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Hazy, and gray.
Indeterminate shapes?
maybe that's the way they were meant to look?
No.
My eyes begin to focus against the haze.
I felt myself blink, slowly at first then more rapidly to sate the burning.
My lungs were taken?
Replaced with fire?
No.
It was the smoke...
I managed to take my attention from the pain in my chest to look around.
were there people running?
No.
I remember now.
Those are not people.
Maybe they were at one point.
Now they're far from what anyone would call "human".





Please allow me to bring up to speed on some of the important things.





First and foremost is the pandemic... the infection.
Maybe if it were some secret military virus the government could have contained it.

I remember reading a book that described something like this, and in the book it happened because of some signal terrorists sent through the cellphone satellites.

Maybe if that were the case we could have learned like the characters in the book.

We couldn't have prepared for this...



The end of the world happened on October 28th, in the year 2009.
It was a naturally formed virus, that mutated of it's own volition.
I remember thinking amidst all the death if this was our punishment.
What had I done?
Did we all have to be punished for the mistakes of others?
Then I realized: We were not being punished... they were.

I hate to use the word, because it makes this all seem less real somehow, like it's all just a story, but zombies are real.

I suppose calling them "Zombies" is wrong, they're not "Living Dead", if someone were to examine one, I'm sure he or she would say that it is still alive and in fact never died.

I don't care what that person says, because even if they're "alive" they want me dead.



















The virus is a wildly mutated and violently aggressive version of rabies. At least that's what they said on the t.v. the day before the broadcasting stopped.

The people affected "turn" in about 3 or 4 hours, it is this time that it takes for the change to happen, that let the infection spread so quickly. Now, most people use that time to say goodbye to their loved ones, or try to take out some infected while they still have the ability, or even just try to take out themselves...

The infection spreads through any exchange of bodily fluids; this means blood to blood contact, and just like all the movies... being bitten, but it's not limited to that. If they get ANY sort of fluid on you, you're at risk. I once saw a fighter go in without a face mask, (this was near the beginning)guns blazing; he shot one square in the head, but some blood or... other substances which reside in the head got in his eye. Shot himself an hour later.

The infected are still "alive" and their bodies function just like ours, they bleed, though something in virus coagulates the blood from an open wound almost immediately, that's why the people who lived long enough to tell others about their encounters often give gruesome accounts of them running on a completely broken leg, or screaming and wagging their tongue in the place where the lower jaw should be. For some reason they don't seem to feel pain at all, I've seen one get it's arm cut off and still just keep on fighting like nothing happened. Scariest damn thing I've ever seen; however, I have NEVER seen one get up from being shot in the heart or head. The point is: they die, it's damn hard to kill one if you don't know what you're doing, but they die.

I suppose I should start off with the absolute beginning.





I was sitting in 3rd period just goofing off with my friends, thinking about my girlfriend, wondering how I was going to spend the weekend; normal things for a senior in high school to worry about by any means.

I don't even remember what the teacher was teaching when the alarm rang, loud and blaring making that annoying ring that makes you want to tear your ears off.

"That's the Lockdown alarm, get under your desks and stay away from the windows, someone will come to notify you if your parents come to pick you up."

We all just groaned and stayed sitting down, we ignored the alarm like it was a mildly annoying fly trying to land near your ear. Then something different from all the drills happened: "Teachers, it is absolutely important that you lock your doors and windows" the vice-principal's voice came on the com-system shaking and cracking like a pubescent boy about to get on a roller coaster, "keep all of the students away from the windows and if you have curtains in your room, draw them closed now." We all looked at each other like the principal had suggested that we all dance on one foot and sing the Barney theme-song. My teacher immediately got up from her desk and locked the door.

That's when the class exploded,
"What's going on?"
"How long are we going to be here?!"
"why do we have to stay away from the windows?"
"what's going on!!?"
I tried to get a look out the window, but the glass was old and filmy, you couldn't make out anything more than vague shapes of the buildings outside.

The teacher got in front of the class and began to calm us all down

"You all need to calm down, and just wait for some information" she began, " I don't know any more than you do right now okay?!" she sounded upset and maybe a little freaked out, but still tried to maintain control and order over us.

For the first time I looked away from the window and spoke up.

"Turn the T.V. on." It wasn't a question or a request, it was a command, and oddly enough she listened.

Her hand reached up to the power button and clicked the box to life.

Static buzzed then she changed the channel to 2 and the news came on.

A stern looking anchor was speaking quickly.

"...appear dead, though what exactly is causing this government scientists say that it's most likely some form of advanced rabies that is affecting only humans, it's transmitted through transfer of bodily fluids, saliva included." He paused and took a deep breath to steady himself, "the government also says to make no attempt to leave the house or contact anyone." he got up and walked away in a hurry saying something about his wife being home sick, and the camera moved to a different anchor, this time a mildly attractive female came on.

"Draw your curtains and close your blinds, stay out of sight as much as possible. We've been told to stay inside, and we suggest you do that same.", she moved her had to briefly massage her brow and wiped her hand across her face as if to wipe away the stress, "we have no idea where this came from and why this is happening... stay inside, and stay safe."

Images of grotesquely mutilated people attacking men in S.W.A.T. uniforms followed the warning, and the class just stared at the screen taking in the blood and confusion that was Mexico City, then the image changed. Now they were looking at the streets of Los Angeles, now Paris... Now New Delhi... Now Sydney. The massacre was everywhere.

"What do they mean rabies? What the hell is going on?"

Discussion errupted from the mouths of the students, and all that I could get out was "Shadow".

I knew.

I knew exactly what that meant.

I had watched every single horror movie in this genre and I knew, and for ******** sake we were all going to die if we stayed here.

"I know what they mean!" I rose to stand and made my voice heard above the crowd in the class. "I know what they mean..."


"Robert, sit down please and get away from the window now." the teacher scolded me as if I were some child.

"No, screw that, we need to get out of here." I urged, almost pleading.

"Robert! SIT DOWN!" she raised her voice to sound like my mother.

Screw this, if I stay here I'll die. I thought, I knew what the hell was going on, I knew that the government and the news station didn't say it. They didn't say it because something like this couldn't be going on, right? To say it was to acknowledge it, to acknowledge it is to make it real. They didn't tell us what was going on because they didn't want to believe it was real.

But it is real... more real than you know.

I got up from my seat and walked to the door nice and calm like.

I had watched these movies since I was a little boy shivering with fear watching the original Dawn of the Dead. All those hours reading books and watching the movies, I was probably one of the most qualified people on earth to deal with this and call the shots. I had learned a few important things from watching the movies and reading the books.

The first rule of survival is: "Stay away from idiots or you WILL die".

So I REALLY needed to get away from this bunch.

Our door was one of those big wooden doors with a nice sturdy dead-bolt lock, very good for keeping people out, terrible for keeping them in. I turned the lock and walked out the door not even listening to the teacher yelling at me to get back in the class. As soon as I was clear from the door I sprinted down the hall of the history building and burst out from the door into the burning sun. I felt the sun fill me with warmth, then in the next 2 seconds the warmth transformed into a burning. El Centro wasn't called "Hell Centro" for nothing.

The city of "Hell Centro" was named so because of the scorching temperature that persisted almost all of the year. About 15 minutes from the California/Mexico border it was more Mexico than California.

CUHS wasn't a particularly huge campus, but when you wanted to be somewhere fast it seemed to stretch on forever. I knew she had P.E. so I just ran up to the door and yelled for help. The gym was also on lockdown, but how could they turn away a student screaming for help?

The Gym teacher Mr. Middleton opened the door after asking me who I was and very poorly making sure I wasn't in danger. I told him that I was in the restroom when the announcement for the lockdown happened, and none of the other teachers would open the door for me. I thanked him and after he locked the door I spotted my Shadow sitting near the back of the gym.

Shadow is my girlfriend, and I call her that because she is my shadow, my other half, without her I would not be complete.

"Bobby, what're you doing here?" she asked confused, "we're on lockdown, why aren't you in your class?"

I took a deep breath.

"Shadow, I need you to get up with me and walk to the door," she just looked at me still confused. I fished my cell out of my pocket, and dialed my brother Jeff. Jeff always had my back. It rang 4 times and just when I though I was going to get the machine he picked up.

"Jeff!" I exhaled in a big gust of relief, having to force our way out would have been troublesome, "Jeff I need you to pretend to be dad and tell this tard that the office lines are busy and you're outside to pick us up okay?"

Good old Jeff didn't even ask any questions about it.

"Put him on, and I will actually be out there in about 10 minutes or so."

"Thanks Jeff, and have you heard from mom or dad at all?"

"No, not yet." He sighed, "do you know what's going on, have you seen the news?" he asked sadly.

"I've seen enough to guess what's going on," I laughed a bit, hardly the appropriate response to the situation, "I just REALLY hope that i'm not overreacting, cause if I come to school tomorrow and it turns out to just be some terrorist or something I'm going to feel like a grade-A-choice-idiot, ya know?"

"Yeah, but why would terrorists come to Hell Centro?"

"Don't shoot my hopes down Jeff, please... please pray that it's just terrorists."

"Yeah, I know what you mean."

"Alright, just hold on Jeff, I need to get Shadow ready to get out of here, i'll put you on in a second."

Shadow looked at me like she wanted to slap the crazy out of me.

"What the hell is going on Bobby?"

I knew if I tried to explain to her that she would say I was being stupid, so I resorted to the "If you love me" tactic; it was sad, but necessary.

"Shadow, have I ever asked anything outrageous or unreasonable of you?"

She opened her mouth to respond, but I caught it before it could backfire.

"Don't answer that." I grabbed her cheeks and pulled her face to look at me strait in the eyes, I tried to convey all the panic and terror that I felt, "I need you to trust me, if you ever trust me only once in your life, please let that one time be now."

"The puppy dog eyes don't work on me anymore." she said even though she poised herself to stand from her previous sitting position.

I smiled and laid out the plan.

"Okay, the locker room doors will still be open since all of the students and teachers were in the gym when the lockdown was called. So we're going to go to your locker and you are going to get dressed in a hurry." I made her look at me again, "Jeff is going to be outside the school in just a few minutes, and we NEED to be in that car."

She just nodded, I knew this was really pushing the trust she had in me. I had just asked her to ditch class and get in the car of my brother and I didn't even tell her where we were going yet... I wish I knew where we were going.

We got up and walked strait over to the teacher.

"Excuse me Mr. Middleton, my dad is on the phone, he's here to pick up me and my sister."

I handed him the phone, and after a short conversation he hung up and handed the phone back to me.

"Go strait to the front and get in the car, go home and stay there." Mr. Middleton said suspiciously.

We ran to the girls locker room and shoved open the door. She stopped just after the threshold and looked at me.

"This is the girls' lo..." I cut her off before she could finish.

"We don't have time for that right now okay!?" I shoved her along not ungently, but hard enough to get her to move.

We came to her locker and she entered the combination and opened the lock. she took out her clothes and paused again.

"Are you going to watch me?" she seemed embarrassed.

"We. Don't. Have. Time. For. This." I tried not to sound unkind, but it was a little hard to, "change, please." I looked around and saw a bag of golf clubs in the teachers office.

I ran in and grabbed two. As I walked back to her she was just slipping her feet through her pants legs, completely naked exept for her bra and underwear.

She moved the fabric across her smooth skin simultaneously exciting and covering that which excited. Her legs were strong and soft and the color near and around her thighs was several shades lighter than that of her lower legs and body. I shivered with a 17 year old's lust as she pulled the fabric over her crotch and buttoned it closed. She looked at me and smiled.

What a tease I thought.

Reality jerked me back like a dog on a leash.

"Shirt. Now". I sounded harsh, but I still had time to appreciate the delicate chestnut curls that waved down and surrounded the lush skin of her breasts.

She pulled down the shirt over her face and breasts, then reached for her bag that was still stored in the tiny locker.

"Don't bother." I handed her the other golf club. "Carry this instead." She shrugged and grabbed the grip of the club. We started out the door, but I backtracked into the office for another club.

We ran out to the front of the school and saw Jeff's F150 idling and we jumped into the back seat of the extended cab.

"Here" I said as I handed him the club over the gap in the middle of the two front seats.

He thanked me and started driving.

"Where to?"

"Home." I spat out before I could really think about the ramifications of any other place; right then I just wanted my comfort zone.

As soon as we pulled up in front of the house I heard a scream.

I knew it was coming, there would be many more screams before the day was through.

I forced myself to calm down.

Rule number 2 of survival: "If you panic, you WILL die"

We walked inside and locked the door and windows and closed the blinds.

"Okay." I looked at Jeff, then at Shadow who was looking more confused than ever, "first off, I need to lay down some ground rules." I looked at them again trying to do more than just hold their attention, I needed to grab it, and hold it, and put it in a restraint.

"Rules for what?" Shadow asked concerned.

"Survival." I said with as somber a face as I could muster.

She just stared.

"First off, I am in charge." I held up my index finger as if that would solidify the rule. "Second, do NOT," I raised my voice for effect, "I repeat, do NOT do anything without my permission." I kept moving my head back and forth addressing both of them. "That means even bathroom breaks do not happen unless I give the O.K."

"Can I go to the bathroom now?" Shadow asked lamely, it was clear she did not take anything I was saying seriously.

"NO! YOU CANNOT GO TO THE BATHROOM NOW!" I felt horrible doing it, and it was my first time yelling at her in the two years we'd been seeing each other. "SHADOW, YOU NEED TO LISTEN! OH MY DEAR SWEET JESUS YOU NEED TO LISTEN!" She looked close to tears then, but I kept on going, I would rather hurt her feelings than have her dead. "THIS IS REAL, THIS IS HAPPENING, AND YOU NEED TO BE HERE, DAMMIT YOU NEED TO BE RIGHT ******** HERE." I pointed my finger to the ground at my feet. She let a single tear escape and only then did I realize that I was crying too.

Rule #3 of survival: "Order must be maintained within your group or you WILL die."

"Okay." She hiccuped the word out trying to keep the sobs in. She took a deep breath and caught herself, then dove right in. "What the hell is going on? You take me out of class during a lockdown, and I'm pretty sure that you can get suspended for that, and then you and Jeff take me here and you start yelling about how you're in charge and that I can't even pee without you clearing it first. What. The hell. Is going on?"

"They're infected." two words summed it up for me, but it didn't do it for Shadow.

"Who's infected with what?" she asked visibly losing her patience.

To answer the question Jeff picked up the remote and turned on the T.V.

Images of what you would call "The Living Dead" filled the screen, people in torn and bloody clothing sprinting towards people in uniforms shooting shotguns, pistols and sub-machine guns in a line. Body after body dropped, shot through, and riddled with holes, but where one fell two appeared from behind it, they were pushing the line of uniforms back with nothing but sheer numbers. Everyone was screaming, but you could tell which ones were cries of battle and which ones were cries of insanity and bloodlust.

"Shut it off Jeff." I said not looking at him.

Abruptly the sound of the screams from the television stopped, but in the distance the screams continued.

"Oh my God." she put her hand over her mouth. "No" she shook her head, "no, the government will stop this, this... this can't even be happening!" She stood up and walked around the coffee table to stand in front of me. She towered over me because I was sitting on the other couch looking up at her. "There is no such things a ******** zombies! This isn't some crappy horror movie!" I could see that she was just denying it because she desperately didn't want it to be real. I could still hear the screams in the distance.

"Guns, we need guns, and we need them now." I stood up and walked away from Shadow and Jeff who was perched at the arm of the couch I was previously sitting on. "Jeff, where..." he was up and moving back into my parents room before I needed to finish the sentence.

My parents were both El Centro Police, which means they were probably already dead.

I couldn't face that right then so I took out a piece of paper and wrote down a note for my parents.



I signed my name and at the very end of the "y" the lead broke and Jeff returned from the hall with my dad's pistol.









~~~~Family~~~~



We all got into the F150 and started driving.

"Jeff, we gotta go see if Shadow's parents are okay."

Shadow's parents were both also police officers, that's actually how we met, at some police ball or something like that. Today was their day off though and they should be home. Though in light of recent events, they might have been called in regardless of their R.D.O. but I had to try, I had to try for Shadow, because I already knew my parents were either dead, or alive and would catch up later. I Gripped the pistol tighter.

We pulled up to Shadow's apartment and got out of the car.

"Jeff, I need you to stay here." I said.

"Why? What if something happens, wont you need help?"

"If something happens, and they chase us, we need to be able to get away."

"Well what if something happens out here?"

"Jeff, people die when left alone... But only if they're stupid, or not paying attention."

"But..."

"I know that you're not stupid, so I need you to. Pay. Attention."

"I can do that."

"Jeff, that means no radio, no drugs of any kind, no fantasizing about a girl, I need you to have one and only one thing on your mind: Pay. Attention."

"Okay Bobby, I can do that."

"Good, Shadow... stay here too." People who don't fully comprehend what's going on are the first to die, followed shortly after by people who are emotionally disturbed on a personal level. Shadow was both of those.

"I'll go in and check for your parents, I'll be back in 5 minutes, If I'm not, then just wait for 5 more minutes." I said, then turned the safety on the pistol off.

I took Shadow's key, and stepped past the threshold of apartment 5. The first thing I noticed was the assaulting stench of vomit. The entire apartment smelled like vomit. Vomit, and something I couldn't quite place, but was just as disgusting as the smell of puke if not worse. I noticed a small patch of the puke on the ground, but there was also several patches of blood. Gun pointed through the door I backed up back into the sunlight.

"Shadow?" I called her name

"Yeah? Are my parents okay?!"

"Where do your parents keep their guns?"

"I don't know."

I exhaled and started slowly back into the miasma of vomit fumes, and something I now suspected was more foreboding than simple puke.

I pointed the gun strait out in front of me and looked for movement, luckily there wasn't any, apparently her parents were called in due to the emergency and were kind enough to leave a note for her. I went into their room and started searching through drawers for their off duty weapons. Her dad's gun was fairly easy to find, tucked away at the back of his top drawer. Her mom's was a little less easy, and was hidden behind a book on the small shelf near the door. Her mom's was the standard 9mm Glock, but the dad's was actually a military issue M9. Pleased and surprised I took my dad's Glock and the mom's glock and fit them in the back of my pants while using the M9 to finish looking around.

I didn't find anything interesting, so I moved back outside still holding the gun in front of me ready.

Rule #4: "Do not let your guard down prematurely or you WILL die."

"Your parents are at work, with any luck they'll stay with my parents and we'll see them all in one piece."I said.

"Yeah, I guess." she said sadly.

"If both your mom and dad went to work together, would they take the same care, or would they take separate ones?" I asked knowing that they had a little Accord, and a not so little Landrover.

"They would both take the Accord, they've been doing that for the past few days anyway, why?"

"We should have another car just in case something happens, where do they keep the keys?"

"The keys should be on the kitchen counter." she said.

"I'll be back, stay here and keep on looking out." I said and ran back in for the keys which were right where Shadow said they would be.

I came out still semi-choking on whatever that worse-than-vomit smell was, but ignored my curiosity.

Rule #5 of survival: "Mind your business or you WILL die."

I knew that as soon as you decided that you would check out whatever was fishy, something happens and 8 times out of 10 you die...

"Where's the parking?" I asked shadow while handing her one Glock and Jeff the other one.

"Around back." She said.

"Sorry to keep telling you guys this, but..."

"Stay." they said in unison.

"Yeah we got it Bob-O." Jeff said while looking around.

"'Kay, just as long as you understand." I started to turn, but remembered that Shadow didn't know as much as me or Jeff. "If you see one" I put my index finger on Shadow's forehead, "shoot here, and nowhere else." I said before turning around again.

I ran around the back and looked for their cars. The Accord was still there...

I looked around with the M9 at the ready I needed to get into that small space between the cars to get into the Landrover because I didn't want to know where the Accord keys were at the moment.

This rule is more of a guideline so it doesn't really count, but avoiding small spaces is always a good idea unless necessary, and right now it was.

I dropped down on my stomach and check under all the cars... Nothing.

I got up and moved along the line of cars to check in between the cars... Nothing.

I held the gun so tight my knuckles were white my finger grasping the trigger, squeezing it tight, ready for anything, and that's when I noticed the smell. the same smell as in the apartment, and the blood, I thought it was maybe oil from one of the cars, but it wasn't anything as nice as oil, I knew thwat now.

I saw the blood and I knew that I didn't want anything to do with it, but we needed the extra car.

Rule #6 "Always have a backup, or you WILL die."

I knew that if I just walked in there I would most likely die, so I walked back to the front of the appartments to check on Jeff and Shadow and get something to save my life and get the car.

Jeff and Shadow were okay, but I didn't answer their questions about the cars, I just walked right past them untill I was in the house again, and began to look for one of their cell phones.

The local police department didn't allow it's officers to bring their phones on the job, so most of the officers just leave their phones home, and I was hoping that Shadow's parrents did the same. I looked in their room on their nightstands and along the floor of the bed, but there was nothing worth mention. I moved on to the kitchen and immedietly found two phones along the counter near where I found the keys to the cars. I took both of them and ran outside.

Shadow and Jeff just kinda looked at me and half asked what I was doing, but I didnt let them finish asking me anything before I asked Shadow her dad's phone number.

After I had the number I called it to make sure that it was indeed the correct phone number. I told them to stay there again and ran back around the apartments to the parking.

In all the zombie movies I had ever seen they were attracted to unnecessary noise, and in a few they were drawn to things that they remembered. Some ventured work, some stayed home. But it was and inconsistency with different types of zombies.

I walked around to the corner of the building and slid the phone on the ground in the direction of the parking garage. After hiding myself behind the corner enough to be inconspicuous, and still able to see the phone, I called the number.

Fur Elise played from the phone and I heard something from the direction of the cars, but I saw nothing indistinguishable in the darkness in between cars. Maybe it was just gravity playing tricks on me? I wanted to be sure, so when the ringing stopped and so did the noise from the direction of the Honda, I kept the hand with the gun pointed towards the darkness that occupied the space between the cars and I used my other hand to press the send button again.

This time I saw it... him... Shadow's dad...

He sort of stumbled out of the darkness, and looked around for the source of the noise. I used this chance to size him up.

He looked like the typical zombie: slow, clumsy, easily distracted, movements sort of jerky. He had blood around his mouth, and over his chest, which means he had infected someone. He was wearing his police uniform including his belt, but his on duty weapon was still at the police station waiting to be checked out to him.