Auth note – I have been thinking about writing a zombie fan fic for a while, this is one of my first attempts, any reviews good or bad will be much appreciated and any input as to where the story is going is always welcome. Thank you for reading and have a good day.

Disclaimer – I do not own the rights to Dawn of the dead, just the characters I'm portraying in this story.

I looked through the blinds again, not really believing what I had just seen. Yup I wasn't going insane I did actually see my 65 year old neighbor sitting over his wife in their garden ripping chunks out of her neck with his teeth. What the hell, grabbing the phone off my nightstand I dialed 911 and waited for someone to pick up, after about 7 rings what sounded like a very scared lady picked up.

'Hello I'm looking for the police department please; my neighbor is attacking his wife on the lawn in front of their house.' I started talking desperately into the phone.

'I'm sorry but something has happened all over the county and there is no police force available, I suggest you barricade yourself into your house and don't let anyone infected come in contact with you, I have to go, good luck and god be with you.' Then the phone went dead.

I looked at the phone numbly, what is going on, I looked out of the window again and saw that there was no one on the lawn, except what looked like a bright red pool of blood. I was freaking out, I must be dreaming, yeah that's it I must of fallen asleep to one of those stupid horror films and this is the result. I pinched myself, hard, god damn that hurt. Swallowing deeply I crept out of my bedroom and down the stairs to my front door making sure the deadbolt was on then silently closed all the blinds downstairs. I really don't know what was happening but I did know that I didn't want to find out the hard way.

Walking downstairs to my basement I closed the thick wooden door and slid the lock in place, then turned on the media center, turning to CNN I saw what looked like a very harassed and scared news reporter stating that there has been an outbreak of some kind of virus all over the United States. He went on to explain that from the reports swarming in from around the country the virus seems to be spread through bodily fluids and once you have had contact and are infected your internal organs seem to slow down to the point of death, then you become reanimated with an intense rage and hunger for human flesh.

I have woken up in the twilight zone. I tried to get my shaking under control and demanded that my brain start thinking. I now wish that I had watched all those zombie movies as I had no idea where to start in thinking about survival. Food and water was going to be essential and I thanked god that I had done the grocery shopping last night after work. Silently creeping back up the stairs to the kitchen I looked around and I knew that if they discovered I was here I stood no chance, one of the reasons I bought and loved this house was the fact it had so many windows and was so open. There was no way I could board up all these windows and be safe. For the moment I ran around gathering a few changes of clothes, my phone and charger along with my laptop and took them all to the basement then ran back up to gather up as much food and water as I could then took that down to. I was going to make this basement my base of operation survival. It had no windows and just one heavy wooden door which would hopefully hold up against anything.

I needed weapons, but I really couldn't think of anything suitable, the news reporter said that the only way to put these things down and keep them down was blunt force trauma to the brain. I didn't own any guns; in fact guns scared the hell out of me. I gathered anything that might be useful, kitchen knives, a shovel, a large wooden baseball bat and an old table leg that I found in the corner of the basement.

Ok I think I was as ready as I could be, closing the huge door and sliding a filing cabinet in front of it I started on my mission to find out as much as possible and formulate a plan. I wasn't stupid I knew I couldn't stay here for long, but at the moment I figured it was safer than just getting in my car and driving with no plan at all.

Switching on my mobile I noticed I had 3 missed calls from my best friend Carrie, calling her back I was starting to get worried when there was no answer, but I knew that if anyone out there could get through this it would be Carrie and her brothers, they were pure blood rednecks and had the equipment to prove it, by now their home would be a fortress and any zombie that was stupid enough to get near would be another trophy on the wall.

Flicking over to my laptop I was so happy to see that I still had the internet and only a few pages had been affected so far, I found hundreds of pictures of these things and even a few disturbing videos. They had once been human but now they were acting like animals, rabid, insane crazy animals. I just hoped that when the time came, and I knew it would, I could remember that and do what needed to be done.

After 30 minutes of reading I had found out that last night in Washington DC it was said that the dead were coming back to life and attacking the living, that these people didn't have any humanity left in them, they would attack strangers and family members with the same ferocity. The police and army were doing all they could to try and handle the situation but were being quickly overran and most of the areas they deemed safe were disappearing just as quickly as they were listed.

Just as I was about to switch off my computer Carrie signed into msn and I was quick to open a message window and start a conversation.

'Thank god you're ok Carrie I was starting to get worried when u didn't answer the phone'

'OMG Sara your alive! Yeah I'm not sure where I dropped my phone after trying to call you the last time, Where are you? Are you safe?'

'I'm in my basement barricaded in, I'm not sure they know I'm here but I'm not taking any chances, can you believe this is happening? I'm freaking out and I have no idea what to do, where are you?'

'I'm at home with Andy and Dillon, Jason is at his girlfriends house which is near you, we are trying to figure out how to go pick them up, we have the house barricaded and some supplies and weapons so we figure its best to be here and then figure out where to go from there. Brb I'm going to go tell Andy you're alive and we will try and get you when we get Jas.

'Ok please hurry I'm not sure how long it will be until I'm noticed.'

Sighing deeply I felt a little of the worry leave my shoulders, after my parents and brother died two years ago in a car accident Carrie and her brothers became the only family I had, and knowing they were ok somehow made this day a little bit lighter.

'Ok Sara stay where u are and keep your phone on we are going to come and get you, we will call when we get close, can you get as many supplies as you can near the door so your ready when we get there?'

'Carrie I'm so grateful for this you have no idea, but please tell your brothers not to put themselves in danger to save me, I will get everything ready and pray everything goes ok, see you soon, love you'

'Love you to sis, and don't worry we will come and get you, everything's going to be ok'

Closing up my laptop I started stuffing all the food and water I had into bags, finding anything else I thought might be useful like flashlights and batteries, candles, and all my weapons. Carrie lived 20 minutes away but knowing the state of the town was in it could take all day to get over here. I slid the filing cabinet away from the door and as quietly as I could, started carrying all the supplies up to the front door. Peeking through the blinds I could see people stumbling around the streets like they were drunk, and they could have been drunken party goers if it wasn't for the grotesque injuries some of them carried and the blood covering nearly everyone of them. After double checking that I had everything that may be needed I went and sat on the sofa praying that everyone would be ok and safe.