The Next World

Part one: The Apocalypse

The man looked out the third story window of his workplace. He worked downtown, in the business offices. Down below, the streets were chaos. There were people rioting in the night, destroying cars and buildings. There were fights all over, people panicking. The power had died hours ago, along with the world it seemed. The streets were lit by burning cars and buildings. He looked and saw a man grab hold of another man and hold him in the flames of a burning car. His screams seemed to ring out above all the others as he was burning alive.
He turned away from the horrid sight, back to his small office. He picked up a small photo and examined it. It showed a little girl with straight, blonde hair. Along with a woman with curly, brunette hair, and a man, with short, black hair. At the bottom, it read. "Tony, Lori, and Annie, fall 2014." He looked in the photo, and saw his reflection in the firelight. His short, black hair and dark eyes stared back at him. Tony wondered if his family was okay. "Had the rioting made it to the neighborhoods, or was it just in the city?" he thought to himself as he set the photo down and looked back outside to the streets.
The first thing he noticed was the amount of either unconscious or dead bodies lying in the street. "There's an epidemic, and all people can think to do is kill each other.. This is horrible-" Tony was cut short by a very peculiar event. One of the bodies in the street, one that had a knife in his stomach, moved. He watched as this person who must've been in extreme pain get to his feet with almost no trouble. The man then proceeded to stumble towards a rioter. The rioter didn't even see the man until he was on top of him.

The man latched onto the rioters shoulder and sank it's teeth into his neck, ripping out a huge chunk of flesh and devouring it. The rioter screamed, his scream blotched by blood filling his throat. He fell to his knees and keeled over, the man who attacked him hunched over him, eating. Tony watched as the man tore into the rioters chest, his guts spilling out. The man began consuming the dead rioters innards. Tony backed away from the window, terrified. He had to leave the city, get back to his family before it was too late.

He heard the shattering of glass on the second story, it was time to go. He grabbed the small photo of his family and tucked it in his back pocket. He opened the office door into the hallway. The halls were dark in the night, making it nearly impossible to see. He slowly made his way to the stairwell, using the wall as guidance. He reached the door to the stairwell, and entered. One by one, he cautiously creeped down the stairs, trying not to alert anyone on the second floor. Just as he made it to the landing, the door to the second story flew open. A skinny, young man in a tank top and shorts burst in, in a panic.

Tony pressed himself to the dark wall as the man tried to quickly run up the stairs in the dark. The man stumbled past Tony, and continued to run up the stairs. Tony made his way down the second flight of stairs until he reached the first floor. He put his ear to the door of the stairwell, listening for rioters. He heard smashing and screaming, but not too overly close. He peeked out the door, and looked at the demolished first floor. There were papers and cabinets scattered throughout the halls, and all the paintings were on the ground, shattered. Firelight shone in from open offices, slightly illuminating the place.

He opened the door just to quickly dive into a office as a pair of rioters ran through an office down the hall. He sat up and looked outside at the streets. There was destroyed property, rioters, and bodies everywhere. He ducked down as a man stumbled past the broken window. Tony heard a gurgling sound come from his mouth as he walked past. Tony peeked out and looked at him. His eyes widened in terror as he looked at him.

It was the rioter from before, the one who that man had killed. There was a gaping hole in his neck, and there was chunks of flesh missing from his arm. Tony saw a bit of guts hanging from the mans waist, and he gagged. That man was dead, and walking.
He snuck out the window, and into the streets. Rioters ran about, scavenging what they could and running wildly. Tony kept tight to the buildings, and made his way down the street, staying to the shadows. He was terrified, watching everything go to hell so quick. People were dying, and coming back to feast upon the living. He noticed a corpse ahead of him, the corpse of a rioter. Tony approached the body, and examined it. He had been stabbed in the leg, and had bled out. There was a wooden baseball bat lying next to him, shiny and pristine. Tony picked up the bat and weighed it in his hands, i'll use this to defend myself, he thought to himself.
He jumped when he felt something fall onto his shoe. He jerked his attention to his feet, where the hand of the dead rioter had fell on. He proceeded to look towards its head, as it began to stir. The rioter opened his eyes, which were milked over in a haze. "Oh no." Tony said as he began to stumble backwards. The rioter turned his head towards him, and grabbed onto his foot.
"Shit!" Tony yelled as he tried to yank himself free. He lost his balance and fell, the dead man still hanging onto his foot, pulling its head closer. Tony thought about the baseball bat in his hand. He tightened his grip on the bat, and swung it forward. Krak. His bat made contact with the rioters head. It kept on coming closer, trying to rip into his leg. Tony repeated his movement, bringing it back, and swinging. Kram! Krak! Kloosh! Thwok! He looked at the corpse in front of him, the blood from the caved-in skull shining in the firelight.

After catching his breath, Tony got back up, using the wall as support. He looked at the body of the rioter, and then the bat. The bat was covered in blood, and had a small scratch in it from a sharp edge on the skull. Tony thought to himself, Oh my christ, I just.. Oh, God. Tears formed in his eyes as his attention was brought back to the world. A rioter ran past Tony, and stopped to look at the body. "Shit, dude. What the fuck did he do to you?" he said before running off again.

Tony looked around, the streets were still very dangerous. He had to get home to his family, and quick.
He turned, and made his way down the streets of Appleton, Wisconsin. He made the first turn he could, and booked it into the suburbs, away from the burning city. He looked back at the downtown, and stared in awe at the sounds of glass shattering, and screaming. The city had fallen, it was dead. He fixed his attention forward, and ran. The neighborhoods weren't as bad as the city, but there was still the occasional rioter breaking into a house.
He made it to his street without any conflicts. He heard screams from somewhere in the neighborhood, and began to worry. He ran down Maple street, towards his home. It was hard to see in the dark, but he recognized the sound of the clanging american T flag on the pole in his yard. He read the mailbox, "3728, Maple street." He called out, "Lori?! Annie?!", as he made his way up the walk, to the front door. The door was wide open, the glass shattered.

"Lori?!! Annie?!!" He yelled as he raised his bat, and creeped into the house.As he made his way through the dark, quiet house, his foot grazed past something soft. He took out his phone, and turned on the flashlight to investigate. He dropped his phone at the sight in front of him. He looked first at the bloodstain on the floor, still wet. He next looked at the still eyes, then the bulletholes. He noticed a monopoly board on the ground, the pieces scattered.
A monopoly had fallen, his family was dead. He looked into the eyes of his daughter, which stared into his soul. Tony weighed the bat in his hands, tears rolling down his face. He thought to himself, I.. will avenge you. This is the next world.