The Dead Parade

Prologue:

The Dead Parade.

September 2017.

It's funny how life used to work. Everyone used to live in a fixed routine, an endless cycle of achievements and failures. From birth to death, people were constantly striving for the upper hand. To be on top of the world, having it all and "living the life" as it were. That all changed when there was no longer a future to look forward to. No big paycheck, no benefits, no fast cars or big houses, the only thing left was trying to survive. No one was prepared for this. Life never taught us what to do when the system fails. There is no escape, no evacuation plan, and no one is coming to help. We learned a long time ago when the routines stopped and time wasn't important that chaos is upon us. I remember it all like yesterday. The way this great city collapsed in itself and how the millions of people who lived in it became monsters. I was there. I saw the line between nightmare and sanity become lost. This is the story of how I've made it to this point. How WE have survived this long. We lost so many good people, so many have fallen to the curse of this world. I promised I'd tell their story. No one deserved this. If this new world taught me anything its that you always keep fighting. This fight is our new routine. The motivation to wake up the next morning, to see the ones next to us safe, and to rebuild what was taken from us. We will never stop fighting. Welcome to the Dead Parade.

Chapter 1: One Year Ago.

My name is JC and if there is anything you need to know about me its that I hate Mondays. I get up from bed grouchy with one eye open. I turn on my radio to start my "lets get this day over with" routine. I hear Paramore from the bathroom and it puts a small smile on my face. It takes me 30 minutes every day to get ready. Not bad considering 20 of those minutes is figuring out where the other pair of my matching sock is in case I ever have to take my shoes off. When I'm finished I head downstairs where I'm greeted by my brother. "Sup little bro, you workin' today?" he says. "Yeah, I'm already late. Can you do me a favor and tell mom I'll be home a little late I'm going to go see Hayley after class. "Sure, don't be too late though I'm making my famous burgers today" he responds with a proud smile on his face. I leave my house and get on the train. One of my favorite things about New York is that everything is accessible by public transportation. I only have to take one train, the 7 line which goes from Flushing Queens all the way to Times Square in Manhattan. I basically grew up on trains so the only thing I like to do on one is sleep. I sit down in my favorite seat by the conductors box and pass out, dreading the sound of my stop being announced on the PA system. It felt like a short nap but I finally wake up to the sound of "Grand Central- 42nd street, transfer here for the 4-5 and 6 trains." I get off on the next stop. I stand up and face the door, staring at the lights and they pass by the fast train. I stare at a little girl as she plays with her doll, when suddenly, like a scene from a movie a woman screams from the front of the train. Everyone stopped to look at her and than BOOOOOM! the train comes to a screeching stop which sends me flying halfway across the train car, hitting a pole on the way and knocking me out. I remember hearing the screams around me as people panicked. The lights powered down and the last thing I remember was not being able to hear the sound of the woman screaming. I force myself to get up but my body isn't responding. My eyes shut and I slip into an abyss of screams and chaos.

(Some time later) I'm hearing voices again. This time they sound more worried than scared. "Dude just leave him! We have to go," someone says. "No, he's still breathing we can't just leave him here. What if you were the one lying down here?" the other one responds. "You know what fine, you deal with it than," the first voice says as I hear him run away. I feel the head of the voice who stayed behind on my chest trying to find a heartbeat, a sign of life. I try to open my eyes but nothing is responding.

"C'mon man GET UP!," he says. He shakes my shoulders violently. "C'mon, c'mon!" Finally my eyes open and I start coughing as if I'm taking my very first breath of air. "That's it, welcome back man," the kid says. "Shit, what happened?" I ask. "From the looks of that bump on your head you probably knocked yourself out." I touch the top of my head and feel the pain of the lump. "What the hell happened?" I asked. "No idea man, the train just stopped, the power went off and everyone jumped out the train and walked to the next platform. Me and this other guy carried you over here but he just left," he responds. "Damn. Thanks for getting me out of there. Name's JC," I say, reaching my hand out to shake his. "I know who you are JC. You're Allan's brother right?" he asks. "Yeah, how do you Allan?" "He was in my fireteam in Afghanistan. Hell of a soldier. My names Mayte Vasquez," he replies. "Nice to meet you Mayte. We should go above ground, see what's going on," I say already walking toward the stairs. The sign above me says "5th Ave - Bryant Park." I look up the stairs and can hear sirens in the distance, growing louder and louder each step I take towards the surface. When we get to the surface we see flashes of red and blue reflecting off every window in the city. The sirens are blasting through the air. People are running in every direction. The screaming continues and the feeling of change is suffocating me. I look at Mayte, "we have got to find some answers," I say. Mayte looks nods and we start heading towards one of the cop cars blocking off an intersection on 5th Avenue. When we get to the car we find the doors swung open and a pool of blood next to the drivers entrance. "What the hell?" I look at Mayte as he looks around for signs of the cops. He points up the block at yells at me, "LOOK!"