Undead Volume 1: The Road Home

Chapter 1

He opened his eyes. The man sat up in his bed and stretched. He was a taller man, of about 5’10”, with a slightly chubby body. He was fair skinned do to his family hailing from the Scandinavian region, but he did not have an accent. His brown hair was buzzed on the sides and slightly longer on top with short trimmed sideburns that stopped at the his jaw line. His eyes were hazel, with a slightly browner tint, and rounded ears that stuck out a bit. His nose was normal sized, but a little plump. Beneath his nose he had a cleanly shaven upper lip, and encased in his average sized lips were clean, white, slightly crooked teeth.

    He rolled over in bed and looked at his digital alarm clock. It was blank. He yanked out his nightstand and checked the plug. It was plugged in, so he unplugged it and replugged it in. The clock remained blank. Reaching for his pocket, he pulled out his phone to see what time it was. He pressed the small, oval button on top and the screen illuminated his face. The man squinted his eyes to read the words and numbers that appeared. The phone read, “7:26 a.m. October 4th, 2015.” Below the time and date there was a notification. He pressed the notification with his thumb. Another screen loaded stating, “No wifi available, please check router or service provider.”

    The man stood up and looked out his open window that was next to his bed. Trying to adjust to the light, he squinted. Once his eyes came into focus he noticed that not single light was on in the entire Nebraska University campus. Turning towards his roommate's bed, he began to walk. He shook him saying,” wake up Jordan, wake up.” Jordan’s eyes peeled open and he looked around in a daze as if didn’t know where he was. Jordan sat up in his bed causing his blanket to slide off him revealing a bare upper chest.

    Jordan was a little taller than the man and much skinnier. He was so skinny that his bones could be easily seen through his lightly tanned skin. He had longer, dark brown, almost black, hair that curled at the ends and went down to his ears. He had a long nose between two emerald green eyes. Below his nose were a set of thin lips that contained perfect teeth due to extensive dental work done earlier in his life. Below his mouth was a short trimmed goatee that protruded from his chin in the same dark brown as his hair.

Jordan jolted his head to one side, so his hair would no longer hang over his eyes. His head turned to the side to see who had awoken him from his slumber. He squinted for his eyes were not yet adjusted to the light. “Echo… It’s Saturday… why did you wake… me up?” grumbled the half asleep Jordan between yawns.

“I think the power is out and the wifi is down,” stated Echo as Jordan half consciously starred in his general direction. Jordan paused for a moment then reached for his pocket. Jordan produced a phone from his jeans’ pocket and pressed the square button on the side. His face became illuminated and he squinted again. “I don’t have wifi either,” said Jordan returning his phone to his pocket. Jordan got out of his bed and he followed Echo towards their third roommate’s bed. “Nathaniel wake up,” said Jordan shaking Nathaniel. Nathaniel grunted and rolled over in his bed. After several more failed attempts to wake him up, Echo and Jordan stuck their hands under his mattress and jerked upward sending Nathaniel tumbling to the floor. Nathaniel yelped a little then jumped to his feet. “What the Hell,” shouted Nathaniel irritated. “Nathaniel calm down,” said Echo holding his hands up in a defensive position. “Nah you guys are dead,” said Nathaniel as he leaped over his bed knocking Jordan and Echo over. He held both their heads in head locks with his gigantic arms. “Say you’re sorry,” said Nathaniel playfully, but yet still serious. “I’m sorry,” said Echo and Jordan almost simultaneously. Nathaniel released them and let out a hearty chuckle. “So why’d you guys wake me up?” asked Nathaniel putting his mattress back on his bed. “Well the power and wifi are out, but we just gonna go get breakfast and thought that you’d like to come with us,” said Jordan rubbing his neck due to the strain caused by Nathaniel. “Sure I’m up for some grub,” said Nathaniel tossing his pillow back on his bed. “Cool, be ready in five,” said Echo walking over to his dresser.

Nathaniel was about as tall as Jordan, but in contrast he was much bigger than Jordan. In fact quite a bit girthier than Echo. He had light brown hair that was short on the sides and spiked up in front. He had a bald, fair-skinned face with an occasional blemish. His eyes were a dull blue and in between them sat a wide, fat nose. Under his thick lips were a set of teeth with a gap in between his two front teeth.

Jordan walked to his bed and pulled a wrinkled, black t-shirt out from under the covers, sniffed it, and winced ever so slightly. He shrugged his shoulders, and still put the shirt on. He plunged his feet into a pair of beat up, brown shoes. He turned to his nightstand and removed his keys and wallet from it. The belongings were shoved into his pockets and he walked towards the door. Nathaniel slept fully clothed, so he just jabbed his chubby feet into a clean, brand new pair of white shoes. He shoved his keys, wallet, and phone in his jeans’ pocket, then straightened the white undershirt he wore and proceeded towards the door. Echo pulled on a pair of clean jeans that he had taken from his drawer and also produced a white polo shirt which he proceeded to put on over his tucked in white undershirt. Opening the drawer of his nightstand, he retrieved his wallet and keys, and then shoved it shut.

Due to the cold October weather of Nebraska, they all proceeded to retrieve their jackets that hung on the hooks next to the door. Jordan pulled on an army green colored, cotton jacket. Nathaniel slid into a grey hoodie with the University of Nebraska “N” across the chest and pulled the hood up over his head. Echo put on a light tan, khaki-like material jacket, with a collar and pladde inner lining. He than placed a dark grey flat cap on his head. Nathaniel opened the door and walked out, followed by Jordan. Echo came out last and shut the door behind him. He removed the key from his pocket and locked the door. Then the three began to walk towards the stairwell.

    They all walked down the two flights of stairs to the ground level. Nathaniel pushed the heavy metal door open and held it open for Echo and Jordan. Nathaniel let the door slam then began to follow his friends. “Are you gonna lock the door?” asked Echo stopping in the middle of the path. “Why? No one else does,” said Nathaniel continuing past Echo. “I’ll do it,” said an annoyed Echo walking back to the door to lock it. He jabbed his key in and locked it. Then chased after his friends who had continued on without him. “Why do you feel the need to do that,” chuckled Jordan as Echo caught up. “We’re suppose to,” said Echo walking in the dirt next to the path. “Where did you hear that?” asked Nathaniel jokingly but yet snarky. “The dormitory handbook and rule guide. You know that large book we were suppose to read through before we moved in,” said Echo looking at Nathaniel and Jordan looking confused. “Neither one of you read it did you,” said Echo stopping Nathaniel and Jordan by standing in the middle of the path. “We were suppose to read that,” said Jordan rubbing the back of his neck with his hand. “Yes, they told us that at the dormitory meeting we attended before we moved in,” said Echo staring at his still confused looking friends. “You didn’t go to the meeting,” continued Echo rubbing his face with his hand in frustration. “I was gonna go, but Neva asked me to come over and you know I can’t say no to that,” said Jordan with a smirk on his face. “What’s your excuse?” asked Echo turning to Nathaniel. “Oh, I just didn’t want to,” said Nathaniel continuing down the path followed by Jordan. “Why am I even friends with you guys?” asked Echo rhetorically as he turned around to follow them. “Because you love us,” said Nathaniel as they continued to walk to the cafeteria building.