The Virus

Chapter 2: Yard by yard

You've travelled far enough, it's madness out there. All the military's effort to control the situation have left the city engulfed in flames. You have no idea where your family can be, yet you chose to look for them... You feel panic as you let the chaos around you, slowly consume you. You travel house by house, with the shotgun Mark gave you strapped to your back. Yard by yard looking for them, you're their last hope, let's just hope you don't fail them.
All of these thoughts travel quickly through Michael's head, but he struggles with all of his might, so that he does not turn mad, all this desperation is damaging Michael's sanity by the second.
"I need to find my family, I... I need to find Jake" thought Michael,filled with determination.

Michael keeps scavenging for nearby houses for weapons, survivors, or any supplies that can assist him. Eventually he manages to break open a patio door, to then proceed to break in the nearby house... That is until he saw he had company. Fortunately the zombie was so badly injured that it could only limp, so Michael could easily outsmart it and sprint quickly inside the house.

"He's way too injured to pursue me, that's the least of my problems... Hope I can find survivors." thought Michael.

Michael quickly sprinted past the I'll civilian, charging inside the house even though not acknowledging future zombie encounters inside or near the house. Michael then quickly closes the door, then he proceeds to barricade the door with a nearby couch.

"Damn, I need to avoid being in one place for too long..." thought Michael.

"I'll look for any food or supplies that could help me on my way." continued thinking Michael.

Michael was shocked at the bloody mess that was left inside the house, broken furniture was present everywhere, some blood splatters and broken tidbits of wood and glass indicated that someone struggled against a zombie, thereby explaining why the zombie who Michael encountered earlier was injured.

"Damn, the house is truly a mess... I hope the family is ok" thought Michael.

The back door to the house was located through the kitchen, but it seems it's heavily barricaded from the other side. Michael then proceeds to look for utilities and a way to get out of the house safely, but it seemed that the house was already sacked, and the majority of the doors were either barricaded or blocked due to structural damage. Before leaving the house Michael decides to check the 3rd floor in a desperate attempt to look for supplies, or any remaining survivors that could help him along the way.

"I haven't found anything useful, wait... Who's that in the picture?" thought Michael

Michael encountered a portrait of a the owner of the house, along with his fiancé. His name was Jeff, Michael recalled him working on a chemical plant downtown. Michael then proceeded to move forward, he shouldn't waste time. Along the way, Michael found a laptop that seemed to belong to Jeff, Michael quickly checked the emails the laptop contained, only one managed to capture Michael's interest.

"...Look Graham these chemicals are great, and could make big differences to our research, but they are highly unstable! We need to stop production immediately..." This is the email write in Jeff 's laptop.

Michael continued his search, he eventually reached a room, it was blown to pieces by the military, the damage from the impact also left a very big hole on the floor, thus exposing the bathroom below. You could even feel the cold, crispy wind passing through the huge opening in the wall.

"Man whatever this room was, the military blew it to smitherines." said Michael.

Michael stood motionless looking at the city, smoke was constantly arising, fire could be seen almost everywhere, and the skies were hidden by huge grey clouds, casting a gloomy effect on the entire city. Suddenly Michael was startled by the sight of a military plane crashing, it obliterated a bunch of houses not so far from him... This made Michael's adrenaline flow through his entire body, his desperation to find his family raised like never before.