A gray sky covered the dense woods casting an ominous mood across them. The sound of footsteps was the only thing heard as they moved their way towards whatever shelter they could find next. Melanie Snow and Charlotte Levi, Charlie for short, had been friends since before the outbreak that started the epidemic of flesh-eating growlers; traveling together through it all, along with Charlie's dog, a Russian Wolfhound named Nelson. His usual white coat was dingy from the constant travel on dirt paths and woodsy areas.
"We need to find shelter soon, it's getting late," Melanie said.
"I know, why can't we just stumble upon a random shed or something," Charlie replied sarcastically. "Although I'm pretty sure only a murderer would have a shed this deep in the forest."
Charlie wished they could just travel along the road, it was easier. They were able to keep a better sense of direction there and more likely to come across any shelter. But after what happened with the last group they were a part of, avoiding other humans was the best course of action.
A familiar feeling of dread hung over her, maybe it's the weather, she reasoned with herself hoping that was the case.
The wooded area seemed endless with no shelter in sight, only running into growlers every other moment. Luckily their numbers were not overwhelming.
"We need to rest Charlie, it's been two days since we've gotten any sleep." Melanie stopped, forcing Charlie to look at her. She knew Melanie was right, they had to conserve their energy as the long days of heat would eventually catch up with them. Their supply of water was often slim.
They came upon a large oak tree, throwing down their things. Both leaned on the trunk for support, it was the best comfort they could find in the outdoors. Melanie let out a loud sigh, Charlie turned around looking at her. She had her eyes shut and head leaned back against the tree. She could see the bags under her eyes and dark circles growing.
"I'll take first watch," Charlie said, pulling her bow off her back and placing it at her side.
Melanie smiled appreciatively at her friend, peeling herself from the tree, unrolling the sleeping bag from her backpack. Nelson moved over to curl up at her side. While Melanie settled into the sleeping bag Charlie slowly circled the tree, scoping the area for any growlers that could happen upon them, or even worse, other people.
So far just a couple of squirrels scampered by quickly. She readied her bow as quickly as she could, missing both. She cursed silently to herself, stretching her hand just in front of her. There was the slightest tremble in her hands.
"Don't worry, we still have some food, you should eat something Charlie." Melanie who was nestled comfortably inside her sleeping bag, sat up to retrieve her canister of water. She rolled it over to her friend who began to put up a fight. Charlie knew Melanie was in a weaker state mentally. She had to keep her going with food and anything that kept her endorphins as high as she had not yet recovered from the trauma that forced them out of their last group.
"I get what you're doing but I'll be okay, at least finish my water," Melanie stayed upright just staring at Charlie, "we have a few more bottles." Charlie sighed, reaching down for the water. Melanie didn't lay back down until she saw her drink from it, but not without giving her a look of exasperation.
"Happy?" Charlie poked at Melanie, even though the water felt electrifying going into her dehydrated body. She wouldn't admit just how much needed it. Melanie rolled her eyes with a smile, burrowing back into her sleeping bag. It was only a few minutes after did Charlie heard her friend's light snores.
The night seemed to drag on slowly, she knew she needed sleep but she couldn't bring herself to wake her friend. Charlie watched their surroundings carefully looking for any signs of trouble. There were sounds of trees moving and branches snapping but it was mostly small animals and the evening wind. She looked up at the sky, the starry night peeking through the branches. She had always appreciated the night sky even before everything fell apart. It was odd how everything could turn so ugly but the stars remained as beautiful as ever up in the sky.
She was pulled out of her thoughts as she heard the familiar sound of growlers groaning, two maybe three she thought. She stood up, hatchet at the ready pulling her flashlight off her belt, making quick work of the growlers. She looked over her shoulder to find Melanie sound asleep. It was an exhausting day of travel for the pair. She breathed a sigh of relief turning the light off not wanting to waste the battery.
She moved back towards the tree. Suddenly a pair of hands grabbed onto her lunging her forward, she let out a scream of fright as she turned around to push the growler off of her. She fell to the ground struggling, the large oak tree obstructing her sight from the light of the moon. She grabbed her hatchet off her belt and began chopping, chopping at it until it went limp.
"Charlie?!" she heard Melanie's concerned voice as Nelson moved to her side licking her face in concern. Melanie was out of the sleeping bag, her knife out and ready.
"I'm okay!" Charlie shouted back. "I just almost died, it's fine." Melanie let out a frustrated sigh as she helped pull the growler off of her.
"You should have woken me up." Melanie scolded her.
"It's all over, we're okay," she replied nonchalantly. As she finished that sentence they heard more growling and shuffling through leaves.
"Spoke too soon." They turned and Charlie pulled out the flashlight tossing it to Melanie. She shined it on the surrounding trees only to show growler after growler closing in on them. They looked at each other in panic. Charlie moved to grab her bow knocking an arrow and releasing it into the head of the one closest to them. Melanie grabbed the pistol at her side aiming at them. Charlie looked behind her only to see more approaching.
"Melanie." She heard Charlie say in a low voice, looking over at the group that was closing in on them. Melanie could only give her a look of worry. Charlie turned around just as one lunged for her, pushing her to the ground. She wrestled to get it off while Melanie executed as many as she could. Nelson whimpered, dodging every single one that reached for him. All of a sudden Charlie felt her belly turn as the ground beneath her disappeared.
"No, no, no!" she screamed. Before she knew it she was falling and tumbling, a scream of horror coming out of her.
"Charlotte!" Melanie yelled after her, her friend's voice falling farther away from her.
With a loud crack the falling stopped, everything hurt and her head spun. Charlie struggled to keep consciousness when suddenly she felt the heavy weight of a growler. The sound of its snapping teeth filled her with terror, this is it, was all she could think as she felt herself drift into darkness.
Melanie looked over to where she last saw Charlie, seeing neither her or Nelson. Her heart dropped as she looked over the steep hill. It was one big trap with twisted vines and limbs from the old oak trees; hidden snake holes, and small ditches. Nelson's barking filled the air, echoing downward and away from where she stood.
"Charlie?!" Her hands shook uncontrollably, failing to get her weapons steady. A growler darts for her but she hits him with the butt of her knife to put room between them before plunging the blade into his head. She takes a few steps back, trying to avert her eyes in every direction. Growlers appear from every which way when she sees a small clearing. Melanie darts for it, sliding between two growlers.
She tumbles down the hill, reaching for anything to grab onto before a tangle of roots stop her, the abrupt stop sends a shock of pain through in her ankles. Her heart races a mile a minute, growlers begin to fall to the left and right of her. She bares her feet onto anything that will hold her as she makes the climb down, her arm pulsing with pain. What was probably only a minute felt like an eternity before she makes it to the bottom.
Nelson runs to her barking, snapping at growlers. Their already dead limbs in a tangle, broken off from the fall. Melanie looks up the hill, maybe 20 feet or more, at the top are more growlers, the glow of the moon behind them.
"Charlie?" Melanie struggles to call out for her friend, reaching for her flashlight. She hits the side of it trying to make the light brighter when it flashes over Charlie, about a yard away from her, laying limp with a dead growler splayed across her legs. Nelson yaps and cries relentlessly. His distress only aggravating and attracting more growlers as they continue to surround the area. Creeping from behind the large trees, a mass of the dead things is in their midst. Melanie makes a swift motion to get over to her friend. She kneels over her, her exposed skin covered in cuts and nicks. Her ankle looks to be swelling up. Melanie gives her a once over, the fresh blood seeping through her friend's shirt sends a chill down her spine. Nelson's barking rings her attention before she realizes it's moving farther away. She calls out to him with no success, his tail falls in her sight as he runs away from them.
Melanie grabs her head, feeling it spin in her hands. She is unsure if her friend has suffered any other injuries like one to her head or back. Even worse, she's not sure if her friend has been bitten.
Think Melanie.
Behind her she hears thud after thud as the growlers continue to follow her path down the hill, most lose their ability to walk but not enough.
"Go." A pained groan comes faintly from Charlotte's throat.
Melanie frowns looking down at her, shaking her head fervently against her command. "I'm not leaving you here." Melanie wraps her hand around the back of Charlotte's head, the motion alone causes her to cry out.
"Run Mel." Her tone is demanding through the layer of pain she's surely feeling.
"I can move you, we can hide until they pass."
All of a sudden voices that are not their own permeate the air, forcing Melanie into a frantic search, looking for anything to get the two of them out.
"I don't hear any dog just a damn herd closing in." They both hear a man yell to someone else.
Charlie grunts in anger, "get out."
Her fighting words seem to take everything out of her. Everything begins to move in slow motion all the while Melanie's mind is racing for an escape plan.
A growler comes up behind her, she stands up pushing it down, aiming a bullet through its head. A few more stagger towards them, the only clear light is the flash that follows with each shot of her gun, knowing whoever else was there would only be drawn to her. The voice of one man seems to quiet as he hears the shots fire from Melanie's gun. She looks around, unable to see where he is. The amount of growlers is too much to control in time for her to get Charlotte to safety, the voices have moved away from the herd but neither can be sure where the man has gone. Melanie wipes away the hot tears that trickle down her cheeks.
She feels a thump at her ankle, she looks down and sees Charlotte using all her might to ball up her fist, pushing it against her.
"Leave!" She tries to yell. Another growler reaches for Melanie, she beats its head with the end of her flashlight until he falls before another runs to her, she shoots it. Melanie throws lifeless growlers over Charlotte, smearing their blood over her friend's cheeks and clothes to mask her from the others who have seemed to take shelter amid the dark and wooded area.
She stares at her friend for another second before forcing herself to her feet. Charlotte looks at Melanie, screaming on the inside for her to go, though the fear of being alone draws tears out of her own eyes.
"Hey!" One of the men yells angrily.
Before she can comprehend a direction her legs begin to move, everything around her blurs into one picture. Suddenly a loud pop goes off and a bullet penetrates the ground just feet away from Melanie, she looks in the direction of a shadowed man. She keeps running, hearing the hollowed popping of a gun but his bullets miss her. Trees begin to blend, the starry sky above her moves with long streaks of white as she runs faster, weaving her way outside of the herd. She looks back and watches growlers follow, some continue towards the man, others disperse.
She makes a hard right, sighting a small burrow, hidden mostly by branches and other dead foliage. She readies to hide herself in the small area when the voices of several people pierce her ear.
"Don't let her outta your sight!" One demands. She looks back and two of them are gaining on her. Melanie does her best not to panic, her footsteps pressed hard into the ground as she tries to speed up. A growler appears from behind a tree and Melanie ducks under his outstretched arm, pushing it towards the pair. It latches onto one of them and his screams echo into the night air. A hooting owl flees a nearby tree from the sudden sound.
She feels him at the heel of her feet when he's able to reach for her shoulder, whipping her around. Melanie spins on the heels of her feet and they land on the ground, she falls into his lap. She turns around with her arm around his neck and shoves the palm of her hand upwards against his nose, the sound of his yell mimics that of his comrade. She fumbles away from him, reaching for her gun. He laughs maniacally as he watches her shaking hands struggle to hold it steady, clicking the safety off. Blood falls from his nose staining his teeth and chin.
"Mike!" A third man yells in search for his friend. Before she can turn to run the man has her in his strong grip, turning her around. He threatens to shoot her as he wraps his arm around her neck, his hot breath making the hair on the back of her neck to rise.
Melanie yells, unafraid of his warning, she clamps her teeth down on his exposed skin, feeling his skin break beneath her teeth. He screams in pain, pistol-whipping her. Everything falls around her as she spirals into darkness, she wants to yell when she feels him pick her up. Melanie slurs words, trying to fight the unconsciousness beckoning to overcome her.
"No!" The strength of her voice surprises even her, she begins kicking, writhing in his hold as he curses at her. The other man with the broken nose helps him, grabbing her leg. Melanie kicks her foot as hard as she can, hitting him again the nose. He screams, dropping her instantly.
The other who has his arms under her struggles to keep a firm hold as she continues to fight. He drags her a few more feet before dropping her. Melanie, with her head pounding, struggles to her feet before she feels a blow to the side of her head. In an instant, everything goes black.
Two years earlier.
"Please call me back when you get this Charlie, I'm driving to my parents' house right now-" Melanie slammed on her brakes just before she crushed the bumper of the car in front of her. There was a sudden back up on the road surrounding the turnpike. People were heading in the opposite direction that she was going. She squinted her eyes, struggling to see what was happening three cars ahead of her. Slowly her eyes made sense of the peculiar show; a woman walked slowly across the road, lunging for the officers trying to detain her. A few brazen people stuck their heads out of their car windows to get the footage on their phones. Melanie looked on in rising horror.
"I don-I don't know what's going on but just stay safe, I'll see you soon okay?" She kept the phone pressed to her ear as if waiting for an answer from her friend. She sighed, tapping the red button to end the call. She closed her eyes, making a mental plan.
"Okay Mel come on." Her grip on the steering wheel tightened with determination to make it back to her house. She'd yet to get a hold of her parents since the initial phone call where they told her she needed to get home. What Melanie knew of her city was now falling apart in riots and those roaming people.
The turnpike heading into New Jersey was virtually empty, her worries spiked wondering why everyone was fleeing her home state, only alarming her more. Melanie laid her hand on the horn, forcing people to move their cars so she could get to the entrance of the highway. Most watched in disbelief and confusion as the woman continued to scratch at their car windows.
Once she got on the highway the emptiness settled in, Melanie had never seen it so empty. Just a month ago Melanie was still away at school in New York, her father called letting her know of a small outbreak.
"Odd thing but they seem to be in control of it." Their talk about it was normal, there wasn't even an inkling of distress in her dad as he explained it to her, though his knowledge of it was as good as any other.
"Causes some kind of skin rash I guess." He mumbled into the phone. Melanie could hear him measuring pieces of wood in the garage. He was making a new dining table set for her mom as an anniversary gift.
"Huh, weird, Charlie hasn't mentioned anything, have you heard from her parents?" Melanie read over the same page from her study book, not paying attention to the information as she doodled on her paper, listening to the sound of her dad's measuring tape as he pulled it from the re-tractor.
"They came over for dinner last week, John said there's been one case of outbreak in Bergen County so far but the town is hours from us." Melanie nodded to herself as she darkened a piece of her meaningless doodle, breaking the lead of the pencil in the process, she rolled her eyes, giving up.
Melanie's mind rushed over the minute conversation, her heart beating out of her chest. Over that month she was buried in studying for exams and nearing the end of her junior year in college. It wasn't until a breaking news story flashed all through New York just a few days ago. Now she found herself in a panic to get to her house in New Jersey.
It was only when she reached her neighborhood did she finally slow down, turning down her street that was lined with trees. It was dusk, normally her parents would have gone on an evening stroll, saying hello to whomever they passed by. Stopping for a few minutes to chat with their neighbor Mr. Olsen who walked his dog twice daily, once in the morning and once just before dark. There was no sign of anyone on a leisurely walk as Melanie drove further down her street.
Some people were out but they were boarding up their windows and building barriers in front of their doors. They watched with fear and some looked on with disdain as she drove by. They were no longer the warm and inviting neighbors she once knew. The ones she and her family would spend time with during block parties or barbecues over the summer. There were no longer signs of kids playing in their front lawns. The neighborhood was a virtual ghost town.
She shook her head, confused, pulling carefully into her driveway. Her parents' cars were still there, she noted the dust and dirt that coated the shiny paint as she walked by.
"Come on." She groaned, looking for her house key impatiently, banging on the door in the process.
"Mom, dad!" She yelled. Uncaring to the neighbors that poked their heads out from beyond the curtains, those that were outside hammering planks across their windows stopped to look at the commotion.
She pressed her face up to the glass panels on the front door; her heavy breaths fogging up the glass. Finally her mom made her way to the door giving her sudden relief.
Thank God. She said a quiet praise, watching her approach with caution.
"It's me-" her breath caught in her throat as the relief on her face slowly disappeared. An awful sound of strained and ragged breathing began to fill her ears from beyond the door.
"Melanie!" Hands grasped her shoulders sending the hairs all over her body to stand straight up. Melanie screamed, turning to the voice and pushing them away.
"Melanie, Mel-" Melanie recognized her dad, Grant, who stepped out of her way, his arms stretched out to her. He hugged her tightly; "honey we have to go across the street." Melanie shook her head, trying to push him away.
"Melanie." Her dad tightened his hands around her, shaking her in frustration. Their neighbor ran up, pressing a calm hand on Grant's shoulder. He sighed, looking beyond Melanie at the door. She watched his face fall in despair.
"Mom caught the virus honey." Melanie's mind raced, looking back at her mom, what she could make of her. Her mom clawed at the glass, her skin was rotting and her eyes were gray and cold. Melanie's knees gave way prompting her dad to grab hold of her arm while their neighbor grabbed hold of the other. They walked her together, making small defeated steps across the street.
Days passed since Melanie arrived back in New Jersey, learning more about the disease that was turning people into flesh-eating-
"zombies?" Melanie stood up from the couch, looking at her dad like he was insane, "so they die and come back to life?" Grant quieted her not wanting to scare the neighbors' younger children, waiting for her to sit back down before he continued.
"Sort of, it's a virus in us already, when brought in contact with an infected person, this virus takes effect on the brain somehow, but for lack of a better term-" Grant seemed just as confused, struggling himself to even explain what he could to his daughter. Melanie looked around the room at her neighbors who shared the same expression of fear.
Her phone trilled loudly, making the four of them jump from the fear that stayed close by.
"It's Char-Charlie!" Melanie answered the call, moving into the dining room to take the call.
"Melanie I'm with my parents, I've been trying to call you but they've restricted the phone lines-"
You're okay though, everyone is okay?" Melanie spat out.
"Yes we're all okay." Melanie could hear Charlie's voice shaking. Something she was never used to seeing or hearing was her friend in any sort of panic. Even if she was feeling it internally, Charlotte kept her outward appearance calm and collected.
"Your mom and dad, are they okay, you're with them Mel?" Charlie asked with hope in her voice.
Melanie shook her head, the cries she forced to stay away now lodged in her throat; "my mom-" Melanie struggled to say it out loud. She listened as her friend mumbled something, her breathing becoming uneven.
"Okay, Mel- Melanie my parents and I are coming to get you and your dad, I don't know what areas are restricted but be ready by morning, before dawn." Melanie nodded her head as if Charlie could see her, going back out to the living room.
"I need you to tell me that you understand, this virus is taking over faster than we can move, we are coming to get you okay?"
"Y-Yes!" Melanie struggled to get the words out, putting the call on speaker so her dad could listen in; "where will we go Charlie?"
"There's some sort of relief cause starting up in Philadelphia, we'll make our way there once we have you and your dad."
"Okay."
"Melanie, we're going to be okay, just be ready." Melanie with Charlie's instruction, looking at her dad who nodded with her.
"Wait for me to call you-" Melanie listened to the phone line cut out for a second, the silence on the other end deafening in her ears.
"Mel, the phone cut out I don't know if you can hear me, Melanie?"
"Yes, yes I hear you," Melanie spoke louder into the phone. Silence followed for another few seconds.
"Melanie if you hear me, I will see you in the morning, okay?" The determination in her friend's words came out like a promise. There would be no other option.
Melanie nodded her head; "I hear you Charlie." She kept the phone pressed to her ear until Charlotte ended the phone call. Grant put his hands on Melanie's shoulders, consoling her.
"They'll be okay honey." He reassured her. Melanie looked at him, forcing a smile on her worried face. They sat there quietly, the room feeling as if it was spinning around them as they tried to get their bearings.
Nobody had much of an appetite for dinner; they watched their neighbors' two children play, their innocence shielding them from the current happenings unraveling around them. Melanie and her dad stayed downstairs on the couches once everyone else went up to bed.
Melanie squinted as she checked the time on her phone, losing count after a while of how many times she did that. It was past midnight and all she could hope for was that Charlie would arrive like she promised she would with her parents. She moved her gaze across the dark room to where her dad was, hoping he was sleeping. He wasn't. He moved his foot back and forth and she realized he was staring up at the ceiling, his hands rested over his stomach.
"Can't sleep either?" Her soft voice caused him to jump, drawing him away from whatever deep thought he was in. She watched him turn to his side prompting her to do the same so they were facing each other. The glow from the moon outside streamed in through the curtains washing over them allowing them to make out the expressions on each other's faces.
Grant smiled meekly at his daughter, the sadness sat clearly in his eyes. Melanie didn't want to ask but curiosity often got the best of her, something her parents always counseled her on because wanting to know more would at times end up hurting her.
"How?" Her question was simple. They stared at each other while Grant searched her face, maybe to see if she truly wanted to know or maybe the answer was finely worded somewhere in her expression. He knew she understood the virus was something every human already had, death causing the effect afterward.
"I was out getting some supplies, I wasn't there when it happened but when I came back she was in the front yard just roaming-" his words dropped off with uncertainty while his eyes moved around them, Melanie watched as if he was replaying the scene in his head.
"She walked up to my car and I saw the bite on her neck." Grant stopped again seeing the disturbed look on his daughter's face. She turned on her back, shutting her eyes.
"We're doomed no matter what," Melanie said after a few minutes. Grant moved the blanket off of him, walking over to Melanie and moving her so she would sit inside of his embrace. She leaned her head on his shoulder, soothed by the sound of his strong heartbeat.
He gripped her arm tighter; "we'll do whatever we have to to survive this, okay kiddo?"
Melanie forced a smile, nodding with her head still rested on him. He squeezed her arm, kissing the top of her head.