The Quarantine Zone

Chapter Three

Shane wanted to cry out to the boy, warn him, do anything. But he knew it was too late for him. Shane could only watch as the horror unfolded.

The creature lunged at the boy, who had only just realised it was there. Shane could see the sheer terror on the boys face as he desperately struggled with the beast, it's horrid, gnashing teeth trying to find their mark.

After a few seconds, the thing managed to get one of it's hands free, and began relentlessly slamming it's hand into the boys chest. The boy started coughing violently, and in doing so, loosening his grip on the creature's wrists.

And that's when it struck.

The thing all but ploughed it's way into the boys shoulder, in a sort of diagonal motion, a shower of red pouring from the wound. The boy only screamed for about three seconds before his body went completely limp.

It was at that point Shane mustered up the courage to grab the remote out of Ed's hand to turn off the television. It was also at that point that Ed mustered up the sanity to run into the bathroom, before violently vomiting into the toilet.

Ed came back shortly, wiping his mouth on his sleeve.

'So what do we do now?' asked Shane, his face still in a fixed shock position.

'Well,' said Ed. 'If I know anything about zombies-' Shane cut him off.

'Don't say that,' he said.

'Say what?' replied Ed. 

'That, y'know, the 'z' word.'

Ed rolled his eyes. 'Why not?' he asked.

'Because it's stupid,' said Shane, dashing over to the window and taking a quick look outside.

'Right,' said Ed. 'Well if there's anything I know about those kind of movies, then it's that there's three things you absolutely must do to survive.'

'And they are?'

'Number one,' said Ed, holding up one finger. 'Is to gather weapons and supplies. Anything big and solid will surfice, and try to scavenge mainly for canned goods.'

'Alright, what's number two?'

'Number two, is to keep close friends and family in your band of survivors,' explained Ed, as if reciting from a text book.

'Oh yeah? Why's that?' Asked Shane, genuinely interested.

'Well,' said Ed, pointing at the television. 'When one of those ugly fuckers busts down ya door, you wanna know that you can trust your mate to help you out and not leave you for dead.'

Shane sat there for a minute, processing everything that was happening.

'Right,' said Shane, quite stupidly, after moments of thinking.

'So,' said Ed. 'My proposal is that we head on down to Somerfield, and grab some supplies.'

Shane was a bit nervous about agreeing with Ed. But then again, it was pretty hard to argue with him, and it wasn't like Shane had any bright ideas himself. After all, Ed was a zombie film nut, and in these circumstances, that was exactly what Shane needed.

'Alright,' said Shane. 'You wait here, and I'll go grab my coat.'

Shane wandered into the hallway before opening his bedroom door.

It was a small room, perhaps three-metres-by-five, but it was nice, and Shane thought, had a homey feel about it. It was dark in the room, Shane thought, so he trudged over to the window, currently blocked from view by a pair of curtains. He opened the curtains-

to be met by the horrendous image of an infected face staring back at him through the glass!

Shane stood there, bolt upright, before letting out a small whimper before shutting the curtains, turning around, grabbing his coat, and exiting the room.

Shane walked straight back into the kitchen, and over to the fridge. He opened it up, and grabbed a bottle of Martini before grabbing a glass and pouring himself a drink. He downed it in one go, before wiping his mouth with his jacket sleeve.

'You alright mate?' asked Ed, standing there, staring at Shane. 'You look like you've seen a ghost.'

Shane spoke without looking at Ed, 'Not quite,' was all he managed to say.

Shane stood up, before walking over to the sink and sitting his glass on it, upside down, before walking into the hallway.

'C'mon Ed,' he said, making his way to the door.

'Time to do a little bit of Winter shopping.'