I remember in school, we talked about the apocalypse. Not that archaic one about God and demons and stuff. I mean the one that actually happened. When the zombies nearly killed everyone. In the year 2020, a medicine was made that was supposed to make people become healthier as they eat. Since humans need to eat to live, it would have essentially made them live forever just by doing what they had to do anyway. Unfortunately, they messed up their calculations, and everyone became aggressive, mindless, and endlessly hungry. They became… well, zombies.

While the main objective of the drug had failed, it DID successfully function as an enhancer, creating mutations in the zombies. Their skin became stone. Their muscles became dense. They grew large and ran fast. Many people died to the zombies, and it left the world with practically nothing. Every time they caught someone, they either ate them completely, or bit them, and transferred the disease via saliva injection. Lucky for us, they had one weakness. They HAD to eat. If they didn’t, they would eventually decay and die. This… was how humanity survived.

In the year 2057, the last zombie that anyone had seen was killed. Humans went into hiding underground, or they took shelter in treetops or islands away from the zombies. Very few cities managed to survive the outbreaks. Even fewer kept themselves calm after the fact. People began savagely fighting amongst each other like starving rats. Some time after that, they suddenly stopped as new leading figures decided to reign over regions. I guess that people just needed someone to look up to for protection.

While some people are still afraid to sleep, many of the newer generation can sleep easy without truly knowing the risk of ignorance. Now, the remaining people have been able to start rebuilding, salvaging what’s left of the human race. Now, it’s the year 2132. Nearly 100 years since the last zombie was spotted. Animal population has been returning. Humans have had time to regrow their numbers a little. Even though we’re less than 30% of what we once were, it’s a whole lot better than the newest generations would know.

As for me, my name is Leah Hemsworth. I’m 26 years old with a medical degree for zombification bioengineering. I was offered a job at a newly established medical facility in a location long since forgotten. However, I found some zombies! Real, living zombies! My curiosity piqued and I got too close. They noticed me, so I ran. I ran through a forest full of remnants of the old civilization. I entered a building that had barely been standing. I entered the house and climbed into a large metal cabinet. Once the zombies caught up, the house couldn’t handle the extra weight and collapsed.

Now, I’m trapped in an ancient steel cabinet and barricaded in here in a collapsed building. This… couldn’t be anymore unfortunate… I’ve long since had time to let my anxiety calm down. I can hear the rest of the zombies climbing over the broken building, trying to find a way to enter and eat me. At this point, I think that would be the better outcome. I’m gonna die in this cabinet anyway. At least getting eaten would be quicker than a slow death of dehydration.

Well… I guess this is better than becoming one of them… As I begin accepting my fate, I hear a vehicle driving around. The zombies are running towards it. The zombies sound as though something is happening to them. Their voices are disappearing one by one. Suddenly, there was silence. The only sound remaining was the vehicle engine. The engine was turned off. Someone… survived against the zombies? Who’s out there?

I can hear footsteps over the destroyed house. This person is walking around on the rubble. I hear the person sniff in deeply before exhaling. Could this still be a zombie? No, it can’t be! They’re moving in a much more controlled fashion. There’s no way a mindless zombie could do that! The person is now digging through the rubble! They’re going to find me! What do I do?! What… CAN I do?! I close my eyes and hope they give up. Please… just leave! Let me die in peace!

The door to the cabinet swings open, breaking the pitch black darkness. “Holy shit! It really is a person!” the person’s voice says. I open my eyes to see a man wearing all black clothing. He’s wearing black boots, pants, tucked-in long sleeve shirt, gloves with some kind of metal claw ring on his left hand, face mask, bandana, and sunglasses. Completely covered from head to toe. “You have GOT to be the luckiest god damn girl in the world, kid!” he says as he puts his hand down to help me out of the cabinet.

“Who are you?!” I ask while still panicking. He grabs me by the arm and pulls me out of the cabinet. “We ain’t got time for this!” He pulls my arms over his shoulders carrying me on his back as he climbs out of the rubble. I’m not sure what’s going on, but I’m scared! This man just sniffed me out and moved a destroyed house to get to me! He can’t be normal! “Let go of me!” I shout as I start struggling to get away from him. He holds my arms tightly until we get out of the broken house. He steps on the ground and drops me in the dirt. “This how you treat someone saving your ass?!” He says as he kneels down to me.

He begins checking my arms. “You ain’t bit, are you?” I try pulling my arm away from him, but he’s insanely strong! I can barely make him budge while throwing my entire body weight to escape! “Let go of me! I didn’t get bit!” He let’s go of my arm just as I tug backwards, letting me fall to the ground. “You young kids don’t really know anything about zombies, do you?” I quickly climb to my feet and dust myself off. “You got some kinda problem, don’t you?” He says as he steps towards me. He grabs my arm again, pulling me closer to his face.

“If you bait in the big one, I’m gonna-!“ A loud, guttural howling cuts him off. “Great… Thanks, kid…” A large, aggressive-looking zombie comes charging from the woods. It’s body is armored in a stone-looking texture. This… must be a very mutated zombie. The man begins walking over to it, pulling a hunting knife out of a holster on his hip. “If this is what you want, this is what you’re gonna get!” this man… his bravery in the face of inevitable death is unbelievable! I back up to the destroyed house. I really hope that thing doesn’t come after me after this guy dies!

The zombie charges at the man. The man crouches down, holding the knife up in front of his face. The zombie reaches out to grab the man. The man ducks under his arms and grabs the zombie by the waist, stabbing the knife into its side between the thick stone skin. He begins plunging the knife into the zombie multiple times into the same spot. Black blood splashing from the wound as the knife rips flesh and fluids from the fresh opening. The zombie grabs the man by the arm, throwing him forward. The man’s knife is still stuck inside of the zombie like a large splinter.

The man stands up off of the ground. “You definitely don’t fight much, but you definitely eat!” The zombie pulls the knife from its side, throwing it to the ground. I want to run away, but fear and curiosity is overtaking me! I’m too scared to move and… want to see what happens! Same as this guy… I’m curious who this guy is! The zombie keeps relentlessly charging at the man, but the man is skillfully dodging all of the zombie’s grapples. It’s as if he’s done this many times before.

This is absolutely impressive! The movements are so fast and precise! I’ve never seen a human move like that! He’s like a cheetah! Seeing his magnificent control over the situation makes me confident enough that I can escape without being seen. I sneak over to the man’s vehicle, keeping quiet as the man and the zombie continue fighting. I open the door and climb into the driver’s side, closing the door behind me. The zombie and the man both look at me at the same time as the sound of the closing door alerts them. “Hey! Get the hell outta my car!” The man shouts as he and the zombie both run towards me.

I reach for a key to find it’s not there! Damn it! That guy has it on him! Did he not plan to escape quickly?! The zombie reaches for the car, but the man catches the zombie before it touches the car. “Touch my damn car and I’ll rip your skull out and show it to you!” This man is so hostile, but it must work for him! He’s handling this zombie like he’s bullying it! The man grabs the door handle. I slap the lock down on the door before he opens it. The man’s entire demeanor changes as he breathes in and exhales loudly.

He looks me in the eyes as he chuckles. “Hehe… very funny… Now open the door before I rip it off and let him eat you.” His calm chuckle carried twice as much hostility as his angry shouts. For some reason, it sends a chill down my spine. The zombie grabs him from behind, wrapping its arms around the man, and biting his neck. “Damn it! Look what you did!” I panic as the man is getting chewed on like an overcooked steak. “Come on, kid! You ain’t going anywhere if I don’t escape this! Hurry up and do something!”

I look at him, too terrified to even move. I look out of the window and see the knife on the ground. I’m… really scared, but… I need to do something. I struggle, but I turn to the passenger side of the car. I crawl over to the passenger side seat and quietly open the door. I keep low so they can’t see me. I walk around the vehicle and sit behind it just outside of their sight. The man is still struggling with the zombie locked onto his neck, trying to subdue the man. “Come on, kid! Knock it off and do something!” I’m staring at them, waiting for my chance.

As soon as the man turns, and neither the zombie or him are looking at me, I breathe in and hold my breath as I rush out and grab the knife. I rush over and stab the knife into the side of the zombie where the man was previously stabbing. The zombie releases its grip on the man, falling onto the ground. I freeze up in fear as the zombie stands up. I look up at it as it towers over me. I… can’t move! I close my eyes and hope for the best. After a moment, I heat the zombie struggling in pain. I open my eyes to see the man is grabbing the zombie by the arm, pulling it back, and grabbing his knife.

The man pulls the knife from the zombie, then twisting the zombie’s arm, forcing it to kneel so it’s arm wouldn’t break. “Know what?” The man says before licking the zombie’s blood from the blade. “I got a better idea, you bastard.” The man lifts up the zombie’s arm, breaking it at the elbow. He releases the zombie and it quickly backs away from the guy. “I haven’t done this for a while, so you’ll have to forgive me if you don’t die right away.”

The man’s body begins swelling up. You can see the muscles filling out his clothing, his body cracks as if the bones in his body are being forced to readjust to the rapid muscle growth. The man then dropped to all fours, charging at the zombie like a dog, tackling it and ripping flesh and organs from its chest. The screeches from the zombie while the man did this were deafening. The man was making a lot of growling and screeching sounds as well. The disgusting disemboweling suddenly turned to the man eating the zombie’s flesh and organs. It’s almost as if… he’s also a zombie.

As this thought raced through my mind, the man glanced at me. His glasses must have fallen off. His eyes were black as the night sky. My heart begins pumping faster and my breathing intensified as I lost myself in his absolutely terrifying eyes. My mind suddenly goes blank and everything goes blurry before I fell to the ground and blacked out.