Its ravenous hunger was depicted brutally as its teeth penetrated her soft tender skin. From her jugular gushed the red sea and her screams echoed throughout the halls of the abandoned school, in which her companion claimed would be safe. Fueled by desperation, her hands yearned to find solace in the knife she had dropped a few feet away from her, but hope by then had already abandoned her and the grim giant that was death had already determined that this soul was his. Her vision began to fade, a vast darkness overtaking her consciousness. The pain was immense, but no longer did she possess the ability to scream. As her vision faded into the dusk, the deafening ringing in her ears was complimented with footsteps, drawing ever closer, heavy with the life long burden of failure, a loss, a scar that could never disappear. The last sight in which engraved itself deep within her memory, the one she loved...too late to save her life.
➽3 Months Later➽
Carefully he scanned the gas station for any sign of provisions. It had been two days since Alexander last foraged for food but now his supplies ran near the edge of nothingness, leaving him absent of choice. He had barely enough to survive on for a few more days before he would be thrown into an unwanted battle with the monster humans had faced their entire lives, hunger.
Lowering his body to a crouch, he outstretched his left arm under one of the gas station's shelves in hopes of discovering some form of food, preferably canned but at this point, anything would do. However, his endeavor was cut short as a deafening scream pierced his ears. This unexpected noise caused a jolt of electricity to surge through his body and for a split-second, the fact that his hand had been under a shelf was made unknown to him, evident in his reflex to stand. This resulted in slightly injuring his left arm, but the pain faded a few seconds afterwards.
"Dammit!" he muttered to himself as he slid his arm from under the shelf.
From through the broken glass that lined the front of the gas station, Alexander peered a young woman surrounded by a herd of zombies. She had positioned herself on a nearby rusted-green dumpster, in the middle right against the wall of an apartment building, which provided her with temporary safety. Regardless of providing her this temporary safety, it was also a trap within itself, for it left her with no where to go as the possibility of escaping unharmed rapidly dwindled to nothing.
Without a single fiber of hesitation within his muscles, he quickly armed himself with his Semi-automatic, Glock 26 Gen5, and even though he had little to no ammunition remaining, this thought was far from his mind as he was fueled by an event in his past and a promise to never let such a circumstance occur again...not on his watch.
"Hey brainiacs, over here!" he called out, attempting to gain the attention of the undead monsters.
They slowly turned towards him, setting their flesh hankering gaze upon him. They approached him inchmeal, little by little, and the stench of their rotting flesh advanced in front of them. Alexander could feel their overwhelming hunger as he backed away slightly, aiming to captivate their attention long enough to allow the woman some distance between herself and the grotesque beasts.
"Yeah that's right. Keep it coming brainies, come get a piece of this delectable flesh all fresh...well kinda fresh."
Alexander led them a substantial distance away from the woman, allowing her to slip away, unharmed, onto the roof of the gas station. On confirming her safety, his snail-like pace quickly adapted a horse's gallop as he quickly evaded the threat of the incoming, despite slow, zombies. Alexander found a nearby building and utilized the ladder attached to it to completely evade his pursuers as they lacked the simple ability to climb. Gripping onto the strap of his black backpack with his left hand, he looked down at the herd of zombies congregating at the base of the building.
"One, two, three..", he started as he counted how many of them were there, "ten, eleven, twelve. Twelve zombies huh? You guys sure are becoming a pest, slow but the numbers are increasing. Not killing you all here is only gonna increase the chances of facing more of you guys one day. Sadly I dont have sufficient ammo."
Alexander backed away from the building's ledge and sat down for a moment, pulling his backpack off of his back and placing it in front of him. He unzipped it, revealing two beaten up cans of beans and a half eaten granola bar. Alongside the little food he had remaining, was a small solar powered radio and a knife, "G.L" engraved deep within its handle. His eyes locked onto it and a sharp pain penetrated his heart as the memory invaded his mind. He was absorbed and trapped deep inside his thoughts as his failure, without a shred of mercy, attacked him over and over.
He could hear her blood-curdling scream repeatedly and as he reached out to save her, each and every time, his memories reminded him that he failed.
Dammit! Dammit!
Why?! Why wasn't I fast enough?!
Why?! Please WHY?!
WHY COULDN'T I SAVE YOU?! WHY?! IT WAS ALL MY FAULT! WHY DID I TAKE YOU THERE?!
WHY DID I...
"Hey you!", a voice called, freeing him from his tormented state, "Thanks for saving me! I owe you one!"
It was the woman he had saved just seconds ago, offering her gratitude for his good deed. Alexander gripped his face with his palm and squeezed his eyes shut, in an attempt to suppress the tears that were at the ready to escape his bright brown eyes, before meeting her eyes and delivering a smile.
"Don't mention it! It was nothing!" he assured.
The woman took a few steps back from the ledge of the gas station's roof. From there, she accelerated and used her speed to propel her onto the roof of the building which stood between Alexander and her. She repeated the action again and landed safely onto the building that Alexander was on.
"So you're a jumper?" Alexander asked with a slight chuckle.
"You're acting like the buildings were worlds apart." she said as she slowly approached him, returning his sense of humor.
"Yeah I guess you have a point."
"My name is Olivia by the way."
"Okay." His tone became somewhat cold, as he found it pointless to learn names of those who would soon die, or he'd never see again.
"Damn. Looks like your manners are just as scarce as food these days."
Alexander tried to hold it back as long as he could, but a laugh eventually escaped him.
"Alexander but you can call me Alex."
"Nice to meet you Alex. Thanks again for saving me back there."
A sudden gust of wind caused Olivia's long, thick, brunette hair to slightly dance. Strangely enough, this dance and the air that brushed pass his face brought Alex a sense of peace. He closed his eyes for a moment and captured as much of the air as he could, before slowly breathing out and opening his eyes.
"Where's your gear? Traveling around empty-handed is bound to get you infected."
"Well...I kind of left it back at base. I just walked with a gun but I ran out of ammo."
"Base?"
Olivia hesitated a moment as if she had revealed too much information. Her light green eyes wandered around the roof faintly for a brief moment.
"That's what I call my little hideout. Hey um...do you wanna team up?" she asked, looking him deep in the eye, connecting her two pointer fingers together and then separating them constantly, as if it was a weapon of persuasion.
Alexander scanned her face for a second. There was a faint stench of dishonesty lingering about her but at the same time, her innocence shone brighter than any form of ulterior motive.
"I prefer working alone." He started as he glanced into his backpack, noticing the time displayed on the solar powered radio.
12:00.
He took it out and started to turn the dial until a female's voice was heard. "Please remain silent for a moment."
Her eyes widened in disbelief as most radios had been without power and the little that remained functional, were as rare as a diamond, causing most of the survivors in West Point to be absolutely clueless about the situation beyond its borders.
"Welcome back to Greendale's Breaking News. I'm your reporter Lauryn Asher bringing you the latest updates. After the initial outbreak which occurred three months ago, West Point still remains on lockdown. The deadly flu outbreak appears to be spreading through the state rapidly with no sign of slowing down. Greendale's government however, wishes to advise the public that there is no need to panic as the authorities, along with the military forces, have sealed off the state's only connection, Harlem Bridge, as an attempt to safeguard not only our state, but the entirety of the continent. In other news..."
Alexander switched off the radio after obtaining the relevant information and slightly raised his upper lip in disgust.
"Tchh. I can't believe them." His voice went forth, the disgust evident in it.
"So they're calling it a flu huh?" Olivia queried, crossing her arms.
"They have us on lockdown. They don't even care if there are survivors here. Won't even send provisions for us. Those bastards...even calling this zombie outbreak a deadly flu virus? How absurd."
Alexander quickly returned the solar powered radio to his backpack and zipped it.
"Are those Walkers still down there?" Olivia asked.
"I'm not sure but at any rate it's time I get going."
"Wait a sec! Can you check to see if those Walkers are still there? I have to go that way."
"Why can't you do it yourself? Cut the damsel in distress act already."
"Ouch. Some kind of gentleman you are. Can't you just do this one deed for a lady and stop being such a jerk?"
"Whatever lady."
Alexander stood up and walked over to the ledge of the building from which he originally climbed. He looked down, only to be met with the hungry stares of the twelve zombies that had followed him.
"Seems like all are waiting for ya," he began, "so what are you gonna..."
He turned around mid question, only to notice his bag and Olivia had disappeared from the spot. In the distance he could see her fleeing down the ladder on the gas station with his backpack attached tightly to her back. In that moment he had let down his guard, forgetting the one lesson desperate times taught you...humans are not trustworthy.