Still numb, Cameron mindlessly wiped the blood and brain off his knife on the dead cop's uniform. "Joey," he said, his voice hollow.
"Yeah," he answered, sounding scared.
"Can you climb out a window or something?"
"No, I'm on the fourth floor," he said, sounding even more upset when he realized this fact.
"Call whoever you can for help," Cameron told him, closing his blade and sticking it in his pocket. "But if they come to you, make sure to tell them to bring weapons…. Those things outside your door aren't the people you know anymore."
"What're you talking about, Cam?" Mike asked.
"When the cop got back up, it was kill or be killed, Mike."
"ARE YOU SAYING YOU KILLED THE COP?" Mike exclaimed sounding horrified. "Stop fucking around!"
"I'm not."
"Well whatever the hell your reasoning was, you have got to get outta town!"
Cameron went back to his window and opened the blinds. Looking towards the main road, he was horrified to see people running every which way. One, a particularly bloody and mangled man, ran straight for one of Cameron's neighbors. He almost vomited again as Cameron witnessed the monster grab his neighbor's arm and bite down on it.
"Fuck me," he croaked, on the verge of tears as he stumbled back. "This shit is spreading."
"Spreading?" said Mike, confused.
"There are more of the things the cop turned into outside my house!"
"I don't see any."
"Well you will, Mike! We have to get out town before we're overrun."
"What about me?" Joey asked desperately.
"I'm so sorry Joey, I can't do anything for you. All you can do is keep calling for help."
"But—"
"I'm sorry!" As he said it, Cameron grabbed his controller and pressed the B button to leave the party. He then took out his cell phone and called Mike.
"Why did you leave?" Mike immediately asked.
"Because there's nothing we can do for him, and we have to leave," he promptly answered. "Look, meet me at…at—shit!" Cameron paused for a second and tried to think. "Just meet me at the old man's place."
"What? Cam—" Cameron hung up on him.
He then took one more look at his TV and decided. Cameron selected everyone on his friends list and his most recent players list, and composed a voice message: "If at the time you get this, you still don't know what's happening…you will soon. Arm yourselves and run. Please." He sent the message and turned off his Xbox.
At that moment Cameron went into autopilot. Grabbing his backpack, he zipped it open to empty it of its contents. From there he went to the kitchen and began stuffing all he could into it: bread, cereal, cans—nothing that needed refrigeration. He tried his best to tune out the sounds of cars zooming past the house, crashes, and screams of terrors.
When nothing else would fit in his backpack, Cameron tried to think of anything else he needed. Outside his window he saw to his horror as three monsters were feasting on his lawn. That, along with how hard his first kill just was, meant that needed a better weapon.
Without a second thought, Cameron went back up to his room and removed the cop's gun from his holster. He then remembered that the cop had opened fire earlier. Being careful not to set it off, he examined the gun and ejected the clip. "Dammit!" There were only six bullets. Upon further inspection of the body, Cameron was able to find one more clip. And before leaving his room Cameron took his cell phone charger.
Believing himself prepared, Cameron went to the key rack and grabbed, much to his dismay, the keys to his parent's new Honda in the garage. He was forbidden from driving it, so Cameron had no experience behind the wheel. It crossed his mind to make a dash for the Toyota, but he had no confidence in his aim or speed.
With no other choice, Cameron entered his garage, got into the drivers seat of the Honda after tossing his things in the back, and pushed the button to open the garage door. The gun was pressing into his back, so he put it on the cup holder for easy access. As the garage door rattled open, Cameron instantly realized how stupid he was.
The noise obviously got the attention of those things outside, and a small horde of them started banging on the door as it went up. Nausea washed all over him again as the monsters ducked under the door the first chance they got. Cameron got an up close look at them as they started to beat their fists on the window, teeth gnawing at him, eyes pale, and howling loudly.
Without hesitation Cameron shifted into reverse, and pressed hard on the accelerator. The ones behind him were knocked back, and he ran a couple over as he exited the driveway. What made it worse was that he recognized a couple of them. Upon getting on the road, he shifted to drive, and pressed the accelerator once more as a girl that Cameron used have a crush on left a bloody smear on his windshield.
When Cameron made a left on the main road, he began to focus his thoughts. He had told Mike to meet him at the old man's place. That referred to a farm that a friend of theirs owned a couple of miles south, so Cameron was already headed in the right direction.
Now all he had to do was navigate his way through the suburbs, which may have sounded like a pleasant drive any other day, but not today. Cameron wasn't the only one that was making a run for it. Cars kept on racing past him in an attempt to escape. Those monsters were still running around and chasing down people.
More than once Cameron had to brake and swerve out of the way as a car came peeling out of an infested neighborhood. Some even crashed into other cars, screwing over all the occupants in the process. There were even more accidents when drivers completely ignored a red light. Almost every intersection Cameron passed there was a wreck, with those monsters swarming around it. Cameron had to be very careful. At each intersection he slowed down to make sure no came speeding by and went on (green light or not).
Finally Cameron reached a less populated area. By no means did he think he was out of danger, but it was a start. Instead of taking the usual route to the old man's place, he made a detour. The road that he was on would have taken him through a small population center, but it was still a population center.
Cameron started to ease up a little bit, and that was when tears started forming. It was horrible. In just half an hour the world that Cameron had grown up in had gone up in flames. The area that once he considered his backyard was now alien. And all of a sudden he began to feel the drawback of driving the Honda. Yes, it was a nice car, better than his car, but it wasn't his car. The braking felt too sensitive, and the accelerator took too much weight to press.
He now had to take even more care while driving.
Finally Cameron reached the farm, and began pulling up on the driveway. And when he parked in front of the house he saw as the old man came out, aiming a rifle in Cameron's direction.