Zombie apocalypse:whispers from the dark

friend or foe?

The following days brought a strange sense of routine to their lives. The group worked tirelessly to fortify the warehouse, reinforcing the windows and doors, setting up makeshift alarms made from cans and scrap metal, and mapping out the area for possible escape routes. For a brief moment, it almost felt like they had a semblance of control in the chaos.

Zach, however, knew better. The world outside was ruthless, and it wouldn’t stay quiet for long.

Every morning, he and Yeong Do would go on scouting runs, checking the perimeter for any signs of zombies or other survivors. It was on one of these early morning runs that they stumbled across something unusual—a lone zombie standing near the edge of an alleyway, not moving or groaning like the others.

Zach signaled to Yeong Do to stay back as he approached the creature, bat in hand. As he got closer, he realized it wasn’t just any zombie—it was a student from their school. The once lively and confident student council president now stood as a grotesque shell of who she had been, her eyes glazed over, her body swaying slightly in the wind.

For a moment, Zach hesitated. It was easy to kill the zombies when they were faceless, when they didn’t remind him of people he knew. But seeing her like this, her uniform tattered and her face twisted in death, stirred something deep inside him.

"Zach." Yeong Do's voice was low, warning. "Don't get too close."

Zach clenched his jaw, pushing away the emotions threatening to surface. He couldn’t afford to be sentimental. Not now. With a swift motion, he brought the bat down, the sickening crunch of bone breaking under the force.

It was over in an instant, and the body slumped to the ground, unmoving. Zach stood there for a moment, breathing heavily, before wiping the bat on his jeans and turning back to Yeong Do.

"Let’s keep moving," Zach muttered, his voice tight.

Yeong Do gave him a nod of understanding. They both knew what it meant to see someone they had once known, now reduced to this.

Back at the warehouse, Zach found Anastasia and Mei working together, sorting through the supplies they had gathered. Mei’s sharp blue and grey eyes lit up when she saw Zach enter, but she quickly frowned when she noticed the tension on his face.

“You okay?” Mei asked, setting down the can she’d been holding.

Zach forced a smile, trying to shake off the weight of the morning. “Yeah. Just another day out there.”

Anastasia’s green eyes followed him closely, sensing that there was more he wasn’t saying, but she didn’t push him. Instead, she stood up, brushing dust from her hands. “I’m going to check the barricades again. Want to join me?”

Zach nodded, grateful for the distraction. The two of them made their way toward the back of the warehouse, where the large garage door had been fortified with wooden planks and metal scraps. Anastasia ran her fingers over the barricade, testing its strength.

“This should hold,” she said quietly.

Zach leaned against the wall, watching her work. There was something calming about her presence, a steady strength that he had come to rely on. He thought back to their time at school, how they had barely known each other before all of this. Now, he couldn’t imagine getting through the days without her by his side.

“You ever think about what things would be like if none of this had happened?” Zach asked suddenly, his voice quiet.

Anastasia looked up, surprised by the question. She thought for a moment, her green eyes reflecting the light of the dim lantern they had set up in the corner.