Infection

Chapter 1

Now

Cabin in the outskirts of a forest

"Calm down, calm down" I told myself as I pressed my back more to a damp side wall of the cabin I was taking refuge in. Thin rays of sunlight cut through the planks of the wooden wall. The zombie's low guttural grunts pierce the closed door nearby.

How can I get out of this hellhole? I asked myself for maybe the twentieth time already. Last time I checked 10 zeds were following me. If the odds are in my favor I could take out one or possibly two of them and then go deeper into the woods. "If" I have luck which I haven't had any during the past few days. After that, it would take a lot of improvising to survive this. But first things first, weapons. As I feel around for a weapon, any kind of weapon, my fingertips glide through a pool of thin liquid. Don't let it be blood. Don't let it be blood. I prayed in my head. When I raise my hand to smell it , what do I discover? It's blood. Dammit.

I slumped down against the wall, hopeless. Sadly, zombies are incredibly patient. "How the hell did I end up in all of this mess?" I ask myself.

4 months earlier

Chloe's Apartment

I awake at the sound of a helicopter soaring above. As I sit up I notice that the news channel in on but I didn't really pay attention. Last night I stayed up way too late and the details are fuzzy except some parts: Drinking whiskey, chaos in the streets, my sister packing suitcases and listening to the sirens of the police cars as they arrived in big numbers.

"Chloe!" I called out to my sister "Where are you?" I figured that she was cooking or something. But as my eyes adjust to the light, I know that something is wrong, I can't quite put my finger on it put something is wrong. Really wrong,but the Jameson whiskey hangover is a sharp and strong kick to the back of the head. My mouth tastes like mud and as I stand up way too suddenly I feel my head take an out of control roller coaster ride. How did we even get Irish whiskey?

I am staying with Chloe in her apartment. A responsible woman, she works as a nurse in a local hospital and she recently left a long-term relationship by her choice. On the other hand, she is a free spirit and often does random acts of dancing in completely inappropriate places, dragging you to karaoke night at the bar down the street, and hosting too many parties that end in a pile of empty liquor bottles. We grew up together despite her being 4 years younger, and have never been apart since our parents both died when we were young (8 and 4 respectively), and the aunt who took custody was never a parental figure. I raised Chloe, and she is my only family.

"What are you going to do today Mark?" I asked myself not being able to form clear thoughts. "I'll call my clients and tell that my services are currently unavailable. Then I'll go sleep. Yeah. That sounds like a good plan" I spent years training as a Special Operations soldier and left to start a private security firm. I have an immense collection of clients and get satisfaction in taking tons of their money for things I barely got payed to do.

After I called my clients I crashed into the bed again. When I awoke I felt a lot better. Nothing better than a good nap against a hangover. I saw Chloe's laptop and noticed that it was on. Apparently my sister came to the apartment while I was asleep. A bottle of aspirin was lying on its side with all the pills spilled. I saw a note right next to the computer. It read:

Mark,

Sorry for not being here when you woke up. I am heading out to get some things before we leave. You were sick, so I didn't wake you, but the city is getting worse, and we need to get out. Be ready when I'm back!

Chloe

After reading this I went to sleep again, with even more questions than answers. The only way I am getting those answers is when Chloe gets back. There's no other thing to do other than waiting until my beloved but a pain-in-the-ass sister came back.

Author's note:

Hi! Thank you so much for reading this first chapter. I hope you enjoyed it. If you didn't like something, anything just write it in the comments and I'll see what I can do about it. Same thing goes for any kind of feedback. Just write in the comments below. I will post weekly (I hope). This is my first zombie story so go easy on the feedback but not too easy. Thank you guys. Adios!