time walking, just talking and…holding hands. We watched out for Zed Heads of course, but it was like I had gotten the date, even the end of the world wasn't going to stop me you know?

[He pauses]. That's when we ran into a military group, they were drafting men to go fight Zeds. [A tear rolls down his face] That, I thought, was the last time I would ever see her, all I can remember is that she was crying, it was so hard for me, so hard.

So they sent me away, away from the small town, away from friends, away from her. I was sent into neighboring towns to fight off Zeds, I did my job, did what I was told, and never complained, but I was planning, always planning.

Planning what?

Planning on how I was going to excl, how I was going to find her. Besides everyone in the squad new we were just Cannon Fodder.

One day, I finally got my chance to get out. All because of one mishap I was going to go free.

What happened?

Well we were just doing a routine Slice-n-Dice, when someone got cornered, and instead of calling for help, he panicked and dropped a `nade. It hit a nearby propane tank, just destroying the nearby area. Which, in turn, only attracted more Zeds. After that explosion everyone knew it was every man for himself. So I took off and just ran for my town, I ran and never looked back.

After running for hours, I finally made it back to my town. What I saw was, just…Horrible.

There were Zeds everywhere! Buildings were on fire, everything was falling apart. I heard a gunshot after searching for a while, I went to investigate, hopping to find out what happened here, and what happened to my girl, the only girl I cared about. When I got to where the gun was fired, I say a man, he was surrounded, so I then did the kind thing and helped with his little problem. He thanked me, and we sat and chatted for a little bit, killing of roamers when they stopped by. I finally got to the point and asked what happened, and if he knew what happened to Scarlett.

It turns out that what happened to my squad, happened here, a routine Slice-n-Dice, gone wrong. He kept talking about the situation and was jumping around the question, the main question, about Scarlett. I was beginning to get worried, so I left the man, even though he called after me, I just left him there. So I went back to where we had last seen each other, and she wasn't there. So then the only last reasonable place she could be is, her house.

[He pauses, looking sad, he picks up his head and stares me in the eye]

The house is where the explosion happened.

So what did you do?

Well, I thought that she was in the house when the blast occurred, I was so sad that I just went to my house. I boarded up the windows, made a nice dinner, and loaded the gun with one bullet. I was ready, she was the only thing that had brought me this far, the only thing that made it possible for me to live. Now that she was gone, there was nothing, nothing.

I didn't want to die all, uh, "messy" if you will, so I cleaned up the room I was going to do it in, took a nice long bath from the water that was left, and put on my best clothes. I then got the final thing ready, they only picture I had of me and her together. Now we could be together in a, better place, not Zombie infested.

I was about to do myself in, until I heard a bang on the door. Don't get me wrong, I had heard banging on the door, from Zeds, but this was different for some reason. I got up, and pulled back a board, and there she was, killing Zeds in front of my house. She was banging on my door every time she had a break from killing Zeds.

I wasn't sure if I was seeing things, or if she was really there, so I screamed her name, and we made eye contact. It was one of the happiest moments in my life, she was alive, but far from safe. I opened the door and let her in, but a Zed forced its self inside before the door could close.

The thing fell on me, I then closed my eyes and felt a sharp pain in my shoulder, the pain started to pulse, and I thought, "This is it, I finally got back to her and this is the end."

When I woke up my head was on her lap and she was stroking my head. I looked up, and stared into her eyes and she smiled. I had been through so much that I didn't feel the lame fears I used to feel. So I moved my head closer to hers and our lips touched for the first time, [He smiles], I relive that moment everyday.

So what happened to you?

When I closed my eyes, the Zed was going to bite me, so she shot it and the bullet went through it and into me. None of the matter from it stayed to the bullet thank god. I had heard reports of that happening to people.

But back to what I was saying, I kissed her, and it seemed that we kissed forever. When we finally stopped, I looked into her eyes, and told her how long I had wanted to do that for, but I knew that she only liked me like a friend, and that was it. She smiled and said that she felt the same way. And the rest…

[A young women sits down next to him, kisses him on the cheek and on the shoulder, she then lays her head down on his shoulder.]

…The rest is what people call, HISTORY.

[He looks at Scarlett, and then turns to me and giggles]

I guess I wasn't Cannon Fodder.

[Anthony and Scarlett survived a severe outbreak in the small town that they lived in. After The Dark Years, they got married, and now reside in Albuquerque, New Mexico.]