Silent Age

Introduction

The soft snow chilled my nose. I stuck my tongue out like I did when I was a kid, Joel instantly scolded me for being foolish. We were on Castle Street- a suburban street with a total of twelve houses. I had been into every house and knew the exact layout. My favourite was Number 24. It had a tall brick wall  that most would call ugly. Well, Joel at least. An old green vine was growing over it creating cracks in the solid brick work. It amazed me because the 5-meter wall  was covered in this green leaf and it all came from 1 root. Behind that was an old house made out of wood. The left side had been blown apart but while standing in the exposed room watching the snow drift down I felt oddly calm. There was a path winding up the still intact front door. Plants had claimed most of the house. I loved that house. It was like a little getaway since I was a child. Everyone had those, a tree house, a room or a park. This old house was mine. I was distracted looking at the beauty around me until I was struck by a sudden chattering sound. I've heard this sound  a thousand times before. I turned towards the end of the street to see a hoard of beings moving towards us, leaving rotten foot marks in the snow.
 They were almost at the end of Number Fourteen. I heard a strange sound unlike the chatter. I haven't heard this in a while.  It was another voice besides Joel's and mine. It was a woman.
 
She came running out of the apartment block Number Fourteen in a state of panic. This was odd for a few reasons:
1. We had no idea anyone else was around this area and we were out every day.
2. You had to be silent otherwise they get you.
3. No one was panicked anymore. Joel said when it first happened everyone was screaming until the "idiots" figured out to shut up. By now, 15 years later,  they were just another animal passing you. Hunting for food like all of us.
 
She was screaming something I couldn't understand which Joel later explained was a different language. He deemed her insane. She had this lovely tanned skin I hadn't seen before. Then I noticed she wasn't wearing a jumper. I agreed with Joel. She was insane.
 
Zombies.
They made her insane.
The zombies chased after her screaming voice. She sat down in the freezing snow in front of Number Fourteen. A block of ugly apartments.
 
I felt slightly surprised at myself because I felt no emotion towards this woman, as I saw them crawl all over her with their claws ready to kill. Her long black hair blew gracefully in the wind. A part of me hoped it was a quick death for this innocent woman. Perhaps she was insane but no one deserved to become one of them. Another, stronger part of me wanted her to scream forever. This age was called the Silent Age. I was excited to hear anything other then my own breathing and boots crunching in the snow. Occasionally I could hear the deadly whip of my arrow leaving the bow at an incredible speed. All other sounds were forbidden. Sometimes I forgot what my voice sounded like or how to talk on the rare occasion I would converse with Joel. From where I was, I could only see her exposed leg.  It was all that was left. Their growls had taken over her screams and their mouths and claws had torn apart her body. Her red blood would stain the snow for a couple days. If it reached the cement she would leave her mark for years.
 
I heard Joel's boots crunch in the other direction. I turned around looking at the woman and house Number 24. I followed him down Castle Street towards the Main street named main street. We headed off towards  No Name street adjacent to Castle Street which I had creatively named because no street name was to be found. Here we had a large manufacturing shed that Joel had cleared out and called home. It had food to last us for months, functioning rain water tanks, medical supplies, my comfortable bed, all my precious weapons and most importantly, my brave dog Otis.