A/N: Despite what many believe, the zombie threat is a very real thing. It has existed since prehistoric times and it is still very active today. The virus Solanum has been responsible for more major disasters then anyone could ever believe and yet the governments of the world continue to maintain a curtain around events. If people don't learn how to fight the dead then we may have to face what those in the know have come to call a Class 4 outbreak or doomsday outbreak.

Now before you call me a loony and stop reading this story a will go on to tell you about it. This is the first part of a three book series detailing the events of a Class 4 outbreak that spreads across the entire planet. The first story will detail the rise of the dead, the second will show the world under the power of the dead and the third will show the living fight back.

So enjoy.

One week after first infection

"Brace the door!"

John looked up and cursed as the lumbering silhouettes of the infected appeared in the covered windows. They limped forwards, leaning heavily on whatever leg they put forward as the came, arms stretching out and heads rolling from side to side limply as they advanced.

People screamed and cried as they spread out. The women and children ran to take refuge behind the makeshift barrier that they had set up in the centre of the hall, while the men and any boys old enough to wield a weapon ran forward and began taking their positions behind chairs and tables. A couple of men holstered their weapons and ran up to the oak door, leaning against it as the sound of banging and clawing began to echo throughout the church hall.

Children cried and men cursed as the groans and growls grew louder and louder. Hands banged against the windows, large bloody handprints being smeared across the glass as the infected desperately tried to force themselves into the church and to the terrified people hiding inside. The tinted glass was a blessing as it hid the terrifying sight of the infected from their view, the silhouettes and groans alone causing people to scream and run.

"That glass isn't going to hold much longer"

John nodded slowly as he turned to see Sara move next to him. Blood covered her police uniform, making her look like she was in a bad horror movie which, he supposed, they all were.

"When they get through we're going to fire everything we have at them." John wasn't used to giving orders but he had done so many things he had not expected today that it didn't matter now. "Then when they get too close, we pull back behind the barrier and make our stand. The military said they were going to be here in about an hour. Has the sniper been able to tell us how many there are out there?"

"Negative, he says that there still coming; he wouldn't be surprised if it's the entire fucking city"

John cursed. These things were like a horde of locust, as soon as you made enough sound to alert one of them, it would make that hellish moan and any that heard the moan would come after them and moan and any that heard that would come and moan and so on. If the chain went unbroken then there was no end to the amount of infected that would come after them. With ammunition and moral running low, they could not hope to withstand such an attack.

Suddenly there was the sound of a loud crack and people began to scream as the glass began to shatter and break. The cracks covered the plain of glass in one of the windows in a massive, spider web pattern. The entire window seemed to bend under the infected onslaught.

Then, with an almighty crash, the window shattered.

John had to fight the instinct to cover his ears as the air was filled with the sound of breaking glass, scrams and the terrifying groan of the infected as they started to crawl through the window, falling to the floor in a heap once through as they tried to pull themselves to the feet.

"Open fire!"

John didn't need telling twice as he squeezed the trigger in his hand gun, desperately trying to keep his aim steady.

It was impossible to tell if he hit anything as over dozen people opened fired alongside of him. Bodies were ripped into nothingness and heads exploded from the sheer amount of fire power. The infected groaned and snarled as they advanced, lips curling up to reveal shapeless, blood coated teeth. They didn't even notice their companions as they were shot. Even the hit infected continued to advance; only those that were hit in the head fell and became silent.

They dragged themselves across the floor, their dead, lifeless eyes never leaving the men who desperately fried at them. The climbed over there own dead without a glance and pushed each other over in their need to reach there pray.

John tried not to think about the people that the infected had once been as he fired at them. Any humanity was gone from them, leaving only bloodthirsty animals. He had no choice but to kill them, if he didn't then they would kill him, the people around him and his daughter who had hidden at the back of the church. He winched as he pulled the trigger again, a small hole was punched into a nearby infected head in an explosion of blood and John gave a small cry as the corpse fell to the floor with a faint thud.

John looked up to see the door give a loud groan as it began to give way under the sheer weight of bodies pushing on it from the outside. The men pushed harder against the wood in a desperate attempt to keep it closed but they couldn't mach the sheer power of the infected as they smashed against the door. John shouted for them to get away but the infected that were coming through the windows had already intercepted them, the limping horrors hissing and snarling as they moved in for the kill. The men pulled out whatever weapons they had and tried to push their way through the infected but there was just too many and headshots were just too few. The door screamed in protest against the infected as they increased their attack, as they heard the struggle being fought inside.

Then with a clash that sounded like a small bomb detonating, the door fell.

The trapped men screamed as it fell towards them, running and trying desperately to push their way through the infected. Two fell to the floor and were crushed under the decade old oak as if smashed it the floor. As the dust settled people began to scream again as they saw for the first time the sheer amount of infected that had gathered outside.

The infected moaned and they pushed their way through the door, pushing each other into walls or simply crushing the fallen among them under their feet. Many had eyes or limbs missing, those that had no legs were using their arms to drag themselves across the ground, their dirty mutilated hands gripping at anything they could get hold of. It was impossible to tell how many there were, the sea of bodies seemed to go on forever as arms reached over heads and bodies were crushed against the stone walls. There was no-organisation in the attack, the infected fought with nothing more than the barbaric instincts to kill and devourer. They snarled as they grabbed the trapped men and pulled them towards their blood and dirt covered mouths. A pair of men managed to fire a couple of shots at the infected and one infected fell to the floor with thin black blood spraying from its head. They screamed and cursed as they were pulled down by the sea of torn arms, they didn't stand a chance. One man turned the gun on himself and shot himself in the head rather then become like the infected, but the others didn't have the chance. They screamed as teeth ripped at their flesh, ripping massive chunks out with ease, the infected groans grew in volume and became deeper as they devoured their pray, ripping and tearing like animals.

The remaining windows finally shattered and more and more infected forced their way in. they gabbed anyone unlucky enough to be nearby and tore at them, drenching the church wall and floor in blood. Their deaths meant that it was time to get behind the barrier; the first line of defence was overrun.

"Fall back! Fall back!"

Suddenly there defence line seemed to fall apart as people turned and ran. Some were so focussed on getting away that they didn't notice the infected and became nothing more than fast food. (A/N: I know it was a bad joke)

John fired at the infected as they surged forward, he killed a couple but it was hard to get a good head shot when they moved around so much. He hid behind the barrier and cursed as he saw that it was never going to hold together. It was nothing more than chairs and tables leaning on each other it was only designed to hold the infected of while the survivors made a run for it out the back door and to where they hoped the military would come to pick them up.

His hands trembled as he slid a new clip into his handgun and fired again. More of the infected fell dead but for everyone they killed there would just be more to push themselves into its place.

"Sara!" John had to shout to be heard over the sound of screaming, gunshots and moaning. "You have got to get the women and children out of here now"

"But the military aren't here yet, we'll be sitting ducks"

"You'll have a better chance than you do here. The parking lot is wide; the infected won't be able to sneak round anything so you can have pick them off as they try to get near you. You should be able to hold them off till the military get here"

"But the infected will just come through the church and over run us with their numbers"

"No they won't" John looked away as he realised that she was right and there was only one way to stop the infected from going straight through "We're going to hold them off for as long as we can. You have to use that time to get out"

"But…"

"No buts…I want you to do this and I want you and Jane to get out of this place and live."

John sighed as he looked to the back of the church. His four year old daughter was hiding with the other children behind the church altar. Surrounded on all sides by the women who were clutching for whatever weapons they could find. Her face was covered with tears as she covered her ears in an attempt to block the sounds that echoed of the walls of the church.

Sara looked as if she was frozen for a second before nodding. She cast him another look before running to the women and children and ordering them out. John watched for a second before turning, straight into the ruined face of an infected man.

John cursed and screamed as the infected pulled him to the floor. He desperately tried to push him away and keep the snapping jaw away from him. Finally he felt his hand give way and the infected lunged at him.

He was barely aware of someone screaming his name and a loud bang before darkness took him and one last thought crossed his mind.

"How did it come to this?"