Zombie Town

Prologue

June 18th, 1873

I ran away as fast as I could away from the creature trailing behind me. It was out to get me. It was hunting me.

There was nothing to do but run. Hiding was a waste of time because within half of a second,  the creature would find me. Screaming was useless. Nobody would hear me from the middle of the dark forest; unless there were more them. As for weapons, I was defenseless. 

My dress got caught on the rough bark of the trees. I put my hand up against the warm moss on the trunk to balance myself while I pulled myself free. My fingers shook as I hurriedly tore the silky fabric from the tree. There was a big rip in my dress from my mid-thigh down. 

Before running again, I briefly stopped to listen for anything coming, but all I heard were the sharp ragged breaths coming out of my lungs. I almost considered it safe until I heard a twig snap. 

I sprinted ahead and hoped that the monster would give up. I knew these types of creatures. Everyone taught me to hate and to fear them. In my opinion, it was silly to believe in it until I saw one feed on someone from the town. That was when I decided to run. 

I was tired of running and wanted to rest, but I had to keep going. I had to warn the rest of the town that we were under attack. What about Ma and Pa? Were they dead? Did the creatures kill them? I asked myself. I ignored the thoughts rumbling around in my mind and kept going. In the distance, I could make out the outskirts of the town. Someone was bound to be there. 

A twinge of happiness flowed through me, filling me up until I tripped over something and fell down. The creature would catch up at any moment. I'm going to die I thought. I'm going to die. Soon it will all be over. 

A shadow stood over me, creating a blanket of dark and coldness around me. Sharp chills stabbed at my back. I shut my eyes. In a matter of seconds, I will be dead. 

"Justine? What are you doing out here so late at night? It's not safe!" warned a deep voice. My eyes fluttered open to my fiancee Cameron. He offered his hand, and I took it. 

"What are you doing here?" I asked. 

He shook his head. "I asked you first."

"I- I was just," I drifted off. 

Cameron raised his eyebrows. "You were looking for the Owen Patel journal again, weren't you?"

I hung my head in shame. Cameron knew me so well, one of the reasons I was going to marry him besides the fact that he was the finest gentlemen in the town of Holdenburg. 

He rolled his eyes when I said nothing. "Justine, why can't you understand that it is dangerous for a woman to be out in these forests late at night? The men are searching for the journal,trust me. We need to get you home."

"But the fact that Mr. Owen Patel was my great grandfather makes me feel like I need to search for it some more! We need answers Cameron."

He was silent. "What were you doing out here?" I asked. 

"Looking for you. Your mother was awfully worried when she went into your room and didn't find you in bed. Why were running before I found you?" he asked firmly. 

My eyes widened as I remembered. "I was coming back to town to warn everyone. They're here," I whispered. "I was looking for the journal when I came across one feeding..."

He tightly grabbed my hand. "I know. they're attacking the town. We need to leave now."

I refused to move. "What about my family? I just can't leave them! Are they... dead?"

"No they're fine. They're waiting for you in the safe house with the rest of the town."

I let out a sigh of relief. "Well let's go then," I said. "One was following me before and it can't be too far behind."

We ran as fast as we could.The safe house was located behind the church in our small town of Holdenburg in Ohio. I saw glimpses of the town going up in flames. It was hard seeing a beautiful memory of mine be destroyed as flames danced on houses and buildings. 

"Over here," Cameron whispered. We couldn't risk being seen or heard by the monsters. I followed him into the brick safe house that the town had built in case of emergency. It was dark and I couldn't see. The door shut behind us. 

"Cameron? Where are you? I can't see a thing!" I called. There was no response. 

"Ma? Pa? Margret? Anyone?" No one answered. Suddenly, a lantern was lit and I could clearly see. 

On the floor lay my family's mangled bodies. Blood covered the floor. There skin was pale, eyes lifeless. A scream escaped my throat. I tried opening the door, but it was locked. 

"Be quite or they'll hear you."

I turned around to see Cameron standing in the pool of red. I was suddenly terrified of the man I loved. 

"Who will hear me?" I managed to say. 

"The rest of them. They'll just be waking up and crazed for flesh. You don't want them to hurt you," he murmured.

Cameron moved towards me. "What are you doing?" I asked. 

He smirked. "Changing you my darling."

"But you're human. You're not one of them"

"Think again."

I shook my head. "How did this happen?"

"One of them attacked me. It was someone from the town. They brought back the disease with them when going into the city and they changed me. We planned this together, for quite a long time actually. Tonight, we attacked the town and turned them into one of us. Everyone's changed Justine; except for your family. They're goners.  And now, it's your turn."

Completely terrorized, I tried to move but couldn't. 

Cameron saw the agony spread across my face and moved right in front of me. He tucked my hair behind my ear and looked intensely into my eyes. "Justine," he whispered. "Don't be afraid. Become one of us."

"Never!" I yelled as I knocked the lantern out of his hand. The safe house went up in flames. Cameron lunged towards me and bit me in the shoulder. I tried to shake him off, but I was defenseless. I let out a piercing scream as I felt a sharp pain sting in my arm. 

The room was spinning and I sunk down against the door. My eyes rolled back into my head and all I felt was pain and betrayal. Cameron kicked opened the door and dragged my half conscious body along with him as the fire inched towards us. The last thing I remembered was the safe house going up into flames. 

I woke up on the cold forest floor. It was dawn and little light seeped through the canopy of trees. I dug my hands into the soft soil and opened my eyes. There was something different about me. My senses were sharper and I felt ravenous. I pushed myself off of the floor and looked around in confusion. How did I get here? Where was Cameron? Was Holdenburg really destroyed?

I looked down at my shoulder. Teeth marks remained in it and a little bit of skin was missing. Fear overtook me as I realized what happened. I had become one of them. I was a zombie.