Chapter 3

Jay Box

7:30 AM, Monday

Well, this has been strange. In the last twenty-four hours, I've seen a woman eaten by zombies, seen a mutilated body, lost my lunch, given myself a fat lip, nearly been killed by a store owner, attacked by zombies, and attacked by zombies again. Man, I could write a hell of a book if I ever get out of this alive.

This Mercer guy...he seems like a loner. Well, actually, I guess he is if he's running a gun shop in the middle of nowhere, but still. Oh well, he seems a lot brighter than Trigger-Happy over here. Dumbass blew up the bridge. Where did he get that rocket launcher anyway? We could have used it earlier. Some soldier. Hey, what's that noise?

"Sssh!" I ordered the quarreling soldiers, who were blaming Trigger-Happy for his stupidity.

"Listen."

"I don't hear anything." muttered another soldier, who I had nicknamed Control Freak.

I glared at him, just as another low, guttural moan passed through the trees.

"Whoa! What was that?" asked Mercer.

"I think they found us." I answered.

"Who found us?" asked Soul Patch.

"They did. The other zombies."

Trigger-Happy took a few steps backwards. Whatever was in the trees was scaring him really badly. I mean, it was scaring all of us, but this guy looked like he was about to crap himself. Soul Patch and Control Freak turned, just in time to see Trigger-Happy running for his life.

"Watch out!" warned Soul Patch. But it was too late. Trigger-Happy tripped headlong over a piece of metal lying in the road. As he fell to the ground, the rocket launcher flew off his back and discharged a shell. It smashed into a hill, creating an ear-splitting explosion.

"Shit!" Mercer screamed. "You idiot!"

Just then, we heard the moan again, louder this time. Trigger-Happy got back up to his feet and slowly walked back to us. As he stopped, more moaning sounds were heard, and each one was louder than the last. The five of us huddled together, guns drawn. Then the sounds stopped. Just like that, they stopped.

Trigger-Happy sighed. All of a sudden, a zombie burst out from atop the tree. It scrambled towards Trigger-Happy and latched onto his chest. Trigger-Happy screamed bloody murder as the zombie dug his claws deep into his flesh. Acting fast, Control Freak snatched up a gun and fired, dislodging the zombie from Trigger-Happy's body.

"Oh my God, man!" cried Soul Patch. "Are you all right?"

Mercer and I exchanged looks. What a moron, I thought. No, Trigger-Happy is not all right. The most insecure guy in the group falls on his ass and gets attacked by a zombie, probably getting a heart attack in the process. He is not gonna be all right.

Trigger Happy turned to face us. His chest was bleeding, his eyes were red, and...well, let's just say I learned something new about these zombies. They can infect humans.

Control Freak and Soul Patch stood petrified with fear as Trigger-Happy came towards them, arms outstretched. Oh, come on! Where's a real army man when you need one? I pulled my shotgun off my shoulder and decapitated Trigger-Happy with one shot. The strong, courageous army men behind me sighed as the headless zombie formerly known as Trigger-Happy slumped to the ground. Unfortunately, that wasn't the end of it.

A horde of zombies came down from the mountains, heading for the group of humans standing idly on the freeway. Control Freak was the first to notice. Without even telling us why, he screamed and took off. Asshole. I was glad the zombies got to him before he even got twenty feet away. Although I could have done without the infecting part. Control Freak, too, became one of the living undead as he turned around and began walking menacingly in the opposite direction. Mercer, Soul Patch and I ran for Mercer's Greenwood, which was still sitting in the middle of the road. The three of us got in the car and sped off, knocking down zombies like bowling pins. They flew through the air like ragdolls and rained back down onto the car.

San Fierro, here we come.