Searching for James

Chapter 1

*Recording* "It is the end of humanity as we know it. The 'zombies' have killed most of the humans on Earth. Stay strong to fight against them. Don't give up. I wish you the best of luck and that you all stay sa-."

This recording was streamed live on anything and everything that still worked five months ago. Before the president could finish his message, they got him. You could hear the flesh being eaten and his muffled screams of pain and terror as he choked on his own blood, spit, and vomit.

I'm Olivia. The only thing special about me is that I'm a survivor. It's not like that will last forever. The fate that rests ahead of me is gruesome. I'm a wounded sitting duck awaiting for my prey to come and finish me off. Except, I wasn't near a pond or grass or even outside for that matter. 

Someone used to be with me; I wasn't always alone. Now don't get the wrong idea, as far as I know, he's still alive. He wanted to find help. Less than a third of the population was still human and even after I told him that, he insisted on going.

Do you know how hard it is to let go of the only person left on Earth that you love?

James was my brother.

He wanted to be the hero and come back to save me when he got help.

"It's useless," I told him.

We argued like this for about three days, day and night, until I finally gave up, collapsing in tears.

I could probably lose the only thing I cared about more than my own life, and I couldn't do anything about it.

What a useless life I was living.

I was sick of sitting around waiting for him to come back.

I was lost in thought, pacing back and forth in front of the dull, worn-out, lifeless brown sofa.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

I jumped at the sudden break in silence that I used to savor so much. I almost laughed at myself for jumping at the sound that I knew so well.

Sighing I grabbed my Katana and walked at a normal, almost slow pace to the door in no rush whatsoever.

When this first started, it scared me, but now I wasn't even one bit scared of any biters even if we were face-to-face. A lot of it probably had to do with the fact that I knew I was safe. They still felt a little weird to kill though.

Just as I was about to turn the knob, I heard a different kind of "bang."

A gun.

I stumbled back startled. No guns were ever heard in this town anymore. Ever. I had to think quick. A lightbulb went off in my head and I rushed to the rusted peephole.

I peered out at the trashed street in front of me looking for any sign of movement or if something was off. Immediately I noticed something; all of the biters in the vicinity were shot, dead.

I grabbed the pistol at my wait and loaded it. Then I did one of the dumbest things I have ever done. I lifted the gun in front of me and opened the door.

The guy that shot the biters was about ten feet away pointing his gun at me. I pointed my gun at him and he lowered his weapon while I kept mine raised.

"Who are you?" I asked.

"That's not a nice way to greet people," He retorted. 

"You can decide how this goes down. Now I'll ask you again. Who are you?"

"Fine," he sighed and held out his hand. "Bruce."

I walked toward him and hesitantly accepted his hand and shook. My other hand was still wrapped around my pistol so tight that my knuckles were white.

"Olivia." I sharply replied putting both hands on the gun again.

"Could you put that thing away," he asked shifting uncomfortably.

"Fine." I put it back into my waistband of my jeans and pulled my Katana from its faded blue scabbard that was on my back.

"Woah. I'm not gonna hurt ya," he said unsteadily taking half a step back with me just standing there holding my newest weapon.

"I know you won't, but that doesn't mean I won't hurt you," I calmly replied.

I pulled my gun up again and aimed at a biter that was about 50 yards away. I heard him mutter something about me missing, but my shot was dead on. The biter dropped to the ground with goo oozing from many places other than the bullet hole.

I shoved the gun back into the waist of my jeans and the Katana back into its scabbard . I glared at him one more time, then turned on my heels and stalked back to my small house to gather my things.

Expectedly, he followed.

The backpack I had barely packed was full of throwing knives. To show off a little, I threw one at the target on my wall and hit it dead center. I smirked at the look of surprise on his face.

I continued to pack the rest of the knives, extra bullets, a gun or two, and my cleaning rag. Of course, I packed food. Containers of pre-cooked ramen noodles, canned fruit, and the most important, bottles of water.

Just as I put the last bottle of water into my bag, Bruce spoke up.

"What are you packing for?"

"A trip." 

"What are you doing on this trip?" he pressed even farther.

"None of your business," I said with a look of irritation.

"Oh."

"I JUST met you. You don't know anything about me, so stop asking me questions. Mind your own business," I replied glaring at him.

I finished packing and zipped up my bag. "I have to go," I said standing up.

"Can I come?"

"I am not in charge of you, so if you die, it's not my fault. Otherwise I don't really care what you do," I replied.

"Got it," he said saluting me.

I had my pistol pulled out as I stepped through the threshold and saw about twenty new biters. They must have been drawn from the gunfire. One noticed me and started limping towards me at the speed of a snail.

It wasn't a pretty sight. His left leg was snapped in two and hanging on by a tendon and his one arm was ripped to shreds while the other one wasn't even there. It was just a bloody stump. The worst part was that he had a broken jaw making his mouth hang wide open, exposing his missing, chipped, and rotted teeth. On top of that, half of his face was missing the skin, exposing the infected black and red rotted flesh.

I grimaced in disgust and sliced his head off with my favorite weapon.

I hugged the outside wall of my house and crouched down low moving stealthily, but not making a sound. My brother had taught me how to do this. 

My objective was the other side of the house.

Inching my way around the building, I got to the other side quickly. I stared off into the woods, longing to see my lost brother.

I knew I would face many terrors every day, but I had to do this for him. "It's time to go," I whispered to myself. Then, I took my first step into a new adventure.