Dark Space

Chapter One; Pandemic

It all started in two-thousand and nineteen. Coronavirus was killing hundreds, then thousands, by twenty-twenty, it was killing billions on a world-wide scale. Then, as people died, they thought a miracle happened. They thought the dead were beginning to rise again to be with us, until patient zero of the new strain of the virus bit another person. They died within hours, rose again and infected more people, until someone had the good sense to stab him in the head. the nightmare didn't stop there. Those who had died from COVID-19, whose corpses were incubators for COVID-X, the new strain of virus, began rising too. By march of twenty-twenty, the entire world was invaded by the dead. That's where our story begins. The day the virus hit my home-town.

My eyes opened to screams of panic. My parents were out of town, so I knew it wasn't them, it was coming from outside. I got up out of my bed and rushed, in my boxers, to the front bedroom window. I opened it and saw a man feasting on a woman's flesh outside my front door. I took a deep breath, shook my head to snap myself out of the groggy daze that fixated me on the horrific scene, and rushed to my bedroom. I opened my closet, got some fresh clothes and got dressed. I put my black t-shirt on, pulled on my blue jeans and white socks and then put on my combat boots.

"Help! Help me!" I heard from outside. I knew exactly who it was. It was my neighbour's teenage son, Corey. I ran downstairs and opened my door and found him battling an infected person. I ran over and prised the infected off the boy, punched him in the face and grabbed Corey by the hand, leading him into my house and locking the door behind us.

"Are you okay, did he hurt you?" I asked. He shook his head, his ashen blonde hair falling into his green eyes. His full lips were loose with shock and his semi-perfect teeth chattered with fear.

"Can I have a..." Corey was interrupted by slamming on the front door.

"Stay here" I ordered him. I made my way to the front door and found an infected person trying to get into the house. Suddenly, the door broke down and the infected person and my door fell at my feet.

"What happened?" Corey asked. I backed away from the dead man and rushed back into the living room. The walking corpse shambled in and snarled at me. I kicked him in the stomach, and he fell backwards and hit his head hard on the passage wall.

Corey walked up to my side and looked at me. I looked at him and instantly looked at the infected one more time.

"What's going on?" I asked rhetorically, closing the door between the front door and the living room. I turned the TV on and found an emergency broadcast.

"Please, under no circumstances approach the dead or the infected. If they assault you in any way, please try not to hurt them, but if there is no other option, the dead can be dispatched through removing the head, breaking the spinal column or destroying the brain. If you have been bitten, amputate the infected part of the body if possible. Only one thing is certain. This is a dark space in history" The news anchor said as I picked up the remote and turned off the TV. Suddenly, the door began violently shaking as the dead man began pounding on it, trying to get in.

"Follow me" I said, running out to the kitchen and grabbing two knives. I handed one to Corey.

"Mason, I can't fight..." Corey whimpered. I grabbed him by the shoulders,

"Listen to me, I know this is scary, but the only thing you can do right now is fight. That's the rule now, you fight, or you die" I said as the living room door broke open and the dead man shambled in, baring his teeth, wheezing and growling. I rushed into him, driving my kitchen knife into his skull killing him instantly. I fell to the floor with him, panting like a dog because of adrenaline.

"Are you okay?" Corey asked, rushing to my side and helping me to my feet.

"I'm good. I just don't want to have to do that again" I said, dusting myself off and backing off from the corpse.