Mark One

On This Day

The leaves were beginning to fall on the ground, slowly hitting the undead as they trudged through the streets. Not like it affected them, but it added something to their diminishing complexion. Their hunger not ceasing and neither did their growling; they took over the world two or three years ago, attacking the masses and of course, no one knew where they came from. CNN announced that it might be some strange strain of Ebola, other stations calling it a mutated version of the plague. It had overtaken the world as far as Mark knew.

He sat next to the window, blowing out a candle before opening the blinds to look down at the street below his apartment. Down below there were his neighbors who'd fallen to the disease by attack of the undead. He took them out earlier today as he heard them growl behind their wooden door and Mark didn't feel like taking any chances, not after so many incidents had already happened. "That's the fourth apartment we've cleared this week." Looking down, he saw Mrs. Barker stuck on one of the posts of an iron fence, "That's a shame, I was rooting for you." The air looked crisp, with the way it hit the trees and causing unrest amongst the forest further down the road in front of the complex.

The trees held a mystery behind them. It's where Mark first noticed them emerge. One after another, but slow as hell. People thought it was some joke, or some film being created, and honestly so did Mark. It wasn't until he noticed his neighbor's son in the road on his bike that he started freaking out, and he saw them attack, and Mark hadn't left his apartment since except to clean out other apartments within the building of the developing numbers of undead tenants. He felt like shit, and he didn't really know how to overcome the pain of not helping Rocco's son. Rocco was gone. He'd left months ago, in search to see if his ex-wife was okay, and to tell her Alexander was dead. Mark didn't want to lose himself, and he didn't want to feel like he would lose anyone else. So, he stayed away from the window, but every year, on that day, he looks out the window at night, and tries to see who else he can recognize against decayed and sunken flesh.

The trees rustled violently as the wind played its game. The thunder crashed somewhere behind him, and it shook the complex, but Mark had set his eyes ahead. "What's this?" whispering against the window. There were two dim yellowish-green lights showing through the trees at the base of the forest. "They're too close together to be headlights, and that goes the same for flashlights." The lights moved and emerged from the forest as well, dodging behind one tree to the next on the road in front of the complex. The figure was wearing a mask with two soft dull lights attached for whatever reason, and Mark couldn't think of a better way to attract attention.

An engine roared, proving Mark wrong as his eyes watched as the figure picked up its pace down the road, dashing to the alley next to the complex and shutting down the lights on it's mask. The engine roared again and a bunch of men yelled out their windows as they pulled up to the stop sign at the edge of the block. "The fuck you stoppin' for?!" a man yelled, and someone from inside the truck silenced him with a loud uproar. The same man clambered out of the vehicle and lit up a cigarette, and began to whistle 'Silver and Gold.' "Ah, boss, we ain't finding nothin' here, she's probably in the city over, where Joe is at." The boss looked around and then Mark thought he stared right into his soul the way he looked longingly up at the window. What in the world is going on? Everything just has to happen on this day. And then the boss's gaze is ceased, and Mark's breath returned to a normal pace with his heart beat. "Damnit, we'll head to the next town," the boss yelled, and everyone agreed in a drunken stupor within the vehicle. The engine roared and the car moved back down the road, attracting some of the undead to follow it. Mark felt his stomach turn when he saw Mrs. Barker tear from the iron gate, losing an arm and some organs, but then his attention turned when he heard a door slam shut on the first floor. The masked figure must have entered through the alley doorway.