Chapter Eight

Tony stood silently on the broken down car. His ever present, pessimistic scowl dominated his face as the wind blew gently through the barren city street. The image was quite poetic. Granted, of course, there was a slight giggle carried through the air by Tony's two group members. Tony attempted to step forward, but he slipped on the roof of the car, fell off, and subsequently hit the concrete road. The slight giggle exploded into a laugh as Lauren and Geoffrey witnessed Tony's failure to move.

"SHUT UP! THE DAMN CAR TOP WAS SLIPPERY!" Tony yelled. Neither of his companions listened, as they continued laughing hysterically. However they calmed down quickly as they realized exactly what the situation was like. They were in a post-apocalyptic survival situation on an island filled with man-eating zombies. They had but one day to get enough supplies to last them a little under a month's worth of traveling. Not a great situation to be wasting time.

They soon regained their composure and continued on their quest. It became increasingly difficult to find any stores. Most had already been looted, and others were completely locked up from their owners who would never return.

Tony's increasing temper wasn't helping. His frustration was understood, but also it was a cause for concern. If he began doing irrational things, he could potentially endanger himself and everyone who trusted him. He began swearing and yelling when the doors wouldn't open. Lauren tried to calm him, however it was to no avail.

Finally, they came across a place with plenty of food, supplies, and open doors. It was the University of Mar Del Azul. Naturally, Tony opposed going anywhere near the university. Too many people, too many zombies, and too many other problems drabbled out of Tony's mouth, but he couldn't prove his point.

They entered the University with extreme caution. No one in that particular group had attended the school, so they had no idea where they were going. They meandered around until they located the cafeteria. There, they took any food that they could, and they progressed silently. Everything was going smooth until they found the Assembly Center.

Apparently, everyone in the school who chose against evacuating was forced to stay in the assembly center. All that they needed was a single infected person, and everyone was a little bit more than lunch. Unfortunately, no one in Tony's group knew that.

As they entered the massive room, they quickly knew it was a bad idea. The Center was filled with shambling undead bodies and half-eaten bodies. Tony looked at the crowd.

"Shit. Shit. SHIT! SHIT! SHIT!" He screamed. The horde all stumbled towards the door. A chorus of hellish moans echoed through the building, and Tony sprinted out of the building. It did not take even a second for Lauren and Geoffrey to follow suit. They ran across the campus in an attempt to ditch the flesh-eaters. No such luck occurred.

They arrived to the dorms to find themselves locked out. They knew that they needed to hide, and it needed to be fast. About then, Geoffrey made a miraculous observation.

"Hey! The primate research center is right over there! Let's go!" Geoffrey said. There was no time to discuss the safety or choices. They followed him to that building, which was unlocked. They entered and quickly closed and locked the door behind them. After, they progressed down a long hallway.

"It's creepy in here…" Geoffrey began. When no one answered, he understood the seriousness of the moment. They proceeded wordlessly down the hall. Finally, they arrived at the central testing room. The door was sealed from the other side. Lauren attempted to open it, but knew it was futile.

"Damn. So are we just going to stay here until sunset?" She asked. No one answered. Suddenly, there was noise behind the door.

"Hello? Is there someone there?" a voice asked. It sounded weak and tired.

"Who are you?" Tony barked. Lauren gave him a threatening look, and he immediately backed off. She then switched to a more soothing tone, and attempted to talk to the man.

"What is your name?"

"Why should I tell you? I'd rather not get attached to people who will soon be dead."

This was clearly not the response Lauren was hoping for. She continued:

"Alright then. Can you tell us what's going on?"

"Yes. I can. But it'd be better if you didn't know. The knowledge would simply burden you until eventually go crazy and die anyway."

Lauren frowned. She turned towards Tony.

"I give up. Your turn."

Tony smirked and walked to the door.

"Look. I've had a long day. I'm pissed off, and I've got zombies chasing me. I don't need to know your name. All you need to do is tell me what the hell is going on before I break this door down and blow your damn head off." He said calmly. A sigh could be heard through the door.

"Alright if you want to know what's going on, then you obviously have intentions on surviving this ordeal. Look my name is Max Brooks. I'm a scientist here at UMDA. And I… I created the Solanum Virus."

Tony's jaw dropped. He was talking to the man who was responsible for murdering thousands of people. He was shaking as the scientist continued.

"It was completely unintentional. We were testing different chemicals and what effects they had with tumors in the brain. Obviously, this chemical failed. After the disease got out, we tried to come up with an antidote. This only made a mutated form of the virus. It went from extreme hunger, to extreme rage. "

"So what do we do?" Tony asked, the determination loosening from his voice.

"Go to the research room to your right. On the table is a book. I wrote it myself from the last week or so in surviving this situation. It's the big black journal. Add to it as you go along. I'm afraid that I wouldn't be able to continue writing in it much longer. It's a guide to surviving a zombie attack"

Geoffrey had already made his way into the room. He grabbed the book, and afterwards, Max refused to speak anymore. Tony read some of the pages of the journal, intrigued by the information inside. After about an hour, they left the research center, and ultimately left the University completely.

Upon arriving at the hotel, they slept. Tony in particular slept hard. It was the best part of his day.