Zombie Apocalypse
Chapter 1: In the Beginning
I wasn't always like this. The hardened, battle scarred, apocalypse survivor that talks to you now. I was a carefree teenager just a few years ago. In order for you to understand how my life became a struggle for survival, I need to start from the beginning. It was September 15, 2012. It was my nineteenth birthday. I lived in Bloomfield, New Mexico (a small town near the four corners that most people don't even know about), and this is my story. I opened my eyes and stared up at the ceiling. I looked to my right at my alarm clock. 10:05 AM. I sat up on the edge of the bed and ran my fingers through my dark hair.
I stood up and stretched as I yawned. I walked out of my bedroom and into my living room. I was just about to call out to see if my mom was home, but I remembered that she had to work that day. About a month after I turned eighteen, my parents got a divorce. I had kinda seen it coming. They had been arguing a lot the last few years and I knew that dad would just stick around until I was eighteen (so he wouldn't have to pay child support, I guess).
I turned and walked back out of the living room and down the hallway towards the bathroom. I closed the door behind me and leaned up against the counter. "Shit," I said to myself, "I guess I'll just take a shower." I quickly stripped off the shorts that I used as pajamas and got in the shower.
The warm stream of water rolled off my body and I felt rejuvenated. I stood in the stream of water for a few minutes, wondering what I'd do today. I knew that a few of my closest friends would be coming over at around 2 for a little get together (I only invited a few people because I don't really like big social gatherings). "What to do? What to do?" I asked myself, "Come on, Paul. Think. There's gotta be something you can do today." (I actually talk to myself a lot) I thought for a moment and figured that I'd call up one of my friends to see if they wanted to hang out until the party started.
I got out of the shower and put on my pants. I stood in front of the mirror and combed my hair back (the same way I've always done my hair). I brushed my teeth and paused for a second afterwards. I looked at my reflection and realized that I hadn't really changed much since eighth grade. I'd pretty much stopped growing then.
I was about 6 feet tall, weighing about 250. Now, I wasn't exactly fat. A lot of that weight was muscle. I mean, I had a bit of a belly, but I wasn't fat. My brown skin had become even more brown, due to spending nearly all of the summer outside (I worked out during the summer and I usually worked out outside). I sighed and reached down and picked up my glasses from the counter. I slipped them on over my dark brown eyes and walked out of the bathroom.
I put on a black shirt and slipped on my favorite pair of shoes (a pair of white DC's with black shoelaces). I grabbed my cell phone and started thinking about who to call. Lost in thought, I was startled when my phone rang. I hit the answer button and brought the phone to my ear. "Hello?"
"Hey, Bub," I heard my mom's voice say.
"Oh, hey mom."
"Happy birthday."
"Thanks."
"So what're you gonna do today?"
"I don't know. I was thinking about calling one of the guys and see if they wanted to hang out until the party."
"Oh, that's cool. By the way, I invited your dad to the party. Is that OK?"
"Why wouldn't it be?"
"I don't know. I just thought that you two weren't exactly on speaking terms." The last time I'd seen my dad, we got into an argument about him leaving mom. He claimed that it was because that they just didn't get along anymore. I believe that, but I also believe he left because he doesn't want to be tied down.
"Nah, we'll be fine," I told mom.
"Well, alright then," she said, "I gotta go. It's pretty busy here at work."
"Alright."
"I love you. Have a good day."
"Love you too. Bye." I hung up the phone and let out a sigh. I felt bad for my mom. I don't really think that she was interested in marrying again, so I was all she had left. My sister, Chelsea, had moved to California the year before with her husband, Josh, and their son, Eli, so we rarely saw her anymore. I knew that once I left, mom would be alone. I guess that's why I put off going to an out of state college for a while. I was due to start class at San Juan College in a few weeks (San Juan was our community college).
After regaining my composure, I returned to thinking of who to call. I had told mom that it would be one of the "guys". I decided that I didn't want to hang out with them until later. So I looked through my contact list and figured out who I'd call. I'd call Zayna Thompson. I'd met Zayna during our sophomore year and we became good friends. In all, I think that she was actually my best girl friend (friend that's a girl).
I selected her number and she picked up a few moments later. "Hello?"
"Hey, Zayna. What's up?"
"Oh, Paul. Not much. Happy birthday, by the way."
"Thanks. Hey, I was wondering if you wanted to hang out today. I mean, there's gonna be a party later, but I'm gonna be bored out of my skull just sitting around the house."
"Yeah, sure. What were you thinking about doing?"
"I dunno, probably go to the mall and hang out for a while."
"Sounds good. Give me about a half hour to get ready, alright?"
"Alright, but you better be ready in a half hour. I'm not gonna wait all day for you."
"Don't rush me. I'll talk however long I want and I know you'll wait for me."
"And how do you know that?
"Because you're my best friend."
"Yeah, you're right. Just call me when you're ready then."
"Alright, bye."
"Later." I hung up the phone and let out another sigh. Zayna probably was one of my best friends (If not, the best). We got along so well from the very start. We always made each other laugh and we always tried to help each other with our problems. I turned on the TV and started watching re-runs (exciting, I know). I watch TV for a while until my phone went off again. "Hello?" I said as I answered it.
"Hey," said Zayna, "I'm ready."
"OK, I'll be there in a few."
"OK, bye." I turned off the TV and walked out of my front door. I walked down the driveway until I was at the door of my car. I had a 1972 Nova SS, painted all black. It had been my dad's car but he gave it to me about two years before. I got in and put the key in the ignition. The engine roared to life and I glanced at my radio's clock. 11:40. I backed out of our graveled driveway and onto the dirt road. I drove down to the highway and pulled out. I drove south towards Bloomfield and drove down the big hill known as B Hill. At the bottom, I stopped for a moment at the red light and made a right turn. I drove a little ways on that street and pulled into the trailer park on the right. I pulled up to Zayna's house and honked the horn. A few seconds later she came out the front door. Zayna wasn't a girly girl. She was more of a "jeans and t-shirt" kind of girl. She was about 5' 4" and had light brown skin. Her brown hair was a little longer than shoulder length. She wore glasses over her dark brown eyes.
She opened the door of my car and sat in the passenger seat. "What's up?" she said as she sat down.
"Just chillin'," I said as I began to pull out of the trailer park.
"Same old Paul," she said, "just goin' with the flow, huh?
"Yeah," I said, "just livin' each day as it comes. Making up my life on the fly."
"Sounds like a good way of doing things."
"Well, it got me through high school didn't it?"
"Barely," she said, "You almost failed junior year."
"Hey, that wasn't all my fault. Mr. Star was bein' a douche bag…him and his laser eye." (There was a science teacher at BHS named Mr. Star. He had a glass eye, but me and my friends would joke around and say it was a laser eye.)
"Oh, sure," she said sarcastically, "You were just being lazy, admit it."
"OK, you caught me. I just didn't like chemistry." We both laughed and I glanced down at the radio. "How 'bout some tunes?" I asked.
"Sure," said Zayna. I hit the CD button on my stereo and "Just a Friend" by Biz Markie started playing. Zayna and I both laughed. Back in high school, we would always sing this song. We sang along to the song, with the volume all the way up and the windows rolled down. Sure, people at the stoplights looked at us like we were crazy, but we didn't care. We listened and sang along to a few more songs until we arrived at the mall. Bloomfield was a pretty small town and didn't have a mall, so we had to drive to Farmington (Farmington was only about a 30 minute drive from Bloomfield). We both got out of the car and walked into the Animas Valley Mall. The mall hadn't changed much since I was a kid. I mean, a toy store might've shut down, just to be replaced by another toy store, but it basically stayed the same. Zayna and I walked around the mall just talking about stuff. How life had been since graduation (we had just graduated in May). Zayna was going to be starting college at San Juan College in a few weeks. We talked about our schedules and found out that we had a few classes together.
"You can't be lazy anymore," said Zayna as she hit me in the arm, "college is a completely different game than high school and I'm not gonna let you cheat off of me."
"Yeah, you will," I said.
"And how do you know that?" she asked.
"Because you're my best friend." (We always used that excuse when talking to each other)
"Well, I guess that's a good enough reason," said Zayna with a smile. We walked over to the food court and decided to get something to eat.
"What sounds good?" I asked as I looked at all of the different restaurants.
"Food," said Zayna jokingly.
"Well, duh," I said, "but what kind of food?"
"The edible kind," she said.
"OK, now you're just being ridiculous," I said, smiling. She laughed and we both finally decided on Subway. We sat down and we began to eat. "So how's Luke been?" I asked Zayna (Luke had been her boyfriend since sophomore year and he'd never really minded the fact that Zayna had a lot of guy friends).
"He's been good," she said.
"What's he doing today?" I asked.
"He has to work until 3."
"Oh, that sucks. He's more than welcome to come to the party after work though."
"Yeah, I'll tell him." We chatted as we finished up our sandwiches and I glanced at my watch.
"Shit," I said, "It's already 1:40. We gotta go now." We hurried out of the mall and I drove back to my house. We pulled into the driveway to see that only my mom and dad were there. Zayna and I walked inside and found my parents sitting at the table, talking. My dad was about 5' 9" with black hair (a few gray spots), brown eyes, brown skin, and he was pretty muscular. Mom was only about 5'2" with brown hair (also, a few gray spots), brown eyes, light brown skin, and she was kinda on the chubby side. Zayna and I greeted them both and dad reached under the table.
"Just figured that I'd give you your present now," he said, "Happy birthday." He handed me a Remington 870 12 gauge shotgun. I held the gun in my hands and looked it over. I aimed down the sight and it felt pretty good.
"Wow," I said as I lowered the gun, "Thanks, dad."
"You're welcome," he said.
"Whoa, Paul," said Zayna, "Don't hurt anyone with that now." I chuckled and carried the gun back to my bedroom. I opened my gun cabinet and placed it in there. I already had several other guns in there. My grandpa had passed away a few years ago and he had a pretty good stockpile. I had been left with his AR-15, a Desert Eagle, a nine millimeter, two M1911's, an M-16, and an MSG90 sniper rifle (don't ask where he got that…I don't even know).
I walked back into the living room just as there was a knock at the door and I opened it to see three of my best friends standing there (they were also the only other ones invited besides Zayna and Luke). Their names were Will Chavez, Michael Gilliam, and Seth Schreffler. Will was about my height. He had brown, curly hair and some freckles on his face. His eyes were either green or blue, I'm not sure (wow, I'm such a bad friend). Seth was also about my height, but he was more muscular. He had short brown hair and he had a full beard. Michael was about an inch or two shorter than me. He had really dark brown hair (almost black), and he was kinda skinny and lanky.
My friends stepped into the house and we all started the party. We were playing video games (Zayna even joined in). We played for about an hour, until Zayna stepped outside. I finished up the next match and went outside after her.
She stood on our deck, talking on her phone. "OK," she said, "bye." She hung up and sighed. I could tell that she was disappointed about something.
"What's up Zee?" I asked as I walked over to her.
"I just talked to Luke," she said, "and he's not gonna be able to make it. One of the other guys called in sick and now he has to work until eight."
"Oh, I'm sorry," I said.
"It's fine," she said, "and besides you guys are plenty of fun." We walked back inside to find Will and Seth arguing.
"Come on, Seth," said Will, "You know that kill was bullshit."
"I don't know anything," said Seth.
"I second that," said Michael.
"Shut up, Nigel," said Seth (Back in the eighth grade I accidentally called Michael Nigel and the nickname just stuck).
"OK, guys," I said, "calm down. I really don't wanna have to kick you guys outta here." They both calmed down and said they were sorry.
"So what's up, Paul?" said Seth, "I want some cake, man."
"You guys all wanna cut the cake now?" I asked. All of them agreed and we moved into the kitchen. I sat down and had to go through having everyone singing "Happy Birthday" to me. We cut up the cake and ate it with ice cream. My mom had made the cake and it was pretty amazing. We all talked and joked as we ate and we were all having a really good time. We had left the TV on and as we ate, we were alarmed by a special news broadcast.
President Obama was addressing the entire country Live from D.C. "My fellow Americans," he said.
"This oughta be good," I heard Seth mumble.
"It has come to my attention that our nation will soon be facing a new epidemic. Scientists were conducting experiments with the rabies virus. Through mutation, the virus has been made to affect humans more drastically. Last night, some of the samples were stolen from the lab and released into the air. We do not yet know if the virus will spread through the air, but it is better to take all precautions. Remain in your homes, avoid all contact with the infected, and wait for official instructions. We will keep you updated as we learn more about this crisis. Thank you, America." The TV station then returned to its normal programming. We all sat in silence for a moment, dumbstruck by what we'd just heard. Finally, my mom broke the silence.
"Well," she said, "looks like you kids are gonna be staying here for a while." We were all so nervous that we couldn't even finish our cake (yeah, it was that bad). We figured that me and my friends would take the back bedroom (it was kinda the hang-out for when my friends came over), mom would take her room, and dad could get my bedroom. For the next few hours, we tried to have fun and get the disturbing news out of our minds.
At about eight, mom sent us off to bed and went to bed herself. So, my friends and I all sat around, just thinking. All of them had already called their parents and stuff. I sat on my futon with Zayna, Will and Michael sat on two beanbag chairs I had, and Seth sat in the chair at my desk, rocking back and forth. "So what do you guys think about this virus?" asked Michael, breaking the silence.
"I think everyone is just overreacting," said Will, "It'll all blow over by tomorrow."
"And what if it doesn't?" asked Seth, "Just what the hell are we supposed to do then?"
"Well," said Will, "what's the worst that could happen? The virus kills all of humanity?"
"It might not be that simple," I said, "maybe its one of those population control things."
"If they were gonna thin out the population like that, do you think they'd just tell us?" asked Seth, "There's something goin' on and it isn't just your run-of-the-mill false alarm."
"Well, they said it was rabies, right?" asked Zayna.
"Yeah," we all said in unison.
"And they said that it can now infect humans. So the worst result is probably gonna be some crazed lunatics running around."
"You mean, like, zombies?" asked Seth.
"Zombies?" asked Zayna, "Really, Seth?"
"Ya never know," said Michael, "it could happen."
"Still," said Will, "it's not very likely. I mean, this is real life. Not some horror flick that you see on late-night TV."
"I dunno, guys," I said, "I'm kinda more with Seth on this one. I mean, think about it. Think about what rabies does to animals. It makes them wild. They attack anything and everything. If that happens to people, that basically makes them zombies. Not legit 'rise from the dead' zombies, but still zombies."
"Well who's to say that it won't just kill people?" asked Will.
"I'm just saying," I said, "It's a possibility. There's a slim chance of it happening, but it's a possibility." The conversation went on for a few more minutes in basically the same fashion. We finally managed to fall asleep around 9 and we were given a rude awaking in the morning.