The Zombie Virus (Watty Awards)

The Zombie Virus

Watching the television was now becoming a chore. You couldn't listen to the radio, read a newspaper, or even turn on the television without hearing about the one thing that everyone already knew about- the virus. . The virus I now despised for taking away my father, sister, and best friend.  

When the virus began to spread, the main concern the world had was to find a cure. All the cancer patients were nearly forgotten, practically on their own to find a cure. When the government decided to order all the medical field into working right away, my sister Stephanie died in the hospital, nearly forgotten, almost invisible and blending in with the walls. She had been one of the thousands that had suffered being left in the dust, alone. To my dismay, we lost Stephanie. Her cancer was irreversible and even if anyone would have tried she was pretty much long gone from the start.  

However, there was still my father, though, right? Not for much longer. In the blink of an eye, the virus took him away from me. He suffered the through the effects the virus had in store for him, and then...well, then he was gone. I never was truely able to tell him goodbye. How could I when he was locked away, being examined around the clock by trillions of specialists?

There are four steps to the zombie virus, each one getting worse than the last. Each are unbearable and horrific in their own way. In the first one you go through dizzy spells, vomiting, and severe cases of fevers. You stare into the toilet for hours at a time, puking the remains of your digestive system away. You stare into this toilet, thinking, Why can't this end?

In the second your muscular and skeletal systems for the most part stop working. You can't move, talk, or eat for that matter. All you can do is think and continue to ask yourself the same question that you did in the first stage- Why can't this end? And even though your ability to move has ceased, your ability to feel pain hasn't. This is because your nervous system is suddenly more sensitive and on edge, so if someone tries to move you, instant pain is not far behind. None of the doctors or specialist could explain this. On television they merely said, "It seems to be the work of science fiction."Well they were wrong, because it was the realest thing I had ever seen and now they had failed in finding a cure. This disaster would soon be proved to be the exact opposite of science fiction. 

In the third stage you basically turn into a vegetable, you can't speak, you can't even move your eyes, for that matter. No one survives this stage. Lucky for him, my father didn't survive long enough to get to this stage.During this stage your body starts changing for the worst because once you arrive in the fourth stage, there will not be any turning back.

Lastly, you have the forth stage. This one is the scariest for any by standards. In this stage your body starts shutting down the recesses of your brain that store your memories and personalities. All the instincts and senses, however, stay attached to your empty rock of a brain. Meanwhile, little changes are being made possible so that you can be faster, stronger, and more instinctive. Then, you die. But to the world's most recent of unfathomable discoveries, you don't stay that way. Days after dying your body comes back to life, ten times stronger than before. The virus invades your brain, feeding on its host like a parasitic worm on a cow. Of course, sending signals to the parts of your brain that haven't completely turned to mush. This is what gets you up and running in a flash. This virus- this curse- makes you hungry for anything with a pulse, especially humans. In short, the only way to kill a zombie is a bullet to the head. Otherwise, once a zombie, always a zombie.

            

I turned the television on, hoping high to the heavens that there might be some sane news stories. As usual there were just more pictures and videos of the newborn zombies that no one could control. And once again, they were showing the increasing death rates, and the decreasing life rates. The news wasn't helping me to have a normal day. In this dead world, all that seemed normal to me anymore was the rising and falling sun in the horizon. I didn't even bother going through with my normal teenage life anymore. I woke up when I felt like it, ate when I was hungry, and occasionally tried the t.v. But as you can tell, the television was now just a big empty box.

            There have been more and more rumors and talks about things like quarantines, and safe zones. Just as the government had ordered immediate research to the virus, some people guessed they must have ordered construction workers to build high fortresses for quarantines that helped prepare for the unthinkable. I haven't seen these quarantines, but I'd overheard my mother talking with the neighbors that they should definitely find one. And even though these may just be conspiracy theories, I believed they were true. However,the rumors sounded even more far-fetched then you could imagine. Some said that they were building cave-like basements that had housing facilities, food, and plenty of ammunition. Others said they were constructing towers made of steel and concrete. Zombies are horrific climbers, so this is why I find this idea the most believable.  But the most far-fetched of all is that they're creating a submarine that is expected to home thousands of people, and protect them for life. Though if any of the rumors are true, then why doesn't the government or better yet the vice president (the president recently died from a zombie invasion) make some sort of an announcement?

 My mother raced through the door, looking even more strickin then usual. Scince the death of my father and sister, my mother had been pretty jumpy.

She sat down silently on the couch, not even acknowledging me. I went to go sit by her, to try to comfort her, but she wouldn't respond. She just sat with her hands on either side of her face, staring at a spot on the carpet. Her brow furrowed. Eyes burning a hole in the floor, she knew she would have to say something to me eventually. But with every time I tried a response from her, she nudged me away and avoided eye contact with me.

"Mom? What's wrong? Please tell me. You know I love you," I pleaded with her.

 She still would not respond, so I tried hugging her, since that usually worked best. I even tried a puppy-dog face to see if I could get a laugh out of her. No response. If what she was keeping from me was so bad, then maybe it would be too sorrowful or gruesome for me to want to know anyways. I mean that's how basically everything was these days, filled with sorrow, and gruesome details.

"Oh mom please don't make me beg to get a response out of you. You know I hate that!" I cried. I could barely survive without my father and sister. Laury is what pushed me even deeper. If I lost touch with my only family, then I might as well be a zombie, too. 

"I wouldn't make you beg to hear my voice." she finally replied with a fake smile, trying to shake something out of her mind. "I love you so much, Sarah. You have no idea how much I would be willing to give up for you." she whispered softly.

I paused for a long moment, nodding at her words tenderly and squeezing out a rough smile. "So what was it? What shook you up so much?" I questioned gingerly.

She didn't respond for a while until finally saying, "I think its time that we ate dinner and called it a night Sarah."

I was sick of everyone avoiding my questions. When I was visiting my father in the research facility, I was left completely in the dark. No one would answer any of my questions, or even tell me where he was. They just continued to tell me to "sit down" and "hope for the best". So I decided to be a little irrational.

"I don't want to call it a night mom! That's all we ever do! All we've been doing for the past two months! We sit around, inside the house, with the blinds closed, curtains shut, flip through the t.v. to try to find something to keep us sane, and then we call it a night! We can't keep doing this! We can't keep pretending like we're not going to have to leave at some point!" I yelled to the top of my lungs.

I sat down in frustration. I knew there were some things that I simply couldn't change, but I had always wished I could change the way people saw me as- an adult.

In response, my mom squeezed me so tightly that I could barely breathe, and then kissed me lightly on my forehead, trying to comfort me in a way she had been everyday for the past two months.

"Honey I'm sorry. But some things I would like to keep from you, even though I know we'll both have to face them in the end." she said.

"Mom please tell me. I want to know." I begged.

Reluctantly she said, "Okay. Sarah you're a sixteen year old girl, so I expect you to be responsible when I tell you this." she paused for a long amount of time.

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Only the beginning!! Keep reading, and comment on anything! I appreciate  good and bad criticism!! -megamarie121 ;)