The Risen

Part 01: There's No Way Zombies Could- Oh, no wait.

Dreams are a funny thing. One moment you're there, watching from a distance, and then suddenly you're all up in the thick of it. Things shift, people change, everything gets manipulated. I liked dreams. They were one place I could go when reality got too annoying or painful. But those dreams have to end, right? Unfortunately.

My dream shifted and I was lying on a bed, shirtless, as a girl in lingerie straddled me.

Zero, she teased, pressing against me.

I groaned. Yeah?

What's the answer?

I frowned. What?

Come on, Moondis... her voice wasn't so seductive anymore. I opened my eyes and saw a fat man with stubble where the girl was. WAKE UP, MOONDIS!!!

I screamed in terror and my head shot up from my desk where I had been taking a nap. Right in front of me, and I mean right in front of me, was a fat, sweaty, middle-aged man with glasses that glinted in the light.

"Good to see that you've finally joined us, Mr Moondis." The fat man said.

I groaned and rubbed my head, wiping the drool off my lip with the back of my sleeve.

"Sir," I said, "I've told you, it's Mundis. Zero Mundis."

That was me. Sixteen years old, current psychology student, and proclaimed class-sleeper. At that moment, I was sitting at my desk on a Friday, mid-afternoon. Everything was normal. My class was on the bottom floor of my school, and the sky outside was a stormy dark gray. It would have been nice, but the old guy seething in front of me kind of ruined it.

I was in my Basic Science class, and the man was, unfortunately, my teacher, Dr. Lee. Doctor of what, I had no idea. But he wasn't exactly very good at his job. And he never seemed to be able to pronounce my middle name properly. It was always as if he took some sort of sadistic pleasure in bringing down my self esteem. I suddenly imagined him in a corset with the words, Whip me, master! scribbled over his chest as he bent over a pole in front of all the cheering teachers in my school. The thought brought a smile to my face.

That thought broke when he slammed his hands on my desk and spit into my face, "Would you rather have me call you Zero? The same as your IQ, I suppose. I wonder what your parents were thinking when they named you, eh?"

Everyone in the class chuckled at this. Now, I'm not very childish, but I have been told many times I hate losing.

"Sir, why are you homosexual?" I asked out of the blue.

He stopped smiling, stood straight and adjusted his glasses. "I am not homosexual! How dare you speak to a teacher in such a manner!? Shameless miscreant!"

God, he was a weird teacher. "If you're not homosexual, sir," I continued calmly, "why do you constantly target me in class? Are you trying to... I don't know, attempt to partially live out a gay fantasy?"

Oh, he was really pissed by now. His face was red and sweat beads began appearing on his forehead.

"How- how dare you-?"

"Not that there's anything wrong with that, sir. It's just that... if my memory is correct, you're always around the male teachers, your wife left, and you have kind of a problem in the afterschool area."

He gritted his teeth and pointed at me, but I had this strange smile on my face. I liked making fun of people who were ridiculous. Some would undoubtedly think this is cynical and pathetic, but it didn't matter. I had a consolation that in the future, none of this would matter. No one would ask me, How was your attitude towards your Basic Science teacher? Man. If I'd known where I would end up, what damn things would change in the world... I would have taken every opportunity, every chance I had to stop it and keep the world turning, because that was just the way I am. Or way I was. Don't get me wrong, I am... was not a bad kid. I liked life, the way things worked and coexisted, everything. I wasn't better than anyone in that sense. I was normal.
Was.