A Walker's World

part one

Ezra

day one

Sundays with my family were always my favorite. Wake up to the smell of breakfast, go to church, go get lunch, lounge around in pajamas for the rest of the day. No school, no responsibility, we all took off work for the day. It was relaxing, the best part of my week.
Couldn't be better.
I didn't know, at the time, that it would be my last Sunday like that. It's funny, you always take things like that for granted; the good times that become so habitual that they are less memorable and more of a chore. I kept thinking to myself that if I'd have known it'd be the last time, I'd have enjoyed it a little more. Instead of watching Netflix alone, upset with my parents for something so minor it's stupid, I'd have stayed with them like I normally did. Watched movies, laughed together, had fun. If I'd have known, I would have valued it more. What I wouldn't give to go back to that day.

It started on the news Monday morning, "unknown rapidly-spreading virus causes odd behavior similar to apocalyptic theories; flesh craze, inability to understand commands, glazed over eyes-" my mother turns off the television.
"Go, you're going to be late for school." she ushers, making shooing motions in the air.
A look of distaste on everyone's faces reads clearly to her, prompting her to assure us that it is probably just a hoax and is nothing to worry about.

...and there went our excuse to get out of school

My younger brother, Enzo, groans as he reaches for his backpack and follows me to my car. He was 16 months younger than me and though he had his own license, we rode together to school every day anyway, since we were going to the same place anyway. We got to school every morning so my brother, a junior, could attend a study group for the ACT he was scheduled to take in one month. I didn't mind to show up early. Senior year was coming pretty close to an end, nearly three months left, and I was occupied picking prom dresses and ordering my graduation cap and gown, so I spent my mornings doing that while he studied.
Life was good.
I can only assume everyone else had watched the news this morning, because the air was quieter than normal. It was our final class of the day that things changed drastically.

I sat in my pre-nursing class, trying to will time to pass faster. My teacher, Mrs. Russell, had left the room to go make copies of our work. We all sat, staring blankly at the clock, immediately thrown back into reality when we heard screaming. not just a scream; it was an earth-shattering, window-busting, nails-on-a-chalkboard shriek. The kind that makes your throat close up and sends shivers down your spine just from hearing it. The kind that makes everything stand still for a moment, while your mind floods with possibilities. The first movement after the scream comes milliseconds after it began, although it felt like an eternity. Mrs Russell's son, Daniel, stood up and bolted towards the door, throwing it open without hesitation and following the sound of the screaming. His concern was followed by curious students, who chased after him down the hall to see where it was coming from. The copy machine is located just inside a set of doors, which was propped open to allow the warm breeze to flow through the halls. As far as we can assume, someone infected by the virus on the news this morning had made their way to the school, and attacked the first person around. But that wasn't our immediate thought. Our first would have probably included confusion and profanity, if we'd have taken a poll. Daniel reacts violently, grabbing the thing before we had a chance to understand, plunging it's head into the wall, the thing's head smashing.

No way Daniel could have done that, so I'd blame this force on one of two things: adrenaline, or that the thing's skull was weaker than a normal person's, which would be good because that would make them easier to stop.
Like I said, this was an afterthought.

Daniel, trembling as he backed away from it all, had tears soaking his now pale white face. The crowd parted slightly, so as to allow him room to stumble to his knees, silently weeping with shock in his eyes.
The hallway falls silent, only labored breathing and hallow cries from Daniel are heard. The stunning silence is broken, hearing a single "oh my god," escape the lips of one student. We all turn to face him, and see these things outside, gathered around bodies on the ground, chewing on raw organs.