An Infected World

Chapter 1

Prologue:

It all started in the beginning of May of 2023, although now, it seems as if it was a lifetime ago. Its only been 8 months since the outbreak began, but yet everyone is so different now then when it first all happened. I am only 20 years old, but dear Lord, I feel 43. My name is Rose and this is my story.

I had a good life from what I can remember. I was still in the prime of my life, although it don't feel like it now. Chad and I were high school sweethearts. We met my freshman year. We did everything that " high school sweethearts" should do. Went to homecoming, prom, graduated with honors and went college. He was undecided for the first year, he wanted to take a " little of this "and a "little of that", ya know..just to see where he felt he "belonged". I, on the other hand, knew what I wanted from as far back as I could remember. I wanted to become a veterinarian. I know, its cliche. What little girl doesn't want to be one? It goes right up there with wanting a pony. And yes, I wanted one of those to! I never did get my pony and I never did get my degree, I learned a few things along the way, but nothing that prepared me for what the whole worlds future had in store.

I heard a few rumors since the outbreak began. Noone has the how's and why's but all of that seems irrelevant now. The only thing everyone knows now is this: If they get bit or scratched by one of those undead "things", the virus consumes you and you become one.

Noone wanted to use the word " Zombie". That sounded so B~ rated. They were nothing more then tv and movie made up creatures. A monster created to bring in money and scare people. But no matter what word we used to describe them, the reality of it was that they were just that... zombies! They were dead, but yet alive. Ready, willing and wanting to tear through your flesh if given the chance.

We had heard a few things during the first few weeks. We heard the holy ~ rollers chanting about how this is "Gods will", and how this was "His way" for all the sinners in the world. We heard that it was a government experiment that went bad. We also heard it was a combination of the "legal" drugs that people did, not knowing the side effects. You know.. bath salt, the synthetic weed, fake Molly. Adults and kids were doing that crazy shit. If I was a guessing kind of girl, I'd go with the government. No one government is taking the blame. My guess? Ours! The US government is always the first one to fuck shit up, and the rest just follow suit. I wish for once, someone could get it together long enough to just find a cure already so that the hell we call life can just go back to normal.

That's wishful thinking though and everyone already came to grips with the harsh reality. The world will never be the same as it was, even IF they find a cure. The survivors have seen to much, and lost to many loved ones to ever go back to normal.

Chapter One:

I've been on my own for awhile now. I've learned how to keep in the shadows and pay more attention to noises. I've also learned that during the day, the zombies aren't out as much. If you need anything that consists of going into the city, right after sun up is your best time. At night is when they all come out and there are always alot of them. They swam together and attack like a vicious pack of dogs.

When the first wave started, I lost Chad. I was at a complete loss. I couldn't remember a life without him and I didn't know how I was going to go on. But when you live day after day of trying to get eaten, you figure it out. I wasn't going to let them get me and I, damn sure wasn't going to become one. So you do what human nature tells you to, and you survive. You forget all the stuff you once knew. Be nice, be polite, help the elderly, whatever! None of that matters. Kill or be killed is now the way of life. Can't help the elderly cross the street like you were taught. They are out to eat you to.

Lucky for me, my father taught me how to hunt and fish. He told me one day they would be skills that would come in handy. Pretty sure, this is NOT what he meant. Looking back now, I'm glad he did. I'm an excellent marksmen and can shoot an animal in between the eyes from two football fields away. I never was big on hunting. I only did it to get "daddys approval", and I swore after my parents passing that I would never pick up another gun. It had been years since I had. I didn't think that I still had the skills my father had trained me to have from the time I was three.

I was barely walking and my father bought me a gun and a fishing pole. My mother bitched from time to time but it did no good. I can still faintly hear my mothers voice in the back of my head. She use to remind him all the time that he had a daughter, not a son. " Now enough is enough Bill" my mother would say. "Do you forget I birthed a girl and not a boy?" His response was always the same " Jesus Sarah! I'm well aware that we have a girl, but you never know when she will need these skills and I want her to have them. I'm not going to be around forever and she needs to know how to protect herself". My mother always shut up after that, she knew he was ultimately right. They weren't going to be there forever and just maybe, I might need them. I never thought I would but I'm so glad he did!

Before the outbreak, I hadn't been to my parents house in awhile. Chad and I moved into the city and had a cozy two bedroom apartment on the

third floor of an apartment complex. When my parents died, I was only 17. Being the fact that I was so close to being an adult, I could of either moved in with my Aunt Mag or just got my own place. I could of stayed in my parents home, but it was to new and to fresh to even consider it. Every where I turned, there were constant reminders of my devastating loss. I could see my mother in the kitchen cooking or smell my fathers cologne in the den. I just couldn't bring myself to stay there. Chad and I decided that the city was the right answer. Lots to do and places to go in order to take my mind off the fact that I'm now an orphan.

Don't get me wrong, I adore my Aunt Mags, she is the oldest between her and my mother, but she never had kids and never married. She worked and partied. That's it. I didn't want to be a burden on her so Chad and I set out for the big city.