"Lately, it seems as if the virus has become more vicious. Nothing new about it is known just yet, but will soon be discovered by the team of scientists who are working on it day and night. All that is known is that it's more active in heat, and it attack the host's nervous system. For now, however, you can do your part by washing your hands and staying home if you are suspicious of becoming sick. Please help fight this virus by keeping your illness to yourself."

The lady on the radio show kept talking, but she went off on a different topic, and Ellis found himself losing interest. He was more interested in changing this old woman's oil filter. The poor lady had walked into the auto shop he worked at, asking people to help her with her car. His boss had assigned Ellis to the task, and he readily accepted. Not because the job was easy, which it was, but because he wanted to help the poor lady. The poor thing probably didn't even know the difference between the gas and oil.

Ellis chuckled to himself; he would say that the elderly woman reminded him of his mother, but if his mother even heard that, she just might handed Ellis' behind to him. She was a strong and fierce woman that no wise man would even dare to challenge. She was also rather tall, standing at a proud six feet and two inches. Her voice was even more daring, quickly calling attention to her. Ellis learned at a young age not to disobey her. But she was also very kind. She never said no to helping someone, even going out of her way. Ellis had a lot of respect for his mother.

The young male frowned, thinking of the news that had just been reported. It was been going around for months, about how a new virus came out into discovery. Keith and Ellis had always talked about a zombie apocalypse happening, but they never were serious. Now that it's actually happening, Ellis finds it both terrifying and exciting. Were the plans they made good enough to survive?

The mechanic finally took the filter off and watched in horror as the oil droop from the car. It was supposed to be a lot thinner than this ugly black stuff. Just how long as it been since the oil filter was changed? It was absolutely disgusting. When all the liquid was out, an action that took what felt forever, Ellis scooted the pan of oil out from under the car. His suspicions were right about the oil; it was as black and disgusting as he had suspected, just worse in the sunlight. He grimaced and put it into a milk gallon container for recycle. He never knew just what they did with it, but he wasn't sure he wanted to know.

He grabbed the new oil and coated the top to the new oil filter before sliding under the car and replacing it. Ellis tightened it down, tight enough that it won't come off, but not so much that it'll break. He smiled at the job well done. Now all he had left is to put in some new oil.

"Ellis!"

Ellis jerked up in surprise and slammed his forehead against the bottom of the car. He swore loudly before scooting out from under the car. Oh, he knew that voice all right. "What?" he asked irritatedly. He touched his forehead and pulled a bloodied hand away. Great. Why was Keith bothering him? And at work of all places? However, when he saw the man's face expression, all irritation vanished. Keith's face was pale and his eyes had an odd look, almost resembling fear. Ellis furrowed his eyebrows, concerned.

"Keith? What's wrong?"

"The outbreak," Keith said breathlessly; he must have ran the whole way there. "Faster than they expected. Zombies are breaking into town and infecting everyone. We need to go."

"Are you serious?" Ellis asked, his jaw dropping.

Keith huffed, quickly becoming annoyed. "Do I look like I'm joking?"

Ellis quickly stood up from the ground and the two men ran towards their homes. They had figured something like this would happen, so they had planned on what to do, even if it was just joking. Keith ran for his home and Ellis ran for his. They needed supplies. The plan was to spend only 15 minutes getting whatever they can, and then meeting up under the town's old oak tree.

The younger male slammed his door opened and took a minute to take in his surroundings. Everything looked untouched. Ellis sighed, relieved. If no zombies came through here, then that means his Ma is still okay. He ran upstairs to his bedroom, mentally naming all the items he needed. Once in his room, he grabbed his small backpack and stuffed in some first aides, vitamin-drinks, and some off the counter medicine. He glanced at the wardrobe and at his outfit. The overalls was thick enough to help prevent getting bitten, but it would be horribly hot for the Georgia's summer. He shrugged off the top part of the overalls and tied it around his waist. It didn't took him long to find his favorite shirt and throw it on. It was a bull-shifter shirt he had gotten years ago with Keith. Good thing it still fit.

He hesitated before running out of the room, his old wooden bat catching his eye. He has had that thing for years. His father had given it to him, wanting Ellis to use it and play baseball. Shortly after, though, his father left him and his mother and Ellis found all his desire to play quickly faded. Ellis couldn't help but to smirk; looks like it's time to finally use this old thing. He tucked it between his waist and the tied up sleeves, making sure it was snug and wouldn't fall out. Satisfied, he ran back downstairs.

Next place Ellis went was the living room of the house. His Ma always kept guns hidden in the family's chest at the front door. He wasn't sure exactly why she kept them there, the woman always told him that it was there for a good reason. Ellis opened the chest and grabbed the AK-47 from the chest along with some ammunition. He was about to grab the pistol, but an idea came to him that made him hesitated. His mother would need some way to defend herself so he decided to leave it. Closing the chest, Ellis glanced around the house, looking for anything that might help. Nothing came to mind and he decided that he had everything.

Once outside, Ellis could see what Keith had meant when he said that it was spreading faster than anyone had thought. Their little town was already filled with zombies, and once in a while a scream could be heard from some one. Trying his best to ignore them, he ran for his tiny blue pick up truck. He stuffed everything he had into the trunk before sliding into the driver's seat and starting the engine.

He backed up his truck, watching behind him. Once he was on the road, he changed it to drive forward, wanting to get to the tree as fast as possible. The ride was going fine until half way there, some of the zombies were just standing in the road. Ellis slowed to a stop and stared at them in horror. What should he do? He swallowed nervously before reenacting a movie scene he had once saw when he was younger. He backed up a bit, and then pressed the gas pedal, quickly driving forward. The bodies slammed into the truck, leaving a mess and cracking the window. Ellis winced at the crunching noises. The blood smear on the window didn't help

When the road was finally cleared, Ellis took a deep breath and released it, willing his tense fingers to relax. Now all he had to do is wait for Keith. He turned off the engine and sat there, twiddling his fingers and trying to find some way to keep him still. He was just so restless. A zombie apocalypse! Who would have figured! After ten minutes, Ellis sighed loudly and got out of the truck. Where was he? While Ellis didn't had a watch with him, he was pretty sure it has been over twenty minutes. He started fidgeting with his overalls, needing something to keep his hands busy. Why was Keith taking so long?

A growl caught his attention. Ellis turned around sharply, his breathe getting caught in his heart. A zombie was standing behind him, growling at him. She was wearing a floral dress and towered him in height. His heart lodged in his throat; it was his mother.

He knew, logically, he should take out his gun and shoot her down, since she was already dead. That this thing in front of him was just a virus controlling a dead body. But no matter how much he tried, he couldn't get himself to move; he could barely breathe. Ellis stood there, watching in horror, as his mother – or rather, a zombie that looked like her – started charging to him. And damn it, he can't move.

A loud gunshot echoed, startling Ellis out of his frozen state. Blood and liquid that Ellis didn't want to identified splattered on his face. He watched in horror as his Ma – the body of his mother – sank to the ground mothionless. It felt like his heart followed. Ellis look up from the body to Keith standing there, his gun still aimed to the zombie, and a grim expression. He marched towards Ellis and grabbed him by the forearm, leading him back to the truck. "Drive, Ellis."

In his shocked state, he didn't argued as he got in and started up the engine. Keith got into the passenger seat and Ellis drove. They drove on for a good ten minutes before anyone of them spoke. Ellis couldn't help but to replay the last twenty minutes in his head. Especially with his mother. He swallowed thickly. He couldn't afford to think of this. It would just make him unreliable. With effort, he pushed the thought and locked it away.

Finally Keith sighed and started talking. "There's an evacuation going on in a hotel in the big city a few hours from here," he explained, showing Ellis the paper announcing it. Ellis glanced at it briefly before turning back to the road. He didn't know what to say. There wasn't really anything to say, anyways.

He continued to drive, his mind feeling numb. If a zombie had stepped out in front of them, Ellis would have gone right over it without even blinking. They passed a gas station and he blinked out of his of trance long to looked down to his gas meter to see if they needed any gas or not. The arrow was pointing at full so he kept driving. Who would have thought that it was a blessing that he thought to fill it yesterday.

"Ellis, stop."

It took Ellis a moment to realized that Keith had told him to stop. It took him another moment to actually stop and look at Keith questioning. Keith still had a grim expression, but now it looked almost regretful. He sighed and turned to Ellis. "Ellis, man, I'm sorry. You're going to have to do this alone."

"What?" Ellis asked hoarsely, not quite understanding.

"I need to find my family, Ellis. I can't just up and abandon them."

"But-" Ellis started but Keith stopped him; he already knew what the younger male was going to say.

"No, Ellis. I want you to go ahead, alone. I'll meet you somewhere, alright?" Keith said, giving Ellis one of his trademark smiles. Ellis stared at him, studying him, looking for any signs that the man was lying to him. His heart clenched painfully when he realized that Keith was serious. Was he going to lose another friend?

"Yeah, okay," he whispered.

"Good lad," Keith chuckled. He took off his hat and plopped it down on Ellis' head, much to the later one's protests. It was sweaty and it disgusted Ellis. He took if off as fast as he could, much to Keith's amusement. "Keep it for me. Don't want it getting ruined or nothing," he joked. Ellis didn't bothered to stop the smile from growing.

"Sure."

Keith hesitated before turning back to Ellis, looking worried. "One more thing?"

"What is it?"

Keith hesitated some more, something that Ellis found disturbing. Keith wasn't known for actually thinking before speaking. Keith sighed, what felt like the hundredth time this hour. "Keep that goofy smile on your face, alright? It's not all that bad."

Ellis furrowed his eyebrows, not understanding Keith's reason for saying this. He watched as Keith got out of his little blue truck and started jogging towards their town. The youngest didn't even bothered to continue driving until he could no longer see the taller man's back. And even then he hesitated before starting up the car again. He sighed and started driving towards the town that Keith had mentioned.

He only drove for a mile or two when the gas station back near the town's outskirts exploded, sending chunks of debris in the air. Ellis watched through his rear view mirror in horror. Keith must have been right next to it. The explosive wasn't that big and it didn't lasted that long, but he knew that it would have smarted if someone was right next to it. Most likely, the road was blocked too.

His lip quivered, a habit he picked up when he was younger and when he felt overwhelmed. He bit his lip to stop it and swallowed hard. He took a deep breathe, held it, and then let it out slowly. Just keep moving forward. Ellis turned his attention to the road just in time to see a woman in front of his bumper. Instincts acting before his brain, he swerves to the side to avoid her completely. Unfortunately, what he didn't saw was the tree. The last thing he saw was his head connecting to the steering-wheel.

parts added, grammar fixed. Enjoy!