Apocalypse

I pull my long blond hair into a messy bun as the creature ambles past. From my hiding spot inside of the dark empty building I see that this one is female. Her skin is snow white, but not pristine and beautiful, ugly and lumpy. Her eyes are completely black and from what I know, unseeing. Her hair is gray and looks as though it needs a good brush, not that it would really help. And her body is hunched. Something that was almost normal looking nowadays.

It’s just walked around the corner and I begin to step out of my spot. I let my eyes scan my surroundings. I take a deep breath and take a step forward. Some gravel crunches under my feet. I quickly scan around me again. Still nothing.

I continue on my way to the abandoned supermarket, the whole reason I came out of hiding. Once I get there I begin to load a duffel bag with food, water, weapons, and other things that we’ll need to survive.

I’d gotten used to this kind of living. It’s been this way for about a year now. Ever since the virus has gotten out the will to live has been kind of a must if you want to keep yourself and those you care about alive. I had already lost my father to Bluman’s disease, as those of us alive call it, and my mother had died five years before this pandemic in a very serious car accident. So now it’s just me and my little sister, Maci, making our way through this Hell.

In our old home there weren’t many people at all. I attended a small high school, where I was one of the popular ground at a time. I had a boyfriend and a best friend who I believed would never do anything to hurt me. But unlike all fairytales my heart was broken. So I became a drifter in the school, never settling with a group of friends. And I slowly felt better. And then Bluman’s Burgers, a fast-food place, opened up.

It was one of the most popular things in town. My family didn’t go there though. We vowed to not eat a fast food restaurants after my mother died. And then one day people just started getting sick. Zombie-like people started roaming the streets. It was unsafe to go outside. Those of us who weren‘t sick had to defend ourselves. My first kill was my old best friend. I had to shoot her in the head.

Many people didn’t want to kill the people that they once knew and loved, so they locked themselves inside. My father was one of the brave few that went outside. He had worked as a lawyer in a small office in the part of town that had buildings in it, but now he was a fighter for the town, fending off zombies. He unfortunately was bitten by one of the infected people wandering the streets. He was bed ridden for days. And then he was one of the sick.

My second kill was my own father. I killed him with his own gun.

After that experience Maci and I could no longer live there. We had to leave. We packed the things that we needed and walked out. So now here we are out in the world fighting for survival.

I’ve gotten all of the things that we need and now I look out the windows to make sure that there’s nothing out there. I’m positive that the coast is clear, so I sling the duffel over my shoulder and make my way out of the empty store. I silently make my way down the streets of a devastated Chicago back to where Maci is hiding. I didn’t live here originally. My sister and I have traveled a long way since our home. Now we don’t have a permanent home.

I finally reach the large building my sister and I have been staying in. I climb up several flights of stairs until I reach the floor I told her to hide on. I think from here on out that it will be easy, but I’m very wrong.

As soon as I look into the first room I see my sister cowering under a desk with tears in her eyes. When she sees me she mouths, ‘Aria, help me.‘ A male zombie is six feet away from my sister, beginning to walk to her.