I bring my left arm to my eyes, glancing at my watch like it actually matters. 8:20 AM, I’m a bit hungover from last night. My head still feels like it’s swimming, and phlegm slithers around the back of my throat. They called me so early in the morning that I barely had enough time to get ready. I glance at my M16 Carbine Rifle 5.56 mm, not like I’m going to use it right now. I take a look up, and see my colleagues. Rom, Jolene, Joseph, Stephen, Paulson, and Manny. All of them are right there, halting cars to a stop, raising their voices while maintaining disciplined expressions on their faces. My eyes turn to Rom, he is doing another one of his “engravings” on his M9 Pistol. He is lying along the car door, just scratching away at his pistol repeatedly etching some marks onto the frame of the gun. Rom never really spoke much, only times I can remember him speaking is when he’s confirming something on his headpiece or asking for something. He’s very soft-spoken, always speaks with such clarity. Rom wears a half mask to hide the scars he got from fighting in Afghanistan, we used to talk all the time, but he is still shaken from that time in the war. He isn’t like my buddy Paulson, who talks all the time. Paulson may be fun to be around, yet he always has a hard time making serious decisions. Can’t really judge him though, he’s been in service for only a year, he makes me really remember what it’s like to be young. We can’t let anybody through this roadblock, they’ve told us for months about the virus. I never thought it’d be this serious though, the CDC in Illinois should be working on the vaccine, yet the word has gotten out about this virus. But, I don’t know why people still think it’s some prank, are the people really that stupid to disbelieve in what our government says? I don’t know, but whatever the case is, I gotta follow whatever order they give me. If only we could really tell everyone what’s going on, but we are the people making sure that nothing get’s out to the media. Not only will it look bad if we let footage of the infected people get out, but we’ll be butchered if the world finds out we’ve been keeping this secret for months. Even I barely know what this virus nonsense is all about, all I know is that some people have started eating each other and we’ve been trying to contain this for long enough. I can tell that people are done with us keeping secrets, they all know something's up when tons of people start showing up missing. That’ll be the end of us. Hell, it’ll be the end of the whole government, I can feel that today will be the day though. I watched the news this morning and there was a report on the virus, yet all the talk-shows and lack of attention has been making everyone so skeptical. It’s spreading fast, you’d be surprised as to how many people disbelieve in zombies. I don’t even want to be a part of this anymore, I’m tired of all this madness, all these lies. Just thinking about this strains my headache even more. Suddenly, I hear *BAAP*, the discharging of a round followed by a brass casing chiming along the concrete. I was alerted, I flash my head up and see Jolene with her gun raised beside a car and a lifeless body dangling outside a broken window. She’s shaking and panicking as smoke comes from the barrel of her rifle. What the hell just happened? I didn’t hear orders to shoot anyone or anything! I wildly sprint over there, pacing hard as the dry air makes my throat crisp. As I approach Jolene, I notice that she is completely zoned out, staring at the body. I call out to her with caution,
“Private Marigold, what just what-t happened?!”
Her rifle falls from her hands, and she starts to shake, she replies back with a wobbling voice,
“David, I-I-I, I don’t kn-n-now, he just lunged at me, everything happened so fast, I told him to get down but he attacked me!”
I glance down at the body and then the rancid smell just hit me so abruptly. I gag, and rush my elbow to cover my nose, it stung me in the back of my nostrils. It doesn’t smell like ordinary blood, this guy might’ve been infected, I look around his pale body. I then notice a dark red bite mark on his hand, it was hard to see at first. I turn to Jolene and say,
“He was bitten, he must have came in contact with the infected. Are you okay? He didn’t bite you did he?”
Jolene takes a deep breath in and out then replies back,
“Yeah, yeah I’m okay. He just started yelling at me, he opened his window, at first I thought he had a weapon. He grabbed my arm, and he wouldn’t let go. That’s when I realized that he was infected, I had no other choice, you know the orders.”
Thousands of horns blast abruptly, a whole trail of cars creates an enormous stream of traffic on the highway. I look at my watch, 9:03AM, It’s already passed 9? It is then where the rest of my troop comes to take a stand. All of the crew tries to keep it all under control. Pointing guns and turning on the megaphone. Stephen angrily yells into the speaker,
“CIVILIANS. IF YOU CONTINUE TO RESIST LEAVING, WE WILL BE FORCED TO OPEN FIRE! TURN BACK NOW!”
I freeze up, I just, have no idea what to do. People are getting out of there cars, I can see people shouting, and I think I can hear some even screaming. This is just insane, I think they’re about to riot. It is then where I can barely make out what’s going on, I see a whole splatter of crimson across the cars and streets. And the angry shouting starts to become calls of distress, mixed in with growls. No, it can’t be, they’re all turning. They’re all INFECTED! Christ, we gotta stop this, NOW. I radio in,
“Guys, I think we should start calling for an evac. NOW! THESE PEOPLE ARE ALL INFECTED! SOMEONE CALL IN AN EVAC!”
I start panicking, tons of civilians rush to us, they don’t even seem human anymore. I can see some struggling to get away, people falling off the highway and rushing to get out of their cars. What’s going on? Rom attempted to call an evac,
“This is Lieutenant Romero Guntalez calling for an evac, identification number 183920-321, do you copy? Repeat, THESE PEOPLE ARE INFECTED, we need an evac NOW DO YOU COPY?”
I can hear a response from headquarters,
“ Lieutenant, this is headquarters, you said these people are infected, is that confirmed? Over,”
Rom responds with a tone of panic and distress,
“Correct, we are looking at approximately 1200 infected on the bridge, we need EVAC NOW!”
“We are going to need you to calm down, we’re already deploying an evac, ETA 15 Minutes!”
I can see violence happening on the the bridge, some of those people with guns. The infected come in a large wave towards us, I aim down the ironsights of my M16, and fire relentlessly. How did so many people get infected? I start to run out of ammunition, I radio in,
“Hello? This is Major David White, I am requesting permission to use heavy and explosive ordinance, there is a large wave of infected, do WE HAVE PERMISSION?!”
“You are authorized to use whatever you need to soldier, that evac is on it’s way!”
I pull out some hand grenades and throw them until I have no more. A large fire starts across the cars and infected, gasoline has been ignited, the burning bodies leave a rancid odor like rotting meat along burning garbage.
The loud bangs of grenades ring in my ears, but the infected keep coming. I look up in the air and see salvation, a helicopter.
“This is chopper pilot 18573, I am about to land, we need you to get in quickly. We’ll be *cough* evacuating the premises, hur- *cough* hurry!”
The helicopter lands, I can see my troops still trying to fend off those feral beasts. I sprint forth for the open doors of the chopper, disoriented and fatigued. I look back, and leap inside, everybody else does the same. Thousands of infected pool in breaking the barricade. Rom is falling behind, stumbling steps, hundreds of those crimson-doused bastards pounce on him. Dammit I can hear him screaming, Jolene turns her back, Rom shouts with a blood-curdling holler,
“LEAVE ME, GO, GO NOW GODDAMMIT! I’LL BE FINE, F-f AGH-HHH- Hrhhaaaauuugghhhhhh”
Those infected bastards, they’re tearing him the hell apart like this is a hotdog eating contest, his entrails, his organs everywhere, followed by dark pools of blood congealing upon his open throat. The sight just makes me flinch, everyone else runs inside and the helicopter takes off.  The pilot looks at us, the dashboard lights blink upon his pale sweaty face. He doesn’t look all too well, he turns to us for a second and says with a sore voice,
“It’s just the flu, ya know? *hacking cough* it’s really nothing. Let’s get to the base shall we?”
He looks down at the bridge, his eyes widen, he says,
“Damn, it’s a massacre down there, are you guys hot at all *rough cough*”
That doesn’t sound normal at all, everybody looks at him with expressions of discouragement.
“C’mon guys, it’s just the fl- *abrupt wheezing*”
He repeatedly coughs violently, until he passes out, and his head falls on the dashboard.

The chopper spins out of control, alerting beeps followed by flashing bright red leaves everyone in extreme distress and panic.
“What the hell just HA-a-A-appe-nned?”
Manny screams.
The pilot get’s back up, eyes bloodshot red, and an open mouth growling,
“GET BACK, GET BACK, OH S***, OH SHI-I-IT” I yell.
In a moment’s haste, I grab my sidearm, and struggle to fire 3 shots, which kill the pilot.
“He was infected? OH CHRIST, EVERYONE HOLD ON!” I howl out, I’m in panic. Fear is racing all over my brain. We’re about to crash, how did this day get so bad? The helicopter is headed towards the ground, we’re gonna die, we’re gonna die, we’re gonna die!
Everything goes black……

I’ll be seeing Romero soon, heh, he’s dead just like me. At least soon I’ll be with my men, drinking all the beers I want, alone on the comfiest couch in heaven. Damn it, no. David, wake up, you can’t be doing this, you’re still alive. Your heart is beating man, you’re not going down that easy. C’mon, make your Mom proud dammit. She wouldn’t want you dying like this, remember what she said in the hospital, that soft voice. It’s coming back to me,
“Dave, one day. You’re going to do something great, and you’ll be better than everyone. Don’t let your grandpa, Mitchell, or anyone tell you any different,”
Screw it, I’m going to make her proud. I can hear a voice, calling my name in this darkness, sounds like Paulson,
“David, get up, get up DAVID. ARE YOU IN THERE? GET UP! DAVID, DAVID”
Wait a second, that is.

Out of nowhere, I gain a sudden consciousness. My throat is dry, and I’m leaning against a tree I think. I let out a groan, my head is throbbing with pain. I slowly open my eyes, the sky is dark, and blink again to see Paulson’s face.
“He’s awake! I thought you were a goner man, we had a pretty rough landing, it’s been hours. We tried to get back in contact, but I think something happened at the base. Rom-, we couldn’t save him. Seems like the only ones who made it are Manny, you, me, Jolene, that’s it really. Joseph and Stephen are nowhere to be found. I’m sure they went off somewhere. I’m so glad you’re alive man. We all decided to set up camp in this forest, it’s a bit away from the bridge. I also found some papers on the plane, there are so many people already infected, the ones that aren’t are immune are still alive. I managed to scrounge some supplies from the wreckage, there wasn’t much. Oh, and I managed to nab Rom’s M9, too bad he didn’t make it. Look, it’s best you get up.”

I look around, my nose is dry. I take a deep breath in, and a deep breath out. My legs shake, Paulson pulls me up. It takes a bit for me to gather my bearings.
I look down at my watch, 11:21PM, I must’ve been out cold for awhile. I look up at the beautiful, starry-night sky. A tall pinewood forest, beats that godforsaken highway. My eyes lead me to everyone sitting around a bonfire.
I approach the bonfire, I can see a smile on everyone’s face. Jolene get’s up to give me a warm hug,
“Missed ya soldier, don’t know what we’d do without ya.” Jolene said with a tone of relief.
I reply back playfully,
“No one’s taking down this soldier, not until I’m drunk at least,”
I lye down by a stump, kindling by the fire.
“All we need now is some marshmallows, *chuckles*, speaking of which. Where’s the rations? I’m pretty damned hungry.” I said.
“Oh, yeah, I got some MRE’s right here. But, we can’t eat so much. We’re only running a week’s food supply, here, I’ll get these all cooked up.” Paulson said, he walks to a backpack, preparing a meal. We all start conversing,
“I think the infected, those things. Those zombies, they’ve just started something big. It’s too late now what we tried to prevent. Our government, just abandoned us, left us for dead man. You think that’s f’n okay? All we can do now is try to hold out and survive, there ain’t no base, no command. Just us, damn I gotta stop toning the mood so low. I’m sick of it all, at least we got each other, right Dave?” Manny says,
“Yeah, I’ve never been the one to be all up with people. But hell, we’re all we got now. We gotta figure out what to do tomorrow morning, we can’t stay in this camp out in the open, we’ve seen what those lurkers can do,” I reply,
“Damn right, you saw what they did Rom. They ripped him the hell apart, I wish that I didn’t have to leave him. I’m just hoping my family is okay. My cousins are down in Gurney, what about you David?” Jolene asks,
“Family? Actually, I never had any family to begin with. My mom is dead, ain’t got no siblings, cousins, wife, kids, none of that. Just me, my one bedroom apartment, 12 ounce bottles of liquor and the news channel,”
“I hope my girl is okay back in Texas. I’m really startin’ to miss her guys, what if she-” Manny is interrupted by Jolene,
“Hey, I’m sure she’s okay. I promise, she’s probably fine” Jolene tries to console Manny.
Jolene is always soft hearted, keeps the morale going. I remember she told me that she wanted to go into teaching after college, a damn shame that there’s no looking forward to that no more. Everything’s gone to hell, and I’m sober. I really need a drink, I’m itchin’ for a cold one right about now.
Paulson comes back with the food, and a smirk on his face,
  “Guess what I just found?” Paulson says with anticipation,
He reveals his left hand that holds a case of Miller, I can tell that Paulson reads the excitement on my face.
Paulson throws us each a can, I catch mine, and hold it delicately.
Alcohol is a best friend I’d take over a dog any day, it’s the only thing I need to get me sleeping at night. We open our cans, foam comes dripping from mine but I don’t care. We raise our cans in the air,
“A toast, to Romero. Toughest soldier I ever fought with, he may not have talked much, but he was our friend.” Manny says, looking up into the sky.
Cans clank against each other, and I take a large gulp of my beer. I love the way it goes down, it goes down softly, bubbly and warm, it rests in my stomach relieving me of all the stress I’ve managed to keep in so far.
“So, what are we doing in the morning Paul?” I ask, he replies back,
“I think we should try and move along, looking for supplies, or at least a safer camp in this forest. We don’t have many guns, considering all we have is our sidearms, we couldn’t find our rifles for some reason. I wonder if Stephen or Joseph had anything to do with that,”
“Why don’t we go searching for them then?” Jolene said insightfully,
“Yeah great idea Jolene! Let’s go prancing about Wisconsin, looking for them with infected all over. It’ll be so damned fun!” Manny replied sarcastically,
“Hey man, don’t be such a dick. She was just suggesting we look for them at the very least,” I replied defending Jolene.
“Whatever man, all I’m sayin’ is, I’d rather not risk our asses looking for 2 guys. We don’t need to lose anymore than we already have,” Manny said.
“I agree, Manny has a point. You saw on the highway what happened, we even had to deal with some infected when setting up camp, I’m sorry guys but I don’t want to get my cheeks chewn off.” Paulson commented.
“We can discuss it in the morning, alright?” I add on, everyone agrees. I close my eyes slowly, body warmed up, and a belly full o’ alcohol and food, I begin to nod off.

I had a pretty odd dream. I was there, back at the old house in Illinois. It’s that same memory that plays over and over in my head, I don’t know why. My grandpa sits on the ripped up couch, beer stains on the floor. My Mom is sweeping away, and I sat right next to my sleeping grandpa. I remember he shared a beer with me that night, I guess that’s what started my little infatuation for alcohol, to me, they were magic in a bottle. Mom never really cared, not like she had the time to be. She was always working and cleaning, until she came back home with breast cancer. I was torn to pieces, I never knew I was going to be so alone. I had no friends in school, no friends at home, just momma. When she went, Grandpa was crying for months. We spent years living on welfare, until I had to say goodbye to Mr. G at the age of 19. I’ll tell ya, grandpa was the meanest, toughest, and oldest bastard I ever knew, even tougher than Romero. He was the last of the family I had, sure he liked to throw bottles at me, but we’d have our fun together. Drinking caught up to him, liver disease, still didn’t stop me from drinking. I got into a little trouble, and when I got into that car accident. I figured I had to shape up, so I joined the military. I became top rank, with over 40 confirmed kills in Afghanistan. Earned me enough money to get a small apartment in Wisconsin, and the rest happened. Then, I had a dream about my mom. Over and over, I heard those words. Those exact same words I hear every time, “Dave, one day. You’re going to do something great, and you’ll be better than everyone. Don’t let your grandpa, Mitchell, or anyone tell you any different,”. I remember Mitchell, he was this school bully. When I was 15 years old, I was walking home one day. He approaches me with a pocket knife,
“Hey faggot, got my money yet?”, I got tired of his s*** and started beating on him like there was no tomorrow. Yeah no tomorrow, when I think of tomorrow, it’s a different one from the tomorrows that used to come. Even though the apocalypse has just begun. I can’t help but think about the electric bill, and how I still need to take out the trash. 28th birthday is tomorrow, no one really knows that. Damn, I just remembered that I have some bloody mary mix in the fridge. I’m about to wake up, the light is pulling me towards the brightness of day. I open my eyes, but I am frozen from a shocking sight. It’s Stephen, he’s bleeding heavily. I look at my watch, 8:23AM, October 13th, Happy Birthday to me. I look around, everybody else is asleep, and I get up and attend to Stephen,
“Stephen, Stephen! Hey, man, bro, Steve!” I whisper,
Steve turns his head towards me, his head bops back and forth with his breathing, he seems speechless,
“Jo-s-seph, gone insane. Don’t tru- *soft cough*, trust, hi-” Stephen’s head thuds against the ground before he can continue speaking. I’m left, wondering what happened to him. Joseph must have done something, I look at Steve’s head, there’s a massive gash on the side. His heart's still beating, I jab at Paulson, trying to wake him up. Paulson has had the most medical experience on the field, considering he’s patched up most of the wounds. He wakes up, and I quickly shush him, putting my finger on my lips signifying a need of silence. I whisper to him,
“Dude, I woke up to Steve. He’s injured, he said that Joseph did this or something,”
David quietly responds,
“Slow down, Joseph? Wait is that Steve righ-,”
I nod,
“He needs to be treated, he has a large head wound,”
He brings out a medical kit from his backpack,
“David, I’m going to need you to look around. Look, I’ll be on the radio, if you spot something, tell me right away. If you see Joseph, and if what Steve said is true. You’re going to want to approach him with caution,”
I nod back yes to him, I get up, trying not to make any noise as my boots rustle along the shriveled maple leaves and pine cones.

This is just batshit insane, zombies, and the possibility that Joseph has turned on us. I walk straight through the woods, shaking and sweating in fear. My vision sharpens, as I can already feel adrenaline being pumped through my body. I gotta find Joseph, and see what’s up. If he ends up being some mental nutcase, I’ll have quite the problem on my hands. I pull out my M9, and c*** back the slide slowly, attempting to make little ruckus. I look around and see a dark figure in the trees, for a second I ignore it. But I turn my head and see the figure turn to me, it’s in the shape of a person. Wait a second, as the sun rises up, I can see. By the look of that beard, it’s Joseph. With an M16 Carbine Rifle, wait does he have a silencer. Before I stop walking, I see a bullet whizz pass my face.
I get a radio frequency coming through my headset, Joseph raises his arm to his head and I can see his mouth moving. All of a sudden, I can hear the frequency coming in,
“Not another step soldier. Otherwise, the next bullet ain’t gonna miss. It’s going straight through your frontal lobe and you’ll end up just like lil’ Stevie,”
I aim my pistol at him, it takes a second for him to notice, I attempt to take a shot, then in that sudden moment. Bullets fly into my right arm, and into my right shin, it burns like hell.
Joseph jumps down from the tree, and waves his finger,
“Bad dog, ba-a-a-ad doggie. I told ya not to cross that line, and look at where ya ended up. I’m sorry lil’ Davie boy, but you gotta see the bigger picture,” Joseph looks at me pitifully,
I look at the bleeding bullet holes. I hyperventilate, trying to stop the pain, Joseph walks closer to me. He lights a cigarette, I try to radio in, but before I can raise my left hand, Joseph stomps on it.
“If you were in my shoes, you’d do the same thing. I’m just obeying orders. You probably think I’m some sick, twisted, reprobate prick. But the truth is, I’m just following my master’s command. You know what we did, well let’s just say I was cut a deal. Crash the ‘copter, then make sure you all die. So that I can leave, innocent. Name cleared, but it was too late. I had to leave, I was sure that you wouldn’t make it. I’m sorry, you’re a great man, I’ll make sure you’ll be remembered. It’s for the greater good bud, one day you’ll understand. Hell, this is hard for me. One day we’re sitting in your living room sharing a 40 of whiskey, now I’m standing right here with a gun to your head. I have no other choice, you know they’d rather kill us all right? I have a family out there man, in Memphis, if I ever want to see my son grow up, and to kiss my wife again. I have to kill you, Paulson, Jolene, and Manny. I’m so sorry, I really am.”
Joseph starts to tear up a little, and he starts to turn a flush red. I try to get up, struggling, but I can’t move. I’m a soldier damn it, you can do something great, better than everyone, just like what mom said. No, I can’t let him do this, stay determined David. Everything is so cold, it’s starting to get so dark, goddamnit David. Don’t fall asleep, or you’ll die. Joseph smokes, taking deep, prolonged inhalations. It’s as if a fire rages inside, these are my troops he’ll kill if I don’t stop them, my friends, the very people who saved you in the war. A convulsing vexation leads me lunging my whole weight at Joseph, with all my might I get up screaming, and I push Joseph to the ground. Leaping on top of him, and strangling him, as we struggle to grab the gun.
“Dammit, why can’t you make this easy, just die!” Joseph utters as he struggles,
“No, I won’t let you. This is so messed up, those are our friends. You were our friend, the real Joseph wouldn’t do this, goddamnit STO-o-O-o-O-OpP!” I shriek ever so loudly into the forest.
It’s as if he ignores every word, I run out of energy. Will can only move me so far, he pushes me off and back down onto the ground. He repeatedly punches me, a metallic taste fills my mouth, and I’m nauseated by the very taste of my own blood. Punch after punch, I lay there, taking a heavy beating. Then for a second, he stops and breathes in. He looks at his clenched fists, and it’s almost as if he wakes up.
“What have I done? This is no way to live, I know they’re all gone. I’ve done it now, dear lord. FORGIVE ME!”
Joseph pulls a gun to his head. Eyes all watery from tears, he screams, and I can feel the moist spit against my face, I can’t stop him, he quickly squeezes the trigger. His head falls back, and I pass out again, my whole body throbs, and my eyes close.

In the end, Joseph did what he thought was right. He couldn’t live with so much dishonor, he knew what he was doing was wrong. Already, it hasn’t been that long, and so many people have already died. But, I can’t die yet, I gotta protect my friends. I’ve just realized, they’re all I got left, I can’t die here. Why am I always the one to pass out? Just screw it all, I gotta wake up. My mind tells me to rest, I drift off, and hear my mother’s voice again. This time it isn’t those words, she’s telling me,
“David, you need to live. Those are your friends, and I know you won’t let some small pieces of lead stop you from protecting them,”
I already feel so empowered, so determined to continue on. If only I could actually just wake up right now, I can’t believe Joseph just gave up like that. My mother’s voice echoes, and fades away, all I can hear now is a heartbeat. It feels like it’s been years, like an eternity of darkness and a beating heart. Wait, now I see a light, I am heading towards consciousness again!

I wake up lying in a bed. Warm sheets, and an IV needle in my arm, where am I? I look up and glance at a window, I breathe in, and I look around to see myself in a room with a white tiled floor, was this all just a bad dream? I look at my right arm, and see my wounds all dressed and cleaned. Strange enough, they aren’t sore either, I look to my left and see my stuff on a wooden night stand. Lying on there is my watch, my M9 Sidearm, and a note. Still disoriented, I struggle to grab the note. The note reads,
January 12th, 21:32, Dear David,
It’s probably been quite some time since we found you in the forest. Thanks to Jolene, we found you hours later with Joseph dead. You’re probably wondering where you are. No it’s not a hospital but it’s a Wal-Mart office, best we could do, from what we could tell. You were in a coma, look the whole point of this note is to let you know that, we left what we could. Manny is dead, and Jolene got kidnapped, but I got some help from some kid named Dominic. He was sure he saw the same guy who kidnapped Jolene, his name is Ed I think, and he’s some sort of biker gang leader. Manny was shot by some dude named Vince, I think he was also runnin’ with some Asian kid too, I got this information from a man named Elijah. Steve is safe, he’s recovered already, but we did what we could for you. It’s been weeks, and sorry we had to leave. If you wake up, you can try going by the Fred East Firearms Store and the Antique Weapons and Martial Arts Training place, we couldn’t leave much either, if it helps, we left a backpack right beside your bed, it should have a flashlight, 4 clips of ammunition, some water, and even a beer. Take it easy.
Yours Truly, Paulson Lockheart J. Smith

A beer? Haha, yes. Some alcohol! Wait, I’ve been out for months. My friends, gone too? No, I was supposed to be there to protect them. I need to get to them quickly. I lean up, and unzip the military bag. I took the can of beer and quickly opened it. I get a nice refreshing drink of booze. Refreshing, yet so intoxicating. I load up my M9 and lace my boots. I scratch my face, and feel a beard. I need to shave. I open the curtains, and see snow outside. How beautiful, I slap on my wrist watch, it’s 11:30 AM, I’m all alone in this now. No friends, no family. Just me, and my instincts. I grab a cozy looking camouflage jacket, and head out. As I turn the knob, I brace myself for any infected. I lookout and see none. As I head into the rest of Wal-Mart, all I can see is a dark empty oasis of shelves, and wrappers, wow, everything looks as if it went to hell in a handbasket. I’m going to try and find my friends. I approach the glass sliding doors of the store. Of course, it doesn’t open at all. I pry open the doors, and am blinded by the bright light of day.
“Another day, another second, I ain’t got anymore to waste,” I said.
I traverse alongside the roads and streets. Seeing broken down buildings, plateaus of bodies. This is not the Wisconsin I remember, I walk south of the Wal-Mart, strolling along, looking for my friends. As I walk by, I hear some noise by the gas station, breaking glass, and gunshots.
I’m drawn out by the feuding voices, and sounds of discontent. Maybe, I should see what’s going on, it’s been awhile in this apocalypse, my greatest guess is that people are a lot more selfish nowadays. I mean, it’s pretty obvious as nearly every zombie flick portrays the majority of survivors as scum of the earth type murderers. I need to decide, now, maybe it could be one of them. Screw it, I bolt towards the gas station, I almost slip from the snow against my boots. I pull out my M9, and as my head goes up, in front of me I see 2 hooded men robbing this scrawny looking kid. I can’t really distinguish the kid’s facial features as his head is down and he is shaking from being held up at gunpoint, it takes a minute for the 2 bandits to realize I’m right behind them. One of them glances back, and with bloodshot eyes gives me a cold stare, he calls out,
“Who the hell are you? You know what? I don’t care, give me all your things! DROP YOUR GUN DAMMIT!”
I slowly move, and look at the counter, I see a paper weight, I raise my hands up slowly, I step a little to the side towards the counter. These bastards don’t know what’s coming, in a split second move, I grab the paperweight and throw it at the man brandishing a revolver at me. I quickly aim my M9 and shoot the both of them 5 times. Ankles, chest and hands, they all sit groaning and bleeding all over the ground. That scrawny kid is still stuck in the fetal position, I walk over to the twitching bodies of those hooded men. My lips utter a whisper in one’s ear,
“Next time, ah-h what am I saying. There won’t be a next time, because if I ever see you again. I’ll turn you into a Pez dispenser.”
I’ve never felt so remorseless, but, these pricks asked for it. I step by the kid, and tap him on the shoulder, he backs into a corner, frightened.
“You’re going to be okay, look I’m not going to hurt you,” I try and console him,
He looks up, he looks so relieved, he wipes the tears from his eyes, and rubs a bruise on his cheek.
“T-t-thank you sir, I thought I was going to die for sure, thank you so much *sniffle*,” the kid responds,
“Don’t mention it, say. How old are you?” I ask,
“13 sir, my name is Shaun, I was just so hungry. I came in here, they started beating on me, thank you so much sir!” He thanks me with much gratitude.
I snatch the revolver from the palm of a dead hood. I hand the gun to the kid,
“Here, with this, you’ll be safe, I promise. I know what it’s like to feel helpless, take all you need. Well, I’ll be on my way. Stay safe Shaun…”
As I walk out the boy takes a grasp of my arm and asks,
“Hey, can I come with you?”
I reply back with a somber yet reassuring tone,
“Sorry, but. I got things to do out there. I still gotta look after myself, I really gotta be on my way, goodbye,”
I walk out without looking back…

It’s been a long way, but I’ve finally made it by Fred East’s Firearms, just to see a horrific sight. Looks as if this man committed suicide, he must have been an employee. Congealed blood stains his clothes, as he hangs from a tree, rotting. I see bites all over him, and look at the building, it has hastily white painted print on the side,
Dear LORD, PLEASE FORGIVE ME…
Poor bastard, he looks as if he’s been lying there for an eternity. I don’t blame him, post-apocalyptia now made things just plain insane…

The building is already opened, and as I stroll along through the dim tiled hallway of the department, I could see nothing. Walking inside, it was so empty, yet for a small gunstore it was almost eery. Seeing the bullet holes in the wall and the hardened blood stains spattered all over paints a vivid image in my mind. My God, what happened here?! It hit me, the smell of rotting bodies, the rigor mortis, that putrid stench, it almost made me throw up. So much for looking for supplies, I see empty shelves, not even a single bullet. Just casings and carcasses of what remains. The lack of heat and a cold breeze flying through the cracked windows blurs out the smell, but I can’t even fathom the power of that awful smell. You’d think you’d get used to it, but you never do, you know the smell when you peel a band-aid off that’s been there for weeks, well imagine that times a billion. That’s what was crawling up my nose, nauseating the hell out of me. Quickly, I burst out, to catch a breath of fresh air. The sky is dark, yet filled with the grey of clouds. My lungs inflate with the crisp, refreshing air that blows away the clouds of nausea and disorientation away from my mind. I scan the pavement for a second and as I look around I see a familiar object about 14 feet away. I walk over there, closer and closer, I notice that it’s the engraved M9 on the ground with the slide back, clip out, casings all over. Wait, if that’s Rom’s gun, Paulson might be around. There is a trail of blood and cloth following the gun, leading into a forest. I think I’ve found them, I just gotta follow that trail…
I am now in the forest, listening in so deeply that the sound of my own rustling footsteps in the snow covered grass scared me. I’m already tired of walking, the tips of my toes are moist and nearly blistering. I look up, and see the moon glistening down. It is then where I hear a voice, wait, that’s Paulson’s voice I think. I can’t be mistaken, either that or I’m insane. I walk towards a scream, it’s a call for help,
“PLEASE, ANYBODY, HELLO!!!!”
I sprint forth, pacing fast, trying to listen in, I know that’s Paulson right there. I couldn’t have been more careless though, I found myself on the road, it was as if time froze as cold as the breeze of Wisconsin’s winter, “Always look both ways” is what my mother told me. I should’ve listened, apocalypse or not, My legs, my waist felt an immense force crushing and pushing me away. It send me flying into the air, back into the woods, blood flies out of my mouth. Yeah, here’s where it ends, last thing I heard right there was the screeching of the tires. Clinging to life with broken legs, I crawl to a tree, and lay against it. This is the end, I hear the growls of zombies nearby. This is where it ends. Heh, I really should’ve thought this through. David, you’ve done did it now. This is where my story ends, I ain’t dead, but I sure as hell will be. The blinding headlights makes my eyes close. There it is, the end…