Apocalypse
(Emily's POV/First Person)
"Today in breaking news, Scientists are scrambling-"
My finger seemed to have "accidently" slipped on the off button to the remote before my body fell backwards against the bed behind me. Heaving a sigh I would lean back into my hands, lacing my digits into a few strands of my chocolate colored strands. Cranking my head back I would stare up at the cream white colored ceiling only to then hear soft moans and groans which automatically made my stomach churn. "Oh, come on..." I mumbled and reached my hand over to grasp my digits about my mp3 player, plugging each earpiece into my ears, letting the heavy metal blast into my drums. Extending my hand once more I flicked the switch to the side lamp; my room going completely dark within that instant. Little did I know that the moans would start to disappear off into the distance because of this move I had just done and I rolled over on my side, curling up and drifting off to sleep only for one word to escape past my lips as I did so, "Mn, Charlie..."
The heavy metal had ceased from my ears and when my cerulean colored orbs would flutter open from sleep I would then realize just how dead quiet it was. It was eerie; normally I would hear the annoying sounds of my brother usual snorting fit or my mother coughing up a lunge from her older days of chain-smoking. Small creeks were made from my bed as I scooted to the edge and let my bare feet press down into the royal blue carpet below, reaching for my black colored shoes and slipping them on. I was already in a pair of black shorts and a deep colored purple sleeveless top; that was better than anything less than that. My door never closes all the way due to the henges being screwed up nor did I ever have a lock for my door so it was parted open already and my hand's digits pressed into the parting, letting the loud creaks be heard throughout the house while I opened the door all the way. Peeking across the hall from me I saw my brother's door still closed, making me softly blink and then advert my attention down the hall; everything was completely empty. Nobody was here, that's all that's the only reason it was so quiet. But it would be a first time for that considering my brother never left the house anymore and it was Sunday which meant that my mom was always home unless she was getting food. But it was only 9am, she should be awake and sitting at the computer, but there was nothing.
Slowly I let my eyes move down to the carpet floor below, noticing a blood trail starting from the beginning of my door and my brothers', the trail led down the hall and off to the right toward the front door of the house and into the living room. A shuttered breath escaped past my lips as I stepped out into the hall, a few strands of brown falling down off of my shoulders only to trickle against my chest lightly. My steps were slow and cautious; maybe if luck was in my favor for once my brother had just hurt himself as usual and he was fine. Probably laying on the couch and mumbling curse words to himself, but it was just too damn quiet for that. Now arriving to the end of the hall my chest would heave, first looking to the left and into the kitchen where nobody could be seen, the backdoor still locked and closed securely. Now when looking to the right I noticed the front door wide open and the blood trail still extending outside into the pavement.
"Oh God..."
I whispered, rounding the couch and moving to the middle of the living room and now moving out the front door. Come on, Emily... curiosity killed the cat, let's not look any further... Ugh, I know I've seen these horror movies too many times where the stupid girls go looking for somebody and then end up dying themselves... Biting down onto my lower lip I pressed my bare palm against the pearl white front door and peered outside, around the left corner to where the blood trail ended behind my mom's car. Wait... my mom's car? So she was home? But why was it so quiet and empty inside? I ran over toward the car and stared down at my blood soaked brother who looked like he had been eaten by a pack of wolves! My hand moved up to my parted lips, covering my mouth to hold back any screams that pay have escaped and I dropped down to the ground, landing on my bottom. My body was visibly shaking as I sat there and stared at my dead brother, I couldn't explain what could have happened to him.
Truth be told, I never liked my brother and always wished for his death. That sounds so horrible to say to another person but him and I never did get along. But nevertheless he was the man of the house, he was the one there to protect us from nasty intruders and he was dead! My head started to swim but I forced myself to stand, my stomach was in knots and I could have sworn I was about to throw up from the stench of his blood. "I-I have to find mom..." I whispered to myself in reassurance and peeked into the car, but my mom wasn't there and so I went back inside, my heart pounding heavily against my chest. I left the front door open, just in case my mother was outside somewhere and wanted back in or was on the run from the said intruder.
Now arriving at my mom's bedroom which was the last door on the left I tried to turn the knob of the door. I sighed, realizing that it was locked. My mom's door was the only bedroom door that locked, lucky bitch. That meant that she was alive! I gently knocked on the door, "Mom... mom it's me, please let me in." I spoke softly, but I didn't hear anything inside, just pure silence. I bit into my lip; the only way the door could lock is if she was inside so she had to be there! "Mom!" I spoke a bit louder and the chain on the door started to move in a slow mannerism, making a chill crawl up my spine. The door was thrown open and my mom stared at me with black circles under her eyes, "What?" This took me back a bit from her reaction, her son was dead but she seemed so heartless for some reason. "Mom, it isn't safe here, Joe's dead..." My mom nodded her head, "We're all going to die, might as well live life to the fullest now." She closed the door in my face and I couldn't stop blinking. Bitch... Running to the living room again I grabbed the phone and dialed 911 and I got a busy signal.
"That... can't be good."
I dialed 911 again and got a busy signal and I suddenly started to curse up a storm until I heard creaking behind me from the front door. Slowly I would turn my head and stare at my blood covered brother who was staring at me blankly, which made me grow taken back. "Joe..?" I whispered and he just continued to slowly walk over towards me and suddenly he let out a screech before jumping at me. His mouth was a color of red mixed in with yellow which just wasn't natural, I let out a yelp and ducked down, dodging his movements. Was he getting abusive on me at random again? A fit of anger? No, this was different. My brother regained himself and turned back around to face me, dragging his broken foot along the floor's surface, a blood trail following behind him. A let out a soft panting breath as I stepped back, only for a hand to press against my shoulder.
"MOVE!"
The man shoved me to the side and I fell to the ground with a soft grunt, fingers digging into the carpet below. A gunshot was heard and a bullet went straight through my brother's head and he hit fast to the ground. My eyes never left from his figure, but then the man grabbed the back of my shirt collar and yanked me back up, making me let out a soft sound as I was spun around to face him. He almost looked like my father it was rather creepy. The only difference was his hair color was brown rather than black and he had a smaller mustache like it had been recently trimmed. "Say something." He commanded and I stared up at him with parted lips; I wasn't sure WHAT to say! "Say something!" He shouted, his voice still firm almost like none of this was really a big deal. "...Something." I whispered and he frowned at me, "Whatever, good enough I guess." Releasing his grasp from me he would close the door behind him, locking and bolting it shut.
"Is there anybody else alive?"
Came his question and I slowly nodded my head, "My mother... she locked herself into her bedroom." "Smart woman." He complied and moved to her room, almost like he had already known where it was located and knocked upon the hard surface, "C'mon ma'am, we need to move out." Her door opened and she nodded her head, already dressed and ready. He handed her a gun and they both moved to my sides, "Don't I get one?" I inquired and the man simply laughed, "You're much too young, let the GROWN-UPS handle this." He ruffled my hair about and I lowered my eyes and started to grumble from under his touch only to finally start whacking his hands away with a small arm flail. "Alright, let's go! Ma'am give me your keys, we need to drive." My mom did as told and gave him her car-keys and we exited through the door after unlocking it.
It still seemed so quiet and empty; after watching all of those zombie movies and playing some games I still couldn't believe that that is what the problem was. Zombies, really? Were Scientists that stupid to actually go through with their ideas of bringing the dead back to life? Surely people would be better off with the thought of it; but actually going through with it? This made me glare at absolutely nothing as I climbed into the backseat of the car, bringing my knees up against my chest and leaning back in the seat. My mother got in the front passenger seat while the man started the car. Automatically locking the doors was in good timing because that's when something smacked up against my window and I jolted back, my heart nearly pounding out of my chest. The noise had lured a possible zombie right to us and its hands were sliding along the glass, smearing blood against it. "J-Just go!" I called and the man drove off, the zombie left behind and walking after the car as we then took off down the street in a hurry.
"Stay down."
I was told, but I didn't listen; I never was good with being given orders. I stared through my window and my eyes would widen, dead bodies everywhere; some even getting back up to walk again. Finally I paid attention to orders and slid back down in my seat, burying my face into my knees. It was so different in video games and in movies; because it wasn't real. But seeing the real thing up close like this, it tugged at a few emotional cords. As the car ride continued I felt a little nauseated, I had a small case of motion sickness and so I dropped down onto my side and curled up in the backseat, drifting off to sleep for a while until we would arrive to our destination.
"We're here."
This made my eyes reopen as I sat up and rubbed at my eyes, finally focusing on a building . "Where are we?" I whispered still a bit sleepy-eyed and he looked back toward me, finally handing me a gun, "You'll need this, we're going in for survivors. The more people we have the more likely we'll survive in this world." I stared at him for a minute and my mother and himself climbed out of the car and I finally followed, cocking the shotgun as I glanced around. We entered through the main front doors, and we noticed a small group of people off to the side, huddled into a corner with guns. Were they waiting for us? "This is my unit, they've been waiting for me to return with more people to help." A man scoffed and stood up, "So you brought a woman and a child?" I glared, "I am NOT a child!" And a hand was slapped over my mouth by the very first man and I stared up at him, he seemed annoyed from all my outbursts.
"We move. The elevator is stuck downstairs, the doors won't open and the elevator won't touch ground all the way." The others nodded and I just rolled my eyes, following after them. They're probably safer IN the elevator... I thought to myself as we made our way toward the stairwell, running down the steps would turning each sharp corner, guns held out and ready to fire should we encounter anything along the way. If the zombies are attracted to sound... shouldn't we get silent pistols? I shrugged this thought off as we made it to the basement, it was completely pitch black; the only thing emitting light was from the furnace fire just a few feet away from the elevator.
The men were trying to pull the doors open while the people inside did the same from the inside. I stood far back, watching lazily while twirling the gun around in my fingers. I started to question my own sanity at this point considering I seemed so calm and bored; shouldn't I still be scared? I figured that maybe at the end of this hysteria I'll be thrown into a straight jacket later. I chuckled in amusement which again made me look completely insane and it was then that the doors were opened in the elevator. The people were being helped out and suddenly loud screeches could be heard from either within or behind the elevator itself? The people quickly got out and everyone made a run for it, but for some reason I couldn't move, I stared as zombies crawled out from around the sides of the doors.
"EMILY, MOVE!"
Suddenly I snapped out of it; T'ch... guess my mom told that bastard my name. I darted off after the others as we attempted to escape the dark basement and headed back to the stairway, protecting the survivors. I decided to point the gun behind me and start firing at the zombies that were running after us. Running, holycrap they've upgraded. I started to bolt for the stairs and ran up each step along with the others. Everyone made their way into the car and we took off the zombies jumping up onto the car and banging on the glass attempting to get inside. A little girl was sitting beside me screaming and crying while the driver cursed, "Shut that kid up!" I frowned because nobody would so I lifted the girl into my arms and held her close, stroking her hair in a soothing manner, "It's going to be okay. You're alright now." I reassured, offering her a soft smile which made her smile back at me, her tears drying up almost automatically.
The car stopped moving and I stared at the driver seat, "...We're out of gas, aren't we?" I spoke in a low tone of voice and the man nodded reluctantly. This made the girl in my arms whimper and bury her face into my chest and so I ran my fingers through her hair slowly. "Shh... I'll protect you." She whined and simply nodded while moving her face up into my neck instead. I wasn't sure what it was, I already had a soft spot for children...who weren't spoiled rotten. Everyone opened their doors and stepped out, holding out their guns, ready to fire at any zombies that would come their way. Holding the girl in my arms as I stepped out of the car I stared down at her features, curly blonde strands of hair that danced down along her shoulders and she wore a fluffy pink and white dress with white stockings and black dress shoes; she must have went to work with her mother or father and looked fancy for them. This made me smile but only a little, considering the saddening idea that her parents must be dead if I had to be the one taking care of her. Not that I really minded.
The only thing that could be heard were our footsteps as we made our way down the semi-empty highway. I say semi because cars were driven off the road, their doors open with blood spattered every which way. Luckily I had the child's face buried into my neck so she didn't have to see such a scene. "What's your name?" I whispered to her and she peeked up to stare at my eyes before responding, "Abby." I smiled at such a name and then played with her curls for a bit, "such a pretty name." "What's yours?" This made me blink before responding, "Emily..." I never did like my name, I'm not quite sure why; no matter what nickname I was given for my original name I couldn't help but to twinge. Only when Charlie spoke of my name did I feel warm inside. A blush was clear over my cheeks and Abby was poking at it while giggling; ah, I was caught thinking of my lover boy again. I chuckled and nipped at her finger playfully and she squealed, but we were interrupted by the first gunman who spun around to face us, "Would you two shut up? Damn." I frowned and held the girl close to me again before going silent. It wouldn't hurt to keep the girl happy, but whatever old man. I was probably lucky that I didn't say that out loud...
"What's your name by the way?" I decided to quietly whisper toward the first gunman that I had met back at my house and he frowned down at me. I shrugged it off and poked at his side anyway, which made him sigh in irritation. "Alexander, alright?" This made me grin, "So Alex it is." He shrugged and I just chuckled but our moment was cut short as we heard moving in the distance. We all stopped walking and placed our backs against each others, staring outward to see where the noise was coming from. Guns were lifted while our eyes darted around. The sound of blood gurgling and bones cracking made it to my eardrums and I quickly grew sick to my stomach, holding Abby in one arm while extending my other arm to point the gun forward. That's when about five zombies appeared on my side, but when my gaze would shift off to the right or left there would be more coming from every which way. "Shit..." I quietly cursed under my breath and everyone else seemed to have been thinking the same thing.
Suddenly Alexander started to open fire and the zombies screeched and started running towards us. "Oh shit!" A man called and everyone started to fire, including myself. Abby was crying out into my chest while covering her ears with her tiny little hands. I frowned, knowing it must have been hard for her, but it couldn't be helped! It was kill or be killed. Abby seemed to have been like one of those stereotypical girls who ran away alone during a dangerous situation to get away because suddenly she squirmed out of my grasp and ran away. "FUCK!" I screamed and ran away from the circle of shooters; which probably wasn't wise because nobody could cover my side of zombies and they bit into one of the gunmen who let out a scream. I ran after Abby, damn how could a little girl run so fast?
A hand extended and grabbed my shoulder which made me twist around and point my gun to Alex's face but he was staring at me with a frown. "We gotta go!" "But Abby!" I turned around and saw that beautiful little girl now being ripped to shreds by the zombies and I let out a scream, running over and shooting the zombies to death (haha, pun.) hitting them each in the head with a bullet. "Abby!" I cried and ran over to her, but she jumped back up and ran at me, screeching making me fall back to the hard concrete and hold her off of me as she attempted to bite at my face or neck. "Nn..." I squinted my eye shut , I didn't want to kill her just throw her off of me. Alex frowned and shot Abby in the head who went limp in my grip. I laid her down on the ground and suddenly hot tears spilled from my eyes, only to be grabbed by the wrist and dragged away almost quite literally. My shoes were scrapping against the ground as he pulled me along back towards my mother and just a few other survivors. My eyes never left from Abby's blood covered body.
All together we once had fifteen people and now we were narrowed down to six people (including myself). We had arrived back at my house and everyone was settled down into the living room, except for my mom who went into her bedroom, Alex was with her and another man took my brother's room. An elderly couple, another woman, my sister and myself stayed in the living room; my sister had been waiting for us when we arrived. Normally I would have hugged her tightly, glad that she was alive but I was still upset over Abby. I wasn't sure why, maybe it was the cruelty of it all. A few dead bodies laid on the floor around us, they belonged to a few zombies that had gained entry inside and that were shot down. My gun was taken from me by Alex, probably due to my emotional state; I couldn't really blame him.
My sister was sitting behind me, brushing her fingers through my hair in a soothing manner that brought tingles down my spine; it was very comforting and relaxing. Now staring ahead at the woman who was standing I would tip my head to the side she seemed to be twitching and jerking in place. "A-are you alright...?" That's when my sister's eyes widened, "She's been bit..." She whispered into my ear and I looked to where she pointed to the bite mark in her arm. My eyes widened now, "M-mom, Alex this woman is changing!" That's when the flick of a few switches were done and the bedroom lights were turned out. "MOM!" I screamed and she finally shouted back, "Just be quiet and turn the lights out and go to your rooms!" I frowned, it's not like we could, she was blocking the hallway for one. Two, what good would that do if she's already IN OUR HOUSE? Suddenly the woman let out a screech and turned to face us and we all gasped and inched backward. She was coming straight for me, but my sister moved in front of my in a protective older sister movement. But I couldn't let my sister be hurt! "Ann!" I shouted and watched her struggle to keep the woman from biting her, the others were just sitting there. How useless. I stood up and walked off to the side, "Hey bitch! Come and get me, I'm right here!" I was about to run so that she would give chase, but suddenly she lunged at me in a run and bite her teeth into my side. I let out a scream and threw my head back, feeling not only blood leave from my side but a few of my insides leaking out ; which insides I did NOT want to know!
"Bitch.." I cursed and grabbed her by the hair, yanking her head back and dragged her towards the backdoor, which I unlocked and threw her outside where she fell to the ground in a weak lump. I closed the door and locked it, but she started to grab the knob and try to yank the door open from out of my grasp. I turned to face the others, "Go to your rooms!" My sister automatically ran into a bedroom but the elderly couple just sat there which made me so angry. "GO!" They frowned at my rudeness and went into a backroom. Finally the door stopped moving and when I looked out the window part of the door she was gone. I sighed and went into my bedroom, which only had me inside. That made sense though; my door was the only one that didn't lock or have anything to block out a zombie. I frowned and collapsed into my bed, lifting up my shirt slightly to stare down at my wound.
I could already see myself changing into a nasty zombie and walking aimlessly around my room and when someone came to check on me I would almost quite literally; eat them. But then I frowned, there were witnesses that I was bitten, they wouldn't open my door unless it was to kill me. That's when I thought of my lover; Charlie. Was he still alive? Would I possibly be joining him soon? If he was still alive how would he find out about what happened to me? I let out a shuttered breath and stared up at my dark ceiling and that's when I heard the backdoor creak open and my eyes automatically flew open. "The hell..? Did that bitch just ...unlock the door?" I whispered in a shaky breath and stared at my bedroom door. I heard noises of blood gurgling and I bit down into my lower lip; why was Alex and my mom not going to kill any zombies that would come after us? Did they already give up? Almost everyone seemed to have given up at that point and just waited to be eaten. But if that was the case why not just shoot yourself and get it over with? I ran a hand through my own hair and laid my head back. Apparently to Alex and my mom the zombies wouldn't come after us if the lights were out and if we were all quiet, but I found that reasoning simply stupid.
My bedroom door started to open with that eerie creak and I frowned. Figures... That's what I get for having a crappy door like the one I have. I heard soft growls and suddenly a sharp pain in my side again and let out a scream as she bit me once more in the EXACT same spot. I lifted my legs and wrapped them about her neck and then twisted my body, breaking her neck, causing direct hit up to her brain. She dropped to the ground; apparently 'dead' this time. I stared down at the blood oozing out from the wound, and there was a pink and reddish ring around the area like an infection. Guess that would make sense after all; it is literally called being 'infected' when you're a zombie. Reaching over I grabbed onto one of my old white shirts, tearing it using my teeth before tying it about the wound tightly, the blood still seeping through the material. "Ah, whatever..." I closed my eyes, knowing fully well that when I woke up I would no longer be a human anymore; might as well sleep through it, right?