The Virus : Strain Z

How The World Ended. aka Chapter 1

Authors note. Please bear with me. This will be a work in progress & I will add more chapters everyday I can. Please leave feedback or message me about what y'all like or don't like about it. I'm happy to hear about my first 'published' book. I will answer back whenever I can. Also any help with a cover or who you think would look the most like my characters. Anyways, have fun & again tell me what you think please. This story is after the apocalypse happened. Salia is telling how it happened and what all happened during it. ☺

I suppose I should start with who I am. My name's Salia, I'm 19 years old & 5'5" tall with grey eyes & straw blonde hair. I grew up just a few miles outside a tiny town in the middle of nowheresville in the South.

I remember the day the world started to crumble. It was Friday. The day after I got braces to help straighten my teeth. At least it was over summer break & not during school term. I remember I woke up & headed downstairs to grab something for breakfast & see what was on t.v. Unfortunately my parents were already down there & in control of the t.v. My mom was sitting on the bar stool beautiful as always with her glossy ink black hair and smokey gray eyes. My dad sat at the table his blond hair stil a mess and his sky blue eyes still blurry from sleep.

Oh well, at least it was the news instead of that awful talk show they like watching. The news guy was that one my friend Tara had a crush on Rix something. He was talking about a new virus going around that was highly contagious & made people extremely violent. My mom turned to me 'You're not going anywhere right now. Not until we can find out if that virus is around here Salia. No arguing' she said sternly as I opened my mouth to tell her I already had plans.

Me & Tara were supposed to go to Galaxy, the local hangout. It had just about everything. Video games, pool tables, bowling, rock climbing & a mini movie theater just to name a few.

...I wonder if it's still standing? Or was it one of the buildings blown up in an effort to slow the infected?

Lots of buildings were, not that it helped any. The virus was a mutated version of a experiment the government had been working on. It was supposed to help soldiers become super-soldiers to fight in war. It worked on making people super-powered alright. Super strength, speed, hearing etc.....even healing. Unfortunately it made the infected hungry for human flesh.

I remember calling Tara & telling her I couldn't make it & she said the same was going on with her parents. We agreed that we'd text & keep in touch & meet up when we could, little did we know it'd be a very long time before we saw each other again. I remember the news saying for everyone to stay inside unless it was an emergency & avoid other people, especially ones acting strange. I remember my mom calling her mom, Gramsy & asking if she was watching the news.

As she was talking to Gramsy a 'Just In' flashed across the screen. It was a video showing a busy street in Chicago with people running everywhere. There were some people chasing & jumping on others, almost like a lion on a gazelle. My scream as a person had their arm ripped off & used as a chewtoy by the chaser alerted mom to the news. My dad came bolting over to check on me. Mom told Gramsy she'd call her back later & turned the volume up on the t.v. her face gray with panic.

'This video is live, the virus is spreading quickly & this is the effect of it' the news caster said in a worried voice. It switched back to the newscasters face. 'The Government urges everyone to stay inside & lock your doors & windows securely. Do not let anyone in & do not approach anyone acting strangely.''

We realized that we were low on food & today was our normal shopping day. My dad decided he would be the only one going to get the groceries. ''Lock the door behind. Close the shutters on all the downstairs windows & don't open any windows for any reasons. Not even the upstairs ones. I'll be back as soon as I grab some food & drinks." he said worriedly as he kissed mom & hugged me before stepping out the door.

My phone buzzed, alerting me to a text. It was from Tara. She was panicking, asking what we were gonna do. I told her & she said her parents were still deciding. She told me she was worried about her brother & told me he had just traveled to Illinois for a job interview.

He wasn't anywhere near Chicago but still, it was definitely cause for worry. She said she was gonna try to call him so don't worry if I didn't hear from her for awhile. I had always liked her brother. He treated me like I was another sister of his & was protective over me & wouldn't let jerk-offs mess with me.

I can still remember when me & Tara decided to get him an extra special Christmas gift when he first got his car. We pooled our money together & bought him a brand-new radio since his was broke. He loved it & couldn't wait to put it in. He loved everything about that car & I didn't blame him. It was a 1966 Corvette that was in mint condition. He bought it from a widow lady for real cheap & barely had to do any work on it to get it rolling.

I hoped Tara could get a hold of him & he'd be ok. I hoped everything would be ok soon. That hope was quickly crushed by what was next on the news. 'There is no known cure as of yet for this virus. Stay indoors & avoid other people. Please stay tuned in for further information which will be released as we receive it'' Rix repeated solemnly.

Just then a pounding started at the door. My mom & I looked at each other. I grabbed my dad's nearby golf club & we approached the door. Thankfully it was only my dad, home again safe & with the groceries. His clothes were torn and he had a black eye and was covered in scratches and bruises. He told us the store was a total madhouse and bedlam was everywhere in town. "I got punched and beaten over just about everything" he told us wearily.

As we sat down at the table my dog finally decided to grace us with his presence. 'Hello sleepy Ridgey' I told my Great Dane-Ridgeback mix as he snuffed around his bowl asking for breakfast. I complied by feeding him & went to sit back down at the table, to stressed to eat much but drinking some milk. I got up & walked to the window seat & as I did my phone rang