Drowning ghosts // Glenn Rhee

Beginning of the end

Four weeks have passed since the beginning of the end.

There's not much to say about what occurred. People became ill, died, and then came back to life, that was the best way to put it.

The virus is known as the 'wildfire virus' and it had spread through the whole world. I'm not to educated about it, but based on what I've learned from the news, the virus was created by a mutated fungus and travels directly to the brain. One scratch or bite from an infected person and you're out. The game over.

I believe the virus, known as the 'wildfire virus,' has spread throughout the entire world. I'm not very knowledgeable about it, but based on what I've learned from the news, the virus was created by a mutated fungus and travels directly to the brain. One scratch or bite from an infected person and you're out. The game is over.

After a while of running, you become accustomed to the way your chest tightens, your eyes sting, your throat burns, and your head feels heavy. You get used to the hunger and thirst, the cold and hot nights. I never had good grades or a bunch of friends in high school, but I was fit having played many sports and exerciseing almost everyday leading to joining the military once graduated. Intelligence interrogation unit. Having good grades and friends feels so stupid now, unnecessary.

Although I have been a more lone wolf through my life, being alone through the apocalypse hasn't come easy. Throughout my childhood I never needed anyone. My parents weren't around much, travelling for work. And I liked to keep to my self not really letting people in, this was especially high throughout my time throughout grade 9/10, I'm not afraid to say I became a total bitch. People stuck away from me, left me to do what I please and that's what I wanted. But I still associated with people and held a small talk about the weather and 'oh how is your husband/wife doing?'. I miss that, just that small splash of human interaction.

I haven't talked to anyone since the outbreak began which in all honesty wasnt that long, its been only a few weeks since the over half the worlds population died and came back as zombies.

Being alone is the only way to survive now, you can't trust anyone. I don't even know if I can trust myself.

It was easier this way, not having to worry about others. That may sound self-serving, but it's true. Not having to ration and hunt for people and keep an eye on them every ten minutes to make sure they are safe, relying on the fact that they know how to fight to stay alive.

Sometimes I think I just tell myself this so I don't feel bad about being alone.

When things went bad, I taught myself how to hunt, and while I'm still learning, I'm getting pretty good at it, i still choose to eat packaged food. which is what im eating now.

i peel the rapper off the old nut bar thats starting to crumble, taking the first bite is the best feeling in the world, it feels as if i havent eaten in years. its hard to swallow though from the lack of water and my mouth being as dry as sand paper, but it's still amazing.

my head leans against the tree im slumped against as i take the last bite of my bar. my mind runs to the Possibility of what life would have been like if the
world wasn't like this.

I try not to think about all of the things I've missed out on and will miss out on in the future. I never got to experience dancing in the rain with the person I
love, or going to theme parks; I'll never be able to start a family or buy a house; all of that seems stupid now, worthless because it doesn't matter.

All that matters is that you survive .

This world doesn't feel real to me, but I know it is. I have to accept it because giving up would make me a coward, and I'm not a coward.

The cold mist splinters my skin as I slip through the window of the fourth house I've crashed at this week, my shoes slipping through crunchy leaves.

I packed a bag with half a bottle of water, my last packet of peanuts, a book, soap, toothbrush, and toothpaste, a spare jumper and long pants, a kitchen knife and some medical supplies, only simple objects such as bandages and Band-Aid's.

The cold stabs up my spine, making walking more difficult and slower, but I don't stop because I can't.

a group walked past me last night.the first group since the outbreak.

"i wish we could find a nice piece of ass around here"

was the last thing i heard from them before I slipped back through the trees.

The end of the world revealed the true colors of our human race. I choose to believe that there is not a single good human being left in the world, they proved me right.

my foot slips from underneath me, and if I wasn't totally alone I would have been red as a beetroot right now from embarrassment. recovering from my fall I continue walking, flipping my knife in my hand.

there is a snap and crack of a twig and I quickly shift to hide behind the closest tree. the dragging of feet is heard and I immediately know it's a rotter (I got the name rotter because of the smell), gliding around the tree I lounge forward plunging the knife through its skull, its body drapes over almost laying on me. heaving from the lack of breath I slouch over collecting myself before setting off. before pulling out my rag made from an old shirt that I use to clean the blood from my hands.

As I walk I let my thoughts run free, one catches me by suprise. What do I look like now? I haven't looked at myself, purposely avoiding mirrors Afraid to see a complete different person staring back at me.

I always think about what people would think if they saw me, I mean I'm not the most attractive with my scar down my face and the ones that linger over my body. my ratty blond and strawberry hair that's frazzled and short, my green and blue eyes that have little light left in them leading to a more gray appearance, or my toned yet starved body that's full of freckles.

would they run the other way?

i guess it doesn't matter because I would run first