Prologue
Lana grimaced as the smell of sour milk and decaying flesh filled the air, mixing disgustingly with the rain. She buried her face into Clark's shoulder; he gently put his arm around her. "What are they?" Lana asked as she flung her free arm across his stomach. "Zombies," Clark realized, suddenly. "What?" Lana pulled away. "Don't…move," Clark commanded. The figures before them were significantly closer and stunk even more. Their faces were half-eaten and bones stuck out of the skin. Lana gagged in disgust as an ankle snapped when it made impact on the wet, soggy grass. "Clark," she stammered. He shushed her gently and put his index finger over his lips. His hand slipped around hers. She shook with fear and her hand was cold. She obviously had no idea how hard she was squeezing Clark's hand, but he felt it.
"Are you listening?" Clark squeezed Lana's hand gently. "Yeah," she managed to whisper. "When they pass I want you to run. They can't see you unless you move, so don't go anywhere until I tell you," Clark saw Lana's eyes meet his face out of the corner of his iris. "No," she shook her head, "no, I can't leave you. They'll kill you." "I'll be fine, I promise. Just, when I tell you to go," he gulped, fearing for both himself and Lana, "go.—Okay?" Clark's eyes found Lana; she was staring at him intensely. He felt suddenly pained when he saw how unsteadily she nodded. "Lana, don't look at me like that," Clark pleaded. "Sorry," she said coldly, and turned around, her words came out gentler, "I'm sorry. I'm just, scared." Lana exhaled deeply as the zombies finally reached them.
Lana and Clark both resisted the urge to throw up as almost one hundred decaying bodies slowly passed them. "Okay, are you ready?" Clark tried desperately not to move his lips, but he failed and one of the zombies eyed him. "Crap. Lana, go. Go, go, go, go," his voice rose with speech. Lana lingered, frozen with fear. "Lana, go!" Clark's voice was loud and he was yelling now.
Vulnerability pulsed through Lana as her hand escaped Clark's. There was nothing protecting her now. She stopped, dead in her tracks as she heard Clark yell in pain. Her heart pounded in her ears and she heard nothing but Clark's scream and the rhythmic pounding in her chest. Everything went by slowly, one second felt like a year. She yelled in unison with Clark, wanting more than anything, but unable to move, as a zombie sunk its teeth deep into Clark's shoulder and ripped out a chunk of skin. Purple blood poured out of his body, spilling all over the grass and staining his blue shirt. It was pretty obvious now, Clark Kent was going to die.