A/N: First chapter is here! Idk what you guys'll think of it...not much zombie action here cuz it's mainly an introduction to all the characters. But more zombies in next chapter xD
CHAPTER ONE: QUARANTINE
I woke up to the sound of police sirens wailing in the distance. My head turned to glance at my digital clock. It was just after 3AM. As I sat up in my bed, I saw that my room was alive and brightened by the red & blue lights of cop cars shining through my window. It looks and sounds like there's hundreds of them outside in the neighbourhood. I frowned as I squinted out the window. What the hell was going on? The biggest amount of police cars I've seen around this place was about three or four of them at the house about five doors away - when an old nanny took too many pills by accident and died while watching TV. But now, looking out my window, there's about fifty police cars on our side of the street alone. In the distance, I hear people screaming; and it sends chills down my spine.
"Mum?" I called out warily as I tried to tear my gaze from the window, "What's going on? Why are there so many copper's cars outside?"
No reply.
Surely she wasn't sleeping through all this chaos. How is that even possible?
"Helloooo? Mum?" I turned to look at my bedroom door; debating on whether or not I should leave or just stay in my room.
I suddenly heard trudging footsteps walking around the lower level of our house. My whole body froze. That did not sound like mum.
"Who's there?" I whispered; even though I knew nobody would hear it.
Well...hopefully.
I let out a whimper and frantically looked around my room from where I was standing; looking for some sort of weapon to defend myself with.
A bottle of perfume?
...Nah.
Tissue box?
Nuh-uh.
A bra?
No way.
A desk lamp?
Nah.
Wait.
A desk lamp could work.
I ran over to my old study desk and unplugged the lamp. I didn't know how long I could use it as a weapon...but it was the best I got. If only tampons weren't so useless when it's not your time of the month.
I held the lamp over my head so that it was ready for attack. My eyes were fixed on my bedroom door as the footsteps continued to stomp around downstairs.
My breath hitched as the noise grew louder - indicating that whoever was in my house was now coming upstairs. I heard them...lumbering down the hallway in big, heavy boots, and the sound of keys or whatever clinking together as the intruder walked.
I stifled a gasp as I saw my doorknob turning; my whole body trembling with fear as I got the horrible feeling that something treacherous was waiting for me outside. I swear I could hear them...breathing heavily on the other side of my door. Or that could have been my heavy breathing. I swear I was suffering from all sorts of paranoia right now.
The door opened, and without hesitation I screamed and called for my mother; raising my desk lamp high above my head.
"Pipe down, kid!" The police officer who had entered my room hissed, "Do you want to be heard by the Prowlers?!"
"W-What? P-Prowlers? What do you mean?" I stammered.
"You're telling me you have no idea what's going on?" The officer cocked an eyebrow at me, "I thought you'd already seen one - judging by how scared and attack-ready you look right now,"
"I woke up like, ten minutes ago," I said shakily, "I-I don't know what's happening. At all,"
"There's been an outbreak," the officer sounded like he was in a hurry, "we're collecting as many citizens as we can and getting them to the station before the Lurkers can reach 'em,"
"What are you talking about?" I asked desperately, "What are Lurkers? I have no idea what you're saying!"
"They're zombies, you stupid girl!" The officer hissed, "You know? Ravenous undead humans who have a constant craving for human flesh?!"
"W...What..?"
Before I could process anything he said, he rushed over to me and grabbed my arm.
"If you want to survive, I suggest you come with me. We've activated the lockdown security procedures at the station. Totally impenetrable dome over the whole area. They'll never get you in there,"
"Yeah? What about my mother? Can she get in there too?" I asked.
The officer looked confused. "What do you mean? I've already searched your whole house. I've seen no-one around before you. I thought you lived here by yourself,"
"What?! No!" I exclaimed, "I live here with my mother! Now where is she?!"
"Look, if she's around, I'm sure she would've been found by now," he replied, "we've almost finished clearing out this whole neighbourhood. Now pack some stuff, we're going to leave as soon as you're ready,"
I still didn't know if this guy had just lost his damn mind, but a zombie apocalypse would explain all the sudden trauma...even if it did seem impossible to believe. So...I listened to the man. I grabbed my old camping bag and packed some clothes, basic toiletries and some snacks I liked to keep in my closet. I draped a thick trench coat over my pyjamas and put on the first pair of shoes I could find - which were my favourite black ankle boots.
"Ready?" The officer asked me.
"Ready," I nodded, "Officer..." I squinted at his name badge, "...Doug,"
He gave me a small smile before taking my arm again and leading me outside the house. I couldn't stop looking around for mum as he took me downstairs. Surely she would've woken up after hearing her own daughter scream. How could she not be here?
"Are you sure my mum's not here?" I asked Doug.
"100% positive," he replied with a nod, "no nook or cranny of this house went unsearched,"
I stayed silent and only gave him a small nod. Where the heck was mum?
As soon as we were outside, Doug pulled me to his car - the lights blinking rapidly and making me squint at the brightness.
"If there are zombies out here, shouldn't you turn off all the sirens and lights?" I asked with a frown. Even an idiot knew those undead freakazoids are always attracted to noise and light. And those police cars were making a lot of light. There wasn't as much noise as before, but still a lot of light.
"They've all lumbered off somewhere else," said Doug, "and even if they do come back, we'll all be long gone anyway. Now come on - get in the car and buckle up,"
Hesitant, I bit my lip anxiously before climbing into the passenger's seat of Doug's car. The engine quietly rumbled to life, and without a second glance we had driven out into the cold, dark night.
***
"So what's your name, kid?" Doug asked me.
"Marshall. Laura Marshall," I replied quietly.
"And how old are you, Laura?"
"I'm 19,"
"Any siblings?"
"Nope. Just me and my mum," I gulped, "I hope she's OK,"
"I'm sure she is," Doug assured me; although he did sound hesitant to tell me that.
I bit my lip and nodded slowly.
And then there was silence.
"So...what happens when we get to the station, exactly?" I asked Doug; trying to keep up the conversation to avoid an awkward situation.
"Sit tight and make some friends," he replied, "'cause you're going to be there for a while,"
"Is every citizen going to be in quarantine?"
"Every citizen that's not one of the dead walking around, yeah,"
"So...if my mum's...alive," I trembled at the word, "I'll see her there, right?"
"You sure will,"
"OK. Good. That's good," I took a deep breath and leaned back into my seat; trying to relax.
However, a loud noise and a jolt from the car immediately snapped me back into my tense, alert state. The car had run into something, and as I glanced up at the windscreen, I saw that the once clean glass was now flecked with splatters of blood.
"Fuck," Doug cursed under his breath, "they're here,"
"W-What was that?" I demanded, "Did you run someone over?!"
"It wasn't someone," he snapped; immediately stopping the car and switching off every light there was, "stay still. And keep quiet. We'll take 'em by surprise. Strike the iron when it's hot,"
"What do you mean?"
"Shhh!" hissed Doug.
I obeyed him and shut my mouth; sinking further down my seat so that I could stay low.
All I could see around me was the darkness, and I was barely remembering to breathe. Low growls and snarls could be heard all around us, and I froze.
Then, with a somewhat malicious chuckle, Doug turned the key in the ignition, and the engine roared to life. The headlights were switched on, and I screamed as I saw that all around us were a mob of snarling, lurking creatures - with grey, old & rotting skin and blank white eyes. They all had some sort of brainwashed look on their faces, but I could tell they were coming after something.
They were coming after us.
Angry, predatory growls rose up from the whole group of them as they started lumbering towards us; their arms hungrily outstretched and ready to strike. However, with an almost wicked grin Doug slammed his foot into the accelerator, and the car screeched forward - knocking over several of them in the process and causing their infected blood and guts to splatter all over the windscreen. But without a word Doug used the window wipers to clean it all away as he let out a loud whoop of triumph.
"YES!" He shouted victoriously, "Take that, you undead freaks!"
"I-I don't think it's a good idea to a-aggravate them like that," I stammered with a fearful gulp.
"Relax Laura," Doug grinned at me, "we're in a car. All they got are their rotting legs that can only move at half a mile per hour. As long as we're in here, we can do whatever we want to them,"
"OK, b-but can we just get to the station, please?" I asked, still trying to register in my brain what just happened.
"Yeah. Sure, kid. Whatever you say." Doug replied with a small nod.
***
One word I could use to describe what it was like once we got to the police station was 'chaos'. Another word I could use was 'mayhem', which is another word for 'chaos'. A third one I could use was 'pandemonium', which is a fancy word for 'chaos'.
By now, I'm sure you've got my point. It was totally insane in there.
Virtually everyone had something to say to someone else - people were talking or shouting over each other; trying to share the load of the panic everyone was going through. Others were breathing into paper bags or rocking back and forth while curled up in a corner of the station; mumbling to themselves as if trying to stay sane.
"You call this a survival base?" I asked Doug with a questioning rise of my eyebrow.
"It's a work in progress," he replied with a shrug before nodding his head in the direction of the ocean of panicked people in front of us, "off you go, Laura. I'll check on you later,"
Before I could say another word to him, he had disappeared - leaving me with nothing to do except step into the giant crowd of people before me. I maneuvered my way through the uproar of humans as I tried to find space somewhere so that I could actually breathe.
I exclaimed in pain and annoyance as someone pushed me (I didn't know whether it was by accident or on purpose); causing my back to crash into someone's chest.
"Ow..." I let out a little whimper as the collision caused a light pain to shoot up my arm.
"Hey," a deep, husky male voice began in a dark and annoyed tone-and I was almost certain that he was addressing me, "you think it's OK to push a girl like that, you prick?"
Oh. Nevermind.
I looked up at whoever I had bumped into-and the first thing I saw was a pair of deep-set emerald eyes shooting a threatening glare at someone in front of me. Turning my head, I saw that the person he was scowling at was some scrawny runt with a pimpled face and a scruffy goatee.
Wow. He was the one who pushed me over?
For God's sake. I was such a weakling.
"It's not my fault she's too short to see," the guy shrugged.
Offensive! It's not my fault I have short parents!
"You know what?" My defender was getting angry, "why don't you just move on before I bash your face in," he snapped.
The guy's eyes grew wide, and he nodded in a slightly fearful way before squeezing his way through the crowd to get away from us.
"Wow. Thanks for that,"
"He's not as brave as he plays on. Idiots like that are easy to scare," he looked down at me, but through the tight crowd of people I was too busy struggling not to get pushed again to have a proper look at his face, "are you hurt?"
"No. Not hurt. A little offended, but not hurt," I replied.
"Don't waste your time on tossers like him," he told me, "and don't let his words get to you."
"Yeah. OK," I nodded slowly, "hey, since you're like, tall and stuff, can you spot a way out of this crowd?"
He didn't say a word, all I heard was a deep chuckle emit from his lips. Without warning me he grabbed my arm and easily led me out of the swarm of people surrounding us. He took me to an empty corner of the room, where he drew a knife from a sleeve strapped to his belt, and after looking around briefly he took a ceramic coffee mug from a nearby desk, tipped it upside-down and began to sharpen the knife along the bottom rim of the mug.
It was only then I managed to take a good look at him. He sported nothing but black from head to toe - black T-shirt, black leather jacket, ripped black skinny jeans and heavy black combat boots. His skin was a nice olive tan. He had a distinct jawline & bone structure. He had long, dark voluminous curls that he had grown down to his shoulders. His lips were pink and plump; and when I saw him bite his bottom lip almost unconsciously out of concentration, it boosted my heartbeat by a hundred more beats per second.
Now, I may be off the market, but that doesn't stop me from admiring a hot guy when I see one. And this was a hot guy. A very, very hot guy.
"You know, I'm sure there are better things to do around here than stare at me for hours," he said casually; not even looking up at me as a smirk slowly crept across his lips. I was only just beginning to notice the British accent.
"Hey, I could've been observing how you were sharpening that knife," I put my hands on my hips; desperate to save myself from humiliation.
"But you weren't," he finally raised his emerald eyes to look at me, "were you?"
Goddamn he had beautiful eyes.
"Well...I was...shut up!" I folded my arms and turned my head away from him; trying to hide my burning red cheeks.
He chuckled. "Hey - I don't mind,"
"Yeah, well, I shouldn't have been staring at you anyway," I said sheepishly; still refusing to look back at him due to my embarrassment.
"Why? Have you got a boyfriend?"
"Yeah,"
"Oh. Well, I'm sure he'll be delighted to hear that you were checking out another guy during his absence,"
"He doesn't need to know,"
"Well, if he's as special to you as I think he is, don't you think you should be looking for him instead of staying here?"
"I don't know if he's here," I finally plucked up the courage to turn around and meet his eyes.
"I overheard the officers talking a while ago," he said, putting down his knife and mug to look up at me, "they've rounded up everyone they could find. So if your special someone didn't get eaten...or bitten...then he'd be here,"
"How am I supposed to find him in this riot?" I asked him quizzically.
"If he really cares about you, he'd be looking for you right now," he tilted his head to the side at me questioningly, "don't you think?"
"I guess..." I then shrugged, "oh well. I presume we're gonna be living at this quarantine base until this all blows over, so I'll have plenty of time to find him,"
He laughed out loud. "It's cute that you think this is actually going to work out," he smiled and shook his head amusedly at me before picking up his knife again.
"What do you mean?"
"Well, take a good look around, sweetheart," he told me, "you honestly think that this tiny police station is gonna accommodate everyone here?"
"It could," I said defensively.
His face turned serious again. "What's one thing you know about zombie apocalypses?"
"I don't know, the world gets infested with people who rise from the dead and like to eat people?"
"Exactly. And big survival bases never work out," he began to sharpen the knife again, "it always happens - one person fucks up and the whole community's done for. The same thing's gonna happen here,"
"Huh?" I asked cluelessly.
"Someone's gonna go out to get supplies. Then they're gonna get bitten. Then they'll come lumbering back here without telling anyone about it. Next thing you know; the whole place has been infected by the one idiot who decided to conceal his condition until he reanimated."
"Now hold on a second," I folded my arms and frowned, "that's so negative,"
"It's the truth," he finished sharpening his knife and slid it back into its sleeve and dropping the mug into a rucksack that was swung over his shoulder.
"This could work out. You never know,"
"And what do you think this place will be like 5 years from now? Would it still be as secure as you think it is?" He asked me.
"In 5 years I'm sure things will be back to normal,"
He smirked, and began chuckling quietly to himself. "Well, you can think what you think love. But I know this isn't going to work,"
I bit my lip anxiously. He did have a point, but who was he to be so pessimistic?
"Laura?" A new voice called out from behind me.
A voice that I recognised instantly.
"Mason!" I immediately whirled around and happily jumped into my boyfriend's arms, "I'm so glad you're safe,"
He began to laugh as I kissed his face over and over. "Christ, I was so worried. I saw one of those...those whatevers in the street and all I could think about was you. I was terrified,"
"I'm fine," I smiled brightly at him, "God...you have no idea how much I was hoping to run into you as soon as I got here,"
"I was the same, believe me," he began to stroke my face softly, "oh - and I found Annalise too," he told me with a grin.
"You did?" My eyes widened at the mention of my best friend's name, "Where is she?"
"I'll take you to her, yeah?"
"Yeah. Yeah, OK," I smiled brightly at him, "oh my God...Mason...I'm so happy to see you,"
"I'm happy to see you too, babe," he smiled at me and kissed my cheek, "I haven't even grinned since this whole bullshit started,"
I let out a little giggle before taking his hand; completely forgetting about that mysterious, handsome stranger who was still tucked away in that corner and sharpening that knife.
***
My best friend Annalise Milton has always been bright and cheery since the first time I met her. It was what I loved about her - she was optimistic, kind, caring and basically anything you'd want in a dream best friend. She's made my life so much better - she was even the one who set me up with Mason.
Which was why I was totally shocked when I saw her condition as soon as Mason brought me to her.
I'd never seen her like this before. She was severely panicked; she had erratic breathing and her blue eyes expressed nothing but fear instead of cheer. When she first saw me, she couldn't even remember my name. She screamed at me and demanded to know who I was - even though she already knew everything about me inside and out. And no matter how hard Mason & I tried to calm her down...nothing was working.
"GET AWAY FROM ME!" Annalise was screaming, "MUM! GET ME AWAY FROM HERE!! MUM!!!" She cried; tears streaming rapidly down her face.
"Lise! Lise!" I grabbed her and shook her by the shoulders, "for God's sake, Lise, calm the fuck down!"
Annalise screamed louder and tried to push me away; and my eyes widened as that was the first time I noticed that her right hand was drenched with blood.
"Can somebody calm that girl down?!" Someone demanded, "She's gonna get us all killed!"
"Mind your own business, asshole," Mason snapped; all the while trying his best to hold Annalise down.
"Lise...your hand..." I gulped, "Annalise, what the hell happened to you?!"
"She was there...my mother..." Annalise panted, "th-the walker...bite...th-the hammer..."
"What did she say?" Mason frowned, "Did she just say a walker tried to bite a hammer?"
"Shut up, Mason," I snapped, "you gotta think outside the square!"
As much as I loved him, he was still an idiot sometimes.
"Annalise, just calm down. Take deep breaths. Breathe in, breathe out,"
Thankfully, she slowly began to copy me.
"That's it...that's it...good girl," I patted her cheek softly and gave her a faint smile.
"L-Laura..." she breathed, "Laura...oh my God..." her voice began to break, and I could tell that she was about to cry.
"Hey, hey," I sat her up and wrapped my arms around her as she began to sob, "just take it easy angel, OK?"
"Oh my God...Laura i-it was so terrible..."
I held her at an arm's length and looked right into her eyes. "What happened?"
"M-My dad woke me up when this whole thing started..." her voice was weak and quiet, "he said...that I had to get out...and get to safety...and I had no idea what he was talking about," she began to whimper as more tears rolled down her cheeks, "he helped me out of bed...held me close and slowly began to lead me outside...and then we found my mother," she bit hard on her lip; as if her recall was actually causing her physical pain, "she was by the garden shed...already turned. She attacked my dad...and all he did was tell me to get away. He didn't fight her...or try to run...he just kept telling me to get away."
"Oh, Lise..." I felt tears actually stinging my eyes at her story, "I'm so sorry,"
"That's not the end of it..." Annalise sniffled, "...after she was finished with dad...she went after me. I ran into the garden shed and grabbed dad's lucky hammer - and she was right there, ready to bite me. I had no choice...I had to hit her. But one hit wasn't enough. I had to do it again...and again...and again..." she buried her face in her hands and sobbed, "Laura, I'm a murderer! I killed my own mother!"
"No, Lise. You're not a murderer. Not even close," I took her hand and squeezed it gently, "like it or not, Lise, by that time she didn't even know she was your mother. She would've chewed you up if you didn't do something,"
"Well yeah, but...I still can't believe I had to do that," whimpered Annalise.
"I know, Lise. I can't even imagine what that would've been like for you," I told her empathetically.
"Laura..." she looked up at me helplessly, "is this...real? I-Is this actually happening?"
I bit my lip before giving her a slow nod. "It is, Annalise. I'm sorry to say that it is."