Dead Eyes Watching

Chapter 1;The Beginning, or the end ?

Venus woke to the sound of sirens off in the distance. That was not out of order. Her rundown apartment was always close enough to the chaos of the city, where sirens, screaming, and an odd crash blended into white noise. But today, somehow it felt different. The air felt heavy; the world seemed to have shifted in her sleep, and for once, it wasn't just the same old broken-down life surrounding her.

She sat up more slowly, stretching as she took in the dingy room around her. Cracked walls, peeling paint and crooked blinds weren't much, but they were hers. Barely any furniture; a couch, an old coffee table, and a flickering TV. No decorations lined the walls, no photographs, no hint that anyone had ever lived there. Venus didn't need much.

Her eyes flicked to the window. The sun struggled to break through thick clouds of smoke. There was something... off about it. Venus didn't care much for panic or conspiracy theories, but even she had noticed the headlines over the past few weeks. People getting sick. People getting violent.

People dying.

She shrugged on her black leather jacket, the one she always wore like armor, shouldered her rucksack, and headed for the door. The streets were noisier now. More crowded. Stepping out of her building, people were running—most with bags of stolen goods clutched in their arms, others holding their children tightly. The air smelled of fire and fear.

Venus kept on walking briskly, but with an even pace. She was not in a hurry for anything. The end of the world could wait, if it was really happening, until she got some water and perhaps a can of soup.

The closer she came to the nearest shop, the more she could feel herself witnessing chaos: people were pushing against each other, hands grasping for everything—canned food, water in bottles, medicines. Among the tumult, a woman screamed as someone wrestled a bottle of milk from her grasp, and a man stumbled from the shop with an armful of toilet paper, his face up in panic.

Venus shook her head, a smirk twitching onto her lips. Idiots.

People were breaking into some ritzy boutique across the street. Gucci. Louis Vuitton. Yves Saint Laurent. Venus almost laughed as she watched a woman stumble out, clutching some designer purse like it was worth more than her life. People still clung to their luxuries, still pretended money mattered.

"Yeah, that'll really help you when the dead are walking," she muttered, turning away.

Passing by a small group of people who were on their knees on the pavement, hands clasped in prayer, Venus raised an eyebrow. Mumbling relentlessly, the quivering of their voices rose to a crescendo as desperate implorations for salvation spilled from their lips. One woman, her face streaked by tears, clutched at a rosary, her knuckles white.

"You think God's taking requests?" Venus muttered under her breath, stepping around them.

One of the men looked up, his eyes wild. "This is punishment! For people like you!"

Venus paused, her body turning slowly until her face was to him. "People like me, huh?" She cocked a cold-eyed head to the side. "Well, if God's punishing me, he better send something better than a bunch of brain-dead walkers."

She left them there, their desperate prayers following her as she walked back toward her apartment. The streets were getting worse. People were running, screaming, dragging their kids behind them like luggage. Venus barely glanced at them. Same chaos, different day.

She reached her building, and immediately her phone buzzed in her pocket. She pulled it out, glancing at the screen. Jun.

Her finger hovered over the answer button as she hesitated. She hadn't spoken to her brother in a while now. Well, not exactly warm and fuzzy was how she'd describe their relations. In one second, she pressed Accept.

"Yeah?"

"Venus." Jun's voice tumbled together, trembling. "Are you all right? Are you... are you safe?"

Venus let her breath out slowly. She turned to the window of her building, where the city seemed to tear itself apart. "Define 'safe,' Jun.

"There's... there's something going on. People are acting crazy. There's these... things. People are saying they're... zombies."

Venus leaned back against the wall, her eyes narrowing. Zombies? She wasn't surprised. The world had been dead for a very long time, so why not let the bodies catch up? "Yeah, I've seen the headlines. So?

Look, I need your help. I've got Izzy with me, and we can't stay here. It's not safe. I... I need you, Venus. Please, come here. We can leave together, get out of the city before things get worse."

Venus closed her eyes a second, her jaw tightening. She didn't owe anyone anything, not even her brother. But Jun sounded desperate, and Izzy... well, she wasn't a monster. "Where are you?"

"We're still at the house. But people are starting to break into the neighborhood. I don't know how long we can hold them off. Please, Venus. We need you."

Venus allowed the silence to expand between them, the weight of his words hanging in the air. It wasn't until a deep sigh escaped her that she finally spoke. "Fine. I'm coming. But you better be ready to move when I get there."

"I do," Jun said hastily, his voice shaking with gratitude. "Thanks, Venus."

"Yeah, don't thank me yet," she grumbled, and then she just hung up.

She started stuffing the few things she had into her bag: water, a knife, flashlight. Automatically, her mind started to stray. Memories flooded back, uninvited, coming as they always did. Her parents, their house, the day they handed her over like property, no better than a son they so desperately wanted. Her eyes darkened as she pulled the zipper on. That did not matter now. She had long ago learned not to let them get to her, to care what they felt or thought. People were disposable. Even family.

The phone buzzed again. Another message from Jun. She stuffed it into her pocket and pushed open the door, ignoring the sound of prayers drifting up the stairwell. A scream ripped through the hallway, and Venus barely flinched. She knew that sound. She'd heard it a thousand times before. They were here.

With a cold and steady hand, she pulled out a knife and proceeded down the stairs. Outside, immediately present, was that group of religious neighbors with whom she had crossed a little earlier. They were huddled together in prayers as the zombies closed in.

Venus did not stop, did not even turn around.

The world was over, done. There was nothing left but survival.