Lives To Live For.

Chapter 1 - Realizations

It was about 10 AM. I think it was 10.

I was 16 at the time and my brothers are twins who were 12.

We were all asleep. My parents had been awake because they tend to get up early. I'm not exactly sure what had happened, but I remember waking up to the piercing, horrifying sound of my mother screaming in agony. I quickly got out of bed and looked down the stairs.

I saw my front door open. A trail of blood was on the tiled floors, leading on to the carpet. I felt my heart race. I was terrified. I ran down the stairs to check out the situation.

At this point, I lost sense of thought. I was filled with sorrow and anguish. As well as fear. I was afraid of what I'd find. And it turned out that I had a right to be scared.

I saw my parents, dead. They had giant bite marks on their necks and bodies. They appeared to be giant wholes. Like someone or something had torn through their flesh. To the right of them, in the kitchen, I saw a pale, disgusting man. He was a pale, almost green color. He seemed like he was old, rotting with decay. Then I realized what the hell it was.

I had seen enough movies to tell that it was a zombie. The living dead. The so called "Apocalypse" had begun. Then it hit me. This...thing killed my parents. Which means it won't be long before they walk among the dead.

Tears filled my eyes. I didn't move. I didn't make a sound. I didn't even breath for a few moments. Then I ran back up the stairs. I ran into the rooms of my brothers and woke them both up, tears still running down my face.

They looked concerned, but I told them not to worry. "Eric, Jon, get up! Get your clothes on! We have to go!" I said to them. They questioned me, but I kept repeating that last sentence.

As we all got our clothes on, I told them to get in my room. I heard a strange moan from downstairs. My brothers got worried. They wanted to know what it was. But I told them that I'd explain later. I closed my door and locked it. I could hear those monsters coming up the stairs.

While my brothers were clothing themselves, I grabbed my blankets and my sheets. I tied them all together and tied the end to me desk. I threw open my window and let the blanket hang out. I told my brothers that they needed to grab on to it and slide down.

They were reluctant, but Jon went first. I held on to the blankets as he went down because I was unsure of whether the blankets would hold or not. He was able to slide down and out of the backyard. My brother Eric was next. He was bit more hesitant than Jon. Unlike Jon and I, Eric is a bit bigger. But I told him to just do it.

He took a few deep breaths and grabbed on to it and slid down. It was my turn now. Before I slid down, I grabbed my phone. I turned it on and called my girlfriend Lupe. I was praying to God that she would answer. After the third ring, she did. "Hello?" she said.

"Lupe! Thank God you answered! Listen to me, you have to believe me when I tell you this. We're all in great danger!" I told her.

"Matt, stop joking around. What is it?" she replied jokingly.

"This isn't a joke! It's finally happened. The fucking Zombie Apocalypse is happening now!" I told her urgently.

"Oh my god, what are you talking about?" I heard her laugh. "Hold on really quick." She said as she moved her phone away from her ear. I faintly heard her talking. And the next thing I knew, I heard her scream. "Lupe! What the happened?!" I yelled to her over the phone.

"You were right!" She said with a scared voice. "You were right!  But what the fuck am I going to do?!"

"Listen!" I said abruptly. "Get your sisters and leave the house. Head to the school. I'll meet you there with my brothers. Don't ask questions, just go! I love you. I'll see you there.." And I hung up the phone.

I started to hear those monsters claw on my door. I knew I had to move. So I grabbed on to the blankets and slid down. My brothers wondered why I took so long, but I ignored the question. Just as we were about to leave, my brothers stopped me. "Wait!" Eric said. "What about the Cesar and Indy?! We can't leave our dogs!"

I had totally forgotten about my dogs. I stood there for a few moments, looking at my dogs. Then I went inside of my garage, grabbed their collars and leashes, and came back out. I told my brothers to put them on the dogs and to keep them on tight.

Once we got everything ready, I opened the gate and we left. My brothers still didn't know what was going on. And I knew I would have to tell them very soon. So I stopped walking.

"Guys. The reason why I made you leave, is because we're at the end of the world." I said to them. They gave me a confused look. I continued, "The end has begun, and we're definitely not ready for this.  What I'm saying is...We're now in the Zombie Apocalypse. Mom and Dad are dead. They're among those monsters now. So that means that we're on our own from here on out."

They didn't say a word, but I could hear them beginning to cry. I reached over where my dad kept all his tools and grabbed a shovel, and two rakes.

"Don't cry. We can't afford to cry. Let's go." I said as a tear ran down my cheek.