Earlier….

Shun

In the bed beside me, I felt Alice jolt awake. Startled as well, I sat up and saw that she had brought her knees up to her chest and tears flowed freely from her eyes. She then turned to me and buried her face into my chest. I didn't have to ask her what was wrong; I already knew.

One too many nights one of us had been woken by the horrible nightmares that plagued us since we left Earth six years ago. The dreams kept on replaying the atrocious events that happened to us when the virus had been released and allowed to tear apart what was once our home.

As far as I knew, it had only been me and Alice that escaped the virus' clutches, but just barely. It had taken all of the others right before our eyes; Julie, Runo, Murucho, and Dan. I was gently stroking Alice's soft, orange curls. "It's okay. It was just that dream again. You're safe," I crooned softly so she would calm down.

Her shoulders trembled as she tried to suppress her sobs. "I miss them….I miss them so much," she said with a small sob. It pained me to see her like this. Even though we had left that virus behind a long time ago, there were still times that neither one of us felt safe.

The outbreak had changed us. It had made us more cautious, and less trustworthy of some people around us. In the end, it felt like only Alice and I could trust each other. "I miss them too….," I said while trying to hold back my own tears. I hadn't realized that Alice had fallen back asleep while I was holding her.

Carefully, I laid her back down without disturbing her, and walked over to the bedroom window. Dawn was starting to peek over the horizon, bringing with it a brand new day. Each day was a blessing for us. It was proof of the fact that we had survived being eaten by people that had once been alive, and turned into a monster by the virus.

Up in the sky, were the flying cars that the Vestals had created through years of advanced research; the crowning achievement that nobody on Earth would even see. It bothered me when I thought about all of the things that life back on our own planet, would never get to see again.

To know that your entire home, and all that you knew and held close, was gone, dead to the world and everything else, bothered me. Why had we been forsaken by such a horrible thing? That question often found its way back into my thoughts.

A monster had created monster's virus, and how anybody with so much as a sliver of humanity could do that, was far beyond me. I sighed and left the window, then snaked my way downstairs; there was no way I would be able to fall asleep now.

I sat down at the computer and checked the day's headlines and weather. It said that it would be a lovely day, one that wasn't too warm and not too cold. Perfect weather. After an hour or so, Alice stepped down the stairs, a yawn escaping her mouth.

"I'm sorry if I woke you, Shun," she said with a hint of guilt. Smiling, I told her that it wasn't a problem. One good thing came out of all the bad that had happened to us; it brought Alice and I closer together. She took my hand in hers and asked, "So, do you have to work today?"

I thought for a moment, mentally going over this week's schedule. "I don't believe I do. Why? Did you have something in mind?" Alice released my hands and went into the kitchen, where she poured herself a glass of water from the sink.

"I was kind of wanting to go out for some fresh air today. Maybe the park?" she suggested before taking a sip of her water. And yet, there was another change that the end of our world brought with it. Almost ninety percent of the time Alice wanted to leave the house, she refused to do so on her own.

Whether she owned up to it or not, she was terrified that she would be chased down by the flesh-craving monsters of the virus. And no matter how many times I told her that it was all behind us, she always said she knew and just wanted to be careful.

I smiled and said kindly, "The park sounds like a great idea." This, in turn, brought a smile upon her pale features. She walked upstairs to get ready for the day's outing while I waited for her by the door. Soon, she joined my side and I escorted her outside. The brisk air greeted us, and I knew that the weather forecast was correct; it was going to be a perfect day.

Now…..

Shun

Minutes….No, seconds….How could so much go wrong in seconds? I tightly gripped Alice's hand in mine, dragging her along behind me. Not far from us, we were being pursued. Theirs hands were extended out, trying to catch us beneath their rotten fingers, and drool leaking down their chins with the sight of food.

All around us, Vestal had caught fire in the chaos. The flying cars that had once soared high above our heads, now laid in mangled heaps of burning metal. I then noticed that Alice's pace was starting to slow, and I turned my head to look at her. "Don't slow down! Keep running!" I shouted at her.

Her eyes then flashed at me, and I saw that the realization was starting to hit her; it was happening again. "You can't give up now, Alice! We made it once, and we'll make it again," I told her. My words must have been reassuring to her, for her pace quickened back up.

Up ahead, I caught sight of a pile of cars that had stopped burning. There was a small gap under the heap, and I dove for it, Alice's hand still in mine. We crawled beneath the wreckage, pressing our backs against another car.

Through our little opening, I saw as the zombies ran on by, still thinking that they were after us. Both of us sat there, panting heavily from the run. It was then that I noticed my hands were trembling, along with the rest of my body. How? How did he survive?

Images of the man that had released this virus on Earth, danced in my mind. He had created it, let it run rampant without a cure, and had the gall to use innocent survivors as guinea pigs. I had been one of those experiments, and the only person that had survived the onslaught of antidote injections.

I probably should have considered myself lucky, seeing that they perfected the formula when they got to me, but I didn't. There had been almost three-hundred poor souls before me that had suffered under the effects of the antidote. But that didn't matter now.

This man, this horrible and sadistic man, had somehow survived when his co-workers were turned into zombies and attacked the facility, and now, he had turned the virus loose on Vestal. The only difference was that this version was airborne. He had dropped a vial on the ground, causing the glass container to shatter and the liquid inside to spread on the ground.

Then, people around us started to grow pale, and they dropped like flies. And not a moment after that, they came back to life, seeking an unsatisfied craving for human flesh. What truly scared me though, was the possibility that Alice and I could have been infected.

We had been within yards of the released virus, almost ensuring that we had it. Although, neither one of us were showing any signs of ailing, and we would have died long ago like the others before us. Perhaps there was a chance we had gotten lucky. I looked over at Alice, wondering if her immunity might have kept her from getting infected this time.

Back on Earth, when the virus was first released, Alice had been bitten by one of the zombies, and all of us were positive that she was going to die. But she never did, and that was how we found out she was immune. The question was, was she lucky enough to be safe from this new strand?

Alice was crying heavily into the palms of her hands. I brought her close to me and whispered, "Shh, keep quiet. Please. You don't want to attract any of those things." She wiped tears away with a shaky hand and tried to keep her sobs silent. I tilted my head back, staring up at one of the cars that now made up our place of safety, and let out a heavy breath.

Just as I did that, a zombie stuck the upper half of its body into the entrance of our domain. Alice shrieked next to my ears, leaving them ringing. The zombie's hands clawed at us as he tried to pull himself further into the car cave. Alice and I were pushing ourselves away from the monster as much as we could, but we soon realized that there was nowhere we could go; we were trapped.

With each second, the zombie was working his way closer towards us. His outstretched hand then latched onto Alice's ankle, making her eyes widen to their fullest extent. She screamed and started kicking her free leg, and one of the kicks caught the flesh-eating monstrosity in the face.

He let go of her, then continued his pursuit of us. Seeing that we didn't have that much time before he finally joined us in this place, I started to try and push one of the cars over, hoping to break down the walls that had imprisoned us. They weren't even so much as budging.

It was clear that neither one of us was getting out that way. My eyes then fell on one of the cars' windshields, and began to kick at the glass with as much strength as I could manage in such a tight space. "Shun! Hurry!" Alice shouted and kicked at the starving monster once again. At last, I broke the windshield and picked up a large shard of glass.

Taking it into my hands, I rammed the jagged object into the decaying eye of the zombie. It gurgled, then fell motionless, the glass still jutting out of the eye socket. Suddenly, I was reminded of a grisly image. It was of when I had to kill Julie after she was infected.

I had stuck the blade of a katana sword through her eye and into her brain, but I had no choice. She would have eaten us all if I hadn't done something.

After that, killing these creatures had become a lot easier; I had realized they weren't human, and cared not for any other life. Their only instinct was to eat…And eat….And eat. I then grabbed Alice's hand, causing her to jump at the touch. When she saw it was me, I felt her loosen up some.

I then led her through the broken windshield of the car, climbing over the charred remains of whoever had been driving this vehicle, and out the passenger door. I was the first one out, looking around for any unwelcome guests, then whispered to Alice that the coast was clear.

She cautiously climbed out, and I helped her down onto the sidewalk below. Then, I turned to her, my hands resting on top of her shoulders, and eyes locked on hers with the most serious look I could give her. "You have to stay near me, okay? Please, stay near me. Don't leave my side unless I say so."

I had fought to the end to protect her the first time, and I would do the same this time as well. She met my gaze through teary eyes and nodded. My eyes then caught sight of a metal pipe that had fallen off from one of the burning buildings nearby.

Seeing that it was as good as a weapon was going to get for now, I picked it up in one hand, and held Alice's in the other. Both of us faced down the burning streets of Vestal, taking in the sounds of screaming people as they were either consumed in flames or eaten. Then, we ran.

Story title based off the song Anthem Of Our Dying Day. -sings- From up here, the city lights burn, like a thousand miles of fire, and i'm here to sing this Anthem Of Our Dying Day! X3 actually, that title didnt win the poll. a tie decided to show up between two titles -.-'''''''''''''''' (very many annoyed line things). so, i flipped a coin and whichever won two out of three, would be the title and TA-DA! so at last, the long awaited zombie sequel has made its debut! -pops cork on sparkling cider- celebration time! i shall have the link to this song and the full cover poster soon. or you can look up the song if you so desire. read, review, and other things! ~Copperpelt~