For a long time, Eden Perkins believed she wouldn't find another human being she would willingly die for - she didn't want to. The past few months of her life, ever since the day the dead had started coming back to life - and maybe even before that...
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╔───────╝ ☠ ╚───────╗ o. | HELL ON EARTH. ╚───────╗ ☠ ╔───────╝
A COOL BREEZE CAUSED FOR THE WET, OF CHLORINE REEKING CURLS, whose black colour was highlighted by a few strands of washed-out red, to whirl through the air for a second, shivering the girl before gently landing back on her head. Despite the recurring winds, it was a warm summer day in Brightmoor, a small suburb of Detroit, Michigan, so the girl waiting outside the local pool for her pick-up had decided to spend the day in the refreshing water to cool herself off.
Actually, Eden Perkins spent most of every summer break she had had until that day at the swimming pool so she could manage to get through the hot summers somehow without dying of the heat – but she also loved to swim. However, a call from her brother – yes, her brother, she couldn't believe it herself and had thought at first that he had dialed the wrong number – had abruptly interrupted her visit to the pool when he told her to change immediately, that he would be there in two minutes to pick her up.
Two years ago Eden wouldn't even have thought anything by it, just her brother picking her up to maybe take her somewhere but now, with Zak living in the coastal town of Holland, two and a half hours away from their hometown, she couldn't help but wonder.
When Eden saw his silver Honda pull up in the parking lot, she picked up the bag containing her swimsuit, and although the car was still about ten feet away from her, she recognized the tense expression on Zak's face that immediately made her anxious. Something was wrong.
With an abrupt brake, Zak stopped the car right in front of Eden and opened the passenger door from the inside, a silent order telling her to get in, which she wordlessly followed. But after she closed the door behind her and Zak stepped on the accelerator again, his sister looked at him expectantly, if not angrily.
"Buckle up," Zak merely instructed, ignoring her glances by stubbornly looking out at the road.
In disbelief, Eden now fully turned to her brother as she ignored his words, narrowing her eyes at him. "Buckle up?" She scoffed, "No, Hey Eden, how you doing? or maybe a fuckin' explanation as to why you called me after half a year and then suddenly show up?"
Zak didn't return her gaze but she noticed his eyes flicker over to her for just a second. "Look, we don't have time for that now," he stated, sounding slightly annoyed. "We gotta get the hell outta here."
"What?!" Eden wouldn't have thought that her brother could have irritated her even more, his sudden appearance had already been enough, but as it turned out at that moment, it was possible. "Are you high or something? What about Mom and Dad?" Saying the last sentence aloud, her confusion disappeared for a moment and gave way to panic.
But instead of an answer, Zak just turned up the volume of the radio as the constant static cleared and a female voice was to be heard, sounding rushed as she told everyone to head towards the center of Detroit, that the military would help them there and tried to get the situation under control. Eden was still oblivious to said situation, though, so the instruction just left her being even more confused.
"Zak," she spoke up, her voice shaky now as she anxiously asked, "what's going on?"
As he noticed the fear that resonated in the words of his sister, he finally turned to her, his eyes just slightly darker than her own, looking at Eden softly as he replied, "I don't know, Edie. Hell's breaking loose, people start losing their minds... Maybe it's a new drug or something, but it causes folks to attack others." His voice quietened at the last sentence and he swallowed thickly, but – much to his relief – Eden didn't notice.
"Zak, we have to get Mom and Dad," she exclaimed in panic instead. She knew that maybe her parents weren't the best and Zak had to suffer from that the most, but they were still their parents and even if she didn't want to sometimes, she loved them.
"I've already been at home, Edie," Zak sadly told her, his eyes fixed on the road again as he turned right. "No one's been there. I tried to call them but they—they didn't pick up." He sighed heavily. "We don't have time, we gotta get to the center as they said. Maybe the military can get this under control."
Eden looked at her brother in both shock and confusion. Not knowing what to say at all, she just mumbled a quiet "But... " but remained silent afterwards. She tried to swallow the lump in her throat and to not think about the fact that they had just left their parents behind, not knowing whether they had been attacked or not. Eden told herself they had no other choice – maybe her parents had heard the same instructions on the radio as them and since they hadn't been able to get Eden, they had left for the center and were already expecting her there. Their dad had been in the military after all. He would know how to react in extreme situations like this one seemed to be.
They drove for about five minutes, listening to the repeating announcement on the radio that told them to head to the center, and Eden looked out the window while Zak drove, both wrapped up in their own thoughts. However, as they stopped at a crossroad with the traffic light red, Eden spotted a man running towards another, arms reaching out for him as he grabbed the man's shoulders, catching him by surprise and digging his bloody nails deep into the fabric of his jacket. He pulled him towards him, the assaulted man dropping his cell phone to the ground in shock, and Zak turned into the street to their right as Eden watched the assailant dig his teeth deep into the flesh of the man's neck, tearing out a piece of it, and even though she couldn't hear the man's painful cries due to the distance, she could feel them.
Shocked, she turned around in the passenger seat and watched as the assailant dragged his victim to the ground before both disappeared from her field of vision. Her dark eyes filled with tears that she didn't know were there until they ran down her cheeks as she whispered anxiously,
"What is happening...?"
author's note ☟
this is pretty short but it's only the prologue so dw, if you read my other book you already know i'm that bitch with no self-control who writes chapters that are usually about 4k words long sksksk next chapter's gonna be a short one too tho cuz it's still part of the intro. tell me what you're thinking so far, i appreciate every view, vote and comment i get and thank you so much for reading! ♥
