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

ISLA PARADISO (#1)

ISLA PARADISO 

 An Outbreak Story

The monotony of the clear, blue sea was broken by a stark-white boat swaying in the waves. The boat contained a lone passenger, passed out for exhaustion and dehydration. It seemed like the end of his days were near...

---FIVE WEEKS EARLIER---

"Sir! You have to evacuate immediately!" A gruff voice shouted as Simon was hauled out of bed. Simon, still in a half-stupor tried to fight back, but the guard slapped him awake, and Simon realized what was happening. He immediately ran over to his gun and pocketed it. Outside, he could hear the noise of sever thousands of people screaming, gunfire, vehicles and the undead. Simon looked at the soldier in shock and asked, "It's begun, isn't it?"

"Yes sir." The soldier replied, "The day we had feared the most is finally upon us. The Day of Judgment. The day the Australian Safe-Zone falls..."

The world was a year and a half into the Zombie Apocalypse which had wiped out most of civilization. However, some large settlements still dotted the landscape, one of them being 'The Sands of New Hope' National Safe-Zone situated in the heart of Australia. This safe-zone, formerly known as 'Alice Springs' was a mammoth creation that was made possible by the people of the country.

The moment the news of the Great Plague had hit the country, Alice Springs was put under construction to become one of, if not the greatest Safe-Zone in the world. Situated in the Northern Territory near the heart of Australia, it was already quite a large community before the Plague, but when the construction crews came in, it was evident that the dream of a Safe Zone to rival all Safe Zones could be achieved.

Construction began by building a giant wall surrounding the entire town. Everything from the part of Stuart Highway that connected to the town to Kurrajong Drive was walled in, a process that had taken nearly two years to complete. During that time, hundreds of millions of people had succumb to the Great Plague, and losses on the field had been high. However, due to good planning and construction, the wall was erected and people started streaming in.

Sadly, however, by the time the wall had been erected, a vast majority of the population of Australia had perished under the Great Plague, and as it ended halfway through its third year of proliferation, The Sands of New Hope was home to a meagre thirty-thousand people. Yet, the Safe-Zone found solace in the fact that they had been able to save at least that many people.

Sadly, though, the problems hadn't ended with the erection of the wall. As time went on, the Safe-Zone was witness to raiders, outlaws, illegal immigrants and large hordes of Zombies attracted from the coast. This, accompanied by rising tensions within the community had caused it to fracture. All the high authorities had been preparing for this day. A plan had been put forth if this horrible event ever came to be, a plan called 'PROTOCOL-0'

Despite its ominous name, PROTOCOL-0 was a basic containment and decontamination plan, put forth by the Council of Heads of the Safe Zone. It laid out the plan of action in case the safety of the area was compromised. It had solutions to all possible contingencies, including raids, wall-breaches and natural disasters.

Simon and the soldier ran outside and through the dust, Simon saw hundreds of people running in terror. He could hear gunshots and explosions and the familiar sounds of the Undead.
"What happened?" Simon asked, shielding his eyes from the dust, "Multiple breaches along Lovegrove Drive, Bradshaw Drive. Bandits along the northern wall, and a flood up North's brought a giant horde with it in the Todd River."

"Holy $#%&" Swore Simon. "What of the Damage Control crew?"
"They were taken out by the raiders." The soldier replied, "Bastards made an army outta themselves to take us down." He shot a Zombie that was coming too close. "They're easily five-hundred strong now, and their populations are increasing with the rise in illegal immigrants to Australia."