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The people were warning readers online that zombies had taken over the country. They posted things like; Don't get bitten. And ; You have to shoot them in the head. She could feel the goosebumps growing on her arms. Then, she searched “epidemics”. A whole page full of links came up. The links were of videos that people had posted of recent attacks by “infected” crazy people. They were from all over the world. She watched people warn that the infected were biting and eating people. She saw a video by a woman named, Rose Fox. The woman was quite popular on this site. She had people following her from all over the world. She clicked into her last video. She was in Indianapolis, Indiana. There was a mob of zombies attacking other people. There were a few policemen, and a few men dressed in haz-mat suits. They were shooting the mob. The woman, and her cameraman, were out of breath. They had run into a building and were filming. She said, “You have to protect yourself, People! These things are not people, anymore! They won't report on this in the mainstream media. They are hiding this. You have to shoot them in the head. In the head. Chicago, it's said, is already gone. So are many cities out west and in the eastern countries. Keep your kids inside. Don't let them bite you. We are looking for a way out. We have to find a way out. The government will start executing witnesses, soon. They have done that the last three places that we filmed in. We will keep the video on, until we can't.” The camera showed people being eaten, outside the window. There was a man that ran into the room that they were hiding in. He yelled, “Hurry! Get out, now! They are coming!” The male voice behind the camera asked , “Who? The police?” The man blurted out, “No! The dead! Hurry, run!” They followed the man into the hallway. Around twenty feet away, at the end of the hall, was a horde of bloody zombies. They were growling, and reaching for the people shooting the video. The man ran to the next doorway. He pushed open the door. There was a family there. They started yelling “Hey!” and, “Get out!” He yelled, “ Hurry! The dead are coming! Hurry get out, now!” One of the people, the father, ran to the door. He poked his head out in the hallway. When he saw he bloody dead mob coming his way, he slammed the door and locked it. Rose Fox and the person with the camera followed the man to some stairs. They all ran down the stairs where there was an “ EXIT” sign hanging over a door. As they pushed the door open and ran out into an alley, the camera zoomed over a view of the top of the stairs. The dead mob had followed them and some of them were falling down the stairs. Their faces were sunken in, and ghoulish looking. Their skin looked leathery. They had black circles under their eyes. Some of them were bloody, and had visible bite marks on their faces and arms. They looked ...dead. They slammed the door behind them. After getting outside, they filmed the door. The independent reporters showed the dead crowding at the inside window of the door. What was obvious was that, these things were not trying to push down on the handle that would easily open the door. They clawed at the door, while pushing their faces up against the window. The people filming ran down the alley, and the video was cut off. Nina watched, in horror. “What is going on?” She picked up her cell phone. She called her mother, in Florida. The voice mail answered. She left a message. “ Mom. I love you. Mom. Some weird stuff has been happening, here. Maybe, you should stay inside. I might come down and visit, soon. Call me. I love you.” She ended the call. She sat there, not really knowing what to think. She picked her phone back up. She called her boss. She left a message, “ Mr. Lee. I have been trying to get you on the phone for a few days, now. I am taking tomorrow off. I don't know when I will be back to work. You will need to get someone to open up tomorrow morning. I hope you are feeling better.” She ended the call. She had made her mind up. She would drive to her mothers' place in Florida.
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If she didn't stop to sleep, she could get there in thirty, to thirty-six hours. She could just drive without sleeping. She packed her clothes. She decided to put her things into the car, tomorrow. She looked in the cabinets and refrigerator. She had a lot of food. She could not bring it all with her. She said, “Don't worry about it. Make some sandwiches. Bring some snacks, go though the drive-thru-s for coffee, and bring plenty of water.” She decided to throw out the food from the refrigerator that she knew would not last while she visited her mother. She decided that, she would take it across the hall, and give it to Sandy. Sandy was her neighbor. She had two teenagers, and could probably use the extra food. Yes, she had decided that, that was what she would do with her extra food. She put some things in a bag. Then, she looked in the freezer. She heard some commotion in the hallway. She crept to the door, then looked through the peep hole. She saw a flash of a bloody neck passing by. She gasped and jumped back. She grabbed the chain and slid it across the slide lock. She checked the other locks. She looked again. She could not see anything. She went back to the kitchen, and made a cup of tea. She could not stop thinking about who ever it was that had passed by the door. She clearly, saw the bloodied throat of what looked like a man pass by her door. She wanted to go deliver the food to her neighbor, but was afraid to walk out into the hallway. Besides, she looked at the refrigerator, she had not cleaned out the freezer, yet. She sipped her tea. She went to the sofa, picked up her laptop and went into her bedroom. She placed her tea onto the night stand. She pulled the covers back, and climbed into bed. Propped herself up onto her pillows and took her laptop, then moved it to her side. She watched several video's of people being attacked in many different cities. She saw some footage of military shooting people. She became so worried that she could not sleep. She went back to the social media site that everyone frequented. She saw threads where they were all commenting about a zombie apocalypse. She felt goosebumps come up on her arms. Some of them were talking about Chicago and big cities across the world. They posted that those cities were ghost towns, now. She decided to go buy some water, tomorrow. She would get up early and pack her car. Then, get on the road to her Mom's house. She turned her computer off. She lay down and tried to go to sleep. She tossed and turned. After a while, she fell asleep. She woke up to screams coming from down on the street. She jumped out of bed, and ran to the window. It sounded like a woman. She could hear the screams, but she could not see anyone. All of the sudden, under the street light, she saw a lady running around the corner. She saw several zombies chasing her. They started to catch up to the woman, who looked tired. They were moving slow, but a couple of them had come from between the building. They flanked her. She stopped to catch her breath. One of them grabbed her. She struggled to get away. It had her by the arm. She screamed, while more of them caught up to her. Nina, cried, “ No!” she ran to the night stand and picked up her phone. She tried to call 911, even though earlier, she could not get through. She had to try to get the woman some help. They started to bite the woman, and more of them swarmed her. Soon, Nina could not see the woman anymore. She could just hear screams. Nina saw some lights go on in one of the buildings down the street. No doubt, that those other people watched the scene in horror, just like Nina did. When she heard the busy signal for the second time, Nina ended the call. In a trance, she walked towards her bed. She placed the cell phone down onto the night stand. She went into the bathroom and ran a hot bath. She sat down in the tub. She could not get the image of the woman being surrounded and taken down by those things out of her mind. She fell asleep in the bath water. She was jolted awake by what sounded like a car crash. She heard a car alarm. Then, she heard someone screaming, “ Keep your hands where I can see them!”
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Now, she sat up. She was shaking. The water had gotten cold. She jumped up and put on a robe. She ran to the widow. It was a policeman. He was pointing a gun at two people. From what Nina could figure out from the shouting, a man was sitting in a car that had slammed into another parked car. The owner had come out and turned the alarm off. While he was yelling at the man for hitting his car, the zombies came up and attacked him. They were biting him in the face. It looked like one bit his ear off. He was screaming and struggling aga
inst them. The policeman pulled around the corner right as they swarmed him. He jumped from his cruiser. He aimed his gun towards them. As he yelled orders at them. They ignored him, then he shot them. They both stood up and walked towards him. They moved like stiff, leathery manikins. They reached for the officer in the creepiest way. He shot again, they kept coming. He shot one in the head. It went down. He ran backwards to avoid the other grabbing him. He aimed at that one. He shot it in the head. It fell to the ground. He looked around. It looked like he was speaking into the radio on his shoulder. A few minutes later, several vehicles pulled up. Nina, turned her lights off and stayed near the window. There was a military Hummer, a white truck. And, a black SUV. Men dressed in riot gear stepped out of the black vehicle, and a haz-mat team stepped out of the white truck. There were two military men. It looked like one of them was directing everyone else. They shot the man who had been attacked and the man in the car. The officer started to protest, then they started to argue. One of the men dressed in the black riot gear seemed to be backing up the military officer. After a few minutes, the argument became more aggressive. Suddenly, one of the men dressed in the riot gear pulled out a gun and shot the officer. Nina cried out, “No! Oh no!” She stood there, just watching them. She looked over to where the previous scene had taken place. There was a lot of blood there. Even in the limited light, she could see it. “Where is the woman? What is going on?” She blurted out. She didn't realize it, but she was crying, again. She could not believe what she was seeing. This was like a horror movie. She thought about her mother, Ian and Mrs. Sandoval. All of the people that came into the laundromat. Many of them were so nice. Some had children. She had hoped that Ian and his father made it to safety. She started sobbing, now. Nina stood there, in total shock. She watched, as they picked up all of the bodies, hosed down the street, climbed back into their vehicles and drove away. “This is why no one is talking about what is happening on the news.” she said out loud. “I have to tell people. At least here, in the building. She looked over at the clock. She saw 11:34 P.M. In big red numbers. She went to her kitchen. She pulled open a drawer. Then, pulled out a roll of tape, some paper, and a marker. It was too late to be knocking on peoples' doors. So, she would tape a note to all of the doors on her building. She would invite people to her place tomorrow,for a community meeting. On each piece of paper she wrote, “EMERGENCY COMMUNITY MEETING”
Under the heading, she wrote, “WHERE? APARTMENT 12-A WHEN? 10.00 A. M. She made several copies. She was afraid to go out into the hall. She decided to peek out there, first. She put her slippers on, tied her robe, and went out to the door. She stopped, and forced herself to breathe. She was terrified. But, she had to do this. She cracked open the door, and peeked through the crack. She could not hear or see anyone in the hall. She slowly, stepped out into the hallway. She was afraid to walk too fast without checking over her shoulder, every few seconds. She taped a flyer to all of the doors on her floor. She looked at the stairwell door. She looked through the glass to make sure that no one was on the stairs. She slowly pushed the door open and peeked up the stairs. She stepped into the landing, at the bottom of the stairs. She peered up at the steps. “ Just do this, Nina.” She slowly, walked up the stairs. She stopped as she reached the landing.
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She looked up, again. She was so afraid that, she could feel her heart pounding inside her chest. She took in a deep breath, and continued upwards. As she approached the top, she stopped and looked through the window of the door. When she knew that it was safe, she opened the door, and entered the hall way. She slowly, made her way down the hall. She went from door to door, quickly taping the flyers on each one. She finished and turned around to walk back to the other end of the hallway to where the stairs where. As she passed one of the apartment doors, she could have sworn that she heard a growl. She stopped and looked over her shoulder. She was already spooked before she came up to the second floor. There was no one behind her. She placed her ear to the door. It was coming from inside the apartment. She panicked and ran to the stairs. She pushed open the door and ran down to her floor. She burst into her hall, and ran around the corner as fast as she could. She tripped, almost falling, while running to her door. Once inside, she locked both locks, and slid the chain on the lock bar. She was panting, and her mind went blank. She stood there for a good while, frozen with fear. Suddenly, she heard a knock at her door. She jumped into more of a panic. She gasped, and waited. She thought that she had imagined it. She stared at the door, not knowing what to do. She slowly, walked to the peephole in the door. It was Aidan. She unlocked the locks, and opened the door. She blurted out, “Aidan!” He stood there, watching the look on her face change from fear to happiness. He said, “ I just wanted to make ...” She cut him off, grabbed his arm, and pulled him into the front hall. “Hurry! Get inside! What are you doing outside? Do you know what just happened out there?” He said, “ What?” A look of concern came over his face. She was tongue tied. She could not process and articulate to him what she had seen. She turned, and walked into the living room. He followed. She said, “ Those things... they are dead. Dead, Aidan... it's like a horror movie. They are attacking people, all over the place. And, true to form, the government is involved. Aidan, they are killing witnesses.” She stood there, with her hands up covering her cheeks. Tears welled up in her eyes. She looked terrified. He stood there, with his arms crossed. He studied her, as he listened to her. All of the rumors are true, he thought. He stopped her, “Tell me how it all started. What, exactly, did you see? Start from the beginning.” She started at the beginning. She said, “ There was a lady that... well, she was attacked by a group of those things. I saw them surround her, and mob her. They were biting her, even before she went down. Later, a car hit one of the parked cars down the street. A policeman, then military, and some other vehicles showed up. Aidan...” She started to cry, “They shot the policeman, and the two car owners. They shot them, Aidan... They moved the bodies into one of the trucks. Then, they took a water hose and cleaned up blood on the street. They drove away, like noting had happened.” He studied her. She noticed that he said nothing. She asked, “ You believe me... right?” She waited for him to answer. He said, “ I believe you... Okay? This is bad. That's why I am here. After today, I wanted to make sure that you were alright.” She felt so relieved. She wanted him there, even though, she had just met him. She said, “Thank you. I am okay. Just, well, I don't know....”She looked down at her feet. She was trying to process everything that had happened. She wanted hug him, but could not. “Why don't you sit down?” She gestured for him to sit. He said, “ Thanks Nina, I will.” He sat down. She said, “ Do you want some tea, or something to drink.?” He answered, “Maybe, some water...” She said, “ Okay. Water, it is.” She went into the kitchen and brought him back a glass of ice-water. She handed him the glass.
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He took it, and said, “ Thanks. Look, Nina. I was talking to my Tia. We don't live that far. I was wondering if we could check on you? Just until, well, until we know what this is... What ever this is, I don't think that you should be alone. Through, whatever this is....” He awkwardly, tried to sway her. It was obvious that, he was attracted to her. She felt so relieved, and she wished that she had had time to get to know him, before all of this craziness.. She said, “Thank you. That would be nice. Where is Mrs. S., now?” He replied, “ She is at home. I told her to keep the doors locked.” She said, “ Aidan. I would feel terrible if something happened to you. It's crazy out there. Do you have a gun?” He cut in, “ I'll be okay. I know a few short cuts. And yes, I am always armed.” She agreed, “ That is good. That makes me feel better. So, can I show you something?” He said, “ Sure.” She went to her bedroom, and a few seconds later, came out with a laptop in her hand. She sat down next to him. She took in a deep breath. Then spoke, “I started to search online, after today. And then, tonight.... Anyway, I decided to do a little online study, just to see if other people were seeing the
kinds of things we saw today.” She paused and looked straight into his eyes, “Aidan, it is happening everywhere. People are talking about it all over. They are saying that those things are dead people. Dead people, Aidan. Look...”
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