Death (Book Two in the Apocalypse Trilogy)

Chapter 1: The Return

Cal

Even though it was day time, Perth was strangely deserted. He couldn't hear the sound of a voice over the silence. There wasn't the shriek or moan of a zombie, or the soft rumble of an engine. No chance of him catching a ride home.

Cal followed the dusty road into the city. His shotgun was slung across his back, even though he had long ago run out of ammunition. His torn clothes flapped in the wind, as did the long hair and beard he had grown over the months he'd been searching. He imagined that to someone who saw him, he would look like a madman.

The silence was not unnerving, though. The time he'd been gone had been filled with it. All he felt was curiosity.

Cal came to a river. It was wide and deep, but filled with debris and decomposing flesh. Years ago, this spot may have been a beautiful place. He could almost see families sitting here, laughing and being safe.

He found the site of the fight he'd run from. Nothing had changed. Bullets littered the ground, which had been stained red with blood. The bodies of the dead were gone, but something wasn't quite right here. It was as if he could feel the ghosts of those he had abandoned.

A shiver went down his spine. He shuddered, and turned his back on the red clearing.

The sun began to set. He had better get to the Bunker soon, or he'd have to stay alive in the closed environment of the wrecked city. Where he might look like a zombie to a patrol, and risk taking a bullet to the head.

The only time had gone to the Bunker, he had been inside a van with no windows, and too focused to the people surrounding him, the heavily armed commando-like strangers who had almost shot them.

The memory brought Sarah to the front of his mind. He had failed to find her. He pondered his decision to leave and find her. He hadn't even known her very well, and all he shared with her were some comforting confessions and a night together. Nevertheless, he had left behind a fight and driven after her, in the hopes of bringing her back.

Why had the zombies singled her out? Others had been ripped apart, but they had dragged her away. And while they were, others had stopped him from saving her, like the whole point of the battle was to take her.

He eventually came to the Bunker, just before the sun was going down. The metal-plated walls glinted in the dying light, turning the dull grey into silver.

A camera near the doors watched him as he knocked on the blast doors several times.

"Is anyone in there?" he asked, tapping the lens. He could see the camera adjusting to see him clearly.

"I'm sure you've noticed that the sun is going down, and I don't want to be eaten alive."

The camera blinked once and the lens disappeared. The people inside had turned it off.

"Damn it!" he gave the camera the finger, even though he knew that the people in the building weren't watching anymore. The sun slipped under the horizon, and he was plunged into darkness. In the wrecked skyline of the city, he heard the zombies begin to stir.

The doors slid open, startling him. After his eyes adjusted to the light, he could see the silhouettes of four people in grey body armour, visored helmets concealing their faces from him. They clutched sub-machine guns, which were loaded and pointing at him.

"Drop the weapons," one ordered. Cal obediently handed over the machete and empty shotgun.

"Get in," the same one said.

Cal quickly stepped in, and the doors slid shut behind him and the soldiers.

"Have you been bitten?" A different one spoke this time.