It all started on a sunny afternoon at the beach. No one saw it coming. Who would with a beautiful day like that? But it happened just the same. The five of us saw the man roaming the beach, growling at random people. We had no idea just how dangerous he would come to be. We sat and watched in horror as he bit the face off a sunbather near us. As he headed our way, we stood up, screaming. Paul grabbed the umbrella we were using and hit the man over the head with it. It didn't even seem to faze the man, as he continued toward us. We ran as fast as we could toward the Jeep, but the man followed behind quickly. Josh turned to fight him off. The man went for Josh like he was a starved lion. Josh put his arm up to defend himself and the man bit into his arm. "Ahh!" he screamed, "Get this crazy dude off me!" By this time, we'd all loaded into the Jeep Grand Cherokee my father had bought me as a graduation gift. Paul reached behind the seat and grabbed the tire iron off the floor board. He jumped out and ran towards Josh and the strange, ravenous man. He swung the tire iron over the mans back. It was just enough to stun the man, causing him to release Josh's arm. "Josh! Hurry! Get in" his girlfriend Rose screamed at him. He and Paul ran to the Jeep and jumped in. "Get us the hell out of here!" Josh demanded. I was sitting in the front passenger seat. I looked behind me towards Josh. There was a lot of blood! I looked at my boyfriend, Paul and said, "Maybe we should take him to the hospital! He's really bleeding back there!" "I'm fine! That dude bit me pretty hard, but I'm fine! No hospitals!" Paul turned on the radio. Only there was nothing but static. He switched from station to station, but nothing. "Ok, what the hell is going on?" I asked, looking to Paul. He looked just as bewildered as the rest of us. I looked back at Josh again. Looked like he had passed out. His eyes were dark with purple rings under them and he was extremely pale. His arm was still bleeding. "We have got to get him to a hospital!" I whispered to Paul. "Already headin' there babe" he whispered back. I sank into the leather seat and finally took a moment to breath and process. What was wrong with the man on the beach? Why would he attack that women, and then Josh? Were there more people like him? That was a question I really didn't want to know the answer to.
I must have fallen asleep, because what felt like hours later, Paul gently shook me awake. "Hey, we finally found a hospital. Let's see if anyone is in there." He parked in front of the emergency entrance. "You wait here, buddy, we're gonna get you some help!" He told Josh, looking concerned. I looked at Josh. He looked really bad! His skin was pale grey and pasty, his eyes were sunken in, and he was barely breathing. He looked dead already. The rest of us cautiously opened our doors, unsure of what may lie ahead. Paul gripped the tire iron so tightly his knuckles had turned white. We grouped together closely as we headed towards the sliding glass emergency doors. As we walked in, we were completely shell-shocked. It was like something straight out of a Romero movie! People were running, screaming "Get them off me!" and "Help me!" People were eating other people! "We have to help them!" Paul looked at me, desperately wanting to save each and every person. "No." I whispered calmly and quietly, trying not to attract unwanted attention. "We need to find help for Josh, not to mention find somewhere safe for the rest of us." "Umm guys!" Rose whispered nervously, "I think they're starting to take notice." We all looked up in unison, shock and fear covering our faces. Random "biters" were staring in our direction, mouths watering for our quickly, but quietly turned and again walked through those glass doors. Somehow we made it back to the Jeep without causing much of a disturbance. Once we were there, however, we found a new dilemma waiting for us. It seemed Josh had passed while we were inside. He had a thick red liquid running down his mouth, no doubt from vomiting blood. He was no longer breathing and his tongue hung loosely on his lips. As we rushed to unlock the door, something happened. Something we definitely had not expected! His eyes opened. He looked around hazely and when I saw his eyes, I realized they were the eyes of a dead man. "There's something wrong with him!" Rose exclaimed, noticing the same things I was. As we stood there watching the shell of our once vibrant friend, he finally noticed us. He moved towards the window quickly but awkwardly. Paul gripped the tire iron tighter, if that was possible, and raised his arms as if getting ready to swing a bat. Josh looked confused when he couldn't just keep going. I looked back for a split second and noticed the biters coming over towards the doors. "We've got get him out now!" I said looking to Paul. "Ok, count of three. Ready?" He looked at Rose, Aidan, and me. We nodded in unison.
"One…"
"Two…"
"Three!"
Paul whipped the door open and as Josh rushed through the opening, Paul swung the tire iron with all his might, aiming for Josh's head. He hit him so hard Josh flipped backwards. At the same time, I heard a loud cracking sound. His neck had snapped in half! As he layed sprawled on the ground, dead for a second time that day, we all stepped around him and jumped in the Jeep. Just as we began to drive away, a horde of the biters came pouring out through the emergency room doors. As we drove away, a thought occurred to me. "Paul?" I looked at Paul thoughtfully. "Why did you go straight for the head?" He grinned sheepishly. "I've seen enough horror to know, you always go for the brain!" I giggled at the irony of it all. A horror movie was coming to life right in front of our eyes! We had to get home. My dad would know what to do. He was always prepared for the worst! For the first time that day, it dawned on me that I had a cell phone resting in my back pocket. I hurriedly pulled it out and pushed the button for the microphone. "Call dad." I demanded. The phone made an awful beeping noise and a message came on the line. "We're sorry. All circuits are busy. Please try your call again later." It then simply disconnected. I tried three more times before finally giving up. "We have to get home to our families!" Everyone agreed quickly, suddenly concerned with "Old Aunt Ida" and "Fluffy". So off we headed to Oakland County, towards home. Were they quickly filling with the biters, too? Was my dad even ok? Did we have homes to come to?