September 22, 2023

61 days into the apocalypse.

A light drizzle is still pouring outside the abandoned building we've taken shelter at.

What had transpired yesterday, is unfathomable and I'm still trying to comprehend how we even made it out. How far humanity can fall in situations like this was further proved yesterday. I'll try my best to describe what exactly has happened to make me say all this.

The day had started out quite normally. Well, as normal as it can be in the middle of heavy rain and a zombie apocalypse. Natalie was still somber, and didn't talk much. I and Mrs. Sedgwig kept her company, trying to cheer her up every now and then while James was helping Mr. Sedgwig refuel the generator that powered the electric fence.

The rain was much less intense, and we even thought about leaving, but Mrs. Sedgwig convinced us to stay another day in their hospitality. And so we decided to stay.

Soon the night rolled in. Natalie, had locked herself in the guest room, and while she was willing to talk with us, she didn't show any spirit to leave the room. And seeing her gloomy mood, we decided to let her stay there. James had volunteered to stay with her, opting to spend his time reading a book he had borrowed from the Sedgwig couple. Mrs. Sedgwig was preparing dinner down stairs, and Mr. Sedgwig was nowhere to be seen. I had assumed he probably went to their room to rest.

The dinner time rolled in, and we headed down to eat. We were about to sit down, when I had excused myself to use the bathroom. After taking care of my business and cleaning my hands, I was about to join them, when I noticed something. While making my way through the house, I noticed a ray of light coming out from the side of the stairs leading upstairs.

I was curious. I went over to inspect it, and when I did, I discovered a secret door leading to a hidden area. The door was painted in such a way, that it would easily blend in with the rest of the wall, and would be very hard to notice. The sole reason I noticed it, because the door was closed improperly, and light bulb inside the hidden area was left on.

Curiosity got the better of me, and I got in. The hidden area had a staircase that led to someplace bellow. I climbed down the stairs, and as I did so, a foul stench hit my noses. Somehow, bearing the smell, I continued, and at the end of my path, I found myself in some sort of basement, with the walls stained with crimson colours. And in the middle of the room, laid David.

His left leg was missing and his clothes were stained with blood.

"David!" I had gasped seeing him in such a state.

David looked up, his eyes almost sparked when he saw me. "Alex." He gasped out.

"David!" I rushed to him,"Wha- what happened to you?"

"You would prefer not to eat dinner." He had moaned out weakly, giving a weak smile,"My leg is on the menu."

My eyes had widened when he said that. I looked around the room, noticing the blood stained walls. The rotten smell lingering in the air was getting overwhelming.

"They-they did this….. To me." David spoke again,"The night we arrived here, they had came in my room, and and knocked me out, and dragged me here."

I was even more mortified and horrified by this.

"Stay here David," I told him,"I'm gonna get the others, and we're gonna get you out of here."

"Not like I can go anywhere…" David gasped out, still smiling.

I quickly rushed out of the basement, and made my way to the dining room. When I entered, it didn't look like they had began eating.

"Alex, there you are. I was wondering when you'd join us." Mrs. Sedgwig exclaimed.

Despite her sweet words, I couldn't help but see the unfathomable evil in her.

James had said some sassy remark about me using the bathroom for so long, but I ignored it. I had insisted them to come with me to discuss something privately, and had practically dragged them off the table, much to their annoyance.

Once we were out of the dining room, they questioned me why I brought them out like this, and I had just asked them to follow me. I lead them back to the basement.

Both James and Natalie had gasped when they found David. Their reaction was very similar to mine. Natalie even lunged at him, hugging him tightly. I couldn't help but feel a pang in my heart when she did that.

Realising the truth about our hosts, we had quickly decided that we will leave this place at the very moment, no matter what. Me and Natalie hoisted David on our shoulders as he limped with us as we went back upstairs.

But as we exited the hidden area leading to basement, we came face to face with the Sedgwig couple. Arnold had my shotgun in his arms, with the barrel pointed towards us, while Elizabeth stood beside him, brandishing a cleaver in her hand.

"So, you found out huh." Arnold growled.

"You monsters! You were eating people!" James yelled.

"Oh, hush you." Elizabeth said.

"You see, we weren't always like this." Arnold said.

"Once upon a time, we were a happy family, living together with our son, daughter in law, and grandson." Elizabeth added, tracing her fingers along the edge of her cleaver,"Then this spread happened. We were unable to leave, and our son and his wife didn't want to leave us behind. So we stayed here, locked up in our own house."

"But things weren't sunshine and brownies all the time. Soon, we ran out of food, and we were no farmers. So we were forced to starve." Arnold spoke.

"In the end the situation got so bad that we had to kill our son, his wife and our grandson, and we ate them to satisfy our hunger."

"It wasn't easy, I'll tell you. But the taste of human flesh was left embedded in our mind. And so, we did what we gotta do to survive." Arnold said, a sinister look was present in his eyes.

"You aren't the first to take our hospitality. And you won't be last either." Elizabeth added.

All of a sudden, James lunged at Arnold. The old man tried to shoot, but he was a second too late. James had already closed in the distance, and gripped the shotgun, moving the barrel away. The shot fired, missed him and blew up part of the wall. As James wrestled with Arnold, Natalie tackled Elizabeth before that old witch could do something.

It didn't take long for them to subdue the old couple. James wasn't completely unharmed. Some of the pellets from the shotgun she'll had grazed his shoulder. He had managed to snatched the gun from Arnold and knocked the old man out by hitting him in the head. While, Natalie slammed Elizabeth's head against the wall, knocking her out.

Once we were sure the were out, we quickly tied them up with whatever bindings we could find inside their house. We left them like that as we gathered our bags and left their house. Outside, the rain was still pouring. Though, not as intensely as a few days ago.

We ran, carrying David with us, while James had our bags on his shoulders. That's when, all of a sudden, a Plagued leapt at us. We were quick to react, but still not fast enough. The Plagued got a drop on me, pinning me underneath it. I tried my best to keep its mouth away from me as it tried to bite and scratch me.

I was struggling to hold it back, when Natalie came at my rescue and pulled it off me, throwing it away from me. James had pulled out his rifle by then and managed to shoot the Plagued before it could lung at us again.

Natalie had rushed to my side, helping me on my feet. We could still hear the growls and roars of the other Plagued, even in the middle of this storm. A horde of them must have been somewhere around, and they had gotten a whiff of us. And from the sounds of it, they were closing in on us.

Once back on my feet, I and Natalie quickly went over to David, who had fallen down in the haste, but as we were helping him, David said something unexpected.

"Leave me…" He had said.

"What!" We all whipped towards him.

"Leave me……I'll just slow you down." David said again.

"What? No! David, we're not leaving you here!" Natalie firmly said.

"Nat, please. I'm short of a leg, and I'm feeling really weak. The Plagued are closing in on us. With my situation, I'll just slow you guys down." David said, his tone unwavering,"Please, leave me here and save yourselves."

But Natalie was having none of it. She was chanting "No, no, no" As she held onto his hands, practically begging him to not do it.

"Nat, come on. Let me be a hero once," David said, offering her a weak smile.

Natalie weeped and let go of his hands, but before pulling away completely, she suddenly grabbed his collars, and kissed him, before pulling away moments later. She pressed her head against his for a few moments, before finally letting him go and step back.

I stepped forward and handed David my shotgun, and shook his shoulder firmly. We exchanged a nod, and we left. David stayed there. Sitting on the pavement in the middle of the storm, while we ran. Natalie was weeping as we went further and further away from our friend.

We managed to find shelter in an abandoned apartment building. We checked out as much as we could to ensure there were no dangers lurking in the darkness to attack us while our backs were turned. After we closed the door of our shelter, Natalie had broken down, ugly crying on the floor as she curled into herself.

We tried to console her, but it was of no use. Even now, she was somber. If you saw her, you would see tears gleaming in her eyes. James had gone quite too. David's sacrifice,...it has affected all of us, in someway.

I just hope we can make it through this without any more obstacles. I hope David's sacrifice doesn't go to vain.