27/1/ 2026

(There's a lot to worry about at this moment. The principal is making us pass through temperature control every three days. Most people have stopped going to school, work or they are leaving their houses. Mom wanted me to do it as well but I hope that I can prove to her everything is alright instead of holing up at home. The people that got sick don't come back though, no one knows anything about them, not even their families.)

"Everyone stand up for the control, please!" There was it again, a doctor stood at the doorframe of the class where Isaak was at. Other three, well protected against bacterias, nurses came in with their thermometers right behind the suited-up man. The blonde’s anxiety was raised as one of the nurses came to his side to take his temperature, he didn’t feel warm at all but he couldn’t help himself. Isaak closed his eyes, taking a deep breath before the tool made a weird, beeping noise. He opened his eyes, suddenly not remembering what sound was it supposed to do when your temperature was normal. 

"Oh...You are a bit warm, I'm sure it's just the stress. Don't worry about it, it happens often" sweet words that relieved Isaak left the nurse’s mouth. With that being said, he sat down on his chair again and watched how the rest of the control went. The boy’s eyes averted a girl in the back that seemed nervous. There was sweat falling down her forehead and her hands were shaky as she tried to hide them in her pockets. It was noticeable that she was holding a cough to herself, but she ended up failing. Let me tell you the cough sounded bad, but it was worse once she took her hand away from her mouth. It was covered in blood that had come out through her lips along with the cough. The nurses ran to her in no time and took the thermometer and other weird-looking gadgets to check her. The tools started beeping like crazy and, unlike Isaak’s beeps, these were easily recognizable as a positive.

"Take her out! Right now!" The whole class went silent as the brunette girl fought to be free, yelling and kicking as the nurses took her away from the rest. Isaak limited himself to stare at her and, for a second, he would have sworn he saw her brown eyes turning grey. The blonde gulped at the sight and shut his eyes trying to convince himself that he didn’t see such a thing seconds ago. There was no way that it could have been real.

"She will be okay guys" Empty words, that’s all they said at that time. Always making up the best scenarios, everything to keep people in line. Isaak couldn’t deny that he usually applied that way of thinking when he was home. But he had to be honest after he saw that girl being dragged away like a rabid animal. "That's what everyone says, but they never come back" the words left his mouth carelessly, there were surprised whispers between his classmates. He didn’t get away from being scolded by his teacher who desperately tried to keep everyone under control.

10/2/2026

(I'm one of the few kids at school, some are home, others might be dead. I've seen about 30 teens being taken out of the school this week, I asked their parents about them. They aren't allowed to see their kids. Does the government actually want us to believe that they are working on this virus? If they had a way to handle the situation they would have done something by now, it seems to me that we are just guinea pigs for them)

"As I have told you-" The speech was cut off by a weird noise coming through the speakers, it was startling and loud. Isaak looked around the classroom hoping someone was trying to prank them with really similar audio to the purge one. But he was hit with the fact that everyone there was as concerned as he was, some standing up asking their teacher about that sound. The noise stopped once the voice of their principal came in scene, stern tone being heard everywhere in the school.

"This isn't a fake alarm. Everyone, close windows, doors, blinds, everything that you need to do that will maintain you in a safe, isolated place. Everyone keep calm and stay as far away from windows and doors as you can. I repeat close everything and stay far from possible entries" the man said, panic cracking his voice by the end of the announcement.

They did as told, quickly closing every possible entry. Isaak’s mind ran hundreds of thoughts per second as he tried to understand the very briefly explained situation. Could it be a school shooter? Right at that moment? That couldn't be real, it wouldn't be the first time in history but, right in the middle of this? They sat in a corner at the end of the class, the only one that didn't have a window or door near. There was a dead silence, Isaak would’ve loved the calming sound of nothing any other time. But this one was different, it was full of fear and tension.

He heard steps over the white noise of the classroom. Some were fast, others slow. Isaak closed his eyes wondering why there were people outside although they were told to stay inside of the classrooms. But they moved around, hitting the walls or maybe even falling to the floor clumsily, the boy couldn’t figure out why there were such noises on the other side of the wall. He grabbed his phone looking to contact his mother, only to find messages of her being displayed on his lock screen. The texts were confusing and alarming. "They are here" said the first one. "I love you Isaak" and "Please, ran as fast as you can" followed suit. And the last one, the one that froze his blood.

"You need to live."

His eyes started watering with a stinging feeling. Who was there? Who were they? He couldn’t make his mind, the texts he had read made no sense for him. He felt trapped in his phone until a loud bang on the door made him jump and drop it. Some kind of frightening curiosity pushed him to look at the door, but the teacher pulled him back to the floor with a panicked look. That thing on the other side was definitely not a shooter, but it had strength. Isaak could hear the door creaking, the wood breaking slowly with the bangs of that creature that he was sure wasn't a person. And then, it was opened with a thud. Isaak heard grunts, animal-like before he could even see what it was. It did look like a human from the back when he saw it, but the skin of the arms seemed rotten and pale.

"Marie? Is it you?" A boy stood up. Marie, the brunette girl that they took away weeks ago, was there panting heavily. The rest of the people went to greet her as well hurrying her to stay away from the door, but Isaak kept his distance when 'she' turned around. Her face was covered in blood, and her eyes were grey. Marie growled as she jumped on the boy that had recognized that creature.

(That's the last clear memory from that day. The way her black-ish teeth dug in the brown skin of who once was her friend, the blood flooding, and the screams that sounded everywhere. I ran away, I saw more like her. There were more creatures like her than there were humans. But I was somehow fast and they were busy eating people. I remember seeing the military outside, shooting at whoever that got out. And probably ran upstairs in a desperate moment, then I ended up on the roof. Alone, but safe)

12/2/ 2026

(I'm in the roof, alone. I have some water that I still had in my backpack. I heard screams in the city, but I'm too dizzy to stand up and see. I texted mom that I was okay, but she hasn't seen anything yet. She will I guess. No one has tried to reach the roof, and I hope they won't. I saw a chopper but it fell from the sky into the city somewhere. This feels unreal, I'm probably dreaming. Maybe I'm sick as well and I'm just hallucinating. Yeah, I hope)

Isaak put his notebook inside of the bag again, his handwriting was messier than usual and his words were rushed in the paper. All the noise around him was just as messy, he couldn’t tell what was happening. It was only when he heard gunshots that he became more aware of his surroundings, those that he had tried to muffle. He could tell the shots were coming from downstairs, inside of the school.  Isaak leaned on the door to figure out if someone was there to help. It took a minute or two for him to hear voices, and he swore he had never been so thankful to hear someone. "Maybe there's someone left in the roof?" that’s what he heard. A man asking from the inside of the building. He didn’t waste any time, standing up and hitting the door were his priority, he needed someone to help him and he didn’t even know how to open the door. He must have damaged it when he closed it abruptly.

"Here! I'm up here" he shouted, desperate for that help. The handle was blown up with a gunshot, opening the door before Isaak. In front of him stood a tall man with a rifle that pointed to Isaak's head. The blonde put his hands up before a woman appeared behind the owner of the gun. She made the man step back with a simple sentence “He is just a kid, not a rotten." Isaak was confused but glad that they didn’t kill him on the spot. The man looked at the teenager up and down before asking him if he was hurt or anything. Isaak was only able to shake his head at the question.

"Sleeves up, boy" The stranger said sternly as he signaled the blonde’s arm with the canon of his gun. Isaak nodded and did as told, showing his pale arms, the right amount for him to verify that the boy didn't have any recent wounds. Apparently, that’s all they needed to know about him before offering him to follow them. He didn't want to be alone anymore; it was driving Isaak crazy. He couldn’t say no to such a thing but when he saw the city, he wished he could have stayed up there. The streets were full of corpses, people running, screams... Everyone had weapons from knives to bats to guns whatever to keep those things away.

The couple that found Isaak took him to a car parked in the middle of the road. And quick enough they were out of the principal avenue, which had been the most crowded street. Isaak took a few minutes to breathe, convincing himself that the car was safe. Once he calmed, the woman decided to speak up: "I'm Shannon and he is Robert, what's your name love?" She was nice and friendly at first glance.

"Isaak. Thank you for picking me up, guys. Do you know what is going on?" He asked as his eyes focused on both adults, waiting for an answer that he might have known already. "The virus. The government kept the infected away because they were all are done for. Not dead, though, because their organs work the same but they don't feel or think anymore. A body walking on its own, looking for a prey" Robert explained to him as he turned to the left, he looked like he would have been in the military; a tall, well-built man with a hard and cold expression in his face.

"So...Zombies?" Isaak asked more worried than surprised. The possibility wasn’t anything new for him but hadn’t stopped to think about it as an actual reality, he wasn’t ready for it and it scared him.

"We call them rottens, buddy"

15/5/2026

(It's been three months since I was out and wrote down something. This all started three months ago but they took me to the bunker with another three people. We had food, water, beds, and a warm place to live in. We lived away from the danger, away from the rottens or any other humans. But being closed like an animal in a cage turns people crazy. Robert doesn't let us talk if he doesn't say so, we can't move without him allowing it. I have small talks with this girl, Wanda, she is sweet and always shares the food she gets assigned. The other two men, Warren and Max never talk to anyone else than Robert. Shannon looks out for our us, she is the one that gives us the food and preventative meds. )

"I can't do this anymore Isaac, we have to leave" Wanda told Isaak one night when the rest were sleeping soundly. They usually slept away from them, not wanting to get caught talking without permission. "We can't, we'd die out there!" the boy exclaimed in a whisper trying to knock some sense into her. But he knew that, despite his intentions, he had just made things worse for her.

17/5/2026

(I guess one of us was going to die even inside of our bunker...Wanda killed herself that night, she left a small note next to me. She said that she was sorry about leaving me alone with them all but she couldn't take it anymore. It was too much for her. She was on her right to do it. But I feel alone, Shannon can't talk to me as much as Wanda did.)

2/6/2026

(We are lacking food. I know they are planning something, but they won't tell me. I've only had a piece of bread for breakfast and nothing else. Robert seems crazier than ever, he says he hears voices calling for us. Shannon tries to make him understand that there's nothing but he won't listen. We are fucked up. So fucked up. Maybe I could have left with Wanda. She wouldn't be dead. Or maybe she would and I would be as well. It's the apocalypse, you never know what the fuck is about to happen. I wish I could go back in time, maybe I could have told mum to stay in Russia. I bet there's no virus. They are closed to the max and it is impossible to get in the country. They might be the safest place. Maybe one day I'll be able to come back there...)

"Isaak! Wake up!" Shannon’s yell startled the boy. Panic tinted her voice and Isaak couldn’t register a reason right away. Robert had blood over his chest, a chest that wouldn’t move, he was dead. But they all knew that in their new world people didn't stay dead for too long. Isaak didn’t hesitate to grab his bag and put it on his shoulders ready to leave whenever someone opened the goddamned door. Robert started waking up with his new grey eyes. Shannon had tears in her eyes as she tried to talk to the zombie, but it was useless and stupid, not to mention deadly. In a blink, the rotten had jumped on who once was his wife. All Isaak could see was blood flooding and blank eyes.

Max shot both as Warren started opening the door once they had secured everything they needed. The gunshots were loud but pointless as the rottens kept coming closer to them, why wouldn’t they drop dead?. Finally, the first door was opened, but they had lost Max as well. "Run, kid, run!" Warren yelled at the teenager as he killed one of them with a shot in the head. The blonde yelled at Warren to throw the keys his way the moment he saw a rotten biting him. Isaak prayed for his reflexes to be enough to catch the keys when the man threw them at him. He did catch the keys, opening the door to the outside. Finally running out not looking behind him even once.

Isaak ran faster than he could ever remember doing. He saw the devastating view of the city, crashed cars, shattered windows, fire...And of course, zombies.  As he ran farther, he paid attention to the dead bodies on the floor, some being eaten, others starting to wake up again...He had to get out of there or he would die like the rest in the bunker.

But this wasn't the bunker anymore. The exterior awaited him.