Apocalypse

Chapter one:

It all happened so fast I thought. But why did it have to end like this? Before everything seemed fine, but now, everything has just fallen apart. I remember the day it all started. I had just gotten home from a long school day and turned on the TV to find it was still on the news channel from earlier that morning. I went to change the channel until something caught my attention. Of course I didn't pay too much attention to it seeing as it could have been a complete misunderstanding. Though almost as if it were meant to catch my attention once more I heard it again. The newscaster said the one word a lot of people had been preparing for. Apocalypse! "We do not know what the cause is but the infection is spreading quickly." Nervous, I ran outside to see exactly what might be going on, not listening to the following words stated. "Stay indoors and stay safe." I closed the door behind me and ran towards the street. Apparently I wasn't the only who wanted to come outside because several people were also coming out from their homes and out to the streets. Then, I started to feel dizzy and everything started to look blurry. The last thing I remember were the sounds of people screaming and then, nothing. I had fainted. 

When I finally woke up I had a huge headache, I felt noxious, and I was unsteady when I walked. Soon once everything started to wear off, I decided to walk around and see if anyone truly knew what was going on. After a while of walking around town I started to lose hope. Then, from around the corner of a building I heard some sort of growling or low moans. I looked to see what it was though I soon wished I never did. There were two people, at least I thought they were people. Their eyes seemed blank and dilated, and their skin looked as if they were covered in dirt and decay. One had what looked like a huge scratch mark on their arm, and the other looked like a big chunk of meat and skin was missing from the side of their neck. However the worst part was what they were eating. Both of them were eating what looked like another person. I stood there just staring at them, though I soon realized that I shouldn't have stood there as long as I did, because they were now staring back at me. Both of them stood up and started to walk towards me, getting faster and faster. I started to walk backwards until I bumped into something behind me. It was another one of them. "Get back!" I shouted, but they just got closer. I was surrounded. Then, out of nowhere, loud bangs shot out into the silence, and the "people" fell to the ground with a thud.

 I looked around in shock trying so hard just to process what was happening, but it was all just too much. I then saw someone, or something, running towards me. Due to the shock and confusion, I didn't know whether to run or to stay put. "What the hell are you doing!?" shouted the figure. It was a man's voice. He was running, running fast, and I soon realized why. Behind him was a large group of those "people", like the ones who now lie dead on the concrete. He began to slow down and soon stopped to turn and face the large group behind him. More bangs shot out and more of the "people" fell. I then realized that he was holding a gun, shooting them down one by one. After a few more shots he turned around and started running again. "Run dammit!" he shouted as he soon reached me. Seeing all of this only added to the shock of course. He soon passed me and the large group behind him got closer. I looked to the side, saw the remains of what those other two things were eating, and decided it would probably be in my best interest to run. I ran. I ran faster than I'd ever run before. I tried to keep up but the man was still a good ways ahead of me.

 Soon, he lead me to a neighborhood not too far from where I lived. As we ran farther down the street, more of them started to follow. Soon we reached a two storied home with cans tied to a rope lined up around the perimeter. The windows to the house were all barricaded with wooden boards, all except for one, that is. Quickly, the man opened the door and turned to look for me. "Come on!" he shouted, shooting down a few more of the "people" who followed me. I tried to run faster but I wasn't able to go much faster than I already was. I jumped over the rope and ran into the house. With both of us out of breath, the man took off his gun holster and set it down on a table next to stairs, but kept the gun. He began to walk up the stairs, but after what just happened how could he seem so calm? "Come on," he said as he walked up to the second floor. "If we don't take down that herd soon, they'll be taking down us." I just stood there silently, still trying to process everything that was going on while still in shock. He stopped to look at me. "You coming?" he asked. "You-- you killed them! You stood there and-- and you killed them!"

 I was in so much shock and was so confused that I just stood there, not knowing what else to say, what to do, or really just what to think. "They were already dead." he replied with a tone that seemed like he thought I was somehow supposed to know that. "What do you mean they were already dead!? They were up, standing, even walking around and making noises! How could they already be dead!?" He looked at me in a surprised way. "Kid where the hell have you been!? Haven't you heard? The world is ending. People are getting some sort of infection that eventually kills them and somehow they're just-- coming back and spreading the infection. Those things aren't people. Once they come back they're something entirely different, going around and eating anything they can get they're hands on, and spreading the infection by doing just that." He paused for a moment. "Listen kid. I know what you saw. I know, yes, they were up and moving around even making noises. I don't know where the hell you've been, but you have to understand. ---They are, the walking dead." I didn't know what to say. He turned back around and continued up the stairs. "Come on," he said. "That groups only gonna get bigger."

   I took a deep breath and followed him up to the second floor. "So-- if they're dead," I asked "Then how could they be up and walking?" "That I don't know." he answered. He lead me to the last room down the hallway. Inside, the room was empty, except for a single chair and a large black case. "Okay. When you shoot them," he told me. "Shoot them in the head. That's the only way to-- re-kill them." I then became confused and a bit nervous. "Wait. You want-- you want me to shoot them?" He looked at me. "I told you, they're already dead. Out there, right outside that front door, there's probably twenty plus of them. I'm gonna need some help." I hesitated. "Are we the only ones left?" I asked, not entirely looking forward to the answer. "I don't know," he said in a kind of unsure and doubtful tone. "But if we are --I'm not gonna let it end like this." I nodded. "Ok," I said. "What do I do?" He handed me his pistol and then opened up the black case, taking out what I think was a sniper rifle. "Like I said before," he told me "shoot them in the head." When he said he wasn't going to let it end like this, like the two of us, possibly the last two people on this planet still alive, being cornered by a bunch of dead people and more than likely ending up like the remains of that one person in the alley way. He walked over to the window and opened it up. "What's your name kid?" He asked, looking back at me. "Jason," I answered, "Jason Smith."