Outbreak, Part One: From the Beginning

Seeing the way she stood, afraid and repulsed by the blood, I reached down and held her hand. It was soft and warm, unlike the girl I grappled with before, cold and stiff. Gently squeezing, I said "I'm right beside you Mary....."

When she saw her house, looking perfectly normal at that, Kristen couldn't help herself. She ran to the door and let herself in, locking it behind her. Here she felt safe, but her dad's gun wouldn't load itself, she thought as she walked over to the key hook and took the keys for the cabinet.

Once she had opened it, she took the shotgun down, along with some shells, and loaded them with shaky hands, a smashing sound from upstairs causing her to drop some. With the now loaded shotgun ready, she walked up the stairs as quietly as she could, checking each bedroom. Her dad's room was the last one, and with a breath, she opened it.

Mary glanced at Alex, her throat tight she was unable to whisper a thank you to him. She enter the house cautiously, her heart pounding in her ears. She could hear the sound of flesh being torn coming from the living room (lounge). Sneaking forward, she knelt down and peered round the corner. The room was filled with at least 15 of those things.
Her family must have been dead. Fighting back her tears, she crept backwards but did not exit the house. No. Instead she went upstairs, clearly seeking to recover something.

To every door a key, to every key a design, and to every design, a mind. A prison of flesh and blood, the school has become. Dead arisen and multiplied. A bite, a scratch, something unknown. Blood for blood, un-life undone. Damage the brain, damage the spinal cord, immobilize and destroy. Seven inches of Fun, kept hidden in a bag, takes on new meaning when the killing has begun. Watch silently, perceive surroundings. Remember hallways, remember roads, remember people, remember weakness. Instant changed, nothing is the same. Kill the others or be killed yourself.

Identity undone. There is person beneath the flesh, only mindlessness. Death weighs not on the conscious if the dead are already dead. Mindless. Thoughtless. Careless. Memoryless. Loveless. Family-less. Severed spines, broken necks, severed heads, broken wrecks. Teacher, student, not. Action, response, reaction, swift. Backpacks looted, objects retrieved, nothing stolen, pair of keys. Address sought and found, furtive left, swift and sound. Taking trail, like smells and hounds.

I remained down on the first floor, keeping an eye on the other zombies. It gave me a bad feeling about what it meant for Mary's family, and I hoped she's be alright.

Mary inside was crushed but she crept into her room and grabbed three things, a rucksack which she threw in a few bits of clothing, her diary with some pencils and a leather jacket. She put the jacket on before making her way down stairs. She swung the bag on her shoulders yet as she did so it struck one of the bottles of whisky on the side. It fell to the floor with a crash. "Holy moly" She whispered.

"Run," I whispered to her, as the zombies turned their heads and started lumbering towards the noise. I got up, grabbed her hand, and ran out the door.

Mary ran with him as fast as she could. "Where we running to? My house is a no go" She wanted to cry, break down and cry however she could not afford to just yet. Not while she was in danger.

"My house," I said, dragging her behind me as we ran through the empty streets. Or not so empty, as more of the dead began walking out of houses with broken down doors, or from the cars they had died in.

"Okay..." She whispered. "I'm scared" Mary admitted to Alex even though he probably was as well.

Street set, avoidance, cars be far, corners careful. People, not people, alive but dead. Wander aimless-not. One house like another, uniform shambles, un-life clothed. Out of range, out of care, slip and slide, grasp-me-not. Houses climb, shamblers watch.

"Right there with ya," he said. He led her to a gate by the side of one house, helping her over the locked gate into the backyard on the other side. It wasn't his house, but the one behind it. They'd cut through the backyard straight to his patio door.

Mary landed noisily in some bushes. "Ow" She whispered as she carefully untangled herself.

Rattle sounds. Metal clang. Activity, live, nearby movement coordinated, no shuffle. Climb up higher, perch and watch, people move from street to yard, and from yard to yard. Look down watch, sense of emotion. Emptiness pang-ed, silence heard. Stone faced and paled, crouched and patient. 2 little runners, run round and round and round.

The commotion drew more of the undead towards where I stood, and I panicked. Climbing up the gate and over the otherside, I fell down and landed at an awkward angle, and with a small scream of pain I ended up spraining my ankle. Looking at Mary, all I could say was "Keep moving, I'll catch up."

1 little runner hurt himself climbing over the fence. The second little runner was he. First little runner was she, whom fell into the bush. Little runners run round and round and round. No Shamblers follow, safe for a time. Observing the runners.

"To where? You know where your house is not me" She pointed out crouching lower to the ground. "If you had told me I would be on the run from crazed biting people this morning I probably would have stayed talking to Ryan..." She glanced around cautiously. "Thanks for having my back Alex"

There really wasn't time to keep talking, as I lifted myself up, wobbling a little as I balanced myself on one foot, leaning against the side of the house next to me. Limping towards her, I said "Little help?" as the zombies behind us at the gate growled and snarled, trying to break through.

Mary grabbed hold of his arm and lifted him up so that he can lean on her for support. "Sure lean on me" She was afraid that the biters would break through and kill them at any moment.

Grateful for the help, I nodded at Mary a little as I kept up moving. With her help, I was able to move a whole lot faster, right up to the wall that separated this backyard from mine. "Okay......you go first," I said.

Mary pulled herself up and over the fence. She landed gracefully on the other side the garden was fortunately clear of all things dangerous and trying to kill her.

There was a crash sound behind me, and I looked and saw to my horror that the zombies had broken down the gate and were lumbering in my direction. I was already terrified, so this didn't really increase things for me as I scrambled up the wall, clinging to the edge as I tried to pull myself up. Getting my torso over the edge, I felt a hand grab onto my good ankle and I screamed, kicking rapidly as I managed to dislodge the grip, pulling myself even further over the edge where I fell down onto my back. There were no bushes directly below, just grass and I felt the wind get knocked out of me as I landed....but I was safe for the moment.

Mary knelt down next to Alex, trying to pull him to his feet. When that did not work, she dragged him by his shirt towards his house. "Come on Alex I am not going to let you die"

Excitement, trouble in the yard. Zombies through the gate. Watching. Eyes cast downward, seeing, intent.

It took a moment to regain control. I mean come on, get the wind knocked out of you after landing on your back after being chased by zombies with a sprained ankle, and then tell me you'd be up and on your feet. "Stop," I whispered, slowly getting up so she wouldn't have to drag me. "Okay, back door.....it's just a sliding glass door, so grab a flower pot," I told Mary. Granted I could have done it myself. Hell, I should be doing it myself: if anyone was going to break a window in my house, it should be me.

Keys dropped from overhead. Near flowerpot lands. shiny bronze keys. Flicker in the sunlight. Crash on the ground. He watches from overhead, curious.

Mary stopped and picked up the fallen keys, she looked upwards.

"What the fuck?" I screamed as I looked up, and saw someone above us on my roof. Those were definitely my keys he dropped and I had no idea how he got them....but now wasn't the time to be asking questions, so all I said was "Thanks. Mary, the middle one!"

Mary decided to ignore the mysterious stranger at the moment, it was better to get off of the streets and inside. Hopefully it would be safer in there. Hopefully. She found the key Alex told her and unlocked the door, it took far longer than she would have liked due to her hands shaking from fear and adrenaline.
She opened the door cautiously as she picked back up the plant pot. It might keep the things at bay if any of them where inside.

Following her inside, I closed and locked the door, then slid the blinds into place. Better to make sure we weren't seen from outside after all. My ankle was throbbing, the adrenaline wearing off now. But I was still shaking, and looked around for where we were: the kitchen, and by the looks of it the place was just as clean as I left it. Limping over to the knives sticking out of the wooden block, I grabbed the biggest knife in there, one worthy of Michael Myers, and held it ready in case of anything. Looking to Mary, I whispered "Want one?"

Mary cautiously moved around the house, it was almost possible to pretend that the world had not happened. "Yes please I would rather not have to face those things with a plant pot" She wondered about who had thrown them the keys and why they did not decide to go inside the house.
She put the plant pot down, wondering if they would be able to hold up in Alex's home until help arrived.

Grabbing another knife, I went over to Mary and held it out for her to take. "My parents must still be at work," I said, in a sense of false hope they were still alive. God did I pray they were still alive.

Mary accepted the knife. "Thanks" She replied, placing her hand on his shoulder. "I am sure they are okay" She whispered encouragingly, hoping that they where alive even if her heart did not believe it.

"Thanks," I said. Shuffling into the living room, I checked the windows. They were all still unbroken, and I shut the blinds for each before sitting on the couch, resting my ankle on one of the cushions. "Dammit......do you know how bad this is?" I asked Mary. "Because it looks like a 'fucked up' to me...."

Mary sat down on the edge of the couch. "I am sure... If we stay put for a while you should be fine though perhaps... We should put some ice on it?" Now that they where safe for the moment, terror buried it's bony fingers into her heart. She offered Alex a brave smile.

"Guess that's the only thing for it," I said, sharing the smile. "Uh....there should be some painkillers over in the cabinet to the right of the fridge. Maybe those will help?" I said, reaching for the television remote.

Mary disappeared off to collect him some painkillers, she poured to glasses of water while she was there. She put the glasses and the tablets on a plate before opening the fridge and helped herself to some chocolate bars. They would be hungry and besides sugar could really help right now. She returned and placed the plate on the coffee table. "Here... Dig in and sorry I helped myself but your hungry too..." Mary trailed off, she wanted nothing more to be held and told everything will be okay.

"Hey it's fine," I said, taking the painkillers and washing them down with some water. "What's mine is yours Mary." Switching the TV on, the first thing I got was the emergency broadcast, the tone shrill. Words appeared on screen, of a viral outbreak and to remain indoors. I flipped to a few more channels with the same message before I got to the news channel, and the woman there was looking a bit panicked. "--olice are still trying to contain the situation, but we're receiving word of incidents all across the city. There's been no word yet from the government on a military response or from the CDC. Hospitals are overflowing and some have even gone dark, and the best advice the police have given is to remain indoors, lock everything up to secure yourselves, and do not approach any of the afflic--" then the channel went dead.

Mary had been silent as she watched the news. She crept closer towards Alex, shuffling along the couch. "Hold me" She whispered fearfully. Mary wanted to feel something, to be comforted. The situation was grim... Could they, would they manage to survive? Was this the end of the world? The rapture or something.

Slowly, maybe even hesitantly, I placed a hand on Mary's shoulder before I sat up, no longer leaned onto the couch. "Hey....Mary, it's going to be alright. We just hole up in here, wait for rescue, and I guarantee we'll see a friendly face by the end of all this." And then I gently hugged her, my face going over her shoulder in the reassuring hug.

Mary hugged Alex back tightly, burying her head into his shoulder. "I'm so scared" She mumbled into his shirt, crying slowly. "I... I miss my family" She sobbed quietly into his shirt.

"I know," came my whispered reply. Not letting up on the hug, I let her hold me and cry, since she needed to. Hell more than a few tears were running down my face, at the death I saw around me as I ran. The horror of this day, this world we were in. And then I jerked my head upward, as I heard something slam against the door, like someone slapping it. Then came a moan, and I knew all too well what was happening: a zombie was at my doorstep.

Mary flinched at the slam against the door. "Oh no... Holy Moly I hope those things cannot get in" She whispered still holding tightly onto James. She could not bring herself to let go just yet, she wanted the warmth of someone living to remind her that Mary was still alive.

"They can't" I said quickly. "They don't know we're in here. So we're going to have to be extra quiet." I couldn't move much due to my ankle, which was why I still held onto her. "Mary....look if anything bad happens, just run. Leave me and run, okay? I'm going to slow you down with this ankle and I'm not pulling anyone else down with me."

"Ok" She whispered taking his word for it that the monsters could not get in. Mary would not leave Alex and take her chances alone against the things. "I am not going to leave you Alex" She held onto him tightly, Mary pressingly herself closer to him in an attempt to feel something, to feel that she was still alive and not dead. Not yet anyway.

"Yes you are," I said more firmly. "Because both of us dying because of me isn't right Mary. So promise me, that you will run."

"I can't I won't leave you" Mary whispered pulling her head back, tears streaming down her cheeks, her eyes red.

Dammit, but if we kept this up it was bound to turn into a shouting match and the zombies would definitely know we were here. "Fine.....but don't say I didn't warn you," was all I could say. The painkillers started kicking in, and I tried standing up. Still hurt like hell, and I favored one side more than the other, but now it wasn't blinding pain. "Come on.....let's find you a place to rest, I'll keep watch here in the living room," I said, holding her hand.

Mary did not acknowledge the fact that she won the argument. "Okay but I think we should stay in the same room... And try to fortify a room or a house" She suggested but was pleased with the idea of a rest, even if she did believe that Alex would need it more than she did.

"Nah, you probably need it more than me," I joked, probably one of the few I'd get to say in this world. Walking through the hall, I opened the door to my parent's room. "Go lay down, I'll check in now and then," I said to Mary.