The next few hours dragged on in an uncomfortable silence. The movie had ended long ago, but the television was still playing quietly in the background. I could feel sleep starting to creep up on me. Eva was warm against my chest, breathing softly while Sarah sat beside me flipping through channels. Then somewhere in the distance I heard a dull boom. Not close, but not far either. A few seconds later came the screech of tires, engines revving, cars accelerating away like people were trying to outrun something.
The television suddenly switched to a breaking broadcast.
National emergency alert.
My heart started racing instantly. "Fuck… fuck… fuck," I muttered under my breath as a terrible feeling spread through my chest.
Right then the neighbor's dog started barking violently at the door. Sarah stood up and walked toward it. "I'm gonna check," she said. I immediately stood up too. "Wait, Joel asked me to watch you." But she was already reaching for the handle. Kids always do the dumbest things at the worst moments. Still, the silence outside was disturbing. I handed Eva back to her and said, "Stay inside." Then I stepped out and closed the door behind me before walking toward the Adler house across the street.
The moment I stepped inside their doorway the smell hit me. Blood. Thick and metallic. But there was another smell mixed with it too. Something wet and rotten. My heart was pounding so hard I could hear it in my ears. I quietly pulled my pistol from dimensional storage, the suppressor already attached.
The living room was a disaster with furniture knocked over and dark blood smeared across the floor. Then I saw Mr. Adler slumped against the wall, clutching a huge wound in his stomach while gasping for breath. He lifted his hand weakly and pointed past me for help.
My eyes followed his trembling finger. Behind him, crouched over a body, was the old woman who lived with them. Mrs. Adler's mother, the one who had suffered a stroke and could barely even chew food. She was on top of Mrs. Adler's corpse, tearing into her neck with her teeth like an animal.
Slowly she lifted her head and looked straight at me. Blood covered her mouth and her eyes looked empty and wrong. My brain didn't even hesitate. "Fuck that." I raised the pistol and fired once. The suppressed shot was quiet but the result wasn't. She collapsed instantly.
I ran back across the street without looking back. "Fuck fuck fuck," I kept muttering as I burst into the Miller house. Sarah looked confused as I grabbed Eva from her arms and pulled her toward the door. "We're leaving right now," I said. We rushed outside just as headlights flashed across the street and a truck slammed against the curb. Joel and Tommy jumped out quickly. Joel looked at me holding Eva and dragging Sarah toward my car.
Joel's face changed the moment he saw Sarah standing safely beside me. For a brief second there was relief, almost peaceful, as he rushed over and pulled her into a tight hug, kissing her forehead quickly. Then the moment was gone and panic took over. He grabbed her by the shoulders and dragged her toward the truck. "Get in! Get in!" he yelled. I let go of Sarah's hand just as another neighbor, Denise, stepped outside her house, confused. "What's going on?" she shouted across the street. Joel didn't even slow down. "Denise, get the fuck inside and lock your doors!" he barked while Tommy was already starting the engine of the pickup.
Tommy leaned out of the window and shouted, "Get in!" Sarah hesitated, looking back at me. For a moment I just stood there frozen like a deer caught in headlights. From the Adler house behind me I could hear disturbing sounds, something like bones cracking and furniture scraping across the floor. That snapped me out of it. I ran toward my car, holding Eva tightly. I slammed the door, locked it, rolled up the windows, and quickly strapped Eva into her baby seat. My hands were shaking as I started the engine. I glanced at my phone and saw several missed calls from Mom and Dad. "Fuck," I muttered. "Why did it have to start like this?"
Joel's truck sped past us as I hit the call button again and again. "Pick up… please pick up…" Eva had started crying loudly in the back seat. Finally the phone rang and Mom answered. Her voice was full of panic. They were at the supermarket. Dad had been working his shift at the restaurant nearby when someone suddenly attacked him and bit his hand. My stomach dropped. "No… no…" I whispered as I slammed my foot on the gas pedal. The street ahead was already turning into chaos. I swerved around abandoned cars and ran straight over two infected neighbors who were crouched over Denise's body, tearing into her. There was only one supermarket nearby, the one off Route 71, and I pushed the car as fast as it could go.
The city looked like a war zone. Fires burned in the distance. Explosions echoed somewhere across town. Cars were crashing everywhere. I cut through alleys, sidewalks, and empty lanes without caring what I hit along the way. When I finally reached the supermarket parking lot I smashed straight through the glass entrance with the car and slammed the horn repeatedly. Inside, several people turned toward me, but they didn't look like normal shoppers. Some held machetes. Others had guns. Looters. I quickly reversed the car as they raised their weapons toward me. At that moment several infected ran past my car and charged into the store, drawn by the movement. Some of them slammed against my vehicle but quickly turned toward the running looters instead.
I called Mom again. "Where are you?" I shouted into the phone. Her voice trembled as she answered. "Behind the store… inside a dumpster in the alley." I drove around the building and stopped beside the dumpster before jumping out of the car with my pistol ready. I shot two infected that stumbled toward me and opened the lid. Mom was inside, crying uncontrollably. I pulled her out and rushed back to the car. We managed to drive away from the supermarket and escape the worst of the chaos, but suddenly a large crowd ran across the road in front of us. I slammed the brakes, but the car stalled and refused to start again.
I grabbed my gun and stepped out of the vehicle, lifting Eva from the back seat. "Where's Dad?" I asked quickly. Mom shook her head in panic. "I don't know. People started fighting for supplies. Someone bit his hand. He made me hide in the dumpster while he ran the other direction." She started crying again. "We have to find him." My mind screamed at me to keep moving. We couldn't stay there. I started pulling her toward a narrow alley that would lead us out of the main street. We needed to reach Route 70 and get to the bunker. But as we walked I noticed something wrong. Mom was clutching her arm strangely, her movements stiff and unnatural.
"Mom?" I said quietly.
She didn't answer.
Her body suddenly jerked as if something inside her bones was shifting. Her back bent at an unnatural angle and I heard a faint cracking sound. "No… Mom… no…" I whispered as realization hit me like a truck. I slowly raised my gun while backing away, but my hands wouldn't stop shaking. I couldn't pull the trigger. "No… Mom…" A loud gunshot suddenly echoed behind me and her head snapped back as a bullet tore through it. Two men rushed forward immediately, grabbing the bag she had been holding and pulling supplies from her hands. They glanced at me and Eva, saw that I was just holding a baby, and pointed their guns briefly before running away with everything.
I ran.
I ran through empty stores and narrow streets, trying to keep my sobs quiet while Eva cried herself to sleep from exhaustion. Her skin felt hot against my chest. After what felt like hours I finally stepped out of a small shop and saw a soldier standing ahead of me. He had an assault rifle pointed at a man holding a child. "Please," the man begged. "We're not infected." The soldier was listening to static on his radio, waiting for orders. I knew what was about to happen. I had seen enough already. I shouted, "Put your hands up!" The soldier spun around and I fired first. The bullet struck his neck and he collapsed, blood pouring from his mouth.
Everything around me felt distant. My thoughts blurred together. Mom. Dad. The bunker. None of it mattered in that moment. All I could hear was Eva crying again. I dragged the soldier's armored truck closer and climbed inside with her. Just as I started the engine I heard someone shouting. "Ben! Ben!" I looked up and saw Sarah standing there, injured but alive, with Joel beside her. A second later Tommy appeared from the darkness holding a rifle. Instinctively I aimed my gun at him. "No!" Joel yelled quickly. But I didn't stop. I turned the wheel and sped toward Route 70, leaving Joel, Sarah, and Tommy behind as the burning city collapsed behind us.