I wake up to whining next to my face. I open my eyes to a big black nose.
"Buddy. What do you want?" I groan, turning over. It's too early for this.
Suddenly, the blankets are ripped away from me. Shivering as the chilly air hits my bare skin, I sit up, scowling at the black lab. He sits in the doorway, my sheets in his mouth. He wags his tail with triumph.
"You wanna go on a walk? Huh Bud?" I ask in my baby voice. At the word, "walk", he instantly drops the sheets and runs to the living room. I swing my legs over the side of the bed, glancing at the clock.
9:34 am
Who needs an alarm clock when you have a dog? I wonder to myself, chuckling at my own joke. Then I get out of the bed, wandering over to my oak wood dresser. Taking out a pair of exercising pants and a sweatshirt, I pull them on. Then I followed Buddy out to the living room. He was sitting by the door, thumping his black tail against the carpet.
"Alright Bud. Let me grab breakfast really quick." I stated, heading to my bathroom. I glanced at myself in the mirror. Then I grabbed my brush, attempting to tame the black mess that I called hair. Finally, after battling the beast, i smoothed it out enough to put a ponytail in. When I was satisfied with my appearance and took care of a few other things, I headed to my apartment kitchen. Going into the pantry, I grabbed a granola bar and an apple. I wasn't one for eggs and bacon. While I bit into the apple, I filled Buddy's food dish with some kibble. "Eat breakfast first, then we'll go out." I ordered. Then I sat down at the table, picking up my fully charged phone. I got a text message from my best friend, Melissa.
Melissa: Happy Birthday bitch! We're going out today for brunch whether you like it or not.
I rolled my eyes. Of course she'd make me go out on my birthday. Then again, you only turn twenty five once. How the hell did we become friends? I wondered as I replied.
Me: Ok. But I gotta go to class at one. And I'm bringing Buddy.
After a few moments, I got a reply.
Melissa: KK. See you at 10.
Me: K. Ttyl
I put my phone down and crunched into my apple, letting the sweet flavor flood throughout my mouth. I glanced at the time on the microwave clock.
9:45am.
Melissa never told me where. I thought. Pulling my phone out again, I went to her.
Me: Where at?
Melissa: Le Cafe de France?
Me: Sure.
I liked their croissants. Le Cafe De France was a tiny French cafe in the middle of Athens, Georgia. I shoved my phone into my pocket, continuing my apple.
Swallowing the last bit of apple, I put the granola bar back. Don't want to get too full. I grabbed Buddy's leash. As soon as he heard the jingling of the leash, he jumped up from his couch and nearly tackled me to the ground.
"Buddy!" I exclaimed, gently shoving him off me. Once he calmed down a bit, I stood up straight and pinched my fingers together. "Sit." I commanded. Reluctantly, Buddy sat down, his tail wagging a mile a minute. "Good boy." I praised him, connecting the red leash with his red collar. As soon as they were connected, Buddy shot up and raced for the door. I caught up to him, grabbing the leash. Grabbing my keys from a small hanger on the door, I locked the door to my small apartment.
...
Buddy and I jogged along the sidewalk towards the cafe. With Green Day playing in my ears, I saw Melissa sitting at a small table outdoors. Her red hair hung in loose curls over her shoulders. She was on her phone, until I jogged up. She glanced up, her face brightening. I took out my earbuds as I neared her.
"Hey!" She greeted me. "Happy 25th birthday!"
Stopping next to my chair across from her, I tied Buddy to the bike rack beside me. "Shh! I don't want everyone knowing that I'm 25!" I hissed. I hated birthday's
"Too bad. I could scream it if you want." Melissa pointed out as I took my seat.
"Please don't." I begged.
"Alright. Birthday girl." She added the last part quietly. "So what do you want for your birthday?"
I shrugged. I hated this time of year. Everyone's always like "What do you want?" Or "Do you wanna do this?" It honestly got annoying. "Whatever you wanna give me." I stated.
"What if I wanted to get you a male stripper?" She asked.
"God no!" I exclaimed, horrified that she would suggest that.
"Female stripper?" She asked.
"No! I want something with clothes on." I stated.
"How about a male stripper who has clothes?" She suggested.
"Ok, how about no strippers." I declared.
"A prostitute?" Melissa asked.
"Are you trying to steal my virginity?" I asked.
"Kinda. I mean, you're a 25 year old virgin. Hell, you've never even had a boyfriend!" She pointed out.
"I know. That's because I'm waiting for my dream man." I replied.
"Oh yeah? What's your 'dream man'?" She asked.
Before I could answer, a young guy came up to us. He looked kinda cute. He had dusty blond hair and deep brown eyes. He smiled at us with perfectly white teeth.
"Hi! Welcome to Le Cafe De France. What can I get you to drink?" He asked, pulling out a pad of paper and a pen.
"Uh, I'll take an orange juice." I asked for politely.
"Is it too early for cocktails?" Melissa asked.
The guy found that funny. "No, sorry miss." He laughed.
"Ok, then I'll take a coffee." She declared.
"Alright. Be right out." He stated, leaving.
"So? What's your 'dream man'?" Melissa repeated.
I had to think about that. What did I want in a man? "Well, he has to be a good listener. And I want him to be kinda muscular. Oh, and have a job in business. And he has to like kids." I listed. "But doesn't want to have...the 'S' word until the times right."
Melissa chuckled. "The 'S' word? Seriously? You know it's not a naughty word, right?" She pointed out.
"I know. I just don't want to say it." I declared.
"Girl, you gotta live a little." She stated.
"I am living. I'm going to become a doctor one day." I said.
"Oh! That reminds me. There's a new disease going around. It makes people go crazy and bite other people." Melissa stated.
"That sounds so stupid." I replied. Stupid media. Always making up random things just to get a reaction.
"No, it's serious. It's already taken over a couple cities. Luckily, they think that they've quarantined it." Melissa said.
"Who's 'they'?" I demanded.
"The government, national guard, army, everything." She said, seriousness in her voice.
"I'm not going to believe it till I see it." I declared.
"Ok. Just letting you know, though, there're already victims in Athens." Melissa stated.
Before I could respond again, our waiter came back with our drinks. "What would you like to eat?" He asked.
I motioned for Melissa to go first. "Uh....I'll take a crêpe with strawberry and blueberry filling." She declared, handing the waiter her menu. The guy nodded and wrote it down. Then he looked over at me.
"Um... I'll just take a croissant." I said, handing him my menu. "Oh, and could I get something for my dog?" I asked, gesturing to the sleeping lump of fur beside me. He nodded and wrote it down. The he accepted the menu. Then I turned back to Melissa.
...
After brunch, I dropped Buddy off at home and made my way to UGA. Or the University of Georgia. I managed to get by with flying colors, and landed the perfect job in medical school. I already knew the basics about tending to wounds such as cuts to bruises. I even knew how to stitch a deep wound and make a makeshift cast. Right now, as I sat in class, we were learning how to sight an infection through a slide show.
Suddenly, a rapid knocking came from the door. I glanced behind me as the professor opened the door.
"Yes?" She asked. Mrs. Smith, (the professor) was an old woman with short gray hair.
"Hi. I need to take Courtney Baker out of class for a bit." I heard Melissa state.
"Why?" Mrs. Smith asked.
"It's very important." Melissa declared. Then she whispered something to Mrs. Smith.
Mrs. Smith instantly had a look of sorrow on her face. She turned to me. "Ms. Baker, you may go. And I'm so sorry to hear."
Confused, I stood up. Gathering my stuff, I left the classroom, facing Melissa.
"What's wrong?" I asked.
"C'mon. I'll explain on our way." Melissa said, dragging me away.
...
Sitting in her car, I turned to her. "So what's this about? Why was Mrs. Smith so upset?" I asked. We were on our way to Atlanta.
"I told her your parents died." Melissa said casually.
"What?!" I shrieked.
"Don't worry! They didn't die." Melissa stated.
"What're we doing then?" I demanded.
"The virus is getting worse. Look, people are dying all over the country. There's even reports of it in Europe and Asia." Melissa explained.
"Oh my god. Are we seriously going back to that virus again? I'm telling you, it's a big lie." I stated, unable to believe what I just heard.
"Courtney, I'm being serious. We're going to your place so you can grab a few things alright? Point is, I wanna get out of Athens soon." Melissa declared.
Unable to get out of it, I reluctantly agreed. We drove in silence to my apartment. When she pulled up, I got out. I waited on the sidewalk, expecting her to join.
"Go ahead! I'll wait here!" She called, turning on the radio. Rolling my eyes, I headed into my building.
Entering my apartment, Buddy didn't greet me.
"Buddy?" I called, confused. Usually, Buddy would be slobbering all over me right now. I wandered around the apartment, calling for Buddy. Eventually, I found him cowering in the bedroom closet. "Hey Bud. What's wrong?" I asked. He whimpered in fear, glancing around nervously. I could see the whites in his usual black eyes.
Standing up, I went over to the coat hanger and grabbed his leash. While I grabbed it, I heard something crashing outside my room. Looking out the peek hole, I saw Mrs. Gilbert, an older woman next door, wandering through the halls in her robe. Her back was to me while she stood at the door across the hall.
Carefully, I turned the doorknob, about to help the poor woman out, when the door across the hall opened, revealing my neighbor, Tim. Tim was around my age. He took one look at Mrs. Gilbert and screamed. She lunged forward, clawing at him. I watched in horror as she bit into his throat, tearing out his vocal cords. His screams were silenced as she chewed on his flesh.
I backed away, my mouth gaped at the horror I just witnessed. Backing up, I accidentally knocked over one of my flower pots. Instinctively, I froze.
After a few moments of silence, I let out a breath of relief. Quickly, I turned around, heading to my room with Buddy,s leash. Buddy was still cowering in my closet.
"Hey Buddy. C'mon. We gotta go." I whispered, scared that Mrs. Gilbert would hear. Buddy let out a small whimper as I attached the leash to his collar. Grabbing a bag from my closet, I headed into the kitchen. I didn't know why I was doing it, but I started to fill the bag with canned food and other stuff. Then I headed to my bathroom closet, grabbing all my medical supplies. Call me a teachers pet or whatever, but I kept a good amount of antibiotics and other things in my bathroom. Never know when it'll come in handy.
When I packed as much as my bag could hold, I grabbed Buddy's leash. He stayed in the closet, unwilling to move. "C'mon Bud. Let's go." I whispered, dragging Buddy out of the closet. He whimpered, yet his devotion to me was too strong. Reluctantly, he got up, following me to the door. I glanced out of the peep hole. Mrs. Gilbert was gone, and, (to my great horror) so was Tim.
Carefully, I turned the doorknob, cracking it open a little bit. They were nowhere to be seen. Although I could see an open door at one end of the hallway. I slowly stepped out of the safety of my room, my heart slamming against my chest. I shut the door carefully, trying not to make too much noise. I felt like if I made noise, it'd end very badly for me.
I started to walk down the hall, towards the stairs, when I heard an ear-piercing scream. Freezing, I glanced around. Behind me, Mrs. Gilbert, Tim, and Barbra, (A lady I never really knew) came trudging out of the open door. When I saw them, I knew why Tim had screamed earlier.
Their skin was placid, and flesh hung loosely off their bones. They're pupils had dialed down a lot, so that they were only little black specks surrounded by white. Gore leaked from their open mouths. Their hands and clothes were splattered with blood. I noticed that Tim had a huge bite mark out of his throat, while Barbra was missing an arm. Mrs. Gilbert didn't have any marks on her. When they caught sight of me and Buddy, they groaned, trudging towards me. I froze in terror, unable to move. I urged my muscles to break free of their terror-filled daze. Beside me, Buddy had the same effect.
Suddenly, when the three were only a few doors away, a door in front of them opened, revealing Ms. Black, an old, deaf Chinese woman. She didn't notice the monsters until Barbra lunged forward, sinking her dull, yellowed teeth into Ms. Black's shoulder. The poor old woman screamed in agony, which made my stomach churn. Tim and Mrs. Gilbert were on her in a second, ripping bits of flesh off of her bones. Bile rising in my throat, I turned around, bolting down the stairs.
All the floors had been the same: monsters roaming around, tearing doors down, ripping the flesh off of their neighbors and friends. When I finally got outside, I raced to Melissa's car. Opening the back door for Buddy and my stuff, I heard police and ambulance sirens driving towards us. Looking up, several police cars were racing down the street. I waved my arms in the air, hoping to get their attention. They ignored me and continued down the street, towards the hospital.
Behind me, I heard the front door to the lobby smashing open. Whipping around, several of the monsters that were once my friends and neighbors were struggling to get through the door. I opened the passenger door, hopping in.
"Fucking drive!" I screamed. Melissa didn't need to be told twice, just backed up, and started driving out of the town.