Virus Z

Chapter One: Normal

It was a normal day. A normal, slightly boring, yet repetitive enough to know what was around the corner day, routine day. A normal world. Cars chugged along the streets, people worked in offices, animals frolicked in their homes. That would soon change, but for now the world was at peace, (well, at more peace than it would be,) and all was normal.

The wild eyed, red haired boy raced around the corner. They were right on his tail. If he stopped now, they would get to him, and then he was a goner. He banked sharply to the right, and tripped over an unfortunately placed item. He looked back. They were right there, towering over him as he lay on the ground, defeated by that small villain who had jumped in his way.

"Well, well, well, Frank, what have you gotten yourself into now?" asked a tall girl who was smirking in a way that made Frank slink back. Then, another girl bounded into the room right behind her. She looked remarkably like Frank, but with brown hair. They both had an abundance of freckles that seemed to multiply as the days went by.

"What should we do with him, compadre?" questioned the Frank look-alike.

"Let's take him back to the room. See what Anaya has to say about all of this," the tall girl said. The other girl nodded in agreement, and they hauled Frank back to the room where Anaya was by dragging him by his feet. This method failed on the stairs, but eventually they arrived at their destination.

When they arrived, Anaya raised an eyebrow. She was an Indian girl with broad shoulders and a black belt in karate.

"Really, Mary Alice? Capturing your own brother? I mean, I can expect this from Brenna, but you? He's your twin!" Anaya said.

"He was spying on us!" said Mary Alice, who, was in fact, Frank's twin.

"Yeah, and then he ran. Which was pretty much a red flag waving in the air screaming 'COME AND GET ME!!!'" the other girl, Brenna, added.

"Frank, what do you have to say for yourself?" Anaya said dramatically. Frank looked up at her from his position on his knees.

"Please let me go. I didn't mean to offend you in any way," he said sweetly. Anaya raised her other eyebrow. Frank looked at her pleadingly while making his eyes as innocent as possible.

"Don't be fooled. He's trying to appeal to your weak side..." warned Brenna. Mary Alice frowned.

"Let's give him a break for once. He IS my brother," she said as she punched him in the back of the head. (Lovingly, of course.) Anaya sighed and shrugged.

"You are free to go, Frank. You may now return to your daily doldrums," proclaimed Anaya. Frank stood back up and looked around the room.

"What were you guys doing in here anyway?" he asked. Brenna mumbled something about a bad spy under her breath, but Mary Alice spoke up first.

"We were just playing truth or dare until you interrupted us," she said. "But it wasn't very fun. Mostly because no one here has an imagination." Brenna and Anaya feigned hurt.

"Well, Mayo, I can't help it if you kept declining my dares and trouncing my truths!" Brenna said. Mayo, aka Mary Alice, sighed.

"See what I have to deal with here, Frank?" she lamented.

"Well, you were the one who invited us over," Anaya pointed out. It was true. Mayo had invited some of her friends over to have a sleepover on a Friday night, and it was then that she realized that one of them was missing.

"SALLY JANE!" she yelled. "Where are you hiding!?" Downstairs, Sally Jane, or SJ, realized that she had been caught and slunk back up to the room were the rest of them were. "Where were you?" Mayo asked. SJ sighed.

"Well, I was definitely not on my computer in the downstairs closet..." SJ said. Mayo shook her head.

"Stop being such a recluse. You can't hide from social interaction the entire night," Mayo said after a pointed poke to the shoulder of the accused.

"Aww..." SJ said. "But you know I hate truth or dare..."

"That's no excuse." Mayo insisted and shook her head. By then, the other inhabitants of the room had grown tired of the conversation and had turned their thoughts to other, more pressing, needs.

"What's for dinner?" Brenna asked. "I'm getting hungry." Anaya nodded in agreement.

"Your guests are hungry, Mayo! Feed us." she said she said in mock desperation. Mayo rolled her eyes and went downstairs to scout out what dinner would be.

When she got down there, she saw her parents sitting on the couch and watching the news.

"Hey, do you know what dinner is toni-" she was quickly cut off by what was on the screen. ZOMBIES IN MAJOR CITIES scrolled along the bottom, while several nervous newscasters expanded on the issue at length.

"Breaking news! Zombie sightings in major cities across the country! This is not a joke, I repeat, not a joke. Zombies have been sighted in New York, LA, Miami, Nashville, Chicago, Houston, Philadelphia, Atlanta, San Diego, Detroit, Boston, and more coming in by the minute. Please prepare yourselves and stay off the streets if you live in one of these areas." the lady behind the desk said while trying to keep a brave face on.

Mayo's eyes grew wide as she saw and heard the things that the TV was saying. She yelled for the rest of the kids to come down, and when they did, they couldn't believe what they were seeing.

"As of right now, the government has declined comment, but several army jet planes were seen leaving the country from Washington, DC, another area where one of the initial sightings were. Could the government already be evacuating from the country?" the newscaster went on. Everyone was shocked. Could this really be happening?

"Listen, Mary Alice and Frank. We are going to go to the store. We need stuff. If we are going to... survive in here, we need food and water. You kids lock all of the doors and take inventory. Start gathering supplies. We'll be back in a little while," the parents said. The kids looked at one another in disbelief. Mayo spoke up first.

"You are leaving us? That sounds like a terrible idea!" she said. But her parents wouldn't listen.

"Look, there isn't enough space in the car to hold all of you, and we can't leave just one of you behind. So we have to go off while you guys fortify the house," they explained.

All the kids thought this was a terrible idea, but the parents left anyway. 

Leaving five kids trapped in a house on the outskirts of what would soon become a city of zombies.