/

Moesby and Zack sat in their '57 Chevy, driving through Boston. Zack reached into the glove compartment, and took out a CD: original recordings from Woodstock. The works of Jimmy Hendrix blasted out of the speakers.

"Left turn up ahead," Zack said, reading the map

Moesby turned the wheel sharply. The streets of Boston had changed; cars stood on random areas of the streets, abandoned. The streets had felt very little of the treads of tires in years, to the point where plants had begun to grow through the tarmac. Even the buildings had become grimy, from the lack of maintenance.

"Look out!" Zack exclaimed

Moesby hit the brakes, narrowly avoiding an armored car that was right in the middle of the road. The car stopped just in time.

"Are you OK?" Moesby asked

"Fine," Zack rubbed his head from where he hit the dashboard, "It's fine, really."

Moesby took a look at Zack's forehead.

"Are you sure?" Moesby asked

"Yeah…"

The two of them climbed out of the car, and straightened out their clothes. They both wore tracksuits; Zack's was red, Moesby's was blue. Along with the tracksuits, they had on leather belts. Zack's contained a Walther P-38, two ammo clips, a flashlight, and a Bowie knife. Moesby's, on the other hand, contained a .44 Magnum, two speedloaders, a flare gun, and three satchel charges. Both of them carried walkie-talkies.

"Shall we just walk the rest of the way?" Moesby asked

"OK," Zack nodded

/

The two of them jogged down a couple of streets, and arrived at the movie theatre.

"Which one do you want to see?" Moesby asked

"Well, we saw Battleships: The Movie last week," Zack said, "Let's watch 'The Mountain Ranger' this time."

"I hear The New York Times thought it was good," Moesby nodded

/

The theatre was not as run down as most buildings in Boston. Moesby and Zack frequented it, and kept it nice.

"I'll fire up the popcorn machine," Zack said, hopping over the counter

"I'll start the film," Moesby replied

Zack fired up a small generator, and plugged the popcorn maker in it. Then, he poured a scoop of kernels into the machine, and let it do its work.

/

Moesby switched on the film projector that had the copy of The Mountain Ranger in it. Like the popcorn machine, it also had a generator. Moesby took out his walkie-talkie.

"Zack, could you grab me a box of Mike & Ike's?" he asked

"Sure. Is the film ready yet?"

"Yeah, come on up."

/

Zack met Moesby in the theatre, carrying two boxes of popcorn and Mike & Ike's. They sat down, and watched the film. It was a pretty good film, about a mountain ranger who worked alongside a group of vigilantes. But half way through, it became hard to watch. The film's villains started using chemical weapons, which was a painful subject. Zack and Moesby began to look away.

"Do you want to get out of here?" Moesby asked

"Sure," Zack replied, getting up

/

Two years ago, the SS Tipton had left Scotland on a seven day voyage to Boston. In that time, tensions between the US and China had risen. Both of them had used biological weapons. A virus was released into the US that either killed people, or turned them into albino mutants. Everyone was infected; no one was immune except for Zack and Moesby. Moesby hypothesized it was due to some composite flu-shots he and Zack had been given when they docked. Things got worse. People they knew either died or became Zombies. The Zombies banded together, forming a cult. They hunted down the rest of the uninfected, and began trying to destroy society.

/

Zack and Moesby walked outside the theatre.

"It's getting dark," Zack said, "We'd better hit the road."

"Yeah," Moesby climbed into the car, "Sorry about the film."

"It's alright."

/

The car ride home was a lot nicer than the movie. Mr. Moesby played one of his CDs (since Zack got to play his on the way there). This time, it was 'Best of John Williams'.

"I thought you said this was classical stuff?" Zack asked

"It is," Moesby replied

"This is the music from Star Wars."

"I know. John Williams did a lot of classical soundtracks for popular movies."

"Is this the same guy who did Indiana Jones?" Zack asked

"Yes!" Moesby was glad Zack knew that, "Try track nineteen."

Zack dialed nineteen on the CD player.

"Jaws," Zack snapped his fingers

"Uh huh," Moesby nodded, "Good theme. Just two notes and you've got yourself a scary atmosphere."

The two of them drove up to The Tipton parking garage. They had chosen the Tipton as their place of residence since they knew it very well. Moesby reached to the garage remote. It opened up, and then suddenly, two windows in the adjacent building opened up, revealing two Zombies; they were dressed in tattered remains of their old clothes, and had grey skins and white hair. They always wore sunglasses; some of them wore welding goggles. The Zombies tossed Molotov cocktails behind and front of the car. Moesby yanked his .44 Magnum out of its holster, and blasted at the Zombies.

"Incoming! Six o'clock!" Moesby yelled

Zack turned around, and unholstered his gun and flashlight. He saw three Zombies advancing towards the car, and shot them. Suddenly, the two Zombies leapt down from the window, and grabbed Mr. Moesby. Moesby hit the gas, sending the car into the garage. One of the Zombies went flying out onto the concrete floor; Moesby shot him with his gun.

"Zack! Get the door!" Moesby yelled

"Roger!"

Zack climbed out of the car, and ran to the garage door. He was about to close the door.

"Hello, brother," came a menacing voice

Zack saw who it was; he held up his pistol threateningly.

"Cody, why do you keep coming here?" Zack groaned

"I want to get your on your side, brother," Cody said, "The Zombies are going to do a lot of good…"

"They stand for everything you hate!" Zack said, "What happened to the Cody I knew? The one who loved science more than life itself?"

"That Cody's gone," Cody said, "Come on Zack. Bailey, Woody, Marcus…even London is smart enough to be on our side. And they all say…"

Zack shone his flashlight directly in Cody's face, then hit the garage door button.

"You will join us Zack!" Cody yelled, "You and Mr. Moesby!"

/

Moesby had finished off the other two Zombies.

"Come on, Zack, we should refill the generator," Moesby said

Zack stood still.

"It was Cody again, wasn't it?" Moesby asked

He placed his arm around Zack's shoulder.

"Look, buddy, it'll get better. Someone out there has to have a cure."

Zack sighed.

"I know."

"If it helps, I know how you feel. Last year I encountered Emma in an abandoned Deli."

"Who?"

"Ms. Tutweiller. She nearly killed me before I could get away."