(A/N: Heads up, Tom doesn't make an appearance yet this is kind of just setting the stage and getting a feel for the characters I want to fit the awesome prompt about zombies and chick who saves Tom. Additionally, I do know that this isn't how viruses[and their vaccines] actually work, but I'm taking artistic leeway here and saying they do for the sake of not having to spend countless hours explaining the nuances of virology.)
Life used to be so much easier before the final outbreak, back when the viruses were a joke.
We used to pretend that if one happened, we'd be prepared. Jocelyn, Henry, Lee and I, we had these outlandish plans about how we'd survive.
Henry, because he was a cop, would live because he was our Captain America in real life. He was the good guy who just was good. He had to live. Those are the guys that survive the story because we all need that reminder that sometimes good does win. He was smart, kind, and in general an all-around good guy- the kind you respected because he's a rarity.
Jocelyn would live because she'd seen every kind of zombie movie imaginable; from satanic beasts to virus carriers- she knew it all. Or at least, more than anyone else we knew. She also thought outside the box when we threw around ideas on how to survive "The end" as we had aptly named it. She always had a contingency plan. Always. An exit strategy.
Lee was our pretend hard-ass. The kind that act arrogant and put on a show about being an asshole to keep people back and away, there's more to him than met the eye. Lee and I went back though, had history. We'd been friends that had our moments of confusion in regards to what kind of friends we were and it always got to complicated whenever we tried to explore that. So we kind of just fell into a friendship that lasted, but had its share of pain because we would never get a chance, and somehow ended up severing ties. If this was a movie, he was that bad-ass friend that stood for a chaotic good, and would end up dying in the end.
And then there was me. I'm not really sure what role in the supposed end of the world as we know it suppositions I played. Other than that when put in a really dangerous position, I kept a level and clear head, as was evidenced on a few occasions. Plus, I think the joke was that I was the only one crazy enough to make sure all of my clan-as we'd joking called ourselves- was secure by any means necessary. People had a habit of wanting me to live. I guess because when you had so many people try to kill you in the past, and you survive, people give you credence as a good luck charm. To me, I just survived and lived by sheer hope because things always worked out in the end.
We didn't recognize the signs then, though. New flus came out every so often, and while it seemed odd to have illnesses jump from such distinct species, what were we to know? From our later research, or rather, our running across some fellow rebels who were more knowledgeable, we found that it was hard to pinpoint when the viruses spread initially.
It started, as far as we can guess, right when the cow viruses came out, Mad cow disease is what it was called then, something that tainted the cattle and spread rapid fire to humans through consumption. That was the first one. Then there was the aviary flu, spread by chickens, yet again, it spread to humans- this time they weren't 100% sure how we could get it, but it could have been through eating. Next came another source of food- pig. There were hundreds of dollars made in making the vaccines for these, and strangely enough, for each "cure" hundreds would die off right as the science community found that there were too many humans to supply with food. Populations among the elderly and children were decimated.
Each vaccine killed more than it helped and that's when the virus reached its pivotal stage. Each injection made carried a virus that would spread and take over the body. There was research about this type of thing happening in bugs- the virus would take over the brain of the organism and control it. Once it reached humans, we were screwed.
There wasn't instant anarchy, slowly more and more people got the virus and some died, some didn't. Crime increased- people literally ate other people on highways. We're not talking " in some tribes cannibalism is a norm" eating other people, I mean a guy ripped someone's face off with his bare hands and ate it.
We were stupid though, and made jokes about how the end of the world came early. Humor is one of those fear responses though, so it wasn't to make light of what tragic things happened to take away the gravity and inhumanity, but to take the edge off so we could live without being panicked at all times.
When the news finally came that the virus was now officially at the Zombie level-shit got real-, we did what anyone did. I went to my family only to barely come out alive. Universities that my family worked and attended mandated the vaccines, and they were infected.
It was so weird, everything seemed so normal, like all hell wasn't about to break loose. I tried to get them to be serious, and talk about what we had to do and it was like they couldn't hear me. I picked a lock on the gun locker in our hall, grabbed a hand gun and some bullets from their thin cardboard boxes, careful to grab the cleaning kit and loaded everything into my old book sack.
I tried to convince them we needed to go, as a neighbor legitimately started breaking into our front window and kept coming in despite the glass piercing his already shredded torso. I loaded the gun and shot him as he reached for my sister.
It got really messy after that. I called Lee and he got me.
I didn't really want to talk about it, and he never asked. We ended up at our old hang-out in the park. We didn't talk. He just held my hand and Jocelyn and Henry met us there after a while. I think we all knew at that point, our old lives were over.