A Cruel, Undead World

~ Chapter 2 ~

Run, Hide, or Die

Tervu Infection Outbreak Active for: 0 Years, 0 Months, 0 Weeks, 0 Days, 00:27:36.

With her red hair framing her starting-to-wrinkle face, the wife's green narrowed eyes darted to every corner of the girl's house. Though she'd never admit it, the house was beautiful-or so she could see from the living room and dining room combo. It was definitely of a modern scheme, the sofa and matching chairs standing on skinny wooden legs with big, red, leather cushions. The floor was a step down and covered with wooden panels that was made of the same material of the square-shaped coffee table. She could see evidence that this young lady had been interrupted with the commotion, for there was an open book sitting on the side of the coffee table that was threatening to slip off. They sat at the dining table that looked more like a double-sided bar with three white, tall chairs on each side. The girl sat on the opposite side of the couple and briefly introduced herself as Lana. The husband told her his name was Omar, and his wife reluctantly revealed her name to be Fiona.

"Don't get comfortable, we have much to do before the situation worsens," Lana told them. Scoffing, Fiona glared at the woman.

"So you bring us in here, and tell us not to get comfortable; I'm pretty sure that is the opposite of 'good house hospitality'."

"We don't have time for formalities, what you two witnessed is a very serious matter."

"What, exactly, is the situation—if you don't mind me asking?" Omar questioned. Lana took a deep breath and delved into the explanation.

"Do you two remember either watching or reading the events that took place in Lanshiang, China about a year ago?" The two sat there for a moment before Omar raised his hand and made a motion that he kind of did.

"Well, June of last year, there was a bioterrorism attack in China, and just before that there was one here in the United States—

"Wait, bioterrorism? Like attacks on the body? Wouldn't that just be terrorism?" Lana shook her head.

"No, it means that an infectious agent attacks the body and was administered by someone else; or otherwise, not procured naturally. The virus was named the C-Virus by a company called Neo-Umbrella, and when a person becomes infected, their minds are completely shot and they basically turn into wild animals that's only concern is food—but their new craving is human flesh."

"So they became zombies, basically?" Omar stated—Lana nodded. Fiona's face suddenly paled, and she ran through the nearest door, which lead through the kitchen. They could hear her throwing up and Omar stood up and asked his wife if she was okay. Fearing the worse, Lana stood up as well and slipped the combat knife, which was snuggly hidden in her boot, out. Omar glanced at the knife and his eyes widened, but then Fiona came back in wiping her face with a disheveled expression.

"We need to leave! I'm not going to stick around and wait to be eaten by some horrible monsters!" she whined. Lana dropped her arm with the knife down to her side as she looked at Fiona calmly.

"Unfortunately it is too late for that. We don't know how far this has already spread, and because of the last bioterrorist attacks, security has tightened; we would just be going to the edge of the city and back, wasting precious time and resources that could help save our lives when they start the rescue operations."

"Then what do we do?" Omar asked her, fear evident in his eyes as he gravitated towards his wife to help comfort her. Lana thought for a moment before answering.

"You two will take my car. I have provisions that will last a few days but I would rather have more now than wait for the situation to worsen. Go to the store and grab anything and everything you can, warning anybody who will listen if they don't already know."

"We have groceries in our car already…not much, only about a week's worth for two."

"I will grab it, give me your keys—" she was interrupted by Fiona, who became suddenly upset.

"Wait a minute, how do we know all of this isn't a lie for you to try and rob us?!" Lana sighed, annoyed, and shook her head.

"Think what you want but I'm trying to help you, and we don't have time for accusations. Are you really going to risk me being wrong, and go out on your own unprepared?" Fiona didn't respond to this, and taking it as a sign of confirmation, Lana nodded and put her hand out for the keys. Omar hesitated a moment but handed them over, and in turn Lana gave them her keys.

"While you both are gone I will go around the neighbor and warn as many people as I can," the two were about to leave, Fiona pouting slightly, when Lana called to them and made them turn. "Be careful."

"I feel like we've been climbing for hours!" Maja complained. It was very dark, nothing but a small lantern very high above them shone light in this vertical tunnel. Under a trapdoor in the restroom of the food court restaurant was a small tunnel leading underground by ladder. The man, who called himself Michael, had worked here not too long ago and claimed the owner was scared of a similar event happening and had this installed.

"Well, we were already two floors up and this leads pass the basement to an escape route to the farther side of the parking lot. As a worker, you were forced to park in the general area of the exit. My car isn't too far away from where we will surface, and I can take us out of this God forsaken town."

"What was going on with those people?" Jodie asked quietly, feeling very nervous and trying to focus on keeping one foot on a step at all times.

"If what all happened in those other countries like China and Africa was actually true and not some crack-pot's imagination, I'd say those people were turned into some sort of zombie."

"Wait, so like an actual zombie? Like in the video games zombie?" Maja clarified. Michael nodded, forgetting she couldn't see him and after realizing it he vocalizes his answer.

"The car that exploded in the parking lot…was that the cause?" Jodie wondered aloud.

"If I were to take a gander I'd say it was the gas that came from the explosion. Which means once we get outside, try to hold your breath for as long as possible."

"Like O-M-G, you're an idiot if you think that would actually work!" Maja exclaimed angrily. He looked up and glared at the young girl a few steps above him, forgetting she was wearing a skirt. He averted his eyes, blushing furiously. After a couple minutes of silence, Michael took a minute to kick the wall beside him, causing a couple tiny pieces of gravel to fall, and it wasn't long before he could hear them land on the ground.

"We're almost there, then it's just a short walk up a hill back to the surface," Michael informed them. Once they were on the ground, they took haste and ran as fast as they could up the hill. Maja was panting, falling behind because of her high-heeled boots.

"My feet are killing me!" she complained. Jodie stopped for a moment and advised her to take her boots off. Maja refused. "No way! This ground is nothing but dirt, I'll get my feet dirty!"

"Then quit complaining and keep up…" Michael said between breaths, huffing and puffing a bit. Finally they reached an unlocked door, which Michael pushed open. When he did, he and the two girls took a deep breath and held it. Poking his head out the door, Michael could see many crowds of what were now zombies, mostly huddled around fallen shoppers. He climbed out and helped the girls through, and trying not to make a sound, headed toward Michael's old looking, red, compact car. Before they could reach it, a loud snap could be heard and Maja let out a screech as she fell forward. Jodie stopped and came to her, seeing that she had broken her ankle. Michael looked from the young girl near tears to the zombies around them—they heard her too and were all staring at the fresh meat. They made horrid noises and started limping and shuffling towards them. Michael could feel the hair stand on the back of his neck and quickly ran to the two girls and shouted at Jodie to run. She stumbled backwards as she watched him heave Maja up into his arms, then when she knew that the younger one was secure, ran to his car. The zombies were closing in now and gaining speed. Jodie pulled at the doors but they would not open.

"It's locked!" she screamed frantically. Adrenaline pumped through Michael's veins as he fiddled around in his pocket, trying so hard to keep the girl up by pushing her against the car so she was pinned and hovered above the ground. He wasn't quite sure how but he managed to grab the keys and push the automatic unlock button that made the loving sound of the car unlocking. Jodie jumped in and slammed the door just as a zombie ran against it. Michael threw Maja in it and scrambled in as well, barely in the nick of time. He shouted at Jodie to help Maja strap in, since she was basically useless at this point because of her shock and pain. Cramming the keys in the ignition, he started the car and put the car in reverse, backing up over a zombie and made a small squeal rise from Jodie. Putting the car into drive, he slammed his foot against the pedal and his knuckles went white as he fought with the 4,000-pound machine to keep it from swerving into nearby cars. What seemed like a lifetime, the car was finally under control and they zoomed passed the wandering zombies, and minutes later finally exited the mall lot.

The store the married couple went to was simple, yet carried almost everything you could think of, and was called the Tervu City Store. Aside from the mall, it was the largest shopping center in the entire city, and could fit four handsomely sized two-floor houses inside with room to spare. Fiona was shaking in the passenger seat of the car, and looked as if she was about to blast off the seat at any moment. Omar held her hand tightly for comfort, but it did little. He was preoccupied, and it was amazing he drove as well as he did to the store. Once parked, they sat for a moment, staring out the windshield in silence. Finally, Fiona gulped loudly and looked to her husband.

"Are we going to die?" she asked him. He slowly turned to her and stared deep into her eyes with his big brown ones; his very dark—nearly black hair was slightly messy and lay around his forehead in an unorganized fashion. Unable to answer, he simply leaned forward and kissed her on the forehead, and despite the previous problems they had recently been facing, he had never felt closer to this woman than now. Her eyes fluttered as she looked down in a guilty manner, then turned her head away, breaking the kiss.

"If they come after me…you will save me…right?" taking a deep breath, she waited for an answer, not able to look at his face. He took a second, surprised at her question.

"Of course." She just nodded with confirmation and took another breath before putting her hand on the door handle and slowly opened the door; he followed suit. They stepped out of the car and looked around—everything seemed perfectly normal, no one was eating anyone or being eaten.

"It must not have hit here yet, but we have to hurry." Omar stated, and jogged toward the store, Fiona on his heels.

The journey around the store was humorous for many watching the crazy couple, whom were spouting nonsense of zombies and death. No one took them seriously as they ran around the store with two carts, grabbing pretty much anything edible and a few items that might be deemed necessary, shouting lunatics. Only one person out of the crowd of people took a second glance.

His name was Kenneth Shepard, but was known to the community as Kenny. He was a man many had noticed as a newcomer, but hardly anybody knew more about him than a simple name and appearance. He was tall, around six foot, and muscular. He had shocking, ice blue eyes and black hair that almost-but-not-quite covered a small scar on his forehead. On top his head was a hat with a shark logo, looking as if it belonged to some sort of sports team.

Kenny followed the couple loosely as they still tried to warn others about the looming threat coming upon them. Near the end of their shopping spree, they gave up and left straight to the registers to pay for everything. The teen girl behind the counter regarded the huge piles inside both carts with widened eyes and a look of regret for ever taking the job. With a groan of irritation, she began to ring up the items as the two talked quietly. Kenny approached them, hands in the pockets of his navy-blue jeans and listened for a moment. The two didn't notice him until he made a sound in his throat to get their attention.

"You know, some of us actually had to go through hell and back dealing with bioterrorism. So, on behalf of them, I think you both should rethink your charade of 'City Gone to Hell' before someone ends up hurt." He growled the last bit of his warning to the two. Before Omar had a chance to speak up, Fiona stepped in front of him.

"You think we'd make this shit up?! We almost got attacked and killed by these things, and we're being good civilians and trying to help people so they don't die! So this is the thanks we get?!" she ranted at him, but he seemed uninterested in what she was saying. He watched her closely, and as if he could see the events they had gone through at the car crash site, suddenly his mindset changed.

"These, zombies, were the eyes white? No color in them whatsoever?" he questioned. She was taken-a-back, and didn't answer. He became suddenly stern. "Were they?"

"Yes, they were…how did you know?" Omar told him. Kenny visually paled.

"I see…then the situation is worse than you originally thought. We don't have time to go warn every person in this city, and we may not even have time to prepare. Take what you can and let's go. I assume that you have a place you are staying?" the two nodded. To their surprise, the man began grabbing the bags and filling the carts. "We must hurry, our time is limited!"

Fiona and Omar, like robots started to help him, and once completely filled and paid for, they rushed back to the car with Kenny trailing behind them. Deep in thought, Kenny murmured a small prayer, and at the end simply said "God help us. God help us all."

There is nothing more cheerful than a young thirteen year old girl's laugh and giggle. Life seemed perfect to her; she was with the one person whom she cared about and has helped her through every problem in her entire life. They sat on a bench in the middle of a popular park, Elder Tree. He sat next to her with tattered clothes, but his blond hair looked as if no matter how much he had to sleep on the hard ground, it would never lose its golden shimmer. In his thoughts, he was in perfection as well, though she will never know those thoughts were shared. Her eyes seemed to glisten like a beachside of clear water. Her brown hair matched his brown eyes, but her color seemed to be beauty in itself while his was the symbol of a mutt. Others called her emo with a side of goth, he saw her as a princess with a side of hurt she would never show anyone else.

A perfect love story only to go south because of a zombie apocalypse.

The moment is ruined when the two started to hear screaming. Frowning, they look where the screaming originated and found people running away from a huge grayish cloud with dark figures creeping towards them.

"What?" the girl muttered, unable to comprehend what she was seeing. The fifteen year old boy stood up and watched. It seemed a woman who had been five months along turned her head slowly to look him straight in the eye; she had a look an owl has when a mouse is spotted. Lurching forward, the woman with bitten cheeks and a ripped up arm stumbled towards the two teens. The boy's first reaction was to step back, but when he did ended up tripping over his friend. She yelped as he fell over her legs and watched as the woman got closer. Pulling herself up from the ground, she grabbed his arm and dragged him to his feet while trying to spread the distance between them and the incoming predator.

It was too late however, because by the time they both were able to gain their balance and run properly, the younger teen was grabbed and pushed back down to the ground.

"Salmon!" the boy yelled as his friend screamed. The woman was on top of the girl, fighting with her flailing arms to reach her luscious and greasy neck. He pushed the woman, but the 185-pound woman was too heavy for his skinny arms. The girl called Salmon fought to keep the woman's mouth away. Underneath her, the girl could feel an uncomfortable rubbing sensation around her stomach, and when the boy finally managed to move the woman a little more, she looked down and screamed bloody Mary. An infant had popped out of the woman's stomach and was attempting to put its mouth on Salmon's flesh. Fear alone made the girl crawl backwards, trying to get as far away as possible from these demonic creatures. With one final push, the boy was able to make the woman trip and fall on her side, giving them enough time to stand up and run away.

"Where do we go?" Salmon gasped, not daring to look back at what will surely give her nightmares for the rest of her life.

"The sewers!" the boy shouted back, and turned suddenly. Instead of following the flow of others' trying to escape, they ran to a small stream that ran through the park. Next to this stream was a sewage line area, where many naughty teens liked to disgrace further with graffiti. They had a secret entry way that only they knew how to unlock, so when they reached it they quickly undid the lock and swung the door open. Without a second thought, the girl jumped in, and the boy followed, making sure to pull the door closed behind him.

A/N: Hello! On time! Yay! I've been working on this chapter since the deadline for the last characters and I've got to say, this is the longest chapter I've written for anything in the past. I would just like to say thank you for reading and a very special thanks to rebeccajoleneaumanwilson, roseimagine, and Rebellion598 for the character submissions! Hope you'll enjoy the next chapter to come! Until next time~JenInTheDark