"Stupid jerk…look at me I'm the best manager in the world…yeah right you fat son of a bi-" I muttered to myself as I peddled my way back to my apartment building. A car honked its horn at me and I rolled my eyes and kept on. Then another car honked followed by another one. Then a whole convoy of cars drove past me in a line. They had baggage strapped to the hoods of their cars.
What the hell was going on? I climbed off my bike and stood on the sidewalk looking around the street. No one was outside which was weird because in the summer everyone should have been out enjoying themselves. "Huh." I shrugged to myself and began to walk my bike back further into town.
Shuddering I thought of the movie I Am Legend and 28 Days Later. I heard a door slam in one of the houses that made me jump. It was a small community and I knew pretty much everyone so I walked over to the house and knocked on the door just to get some answers. "Hello? Where is everyone going?" I leaned to look into the window.
The door swung open and a man I recognized but couldn't remember his name stepped out with a 12 gauge shot gun pointed straight in my face. "Whoa!" I stumbled back with my hands up.
"Have you been bit?" He glared at me with so much intensity I don't think I could ever forget.
"B-Bit? I mean I have a few mosquito bites but they aren't that bad-" I answered still staring at his gun.
He interrupted me "That's not what I meant!"
I looked at him with a blank expression. "I don't get it then." Was the whole world going crazy? Or maybe it was just me going crazy.
"Never mind just get in the house." He reached down and dragged me up the porch steps and inside his living room.
"Hey! What are you doing? Let me go!" I howled in agony but it was too late I was thrown into the house and the door was slammed behind me. Shit, I had just been kidnapped!
"What's your name kid?" he asked as he dead bolted the door. I tried to crawl backwards away from him but he turned around and pointed the shot gun again. Why didn't I listen to my mom when she told me not to talk to strangers?
"J-Jennifer. People mostly call me Jen. What are you doing with that?" I asked eyeing his gun again.
"You don't pay attention to the news do you?" He now slung it over his right shoulder casually.
"Well I have been working all day. What is there like a hurricane or something coming?"
"A hurricane?" the man asked dumbfounded. "I ain't talking about no hurricane hun! It's been all over the news since two days ago!"
"I guess I just haven't had time to check the TV." I started to stand up because I looked incredibly stupid sitting on the floor. I lied. I don't even have a TV.
"Or read the newspaper I gather?"
"Yeah that too." Truth is they stopped sending me the newspaper a few months ago. "Are you going to tell me what's going on or what?"
The man who I had still to learn his name sighed heavily and walked around to the couch and picked up a remote. "Check for yourself." He looked at me with what appeared to be sadness in his eyes.
I hesitated and looked at him for moment before I sat down on the couch and took the remote from him. The first thing I saw was a white flash and heard someone screaming. Not just someone, a group of people screaming at the top of their lungs.
"We're here live at yet another outbreak!" The newswoman almost shouted into the camera, there was a dull moaning in the background. On the bottom of the screen it said she was in a town only five miles from Hardenville. "What is this?" I asked more to myself then the man in the room with me.
"Any reports on deaths Claire?" The anchorman back in the studio asked.
"None right now Don but with all this chaos I'm not surprised. People who might appear to be dead just get right back up again."
"And where are you at Claire? It looks like you are on a roof."
"Yes, Don we are on the roof of a local conivence store awaiting the News 5 helicopter to come pick us up. Now we are going to take the camera over the ledge so you and all the viewers can see what is going on here! The scene may be graphic so children may need to leave the room."
"Are you over 18?" The man sitting next to me grunted.
"Shh!" I hushed and waved my hands at him. I watched the camera wobble over to the edge. I don't know what I had been expecting to see but it was nothing like what I was about to be shown. The camera peered over the edge of the roof capturing several bleeding pale people clawing at the outside wall.
"What the hell!" I jumped off the couch with my hand over my mouth. One lady in particular had half of her face missing. Another man had no arms and was just head butting the wall. "What is wrong with them?!" I could feel my eyes water up and the vomit rising in my throat.
"Claire you said these types of attacks are happening everywhere?" Don the anchorman asked over the noise.
"Yes, they are able to multiply rapidly it seems the new theory is the disease transmits through saliva. And these 'zombies' as they are being called, do like to bite. The military is becoming over run and as of now all of the troops stationed in the Middle East are being immediately shipped back the states to help with this growing crisis."
The camera was still pointed down at the crowding mass of blood and flesh. "Well it's a good thing they can't climb stairs eh Claire?" The anchorman joked.
Claire flashed a perfect white smile "Right you are Don. Back to you in the studio."
"There are reports on other channels too saying that a group of those things were seen heading this direction and that everyone should lock up their houses and utilize any weapons. A lot of people have left town." The man spoke softly from behind me.
I was barely paying attention as he spoke. All I could do was look at the pictures the news station was now projecting. Children running around with bloodied faces roaring louder than any animal I had ever heard. Others were ambushing people, tearing their limbs off in a vicious feeding frenzy. "Oh, God." I whispered into my hands.
"Do you have family back at your place?" He asked glancing towards the door as if he was afraid a monster would break it open at any minute.
"N-No, my mom she lives in Texas. God I hope she's alright. I haven't heard from her in days." I stuttered and wiped my eyes. "You said they are coming this way? What are we going to do?"
"I'm hoping they'll just run right through town. Not even pay attention to what is here, but if not…" He held up the shot gun. "I know I'm going to fight them off at least."
I looked back to the TV but there was nothing there. The screen was black and it only showed my reflection on the glass. Then the rest of the power went out causing me to jump back up again. "Keep quiet; the city council probably did this so those things wouldn't notice. Stay calm it'll be alright."
Was this man crazy? It'll be alright?! I'm still technically a young adult but that doesn't make me stupid I saw those things on TV and if they were walking around the street in front of this house everything was almost certainly NOT alright.
"Okay." I gulped anyway. I was rooted to my spot while he went to check the window.
"I don't see anything…yet." He confirmed peering through the dirty blinds. I let out a sigh of relief and sat back down on the couch.
"Wait a minute someone is out there."
I jumped back up again and walked over to the window. "Is it one of them?" Man I've never heard my voice shake that much in my life. It was scary.
"I can't tell. Looks like Freddy."
Freddy was an older gentlemen who lived by himself on the outskirts of town. I had never really gotten to know him personally but he was always friendly with me when he came to the store and he cared a lot about the community.
"I'll go check."
"NO!" I shouted as he reached for the door handled. "You can't open the door! What if something gets in?" I whispered the last part.
"Oh so I'm just suppose to let Fred get killed out there? I don't think so little missy."
I instantly regretted what I had said. I didn't want old man Fred to die, but I didn't want me to die even more and that ugly truth disgusted me. I didn't say anything else as the man open his front door and called out "Hey Fred! Haven't you heard the news? They're coming this way! Come get in the house!"
I looked back out the window and watched Fred just stood there looking dumb. "I think something is wrong with him." I whispered taking a step back from the window. "You should probably shut the door now."
"Hey Fred! Over here!" The man took a step outside the house.
From the open door I saw Fred turn his head slowly. For a split second I thought I was seeing things, but no Fred's cheek and eye were dangling from his head and a huge portion of his shoulder was missing leaving only a crater of blood and tissue. He moaned and stumbled forward while I shrieked and stumbled back.
The man quickly jumped back inside and shut the door. "Shit!" He shouted. "I gave away our position!" I was too afraid to answer back with an 'I told you so' comment. I was also too afraid to look back out the window. The picture of that eyeball dangling inside the hole where Fred's cheek should have been made me want to throw up.
A few seconds later there was a thud on the door. "That's him." I whispered feeling behind me for the wall.
"Listen, Jen, I need you to open the door alright?"
"Are you INSANE!" I shouted. "I'm not opening that door!"
"Just open the door and get out of the way; it's only one so a shot with this should do it." He indicated to his gun once again. "We need to get rid of him before others come and catch on."
"And if it doesn't? What if he gets back up again like they said on TV?" I asked terrified.
"Hell kid we'll both die now suck it up and grow some balls!"
I stared at him. "Um, that would be biologically impossi-" I was just stalling then.
"Just open the damn door!"
I stood up on shakily legs and walked slowly over to the door. Another loud thump made me jump back. I looked at the man who just ushered me forward again. "Do it kid before more show up."
I grasped the door handle firmly and he raised the shot gun. "Get out of the way as fast as you can." He warned.
I nodded and pulled the door open then I crouched down between the open door and the wall and covered my ears. But I still heard the loud bang and every drop of blood that splattered against the walls and door. This time I did throw up. The man pushed the door closed on the dead monster and bent down to look at me. "Did you get hit?"
I just threw up again until I was sitting in a pool of my own vomit. Blood was everywhere included on the man. Pieces of Fred's skin were hanging from his hair. I started to dry heave when there was nothing left to throw up.
"Is-Is it dead?" I asked trying to stand up but my legs wouldn't hold me up. I wiped the tears out of my eyes roughly but they were soon replaced by more.
"You don't hear it banging no more do you?" He pulled me up in his arms and helped me over to the couch. "You sure you're alright kid?"
"Yeah, I think so…just sick." My eyes were watering and clouding my vision. "Did you see anymore out there?"
"No but then again I wasn't really paying attention to anything other than that one." I groaned as he walked back over to the window. "They have to be near if they got Fred."
"Why don't we just go on the roof and wait for help like that lady did on the news?" I offered.
"Do you think they give a rat's ass about anyone in places like this when they have people like the president to take care of? Government could care less about people like us they ain't going to do shit."
"Well, we can't stay here forever! One has already found us and what happens when more show up? How many are you going to be able to shoot before you run out of ammo or they swamp you like they were doing to the convience store?"
There was another loud noise at the door. "I guess they know we're in here." He flinched back at the bangs. "Let's just wait it out…they might lose interest once they find they can't get in."
It was well into the night and the banging only seemed to get louder with every passing second. I sat huddled in the opposite corner trying to keep both eyes on the door and sleep at the same time, at this I was failing miserably. The man sat at the window religiously updating me regularly, "Two more coming up the steps." Or "This one is leaving." Each time I begged him to get away from the window before one happened to see the subtly movement of the disrupted blinds. It was a lot easier to crash through a window then it was a door. He really should have covered the window.
"Damn there are a lot of them out there." He said to himself but out loud at the same time. He walked over and pushed the couch up against the wooden door so now the eradicated thumping was muffled. I wanted to get up and help or at least do something but my legs felt like lead and my head was pounding to the beat of the rotten hands outside on the door.
Oh God I'm going to die in a stranger's house. I wondered if my mom tried to call me, I wondered if my mom was still even alive. I wiped my tears away quickly. The smell of vomit, dried blood, and decaying flesh had caused me to lose any sense of smell.
"Shit, it looks like they got into another house across the street." The man said again.
I swallowed hard and put my head down onto my folded arms. That was the third one in the last thirty minutes he had seen and reported to me. Who knows how many other houses were lost that we couldn't see? Somehow those things were finding a way to get in places. This indicated to me at least, that it was only a matter of time until one of them found a way in here.
"You stay here I'm going to check the back door." He left the room quickly and I turned to face the window. The street light outside cast a shadow through the blinds. A man-like shadow of a head and shoulders appeared in front of it.
"Hey Mr..." I called weakly but my voice came out in a barely audible high pitched squeak. The thing outside stood swaying back and forth and I shuttered again thinking of some monster with one eye and one arm peering in at me. "Hey!" I called again louder my voice cracked.
"What is it?" The man came back into the room looking slightly annoyed. "Oh shit!" He shouted when he happened to catch the dark silhouette standing at the window.
"What if he smashes it?" I ask glancing back and forth between the man and the shadow. He didn't say anything just stared out with a look of determination set on his face. "Should we cover the window?" I asked.
"No then he will defiantly see us and well defiantly start banging on the glass." The man sighed. "They are at the back door too."
"So we're completely surrounded? How the hell are we supposed to get out?"
"Kid you have got to stop asking all these questions. Down stairs in the basement there is a door going out to the side of the house. If anything should happen that is our best bet."
Sure, it was easy for him to stay calm. He had a gun I didn't have anything that kept me away from those hungry hands and mouths. Meanwhile the shadow just stood there absently. "What is it doing out there?" I asked myself a hundred times over in my head.
Another shadow joined the first one behind the blinds. "You reckon they're catching on?" he asked me but when the figure's hand press lighting on the glass it answered long before I could.
"I think it's time we use that side door now…" I whispered. I was suddenly and miraculously able to stand on my own again.
"There could be more there I haven't checked that door yet." He gripped the gun until his knuckles were white. Another hand was placed on the window followed by another and another. The window pane was already starting to groan.
"We are so fucked." I said taking a step back towards the doorway I only assume lead to the basement.
"Not yet we aren't. They are just putting their hands on it. Puttin' your hands on no window ever broke it." He shot back at me. Just then an inverted fist plowed into the glass not quite breaking through but making an impressive splintering crack. I covered my ears and shouted. "Okay now we are fucked!"
He ran over to the window just as another fist shattered the lower half of the window. The hand managed to grasp a hold the man's pant leg. He shifted his body so the hand became impaled on a sharp piece of glass still stuck in the window sill. Blood squirted onto his face but he managed to cover the window with a large bookcase without any assistance from me.
"How long that ought to hold them?" The bookcase shook dangerously.
"Get behind me kid." He ordered as he rose up the 12 guage as the bookcase toppled over one of the things had gotten all the way into the house and was lying on the fallen books. It managed to stand but the man's gun put it down again. There was the one that had tried to grab the man through the window growling angrily his hand still stuck in the window but the gun silenced him as well. The zombies had all abandoned the door and were now trying to clamor through the window cutting off their fingers on the broken glass as they went. The man kept shooting until there was a mountain of bloody bags of spoiled human life but more continued to pour in.
"You go ahead I'll hold them off!" He shouted at me.
I hesitated. I'm not going out there when I could stay here with the guy with the gun.
"GO!"He barked and I flew down the stairs. When I reached the bottom I turned almost expecting him to be following me down. He didn't have time to reload so he was swinging the shotgun at them as they closed in. They were on him in seconds and he collapsed into their arms. Blood and tissue flew up into the air as they mauled him like animals. The gun flew about half-way down the stairs.
If I had been thinking straight I would have tried for it but I wasn't thinking and the high pitched shrieks of the one man who had helped made want to crawl into a pit of unimaginable darkness. There was no way this was happening.
So I did what most people do when they are scared. I ran. I sprinted for that door jumping over anything that stood in my path. The door was blocked with cardboard boxes I climbed and pushed my way through them never skipping a beat. Something sharp caught my leg but that didn't slow me down at all. I just had to get out of that house.
The fact that I had just seen a man get eaten alive hadn't even registered with me at that point. It was just about my survival. I was on the street in a matter of seconds. Those things saw me and stumbled stupidly after me, about ten of them, but I was running to hard and too fast for them to even come close. I knew the longer and faster I ran the further away from them I'd be.
And as I ran past the city limits sign I started to cry uncontrollably. That man back there had just saved my life, and I didn't even know his name.
