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Week 4: Zombies
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Kyra
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Nov 17, 2012 08:21AM
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1,350 words
I’ve been trying to write a love story for ages now, but I could NOT get anything even vaguely un-corny. I figured a change in scenery might cause some sort of inspiration. So far – no. But there’s always hope.
The soft white sand runs through her fingers. She gazes out at the lake, the sparkling water serves only to fuel her sadness. All the beautiful sights in the world could not… bah! Shallow characters, lack of plot, I can feel this story getting lame already.
…
I’m not sure I believe this. I was writing, just sitting by the lake, when it exploded! I’m not sure if the lake exploded or just the building on the opposite bank. It could have been the entire world for all I know. I saw the flash out of the corner of my eye, but before I had the chance to look up I was blown backwards. If I had been standing I would have staggered.
I ran home at that point. When you’re terrified, home seems a lot closer. It only took me maybe ten minutes, when I had taken forty on my way.
I told mum what happened. She obviously didn’t believe me, or thought I was exaggerating, but when she saw it on the news she started crying and hugging me.
I tried to tell her what else I saw, but all she said was not to worry, that at least I was okay. I’m not sure she really heard me properly. I’m starting to think I imagined it, anyway. People in grey costumes crawling out of the smoke? It does sound a bit like a hallucination. Maybe post traumatic stress?
…
A girl and two guys were away from school today, there have been rumours going around that they were attacked. The stories range from muggings to stray dogs to sharks, but you know there’s got to be some grain of truth. Why were they even hanging out together?
Katie just called. She said that Gabbe called her to say that they WERE attacked, at separate times and separate locations, by some crazy guy. She said that Caleb (one of the victims) fought the guy off and only had a few scratches, but the other two got torn up pretty bad. She said the guy BIT them, like, tried to eat their faces.
Caleb was on the news, telling his story. Apparently there have been other attacks, not just on kids. One of mum’s friends was actually killed. The police don’t reckon it was just one guy, some of the attacks were too far away and at nearly the same time. Maybe it’s a gang, or some kind of weird cult.
Everyone’s pretty scared. Mum says she’s going to drive me to school tomorrow. I may never have to walk again.
…
Things are getting kind of scary. And when I say ‘kind of’, I actually mean the strongest swear word in history, possibly a string of them. There have been a total of 57 attacks in the last few days. There are these army guys in the streets, no one’s allowed to leave their houses. 13 of the victims have been police.
They’ve killed dozens of the cult guys, but more keep popping up.
…
Today I saw one out the window. I had to screw up my eyes and open them again to make sure it was really there. It looked just like one of the grey suit guys, except close enough to see that there was no suit. His SKIN was that colour.
I was thinking, sort of staring at him. Then I realised he was staring back. More than staring, coming closer.
I can’t remember the details of what happened next. The window definitely broke. It was on top of me. Mum was there, with the biggest knife we own.
I’m not proud of running. But I want to live.
By the time I got to the lake I was light headed. My ear was ripped, and it was bleeding a lot. It took me ages to walk around the lake, the other bank is further away than it looks. That building was where it all started, so I figured I should take a look. Besides, I had to go somewhere.
Anyway, I found my way to the front entrance. The building went uphill, so from the direction I came from (around the back, from the lake) It was like five stories, but from the front it was only about two. The front was also dug in to the hill a bit. Basically, I didn’t go right up to the entrance: I climbed a big hill then looked down on it.
Which means I saw them before they saw me. I didn’t go in.
It’s been five days since the explosion. Not even a week.
…
I found some people. Or more accurately they found me. I’d gone to my neighbours house, the ones that are on holidays, and slept there on the couch. They broke the door open. One of them grabbed me, they were all yelling and stuff. But they weren’t grey. I was scared, but more in a shocked kind of way.
They kept asking about my ear, “what did it?” “bite or scratch?”. Then they took a sample of my blood, with a great big needle. They told me I was “clean”, whatever that means.
They’re not the police, I think they were some part of the army or something. They took me (in a truck) to Lilydale, about twenty minutes away. There was a big wall around a large area. It was electrified. The streets and parks are full of tents. It’s a refugee camp.
They told me it’s safe here. That everyone would be taken care of.
I share a tent with a girl called Brigit. She seems to know a lot, I think she’s related to some scientists who know what’s going on. Anyway, she says it’s not some weird religion taking drugs and going psycho, it’s a disease. She says it’s a virus that, when it enters your blood stream, start producing this chemical. The chemical makes you angry, and hungry, but it also shuts down some of the rest of your brain. It turns you into an animal. I figure that’s why they go for the face – they’re like dogs.
It also explains what I saw outside the building. I saw Caleb, the first to be attacked, and one of the other early victims. They were in a big group, so the other girl could have been there too. I recognised them, they were the same. Except they weren’t.
Their faces were grey. Their arms too. And their clothes were torn and ragged. The worst change was their expressions, ranging from blank stares to vicious, unrelenting anger. I can still see Caleb’s face twisting in agony as a guard belted him over the head, then the spit flying as he leapt to attack him, held back only by the chains.
They were all chained to those hand trolley things, surrounded by guards and guys obviously just there to move them around. A couple of people in white coats came out and pointed to a couple of them, including one of the girls from school, and they were wheeled inside.
The others were wheeled away.
…
Once upon a time, a girl was sad because her whole world had changed and her mum was probably dead or infected by crazy. Then, a nice boy gave her a hug.
My latest attempt at a romance story. I think it’s pretty good.
Life is getting back some sense of normalcy now. There’s this place I go during the day that’s a cross between a day care and a school. That’s where I met James, the inspiration for my epic romance story.
I think we’re moving to a more permanent location soon. Maybe some place in America.
I lied about Caleb, and the others that weren’t selected by the white coat people. They weren’t taken away. They were shot. Killed, kah-blew-y. Right in front of me.
That’s the real reason I needed a hug.
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Keep writing, and I hope to see more participants in the future!!!
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...That's a very grim way of putting it. I feel like a REALLY bad mod.
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