10 Days: Undead Uprising

by Jon Athan

  With zany eyes bent on survival, Marcelino sternly asked, “Who the hell are you? Are you... Are you infected? Are you dead or alive?”

  Brian Kash stood before him with wobbling legs and a clenched jaw. A droplet of blood slowly trickled from his nose. His white button-up shirt and navy trousers were drenched by the ocean water. His damp hair reached down to his finely-trimmed eyebrows. His soaked black dress shoes squished with each step. Marcelino could see the fear and pain in Kash's glimmering brown eyes.

  Kash slowly lowered his hands and said, “I'm... I'm not infected. I'm alive, I'm okay. I'm... I was... My name is Brian Kash. I was an intern before all of this. Nothing special, I swear. I don't even know how to handle a pistol. I was with the acting President when it all happened.”

  Marcelino slowly lowered his hammer as he asked, “What the hell happened to you? How did you survive the explosion?”

  Kash chuckled, then explained, “I... Well, I... I survived in the fridge.”

  Marcelino furrowed his brow and tilted his head like a curious pup, then asked, “Like... like the movie?”

  Kash nervously laughed as he ran his fingers through his sopping hair, then said, “Yeah, yeah, like the movie. I hopped into the fridge right before it happened. The explosion flung me into the ocean. I had to swim back here. A lot of people didn't like it, but, you know, I thought it was a decent film. I don't know. At least it saved my life.”

  The pair shared a genuine chuckle as they stood in the demolished diner. Marcelino's smile vanished as he looked towards his boots and said, “My name is Marcelino. I survived in a bunker. We didn't really get much of a warning, but I made it.” Marcelino loudly sniffled as he gazed at his veiled hand, then said, “I can't say the same for my wife, unfortunately. We were chased down by those monsters. I ran faster cause... cause I was scared, so I made it there first. I mean, imagine that: nukes are inbound, zombies are sprinting and crawling towards you from every direction, and... and the last thing you hear before you shut the vault is your wife's painful cry and the door hinges as you shut her out. Can you imagine it? Can you?”

  Brian's eyes swelled with tears as he said, “It's not your fault, man. It's no one's fault. You can't really place the blame on anyone. What Hill did was... It was for the greater good. If he didn't, this disease would have spread across the globe. It would've ended us all. Still, I'm sorry to hear that...”

  Marcelino nodded as he walked past Kash, then stood at the edge of the diner. He glanced at the elegant sun, then stared down at the sand. Shards of glass and splintered wood protruded from beneath the beady shore. Kash stepped to Marcelino's side and gazed at his soaked shoes.

  Marcelino said, “What a way to celebrate New Year's Day, right? Starting the new year with a new world. It's unbelievable...” Kash stood in silence. Marcelino continued, “It's all been destroyed. In just a few moments, everything was wiped out. Everything we worked for was demolished. We might never rebuild it. We might not survive...”

  Kash interrupted, “We can still survive this. We had a plan before all of this happened. A real plan. We get on a boat, then sail to one of our allies in East Asia. Or... we sail somewhere safe, at least, somewhere remote.”

  Marcelino asked, “Why'd you come back if you had a plan?”

  Kash coughed to clear his throat, then responded, “Guilt. I could hear them dying from the kitchen, but I didn't help them. I hid in the fridge, like a damn coward. I came back to see if any of them survived.” Kash glanced back at the diner's bar and said, “But, I can see they're all dead. Nothing but ash.”

  Marcelino nodded as he gazed into Kash's eyes and said, “I trust you. Let's find a boat and get the hell out of here.”

  ***

  Marcelino lunged over the sparkling glass shards, then trudged towards the oncoming waves. Kash carefully plodded behind, breathing heavily as he struggled to catch his breath and recompose himself. Marcelino placed his hand over his brow as he searched for a suitable boat. A sea of endless debris and death awaited in the once-pristine waters.

  Marcelino asked, “You can handle any of these, right? There won't be any problems?” Kash simply nodded as he squinted into the boundless ocean. Marcelino said, “Good. I don't want to be stranded after we head out there. Those things know how to swim, so we have to be fast.”

  Kash nervously cackled as he pointed towards the sea. A white speedboat with a red frame floated beyond the overturned boats and rubble cluttering the ocean. Marcelino furrowed his brow as he gazed at the motorboat, then turned back towards Kash. Kash childishly giggled into his hand as he struggled to contain himself. His boyish guffaw was fueled by his irrepressible euphoria.

  Kash sniffled, then explained, “That was the speedboat we were supposed to take before we launched the nukes. We can still do it. We can follow the original plan. It's still floating.” As he gazed at the boat with hopeful eyes, Kash whispered, “I can't believe it's still floating.”

  Marcelino bit his bottom lip and nodded, then said, “As long as you can operate it. Let's get this over with. Let's get going.”

  The pair jogged towards the rippling waves, then leaped into the contaminated water. They swam towards the wandering speedboat, past the rubble and disintegrating corpses. Loud splashing and groans emerged from the left. Kash paused, then looked over his shoulder. A horde of red-eyed zombies were preoccupied with a vicious shark. His eyes widened upon spotting a peculiar zombie. To his utter surprise, John Jensen was part of the surviving legion of undead in the ocean. Jensen's eyes were blood-red and his body was riddled with savage bite marks.

  Kash shook his head and said, “The worst fate...”

  As he settled himself on the boat, Marcelino cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted, “Hurry up! We don't have any time to waste!”

  Snapping out of his contemplation, Kash nodded, then quickly swam towards the speedboat – each stroke more vigorous than the last. Marcelino peered towards the helm of the compact boat. A male body sat on the passenger seat, absently facing forward and slightly swaying with the waves. The pale-skinned man wore a blue Hawaiian shirt, khaki shorts, and black flip flops. The black hair atop his dome was scruffy and wild.

  Marcelino swallowed loudly, then asked, “Mister, are you... Are you okay? Have you been bitten by one of those things?” The man did not respond. Marcelino gripped the man's broad shoulder and said, “Sir, are you...”

  Suddenly, the man groaned as he turned towards Marcelino. Marcelino gasped upon spotting the man's dull, white eyes. The zombie stood from his seat, then lunged towards Marcelino. The undead man tightly gripped Marcelino's shoulders and chomped towards him. Marcelino leaned as far back as possible as the zombie reached closer with each bite.

  Marcelino gritted his teeth and scowled as he agilely retrieved a knife from his pocket, then jammed the blade into the zombie's temple. The zombie's eyelids flickered as he moaned. Blood oozed from the stab wound, streaming down his cheek like an open faucet. Marcelino inhaled deeply, then shoved the carcass overboard.

  As he climbed onto the wavering speedboat, Kash asked, “What was all that?”

  Marcelino sniffled, then said, “Nothing. Just another one of those things.” He swayed his head towards the helm and asked, “So, will you be able to drive this thing or what? Can we finally get out of here?”

  Kash rushed forward, then opened the engine hatch. He weaved and bobbed his head as he frantically searched for water and fumes. He smiled as he shut the hatch, then waddled towards the helm. A joyous grin was plastered on Kash's face as the engine sputtered, then settled.

  Wide-eyed, Kash turned towards Marcelino and said, “We can go. We can actually escape. We just need a moment for the engine to heat up.”

  Marcelino asked, “How much time do you need?”

  Kash shook his head and said, “Not long, not long. Trust me, I know you want to get out of here. I know better than anyone, we have to leave as soon as possible. The nuclear erosion is set to wipe out everything
within 24 hours. We just need a minute to get settled, then I'll get us as far away from here as possible.”

  As he tilted his head, Marcelino asked, “Nuclear erosion?”

  Kash explained, “Yeah, the aftermath. These nukes have been developed for total annihilation. These nukes are set to gradually destroy everything. People, cars, buildings, the environment... everything. I hate to say this, but we might not even survive if we spent too much time around here. We've been breathing it in the entire time. You were in the bunker and I was far out in the ocean, so we might be fine, but there's always the possibility...”

  “Shit...” Marcelino muttered as he ran his fingers through his hair. He shook his head and said, “Okay, okay... Forget about that for now. Let's assume we survive the erosion, alright? Where will we go? What exactly are we going to do?”

  Kash responded, “I told you, anywhere that's safe. We'll have to constantly fine somewhere to dock and refuel, but we have to reach one of our allies. We can head down to Canada or Mexico, but I'd assume this virus spread has already spread across all of North America. The nuclear erosion probably hit them too, I don't know. I think it's best to head towards East Asia.”

  Marcelino asked, “Why? Why are you so bent on taking us to East Asia? It would be best to bunker down somewhere remote, wouldn't it? Alaska or something, right? What's so important about the Asia?”

  With a deadpan expression, Kash turned towards Marcelino and explained, “I heard that's where all of this originated. All of this was caused by a simple plant from China or Japan. A plant someone smuggled into our country for his selfish experiments. Unfortunately, we lost contact with both countries two days ago. It's been a blackout.”

  “A plant?” Marcelino repeated in a dubious tone.

  Kash nodded and continued, “A flower with the ability to reanimate the dead. All of this destruction and death because of a.... a plant!” Kash shook his head in disgust, then said, “So, we have two options, Marcelino. We can head to China or Japan. Japan is our ally. We have to see if they can help us. We have to see if they're okay. I think that's our best option. If China hasn't been affected, you can bet they'll kill us on-sight. No questions asked. If they have been infected by this virus, they've probably already nuked themselves or we'll be facing a billion of those zombies...”

  Marcelino gazed into the darkness ahead – a dark and endless void of uncertainty and terror. The waves rippled and crashed beneath the speedboat. Endless debris and dead bodies floated past the pair. Suddenly, Marcelino coughed and grunted into his right hand. The pink cloth was splattered by droplets of blood. Marcelino's eyes swelled with tears as he deeply contemplated.

  Kash asked, “So... what will it be?”

  Marcelino glanced towards the nuclear wasteland behind them. He turned towards Kash with glimmering eyes, then responded, “Let's go to Japan.”

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