Over the Wall

Chapter 1

        I often wondered what it would be like to live alone. Of course when you think living on your own you think of a nice, well furnished cubical that has its adaptable climate suited to your comfort level.  With those comfort levels come a wave of advances; technological, medicine. I lived in a world more advanced than we could even begin to grasp. Cancer was curable; the common cold could be prevented by high amounts of disinfectant and OTC pills. The world was turned sterile, rid of any diseases, poverty levels went down, and everyone seemed a little less selfish. But that’s what killed us. Strain TWS is highly powerful viral infection which is completely ruthless, violent and fast. It travelled between countries infecting the world in 3 weeks. Scientists said it was curable but the populations of every country started to drop rapidly. They opted for the more recovery approach by keeping those in quarantine but it soon was learned that this virus was not completely airborne. Bodily fluids were the most rapid transfer of the virus but if someone became too close and their saliva or snot got on them it let to infestation. But the strange thing about this virus is that if it did not kill you, it turned you. The government didn’t want to call them zombies but these vile humans were completely overrun internally by this strain. Hence the wildly creative name they were given “Straints”. Straints were a mix of Sars, H1N1 and Ebola all mixed into one healthy dose of psycho.  You did not want to come close, if their saliva or blood so much as touches you consider yourself dead. 

        All economies stopped, currencies plummeted, resources were greatly depleted and the only thing left was the will of humanity to continue on in the most basic fashion. Countries started to do things to protect themselves, main thing the US did was build a 250 foot fall surrounding our boarders which was made of pure steel, it was too steep to scale, and the only ones able to go inside were army personnel keeping intruders out. NASA had developed a force field that would be interconnected between states to set up receiving poles, thus creating a web that would also block people coming in from the air. The USA was the only country to have the word that people were essentially contained. Containing us meant that we were ravaging stores, farms and basically complete anarchy. 

        I look around, I am somewhere between New Jersey and New York. I am attempting to get to Canada. Word has travelled that it is safe there, there is no walls and apparently no contamination. I don’t believe that there could possibly be such a place but I desperately try to hold onto any possible hope I may have at acquainting myself with humanity. It’s been 2 weeks now and I’ve travelled alone. I’ve been travelling for almost 1 month, no cars ran, no trains or planes. Everything was by either walking leisurely through the destruction or sprinting away from the Straints. I was on the freeway edging slowly towards the town in front of me. I’ve been gazing at the town for the past 3 days. I have yet to run into Straints but I’m sure the town is littered with them. 

        The day was hot and the sun beating down on me. I check the few stranded cars on this freeway for any sign of food or water. I look inside the first car through the window only to see blood splattered. Poor person who was probably eaten, ripped apart or god knows what the hell the viral devils do to them. I open the car to find a few granola bars in the glove compartment, which I stash to put in my backpack. Anything that I can bring will do me good. I had always been fortunate enough to find water. I sit on the hood of the car and start to go through my pack. I place the knives I had taken from the kitchen of my home back in New Jersey, I hook them onto the top of my pants. I only have these pants, a pair of spandex pants that go to just over my knee with a variable of tanktop, t-shirt or sweater depending on the day. I figure if I make it to winter, I can always steal a coat. I spot my old friends gun at the bottom of my bag. It is not loaded but there are bullets there incase shit really got bad. I miss talking to humanity. The only people I have ran into were nice families trying to retreat to extremely rural areas where they can grow their own food and create a fortress to hide in.

         I mostly kept to myself. Making relationships with people that are almost inevitably going to die or turn into a vile creature is not healthy. I may as well tell you I lost my  bestfriend to those things. Her and I travelled together with the first two weeks of leaving the city. But when we tried to get into a store to collect water, there were Straints there. She got caught in the distress of us trying to escape. The Straints had managed to bite her leg and infection was rapidly going through her body. She screamed at me,

“Kill me”

She shouted after I had killed the Straint who attacked her. I remember the look on her face when she said “Avery, it’s either I am in horrible pain for the next 2 days and my death is painful. Or my body is able to hold the virus and I turn into one of them. Kill me” She pleaded, and I did. I looked her in the eyes tears rushing down my face as I shot her pointblank. I shook my head trying to discard that horrendous memory and wipe the stray tears away from face. I need to start moving, I need to get away from this wasteland and towards some shade. I take a deep breathe I pull myself off the hood of the car walking towards the next wreck I see. This time I notice a corpse on the inside. I cover my nose in attempt to block the smell but it is stinging my nostrils. 4 week old baked human corpse radiating into my brain as I try to search for water. I notice nothing and I pop the trunk. I am blessed to find a package of waterbottles but I probably am only able to take a few or my backpack would become way to heavy incase I need to start running.

            I continue to through the cars until I’ve reached the edge of the city. I might be near new york but the signs were all torn down in haste of the virus. I am somewhere but I want to go inside somewhere, it looks like a large enough city where I could find a hotel to break into and lock the doors. I prefer to find a way to sleep peacefully than to sleep on my own in the open. The structures in this town were weird, a mix of old and new. The streets were like ghosts and I knew I was probably one of the few live people here. I turn left onto a street that presumably looks like it would lead me into the center core of town. There were a few vehicles outside this one place that look untouched. Perhaps I could return here to pick up a car to carry me through a little longer of a journey. To get me closer to that wall. I hear a bit of shuffling coming from the alleyway that I was passing. My hair on my started to raise as I make eye contact with a few Straints. They start making gurgling sounds, and began to talk in the weirdest voices. The strange thing about these ‘people’ is that they are able to speak but it sounds lost within their throat.

“Come here girl” They start taunting but I grab hold of my knife holding it perfectly so I could stab their chest if needed. They continued to walk towards me as if they were trying to distract me. I turn noticing a few more much closer to me.

“Stay back” I shriek and I see them smirking. They think they have me but I refuse. The only thing I know is running. I turn and make a dash down the street.