Chapter 1
It has been three weeks since this all started, my friend Christina is dead, there are zombies roaming around the place, and by now you can’t trust anybody. I still can’t believe this is happening, I had a future waiting for me and it all just slipped out of my fingers like that. I tried calling my parents with some hope that they’re still alive, but no one picked up. I saw the town's grocery store and immediately made my way to the entrance, being cautious of the zombies that could possibly be hanging around, and luckily there was a store that legally sold guns and weapons that was definitely useful to me. I had a shotgun and aimed at nothing, being prepared to shoot at anything that comes running at me in an attempt to attack.
At this point, I felt as if the slightest sound I made could trigger a horde of zombies to come my way. When I saw that the coast was clear, I immediately began picking up food and other necessities that I might need in the future, as I was wandering through the isles I came across a pack of gum that made me stop mid-walk. I picked it up and examined it thoughtfully. This gum came out a few days before the outbreak, “Sballow, the gum you can swallow”. As I read the name of the gum, I immediately began to think back to the time Christina and I saw the advertisement of the product. We began making jokes about the name and what would happen if we actually swallowed the gum, “I bet twenty dollars that if you swallow that gum it’ll get stuck in your throat and you’ll start burping bubbles.” Christina joked and I laughed “No I bet if you swallow the gum that it’ll wrap around your poop.” I joked back and Christina laughed “Now that is something I would definitely bet my money on!” Christina cackled and I looked at her with a smug face, “Okay, bet twenty dollars if it comes out that way.” as I said that Christina shot me a glare of determination, “Fifty if it comes out in a bubble.” she said holding her hand out for me to shake, I shook her hand and we began to laugh”.
I smiled at the thought and was unaware of the tears that were streaming down my face, it was until I heard a movement in the back room of the grocery store, I began to stand my guard again, the thumping and rummaging got louder and louder, until the door flew open. I quickly pointed my gun getting ready to shoot, but before I pulled the trigger I heard, “Please don’t shoot, I’m human I’m human!”, I lowered my gun, and shakily stepped back, examining the person in front of me. Before I knew it he quickly scampered up and bolted for the front door of the grocery store, I turned my head to see a zombie struggling through the pile of boxes in the back room and ran towards me, and without thinking I shot it with my gun. I slowly made my way to see if the zombie was still alive, and who it used to be, my heart sank as I saw that it was the store owner Mr. Berkeley.
He was like your friendly neighborhood uncle who wouldn’t be afraid to strike up a friendly conversation with anybody who walked in his store, he was laid back, and never too hard on his employees, and would always hire people when he saw that they were looking for a fresh start on life. He was such a kind man, and my mind flashed back to a few days before the outbreak again, it was the same day the the new brand of gum was being sold, Christina and I were the first ones there, “Want’n ta get a head start eh?”, Mr. Berkeley said, turning the keys to unlock the doors, “Heck yeah! You know how your place gets whenever something new is being sold.” Christina said with an excited tone, half was because of the gum, and the other half was because of the bet we made. “Why y’all so excited over gum n’ the first place?”, he asked, making his way behind the counter to grab the keys to the back room. “Because we bet twenty dollars if it comes out wrapped around your pooh, fifty if it comes out in a bubble.” I explained as we followed him to the back room where all the products were stored. That sounds like an interesting bet, tell you what, Imma give y’all ten free packs, they are a dollar each. If it does come out the way y’all think it would then ya both get coupons that’ll last y’all a year, if it doesn’t then ya both owe me ten dollars each”, he said with his arms crossed and leaning against the products, “We gotta deal?” he asked, putting his hands out for us to shake which we gladly took, and instantly ran out of the store. We weren't too far when we heard him yell out “And be careful when ya eatin that gum now!”.
I snapped back to reality again and caught myself still looking down at Mr. Berkeley, or at least what used to be.
His eyes were clouded and bloodshot, and his mouth was agape. What used to be a full head of hair was now patched out and thinning away. I looked at his right arm, it looked worse than he did making it clear that he was bitten there, there were also claw marks on him too, at least I know he went down with a fight I made a hand movement in the sign of a cross to pay my respects and left I saw a garbage bag and used it to store all my items with and went behind the counter and saw a shotgun that looked just like mine, and an empty bullets box, ‘So that's how he went down, he ran out of bullets.’, I thought as I looked at the bloodied box thoughtfully with a look of seriousness on my face. I refused to imagine how it all went down and made my way out the doors. There was still some light out, and thought it best for me to head back to my house before it got too dark, not to mention my first rodeo of my first night out with the zombies when it was night out. I only had about ten minutes, which wasn’t enough time for me, so I started to run, making sure that there weren't any zombies anywhere near me as I ran. I looked off into the distance and saw a hoard of zombies surrounding one area, as if they were trying to get to something, or someone. As much as I wanted to see or help what or whoever it was in there, it would be too risky and there would be a high chance of me dying in the process. I took my chances and ran past them, and made sure I wasn’t being followed.
Going from place to place tends to be difficult depending on the amount of hoards that would roam the area, for some reason the zombies wouldn’t roam around during the day. Carrying a large garbage bag full of food is a risky chore, knowing full well that the garbage bag would make a lot of noise, I lived up the block from the store and for me it was a hop skip and a jump, and it was mainly due to the short cuts. But when there’s a zombie waiting to bite you in the ass the moment you let your guard down, taking the same route would be like walking across a dinner table the moment they see you. Unfortunately, I had to take another way back, the way I came from was already being swarmed with zombies, and I was running out of time. Thinking on my feet I decided to run to my house. The trash bag I was carrying was so loud that I couldn’t hear my footsteps. As I ran I saw my house down the block, I was getting close, my heart was beating out of my chest. ‘Almost there’, I thought as I was slowly running out of breath, I had a method to my running. I would run at full speed, jog for a bit, then go at full speed again. ‘Come on!’ I was getting closer to my house, just as the feeling of hope was rising in my chest, it quickly faded when I heard an inhuman shrek and rapid footsteps behind me ‘Not now!’ in an attempt to pick up the pace I saw the same guy I ran into at the store, he was screaming as a zombie followed suit, “You’ve got to be kidding!” I yelled as I made a sharp turn to my house, I left my door unlocked just in case I was being followed by a hoard of the flesh eating bastards. Nothing is worse than trying to unlock your door while a hoard of zombies are running near you. I pushed my door open and leaped, falling to the ground. I was about to kick my door close when I heard a repetitive “Let me in let me in let me in let me in!” , it was that same guy without thinking I closed the door and locked it, immediately I heard a loud repetitive banging on my door. “Please, let me in!” he cried out as the two zombies were headed his way as they got closer he made a mad dash for the other house across the street, but to his bad luck, it was locked. Feeling bad I opened my door “Hey hurry up and get in here!”, I yelled. He circled around the street and rushed his way to and in my house, falling in the process. He crawled back against a wall, his chest going up and down non stop, he was sweating profusely and his clothes were torn in some places. “Are you all right?” I asked him looking through the peephole to see if anymore zombies were coming, he stayed silent still trying to catch his breath, when the coast was clear, I slid down the wall and sat on the floor, I reached into my pocket and felt for the box of cigarettes and pulled it out only to see that the box was empty, “Shit”.
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