Undead Souls - Broken World

The Change

Kate yawned; stretching as she struggled out of bed. She staggered to her full body mirror against the wall and yawned again, louder than last time. She grabbed her brush and quickly went through her long auburn hair, making sure it wasn't sticking up. Shuffling in the dark, she went to the bathroom just outside of her room. She flicked the light switch and allowed her eyes to adjust before going the toilet and then brushing her teeth.

As she left the bathroom and was about to turn the light off; a horrific shriek pierced the silence like a knife. Kate's heart started to beat faster. Standing very still, waiting, in near darkness until she heard a creak from the door to her right. She stepped back, fast, into the bathroom's door frame. "God, can you keep it down out here?" Her brother complained. She sighed and rested her head against the almost sharp wood.

"Damn it Jordan, you scared the hell out of me." Kate replied. "Besides, that wasn't me." Jordan rubbed his eyes then looked at his sister. A few seconds later his brain pieced together the problem.

"Oh." He mumbled as he started walking down the stairs in his dark blue boxers. "Don't worry," he said through a yawn, "I'll see what the problem is." As he was swallowed by the darkness down the stairs Kate walked back into her room and started to get changed into her her black school pants and white shirt. As she was about to put her slate black blazer on, the screeching of tyres caught her attention.

Taking a peek out of her window, she saw a blue SUV had crashed into someone's bins across the road and was stopped in front of their door or into their door, but she couldn't fully see in the darkness. As she was about to call her brother the driver stepped out of his car. He staggered away a few steps before stopping. Kate could just make out a woman shouting. He turned back to the house and out came the woman shouting dressed in her robe and slippers. As she got right in front of him, she stopped and just stared until she gave a quick but quiet scream.

She thought he was kissing her from the angle she was looking at but the man pulled his head away with something that looked like a big lump of meat but covered in... Kate moved away slightly and rubbed her eyes before looking again. The woman was now lay on the floor with her neck covered in a dark red and the man was ripping apart her stomach and eating it.

Kate fell back from the window and only just managed to get to her bedroom bin before throwing up her already empty stomach. Waiting a few more seconds, making sure there were no after effects, got up and slowly made her way to the door. Going down the stairs, the sun was splitting the dark through the window at the top. The stairs spit halfway down so she had to walk down towards the front of the house, where she had just witnessed the attack.

The floor was cold on her feet and the only light was from the frosted glass on the front door. She pulled on the door handle and stepped into the living room. The TV was on with the news. Her two older brothers sat watching closely. "... Is very contagious. The infected host physically attempts to infect others by biting them. If you encounter someone who is infected, do not attempt to attack them unless absolutely necessary. If you must fight then you must target the brain. So far it appears that it is the only way that they will... Die." A news man said. The camera moved around the room to a woman.

"Anyone watching, you must stay inside at all costs. Do not leave to look for help as the army will be coming to collect everyone in their homes. Stay put, stay safe and..." She stopped, starring behind the camera. "Behind you!" She shrieked. The camera fell on the floor and was only just able to make out the news staff's feet fleeing from the room before the broadcast cut out onto a blue screen which had text on, 'Await rescue'.

"One of those." Kate cleared her throat before continuing. "Those things are outside." They both looked at her and were both as pale as she was.

"Okay, okay. Shit." Their eldest brother muttered brushing a hand through his hair. "Get a bag ready to leave, only bring things you will absolutely need. Okay? Go." He ordered. They both headed upstairs and went into their separate bedrooms. Kate grabbed her crushed bag from under her bed and emptied out all of her bag. On the bottom was a pile of clothes, a few t-shirts, skirts and pants, two jumpers and some underwear and socks and then in a side pocket she put in her iPod with headphones wrapped around it. She put on a pair of socks before heading back down stairs. At the bottom she grabbed her scarf and coat but just held them as she entered the living room again. Her older brother was packing a large bag with every bit of canned food in the cupboards and the spare box of water bottles.

"Excuse me." Jordan said from behind. He held a brown box and added it to the bag. "Here." He said pulling out her red converse pumps. She just nodded, sat on the couch and started to get them on. After a few minutes they were all sat on the couch in silence with their bags with them in the dark.

"We need something to eat." The eldest said walking towards the kitchen.

"You're thinking about food at a time like this?" Kate asked.

"It's morning, we all need something to keep us going." He replied. "You need to at least try."

*

After they had all had something to eat, which wasn't a lot, Jordan went to make sure the front door was locked and the windows and curtains were closed while the older brother tried to contact some of his friends who had joined the army or any kind military service. "What!" He exclaimed over the phone. "Shit. Nobody?" He sighed, his breath was shaky as he exhaled. "Thanks for the warning I guess." He dropped the phone onto the couch and went into the kitchen and grabbed the biggest kitchen knife and put the others into the large bag. "You two, look at me. That was a lie. The army isn't coming, no one is actually. Those things hunger for flesh, human flesh. So we need to get out of town and away from population for... Awhile. We'll head out now, with this stuff we might even be able to get to the forest by evening." They both nodded reluctantly but went to get their coats on.

They gathered back in the living room and began to pick up their bags until they heard glass shattering. The eldest ran to the back door still holding the large kitchen knife. "Fuck." He gasped backing up slightly into the living room. He still gripped the knife that was in the man's chest. He made a low growl which turned into a slight gurgle.

"Oh my God." Kate managed.

"You have to get it's brain." Jordan said. He finally managed to pull the knife out and lunged at it's face, just as it moved out of the way, slicing along it's check. It grabbed him, it bit him and then bit him again, not waiting to chew. He screamed out then grabbed it's neck and charged forwards, the knife punctured a hole and then they went straight out of the window.

"Get out of here! I'll meet you in the forest!" He yelled. Kate held her arm out towards the window.

"Kate!" Jordan snapped. "Help me!" She turned to see him trying to lift the big bag on his own. Grabbing the other side, Jordan went first through the tight corridor and out of the front door, into the blinding light. He turned right and they awkwardly jogged down the road. He held a knife and she just managed to pick up a family picture of them all on their way out. Blocking out all the screams and as much of the carnage as possible, she focused on the tall and gloomy trees behind all of the houses.