Dayz of Despair

Chapter 1: Enter the Death Knight

A hot wind blew dust down a quiet suburban street. It was quieter than it had been before it all happened, and the small gust had a foul stench that rode with it. An omen for a danger ever-present, ever-looming.

Three figures moved from car to car, crouched to stay out of any unwanted lines of sight. A young man, no more than twenty years old, pulled his hood down and motioned for a young woman and a little girl to move quickly over to him behind a red sedan. The young woman looked at the young man and then over the dark blue vehicle she and the little girl were currently crouched behind. She gazed over at the group of shuffling undead in the streets with a sense of dread and caution. She took a deep breath and bumped the little girl forward towards the young man who embraced her behind the red sedan. She rose off of her heels, as shed been crouching with her butt resting on the heels of her shoes, and prepared to join the other two when she heard a noise. That noise. That distinct shuffle of shoe soles scraping against the cracked bitumen of the road and the raspy moan of an undead. She could feel the figure behind her. She froze. It hadn't seen her yet and it must have only just walked around the car, but it wouldn't be long before it noticed her, and she knew that it would be a slow and painful death just like that of her parents. It had been a normal Thursday morning when it had happened; she had just returned from shopping with friends and walked in on the scene of her parents standing stunned at a news report detailing several cases across the country of aggravated people with cannibalistic tendencies. It wasn't long after that. People panicked, cars ran off the roads and a simple overextension of her mother's arm she ran and it being grabbed by a ravenous undead, Jersey – the postman; he bit her arm and tore its flesh asunder, her father shoved her aside and attempted to save his wife, but more came out from behind the mail truck and swarmed the two. They died, screaming and slowly. Then after a few very tough weeks, she met Kalder. That was two years ago.

A thud and a splat ripped her from her memory. She spun around to see the undead on the ground, a round object imbedded in its head. It was dead. Properly this time.

Someone grabbed her arms from behind her. She spun around. It was Kalder.

"Carley, c'mon. We can't stay any longer, we've got to make it to that house" Kalder whispered, a sense of worry and relief in his voice. He took her hand and quickly but quietly made his way back to the red sedan, taking the little girl's hand in his as well. "Alright... and... let's... go!" and at that he pulled the two behind him as he rushed with them to the house on the left side of the cul-de-sac.

As Kalder closed the door he put a hand in front of Carley and the little girl, moving them behind him before slowly and cautiously stepping further into the dark home. Kalder knew he would have to move carefully; the house was clearly double-storeyed and appeared to have an attic; great when you need to hide from ravenous undead when they assault the building but also great for hiding members of the shuffling groaning mass just out of sight. The first floor started with a door just to the left which led to the closed double-garage, the door had a feature wall opposite it, glass slats of multiple colours framing a bookshelf. Peaking his head around the wall, Kalder saw the lounge setting, tv on the wall above a fireplace, with a bay window – it's curtains drawn. The TV was on but, just like every other tv, it only played static. Lounge was clear. Quickly turning around and backing the two girls into the lounge he decided where to look next. Straight ahead was a set of glass sliding doors covered by curtains. To the right was a staircase atop a storage nook; and to the left was an archway into kitchen, a faint light came from the room. He turned and crouched next to his companions.

"I'm going to go check the kitchen first and then I'll go upstairs" he whispered to the two, "shh, stay here and stay quiet, I'll be right back" he pulled himself away from the grasping hands of Carley and the little girl.