Maybe

Chapter 1

2 months ago
      My birthday. How did my birthday manage to sneak up behind us in the middle of the end of the world? It's November 15th and I am 17 years old. My family knew it was my birthday, but no one felt like celebrating. We already celebrated every day when we woke up in our house alive; my birthday shouldn't be another reason to celebrate. Too much celebration paints an unrealistic picture of how things are going in our life and today, celebrating felt too ironic. Around 10% of the nation had already been pronounced dead from this disease, my sister included. My family now only consisted of my mom, my dad, and me. I was too depressed to sit around the screen in the living room watching the horrible things that were happening around the world, so I decided to retreat to my room. I didn't get too far up the stairs before my dad called me back.

"Olivia, come watch this, it's important." He yelled

      I slumped back into the living room. I sat on the maroon couch and watched a newscaster with a fake look of intensity plastered in her face recount the past 8 hours. It was monotone; I had watched the same thing every night for the past month, what else was there to report about when you had a virus on the loose? I lay down on the plush couch and closed my eyes.

"The death tolls have now climbed to 20% of this nation that have been affected by the virus."

      I took a deep breath trying to drone out her voice.

"It would be wise of everyone to stay in their houses until the country can get this under control."

      Her voice faded into the background.

"Wait. I am receiving news from the government itself. They are saying that it is prohibited to leave your house from this point foreword."

      My eyes shot open and I sat straight up.

"Now that so many people have died from this virus they are beginning to see the effects of it."

"Effects? How can there be effects if they have already died?" I asked no one in particular

      No one answered me as we all strained foreword on the edge of our seats leaning towards the TV.

"Apparently, some of the dead have come back to life?" The newscaster asked the rest of her crew in disbelief

      I laughed out loud. Obviously this wasn't true, how could someone come back to life?

"Yes my sources are confirmed, some of the dead have come back. We have video footage?" She asked her crew again in disbelief

      The TV newscaster seemed to be answering all of my questions so I tried again.

"Is this some sort of zombie apocalypse or something? What is going on?" I asked as my parents continued to stare at the screen in shock.

      Next thing I know, they are playing video footage of these "dead" people from around the country. I see the most horrific scenes that I have ever seen and I want to look away, but I know I can't. This is my reality now. These dead people are chasing around healthy ones seemingly trying to bite them. My dad reaches over to try to cover my eyes, but I push his hand away and he doesn't try again. Suddenly the screen transfers back to the newscaster as she tries to fight back tears.

"Everyone, please stay in your houses, we will be back hopefully tomorrow to bring you more of an update."

      Immediately the screen goes black. We sit there in silence for what seems like hours. I don't know what to do next, but apparently my dad does. He goes directly into the garage and comes back with piles of wood, nails, and a hammer. He spends the rest of the night boarding up every window and door that could possibly lead to the outside. I sit on the couch, frozen in shock, until I finally fall asleep.