Vestige

Emergence

There are many things that have happened that I never expected, never thought were in the realm of possibilities. Things like edible paper, a terrorist attack on American soil, and me getting accepted into college, but all of those things paled in comparison to what was happening now.

How was anyone to plan for the dead to rise? I mean yeah, Jesus rose from the dead. We all read about that in the bible, but I'm pretty sure he wasn't a flesh-craving monster like the ones outside my door.

I'm not exactly sure when the Rotters first began to appear, but it didn't take long for them take over. To be honest, I was never one to keep up with the current events as it was, but I will never forget the first news report I saw.

'We have just received another report of an infected person attacking a children's' birthday party just outside of Decatur, Georgia late yesterday evening. Two adults were killed and three children injured. One eyewitness reported saying what they thought to be a drunk man stumble into the backyard where the party was being held before he attacked the mother of the birthday boy. Police were immediately dispatched taking down the assailant but not before he killed a thirty-five-year-old male.'

'Residents are advised to stay inside your homes. Keep your windows and doors locked. Those exhibiting symptoms including fevers or those who have had close contact with known infected resulting in a scratch or bite are instructed to immediately report to their local treatment centre.'

At first, I was sure it was some sort clip from one of the latest in horror movies, and I quickly flipped the channel. I hated horror movies. Never could handle the jump scares and don't even get me started on the blood and gore of it all. It wasn't until I realized that another station was reporting on the same incident that realization began to take over.

I don't know if it was ever reported on what caused the outbreak, my power went out not long after the initial reports. As for my food supply, well that was spares before the outbreak. Nothing more than a few packets of Ramen and cans of corn.

Today marked my first journey into the world outside my one bedroom rental home. I would like to have said I was brave and confident, but that would've been a complete lie. I was more than a little terrified.

I spent the morning searching for a feasible weapon. Unfortunately, all that I came up with was an old softball bat and a few random kitchen knives, none of which were incredibly sharp. Deciding what to pack in my backpack didn't go much better. I mean what did one pack for venturing out into a world of walking corpses? In the end, I packed what little food or drink I had, a box of half-used bandages, rubbing alcohol, one blanket, and a flashlight, which did not have any batteries.

As I stood there staring out my screen door, I watched as a lone rotter hobbled down my street. His presence was the only hint that things were not as they should be. Most families cleared out pretty quickly. I on the other hand stayed put. At first my decision to stay was based on the belief that this would all just blow over and the world would continue on. Then when things didn't get better I still remained in my home. I wasn't exactly good at things like surviving in the wilderness or running. Honestly, I wasn't really skilled at anything. If there was one word that described me to a t it would have to be mediocre. No special skills, no social graces and not wildly brilliant. But at this point I had no choice but to leave and risk becoming rotter or at the very least a snack for one, or stay rooted and slowly wither away.

I waited a few more minutes before taking that apprehensive step out, telling myself it was to give the corpse time to move a bit farther but in actuality it was to give myself more time to build up the courage. Peering around the hedge to see if the man, if you could call him that, was out of sight, I tried to formulate some sort of plan.

I could just raid my neighborhood looking for supplies and just staying put or I could make my way somewhere. The question was where. Washington DC seemed like an obvious choice but wouldn't everyone have gone there? The coast? It was closer and offered fish as a food supply. But we're they even safe to eat anymore? Better yet how would I even catch them? I'd never been fishing, but how hard could it be really? Decisions were something I always struggled to make. I was more of an indecisive procrastinator. Soo doing what I did best I made the choice to not make a choice at least not quite yet. I would check out a few nearby houses and wait one more day. That way I could gather a few more supplies and weigh out the pros and cons. I mean what would one more day hurt. Right?