The Zombie Prophecies - Part I - First Light

"I can't believe she's gone." Donovan said as he curled up in a dark corner of his attic.

"It's for the best Donovan." Said Jasper as he wrapped his arm around Donovan's shoulders but he pulled away.

"Don't tell me what's for the best Jasper." He said, angry with his boyfriend, "She's my best friend! I've known her all my life, and now I'll probably never see her again."

"Well you've still got me." Jasper said, he was trying to comfort Donovan but it clearly wasn't working. 

"Just leave me alone." Said Donovan and Jasper stood up to leave.

"What do we do now?" Marion asked, turning to Jasper.

"We wait I suppose. Someone's bound to be looking for survivors, they'll probably send a helicopter or something."

"Maybe we should make a sign on the roof?" Marion asked, looking for something productive to do with her time.

"That's actually a pretty good idea." Said Jasper and he turned to look at the stack of cardboard boxes and junk that took up most of the right hand wall. "Donovan, do you know what this stuff is?"

Donovan hesitated before speaking, he stared at Jasper and knitted his eyebrows tightly together. Donovan could see that Jasper was growing hot with emotion, but couldn't tell if it was anger or shame.

"I don't know." Donovan finally said, his tone was hushed and melancholy, "My landlord uses this attic for storage, it's all his stuff. He's got too much time and too much money; he takes up a lot of hobbies but they're often short lived, then his supplies end up in here."

"Well, let's look through it." Jasper said to Marion, "Maybe there will be something that can help with our sign?"

Jasper took down a box and started searching through the junk, it was mostly camping gear and he put it aside.

"This looks like…scrapbooking stuff?" Marion said with a bit of a laugh.

"Remy is a man with diverse tastes." Donovan said, still sitting in his corner, holding his head in his hands.

"I'd say." Jasper said as he showed Marion the contents of one box and they giggled together. Donovan pretended to not be interested.

Marion and Jasper dug through a couple more boxes, Jasper was sorting the stuff they found into two piles, one was full of camping supplies, an old hunting rifle and some tools, the other one was full of useless things, some of which nobody even recognized.

"Oh look at that!" Marion said, pointing at three half used cans of paint and a couple paint rollers on the floor behind the pile of boxes. They were all varying shades of white and beige, neutral colours Remy had used to paint the apartment before Donovan and Heather moved in.

"That's perfect, we can paint an SOS or something, lets go." He picked up the paint cans as Marion grabbed the rollers and headed for the window.

"Are you coming?" Asked Jasper as Marion left him alone with Donovan. Donovan didn't say anything, he just laid down in the dust and closed his eyes.

Donovan could feel the fever rising in him, beads of sweat clung to his flesh while chills spread down his spine. Jasper had taken a break from painting his stupid sign long enough to go downstairs to collect some food for the three of them, he'd also brought up a blanket to make Donovan more comfortable. Donovan was finding it hard to stay mad at him.

"What did it look like down there?" Donovan asked through a fit of coughs.

"There are a lot of them, they're kind of clumsily trying to climb over one another to reach the second floor but they've got such terrible balance they all end up falling back down." Jasper sounded uneasy, "I don't know how much longer we'll be able to stay here though, if many more join them then they'll be able to pile high enough to get us."

Donovan coughed again and pulled the edges of his blanket tighter around his body in an attempt to feel warmer then cast it off only a moment later in frustration as he began to sweat.

"What is happening to me!" He said as he doubled over, grasping his stomach. He had been so uncomfortable he hadn't even noticed the cramps setting in.

Donovan writhed on the floor of his attic, sweating more and more as he wriggled and curled in the dust. 

"Just let it run its course." Jasper finally spoke, standing over Donovan now. "You'll feel better soon enough."

"I just-" Donovan started to speak but stopped when his body heaved forward. "Oh god, I'm gonna…I'm gonna…" Without another word Donovan vomited all over the floor and himself.

He rolled onto his back and clutched his stomach, his skin began to feel tight and dry, his vision blurred and he threw up again.

"You just need to let it run its course." Jasper said, just as calm as before.

"What the fuck is it!" Donovan screamed, losing control of his bowels and crying out in shame and pain.

Jasper didn't respond, instead he covered Donovan back up with the blanket and rubbed his back while he threw up again.

"There shouldn't be much left now." Donovan heard Jasper's voice as he drifted off to sleep, exhausted and drained.