Survival

Chapter 5: 𝙁𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙣𝙙

(Joseph)

Joseph had looked out the window and it was utter chaos. The school grounds were a scene of devastation. Burnt-out cars and scattered debris hinted at the violence that had erupted hours earlier. And now, amidst the ruins, swarms of zombies roamed freely.

Joseph's breath caught in his dry and raspy throat as he watched them. Their movements were erratic and grotesque, like marionettes being jerked by invisible strings. Some stumbled aimlessly, while others moved with surprising speed towards any sound or movement they detected.

He saw a group of zombies converge near the main gate of the school. They were drawn by something—a noise, perhaps a desperate survivor trying to escape. Joseph could see them swarm the gate, their pale hands clawing at the metal bars, their moans merging into a terrifying chorus.

A sudden movement on the periphery caught Joseph's attention. A lone figure, a survivor like himself, dashed across the courtyard, desperately trying to evade the undead horde. The zombies reacted with animalistic instinct, lurching towards their prey, their mouths agape in anticipation.

Joseph clenched his fists, his heart racing with a mixture of fear and sorrow. He had known some of those students, now caught in a fight for their lives. Guilt gnawed at him for being safe while others faced such horrors.

He tore his gaze away from the window, his mind racing with thoughts of survival. The school had become a death trap. His family, his mother. How are they?

Joseph's hand trembled slightly as he retrieved his phone from his pocket. His mother's messages stared back at him, each one a heartbreaking reminder of a normalcy now shattered by chaos. His thumb hovered over the screen, hesitating for a moment before he finally swiped to unlock it.

The messages from his mother appeared one after another, the last one timestamped just before the outbreak had consumed their town. "Joseph, I'm sorry for being angry earlier. I'm just overprotective of you because I care for you so much. I love you."

Tears welled up in Joseph's eyes, blurring the text on the screen. He blinked them away furiously, the weight of guilt settling heavily on his chest. His mother's words echoed in his mind, her voice soft yet tinged with the frustration of their last conversation.

𝘐 𝘮𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯. Joseph thought, his already dry throat tightening with emotion. He wiped at his eyes with the back of his hand, feeling the tears slip down his cheeks. He wasn't used to this—being so vulnerable, so overcome with emotion. But the fear of losing his mother, of never being able to make things right between them, was too much to bear.

As he sat there, silently weeping, lost in a whirlwind of regret and sorrow, he heard a familiar voice.

"Joseph? Are you okay?"

Joseph's head snapped up, startled. Lee stood just a few feet from him, concern etched on his face. Joseph quickly wiped his tears away, his instincts kicking in to hide his vulnerability.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine," Joseph replied, his voice hoarse. He cleared his throat, trying to regain his composure.

Lee stepped closer, eyeing him with a mixture of sympathy and understanding. "It's okay to not be okay, you know," he said softly. "I mean, I just went from being sad as well." 

Joseph looked to Lee concerned. Lee lied down beside Joseph. "I was getting frantic earlier because VJ started panicking. She said that if we had to move classrooms she wasn't going to be able to survive. The thought of that hurt me. I reassured her that I was going to protect her no matter what. I would put all the blame on me if she would get hurt."