XX(A Straight Edge Perspective)

[Albuquerque, New Mexico. I walk into a comic book shop, there is only a couple of people here. I walk over to the man in the corner reading a copy of The Walking Dead. He turns around introducing himself as Marty Gonzales. When we shake hands I notice a large X on the back of each hand.]

Have you read this comic before? It was amazing to some, but after The Dark Years, most hate it.

[We walk over to the counter, where he then pulls out money to buy the comic.]

I still love it.

[We then walk outside, and sit at a table]

I remember, on a day like this, just a normal beautiful day like this, the worst day of my life occurred.

Was it The Dark Years?

No man, my car was stolen. I had to go buy a new one.

[He laughs]

You were right though, The Dark years caught most of us by surprize. It also changed a lot of us. Some for the worst, some for better.

[He shows me the back of his hands]

I am Straight Edge now, before The Dark Years, I was addicted to a lot of bad things, but those days are over, and I am a better person. On Zero Day, I was about to go Main Line, but we heard a banging outside and thought the cops were busting in.

We?

Oh sorry. My druggie "friend" Matt and I. We heard this banging outside and thought that we were being raided. We grabbed the shit and started to run. We were looking back to see if they were catching up with us and that's when we ran into a pack of those things. Matt tried to run through them, thinking that they were just junkies like us trying to get a fix. He was ripped to sreads. I turned around and ran up stairs. Thinking I was safe for whatever reason.

I had to jump out of the window from the second story. I didn't get hurt though, I landed on a car. When I got up, that's when I relaized that things were not right, and I didn't take anything so I knew I was trippin'.

What I saw was what most people say on Zero Day. People eating people. I knew that it was bad, I mean anybody could, there were gunshots going off, fires, people screaming, things were bad.

So what did you do?

Well I was scared, so I just stood there for a second. That's when a something else feel on the car. I knew that I didn't want to know what it was so I ran.

Where did you go?

Well where would you go to feel safe? Where is the only place were you feel you can be alone, think, and reevaluate the sitiuation?

I went home.

Now after I got home, I was needing a fix really bad, but I didn't have anything at my house. So I had no choice but to sit and wish for the best. I had lots of food, canned good, I didn't know how to cook, that was pretty much my one saving grace. So I just stayed home, going through withdrawals, and the worst part was I couldn't scream, no matter how much I needed to, wanted to, had to, I couldn't. Those things would hear me. It was terrible, all I could really do was reflect on things I had done, pretty much my whole life.

[He opens up his bag and pulls out his comic]

After the withdrawals I had nothing to do. I started looking around my house. that's when I found these.

[He holds up the comic pointing at it]

These stopped me from going insane, so in a weird little way, they saved my life. I read all of them, I was addicted, in a good way. So after going through withdrawals I decided to stop using most substances all together. That was one of the best decisions in my life.

[He laughs]

I think that I am the only person that is thankful for The Dark Years, they made me the person I am today. Although after all the addictions were dropped, that's when I started to hate them. Because after I became Straight Edge, I ran out of food, and my house was not really a good place to stay. I had to move, and find food.

Again, where did you go?

Well I had been planning on leaving for a while, so I started working out and getting things from around my house to use as weapons. Thing is, I didn't know where to go. I just got my stuff and just started walking around town. I felt, invincible. I felt as if I could fight the world and win. That's what fighting an addiction and overcoming it does to you.

I walked for days, of course I encounterd a lot of those things, but that didn't bother me, I was smart enough to not get overwelmed. I walked on the highway, good ol' Route 66. There were so many cars that were packed with supplies that I didn't need to worry about that sort of thing. I walked for what seemed liked years. That's when I ran into ZEF.

ZEF?

Yeah, Zombie Elite Forces. They were some "clan" of gamers that wondered through the forrest killing zombies and retakeing land one step at a time. They ran into me when I was taking a nap one day. I was sleeping inside of a semi, when I heard some rustling outside. I got my axe and was ready to go on the offensive. They heard me in the truck and it would have turned out bad for both of us. If I wouldn't have sneezed.

When I sneezed it showed them that I was human, I heard them say something and was comfortated in the fact that they were human.

Were they the first survivors you saw?

Yes. In all of those months I thought I was the only one, turns out I wasn't. they had this huge base of operations, some rundown military base, Kirtland Air Force Base, that's what it was called. They had completely taken it over, it was the safest place in Albuquerque, well until The Great Fire.

[He pointed behind him]

This whole are was destroyed. We had to go seek refuge in the mountains. That's where we found this house that was completely fortified, so we set up base there, and never moved.

[He points up to the mountains]

The ZEF base is now a museum and the newest base is in where the former one was located.

So is it true that you were the leader of ZEF?

Yes, I was for a while then the government made a come back as you know, and well, I didn't find it nessacary to stay in control of it. Before I left I left my comander, King Jamis (as he liked to be called) in charge. Since then he was managed to make it an offical part of the U.S. Government. He felt that he owed me so payent in sorts and offed me a job as the New Mexico leader of ZEF, but I declined.

Why did you do that?

I didn't want to deal with any of that stuff anymore you know? I still talk to all the original, Surviving, members of ZEF, but I just cant deal with all that power, it would go to my head.

So what do you do now?

Well, since I was the leader of ZEF, they set me up with a nice little house, zombie proofed of course, and lots of money!

[He laughs]

I pretty much spend it on canned goods, and comic books now-a-days.

[He looks at his watch]

Well I think it is my time to go, I have to read my comic books.

[Marty Gonzales helped ZEF get to where it is now in the world, with each country have some form of ZEF. He often visit's the ZEF museum, and the former crack house in which he escaped during Zero Day. He spends a total amount of $500 each week on comics, and is currently the only Straight Edge person in Albuquerque, New Mexico.]