Jude Holloran

His chest was hurting, and he was nearly wheezing with the amount of running he had been doing. It seemed like every time he would begin to feel remotely safe, they were on his heels like the seven devil dogs of lore.

The only thing he seemed to be doing was running. Some days he wasn't exactly sure what he was running from, since he had no one left to run too. Nowhere to go. Everything and everyone he knew was gone. If only… If only he hadn't gotten stuck in school. If only he hadn't gotten into a fight…

No, he couldn't think about his parents. He couldn't think about how if he had just been home, they would be saved and maybe, just maybe, his classmates and ex...dead girlfriend would have been alive still.

He couldn't think about how this was partially his fault.

And he especially could not think about his brother. His little brother who was probably one of those… Things now. Addison.

Jude stopped running. He had even stopped breathing, stopped thinking as he felt nothing but numbness surround his whole body and mind.

Why run? Why not just give in? Where are you going to go? Jude Halloran had a lot of potential for a bright and successful future. He was in a high percentage of his class, he was a seventeen year old young and handsome high school kid who could make the most out of the life he had just started to live. Are you planning on running forever?

Jude could hear them, rustling through the trees, smell their stench as they closed in on his position. He couldn't outrun them forever. Even having taken to the nearby woods, there was no outrunning then.

Why not just accept his faith?

"You don't even appreciate me as much Jude!" Danica screamed at him.

Jude huffed, "Of course I do! You're my girlfriend! How could you even blame me for this when YOU were the one that cheated!?"

The girl turned away from him, her arms crossed, tears streaming down her cheeks. "You don't even like me like that, Jude!"

Jude was caught off guard by her words. "What?"

Danica turned towards him, everyone around them stopping in their spots, turning to face them almost in a synchronized fashion.

"I will never have been enough for you, Jude." Danica said. "You're not even that into girls."

Jude had never been so embarrassed. He was into girls! Maybe he would prefer being with a guy a lot more, but he was into girls! He had dated Danica! Jude ran a sweaty palm through his brown hair, his body tightening up with stress and slight panic.

He didn't even know how to respond, looking around him at the circle of people that seemed to be getting tighter and tighter around him. "W-Wait… Get away from me!" Jude said, needing the space. Someone grabbed him, holding onto his arm tightly. "No! Get away!" Jude tried his best to yank himself away, but soon felt more and more hands grabbing him, Danica staring down at him with a sickly look on her face.

"You'll protect me? Right Jude? Even after all of this? Surely there's some part of you that loves me!" Danica said, her face morphing into a monster's face. Jude screamed, looking around to see more and more of his classmates having turned into those zombies. "Jude, protect me… Protect me please!" Danica yelled as she too was being dragged down to the ground.

There was a loud gunshot, followed by another and another and another and another.

Jude was curled up on the bloody tile floor, the weapon in his shaky hand as he screamed and sobbed and cried. Laying in front of him, sitting in mixed blood with maggots growing out of their eyes was Danica. His parents. His brother.

He did it! He killed them! He killed them all!

With a loud gasp, Jude was breathing hard, wheezing just like he had in his dream. "Woah!" Someone said, jumping back. "Jesus, you almost gave me a heart attack!" An amused but slightly worried voice spoke.

Jude's brown eyes were wide with fear and confusion. Where was he!? He swore that he was back at his school, back in the halls with -

"Hey, Jude. It's okay man, easy." The blonde haired blue eyed… Doctor? Jude blinked rapidly, a flood of memories crashing into his mind.

A doctor… He had remembered having to jump off a roof as he was running away from a horde. The sound of nearby gunfire had attracted them, clumping them together in an almost unavoidable mass. He had used a fence to separate him and those things but the only way to do that was to jump over. It worked, but it had also managed to nearly break his leg, almost blacking out from the pain coupled with exhaustion, dehydration, insomnia, and everything else.

A realization dawned on the teen and he scrambled back on what felt like a tabletop. "How do you know my name!? Who are you!?" He instinctively reached for his axe but once he noticed that it was gone he looked at the doctor with untrusting and feral eyes.

The doctor reacted quickly, holding up a wallet. "Here, this was in your pocket. And don't worry… Your weapons are nearby." He said, tilting his head to a table that had his axe on top and his Colt on it as well. "I just wanted to know who you were so I could help you calm down. My friends found you out there." He said softly. "You're safe."

Jude nearly scoffed. Safe? When was anything ever safe anymore? He had been lucky at first to hide from those decaying cannibals, and then he had gotten good at it. But Jude had learned that when you felt safe, that was when you had to move because something bad always happened.

"Oh, and don't move too much." The doctor added, motioning to Jude's leg that had a makeshift splint. Two rebars were wrapped tightly around his knee with black duct tape. "You nearly lost the use of your leg for good."

Jude looked to the blonde, taking in his features in detail for the very first time. He certainly looked like a doctor. His golden hair was messy, but still combed enough to look professional. He was wearing a white but slightly dirtied coat with the name Dr. Jorgensen printed on the pocket in baby blue letters. The man was probably eight years older than him, looking around 25 with just a hint of wrinkles caused by stress forming on his forehead.

"So you're really a doctor then?" Jude asked, cautiously. He was still uncertain about everything. His dream had seemed so real… God, he thought he was going to die…

Jorgensen nodded. "A pediatrician, but a doctor nonetheless." He admitted.

Jude pursed his lips, swallowing. With that action though, the teen winced, starting to notice just how much he had put his body through. His lips were so dry they were probably cracked and bleeding, his throat burned with the lack of fluids, and his stomach growled all of the time.

The blonde pediatrician looked to Jude with a soft expression. "Here." He said, turning to the side and pouring water into a cup. "Drink slowly." He said quietly. "You don't want to put your body in shock."

Jude didn't waste time downing the little bit of water that was given to him and he nearly begged for more. The doctor compiled, and they continued this process until almost two water bottles were finished, a bunch of crackers and vienna sausage was eaten, and Jude felt just as exhausted as he looked.

"Where am I?" He asked with his stomach having gotten the most food in weeks from this one sitting. It was making him even more tired, his eyes dropping. Jude tried his best to stay awake despite this, not feeling that comfortable yet.

In his attempts, he noticed that the room he was in was not any room he had ever seen before. Were they... Was this a hospital?

Trying to confirm his thoughts, Jude glanced around and then noticed something a bit more terrifying.

Jorgensen smiled, placing a hand on the boy's shoulder in a comforting way. "You're in a safe place."

Jude struggled to stay awake, forcing himself to fight against the Doctor's hand. It was a losing battle as his body gave in, his eyes closing.

Maybe, he had felt the prick of a needle, but he couldn't be sure. The only thing he was really sure about was that he was definitely in a morgue.

Yay! Our first OC now has his chapter up! Woohoo! While you guys are submitting your characters, I'd really appreciate it if you can start reviewing the content of the chapters so far. Especially if your character is involved! Let me know how I'm doing so that this story turns out awesome for all of us! Thanks! -MJ

OC Submissions: Jude Holloran; DampishPoet