This is my very first fanfic! It was the first in a series of five short stories I wrote for my high school creative writing class about the events of five different people and how they coped with the aftermath of the zombie apocalypse. I got a B. ) Please feel free to review, honesty is greatly appreciated.
Reign of the Dead
Stranded and isolated, a lone man is faced with a hard choice.
SOLDIER
Private Eric Tims was awoken to the sound of sirens. Everyone in his barracks in turn jumped out of their bunks as a sergeant came running into the barracks screaming for everyone to get up and get their gear ready. A state of emergency had been declared. Eric quickly put on his fatigues and ran out. As he arrived on the grounds, he could see smoke rising from outside of the base, apparently parts of the city were now on fire. Eric lined up with the rest of his platoon. Lt. Lewiston quickly briefed the men on the current situation. While other soldiers ran around them, as well as hummers driving by, it seemed as if everything around them was in chaos. Lewiston started speaking rapidly and some of what he said couldn't be made out above the sirens or noise of vehicles and soldiers running by and screaming other orders. But from what he heard, it seemed as if it wasn't possible. According to the Lieutenant, the dead were now running mad throughout the city killing at will. Police and National Guard roadblocks were being overrun and estimates say that at least half of the city's population is either dead or among the living dead.
Orders were given and within five minutes Eric was sitting in a covered transport truck with 20 other soldiers leaving the base. The second truck behind them held 20 more men from his unit. Two hummers with mounted machine guns drove on either side of the truck and no more than two minutes after leaving the base, began firing. Occasionally the truck would hit something or drive over something. He wondered what it was, but probably didn't want to know. One of the men near the back of the truck where they could see out started swearing as him and two other soldiers looked out the back. Eric sat deep in the truck near the cab and could not view the outside. He felt the truck turn, then turn again. Then all of a sudden the truck skidded to a stop and everyone in the back flew forward.
"What the hell?" Someone said.
Sgt. Darien stood up and yelled to the cab. "What the hell is going on!"
Just then Eric heard gun fire coming from the cab, then screams. "Shit!" One of the soldiers said and jumped out the back. The truck behind them started honking and Eric could see it backing up fast with one of the hummers. The soldier that jumped out ran after it.
"What's going on?" Someone else said. The truck started shaking and everyone held on to each other. Two other soldiers jumped out the back. Darien yelled for them to get back in, but they were already gone, Eric could hear gunfire and screaming.
"We gotta get outta here!" Ritchie said. Ritchie sat next to Eric and Eric could see the look of fear in his eyes. All of this seemed to happen in a matter of seconds and just as Ritchie said that, hands started grabbing through the covers of the truck trying to get inside. The other hummer had never stopped firing since the truck stopped. The driver in the remaining hummer radioed to Sgt. Darien for everyone to "get the fuck out". Darien ordered everyone to bail. Immediately soldiers started ditching the truck out the back fast. Eric grabbed Ritchie and his M16 and ran towards the back. The hummer stopped firing to reload. Eric and Ritchie were one of the last few still in the truck.
Eric heard the gunner that was reloading yell out, "Look out!" Just then a violent crash threw the truck over on it's side. Eric lost Ritchie's grip and flew into the air. Darkness enveloped him and he blacked out.
Eric awoke slowly from his blackout. He opened his eyes, but it was still dark around him. He realized that he was underneath the truck cover and was lying on concrete. He could smell smoke and slowly crawled out from underneath the cover. The morning light hurt his eyes for a second, but soon he realized that he was in hell. At first it looked like a crowd of people at a park or some type of gathering; with ordinary people in their clothes just walking around or running. It wasn't too dense a crowd, but many were around. But something was different when he looked at their faces. One main thing was that many of them were either severely scarred or beaten or downright pale as death. Soon taking a closer look at their clothes which were apparently ripped or dirty, he realized what he was looking at. The living dead. Then he saw six of them huddled over Ritchie tearing pieces of flesh off of his dead corpse and stuffing it in their mouths like hungry jackals. It was unreal and he knew he had only a few seconds before any of the others saw him and overwhelmed him.
Grabbing a nearby M16, Eric got to his feet and started running. As he ran by the overturned truck which was severely damaged he saw that a semi truck had slammed into them from the side and had smashed into some trees. Three undead could be seen struggling with something from inside the semi's cab. But Eric didn't look long and didn't get far before getting noticed. He heard growls and screams coming from behind him and turned to see six or so chasing him. He wondered where the hell the other truck had gone. He saw Sgt. Darien standing with two other soldiers by the sidewalk, one of them had an M16 in their hand. Eric ran towards them and called out, but when one of the soldiers turned, he saw that his neck had been torn out and was now one of those creatures. So were Darien and the other man. Eric ran the other way cutting through a park as the former soldier dropped the M16 and pursued Eric. He hopped a chain fence and cut across a small park that was situated near the downtown area. He turned to see them just run into it and fall down. Only one managed to crawl over it. He stopped for a second realizing the park was empty. He turned and took aim at one only then realizing what it was, or used to be. He froze for a second. What was chasing him was a teenager, probably no more than 15. But it was either the creature or him. Eric fired four shots in it's chest, but it kept coming. Then he fired two shots to the head and it dropped dead.
Three others crawled over the fence either intentionally or accidentally. But it was all Eric needed to get going again. As he ran across the park, he felt his stomach drop a hundred feet. Swarms of the undead were now running at him from across the opposite side of the park. He turned back to see that the three that were chasing him were now joined by at least 10 others that had found away around the fence. It was happening so fast, Eric didn't know what to do. He saw a line of large trees at the edge of the small park and ran towards them. He slung the M16 around his shoulders and climbed the nearest tree going up as far as he could. He heard growling and screaming coming from below and could see a lot of movement. He went higher up the tree and managed to find an opening in the leaves where he could look out over the park and the nearby streets. The noises from below were inhuman and terrified him. He could catch a look at their faces every now and then. Some were half mutilated others seemed rather normal except for their pale eyes and cringing looks of hate on their faces. The tree, though very thick, shook slightly as they tried to scramble up, but none would get very far. Eric could see that they were not intelligent enough to climb up.
Eric looked out over the streets and could see lots more coming from the city. He saw two cars drive around the undead in the distance. He saw two people be pulled from another car after it hit one and crashed into the side of a building. They were overwhelmed and ripped to pieces. He could hear their screams die off as the victorious creatures had their new meal. An hour passed; then three, then five, soon it was late afternoon. Eric looked up at the sky and saw the sun was well on the other side of the park. He looked down at his watch and saw it was 18:34 hours or 6:34pm. He had been up in the tree for 11 hours. The horde of undead below had grown in number and seemed to fill the small field. "Nice day at the park." Eric said to himself. Hope faded fast. No one could see him in the tree from the air because of the leaves, plus no helicopter had flown overhead in the last 7 hours. His stomach growled with hunger and he was thirsty. Eric situated himself securely up in the tree pretty far, about 30 feet or so above the ground. He sat in an almost natural seat between two trunks where the tree split. He used the strap on the M16 to tie himself around the trunk where he wouldn't fall off. The crowd below had become a loud unison chorus of growls and moans. The tree constantly swayed slightly as they tried to climb. One actually managed to climb up on two branches before falling off. As nightfall came, Eric found that sleep would be impossible. Fear came over him and seemed to drive him mad with paranoia. The sky went dark and the streetlights came on. The ground around him seemed to move in waves as the dead seemed to crowd in the hundreds.
Throughout the night, Eric thought about many things: his family, friends, how the world was coping with this, if there were any other survivors, if someone would rescue him, if he could somehow escape, and one main lingering thought… suicide. Eric was exhausted by morning. He felt weak, hungry, and thirsty. He heard a bird chirp and looked up as a robin looked down at him. He stared at it thinking how lucky it was to have wings and be so small and insignificant. The tree shook again and the bird flew away. Just over a day ago he was a normal soldier in a normal world. Now he was a cast away on a small island in the sea of the dead. He thought of god and if he had done anything to deserve this. He hadn't been an active churchgoer and wondered what it would be like now if he had never joined the military. Perhaps he would be with his family right now hiding out somewhere safe. The tree shook again and knocked him out of his daydream.
"Please let this be a dream… please let this be a dream…" He repeated for ten minutes straight. He tried to will himself awake as this could only be a nightmare. The creatures thundered into frenzy and they jumped and growled and gnawed at the tree to get to him. "Shut up you bastards! Just shut the fuck up!" Eric screamed. "Leave me alone!" They growled and jumped and clawed trying to get to him even more. Eric aimed his M16 down and fired into the crowd below, then stopped. He put the gun between his legs again and rested his head against the tree. "… Just leave me alone…"
As evening approached he prayed. Prayed for forgiveness for the things he had done in life and for what he had to do next. He prayed for his family and for any other survivors out there. He was taught it was a mortal sin to commit suicide, but what other choice did he have? If he waited a week in that tree he would be too weak do go anywhere and he would rather die by his own hand than starve to death or be eaten alive by those below. Eric prayed for a sign, something to show that he might be saved. Another hour went by and when he was done, it was almost dark again. He would wait one more night.
He slept five rocky hours that night. By morning he could see the crowd was larger than the day before. He waited for the sun to rise and give him good light. He checked the strap around his body to make sure he didn't fall after he did what he had to do. He prayed again for a few minutes. When he was done making his peace, he checked his rifle to make sure everything was in place. The gun almost was too long for him to reach the trigger, but he could still reach it. He slowly placed the barrel to his forehead and placed his thumb outside the trigger guard. He hesitated for a moment then placed his thumb on the trigger. He closed his eyes and was going to fire when a bird chirped near him. He brushed the sound away and prepared to fire, when the bird chirped again, this time with a little more persistence. He looked up and saw an angel… or what looked like one. The robin had spread it's wings and was silhouetted by the morning sun. As it flew away he could see what looked like a thick wire behind some leaves. He lowered the M16 slowly and looked closer. He needed to stand up. He carefully set his M16 between his legs and undid the strap. Suddenly he felt naked. The strap had been holding him in place for two days and had been his only security. Now without it, he was free and could fall down if he was not careful. The undead below became agitated even more now that he was moving.
Eric raised himself up slowly; his legs were much weaker since he had been in the tree so long. But he managed to stand up and look at the wire. It was up about 5 or so feet above him and behind some leaves which is why he didn't see it earlier. The wire stretched through the leaves and out towards the street. He was amazed he had not spotted it earlier since he had a clear view of the street. It was a power line, a thick one too. Eric wondered if it was dead. The night before, he remembered, the city had been pitch black. Even the streetlights didn't come on. Quickly, he tied his left arm to one of the large trunks so that if he was shocked off of his feet he wouldn't fall completely out of the tree. After what seemed like an eternity, he finally gathered up enough courage to touch the wire. He pat it quickly once, then a couple times, then held onto it. It was a dead wire and sturdy at that! The wire stretched out across the street to a fire escape on a building. A surge of hope swelled up within him. He found a possible raft off of his island. He realized he was weak, but still strong enough to climb the wire. Plus it was going slightly downward towards the building. He sat back in his seat in the tree looking down at the crowd clustering around it. He had now two choices: either die on the tree, or risk an escape. He closed his eyes and prayed. He would wait for the bird to return. If it did by nightfall he would attempt to escape the next day, if it didn't he would end his life there in the tree. Either way it would be his choice, not the undead's. Eric closed his eyes and thanked god for the ray of hope, then looked to the sky and waited.
THE END
