Hello there! This was originally meant to be a short story I had to write as an assignment for my English class, but I wanted to continue it outside of class, which I will. English is not my native language, so I apologize if there is anything you don't understand or if there are any grammatical- or spelling errors. If you read the story I would greatly appreciate if you could tell me what you think of it :)
I don't own anything.
What do you do when it all falls apart? When your life has crumbled and only the remnants of what was once called civilization remains? Would you end it all, or would you fight for your survival?
Nothing is the same anymore. The streets are empty, cold and dark and the only sound that can be heard are those of the wind and the low growls of the living dead searching frantically for their next meal. They wander the streets aimlessly, unable to form some sort of coherent thought as to what has occurred.
Fifteen years ago American scientists made a major breakthrough; they succeeded in contacting intelligent life outside of our own galaxy. The scientists were astonished with their findings and to say there were surprised would be an understatement. They kept close contact with the extraterrestrials and told them everything they wanted to know about humanity and Earth. The aliens asked questions regarding the species inhabiting our planet, our armies and general defenses and how advanced our technology was. At first the Americans found it difficult conversing with the aliens, for they did not speak or understand our languages. This problem was solved when the creatures from outer space sent signals to the scientists' laboratories causing the scientists' equipment to react. Those signals contained pictures which were easy to interpret and the Americans responded in the same way.
It turned out the extraterrestrials were far more advanced than humans had ever expected. The rate at which their technology had developed exceeded mankind's expectations by far, compared to them, our technology could rightfully belong in the Stone Age. In the matter of a little more than fourteen years of constant contact the aliens dropped the bomb; they were on their way to Earth.
A great welcome committee stood prepared to greet Earth's new guests on the day of their arrival. Anyone who wanted to witness their landing was welcome to do so. Thousands of people stood waiting at an open field outside of Chicago eagerly waiting.
Hours seemed to pass and there was no sign of the aliens. The majority of the crowd waiting kept their heads turned upwards, hoping to catch a glimpse of their craft. But nothing could be seen.
"Everybody, just stay patient! I believe our guests must have simply been delayed by an unfortunate turn of events, I am sure they will be here in matter of minutes!" the leader of the welcome committee spoke into a microphone, giant speakers sending his words across the field.
As soon as the echo of his speech had vanished, a ringing noise could be heard. The volume and pitch of the noise increased by the second and left the crowd wondering what was happening. It soon reached such a high pitch that the mass of people had to cover their ears to prevent becoming hearing-impaired. But the noise was not the only matter bothering them. A blinding light was starting to form in front of their eyes which grew larger and larger. But as soon as it had appeared it was gone, like a flash in the sky but right on the ground. The sound disappeared in time with the light and they were replaced by no less than 40 creatures, although creatures would be the wrong word to describe them with.
The aliens looked incredibly similar to humans. The differences were that the newcomers were taller, at least six foot five, and extremely skinny with thin limbs. Their ears were large and had a pointed ends, not very different from those of an elf, and their eyes were the size of tennis balls. They all had two characteristic traits in common; their heads were covered in thick dark brown, almost black, hair, though the length of said hair varied for each individual, and their skin was sickly gray.
With them they had brought some kind of armored vehicle, which could be compared to a house trailer though much grander and with a metal armor which seemed impenetrable, at least for human made weapons. The vehicle was armed with several guns pointing out of various hatchets, as if the aliens had expected to engage in combat upon their arrival.
They stood there, unmoving, their eyes scanning the crowds of people. The scientists approached the group of newcomers and began communicating with them. Nothing could be heard, the scientists had brought a device to show pictures to the aliens in a way of conversing.
The anticipation of the on looking crowd grew when a few of the aliens entered the vehicle and reappeared carrying numerous metal crates. The crates were brought before the scientists and a few moments passed before one of them turned around, facing the crowd.
"Our new guests have brought us gifts! These gifts are to be distributed among our people as a token of their gratitude! It is a liquid which will help us in becoming as technologically advanced as they are! By consuming it we will find ourselves becoming as clever as them! I am honored in taking part in this exchange and I will seal the deal by taking the first drink!"
The scientist, a bulky grown man in his late fifties with short black hair, held a large test tube high up in the air for everyone to see. The tube contained a light blue liquid, and in a swift motion, the man uncapped the tube and brought it to his lips. The liquid was gone in two gulps.
"The taste is impeccable! I can already feel my brain activity improving! Everybody deserves a tube of their own! Gather around and come get one!" he shouted into the microphone.
The crowd moved forward as the scientist turned to face the aliens, offering his hand for a friendly hand shake to one of them. The gray skinned creature just stared at his hand and the bulky man quickly withdrew it, remembering the fact that these newcomers are from a completely different culture.
Barely any commotion was caused as the people of the crowd approached to get a test tube of their own. The liquid was evenly distributed among those who were present. Everybody, especially the scientists, were eternally grateful for the gifts. If only they knew the gift would be their down fall.
That is why, months later, Santana finds herself running for her life down a dark alley, the living dead hot on her heels. Her legs hurt from the constant sprinting in an attempt to survive and her lungs burn as if they were on fire. She turns left around a corner, effectively breaking the zombies' line of sight, only to stand face to face with a dead end.
She lets out a yell in frustration and panic, frantically searching for an escape route. Turning around is no longer an option when she hears moans and grunts, signaling that her chasers are getting closer every second. Santana turns her gaze upwards, spotting a fire escape with the ladder extended. She feels a spark of hope within her and she quickly approaches the ladder.
The ladder does not reach the ground and the only way to reach is it is to jump. Santana is still panting heavily from her escape from the zombies and combined with the panic she feels it drains her of all the energy and oxygen she has left. Despite her being exhausted and feeling hopelessly scared, she still has the will to survive. She gathers all her remaining strength and bends her legs, and by pushing her feet against the asphalt she launches herself towards the ladder. But it is in vain. The ladder is several inches out of her reach and she jumps numerous times, only to end up failing after every attempt.
The sound of dragging feet reaches her ears and she spins around and gasps, the sight she sees doing nothing but increasing her feeling of panic. The group of zombies that chased her through the alley has once again spotted her. They let out high pitched gurgling sounds, effectively scaring Santana and making her skin crawl. With stumbling steps they advance forward, their arms reaching out to grasp at Santana once they get close enough.
Santana feels the tears well up in her eyes; she does not want it to end this way. She staggers backwards trying to get further away from the monsters. There is nothing left to do. She has no choice but to give in to her fears. The monsters in front of her are only a couple of yards away; it will all be over within a minute. Santana closes her eyes and takes in a deep breath, preparing for the inevitable.
Her thoughts are interrupted when she backs into something; the sound when she hits the object causes her to turn around.
"Of course!" she exclaims out loud.
She pushes the trash can she just hit forward, placing it underneath the ladder. In a swift movement she climbs the garbage can and throws a swift look towards her assailants, noticing they are less than fifteen yards away.
Wasting no more time she reaches for the ladder and begins to pull herself up onto the fire escape. A wave of relief washes over her when she feels her safety is within her reach and her panic is slowly dissipating. Just a few more steps on the ladder and she will be free from danger.
She throws her upper body onto the fire escape, legs still dangling along the ladder.
"I just need a second to breathe, then I will be okay" she thinks to herself.
But as soon as she finishes the thought something cold grabs her right ankle in an iron grip. She lets out a scream in terror, the fleeting moment of safety quickly escaping her. The hand gripping her leg begins pulling her down. In a state of hysteria she starts kicking with the little strength she has left. Her left foot hits something and she feels it crack beneath her boot. The grip on her ankle loosens and she quickly climbs the rest of the way up onto the fire escape.
Leaning her back against the wall of the building she tries to catch her breath and calm her beating heart. She feels several beads of sweat trickle down her neck and forehead. Her eyes are closed and she tries to relax, savoring in the feeling of still being alive.
"I'm alive." she says. "I'm still alive!"
Santana cannot help but laugh, the sound of her laughter fills the dark alleyway and she starts to cry. Tears of joy are freely falling down her cheeks but she does not care. She deserves to cry; tears of happiness and relief.
She glances down into the alley below her, the zombies still remain and they are desperately trying to reach the ladder above them. One of them has a crushed nose; the result of Santana's frantic kicking.
"You vile creatures" she spits, "may you all perish in a sea of flames."
She rises to her feet and continues to climb up the fire escape. Once she reaches the roof she lets her eyes scan the rest of the city. It is dark, gloomy and eerily quiet. The lives which used to inhabit this once glorious city are now long gone. Who could have thought that a light blue liquid could be the cause of something as awful as this?
With a sigh Santana tries to get her bearings straight; she needs to get back to her friends. It was always a risk to leave their safe haven, but they were in dire need of supplies. The bag, which she had carried on her back, was filled to the brim with various medical supplies and cans of food. She needed to get the items to the group. Once she knew in which direction to head she began the long trek back to her friends.
XXXXXXXXXX
"Santana! You're alive!" her Irish friend greeted her.
"Yeah, it was a close call in an alley back on Tower Street though. You should've seen them Rory, one of the bastards grabbed me!"
"Oh dear, are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm alright, I was just scared senseless back there. For a minute I didn't think I would make it."
"You can't imagine how happy I am to see you unharmed, physically at least. Did you manage to gather any supplies?"
"Yes I did. Here take the bag."
Santana handed her full backpack to the boy who gladly took it. Rory was a decent guy, he came to the US from Ireland as an exchange student a few months back. He was just unlucky that a zombie apocalypse caused by extraterrestrial beings would occur shortly after his arrival.
Rory brought the backpack to the storage room where they kept all their medical supplies and treated those who were sick. The ware house which they used as a safe haven was a sturdy building and currently held close to 50 survivors. The windows and most doors were barricaded to keep the walkers out. There were several different rooms used for varying activities, such as housing the survivors, a dining hall and a tiny medical facility.
Santana was heading towards her room to get some much needed rest. She desperately hoped her roommates would not be present. She was way too tired to deal with their questions and constant worry.
To her great luck the room was empty when she entered it. She fell down on her bed and quickly succumbed to sleep.
XXXXXXXXXX
Hours later Santana woke to the sound of the door to her room opening. She opened her eyes and was met with the sight of her roommate Emma standing by her bed. Emma's big green eyes were set on Santana's and her red hair fell over her shoulders.
"Santana…" Emma said "Shannon is looking for you."
"What? She can't have another mission for me yet, I recently came back from my last one" Santana stated sleepily.
"She said it was an emergency, you better hurry."
"Alright" Santana replied with a sigh, "I'm going."
She swiftly got out of bed and headed towards the room where Shannon Beiste, the leader of the ware house, was residing. Shannon was the one who made sure the survivors never ran out of supplies. She constantly sent out people to scout the areas for survivors and food. No one in the building would be alive if it was not for her.
Santana reached the door at the end of a hallway on the second floor and knocked on it loudly. She heard a rough voice say "come in" and she reached for the door knob, twisted it and opened the door.
Shannon was standing by a window, one of the few not barricaded, and turned to Santana once she entered the room.
"Santana, there you are! We have spotted a survivor not far from here and we must retrieve her!" Shannon exclaimed.
"Why send me? Why can't you send the dwarf or Trouty Mouth?" Santana asked slightly annoyed.
"Please refrain from using those nicknames Santana, Rachel is only an inch or two shorter than you and Sam can't help having huge lips. But that's not the point. Both of them are currently unavailable and Zizes can't rescue this survivor on her own, she needs your help."
"I guess I don't have a choice do I?" Santana asked, "I'll head out right away."
"Thank you Santana! I am forever in your debt."
"Don't mention it, I'm not always the cold hearted bitch I appear to be."
Turning around, Santana quickly made her way out of Shannon's office and briskly moved through the corridor and down a set of stairs to the first floor where the armory could be found. She acquired some basic equipment; a knife, a bottle of water, some bandages and a hand gun. You never know what you will encounter out on the streets.
She turned towards the exit where Zizes would be waiting. As she walked towards the door she took a moment to think. Will this hell they live in one day end? Will they ever be able to go back to their old lives? The lives mankind lived before the aliens poisoned and used them as guinea pigs to see if their virus was effective or not. Ultimately resulting in the extermination of nearly seven billion humans. They were just monsters, not nearly as friendly as the scientists had claimed. But there is nothing to be done about that now. All they can do is pray and hope. Hope that this nightmare would one day come to an end.
Santana spotted Zizes by the door; she was leaning against the wall next to it, a tiny smile covering her lips.
"I see you survived yesterday's scavenge. It's good to see you again Santana." Lauren said.
"Likewise Zizes, now, shall we get this over with?" Santana responded.
"Of course. Are you ready?"
"Yes, let's go save a life."