Survivors Challenge #01

V

 You rub your eyes and notice that your skin has become a deep black. You collapse on the ground and begin to lose consciousness.You wake up several hours later. Your skin is no longer black, but instead a pale blue. You sit on the street looking confused. You do not know how you ended up here. You can only think that you must have fainted while walking towards the store. You look for the man in black, he is no longer there, but neither are the zombies. You seem to be home. 

You get up and look around. There is no sign of the man in black or the zombies that came to life, but there is a strange feeling of deja vu. You decide to head home, but as you turn the corner, you see a young girl lying on the ground. She is not moving and does not appear to be breathing. You run up to her and begin to try and help.Suddenly, the girl jumps up and bites your finger. You yell in pain and the girl disappears into the darkness. 

 The nightmare of reality begins again... 

(July 17th) The past week has been hell. Zombies have been reported in nearly every city in the kingdom. In fact, it would seem the dead have taken over the entire globe. While you're not sure what is going on exactly, what you do know is that the dead are everywhere. They aren't slow like the shamblers or stupid like the messengers or intimidating like the alpha leaders. They aren't a threat to easily killed like the wolves. They are just... Dead. And they seem to be increasing. You've never seen so many zombies in your life. You cry, you thought it was all over, you could see your family again...but it isn't.

You sit on the couch and just look at the floor. No words can describe how you feel right now. The past week has been hell, even worse than when you were living in the stadium with the other survivors. You cry, you thought it was all over, you could see your family again...but it isn't.You sit on the couch and just look at the floor. No words can describe how you feel right now. The past week has been hell, even worse than when you were living in the stadium with the other survivors.

You have no idea if the stadiums were real, or just another dream. It doesn't seem to matter now as it is all reality again."Mom?" you call. "Dad?" there is no answer, but you know they aren't here. You head upstairs and see their empty rooms. Their beds are still made. "They're gone, they're not here." You feel a tear roll down your cheek.You go back downstairs and sit on the couch. 

The television is on, but the sound is turned down. You just stare at the t.v. for hours, not really paying attention to the present day scenes being played out."Can I have some candy?" a little voice says behind you. You turn around to see a girl, about 1 or 2 years older than you, with long dirty blond hair and a pretty face. You turn to see your sister, Alicia."Candy?" you ask.The girl nods and you get up off the couch to go get some. While you're gone she follows you and as you lean against the counter she puts her hands on your shoulders and looks into your eyes.

You look at her nervously."You're not a bad person." She says.You look at her in confusion. She seems to be talking about herself. "I know, because you saved me." Her eyes begin to water, and she buries her face in your shirt. You remember the fleeting recognition of the girl that bit you...it was your sister. You have the urge to push her off, but you just hold her instead."Where are mom and dad?" you ask.She wipes her eyes and smiles a little. She just shrugs. She puts her little hands on yours and looks into your eyes."Will you play with me?" she asks. You look at your hands, then back up at her face. You realize you haven't played in a long time.

"Sure, let's go to your room."You watch as she takes your hand and slowly leads you upstairs."Can I have a drink?" she asks. "Um...sure." You say.She walks over to a small white fridge in the corner of the kitchen and takes out a can of pop. "Here." She says, handing it to you.You pop the top and offer her the can, but she turns away. You shrug and begin to play with her monopoly board on the floor. 

A couple of hours later, "I'm in your room now!" she yells, jumping up and down.After a couple songs on the radio, you realize she has drank the whole can, and is getting sleepy. You stand her up. "Come on, I'll show you my room." You say, leading her by the hand.She looks at you, and then back at the floor."Can we sleep now?" she asks. You nod "of course sis, of course."You slowly sit her down on the edge of your bed."Alright, get some sleep." You say, picking her up and laying her head on the pillow."I love you, Bro.".

 You smile at her and tuck her in, then go to the couch.You stare at the t.v. for a few hours, but find your eyes beginning to get heavy. You try to stay awake and watch the news, but soon close them and lay down on the couch. You wake up with a start, and look at the time. 1:30 AM."Ach!" you groan, getting up and heading to the kitchen. You open the fridge and pull out a can of pop, then look for a bottle to put it in. You find one in the back, next to the energy drinks. You open the can and guzzle down half the can in one gulp, then wipe your mouth. You go back to the couch and lay down.

You watch the news.After the news is over, you fall asleep once more.You wake up once more in the middle of the night, and look at the time. 3:30 AM."Ach!". You get sick and tired of continuing to wake up at random times. You take some pills for sleeping.You take 3 more sleeping pills and fall back to sleep.You wake up at 7:30 AM. 

You go and wake your sister.You walk into her room and gently shake her awake."Wake up, Bro!" you say.Alicia yawns, then stretches her arms out over her head."What?" she asks. She looks confused as to why you called her bro and not sis. You feel a little weird, but try not to show it. "C'mon, let's get going. We need to get there before the crowds." "Huh? Oh, yeah. Sure."You lead her out of the house, and into the car. You don't bother with the radio this time, choosing to just drive and talk. "So, where are we going?" she asks."I heard there was a place with cheap hot dogs near the beach.""That sounds amazing. I love hot dogs. When I was little, my mom used to make them all the time. They were always the best."

You winced remembering its your mom too, but she doesn't seem to remember. You decide to change the topic. "So, where did you hear about the event?

You scream at a zombie that got in the way of your car and then spit out of the window, it looks confused and tries to chase you but gives up. You turn back to Alicia. "Oh, I talked to Steve. He's friends with this guy that works at the burger joint." "Aha. So... what did he say exactly?"... She seems to think about how to word it."He said that there was a rumor that there would be humans for you to kill." "humans for me to kill? Not sure if it counts as a lie, since there are humans for me to kill.""What's the difference?". You shrug and remind her you only kill dead humans, zombies."Nevermind, I'm having a bad day." 

Alicia doesn't push the issue, and you arrive at the beach an hour later. You didn't realize just how nice beach houses could be. The one you look at originally is big, and the whole family that lives there is nice. They even give you some food when you arrive.You spend the next few days there, killing zombies along the shore. It's easy there.  The zombies come in large groups, and after you kill a few dozen, more take their place. There's so many, you don't have to worry about hiding or anything. The whole area is a mass grave.Finally, on the fourth day, you see a group approaching that looks a little different than the rest. They're wearing clothing, which is weird. Even weirder, they're carrying instruments. 

"What is it?" asks your sister."I'm not sure," you admit, "but those look like... instruments."Sure enough, they are, "but they look a little different from the other zombies."They get closer, and you realize that they're a little older than the norm. The normal ones you've seen near the streets don't even live that long. This group is probably in their thirties at least. The others usually get ripped apart by each other or killed before they have any time to age. The newer zombies seem harmless and so you go to bed. 

The setting sun is replaced by a translucent diamond midnight velvet sky, the sound of seagulls on the breeze has died down. The breeze is no longer present, instead in its place is a small chittering sound from the wind whistling through the trees and under the slowly rotting window sills. All seems perfect and quiet. Almost like home.