Carlos-less world

Put your hands up

September 28. 1998

Cold sweat all over me and bed sheets all over the place. I jolted up from bed. A nightmare had disturbed my sleep.

Was I turning into a zombie?

The dream had seemed too genuine to be a lie. But I had never even seen a zombie in real life. Only books had such nasty creatures in them. But I definitely had seen myself turning into one. Blood spilt from my eyes, and my limbs transformed dark grey. It was horrifying.

I definitely won't sleep after a dream like that.

I got out of my messed-up bed. My bare feet connected with the chilly floor of my apartment. I tried to shake off the dizziness from sleep. It was such a struggle to even walk to the window, but I made it.

The only thing standing between me and the world was my smooth black curtains.

I reached my hands to open them and dramatically tore them apart. Dust flew from them as the light shone inside. The world outside opened up to me. Now I could hear every screaming voice coming from the outside.

Should I clear my head? Am I seeing things?

Calmly as possible, I surveyed the area. Heart beating in my chest, blood rushing between my ears. As if everything was a dream inside a dream.

The apartment building opposite mine was in flames. People on the street level were running away from zombies...

Wait...

What the duck!? Zombies?!

There they were, clear in my eyes. The dead-looking monsters, just below me. One of them devoured my downstairs neighbour before my eyes. It bit them in the neck. Blood splattered on the asphalt as my neighbour screamed for their life. Something that burned in my memory forever.

I was shaking, holding my breath. Is this the end of the world? Is this how we all die? I don't want to die!

The faint ringing of my table phone snapped me out of my racing mind.

I quickly ran to it, terrified of it drawing the monsters near me. The number calling glowed on the device, and I recognised the number.

Zev was calling me.

There were endless possibilities of why he was calling. Was he in trouble? Getting eaten alive? Those frightening thoughts pushed me to pick up as fast as I could.

"Hello?" I whispered in a shaky voice. I was so close to breaking down right there.

"Y/N, where are you!? No, that's a stupid question. Put something protective on and head to the Umbrella corp building! Get here fast! I can still let you in. Hurry!" Zev yelled into my ear, clearly as shaken as I was.

I couldn't respond to him. I just swallowed, and the call ended. The beep rang in my head again and again until I lowered the phone back to its slot.

It was all happening right now. This isn't a dream.

In a daze, I frantically ran around my apartment. Being as quiet as I could. I get dressed in my practice clothes. And added the taekwondo hand, chest and leg pads.

There was one thing that represented me right now, and it was an anxious, terrified Michelin man. My hair was a mess, I was already sweating, and my brain was scattered.

No amount of clothing seemed to give me comfort. Especially seeing what happened down on the street.

I grabbed my baseball bat, boots and hoodie, pulling them on top of my gear. Somehow I knew what to take with me.