Would You Still Love Me When I'm Dead?

Chapter 1

Ten had done pretty well considering he was in a foreign land with no training on how to fight a hoard of the undead. But he couldn't spend the rest of his life hiding in a block of boarded up flats scared of his own shadow.

Which is why he had been training his body to fight. Granted, he wasn't strong but he had the quick reflexes and flexibility that came with being a skilled dancer so he was at an advantage compared to those that had probably already been picked off by the dead. Plus, he was more at risk from other humans as he's already seen how violently they could turn against each other.

Ten had just landed in Korea when the virus had broken out. It had been chaos, with the living killing one another for the supplies that they could find in the airport. Almost all of them would be dead or turned by now as the airport had been a primary destination for many survivors who wished to flee the country which meant it also attracted the undead. At the time, Ten had been oblivious to what was going on as the outbreak had occurred whilst he was on his 13-hour flight from America. But he soon knew he was in danger. It was only by luck that he had escaped the airport alive that day and it had been thanks to a man named Lay. The man had pulled Ten through the crowd unharmed and gotten him away by car before the chaos had reached its climax.

However, nobody is safe in the current world which is why it's not unexpected that Lay was ambushed whilst him and Ten had been doing a food run only a month after the airport incident. Ten had arrived in time to kill the zombie but could not stop the infection from spreading from Lay's neck to the rest of his body. With Lay dead, Ten had been alone with only a baseball bat, 2 sets of clothes and quickly decreasing rations of food and water.

Which is why he now faced a difficult situation. He could either stay in his makeshift safe haven where he would slowly die of dehydration, starvation or boredom depending on which one killed him first. Or he could risk his life by leaving the block of flats to search for more supplies and a better hide out. Ten had obviously already chosen to leave to find supplies but that didn't mean he wanted to face the undead again as they terrified him. If his sister could see him, she would call him a baby but she wasn't here but instead in Thailand where he hoped she was safer than he was.

There were enough rations to last Ten two days of travel if he didn't waste them so food and water hopefully wouldn't be a problem as he knew there was a Shopping Centre nearby. The biggest issue would be travelling alone as he needs to rest which would also require an extra pair of eyes. Unfortunately, Ten no longer had that luxury and even if he saw another human he would have to hide as he could trust nobody. This meant he was going to be extra careful when travelling as he can't let his guard down for a second or he could be bit or spotted by Raiders. Ten had already been unfortunate enough to run into them when Lay had been alive and he knew he wouldn't be able to get away without injury if he got caught a second time.

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Ten had left the block of flats as soon as light emerged as he would need a head start in case there were no pit stops on his way. Walking along the roadsides was the only option until he got out of the open which made Ten feel uneasy so he hummed lightly under his breath to ease the tension in his body. Another perk of travelling as a duo is the companionship which stopped the loneliness that he was currently feeling. If Lay were here with Ten, they would quietly joke about who could spot a zombie first or would even debate which male celebrity they would most like to hook up with at the end of the world. Instead, all Ten had was the eerie silence of a deserted neighborhood filled with abandoned cars and bloodstained pavements. But fortunately, no zombies could be spotted.

Ten considered himself an optimistic person by nature but not knowing if his family was alive and being at constant risk from other human beings would do damage to any sane person's mood. Which is why Ten's now prone to having negative moods where he would question the point of living which is something he would have never considered before the breakout. He knows that the moods will always pass shortly but it doesn't mean they aren't painful to deal with while they last. Each zombie he kills takes another hit to his morale and sometimes he's not sure how much more he can take before he downs in the guilt of killing someones family to save his own skin. . The only way to distract himself is to imagine that in a few years the world will be back to normal and he'll be reunited with his family and would maybe even have a husband and a family of his own. These hopes were unrealistic but they were all that was keeping him alive so he cherishes them as they're all he's got left.

The zombie apocalypse was nothing like how the Hollywood movie adaptions made it out to be. The fresh faces and lack of body or facial hair in the movies was ridiculous. Ten could feel the dirt under his finger nails despite having them cut as short as possible and he cringed whenever he ran his hand through his own hair as it was matted from grease and sweat. He'd never been able to grow facial hair so that wasn't a problem but his armpit hair was thick and matted which is why he now had armpit stains and his once white shirt is now brown from dirt, grease, blood, his own sweat and if he smelt himself he would probably smell urine along with other disgusting scents. The real apocalypse was by no means as glamorous as Hollywood or video games had advertised it.

It only took 10 minutes before the first zombie appeared, luckily it was a crawler and easy to see because it was directly ahead. Crawlers are zombies that are missing half of their bodies so they rely on their upper body strength and low profile to attack humans. Ten easily decapitated the zombie as it was already focused on a pigeon carcass.

Ten isn't particularly knowledgeable when it comes to zombies so everything he knows is from experience. Him and Lay could never work out how or where the virus started and they had no way of knowing as all radios were useless as were other technology that could have been used to communicate. The only technology that they had found that worked was a battery powered mp3 player. However, they did come up with a way to classify zombies by putting them into 4 groups of Crawlers, Walkers, Bonies and lastly Armored zombies who wear some kind of head protection such as baseball helmets that make them the most difficult to kill. To kill the zombies and stop them from attacking permanently, the only thing to do is decapitate them or damage their brain where the virus had taken hold.

This may be limited information but it's enough for Ten to know how to kill them and how to avoid them. It was other living that were dangerous because of how unpredictable they could be. Plus, with more groups of looters, scavengers and raiders appearing it was hell trying to stay unnoticed as all these groups could bring was trouble. Even lone rangers could be a threat if they were to feel intimidated which is why it's so important for Ten to stay in the shadows and get what he needs

After a few hours of walking Ten is now out of the open and can keep to the edge of the woodlands which gives him more camouflage. So far, everything has been going well for Ten as he has only encountered a handful of zombies and hasn't glimpsed or heard another living being nearby. Plus, he's now at a point which he recognizes so the Shopping Center isn't too far away which means he won't have to travel for two days like he was dreading. But it does mean that he has to start preparing for when he enters the city as the chance of a hoard or group of raiders is much more likely in the highly-populated area.

If Ten kept at the same pace he should reach the city by nightfall....