When the Sun Fell

Chapter 9 - Taking action

Mason

I could think of so many ways to describe a day. So many wonderful words came to mind. Words I would never have any reason to use ever again. I wouldn't be able to explain how the sun rose over the mountains, how the crisp, chilled air cooled my skin, because they were irrelevant to the real world. It was a sad thought, but it kept my mind occupied as I trudged through the gravel and broken pavement beside Lauren. I began trying to write a description of the sun, how it bursts through the horizon, but I found I could remember a lot less details about the once peace filled world than I would have liked. As I attempted to remember the past, the most vivid memory came to me. How it all started. Those were memories that would probably haunt me forever. I didn't think I could let go of the past.

I sat in my room, rendering a video to upload soon. With nothing else to do, I figured I'd go make some popcorn. My parents were in the basement watching a movie, leaving me to my own activities. I reached for the cupbord that held the popcorn machine, taking it out with ease. I set up the bowl, and kernles, and had the butter warming in the microwave when suddenly the lights went out and both of the appliances stopped, leaving me in darkness. At this point I was a little freaked out, there was no light except for the small glint of moonlight, and I didn't hear any commotion. I slowly walked down to the basement in hopes of finding my parents, being careful to to trip on the stairs. I finally reached the bottom and turned the corner, expecting to see them, but they wern't there. I walked over to the couch and serveyed the room again, still seeing nothing until the lights flickered. The T.V turned on, showing no channel, but I heard muffled screams and worried shouts coming from the speakers. I also heard what sounded like a newscaster, but before I could try and figure out what they were saying, the lights and T.V died again. This time I was really worried, so I ran back upstairs to the safety of the moonlight. I was instead greeted with the pounding of fists and bodies on the glass porch door. But these wern't people, the were ghouls. Skinny, bone-scraping-through-skin figures with wild eyes and the movements of an exorcist. This wasn't good, the dead were coming. Of course I had read many books on this subject, World War Z, The Zombie Survival Guide, and many more. I almost fell into the memories of reading those books with Joel and Grace, but quickly snapped out of it.

I took into mind what I had read, and pushed what I could up against the door. I then started gathering weapons, kitchen knifes, baseball bats, axes, anything I could find. I also got all the food I could and shoved it into a duffel bag. Mostly non-perishable items. Then I grabbed a bottle, rag, and rubbing alcohol. I searched the house one last time for any family members, sadly finding none, and ran up the stairs just as I heard the crash of glass and the moaning of the zombies. I quickly lit the molotove and thrust it at the staircase below me, eliminating any way onto the second floor. I prepared for my potentially long term stay by filling the bathtub in the bathroom with water and inventorying anything useful I could find. I then sneaked over to the dead staircase, and found many ghouls piling over eachother to get to me.

"Shit." I muttered under my breath. I ran back to my supplies and shoved all the useful things into my duffel bag, climbing up the retractible ladder into the attic and pulling it up again. My last step was to break open the celing and climp up onto the roof using my hatchet. I sat on the cold panels, watching and waiting for the dawn to come while the city before me fell into ruins.

I noticed the scenery around me change, the once familiar things gone behind me. Lauren looked like she had snapped into full-blown survival mode, her hair was pulled back into a high pony tail, her eyes were narrowed and her pistol was locked and loaded. This was the point when no talking was nessicary. Just get what needed to be got, and get the hell out. We approached a supermarket, the lights inside somehow flickering. We silently scoped out the inside from behind the shattered glass, signaling to eachother that the coast was clear. We lowered our weapons, never taking our fingers off the triggers, and stepped inside. I inhaled sharply as I felt the cool metal of the barrel of a gun pressed against my head.

Joel

Shiska was tired and in no condition to go out, so I built her a make-shift shelter out of debris and told her to stay. Ever since the beginning of the end, we had a special connection, and she understood a lot more commands and gestures than she used to. She knew that if anything happened while I was gone, to run and run and never stop until she thought she was safe or had found someone she recognized. I wasn't happy with leaving her behind, but she wouldn't sleep when I was asleep, and she needed her rest. So I said goodbye, and headed out.

The world subtly changed as I walked further into the unknown. I allowed myself to remember landmarks, maybe places I'd seen when my life used to be normal. I finally came across the convention centre, one of the places I shared some of my dearest memories with my closest friends. Me and Grace used to love coming here. Minecon was held there just a few days before the outbreak, and you can bet we were all over that like bees to honey. I decided to wander inside, not for supplies, but for memories. The area was clear, I heard no moans and saw no movement. So in I went. I used my flashlight so I could see around stands and shelves. Merchandise was left behind, so I took a Minecraft diamond necklace. Sure, it was risky, but it was worth it.

Suddenly I heard a small noise from behind where I stood, and I quickly turned around, loading my pistol with one hand and holding my flashlight with the other. I saw and heard nothing for about 30 seconds, other than my shakey breathing, until a copper streak flashed infront of my beam. I caught up to the movement, and it froze in place, rasing pale hands into the air, and dropping a throwing knife onto the tiled floor. SLowly, it turned around, bright blue eyes blazing in the gloomy light. Suddenly the beam fell, and the grip from my hand.

"Grace?"