Zombie End Chapter 1

Chapter 1

 

The skies have never been so dark in my life. City lights are out, which means that we might be able to see the stars for once.

            But that isn’t the case tonight.  Even though the city is pitch black, so is the sky. It’s like the entire world is emitting sadness, grief, sorrow and horror. Yes, especially the horror.

            I sit behind a tree, clutching the ax I found in someone’s shed. I hope I don’t get arrested for stealing it, but during times like these, I hardly doubt that it matters. I gaze up at the dark sky gazing down at us. If I could have a view like that, I wonder what I’d see.

            The sound of a twig snapping behind me brings me back to my surroundings. Then a low raspy groan follows and I know that it’s them again. I grasp the ax tightly in my shaking hands. I can do this, I tell myself. I can kill another one. I slowly stand up, keeping my back against the tree, but suddenly I feel stuck. My shirt has caught on something, maybe some loose bark. I curse mentally and try to pry it away, but my clothes won’t budge.

I can hear the thing coming near my hiding spot. I fear it might notice me if it comes close enough. I pull away from the tree frantically, but my shirt is genuinely stuck. Finally, I decide to just yank it off. I close my eyes and take a deep breath, then I pull away from the tree as hard as I can. The momentum of the force knocks me to the ground and the sound of my shirt ripping echoes through the night. Without a doubt, the sound got the thing’s attention, and now its attention is back on me. Reacting quickly, I begin to get up, but right at that moment, the hideous monster finds me and pins me down. I accidentally let go of my ax as I fall. Now I’m weaponless.

Its bloody, flesh torn mouth lunges at my face, but I grab its grungy head at the last moment and stop it before it can bite me. Crap! What do I do now? I can’t hold it like this forever. This thing may seem brainless, but it’s really strong. I try to kick it away but realize that its body is too heavy. I’m completely pinned down.

This is it, I think to myself. This is how I’m going to die, just like my parents, except there’s no one here to kill me after I turn into a monster, like I did for them. There’s no one to return the favor. It’s probably too late anyways. I shut my eyes fearfully. I wish I could die less painfully.

I take a slow, deep breath and prepare myself to release my hold on the monster’s head, but the sound of a gun going off rings through the air and all at once, the monster turns limp in my arms and collapses on top of me.

Blood splatters and lands across my face as the bullet shoots through the monster’s head. I try to push the body off, but realize that now that it’s limp, it’s even heavier.

I watch as someone else’s hand rolls the body off me.

            “Are you ok, boy?” asks a gruff voice. The moonlight is just bright enough for me to make out part of his features. He isn’t very tall, but his middle aged face looks strong, experienced, and wise. But the things that make me feel like I can trust him are his eyes. They look sad, as if he’s been through a lot of grief and hardship. So despite his strong jaw and muscular body shape, I somehow know that deep inside, he might be able to understand my sorrow and confusion.

            “Come on, we better go. It’s not safe at night,” he whispers and motions around us. The hairs on my neck prickle in response and I nod in agreement. I follow him without another word. As we walk through the dark forest, I notice that not only does he have a gun, he has a hatchet tucked into the back of his jeans too. I suddenly remember my own ax and quickly snatch it up.

            “So, do you have any idea what’s going on with everyone? I mean, what was that thing?” I ask anxiously.

            “It was a zombie. Once a human gets bit, they turn into one too. They’re basically the undead coming back to life. The only difference is that they’ve lost their minds, and they eat the living. All the memories they once had seem to be completely wiped out too, so even if they’re your family…they won’t recognize you.” His voice goes low after he says this, and we share a quiet, mournful silence. The memory of my parents getting bitten, and then coming after me flashes through my mind. It makes sense now.

            “These zombies,” he continues after the silence dies, “react only to sound, otherwise they’re pretty much blind and senseless. But I’m sure they can sense body heat too, and can possibly even smell you. So try not to get too near them.”

            “How do you know all this?” I ask.

            “Any idiot would know if he just stopped and took the time to observe them.” He responds curtly. “Anyways, I think their senses get amplified at night, that’s why you should only use a knife. It’s quieter.”

            I recall what happened earlier and say, “But back there you…”

            “I had no other choice,” he interrupted. “If I used my knife, I could’ve hurt you too. By the way, you didn’t get bit did you?” he looks at me suspiciously.

            “No! Of course not! I’m all clean,” I exclaim.

            “All right then, just move faster if you can. We need to get back to the others before it gets any darker.”

            “Others?”

            “In situations like these, staying in a group is your best chance of survival.”

            “Right,” I say, and the conversation drops.

            After jogging stealthily through the forest, we came to a small field with a campsite in the middle. There are a few tents set up with a small campfire in the middle. I can smell some meat cooking on top of it, and it makes my stomach rumble.

            “Lan! It’s Lan! He’s back!” a woman sitting outside a tent shouts. More people gather with relieved expressions on their faces.

            “Hey gang, anything new?” Lan says.

            “No zombies around us for miles. We’re running short on food though,” someone responds.

            “All right, we’re going to cut down on rations until we can scavenge for more,” Lan announces.

            “Who is he?” a little girl wonders out loud, pointing to me.

            I stiffen up, because now everybody’s attention is on me.

            “Oh this…this is…” Lan begins, then he realizes that since we were rushing through the night earlier, we never introduced ourselves.

            “It’s Jim,” I offer. Lan nods in approval.

            “Good name, Jim, well let’s introduce you to the entire group, since I assume we’ll be sticking together for a while?” he asks.

            “Yeah…I don’t think there’s any other place for me anyway,” I say quietly.

 

*      *      *

            There are eleven people in the group, and I still have trouble remembering everybody’s names; Lan is the only one I feel like I can trust. There’s just something about him that makes him a leader. I guess it’s because he seems to know what he’s doing.

            After half a day of resting, we decide to move out. Getting back to the city feels a lot quicker than when I was running away, and before I know it, we’re back in the outskirts of my town. There are destroyed cars everywhere, and it looks like one big freak accident, as if everyone suddenly decided to crash into each other.

            Then something catches my eye; it’s the hilt of a knife sticking out of a dead zombie’s head. Quietly, without alerting anyone, I walk over and pull it out. There’s fresh blood on it, so I quietly clean it on the grass.

            I finish cleaning the knife and test the weight in my hands, but it doesn’t feel as familiar or comfortable as the ax I have, so I give it to another guy around my age, maybe a little younger. He nods in thanks and takes it.

            “Zombies! To our left!” we all look in that direction. Around fifteen of them are heading our way.

            Lan maneuvers the women behind him and opens the door of a huge RV. “Go in there! Quick! We’ll take care of these on our own.” They all rush into the van without a second thought. “Mitchell,” he calls out to the boy I gave the knife to. “You stay back and protect them. Use that new knife you got there.” Mitchell nods and follows the other women into the RV obediently.

            “Ok guys, we can do this. No problem right?” The others agree in unison.  Lan sneaks a glance at me and I nod too, signifying that I’m ready. Maybe he noticed the sweat beading down my forehead, and that’s why he gives me a reassuring pat. Either way, it helps me feel a little better, but it also reminds me of my late father.

            And now I’m going to have to kill again.

            “Don’t let anyone die! Work together!” Lan shouts, then charges toward the oncoming horde. The rest follow suit. I lag behind though as I watch Lan take down two zombies effortlessly. Everyone else seems to know exactly what they’re doing, but me? I’m probably inching farther and farther away.

            I don’t go too far though, because I notice a lone zombie coming toward me. The others must have missed it. Either way, I know that this one is for me to handle. I tighten my hold on the ax and hold it up readily, slowly inching forward. This zombie still looks strangely human. She doesn’t look dead at all, aside from the blood splatters and ripped apron.

            Actually, now that I’m thinking about it, I’m pretty sure I knew her. She was the baker’s wife down the street from where I lived. She always gave my family and me extra bits of bread because we’ve been her customers for so long. My breathing quickens. Her unscarred face is what makes me let my guard down, but at the very last minute, I come to my senses and take a swing at her side. I feel the blade of the ax sink into her waist and hit a rib cage, but she’s still coming. My stomach churns. How is that possible? She didn’t even flinch.

            She reaches out and grabs my hair, pulling me toward her. Panicking, I yank out the ax and aim for her stomach, but it still doesn’t seem to affect her at all.

            “Aim for the head!” someone shouts, so I take one last meaningful swing and thoroughly chop through her face in a quick frenzy. Finally, she falls limp on the ground. The blood and gore is beyond horrific, but I think the fact that I did this myself is even worse.

            I realize I’m breathing hard and the sweat is stinging my eyes. I’m clutching the ax handle so tight, I can literally see my knuckles turning white, but I can’t bring myself to let go.

            My ragged breathing turns into a full on panic attack and I can feel my conscious blanking out.

            “Hey man, it’s ok!” I hear someone say, but the voice is already fading away. “It’s ok!” he says again, “You’re just in shock, it’s normal. Just breathe.” I feel someone press a wet napkin to my forehead and I begin to feel slightly better. I let my fingers slowly ease off the handle.”Yeah…that’s it. There. You feeling better now?”

            “A bit,” I mumble to no one in particular. “Thanks.”

            “Good work, son,” Lan says encouragingly. “I watched you do it. Did you know her?” he asks gently.

            “She was the baker’s wife. Always gave us extra bread.”

            Lan’s eyes turn soft, “I’m sorry you had to go through that, but stuff like this is going to keep coming at you. You just need to be better prepared from now on, then everything will turn numb.” It isn’t the nicest thing I have ever heard, but I can tell that there’s really no easy way to say it. After all, it’s probably true. I mumble in assent then finish pulling the ax out of the corpse’s head. Rest in peace. 

Reviews

[_]

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOH!!!!!!! New book! OH MY GAWD! OH MY GAWD! Awesome as always you never fail to amaze me! Wicked chapter!!!!! Next chapter?!?!?!?! YES YES YES!

[Lizzy]

You are so talented. ughhh!!! lol

[~Dragon X]

Nice chapter! I like the way you opened it up with the zombie attacking, and how you kept the identity of the "monster" a secret until the main character actually knew what it was himself. I found a few typos:

" I can smell some meet* cooking on top of it, and it makes my stomach rumble."
(*meat)
.....(....Um....I can't find the second typo I found....but it's somewhere in the beginning....o3o')

ANYWHO! Well done. XD

[Coyote Poetry]

A very good opening chapter. I like how you described the people and the location. I like the description of the baker's wife. Give life and strength to the situation. No weakness in the opening chapter. A excellent opening chapter.
Coyote