HEY GUYS! Sorry had to completely re-do this story as it was a total screw up that went very round in the first publish! Anyway, hopefully this will be a good story!
1.
I am alone.
The world has come to an end and I am completely alone.
At first there had been many of us.
My Mom Abbie, a sweet woman who was so happy to have me home after graduating from university. My dad Jake, a strange man who to this day still collected stamps. There had also been my brother Bellamy, an annoying brat constantly taking my things. Then there was his girlfriend Chloe and her parents Mr and Mrs Tsang too. The seven of us were together. Surviving together. Barely. But after four weeks what had started as seven had now dwindled to just one.
Me.
Clarke Elizabeth Griffin. 21. Music graduate from Berkeley. Not that that exactly means anything now. Especially since my guitar had been smashed long ago against a Risers head. Ironically it had lasted two weeks since the Rise before it had to be used as a weapon. I would call that an impressive accomplishment. At least I haven't lost my iPod. I dread the day that I have to result to using that against a Riser.
The Risers? I hear you ask. Well let me tell you.
They are the name of what has become my whole damn existence. Zombies. Literal live, well not really alive, Zombies who eat flesh and grunt and groan as they walk as if they have serious indigestion or something. It's disgusting. These Risers have ruined my life. I had recently returned home from graduating with honours and was working at a small radio station to start my career. Mom had been so proud and so happy to see me home. There had been a huge party with lots of alcohol. Next morning it is all over the news.
Creatures attacking people in the streets and eating them. Cannibals we had all thought. That was until we saw the people who had been killed on the streets. Their bloody limbs shuffling their limp bodies towards hordes of people to strip them of flesh. The Risers bite is deadly. Their scratch just as bad. We don't know how this came to be and frankly these days who has the time to ponder? We are just trying to survive in a world were survivors are pointless.
Don't get me wrong I am all for surviving. Surviving is good, great even. But you start to see less of the point when all you have to protect yourself is a kitchen knife, an iPod and a skateboard. If only I had reacted quicker. Poor Mr. Tsang. None of us had expected the Risers to find our safe house. It was all so sudden. We had just sat down to eat what had been abandoned in the house when one burst in through the back door right near Mr. Tsang.
The creature went right for his neck, ripping his jugular and flinging it away. In a rushed panic we ran. But I was frozen. His blood covered my shirt and my face. It was only when the Riser looked up at me did I turn and run for my life.
I had no idea where my family were.
I couldn't see where they had turned.
Then Risers spotted me from afar and began shuffling before me.
Holding the kitchen knife I had stolen from the home I turned and ran, grabbing a skateboard that had been left abandoned on the side of the road, who knows when that would come in handy? I don't know how long I ran for. It could have been hours, or maybe even minutes, but I ran until my legs protested that I find shelter.
That was a week ago.
It has nearly been just over a month since the world came to an end and I am beginning to lose all hope. My kitchen knife has been rendered useless. Barely sharp enough to cut bread let alone through the skull of a Riser.
Not that I've actually killed a Riser.
The knife has been used to break into places mainly. Obviously not its intended use, hence the uselessness. I've managed to avoid Riser's at all costs. Whenever I see them coming I run or get to a high place. Thank God for my free-spirit years of climbing trees! As well as the rotten flesh of the Risers, means they can't climb a damn thing.
For the past few days I've been sleeping on a rooftop. I stole the blankets and pillows from inside and sneak back in, carefully, once a day to grab some food. So far I've been living off nearing mouldy bread, apples and the occasional dinosaur nuggets. I did see some ice cream in the freezer but I'm leaving that for a special occasion.
I can see Risers ahead.
They can see me.
The stare down begins.
I often engage in this from a distance staring match with these creatures. I remember the last time I climbed up high into a tree with a Riser just below me.
He was looking at me. His rotting flesh and sunken eyes directed at me. It was like he was studying me, wondering what I was and what I was doing. He then looked down at the tree and placed his crippled fingers against the bark, scratching it with his claws before looking back up at me. It was as if he were trying to determine if he could climb up after me.
It was a terrifying moment.
Fifteen minutes passed of him looking at the tree and back to me before he shuffled away. It was another twenty minutes later did I feel safe to come down and find a new resting place.
I think that is what is frightening about the Risers.
They seem to understand everything around them. As if they are capable of thought and of decisions. They are different to the kinds of things you see in the movies. Those are dumb, ruthless killers whereas these things are in a way intellectual.
It was my dad who noticed it first, not that I took much notice at the time.
As a psychologist my dad liked to analyse everyone around him. Especially my Mom, but only to make my brother and I laugh. He'd make things up about her psychology and compare it to how she would wash the dishes.
"Oh, you see the way she washes that dish from right to left?" He would start, trying not to laugh "It shows that as a child she always wanted a dog but her parents would not allow it. So as retaliation she defied the left to right convention her mother taught her."
Bellamy and I would be pissing ourselves with laughter while Mom would charge at dad with a dish cloth and whip him with it. He'd laugh wildly before hugging her tightly. They were always gross like that. I loved it.
But it was the start of the second week of the rise did my dad notice their behaviour.
We'd hidden in an abandoned home and barricaded the doors. The Risers hadn't see where we had gone but we all sat in absolute silence and fear trying not to let them know. Chloe and Bellamy sat curled into one another, the ring on her finger being covered by his own hand to stop the light reflecting off of it.
Dad was peeking out of the blinds to see where they were.
He stepped back from the window and slightly stumbled to the floor.
"Mr Griffin?" Mr Tsang whispered "Are you well?"
It took him a while to reply, his eyes were staring off into space. I was worried for him and crawled to his side to shake his shoulder. "Daddy? What's wrong? Are they here?" I hoped to whatever God there could be that they weren't.
"No my darling, they have gone passed. It- they, it's strange." He stammered, taking my hand into his. "They congregate in groups. The four that followed us, joined another group of four. They joined together. It's almost as if…they have a societal formation. But that can't be possible."
We all brushed the comment off, the reality of his words too much for us all.
But seeing that Riser looking between the tree and me just brought his words back to the forefront of my mind and made me miss my family more than ever.
I miss more than ever my Mom's singing.
She wasn't the best, never was, which always made me wonder where my musical abilities came from, especially since my dad was even worse, but it always reminded me of home. She'd often sing old songs she knew or make them up as she went along.
I remember it was the day after I had come home from uni that I had her singing. It was an old Celine Dion song and she danced around slightly as she sang until she saw me. She grabbed my hand and pulled me along with her until we were both singing and dancing around the living room. Dad and Bellamy joined in later.
Bell was filming it for snapchat and Dad and Mom danced around together. Chloe joined us later and then many of our family friends for my post-graduation celebration. But the singing with my family, that was the happiest I had ever been.
Then two days later we were running for our lives.
Now I sit here, alone, on this roof top eating slices of bread with water as if I were in prison, day dreaming about being home with my family.
Unconsciously I start to hum one of my mother's favourite songs. Soon those hums become light singing and eventually a smile starts to form, I could almost feel a lightness that I hadn't felt for a long while.
"You made me feel so shiny and neeeww!" I beat the air as if it were drums "Like a virgin, oo touched for the very first timeee. Like a virgin, woo, with your heartbeat next to minee." I laugh softly, the image of the family and me singing into the cleaning equipment as we bop along to this song.
Sighing I take a final bite of my 'dinner' before putting one of my iPod head phones in and start to play my music. Laying down I check my rope to make sure I am secured and won't slide off the roof. Not having that nearly happen again. Thank God for the Girl Scouts and Cheerleading team.
I look up at the stars that have become more visible as each day passes. They are not as bright tonight, however, the few stars that are visible are dotted far and wide. I could probably count only about 3 whereas the night previous I lost count.
It is then that I feel a drop of water against my cheek.
Shit.
I yank out my headphones and shove the iPod into my jeans pocket. Grabbing my backpack I fling it onto my back, attaching the skateboard to the back of it, before rushing to untie and collect my rope before climbing, carefully but quickly, off the roof to slip inside the top floor of the house. I make it just in time as the heavens open and an onslaught of rain hits the windows and the roof above.
Perfect.
Just perfect.
I bring my knife and the torch in my bag out and go in search of a safe place to rest. As well as grab items to barricade the room I rest in. I find a small bedroom with enough room on the bed for me to rest. It looks like a young boy's room.
I use the chest of drawers to barricade the door, shoving it right underneath the handle. Next is the toy box that I place on top of it for extra height and protection.
Feeling moderately protected I slip my backpack onto the floor and crawl onto the bed. A blissful sigh escapes my lips, it has been far too long since I have slept in a bed, let alone lie on one. I don't put my music on this time, feeling the need to be fully alert to the sound around me and lay my head on the pillow for rest.
Putting one headphone on and switching on an alarm for an early rise I start to settle down, listening intently to the rain that pours outside. It is as I start to drift off do I start to wonder where my family are and if they have been able to escape this weather. Or if they were even alive still.
I'm sure they are.
We Griffins are very resilient people. Bell, he once ate a whole pack of chocolate digestives in under fifteen minutes just to prove a point. He vomited a lot after but he still did it. Resilient. Stupid, but resilient.
Yes, they will be fine.
I, on the other hand, am very likely to die. I'm not exactly the most strategic person in the world. I may be able to climb, be flexible and know a few basic survival techniques from Bear Grylls (which thank God I haven't had to resort to eating bugs…yet). But I've only been lucky so far. And soon enough my luck is going to run out.
Shaking my head I try to lose the pessimistic thoughts running through my head and try to relax my body for rest. Seven hours I've given myself, enough time to energise me and get me moving on the road for safety.
With my trusty skateboard I can move pretty quickly which helps for covering ground and finding safe places to duck into. An abandoned house here, a family tree house there, or just a normal tall tree to climb. The number of trees always makes me glad that I live in Maine lots of vegetation and big ass trees. Lucky me (!)
At least if worse comes to worse there is a big body of water nearby that I could escape into for a short while. Hopefully the Risers aren't like those in Pirates of the Caribbean because that would suck big time. Especially in terms of my life expectancy.
Here's to me praying that they can't.
Maybe then I could steal a boat and use it to live on the lake.
Call myself Captain Griffin and pillage nearby houses for supplies. I could totally do that. Though I'll have to figure out how to hot wire a boat, I don't know if they are the same as cars. Hey, you learn these things late at night when you are bored at uni OK? I've never actually done it. Which admittedly probably won't work in my favour.
I laugh lightly to myself as I start to drift off to images of stupid pirates and Madonna being captain of a Riser armada. There were fantastic sword fights and great battles like something out of a Narnia book. Narnia would be a great place to go, Aslan would totally destroy all the Risers and I'd find my family and be crowned Queen of Narnia.
My dreams were filled with laughter.
I'm sure at one point I was even at Disneyland. I think Princess Aurora was trying to flirt with me, always thought she had a thing for the ladies. Shame, Philip was fine.
Then there was someone banging.
Banging.
Banging.
Cracking.
I was no longer dreaming.
I woke with a start, my eyes adjusting to the dim room around me. There was some light illuminating the room so much so that I could just make out everything.
The toy chest had been knocked on the floor.
Wood chips littered the place. Echoes of groans and grunts sounded outside the room, one broken line of wood stood out within the door, presenting the rotting face of a Riser. She growled harshly as she smashed harder at the door.
I had to move fast. I grabbed my backpack and the knife and headed towards the window, I opened it and was thankful to see that it wasn't raining any longer, but everywhere was soaked. I was also about a story up above the ground. I'd have to use the windowsill to dangle and drop to be able to escape.
No Risers in sight. Thank God.
Wood splinters bounce by my feet.
She's nearly in.
There's no time to question whether this is a good idea or not. I don't have that much choice. It's either die here or die there. And there seems more hopeful.
Securing my backpack and chucking my knife just to the side of my assigned landing I climbed out the window. Holding tightly on the edge of the sill I took a heavy breath and dropped, aiming to allow the impact to my flat feet and turning so my body weight balances out. You learn a lot from the internet and cheerleading.
However I did not stick my landing.
Hannah would not be proud.
I caught my ankle awkwardly and twisted it and proceeded to flip onto my back and smash my skateboard. God, I loved that skateboard.
Groaning softly I rolled to my front to stand up.
But I was not the only one groaning.
Standing up, as quickly as I could with my ankle, I came face to face with a group of Risers just up ahead of me, not too far away. I knew I wouldn't be able to escape. I was completely and most royally screwed.
Shuffling backwards I searched for my knife. It was near the house so with an eye on the Risers I moved in that direction.
Grasping my pathetic weapon I searched for all possible exits.
For frick sake why didn't I just climb on to the damn roof again? Why the hell did I think it was a smart idea to jump OUT of the God damn window? Clearly it wasn't and now I am going to die like the idiotic figure I was.
Some university graduate, can't even survive a zombie apocalypse. I survived two weeks on £40, super noodles, custard, cereal and tea but I can't even come up with a plan that won't get me killed. Just brilliant.
If I wasn't still trying to find an escape route I'd just bash my head repeatedly against the house wall just over my stupidity.
Instead just to get out my frustration I just threw the broken pieces of my skateboard at the miserable dead pricks who were on their way to turn me into one of them. Maybe even just eat me. Not too sure which one I'd prefer.
Probably death death, that'd be better, then there isn't a chance that I hurt my family. Yeah I'll go with that.
Their growls were louder.
Wait, that doesn't sound like a growl.
I turn to the right where the sound was coming from. At the top of the street coming in at an alarming speed is an object all in black.
Is…is that a motorbike?
As the vehicle came crashing into two of the seven Risers it was confirmed. It was a beautiful motorcycle. And atop it was a person clad in tight jeans, leather jacket and motorcycle helmet and a softball bat strapped to their back.
Two of the five Risers turned towards the driver whereas the other three continued towards me. Looks like my knight in leather armour is just as screwed as me.
Thwack.
A Riser goes down.
Thwack.
Down goes the other.
Blood stains the helmet and I hear a frustrated sigh as the driver pulls off their helmet. Messy brown tresses flow out from the encased helmet and fall against their shoulders. The driver shakes their head and smirks slightly.
"Well that was boring." She says, a twang to her voice. What is that accent? New Zealand maybe? No, Australian. Most likely Australian.
It's a girl. A leather clad woman. With a softball bat and swagger. And….is that a shotgun? Well that was unexpected.
"Duck and cover cutie!"
What?
A bang goes off and blood covers my face.
Oh.
Ew.
Another smack echoes as the second Riser goes down. Only one now remains. The brunette scampers over to me without a care in the world, as if she hasn't just killed six Risers without a blink of an eye.
"Come with me if you want to live." She says, smirking as if this were all a game.
"What?"
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