Survivors

The Beginning

We have been scavenging for days, scraping whatever supplies we could find to survive the cold, harsh winter approaching. It wasn't always like this. Seems like it was just yesterday that supplies like water, food, and medicine were accessible anywhere. Now a days, these necessities are scarce. The remaining survivors in this world rely more than ever on their ability to use good acumen in order to survive.
I'm one of the lucky ones I guess. I've lost family members since this all began but still have two brothers to accompany me in this abnormal world. Many others weren't so lucky. There's no explanation as to what caused this plague. From what I've heard, the culprit was some type of ailment that would alter the victims personality and in an instant make you devour a person.
It's been 6 months since this all started. Six months since people figured out how brittle society was. Six months ago since I was in the front of the restaurant, working the register. I was absorbed by the multitude of people coming in for a bite. I was considered one of their major assets due to the fact that everyone kept quitting.
I was about to greet a customer courteously when it happened. It was already dark outside and I was startled when I saw a body fly through the window at the very front of the restaurant. The crowd that had gathered inside were agitated by the commotion and cowarded to the far corner on the other side of the restaurant. I reluctantly and anxiously decided to go check what had happened.
I grabbed a wooden broom that was placed beside the soda machine in the drive-thru and snapped it in half to make a weapon. I moved towards the scene of the crime. As I inched closer to the victim, this foul smell slapped me in the face. I put a hand on my face, covering my nose and mouth. The guy was laying on the ground sideways, immobilized. I couldn't see his face so I decided to turn around.
I was about to touch his shoulder when, out of nowhere, the guy gets up like nothing happened. Startled, I jump to my feet, weapon clenched in my hands. "Sir you okay?" I asked. His face looked like it was half chewed off and his pupils were dilated. "Sir?" I began to walk towards him. He was just standing there. My heart was pounding, hands sweating. I reached out towards him and said: "sir?" His head jerks upward looking straight at me. He pounces.
I was knocked to the ground as he jumped on top of me. The stick fell out of my hands, inches from us. I tried reaching for it but couldn't. My arms were pinned down by his hands as the struggle continued. I managed to loosen his grip on one of my arms and punched him in the face, thinking it would make him delirious but to no avail.
I shoved him away from me, far enough for me to have time to reach for the stick. I got on my feet and said: "sir, I don't want to hurt you". He looked at me, moved his skinless jaw at me in a chewing motion and ran towards me. I hit him across the head with the stick but it did not haze him.
He ran at me again. I hit him across the ahead again but this time I was prepared. When he was turned around with his back to me, i used the sharp part of the stick and pierced his skull. He collapsed but for some reason I didn't stop. I bashed his skull in over and over until I felt tired. Once I stopped and came to my senses I began to realize the complexity of what had just occurred.
I looked back at the customers standing in a corner. They were staring at me horrified. I was assertive in thinking I would lose my job that very same night. There were like 10 or 11 customers still in the restaurant. I stared right back at them. I was still on my knees, covered completely in blood. "What" I said. Something outside caught my attention. I got up, opened the door, and I was met by total chaos.
Cars were turned upside down and some were on fire. There were people screaming as they were being chased by those starving freaks. This was my first brush with the apocalypse. Six months later and the world has gone to shit and it seems like there isn't any beneficial part to this. I guess not having to pay taxes is one of them.
After that incident, I decided to go home to get my family to safety. By the time I got there, most of them had similar injuries. We were a family of eight. Of the eight, five were injured and my mom had the worst injury. She was bitten on the neck and one of the jugular veins was severed. She had a rag on it, applying pressure but she looked pale and weak. She could barely keep her eyes open. We all piled in to the family van and headed to the hospital. Lets just say that this was the worst thing to do. This was like when your parents tell you not to do something and you end up curious as to why you shouldn't do it an you do it anyway but worst.
Only three of us came out of that hospital alive and to say the least I was changed. I mean who wouldn't be after witnessing their parents dying and coming back to life only to turn around and bash their brains in to make sure she's "dead" dead. Fast forward to today and that seems like a normal Monday morning. It's winter and it's beginning to get cold. We've been walking north ever since, stopping every night to setup camp.
It's been like this for six months now, which brings me to the present. Right now, my brothers and I have been scavenging looted houses that have long been cleaned. "Fuck this" my brother JT said. " I'm tired of walking around in circles looking for something that's already been taken. Look at us. We have to stop all of this moving and settle somewhere we could start rebuilding"
"Rebuild what huh? Have you seen how this world looks now?" I replied."When was the last time you saw a person; a normal, breathing, undead person? We might as well be the last ones alive. There is nothing to rebuild. All we could do is survive long enough for us to see the rest of this fucked up world fall completely apart. So I suggest you stop that shit and keep looking for dinner." My brother, JT, looked right back at me with a surprised look on his face. After about ten seconds, he turned his attention back to what he was doing.