OUTBREAK (A collection of Zombie Stories) |#Wattys2016|

OUTBREAK (#2)

"You remember the basics?" Asked Robert, holding a machete over his head. "Go for the brain. Swing down in an arc after initial decapitation, hold the weapon in front of you, go for the neck of in close range." Replied Allen, also holding a machete.

"Good." Said Robert, smiling, "Now that we've covered the theory, it's time for practical's."

He swung the door of his building open and Zombies began to pile in. The two men began to decapitate the undead horde with almost machine-like fluidity. Allen hacked and slashed at the Zombie's heads with precision, taking down almost all of them in one hit, whilst Robert, even with the Zombie bite and the virus slowly eating into him, was more than able to hold his own.

Allen slammed the machete down onto a Zombie's neck, cutting its head in two, spilling blood and guts. He kicked the corpse back into two other undead and proceeded to hack more.

"Close the door!" Commanded Robert and Allen nodded in compliance. He began to advance, hacking and slashing at the Zombies that came for him.

Allen reached the door and boarded it up. Once he did so, his muscles relaxed and he gave a smile to Robert, who smiled back and said, "Good job, student. Your prowess over the machete has grown! I would say you've passed with flying colors!" He began to shamble back to the second floor. "And now, we party."

OUTBREAK 

  PART#2: DEMISE

Robert opened a beer bottle and chugged half of it in one go. He said, "Aaaah yeah, that's the stuff." He pointed the bottle towards Allen, "I tell you, Allen my man, beer's the thing that's keeping me going. Whenever I *Hic* take a swing, all the symptoms of the fever vanish! It's like its @&^#$*@% magic!"

Allen gave a small sigh. It had been four days since he had first met Robert, and he had witnessed the man slowly dry out into a shell of a person. Even though he maintained his demeanor, Allen knew that the fever was taking its toll on him. He wouldn't be alive long.

Luckily for Allen though, Robert had imparted almost all of his survival knowledge onto him. He had taught Allen – to some extent – how to shoot a gun. He had also taught him how to wield several melee weapons such as machetes, knives, hammers and axes, as well as teaching him about basic survival skills and Zombie anatomy. What to do in dangerous situations, like if someone is bitten by a Zombie and they need to be amputated.

Looking back on the past days, Allen was astounded by the sheer volume of the content he had learnt. It might have been due to the fact that these skills would be the difference between life and death out in the world, but it might also be because Robert was a good teacher, though Allen was more inclined to believe the former. Nit that Robert was a bad teacher, but the desperation of the situation brought out the best in both of them: student and teacher.

"Hey! Allen. Allen!" Said Robert, hitting him on the head lightly with the bottle, "You still here?"

"Yeah, I'm present."

"Good. Now, I don't have much time left, as is obvious. I would say I have approximately.... Twelve hours to live. So, now that I've taught you basically all I can, I want you to kill me."

The words hit Allen like a dump truck. He did a double take and stammered, "K-kill you?" "Yeah. Kill me" Robert replied. "I'm a dead man anyways, and I sure as hell don't wanna die to the disease, or become a Zombie. So, I want you to kill me... Consider it your graduation ceremony."