This was a time when a virus spread and a new species came to be. This was a time when the government turned their back on us and chose to cover rather than share. This was a time when the military were obedient as dogs and cared not what we thought. This was a time when these creatures were used as a punch bag or for plain entertainment. This was a time when we had to watch our backs, take anything to use as a weapon and kill friends, family, co-workers, anyone who was infected. This was a time when it was every man for himself and we slaughtered each other like animals.
We hope for a time where we will wade through the rubble of humanity and piece together a new civilisation. A civilisation where the infected are extinct, and people don't loathe each other no matter what race, religion, gender, or age they are. A era with no desperation or no craving for murder.
But that will never happen. Simply because we humans never change. Anything out of the ordinary, or something we're just not used to, we kill. It's in our nature, in our blood. Some may want to research it, but it still ends all the same. No matter what we say or do, we as human beings will never change.
But people like Frank West and Chuck Greene battle their way through the hoard to get, not pleasure or money, but something else. These two figures are well known today for surviving famous outbreaks around the country.
It was an autumn day in the mild month of September. A small city prospered with no zombies or infected, for now, and was famous for having no Zombrex. They were that arrogant about an outbreak not happening that they refused to produce it or let it be sold in the city. But all that was about to change.
A high school in the city was teaching students about what to do if they saw a zombie roaming round. Most were pretending to paying attention, some were just faffing about.
One girl was taking notes as the teacher spoke. She was freckled with long blonde hair in a ponytail, muddy brown eyes, and a grey short sleeved t-shirt with a Servbot outlined in black on it. She was usually a quiet girl, not speaking much unless told to, but she got picked on by another girl since she was named after a month.
During the lecture a gracious lady burst into the classroom abruptly and stopped the teacher in her tracks. Even the girl looked up surprised.
"Miss Freemore please." She said.
"Okay." The teacher turned to the girl. "Go on, April."
She got out of her seat and started walking off.
But another girl was giving her the evil eye. This girl's name was Goldy. Goldy didn't hate April with a passion, but she did bully her on some occasions. And this was one of them.
Goldy purposely stuck out her leg and tripped April over. She sniggered once she fell.
"Goldy Ashton! That is unacceptable behaviour!" The teacher went to help April up.
Goldy just kept chewing her gum. "So? Even if I do fail in school, I gotta fortune at home."
April just ignored her and left the classroom. Goldy was just a stupid cheerleader and she knew that.
The headmistress led her into a small room and sat her down in front of her desk. She took her seat behind it and looked at April for a long time.
"...So, Miss Freemore, I've been meaning to talk to you for a long time." She began.
"About what?"
"Your...incredible skills. You can identify the atomic number and mass of almost the whole periodic table of elements, you can write out long word equations much faster than anyone else, and you can also craft an array of weapons with some duct tape."
"Oh, I learnt that last one from Chuck Greene, Miss."
"Chuck Greene, you say?"
"Yeah. Me and my dad are huge fans of him. We tried to create a paddlesaw once, but it didn't go well."
"...Right. Well, anyway..." She leant forward. "What we've been considering... Is moving you to a new school, Miss Freemore."
"A-A new school?"
"A boarding school. Where they keep the top elite students in the country. It's a fair way from this city but your high intelligence has proven you worthy to enrol."
"...But... I won't see my father or mother again for a while, will I?"
"I don't think that will matter Miss Freemore. We already have all the paperwork sorted out, and you'll be moving their next spring. Your parents have been informed I can assure you."
"But I don't want to go to some posh boarding school. I want to stay here with my mom and dad."
"Am I imagining things?" She stood up straight and glared at her. "Miss Freemore, you are comparing family to education? They should never be compared since there will be a clear winner. Education is more important and everything else should be enjoyed afterwards."
"But only in small segments Miss. Education shouldn't be your entire focus. You should be able to enjoy family from time to time."
"Utter nonsense. But I suppose if it makes you happy..." She sunk back into her chair and her withered face became clearer in the secluded light from outside. "These plans will not change. You will be taking a science test today and a maths test next month, both higher paper. This will be leading up to your enrolment at the boarding school. Do you understand me?"
"...Yes, Miss."
"Good, very good. You may go now."
She bowed respectfully and headed to the door. She grasped the handle.
"Oh, and Miss Freemore."
April turned her head slightly. "Yeah?"
"I would highly suggest that you lay off that ridiculous weapon making with your father. It's very un-ladylike of you. I was highly disappointed when you told me about 'Chuck Greene' and that 'paddlesaw' you tried to make. If I hear anymore of it, you will receive five slaps to the face from me. Chuck Greene is just a sad pathetic dirt track on the road of perfection. He shouldn't be a role model, not even to you."
She usually rolled with it since she knew she could do nothing about it, the headmistress had more power than her. But she insulted Chuck Greene, April's long life idol. That alone made her blood boil. "And I would highly suggest that you go fuck yourself." She bluntly said. "Chuck Greene has more balls than you could ever have. He survived the Fortune City outbreak, and while there he searched endlessly for Zombrex for his daughter. And who cares about perfection? Not Chuck Greene, not Frank West, not even me. You can just take your 'perfection' and stick it up your ass." She stared daggers into her and left the office.
"Miss Freemore!" But the door slammed shut and she found herself alone.
After the talk with the headmistress, April walked out into the playground and leaned against a wall. No one actually played with her, but she didn't mind that. She had to be focused for the test that was coming up next. Goldy was gossiping with her fellow cheerleaders, possibly about April. One of the reasons that Goldy bullied April was because of her high intellect. Though April herself loved video games, specifically violent ones, and played them a lot of the time she still studied and paid attention during lessons. Which is why she was the only one taking the higher paper. She was a year younger than Goldy, which enraged the cheerleader even more.
A young boy with a hoodie came up to her. "Hey, April!" He greeted.
"Hi Ben."
Ben was one of her few friends. He wasn't gullible enough to believe the lies that Goldy came out with.
"You doing okay, leaning against the wall on your own like that?"
"Yeah. I'm used to being alone anyway."
Ben was a good looking boy, he occasionally was flirted with by Goldy, who had a natural crush on him. But Ben wasn't interested in her, in fact he didn't really like her.
"Better than hanging out with that tramp over there, huh?" His eyes moved to Goldy.
"Well... I guess she does have a crush on a few people.."
"Why the hell would she want to go out with me? She knows I'm not interested."
April quickly changed the subject. "How's the film project going?"
"It's going great. I think it will be a great tribute to Terror is Reality."
"My dad said that show was trash."
"It is to some people, but I personally loved it! I wish I could go back in time and take part in that show." He said. "Not the one that started the outbreak in Fortune City, man that was a bummer."
"My dad said that was TK's doing."
"The outbreak? No way, dude. Someone else blew up that cage, but not TK. Tyrone King was a cool dude, I wish he was still alive today."
If only he knew the true nature of TK, the show's host.
Everyone else went back to class, except April. She was secluded into a separate room where she would do her test. One teacher was at the front and explaining the basics to her. The room itself was pretty basic. Just a white room with one desk and chair for April. Boring, right?
"If you don't complete this test by the estimated time, then we'll find a period for you to do extra time on this paper. Okay?" He said.
"Okay." She gulped.
He laughed. "Don't worry Miss Freemore, you'll do fine. Your test begins... Now."
April turned over the page and started writing. Silence did it's magic and the only sound was that of the pencil on paper. She got stuck on a few questions but soon overcame them thanks to her brain.
The teacher was dragged outside for a moment and had a hushed conversation. April wasn't busy enough to not notice, so she tried to listen in.
"What...is it..?"
"One student...acting weirdly...bite on his..."
"Are you...not just nausea? Maybe...he's just sick?"
"No...pretty large bite...from...animal almost..."
"I have...student doing a test...restrain him...biting anyone else..."
"Yes sir."
He came back in and saw April staring at him.
"What was that about?" She asked.
"Oh...nothing. Just a student being sick, nothing you should be concerned about. Anyway, you should get on with your test."
She reluctantly carried on. But this small incident wouldn't go unnoticed for long. 30 minutes later the same woman came running back again and grabbed him.
"Mr Wooddocks! The student...he's...turned into something!"
The whispers were more loud this time.
"What do you...mean?"
"He's trying to kill everyone, and he walks around like a lifeless being!"
"Keep it down! We don't want the student in there to freak out!"
"You must come quickly, and help me pin him down!"
"Okay okay!" He peered round the door at April. "I'll be right back, I just have to sort something out." He left the door slightly open and ran off with the other teacher.
April was baffled. He didn't think she knew what was going on, but she did. "I need to tell dad."
She quickly turned on her phone and opened her contacts. She dialled her father's number and nervously waited for him to pick up.
"Come on... Come on..." She grinded her teeth.
The phone went silent and a gruff voice spoke to her. "Hello?"
"Dad!"
"Hey there sweetheart, how are you doing?"
"Dad, you won't believe this. Something is happening at my school!"
"What? You become class president or something?" He chuckled.
"No. I think one of my classmates has become a zombie."
He suddenly stopped the laughter and went silent. "...You sure?"
"Yeah. They said he was acting all weird just a moment ago."
"Did he have any bites on him?"
"He did, but I didn't hear where he was bitten." She paused. "And now they've just gone off to restrain him because he's apparently trying to kill other people."
He was silent once again. He muttered a swear under his breath. "...Okay here's the plan. You stay where you are, me and the guys are coming to get you."
"But I'm in the middle of a test!"
"I don't care what you're doing. They don't produce no Zombrex here. So if you get bitten, then that'll be the end of you. Just stay put. If any zombies try to bite you, use anything in the room to kill them."
"...Like my chair?"
"Yes, exactly like your chair."
She suddenly stiffened up and listened. Something was dragging it's way up the hallway.
"I'll call you back later, I think the teacher's coming back."
"Okay sweetheart. I'll tell the guys that your school has a little zombie problem. Take care now, I love you, bye." He hung up.
April put the phone in her pocket.
The thing was coming closer. She could hear it grunting and moaning. One thing was for sure, this most defiantly wasn't human.
"S-Sir...?" She called. When he didn't reply she tried again. "S-Sir, is that you..?"
The door was softly pushed open and a bloodied pale hand landed on the wall. April took a step back. The hand traveled further across the wall and seemed to drag an entire body with it. The bloodied figure revealed itself more and more as it dragged itself in. The face came last. A huge lump of flesh had been ripped out of his neck. He slowly turned his head towards April, and dark red blood seeped out of his mouth as he tried to smile.
She squeaked. "Oh my god..!"
He staggered towards her, with more blood dripping out of his mouth.
Her mind went blank in her panic stricken state. Nothing could be processed properly anymore. Her brain yelled at her to run, and her heart banged at her rib cage like a trapped scared captive. She backed away and looked at him with terror in her eyes. The zombie that was once her teacher closed in on her like a hornet. What could she do? Was there any way out of this?
But then she remembered.
'If any zombies try to bite you, use anything in the room to kill them.'
Her eyes locked onto the chair. She knew she couldn't waste anymore time. It was now or never. If she hesitated anymore then the zombie would bite her and it would be curtains on her life.
She ran, elbowing him out of the way, and grabbed the chair. She held it poised, ready to attack. The zombie cluelessly limped towards her, his sights only focused on her neck.
April charged at him and beat him with the chair. Blood splattered everywhere. Even when he was on the ground she kept beating him. The zombie's face became more deformed with each slam of the chair he received. She lifted the chair above her head to deliver a final blow and whacked his head, which caused the chair to break into a million splinters.
She let her arms fall by her sides and panted. Her face and shirt were dotted with red.
"I'm sorry Mr Wooddocks. But you turned, I had to kill you."
The corpse didn't breathe a word. It laid on the floor. Almost emotionless, with a hint of sadness in his eyes.
But April didn't have time to feel sorry. She checked her surroundings. "The whole school could be infected with the zombie virus. I need to get to a safe place and call my father."
April peaked outside the door. The hallway was dimly lit in a foreboding sense. She shook off her fears and walked down the hall. There was no zombies in the corridor so she felt a little safe. The whole big locker hallway was like a ghost town, complete silence with scattered papers on the floor. She found a broom closet and breathed a sigh of relief. But her attention was drawn to the door opposite of her, the gym. Some loud groans and moans erupted from inside. She couldn't ignore this. She crept to the door and peaked into the window.
"Just as I thought.."
A huge group of zombies were loitering around. Some were teachers, most were teenagers. Their arms loosely hung at their sides and their undead brains processed nothing but: 'kill'. They hadn't seen April yet, so they just walked around unable to remember who they were before.
April silently watched them. "Oh... I gotta take a photo of this.." She brought up her phone and snapped a photo. "Dad is without a doubt going to want to know about this."
She went into the broom closet and locked the door. Then brought out her phone and called her dad again.
"..Hello?"
"Dad, it's me."
"Hi again, sweetie. You found out anything else?"
"Yeah. Here, I think this photo will explain a lot." She sent him the photo.
"...My god.." He muttered after a long silence.
"It looks like most of the school is infected." She said. "I don't think it'll be a good idea to stay here and wait for you to come."
He grumbled to himself, but soon breathed a long sigh. "...Okay April, you're right. What I want you to do instead, is run. Run till you get home and then lock the door, barricade it if you need to. I'll explain the situation to your mother and tell her to expect you. Don't set a single foot outside that house till I get there with the guys okay?"
"But dad... Not everyone in the school got infected. There could be survivors!"
"They don't matter right now. What matters is your safety. For now, do as I say. We'll deal with the survivors later."
"But dad!"
"Later."
She knew she couldn't argue with him. In their house, whatever he said was law. "...Fine.."
"Good girl."
"...Hey dad. If I brush up on my photography and fighting, do you think I could become the next Frank West?"
He laughed a little. "Well if you did, you would have an extremely proud father."
She giggled and smiled. "...I love you dad."
"I love you too sweetheart." She could sense his smile at the other end. "I gotta go. You take care, and remember what I said."
"I will."
"Good. I'll see you later, goodbye." He hung up.
April put her phone back. "I know my dad means well..." As she said this she picked up a broom and some duct tape. "..But I'm not just going to sit around and wait."
She dashed to the kitchen a picked up a sharp blade. "Yes... This should do." She put all the three items on a table and started crafting. "I saw my dad do this once.." The knife pricked her finger and she yanked it away to suck the blood off. "He says he learnt it from Mr West, not that I've ever seen the man himself or anything." She stopped to wipe the sweat off her forehead. "I hope I get home soon. Mother must be worrying about me." She stepped back to admire her creation. "Yeah.. I think this will work." A broom with a kitchen knife taped on the end of it, it wasn't too powerful but she was still proud of it. "This will keep the zombies away till I get home. Alright... Let's go." She picked up her new weapon and was on her way.
Once outside, April saw just how bad this virus was. A whole village worth of zombies were meandering on the campus. Part of her wanted to run back inside, but that was snuffed out by her courage. She couldn't just box herself into an infected zone, she had to get home.
The zombies saw her and started staggering towards her. She took a deep breath and her muscles tensed up.
"One bite and I'm history... I can't let them bite me." She pointed the knife end at them. "Come on then, you undead bastards!" She impaled one of the them and yelped. But she sliced it until it was supposedly dead. "I've really got to get used to this... And maybe I could take a photo as more proof of this outbreak." She brought it out and snapped another photograph. The amount of zombies in it got her a lot of pp which was shortly transferred into the memory card in her phone. "...Man I really am turning into Frank West. Ah well... In my books, that's a good thing. Now... Let's deal with the rest of these zombies and get home!"
She sliced her way through the streets while veering her arms, legs and torso away from the zombie's infected jaws. One of the reasons her dad hated where they lived was because of the absence of Zombrex. The city had just ignored any what ifs and denied any use of the drug. Though they probably regret that now. It was overrun, and they could do nothing about it.
April pushed the many zombies out the way and stabbed them till she got home. The tall white house stood before her, squashed to the side by a whole block of similar looking houses.
She tried opening the door but found it locked. "Ahh, of course." She remembered her mum and rang the doorbell instead. She waited. The zombies were slowly cornering her. She rang again. Still no answer. "Come on... What's taking her so long?" She banged her fist on the doorbell. "Goddammit!" In her rage she kicked the door and suddenly saw how many zombies were behind her. "Oh crap, not good, not good!" She rang the bell numerous times but her mum still didn't come. "Where the hell is she!?" She tried kicking the door down and punching it, but it didn't budge one bit. She turned to the zombies again. "This is not good. Dad said she'd be in."
Suddenly her phone started ringing. She killed the zombies blocking her way and answered it as she went into a deserted alleyway.
"Hello?"
All she could hear was her dad cursing his head off. "Dammit, dammit, DAMMIT!"
"Dad? Dad what's wrong?"
"It's your mother. Your mother has apparently left the city with some jackass in a car!"
"What!? But... Why!?"
"That's what I want to know.." He paused to dry his eyes. "I don't understand it, you were her favourite little girl. Why would she leave us like that?"
April could feel small tears in her eyes, and her voice shook as she tried to talk.
"Hey, don't cry. You may be on your own in there but you've still got your dad here to protect you." He said.
"But what am I going to do? Where do I go from here?"
"Calm yourself. Home isn't an option now, you need to fight back."
"Huh? Fight back? But how?"
"You're good with guns aren't you? I taught you how to use a pistol when you were 13 remember?"
"Yeah... Yeah I remember. You taught me in case of a zombie invasion like this."
"Well, now's the time to put those skills into real action kiddo. You know the weapon shop across the road of our home? Go into there and get a pistol. Get two if there's another of the same kind. Then, gear yourself up. That t-shirt alone isn't going to protect you from looters or other crazed survivors."
"But what should I put on?"
"Anything you find. Also, grab anything that you think will be a good melee weapon. You'll need it if the zombies decide to get up close and personal with you."
"Alright dad, I'll go do that. Have you talked to your friends from the military about the situation?"
"Yeah I talked to 'em. They're coming over now to rescue you and any other survivors they uncover. Oh, another thing I must ask, could you round up any survivors you find? Take them to a safe place and tell them that, in 5 days time, the military will be coming to evacuate the area."
"Where would I take them though? We don't have any safe houses here."
"I don't know. Any place you find that is secure and free of any of those undead freaks will do." Some loud voices called her dad's name on the other side of the line. "...I gotta go, they're loading me in. I'll call you from time to time to see how you're doing."
"Okay. Bye dad, I love you."
"I love you too, sweetheart, bye." His voice disappeared and he hung up.
April studied her surroundings. This alleyway was quiet enough, but out in the streets was absolute havoc. Drivers were being pulled out of their cars and eaten alive, shops were forced to barricade their doors, houses were throwing out their infected loved ones, zombies were reaching for April from behind a steel fence.
"This can't get any worse right?" She muttered as she stared at the zombies.
But sure enough, it did.
A loud bang pierced April's ears and she was forced to take cover under the dustbin. Zombies went flying in the air and the sound of fire crackling hovered in the fog. Some debris tumbled down and covered her hair in dust and rubble. When the shock had faded, she lifted her head from her hands and slowly stood up.
"What the hell was that?" She looked around the corner for the cause. "...Oh shit!" She yelled.
A whole half of her school had been blown to smithereens. The gym was completely open and the zombies piled out into the world. But that wasn't the only bad thing. The only way out of town was right next to the school. A huge pile of rubble blocked the road, along with masses of zombies. There was no way out now.
April started shaking, she was going into a state of panic. "Oh no... Oh no... No no no..." She walked around holding her head. "The road's blocked, we're trapped..." She tried breathing in and out to calm herself down. "Keep it together April... Keep it together... What did your dad say to you? He said... He said...go to the weapons shop and get a pistol...or two... And then...then gear yourself up... Okay...okay..." She clapped her hands together and breathed. "I have a plan.. I'm going to get myself equipped and then look for survivors..." She took one last look at the zombies and then ran for the weapons shop, with her broom weapon still in hand.
It was good timing when she got there too. Her broom broke in half and shattered into splinters, much like the chair. She scrambled away from the hoard as fast as she could. A zombie grabbed her hair and yanked her back. April screamed and stabbed it in the eye with her knife before it could bite her. She left it in and sprinted to the weapons shop before anymore could surround her.
She pushed crates in front of the door and breathed. As she did this she gently took her hair in one hand. "I really need to cut this... Maybe there's some scissors around here." As she said this she suddenly spotted the owner of the store in his chair, with some scissors impaled in his chest. "Ah!" He had obviously been dead for some time, since the smell reached her nose quickly. "Oh, that's just nasty!" She coughed and held her nose. "Absolutely disgusting.." She tried to ignore the smell and reached for the scissors. "Oh... This is so gross..."
Her weak pull did nothing to wedge the scissors out of his chest, and it got weaker as she continued to cough and splutter.
A hand went over hers and grabbed the metal. "Need some help there?" It asked.
April couldn't see him properly because of how dark it was behind him. She could only see his white shirt and black jacket. "Oh...uhh, sure. I could use some."
Together they pulled them out and the stranger gave them to her. The smell completely dominated the store and made April cough even more. The strange man sprayed the store with something and made it feel a lot fresher.
April dried her eyes. "Thank you sir."
"Your welcome." He simply said.
With no hesitation April went to find a sink and mirror. The man followed her, with his camera hanging round his neck swaying back and forth.
"Might I ask what you're doing here?" He continued walking.
"Just cutting my hair and getting some weapons." She replied. "My dad says he's going to come get me with the military, along with any other survivors I find."
The man swallowed. "...Neat. I'm guessing your father works in the military?"
"Yes that's right, why?"
"No reason."
She finally found a bathroom. The man could been seen almost clearly now. He had black hair which was starting to go grey and some sunglasses over his eyes.
"..You're not going to follow me in here are you?"
"Who, me? Course not. I'm not a pervert."
She narrowed her eyes at him. "Okay then, I'll be out in a minute." With that, she went in and closed the door.
He held onto his camera and looked through all the photos on it, chuckling to himself at some of the snaps.
"What's so funny?"
"Nothing much. Just looking at some memories."
Some running water splashed on the sink. April hummed away to herself as she washed the scissors.
"Are you any good with guns?"
She stopped. "Me? Yeah, my dad taught me to use a pistol at 13."
"Seems reasonable. I mean this town was a bit arrogant wasn't it?"
"You can say that again..." She paused and gulped. "I wish I could have been at the Willamette or Fortune City outbreak."
This made the man stop what he was doing completely and turn to the door. "What?"
"I wish I was a part of one of those outbreaks."
"Why..? Don't you know what it did to innocent people?"
"I do. But then... I could of had the chance to meet Frank West, or Chuck Greene..."
"You want to meet one of the famous zombie killers huh?"
"I don't know what Frank West looks like. My dad talks about both of them non stop, especially Chuck Greene. If I could just meet one of them, or both, then I would be over the moon." She snipped through her ponytail and let it fall to the ground. Her bright blonde hair gracefully floated down and hung just above her shoulders.
"...are you done in there?"
"Yeah, I'm done."
She came out with her short hair dangling above her shoulders.
The man with the camera looked her up and down. "You look fine. At least those zombies won't be able to pull you back by your hair." He walked back into the main shop. "Come on, I can help you."
The young girl eagerly followed.
He took a rifle into his hand and aimed it. "Usually, my primary weapon of choice is a bat. But I'm good with guns too." The shop keeper, now zombified, rose from his seat. But was shortly put down by the man as he fired his rifle at him. "Since your primary weapon is going to be pistols, you're going to need a secondary weapon too."
"A secondary weapon?"
"You can't just shoot them down when they grapple you, kid. You need to have something to fend them off, other than bullets." He saw that the zombie shop owner was still not dead. "Consider this a free lesson. You've just used your last bullet and it's still not dead. What are you going to do?"
She remembered what her father said and looked round for a chair, or any other item.
"Okay, you've got the right idea: look around for something to use. But you're going to need to be a bit faster than that. This zombie isn't going to take all day, it's getting to you one way or another. You're going to have to make this a reflex for when you're dry of bullets. Look for something and grab it. It won't matter what it is...unless it's a handbag."
Her eyes locked onto the cash register. It was risky since it was near that, but the hunk of metal looked strong enough to take it out. She ran towards it, grabbed it and smashed the zombie's head with it. She slowly backed away with it still in hand. "I-Is it dead?"
The man checked it quickly. "I think it might be.."
She breathed. "Man, even though it was a lesson it still made my heart pound."
"That's something I've had to get used to for years." He gave her a pat on the shoulder. "Don't fret, kid, you'll soon learn to cope with it and forget your fears." He smiled a little bit and then stood back. "Now you can just take your pick. It doesn't matter how much it is, it's not like zombies are gonna need money.."
She looked over the pistols carefully. Whichever one she chose would be her weapon that would help her battle the siege of undead.
The windows behind them cracked. The man took a brief look at the zombies outside trying to get in but said nothing.
April finally chose her two pistols and brought them down from the shelf. She loaded them up and then turned to the man. "Oh god, they're breaking in!" She gasped, pointing at the window.
"Keep calm, the worst thing you can do in this situation is panic." He got out a spiked bat. "You get changed, that t-shirt and jeans on their own won't protect you. I'll try to keep them back if they get in."
"Are you sure you'll be able to handle it? I mean, that's a lot of zombies dude..."
He gave her a reassuring smile. "Relax, lady. I've covered wars, ya know."
"...I swear I've heard that quote somewhere before..." She remembered the situation and snapped out of it. "Alright, you keep them busy while I get some gear on." She ran to the armour part of the shop.
The man watched her go and then smiled at the zombies. "You want to mess with a freelance? Well then, come on.." The cracks on the window expanded. "I've been doing this for years, this shouldn't be any different. The only difference here is that I'm with a teenager, a brave one too.. Now that is a surprise." The glass shattered to pieces and allowed the undead zombies access into the weapons store. "That's my cue." He didn't hesitate and lunged at them.
It had been a long time since he purged zombies from the face of the earth. So he felt quite happy that he was doing it once again, not because he thought it was good to kill zombies, he did it to protect the girl and hopefully get to the truth. There was always some truth hidden in an outbreak, it just took someone with determination to find it.
He found himself in a tight spot with a zombie grappling him. He didn't much care whether he got bitten or not, he was already infected. He was bracing himself for the zombie to sink it's teeth into his skin when he heard a gunshot. The zombie fell to the ground with a hole in it's head. He turned round to see April in an all black fedora with a matching colour long coat which went down to her ankles. The coat was partially open, still showing the Servbot t-shirt. Her retro sneakers were replaced with brown leather boots.
She clicked her two new loaded pistols. "You wanna party?" She then aimed both guns at the hoard and lowered her gaze. "Then let's rock and roll."
April jumped onto the counter and shot down all of the zombies with no trouble, while the man below took out any ones that weren't properly dead yet. An array of bullets went straight through the zombies and killed them instantly. April then leaped down onto the floor to get into the heart of the action. She performed some dodge rolls that her father taught her and managed to shoot a few in the head. After a long while of battling April started getting tired and let her guard down for a zombie to tackle her. Her guns were knocked out of her hands. She pried the zombie's sharp jaws away from her neck, but it would only work for so long. It was about to bite her when it was suddenly knocked on the head and pulled away from her. The man held it for April to shoot. To which she picked up her guns and performed a shot straight to it's head. He threw it onto the floor and breathed a sigh.
The whole building had been cleaned out of zombies. This place was safe, for now.
"I can't lead survivors here. The windows are wide open for a zombie attack..." April said to herself.
The man beckoned April over to the window and pointed. "Why not try that church over there then?"
The big cathedral was stone grey with dazzling stain glass windows and an iron bell that hung forebodingly in the tower. It was in a desolate field of emerald grass, absolutely free of zombies.
"That could be an idea..." She pondered. "Doesn't look like it's full of infected. And it's a fair way from the main city..."
The man looked at his watch quickly and then put it away. "Sorry, I didn't ask, what's your name lady?"
She met his eyes. "I'm April, April Freemore."
He shook hands with her. "Nice to meet you April. I'm sorry, but I gotta scoot now. You take care of yourself okay?" He started walking away.
"Now hold on a minute!" He stopped. "I've told you my name, now it's your turn! What's your name, sir?"
She heard him laugh quietly. "...Tell you what. You got a piece of paper?"
"Yeah." She fished out her notebook.
"Give it here and I'll sign my name on there instead. Sound good?"
She was puzzled by the odd request, but her curiosity overtook her. "Okay... Fine." She gave him the notebook.
He turned his back to her and started scribbling his name down. Why didn't he want to say it out loud? Why write it down? She was still trying to figure it out herself.
"Okay, done." He gave it back to her. "Little advice: Aim for the head." He winked at her. "I'll see you round."
As he walked off, April read the name he had written on the paper. And her mouth dropped open.
"No way..."
There, in clear writing, was the name 'Frank West'.
"..D-Did I really just..." She looked at the man leaving in surprise. "W-Was that..."
She remembered something her dad told her.
'Frank West was the greatest journalist that ever lived. He survived Willamette, and wants nothing but the truth. Those others just make up phoney lies because they're afraid of the government. But you know what Frank West does? He goes: 'to hell with the government! People need to know the truth!' That's why I respect him, sweetheart.'
She put her guns in her pocket and ran after him. "Wait! Mr West, wait!" But once she got out there the man had vanished into thin air, all she could see was zombies. "What the hell...? Where'd he go?" There was no sign of him round the corner of the street or anything. She looked back into the notebook at the signature she got. "I just met Frank West... I met THE Frank West... Oh man, I am going to treasure this page... My dad is not going to believe me at first, but when I show him this... I think he will." She put safely into her pocket. Now she defiantly wasn't going to throw this away like she intended, not when there was the signature of a famous zombie killer in there. "..What if... I met Chuck Greene after this..?" But she confiscated the thought immediately. "Nah, that's almost impossible. And anyway, I have to survive this outbreak if I ever want to meet him. Which reminds me..." She got out her pistols, quickly rolling them in with her hands before steadily aiming them. "I think I'm just about set to kill and survive, I just need a melee weapon." Looking around at all the objects on the floor she smiled to herself. "Use anything you can... Yeah...sounds about right."
She stared into the eyes of these poor souls. They looked empty and terrifying, but she wasn't even afraid of them anymore. She had the weapons and skills to fight back, god knows how much time it would be before her father arrived with the military in tow. But she swore to stay alive until they got here. If she died, her father would go insane. She was all he had now, a precious daughter inside the quarantine zone.
April picked up a lone Bowie Knife and crept towards the zombies, knowing that in here it was kill or be killed.
End of Chapter 1
