⚠️There is blood, gore, violence, and minor character death. It's a zombie apocalypse so there will be some not pretty scenes!!⚠️
Jughead's POV
You can't be ready for the zombie apocalypse. You see movies and TV shows and read books about it, thinking you know everything, but when it actually happens, you're not prepared. In just 3 days, the world went to shit.
Day 1: the disease came everyone got sick. It was in the air, in the food, and according to the CDC, it was in everyone but wasn't fatal or so we thought.
Day 2: Over half the population, dead. The disease picked off the easy targets with bad immune systems and heath issues. 4.3 billion people dead in 1 day, but the remaining 3.3 billion were luckier we didn't die.
Day 3: was when it all went down. The people rose, but they weren't the same, they weren't human. They were the walking dead. Their hearts weren't pumping blood, but the disease had taken over their brain engulfing it with a darkness that turned them into animals, but they were dead. They were viscous. They craved flesh. You could shoot them in the chest 30 times, chop them in half, behead them, but they wouldn't die. You had to go for the brain, the thing that kept them 'alive.'
The government was a mess. People were fleeing their homes, but the draggers were growing. If you were bit or scratched, you were destined to die, unless you were bit on a part of the body that could be cut off. If that was the case, you had to think fast. Grab whatever you could and get the body part off before the disease spread thought out your body. Another thing we discovered was that one you die, whether you were killed by the draggers or not, you had less than 24 hours before you turned. The disease got to your brain once you were dead, eating away at the humanity and turning you into a monster. So that was the thing, everyone was sick. The only way to stop it was with a hit to the head, really killing the brain but it didn't really do anything to you, until you were dead. Except for the unlucky folks who died from it on the second day.
We didn't want to call them zombies, that was to fictional for the situation. So the government called them draggers, and that's what society was calling them now too. And that's where I am now.
Day 7: alone. My mother died from the sickness on day 2. She bit my dad, but I managed to get his wrist off with a saw we had in the took shed after killing my mom. My sister was petrified, and there was a lot of blood and screaming as I sawed off my dads hand, but it saved him. We took what we could. My sister got a bow and arrow, since, believe it or not she was really good at archery. My dad and I had guns that we got from the sheriffs station, and enough ammo to last us a while. I also had my pocket knife, which I used for hand to hand combat.
We raided the stores we could, most of them abandoned. We killed a lot of draggers as we raided, looking for food and other necessities but one caught my dad off guard, biting into his shoulder. My sister and I screamed, but I knew it was to late and I held my sister back. I killed the dragger and rushed to my dads side. He told my sister and I that he loved us, and that we had to stay alive for him. He said he didn't want to become one of those things, so through my tears, I shot my dad in the head. I held my sister until she fell asleep, before carrying her to the back room of the store we had been in, blocking off the door, and falling asleep. That was day 4.
On day 6, my sister died. We left Toledo in my dads pickup truck, neither of us speaking a word. We got more ammo and guns, and we even took down a group of 23 draggers. The car started beeping, and I saw that we were running out of gas. So I pulled over and told Jb to keep lookout while I checked the trunk to see if we had any gas, but something happened. A car came, and whoever was driving it must've been drunk, because they didn't see me or the truck. I turned around and froze in my place like an idiot, watching it come closer. I closed my eyes and prepared for the impact, when I felt someone push me out of the way. I fell to the ground and turned over to see Jb get hit by the car. There was a sickening crack as the car barreled into her, squeezing her between the truck and the car. I screamed her name as the driver reversed the car. I looked him in the face, saw the look of guilt and horror in their eyes, before they sped off. I ran to Jb's side, but she was gone. Her entire body had been pancaked. I held her close to my chest and sobbed into her shoulder for hours. It wasn't until I felt her move that I dropped her. Her eyes were blank and she was moving her jaw around. Her eyes were blank and she was moving her jaw around. Since her body was crushed, she couldn't really move. She could just lay there and snarl. I didn't want to kill her, I really don't, but she wasn't my sister anymore. She was one of them now. I told her I loved her, before pulling out my pistol and shooting her in the head. I picked her up off the road and laid her down in a field of flowers nearby, before returning to the car. The back was destroyed, so I just took our weapons and continued on foot. I didn't know where I was going until I saw a sign. Riverdale! The town with pep! 3 miles up. Riverdale. I was going back to Riverdale.
So here I am. Entering the so called town with pep, but there didn't seem to be much pep at all. It was a ghost town. I could see some walkers in the distance, eating away at something, but that was it. I turned the corner and saw a run down building. There was a sign that said pops chock'lit shop. It probably had some food. I walked through the doors and killed the only dragger that seemed to be in there, before going to the back room. It smelled like rotting flesh. I stepped on something that made a crunching noise, but chose to ignore it. That's when I heard the rustling from around the corner. I pulled out my gun and held it up, before jumping out to see what made the noise. I was met with a girl. She had a Katakana raised at me, but slowly put it down.
"Wait, you're alive!"
Betty's POV
5 days ago
I never thought that my life could get flipped-turned upside down in just 2 days. My sister's fiance Jason (not Cheryl's brother) had died from whatever disease was going around the globe, and my sister wasn't handling it well. She stayed by his side in his bed, until sometime last night. I heard her walk into the house crying and hyperventilating. She was saying something along the lines of 'he bit me, he freaking bit me!' but I was too tired to really understand what was going on, so I just fell back asleep. This morning was even worse though. I woke up to scratching at me door, but I ignored it while I checked my phone, thinking it would be any normal day. Until I saw the news, people were literally rising from the dead. I dropped my phone and held back my sobs as I heard snarling from the other side of the door of the door. I walked over and pushed the door open with so much force that it sent Polly flying backwards. I saw her rotting state. Her gray skin and drooping eyes. A huge chunk of her shoulder was missing, and blood slowly drizzled out of it. She tried to walk towards me, but I slammed the door shut and locked it, before sliding to my knees and trying to steady my breathing. It wasn't until I heard her pounding on the door, her fingers scratching at the white paint. That's when I started to cry.
I realized that this was the new reality, and that my parents were probably gone too. Get it together Betty, you guys always fought. You hated each other. You need to figure out the situation, and get rid of whatever is trying to get into your room. I put on my shoes and some comfy clothes, before opening up my window and crawling down the ladder that my friends used to sneak into my room.
The streets were a mess. The dead were walking around all over the place, people were screaming and running. I knew that my family was gone, but I walked around to the front of my house and opened the door. I slowly stepped in, and was met with half eaten bodies of my parents. I let out a scream and saw what was supposed to be my sister start slowly walking down the stairs. She was covered in blood. It was on her hands and around her mouth. Her eyes were completely blank, and whatever life that used to be in her was completely gone. I ran into the kitchen and pulled out a kitchen knife. A few tears streamed down my face, but I knew that I had to kill whatever was left of Polly. I didn't know anything about these creatures, since I had only woken up 10 minutes ago, but from what I've seen on movies and TV shows, you had to go for the head.
Polly stumbled into the kitchen, reaching her hands out to me and snarling. I closed my eyes and plunged the knife into her skull. It was sickening how easily it went through the bone. I pulled out the knife and watched her fall to the ground, before running and closing the front door so more things couldn't get in. I cried for a few hours, before going back to my room and deciding to take action. I peeked through the windows and saw that the streets were still a mess, so I decided to call my friends. Veronica didn't pick up, or answer any of my texts. Neither did Archie. Cheryl answered though. She told me that her and Toni were hiding up in thornhill, and I was welcome to stay with them. I heard Juniper and Dagwood crying in the background, and Cheryl said she had to go. Kevin said he couldn't answer because he didn't want to make noise, but we texted each other, making sure we were okay. Him and his dad were leaving.
After making sure most of my friends were okay as of now, I cried. I cried for Polly. I cried for my parents who would surely be walking around the house tomorrow, looking for flesh they could eat. I cried for the world and for my friends. I cried until I fell asleep, listening to the dying screams of the people outside.
The next day
After I woke up to my alarm, which was set to ring at 8 am daily, I walked into the garage and took out the katakana my dad had won at an auction once. I spent the rest of my day learning how to use it, practicing on the zombified bodies of my parents. I even decided to go outside and practice on some of the draggers nearby. None of my friends had gotten back to me yet, only Cheryl (who was with Toni) and Kevin. I went into my parents room and took the pistol out of the safe, along with some ammo. Since it was the end of the world, I might as well drop my preppy looks. I pulled the ponytail out of my hair and changed into a black crop top, with a light camo jacket over top. I pulled some grey leggings and dug around my closet for the combat boots I bought on black Friday. If only I knew it would be my last black Friday. I dug around my parents room since they were always big survivalists, shocking, and found some things that could be useful.
I found some things that wrapped around my legs where I could store the pistol I got from the safe and the ammo, as well as a sheath for my katakana that went around my back. I also found my dads hunting knife, and put it into one of the pockets that went around my leg. Now all I needed was a bag. I grabbed an old green one from the attic and put a small blanket, some sanitation things like pads and my toothbrush, a hairbrush, some non perishable food, a lighter, portable charger, a canteen filled with water, and a first aid kit. The bag wasn't really heavy so it was easy to carry around. I walked over to my parents, who I had put down hours before, and said one final goodbye to them. My phone read 6 pm, and the sun was setting. I should've stayed the night, but I decided to throw caution to the wind and set off for Thornhill. I hope Cheryl and Toni had some extra room.
Present time
The boy and I sat down in the back room, drinking our hot chocolate that I had made. He told me his story, and I told him mine. I also told him about how when I got to Thornhill, Cheryl and Toni were nowhere to be found. They were leaving, trying to find someplace to stay for a while outside of Riverdale, and wished me the best of luck. I also told him how I decided to hide out in pops, since it had enough food to keep me satisfied for a while. Which is where are now.
"I'm Betty by the way. We never really exchanged names." I smiled shyly at the boy. To my surprise, he smiled back.
"I'm Jughead. Don't laugh, it's a nickname. My real name is much worse, I assure you." I giggled and stretched out my legs, I slowly closed my eyes, but a loud scream interrupted me from my thoughts. Jughead and I jumped up and ran to the front of the diner. From outside, we saw someone getting surrounded by a hoard of draggers. She had on a velvet dress on and raven hair, which went past her shoulders. She seemed very familiar. I squinted my eyes to get a better look, and saw who it was. It was Veronica.
"V!" I wasn't thinking. I pushed open the door and ran outside, but it was to late. Draggers were sinking their teeth into her skin, scratching at her stomach and ripping up her dress. She looked at me with sad eyes as I fell to the ground sobbing.
"Blondie, what are you doing?" I heard Jughead running over to me.
"You're gonna get seen by the dra-" He saw the state I was in and turned back to look at Veronica.
"I'm guessing you know her.." He sighed. He grabbed my hand and pulled me up.
"Look, I know that this is a very difficult situation, and guessing by the context I'm going to assume she was very close to you. But she wouldn't want you to sit here crying and let the draggers get to you. While they're distracted, we should probably get inside and make a plan. It's what our fallen loved ones would have wanted." He wiped away my tears as I nodded my head. We turned to go back into the diner, but were met with another group of draggers slowly stumbling towards us.
"Crap." We mumbled in unison. We we turned around to go the other way, but there were even more. We were surrounded by them.
"I guess there's only one thing we can do." I mumbled. Jughead turned to me, but once he saw my smile he knew what I was hinting at. He took out his gun and I slid my katakana out of the sheath.
"Let's go kick some undead ass."