30 Days of Undead Summer [Zombie Challenge]

June 28th: #WhatNowWednesday

Everyone was cautious behind me. We stood outside of the one-sided mirror just staring. No one said a word, even uttered a sound. Through the mirror, we could see everything. Just a few short hours ago one of our colleagues had made a discovery so unlike anything we had yet to find.

For five years the dead roamed the earth. It was their world, we were just the unfortunate casualties of that sad fact. Myself and a small group of researchers, doctors, and scientists were hauled up the government into an underground facility. It was a miracle they even found some of us, myself included.

I knew first hand how bad it all could be. I lost my wife, my son, and her parents during the first year. Then I lost my friends during the next, and after that I stopped trying to make friends in the apocalypse. It was just disaster waiting to happen.

Then I happened upon a military run town out in the middle of nowhere. I was ready to die when they found me. I happened to be an excellent doctor and wanted nothing more than to save others since I couldn't save my own family.

We worked relentlessly but over time none of us thought this day would ever come.

"I can't believe this," Samantha whispered beside me. She buried her face into my chest, her tears coating my labcoat.

Inside the small medical room our colleague Julie had been bitten by a test subject. We had all been tested before even joining, our blood run through so many tests. We'd never found someone immune. There have been volunteers to the program, people that just wanted to help and if dying was helping, they would gladly do it. We'd even taken regular blood and injected the infected.

Nothing worked.

We continued to stare as another hour passed. Julie hadn't gotten any sicker. Her skin hadn't changed to an awful gray color, nor had her eyes clouded over. In fact, we all knew that Julie wasn't going to turn.

Actually, we all stared because this wasn't the first time it had happened. Just down the hall, a little boy had been bitten above ground in the military town. His mother had agreed that in his death, we could experiment. Only, he never turned. Still, we kept him locked away under heavy locks, just in case.

Julie would make lucky number three. That was just this week. None of us understood what was happening. If the virus was weakening or something. Whatever it was, no one was getting infected.

"It's happening elsewhere too!" Johnny suddenly ran into the room winded. "Brazil is reporting that people bitten show no signs of infection."

Samantha wiped her face, and smiled at me. It was the first time I had allowed myself to feel anything for her. I had learned emotion was weakness in this kind of world, but it seemed this world was changing back. Morphing into a world I might recognize.

"Well, what now?" she asked, her eyes full of wonder.

"I think this is the beginning of the end. Though maybe also a new beginning."

I reached out, pulled her into my arms, allowing myself to breathe her in for the first time. Every other time I had caught myself doing it, I cursed at myself. It had felt as a betrayal to her, but now I felt I done her justice. My wife and child, I did this for them. All the countless hours hovered over a microscope or turning an innocent person into a creature of the living dead, were all in their memory. So that another family wouldn't suffer as I had.

As the other scientists clapped and popped an unopened bottle of champagne, I pressed my lips against hers. I knew we were still had months to go in the process, but I was confident the virus was weakening. Maybe years down the road, society could rebuild again.

With the virus no longer transferring to the living, we all knew soon enough the rest of them would die off. Dropping completely dead wherever they might be.

For the first time in years, I began to hope for a zombie free future.

(Well, I have a question to others that have been reading my entries for this challenge. On Friday, we have the FridayFreeForAll tag once again, the last one of the challenge. There are two that I've done so far that I could write a bit more about. The thing is, I can't choose, it's really about what you guys like the most.

Either the group lost in the desert coming across Area 51. SciFiSaturday tagged

or

The group in town with the young girl and the drunken woman. Which was last Friday's tag.

I've got ideas for both, so just drop a comment to let me know. Otherwise I'll choose and it might not be the one you all want.)