Walkers: Arizona

Walkers

February 10, 2023 12:05PM:

Joshue Navarro wakes from a 2 year coma. He finds himself in a hospital that is torn apart and silent. He tries standing on his own, but ends up falling on the ground. 
Nurse! Help! Nurse! He wanders out of his room and into the bathroom of his room and looks at himself in the mirror. He looks pale and weak, skinny and tall. He wanders out into the hallway. He looks around and sees dead bodies and rubble all over the floor. He turns right and sees a door that reads “DON’T OPEN DEAD INSIDE”. With a look of confusion, He walks toward the door and investigates it. Everything is silent until he hears groans. The door is closed with a padlock and a wooden plank. Suddenly the door opens and he sees white, pale hands covered with blood. Joshue lets out a scream and falls to the floor.  Joshue opens a door to the left and reveals an emergency staircase. Joshue goes down the staircase until he finds an emergency exit. Joshue opens the door and gets blinded by the sun. Finally leaving the hospital,  Joshue plans his way home.  Loads of covered dead bodies block the parking lot. Joshue has a disgusted and scared look on his face. Making it to the outside of the hospital out on the road, Joshue finds a car and decides to steal it to make his way home. Joshue gets to Somerton and runs to his house. “MOM! JAZLYNN! MOM!”. “MOM!” Joshue searches around the house and finds no trace of his mom or Jazlynn, his 8 year old sister. Joshue notices the family portraits are missing and so are some clothes. Joshue goes to his room and remembers a time where the world was lively. Joshue grabs his old school backpack and packs clothes and food for later. Joshue goes outside and sits down in one of the chairs in the front yard. Joshue sees a person walking in the street and calls out to him. All of a sudden Joshue gets hit in the head with a shovel, and goes down on the ground. “Gotcha now bitch”. Says the stranger. “Huh…What? Says Joshue. “Ah you don’t look like one of them.” Says the stranger. “One of them?” Says Joshue. “Man eaters, Flesh biters, Walkers.” Says the stranger. Joshue manages to get up from the ground and looks at the stranger to study his face. “Wait, Artemis from High School?” says Joshue. A look of confusion comes across Artemis. He studies Joshue’s face until he recognizes him. “Oh shit Joshue it's been a while. Sorry about the shovel thing just had to make sure you weren't infected. Says Artemis. “What's going on man? I just saw loads of dead bodies at the hospital, and there was this strange door.” Says Joshue. “Have you heard the broadcasts? There’s walking corpses everywhere and everything is destroyed.” Says Artemis. “Well I have been in a coma since 2021 so I don't have any knowledge on what has happened since then.” Says Joshue. “Hey man c'mon let's go to where i'm staying and get you out of that hospital gown.” Says Artemis. Joshue follows Artemis to an abandoned house with a slight gap in the door for the entrance. “What do you have in that backpack?” Says Artemis. “Just some clothes and food.” Says Joshue. “Showers upstairs. Go get washed up and then come down so we can chat.” Says Artemis. Joshue goes upstairs and takes a shower for the first time since he was in a coma. Feeling refreshed, Joshue gets changed and goes downstairs to chat with Artemis. “Come take a seat. Are you hungry?” Says Artemis. “Yeah I'm starving man, what did you make?” Says Joshue. “I made some eggs.” Says Artemis. “So what did you wanna chat about man?” Says Joshue. “What made you go into a coma?” Says Artemis? “I was driving to work and then I saw this…huge roadblock. Cars flipped over, on fire, or destroyed. I tried to maneuver my way around without hitting any cars, then I heard this huge explosion and everything went white. Then I woke up in the hospital and my friend Aiden was there. He saw me wake up and started talking to me about how “The world is going to shit” and He’s getting me out of here. I end up falling asleep and I wake up again, but this time the hospital is falling apart.” Says Joshue. “AIden? Aiden Carlos?” Says Artemis. “Yeah you remember him?” Says Joshue. “How could I not remember him? Dude was weird as hell.” Says Artemis. “Yeah but he changed after high school. He's actually semi-normal now.” Says Joshue. “Aiden and Normal don’t go in the same sentence.” Says Artemis. Hours pass and Artemis and Joshue catch up and talk about how life was before all this. Everything is calm until someone…or something knocks on the door. “Stay behind me since you don’t have a weapon.” Says Artemis. Artemis looks through the peephole of the door and sees nothing. “What do you see? Anyone there?” Says Joshue. “Nah i don't see anything…THE BACKDOOR!” Says Artemis. “What?” Says Joshue. “CHECK THE BACKDOOR!” Says Artemis. Joshue runs to the back door and finds it broken open. “It's broken.” Says Joshue. “We gotta look around but be careful.” Says Artemis. Joshue and Artmeis look around the house and find a man sitting in the corner. “Who the hell are you?” Says Artemis. “Relax…I'm just looking for shelter. I don’t bring no harm sir please. I just want some water and food. Can you bring me some please?” Says the man. “Go get him some water and something to eat. I’ll watch this guy.” Says Artemis. Joshue gets a glass of water and some pop tarts he had in his bag and brings them to the man. Artemis keeps watch on him. “Here you go.” Says Joshue. “Thank you sir.” Says the man. “What's your name?” Artemis asks. “I'm Caleb. I lost my family and I'm just looking for somewhere to stay.” Says Caleb. “Well unfortunately this house is taken so you should leave.” Says Artemis. “Please sir, I can help scavenge. I can be helpful.” Says Caleb. Artemis and Joshue look at each other, unable to decide what to do with the man. After a while, they agree to trust Caleb and take him in. “Ok, look Caleb. Whatever Joshue tells you to do, you do it no matter what. Understand?” Says Artemis. “Yes sir, I understand. You can trust me.” Says Caleb. “I gotta find my mom and sister. Do you know of any camps or refuges around here?” Says Joshue. “The Wal-Mart in Yuma got turned into a refugee camp. We could go there.” Says Artemis. “Let's take the car.” Says Joshue. Joshue, Artemis, And Caleb make their way to the Wal-Mart in Yuma to hopefully find Joshue’s Family. Entering Yuma, Joshue finds the same roadblock he saw before he went into a coma. “This the roadblock you were talking about?” Says Artemis. “Yeah it is but look, someone moved the cars out of the way” Says Joshue. After driving through the roadblock, Joshua, Artemis, and Caleb reach the Wal-Mart. “The lights are on, I'm sure there’s people in there.” Says Joshue. The 3 enter the Wal-Mart that was once full of shoppers and staff. The 3 see a sign with an arrow saying “SAFETY CAMP '' and follow it. What used to be the electronics department, is now turned into a campsite full of tents. “Hello I'm Joshue. This is Artemis and Caleb.” Says Joshue. “Welcome guys. Follow me, let's introduce you to everyone. I'm Gerald.” Says the camp leader. “Listen up everyone, This is Joshue, Artemis, and Caleb. They just got here. “Is there a mom and a little girl here?'' asked Joshue. “Yeah in the tent over there.” Says Gerald. Joshua walks over to the tent and opens it. Inside is his mom and sister. “I missed you guys'' Says Joshue on the verge of tears. “We missed you too mijo” Says Joshue’s mom. “Are they treating you well here?” Asks Joshue. “Yes, everyone just minds their business here.”What about you jazlynn? How do they treat you here?” Asks Joshue. “Good! There are a lot of kids I can play with here.” Says Jazlynn. “When did you get here?” Asks Joshue. “A few weeks ago. We took the car and drove here.” Says Joshue’s Mom. “Ok mom i'll be right back i'm gonna go talk to Gerald.” Says Joshue. Joshue looks for Gerald to ask for information but sees something strange at the deli. Joshue walks to the deli and goes inside and finds huge boxes. One of the boxes has a small gap on it. Joshue makes sure no one is around and opens it. Inside the box are human body parts and organs. Joshue steps back in disgust and closes the box. Joshue looks for Artemis and Caleb to tell them what he found. “Guys…I found a box full of body parts.” Says Joshue. “What are you talking about?” Asks Artemis. “In the deli there's boxes everywhere but one had a gap on it. I opened it and found body parts.” Says Joshue. “What do you think then?” Asks Artemis. “Something sketchy is happening here.” Says Joshue. “Just gotta keep it a secret.” Says Caleb. “Who asked you to speak?” Says Joshue. “I mean no disrespect sir but, we just got some safety. Do you really wanna ruin it already?” Says Caleb. “He’s right Josh.” Says Artemis. “Ok. But I'm keeping an eye on Gerald and his men.” Says Joshue. The three get their own tents and decide to call it a day. In the morning, Joshue keeps an eye on Gerald.