Transmissions Echoing Away

It was dark and raining. Kasi didn’t know what just happened downtown because the explosion scared her senseless. She looked across the street to see a guy around about her age staring in the same direction. She was terrified and didn’t know whether to go down there or to stay where she was. The dust was rising and spreading quicker than she could think. All of a sudden, the guy across the street from her ran over and started dragging her down the street. She was lost for words when she saw the flames licking at the night sky. “What’s going on?”

“They’re taking over the world. We need to get somewhere safe” the guy said. She was scared and shaking and he could feel it through his hands. “Just relax. If we get somewhere safe you won’t be harmed.”

He dragged her toward a shed on the outskirts of the city and pulled her inside. “Just stay quiet while the bombs fall and don’t worry, we’ll stop them. What’s your name sweetheart?”

“K-Kasi. Stop who? What’s going on? Who are you?”

“My name is Frank. Better Living Industries are who have taken over. Their the bad guys” he said in a thick New Jersey accent. She cowered into a corner in fear. “Hey, don’t worry. Stick with me and you will be fine. I’m looking for 3 other people. One has a huge fro, one is tall, skinny and has pushed back brown hair and the other has short black hair have you seen them?”

“Uh… No I don’t think so I don’t really pay attention to people” she replied. Frank sighed and nodded.

“Okay. They’ll turn up eventually” he said, crouching down below the window and leaning his head against the wall.

Hours had started to tick by and the bombs kept falling. Kasi was still shaking and was scared for her friends but she knew if these bombs were bad, they probably wouldn’t survive. As much as she hated to admit it, she knew it was true. She curled up on the floor and wrapped her coat tightly around herself and tried to go to sleep. Her black coat, her pale peach shirt, dark blue skinny jeans and her converse were covered in dust, dirt and god knows what else. Things she didn’t even want to imagine. She lay still, thinking happy thoughts and slowly drifted off to the sounds of the bombs falling. Frank sat quietly and watched her falling asleep, wishing he could do exactly the same.

He watched her for almost 2 hours before noticing she was shivering. He smiled softly and pulled his jacket off, draping it over her gently so he didn’t wake her up. He put her head on his legs like a pillow and just played with her hair softly, making himself tired and he finally started to drift off into a peaceful slumber, the bombs still falling noisily around them.

The sound of someone hammering on the door woke her up. She smiled softly at the sleeping man and put his jacket over him, laying him down gently so he didn’t get uncomfortable. She opened the door carefully, peering outside. “Hi. We’re looking for Frank. Do you know him? Someone said he was headed here with a girl who I’m guessing is you.”

“Oh uh yeah he’s in here, sleeping though” she said, a hint of fear lacing her voice.

“Don’t be afraid we’re his friends and we got separated last night when the bombs started to fall. We tried looking for him but couldn’t find him” the tall, skinny one said. She nodded, opened the door wider and let them in. She walked over and shook Frank gently.

“Frank? Your friends are here” she said gently. He grumbled quietly and opened his eyes sleepily, smiling.

“Good to see you fuckers” he grinned sleepily. She moved away quietly, grabbing her scarf and gloves and pulling them on. “What the hell happened to you lot?”

“No idea. We heard the explosions and you took off. We tried to follow you but lost you” one of them said. She wasn’t sure who was talking as she had her back turned to them. She headed toward the door as they were busy talking and slipped out quietly without them realising she had gone.

She made her way down the dust and fire blazed streets, trying to find home. What she saw wasn’t what she expected. Her flat was on fire, everything smelt like a mix of dust, smoke, fire and something she couldn’t put her finger on. She stared in horror at the sight before her and she couldn’t move. It wasn’t until she saw a blackened figure on the ground that she knew what the other smell was. The other smell was the scent of burning flesh, burning bodies and it made her sick to her stomach. She gagged at the thought and ran as fast as she could away from the street. She didn’t care where she was going as long as she was away from there.

She kept running until she ran into someone wearing a grey skirt, white blouse and a matching grey jacket with black heels. “Are you lost? Do you need something from me?” the woman asked. Kasi shook her head and walked away fast, knowing something wasn’t right. The building were burning and there were no fire trucks? As she walked past the buildings of shops, businesses and even a hospital, they were all boarded up with signs hanging on them saying “CLOSED FOR GOOD”. That could only mean one thing. It was something to do with the woman in grey or there really was a zombie outbreak and she knew nothing about it. She was stuck wondering around in the clothes she was wearing, with no weapons to defend herself and the only people left that she knew about were the people back in the shack but she didn’t want to go back there. For all she knew they could be murderers. At this rate she wouldn’t have any choice.

She sighed and tried to find a car that hadn’t been destroyed. Turned out to be harder than she thought. She finally found one. It wasn’t in the best condition but it would do. She smashed the window with her elbow, reached in and pulled the lock up. She opened the door, brushed away the glass and climbed in. She fiddled under the consol and found the wires she needed and pulled them, breaking them enough to try and start the car. She felt a wash of relief when the engine roared to life. She sat up properly, pulled her seat belt on and put her hands on the wheel. Just as she was about to drive off, a flash of white appeared in front of her in a mask. Her heartbeat sped up, she started to panic and in that panic, she hit the accelerator and hit the white body, causing it to hit the ground and the car to go over. She cringed as she heard the snapping and cracking of bones as the car crushed the corpse.

She sped off back toward the edge of the ruined city, watching the smoke billowing away in the rear view mirror. Her home was destroyed and she needed to get away fast and find somewhere else to live. In a moment, she fit the brake fast as someone jumped out in front of the car. It screeched to a halt and she looked at the person in front of her. It was that guy who saved her from the bombs. What was his name? She frowned in concentration. Frank. “What are you doing in front of my car?!”

“You have the only working car apparently and we need to get away. Can we hitch a lift with you?”

“Fine. Get your friends and get in and make it quick because there are people in the city in masks and some woman in grey and she looks pissed off” Kasi replied. He nodded and ran in to get his friends. She waited as they piled into the car and she sped off without saying another word.