Hey guys! I'm back with a new Jarley multi-chaptered fic! This one was suggested to me by an anon on tumblr, and also inspired by my love of The Walking Dead. I know I've written a drabble before about Jake and Marley living in a zombie apocalypse world, but this will be much different. Hope you all enjoy!
Title is from the name of a TWD episode (Season 3 episode 15: This Sorrowful Life)
Marley Rose knew something strange was going on the second she glanced outside the window of her apartment. It was almost ten o'clock in the morning, and the usual hustle and bustle of New York City was replaced with an eerie silence.
"Kitty," Marley called to her roommate. She expected her best friend to be buried under the multiple layers of blankets, sleeping soundly. However, when Marley lifted up the covers, Kitty wasn't there. Not thinking much of it-Kitty disappeared all the time and always came back before dark-Marley zipped up her winter coat and ventured out onto the street, the cold February air nipping her exposed skin as she walked.
Things got even stranger when Marley turned the corner. In all her life of knowing about Manhattan, and how busy it always was, Marley had never ever heard about Times Square being completely empty. In the past year of living in the city, Marley had always disliked the crowdedness of Times Square, so she was hardly thrilled when the only apartment she could afford was right in the heart of it. But now, the thousands of people and cars that normally occupied the busy streets daily were all gone.
Sensing something was seriously wrong, Marley frantically searched the deserted streets, desperate to find somebody.
"Is anyone here?" She yelled.
"H-Help," Marley heard someone faintly mumble closeby. "He-elp."
Marley ran into the nearest alley and found a woman lying on the concrete, clutching her side.
"Oh my god," Marley said, putting a hand to her mouth in shock. "What happened? Were you robbed?"
The woman tried to answer, but no words came out. She broke into a loud coughing fit. Marley reached for her phone to dial 911, but the woman quickly grasped her arm.
"No," she wheezed.
"Please, let me help you," Marley begged. The woman just shook her head.
"No use," she said between coughs. "Leave while you can."
"What are you talking about?" Marley asked, growing more confused by the second.
The woman didn't say a word. Instead, she moved her hand away from her side, revealing a very deep wound. "Got bit," she whispered before coughing violently.
Marley started to feel dizzy. The sight of blood had always made her uncomfortable. "Bit?" she repeated. "By what?"
But the mysterious woman didn't get to answer her. She took one last deep breath before her eyes glazed over and her hands dropped on either side of her.
"No no no no no." Marley shook the woman's shoulders. "Please don't be dead." But it was no use. She was gone.
Marley ran out of the alley back onto the main street. She dug her phone out of her coat pocket and called Kitty. "Pick up, pick up, pick," she said, feeling tears dot her eyes. She had never felt so alone before. The call went straight to voicemail, and Marley almost flung her phone onto the pavement out of frustration. She proceeded to called her mom, but no luck there either. Nobody was answering their phones. Marley decided to go to her last resort and call 911. Someone had to pick up. Her phone rang and rang and rang for what seemed like forever. She counted 34 rings before she gave up. Why wasn't 911 working? This was an emergency.
Marley kept walking down the deserted streets, searching for any signs of life. It seemed like everyone had just dropped everything and ran, judging by all the debris and garbage that littered the ground. Tears were now streaming down her cheeks. She honestly didn't know what to do, and on top of that, her best friend was still missing. Marley wanted to believe that everything was okay, and that maybe everyone in the city was indoors for whatever reason, but she couldn't shake the feeling that something was majorly wrong. This wasn't normal.
Marley turned a corner and her spirits immediately soared. Up ahead, someone was leaning over something else-Marley couldn't tell what. "Hey!" she shouted running towards the person. Finally someone could tell her what was going on!
"Hey!" Marley ran right up to the person. Why wasn't he listening to her? Finally whoever it was turned around and Marley stopped dead in her tracks. That wasn't a person.
Marley couldn't scream. She was too stunned. What was this thing? The decaying creature limped rather fastly towards Marley, and she tried to run away, but it was like her feet were glued to the ground. She wanted to move, but she was so much in shock, her body wasn't cooperating with her head.
Right as the creature was about to grab Marley, a loud bang filled the air. The thing fell to the ground, blood pouring out of its head. Marley looked over to her left and saw a boy around her age holding a rather large gun.
"What the hell is going on?" Marley asked the boy. "What was that thing?"
The boy looked down at the mangled body on the ground before gazing back at her. "Didn't you get the memo?" he said. "The world just ended."
Like it so far? I literally have no idea whatsoever the direction I want to take this in, but I guess I'll just wing it and see how it goes. In true Walking Dead fashion, I will not use the word 'Zombie' and I will try to use the word "Walker" as little as possible. Got any cool names to call zombies? Please let me know! Hope you all stick with me on this; I promise I'll update soon! (and yes the boy in the last part is Jake). Talk to you guys later! :)