Reviv'd

Chapter One - A Reborn World

The engine whirrs to life as you turn the key in the ignition keyhole. After a satisfying rumble, the car was ready to go. Immediately, those walking dead started huddling around your car. You quickly pulled back to get away from them.

Despite today's earlier events, you sailed through the streets quite peacefully. Maybe once or twice, those things that used to be humans turned around and gave chase. But they'd lose you after a while. The road was empty; not a sign of life lingering around the place. Several cars were parked in unusual spots, some of them overturned. Trash was scattered all over the ground. They varied from simple house garbage to glass shards to pieces of... wait, was that a hand you just ran over?

Regardless, you kept driving. You had no real direction (besides away, that is) but you kept at your pace. Right now, all you were looking for was a safe place oblivious to the shit that was happening in your neighborhood. No such luck though.

You decided that this would be the perfect time to turn the radio on and listen to what the local news has to say. How did the situation get out of hand so quickly? Is it really that dangerous? What was the cause of all of this? Never mind that, all you needed to do was listen.

With a push of a button, the display screen lit up. You tuned your radio to different stations, but they all displayed the same message - static. Useless chunks of static.

You'd hate to think about it, but it seems so apparent it was ignorant to deny it already; they were all dead. Or maybe alive, but you know, walking on two feet. Maybe one. Or none at all; perhaps crawling and skidding against the ground... you decided not to think about it any longer.

Lost in thought, you didn't realize that you were going straight into a dead end. By the time you snapped back though, you were only inches away from the daunting amount of cars piled on top of each other. You were pulling the joystick to reverse mode when all of a sudden, there was a loud banging sound coming from the windows on your side. You quickly turned your head to it's direction.

"Open the door!" a girl, maybe around your age, shouted. Her voice was all distorted and muffled, since you were hearing her from inside your car.

You shot a quick glance at her. She had a desperate look plastered unto her face, as if she hasn't had any sleep for days. A part of you tells you that was essentially correct. You then stared into her dark brown eyes, and her exhaustion couldn't be any more apparent. She needed help, that was for sure.

"Please..."

You looked at the people standing behind her. There were two others; one of them was a girl who looked pale and dehydrated, and the other was a guy who looked older than the rest. They each carried a backpack of their own, but judging by how flat they seemed, they must be really empty.

Just then, a scowl which neither sounded human nor animal sounded from behind them. You leaned back to get a better view; tons of those things were advancing towards them. In a matter of seconds, the three of them would be the monsters' breakfast. The group looked back and started backing into the sides of the car.

"Please, please, please let us in!" the other girl chimed in. "We're begging you... unlock the damn doors already!"

Over powered by your humanity and emotion, you flipped the locks open and mouthed the word "Go!"

The group frantically reached for the door handles and pulled it, and before you even realized, they had already slipped in your car. An honest smile had crept into their faces.

"Thank god you arrived," the girl with them weird bangs (the one who approached you first) sighed in relief. "If it wasn't for you, we'd be dead out there."

"Krista, that's nice to say and all but, dude... can you just get us out of here? Real quick please?" the guy interrupted.

"That was kind of rude, Keith." the ever-so-pale girl remarked.

"I'm just being realistic with the situation." he shrugged.

You stepped on the gas pedal and managed to pull back right before the "sick people" (you really have to start calling them something properly) had the chance to land a blow on you. Your car drifted backwards in a jiffy, and you were once again back on track. Well, back on track to nowhere, that is.

"Any of you hurt?" you asked them, trying to start a conversation.

"No, not really." the same pale girl answered, a little too quickly at that, too.

"Okay." you replied. "I never got your name, by the way. The dude's name is Keith, and the other girl is Kristine-"

"Krista," she corrected.

"Right, sorry." you said, feeling slightly embarassed. "So anyway, what's yours?"

"It's Samantha." she responded.

For a few minutes, you travelled in silence. Constantly, you tried to turn the radio's tuner to different stations in hopes of hearing something normal. Even a commercial would do it for you - being in this crazy environment is really energy-draining. Sadly, the static still rendered unchanged.

"Them blighters almost got a hold of us, eh?" Keith spoke all of a sudden, probably trying to break the ice.

"Blighters, huh. So that's what you call them?" you asked.

"Sure do." he replied. "Say, where exactly are we going? You know, do you have a plan or something?"

You paused for a moment and tried to think. "Is it alright if I answered with an 'I don't know'?"

"That's fine, I guess. I mean, it is your car and all. But if you're going to ask me, I suggest we go downtown and just stay there. They barricaded it will all sorts of things, making sure to let only people and not those blighters in, and it is strong enough to withstand an attack from a horde. Besides, most people are there, and what's more is the police are protecting it."

"But we can also drive around town and join the smaller groups." Krista insisted. "I mean, sure, there's safety in numbers, but I think too much of something is poison. What if one of the residers are infected? We don't even know much about the disease that caused all of this crap. For all we know, it may be airborne or-"

"Wait. You mean to say a single virus caused all of this?" you interrupted her with a question.

She looked at you skeptically through the rear-view mirror. "You don't know?"

"No, I didn't get news or anything of that sort. Was it ever announced?"

"It's been all over the telelvision for the past few days; documentaries, live reports, CNN... Then yesterday came and the virus has finally reached us. What have you been doing to not know this?"

You shrugged helplessly at her words.

"Well, that's not important now. What we need to do is to find a safe place." Samantha started speaking. "So, what is your choice? It's your car, you have the final say."

The three looked at you, expecting for an answer. You knew you had to answer quickly, or else those blighters (feels good to finally call them something properly) would find you and start chomping on you. It took you a few seconds to make up your mind, but you eventually did.

"I think I've arrived at a conclusion." you stated.