Z-Day Chronicles: Rising Up

Chapter 1

"RUN!!"

Six people hurried down the stairs of an apartment complex while evading a horde of zombies chasing them. The man leading the way was tall and thin, with a gruff black beard, and looked to be in his mid-30s. He wore a brown baseball cap, and carried a 12-gauge pump action shotgun. Trailing him was a woman about his age who held a toddler in her arms. Behind those two was a young girl who looked to be 16, and a 17-year-old boy with a lean build.

A husky man following the group began to lose his breath and started slowing down.

"Dammit!" The man shouted as he ended up tripped over his two feet, toppling down the flight of stairs.

As he landed on the platform of the second floor, the boy made haste to aid the man. While the man made an attempt to quickly pick himself up, a zombie stumbled over him.

Crunch!

"AAARRGH!!"

The zombie sank its teeth into the man's shoulder. As he screamed in agony, more zombies piled up on top of him and dug into his entrails. They began ripping his stomach apart, splashing around the fresh squirting blood.

The young boy stood in fear watching this grizzly event unfold.

"Let's go, Joseph!" the leader shouted. "We gotta get to the stadium!"

Joseph nodded as he followed the other three outside of the apartment complex. As he closed the door behind them, ten zombies inside of the building charged to the entrance and attempted to barge through. The leading man assisted Joseph in holding the door shut so that the hungry carnivores would stay trapped inside. Joseph struggled to keep the door closed when out of the corner of his eye, he noticed a small metal chair sitting upright next to a large, green dumpster bin.

"Can you hold on to the door for a few seconds?" Joseph asked the leader. "I have an idea."

"Make it fast!" the man grunts. "I can't hold this door shut for too long!"

Joseph rushed to get the chair. As he reached for it, a zombie shot up from the bin in front of him. The zombie swung for Joseph, but he quickly slid underneath the outstretched arm, grabbing the chair as his foot collided with the bin. When the zombie attempted to climb out, Joseph spun over the chair, vaulting away from the impending attack, and smacking the zombie with his feet. Before the zombie regained itself, he smacked it once more; this time with the base of the chair, knocking it back into the dumpster.

Joseph headed back to the door of the apartment complex, where the leader was struggling to keep the door shut. As he continued to fight, his arms grew weaker as rotten fingers began writhing around the door.

"Bill!" Joseph shouted as he set the chair down. "Throw me your shotgun!"

The man threw the 12 gauge in Joseph's direction. Joseph swung the barrel of the shotgun towards the dangling arms.

Pow!

Joseph shot the arms off of the zombies breaking through Bill's strength. He then dropped the shotgun and picked up the chair, charging towards the door.

Boom!

Joseph aggressively slammed his shoulder against the door, fully shutting the zombies inside of the complex. Once the door was shut, Joseph pinned the chair underneath the doorknob, trapping the zombies that lurked inside.

"I don't know how long that chair is gonna hold," Joseph said. "We gotta hurry in case it gives way."

The four survivors, save for the toddler in the older woman's arms, drifted through the alleyway behind the building, so that they would not be discovered by zombies that roamed the streets of Tallahassee. As they heard moaning and groaning surrounding them, they began to move quicker. The noise was nearly deafening, and it sent chills down their spine. Each cool, crisp breeze in the air felt like a zombie kissing their hair with its breath. They had to go faster; they had to get to safety.