Z Day: Survival of the Fittest

by Newton, Reece

  Dexter’s first rule don’t trust anyone, you don’t have a clue what they’ve done, who they were before all this happened and you don’t have a clue about what they’re capable of to survive. Dexter explained that they would be able to find us and kill us no matter what, those three men and hundreds of zombies were nearly at the door now and Dexter looked scared, he looked as though he was going to cry. He begged Gina to give him the grenade then Barry took it and without pulling the pin threw it from the top of the tower, then he went to the other side of the tower and climbed over the edge while hanging on he tried climbing down. Those two were busy trying to help Barry, I looked over the edge and saw the three men directly below me, they all looked straight at me with a fierce look on each of their faces. The tower was surrounded by zombies and the man closest to the tower looked up directly at me and grabbed something from his pocket, he threw it up on the rooftop. It was a grenade! I ran to Gina and shouted grenade! We ran down the stairs forgetting about Barry, we hid in the small office for what seemed like a lifetime and I thought it was the end. The grenade went off and the roof collapsed above us. The sound pierced through my ears before I blacked out. I came too and it must have only been seconds later Dexter was lifting pieces of the tower from me. My whole body felt paralyzed, he managed to get most of the pieces off me but as he tried to drag me out from under the rubble my left leg was caught. Zombies were charging towards me and Dexter was screeching, I tried loosening my leg but it wouldn’t move, I cried, I was in agony. Zombies continued to run towards me and I could no longer see Dexter. The next thing I heard were gunshots coming from behind me where I saw zombies falling to the floor with holes in their heads. It was Dexter, he handed me a pistol and asked me to shoot while he tried freeing my leg, I felt quite dizzy but my vision was slowly getting clearer. I started to shoot the zombies, I missed the first few times but started killing them after a few seconds. While shooting I saw the top half of Gina’s body hanging out from some of the rubble then a few seconds later I saw Barry walking towards the zombies with his right leg hanging off, his brain was showing and he was covered in blood. I shouted out to him but he walked right into them, I had no choice I shot him in the head (I thought he would have preferred that to being eaten alive by zombie. I had one bullet left and I was going to save that, they ran towards us then Dexter said “I'm sorry about this” then he grabbed a machete from his bag and in one quick and painful motion he chopped off the bottom of my leg.

  The pain was intense and it looked and felt as though I would bleed to death. He dragged me out from the rubble. I blacked out after that and the whole thing was quite a daze. The next thing I knew I was lying in a single bed in a caravan, I must have passed out from the pain or the loss of blood, I went to get up but fell back onto the bed. I leant on the wall and managed to hoist myself up, I felt really weak and my leg was still very painful but I think it had been cauterized and then bandaged up to stop the bleeding.

  I couldn’t believe that I had survived, I leant on a chair next to the wardrobe and used it to get into the kitchen to see if anyone was there, it hurt and I had no energy whatsoever. I couldn’t see anyone in the kitchen but I found a few bottles of water in one of the cupboards then I went and rested on the stool in the corner. On the seat was a map and Dexter’s gun but there was no sign of him anywhere, I called his name but he wasn't there. I opened the curtains to let some light in, outside was a pile of bodies and a kind of barracks around the caravan made of trip wire, chunks of wood (like table legs) and strips of other caravans. I was quite jealous really, suddenly I heard banging coming from the roof, I took Dexter’s pistol in case it was a zombie then opened the hatch on the ceiling. Dexter jumped down, he was shocked to see me awake he said I’d been out for two days and he wasn't sure if I would make it or not but he was glad I was awake and feeling better. He said he just went out to get some food at a little shop at the caravan park, he opened his bag and on top of the guns in a plastic bag was a pack of bacon that was only just out of date, some tins of peas and sweetcorn and six packs of dry roasted peanuts to keep our protein up. I wasn't a huge fan of nuts but it was food so it didn't really matter.

  Dexter put the hob on to cook the bacon while he told me what had happened after I blacked out, he said that the zombies were chasing us and the three men were all firing at us but he managed to shoot one of them and then it started to rain and the blood on them began to wash away. He said they got what they deserved then he took me into the caravan and cauterized my leg to stop the bleeding and bandaged it up using bandages he’d found in the first aid box in one of the bedrooms. This morning he made the barricade after telling me he soaked my face in cold water, he said it would make me feel better but it just made me freezing cold. Dexter finished cooking the bacon and gave me some along with 3 paracetamols. Once I’d taken them he rolled up my sleeve and gave me some kind of adrenaline shot after that I started to feel a lot better, he made me cup of tea and then changed my bandages no one had ever been this nice to me (not even my own parents when they were alive).

  Dexter grabbed the map from the chair and said “We need to go soon” the barricade wouldn't hold much longer (after all there were still hundreds of zombies out there). While Dexter was planning out where we should go next I remembered seeing Gina lying in the rubble, I asked Dexter about it but he said that she couldn't have survived the attack and that she had been unconscious on the floor surrounded by zombies. I didn't believe him, I knew how strong she was, he didn't know her like I did. She must have made it out alive she was the only person left on this earth that I was starting to care for and I couldn't imagine her flesh being ripped from her bones by a zombie. If she woke before they had bitten her she would have thought I'd abandoned her, I Just couldn't get her out of my mind.

  Dexter was preparing to go when we heard a crashing noise coming from outside, 3 zombies ran straight into the barricade being stabbed by the metal poles. Dexter just laughed and got back to preparing our next route. I had another look at my stump, it was quite painful but I tried not to think about it. This whole apocalypse made me think that I should have spent more time with my family and friends when they were alive. It was strange but it didn't matter anymore if you were rich or poor, chances are you’d be eaten alive by zombies.

  Everyone else had a life and a family before all this, and Gina was the only thing keeping me sane. I turned on the radio to try and get a signal but it just crackled for a while. Dexter tried tuning it in and after a minute or so through the crackles we heard a voice. Dexter thumped the top of the radio and the transmission got clearer, it said “if anyone's still alive out there we're on an island off the east coast of essex, we have supplies food and electricity. We are slowly getting back to civilisation.” “We are infection free”, then the radio signal went. I wrote down the coordinates whilst Dexter tried to plot them on the map. He said that we could try and take a boat from the harbor a few hours away but he didn't think I was ready to leave yet, If we were to go then the beach would be the safest way to get to it. Even if we got there, there were no guarantees that any boats would be there, and If there were they would more than likely be locked up and we didn't have any weapons so we'd probably end up zombies by the time we got there. Dexter grabbed his machete and told me he was going to search the other caravans for weapons, I sat in agony desperately trying to get the signal back on the radio to see if they had any more information about how it happened (for all we knew they could have been lying and there may not have been an island at all but it gave us hope and that’s what we needed most.

  After 5 or 10 minutes I managed to get the radio signal back, it wasn’t as clear as before but I could just about make it out. It said that 2 choppers were going to circle the coast and that any survivors out there should find a way to attract their attention and then the transmission went again. I didn't have a clue what time they would go past or even what day, I panicked thinking they could be here at any minute and I didn't have a clue w
hat caravan Dexter was in and how we were going to get the choppers attention. I was too weak to go and get Dexter and I didn't really care about anything anymore, Gina was dead and in a way so was I, my heart was broken and so was my spirit even though I knew she was dead it still felt like she was alive, it hadn't really sunken in yet that she was dead the only thing I loved dead. A part of me had died along with her, all of my cares for anything dissipated and were replaced with anger and hatred after trying to think of a way to get to the island alive then Dexter came back and threw his bag to the ground and shouted “I got nothing, not one single weapon in any of them caravans I've only got a pistol and a stupid machete left. I told him to calm down, then told him about the choppers, he grabbed me by the throat and said “if you're fucking lying to me I swear I will put this machete through your head”. I told him it was true and he laughed whilst saying “thank you god bless you sir” he was happy for the first time since we had met, he was happy. I hid my anger and tried to be happy but I told him we had to find a way to get their attention, he didn't care he just asked when it was coming but I didn't have a clue so I told him within 3 days (hoping it would be). I still felt so weak but we had to be ready if the choppers actually came it could have been fake or the message could been on repeat from when it all started, I didn't have a clue but it gave us hope, hope of survival and civilization Dexter walked in the kitchen with a smile on his face and a joint in his hand he said he'd found it under one of the beds. He lit it up sat on the stool opposite me and began to smoke it, after a few puffs of it he leant forwards and passed it to me. He said it'd ease the pain, I took a puff and coughed repeatedly (it was the first time I’d done anything like this). I had never been interested in drugs of any kind, they’re dangerous but I guess that didn’t matter anymore so I took a few more puffs and passed it back to Dexter then I laid back and relaxed.

  We must have fallen asleep because all I remember was waking up to the sound of a chopper, my head was killing me. I shouted at Dexter to get up, he woke up and held his head in his hands (I don't think either of us would be touching weed again in a hurry). Dexter got up and opened the door he saw the chopper in the distance, he told me to pack our things then he ran out of the door and ducked under the barricade towards a caravan, he got out a pistol from his holster and grabbed a gas can from the caravan and stood it just in view of our caravan but still far enough away. He ran back to our caravan and shot the canister rubble flew through the air and fire engulfed the caravans in close proximity. I lost my hearing for momentarily but when it came back a few seconds later I heard the chopper land and Dexter ran in the door grabbed the bags and helped me to the chopper. We were greeted by four or five people in riot gear, one with a sniper, one with a machine gun. We were surrounded by zombies, all of them charging towards us spitting blood in the process. Their bodies seemed to have decayed more since I’d seen them last. I'd been stuck in the stupid caravan an amputee.

  As we got closer to the chopper the men started to shoot the zombies, once we got past the men in riot gear they covered us while we got in then they got in after us, they took their helmets off and the man with the machine gun said “Carl Peterson happy to see some survivors, what are your names?” Dexter introduced us and asked where we were headed, the man sitting next to him said “Civilisation that’s where we’re headed.”

  As we approached an island in the middle of the ocean I saw two other choppers with other people in riot gear and more survivors, we landed on the island and immediately noted that there were plenty of houses, a hospital and even shops. Children were running and playing just like they used to and the sound of their laughter brought tears to their eyes. When we got out the chopper we were greeted by a teenage boy who showed us to house number 337, he gave us a key, a few coupons and a disabled pass and a job pass for Dexter. He left us and we stayed in that night and just looked around our house, we both had our own rooms with a wardrobe and a bed in (it was actually quite cozy) and with a roof over our heads we started to feel safe. It was the first proper night’s sleep I'd had in years (even before the zombie outbreak I had trouble sleeping at the asylum, the mattress was rock solid I was awoken frequently by the screams of other patients).

  The next morning I woke early to the sound of gunshots, I picked up the phone next to the bed, it was one of the big old fashioned ones it was plain black with a label next to it which contained the numbers of emergency contacts police, hospital, fire service and questions. It was a quite weird to have questions as a number but I decided to ring the number to see if they could tell me about the gunshots a man answered told me it was just weapon training and I was welcome to go (he obviously didn't know I was classed as disabled). After getting dressed in a black leather jacket and jeans I decided to go for a walk to explore the island. I didn't tell Dexter because I didn't want to wake him, I locked the door on my way out, it felt like I was back with my family I’d never lived in a house without family but I had Dexter there and he was like family, he saved my life granted he chopped my leg off but that was to save me.

  I went to where the gunshot sounds were coming from it was a large training area with barbed wire surrounding, the whole area was like a military base there were tens of guards patrolling the streets. I saw Dexter shooting the targets that were hung on the metal gates with his pistol, I opened the gated door hobbled over to Dexter (my leg still killing me), I tapped Dexter on the shoulder and asked him what he was doing he said his job here was to go and find other survivors and get supplies so every day or so he would need to take part in weapons training and jog around the island once a day to stay fit and healthy. I congratulated him on his job and then I went back to the house we had been given, when I got in I found a book on the side and started to read it I don't remember what it was called but it was nice just to read again, there weren’t many in the asylum. I think I read for most of that day and when Dexter came back with a bag filled with tinned food like soup, sweet corn, peas and some other stuff He opened a tin of sweetcorn and we shared it. It wasn’t too nice cold but it was food and we were very grateful.

  We were alive and safe we were lucky and after eating Dexter told me tomorrow would be his first day of searching for supplies and other survivors, he was quite looking forward to it. I think he got a thrill out of killing the zombies, he had the same sparkle in his eye that I did when I began killing. I went to bed that night feeling like I was back at the mental hospital, it made me feel so angry to know that Dexter would be the one out there killing and I'm the one stuck in the house not being able to go out there and kill, not being able to move without being in complete agony. The urges to kill again were getting stronger by the day, with Gina being dead I had no reason not to. Every night I would dream of the people I had killed reliving what I had done to them. I woke up the next morning with a strong need to kill again, I thought the only way I could remotely control these urges would be to go back to main land where I would be free to kill as many zombies as I wanted. I got up and asked Dexter if I could go with him to the mainland even if it was just to kill a few zombies it would calm the urges at least, then I could come back and go with him every time. When I asked him he said there was no way I would be able to go with him not even once because I was disabled and couldn't help and because they needed space on the choppers for other survivors and supplies. After putting on his riot gear he left and I went back to my room and rested while trying to think of a way to get back to main land, if I killed here I would be court by the guards that patrolled the island.

  I went to the hospital after resting to see if they had any crutches to ease the pain when I walked, when I got there they gave me some crutches after seeing I only had one leg then I left and went for a walk to the weapon practice site. When I got there, there was no one around just a pistol wedged under the gate, I bent down to get it and wiggled it loose then I got pushed to the ground by a middle aged man in a biker jacket. it killed my leg then I swung the pistol round and shot him straight
in the head, he fell to the floor. I managed to get myself up with the crutches and I hobbled away with the gun in my back pocket covered by my jacket. When I looked back his head was surrounded by a pool of blood I walked back to the house knowing Dexter would be back soon, my jacket was covered in blood it felt amazing to have killed again, I washed away the blood from my jacket and sat back on the chair by the window smirking then I switched on the radio to see if anyone had noticed yet, the reports were saying that it was the first death on the island so far and that it was from a bullet to the head. They were telling everyone to stay alert, I laughed, I couldn't believe that I had been spared when thousands of good people had died. Me, a cold blooded killer had survived (though maybe the reason I survived was to kill people before they turned into zombies). It was within my power to control whether people lived or died whether they turned into zombies or died from a bullet to the head, I felt empowered, even God like!

  After a few minutes sitting down and collecting my thoughts I decided to go outside and pretend to be surprised by what had happened but when I approached everyone to see them depressed and crying it made me feel kind of sorry for them though I still couldn't keep the smile from spreading across my face. I walked over to the body, it was surrounded by guards, there was even more blood than I remembered, it made my body tingle with excitement looking at his body just lying there surrounded by a pool of dark congealed red blood it made me want to kill again. The supply teams had been recalled and all because of what I had caused with a single bullet, it felt good. I had never felt so alive, I could make these people die with one shot then they'd change into zombies and kill the rest, this whole apocalypse thing wasn't turning out to bad after all the only thing that could have made it better would be having Gina back but I was starting to come to terms with her death now. It wasn't easy but I knew I just had to keep calm and carry on the same as I had done throughout my entire life. Bad things happened but my Dad had taught me at a very young age the most valuable lesson I’d ever learn, just keep calm and carry on no matter what happens in life you can't go back and change it so just get on with life. My Dad had always been the wise one in the family I really missed him but in a way I'm glad he's not here to see the man I turned into.