Welcome to the Apocalypse

Chapter One

Fire

6 years after the fall

The sound of a Dead's heavy breathing brought my thoughts back to the broken roof in front of me.

CRAP!

Looking down the hole, I see what used to be a perfectly smooth piece of metal is now lined with razor sharp edges and twisted metal. Great, just great, now not only will I have to repair the broken roof and find a new piece of metal, but now the only way to get across the hole is by a running jump.

DOUBLE CRAP!

Sighing, I turn around and walk a few paces back. Turning back to the gaping hole, I make sure all my weapons are firmly in place and start running towards the jagged edge. As I reach the end I push off with the balls of my feet and rocket into the air.

This is the part I hate the most. The part of every leap or jump where you're bound in midair and just for that split second you think you're frozen in time, that is until you come crashing back down a few seconds later. I always hated that part when I was little, still do. I could never get over the fear that one day when I jump up I wouldn't be able to come back down and I'll just float away into space, but I soon found a way to ignore it so now it's not such a problem.

But as I come closer to the other side of the rooftop a sense of dread starts to fill me, and I realize the metal patch wasn't the only thing that was damaged during the storm. From the other side I would be too far away to notice, but now that I'm getting closer, I can see that the top of the roof is curving downwards, towards the gaping hole. And as I slowly inch closer to the other side I start to see the spider web like cracks that run along the spot where I intended to land. This can't be good, as soon as I land on that spot the roof will collapse under my weight and I will fall right on the broken metal, potentially cutting myself, and in the end attracting all the Dead within 100 mile radius.

If I land on that roof I'm pretty much Dead ( *chuckle* see what I did there *chuckle* ), there is no solution even if I land at just the precise . . . wait a minute . . . if I could just land at the perfect angle, I should be able to jump away right before it collapses in on itself. This just might work. As I come closer and closer to the roof, I position my feet so that they can push off the moment I land. When I finally reach the other roof I quickly put my feet down and push off.

Flying up in the air I mentally do a happy dance, until I realize with a start that instead of going up, I'm actually going down. Looking down in panic, I see that I am quickly descending towards the ground and . . . OH CRAP!

Coming closer and closer every second is the sharp twisted barbs and jagged edges of the broken metal slab.

As I am about to hit the ground, I look over to find the Dead I heard earlier standing not 20 yards away from where I am about to land and if it sees me (which it would have to be blind not to) then as soon as I hit the ground it will already be half way over here. But before I can think of anything else, I feel a piercing hot pain in my side, while at the same time all the wind is being knocked out me.

Looking down, I see that one of the many twisted spikes has pierced my lower back and is coming out my stomach. Just when I think things can't get any worse, the Dead dragging itself my way decides to pick up the pace a little more at the sight of its next meal.

Awesome, reaching down, I grab the gun that is strapped to my holster and take aim. Leveling the gun with the Dead's open neck, I take aim and fire. Hearing the big bang that follows, I cringe, wondering how many minutes I have till I turn into an all you can eat buffet.

Well, no time to ponder now. Looking down at the blade sticking out of my stomach, I try to find an alternative to get it out because the only option I can think of right now doesn't really sound appealing.