Kevin only sighed, putting his cigarette to his mouth again as his eyes surveyed everything around him with a tired look.“I don't know who the Allfather is, or why he is doing this, or why he is even sparing me, but I swear I am going to kill him if I ever find him.”“You think we should leave this place and find him?” Max asked.Finding the Allfather was a line of thought that Kevin had only subconsciously let out, but as Max asked the question, he was forced to ponder upon it. This house— He and Gina had saved up a lot of money to buy it, and it was dear to him despite its shabbiness, but he was not sure he could continue to stay there forever, given that there had been no more evacuation attempts since the first day.“We should probably leave, Kevin.” Max added, an afterthought. Kevin only looked at him, tossing the butt of his cigarette away. “I know, Maxwell. I know. I love this house so dearly, but it brings me a lot of pain to leave it, and even more to keep staying. Gina an
The evacuated victims who had escaped on the helicopters on the day the zombies broke out had been taken to an old underground bunker preserved from World War II, made by the government of Middlestown at the time to protect against explosives dropped from flying planes on the attack. In recent times, the bunker had come to be used as a storage facility for imports, and that was where the people of Middlestown found refuge. It had been made large enough to contain and keep two thousand people safe, the town's population during World War II, but the emergency had now forced three thousand out of Middlestown’s five thousand people population within — a thousand more than the expected number, most of the remaining two thousand lost to the zombies and a few managing to escape despite the overwhelming numbers of zombies that swept through the city, two of them Kevin Santorini and Maxwell Johnson. Although equipped with electricity and a number of new technologies, it was far from having t
Angela Lewis had seen a bit too much for a seven year old her age.The only daughter of her parents, she had been playing with her teddy bear alone in their living room when the foulest, scariest creature she had ever laid eyes upon broke down the door. There was no skin on the chin, and she could see the bone down to the side of its head where an ear was supposed to be.For the first few seconds, she paused and stared at it, frightened, then it began to come for her, making some scary sound that put fear in her little heart as grey, rotting skin from its chest fell to the floor, exposing a dark hole in its torso.She took in a deep breath, and exhausted it all on a scream that alerted her father and brought him to her.Her flight instinct pushed her to stand on her feet and run, but the thing was bigger and faster than she was, and it grabbed her leg, pulling her up in a tight grip and closing its jaws around the part of her it held. Her scream was twice as loud and now laden with p
Annie Lewis had spent all her time in the bunker a broken woman, only held together by the thin hope that somewhere amongst the three thousand people in this bunker was her husband and their three month old child, Nico. She was so focused on this hope that she held her daughter, Angela close in her arms, refusing to let go as though she was afraid to. The only member of her small family she could still see, she was so afraid of losing her daughter, and she strove to keep her close while battling with the voice in her head that told her that her husband and Nico never made it out of their house alive, refusing to believe it. Her daughter was breaking her too. The girl's eyes seemed to pierce into her soul when she gazed into them, as though she could see what her mother was thinking about. Together, they cried, but what Annie did not know was that her daughter cried for a much different reason than she did. It was only when she saw both her daughter's legs the next morning when t
Only a lone man stood witness to the horrible scene.It was Doctor Robertson, and he had seen every single thing.He had been unable to fall asleep as the fact that he could not reach those he left behind in the institute building still pricked him and made him restless. The thought that some kind of harm had befallen them weighed heavy on his mind, and it kept him awake when most of the people in the bunker were sound asleep.He had tried to reach all three men as much as a hundred times to no avail, so he rose up to occupy himself, trying not to allay his fears to anyone else, not even those on his team who had gone with him. Despite the coolness of the bunker, he still felt the sweat on his skin.Feeling the need to move about, at least to do something to occupy himself, he paced for about thirty minutes, first admiring how bright the lights in the bunker were, powered by solar panels outside. Thankfully, his wonder over the lights were able to distract him from his troubled though
That was how Middlestown woke up to something far worse than the horrors they were hiding in the bunker from.The thing that had been Angela Lewis swallowed the other half of her mother, and then moved to another patient in the Quarantine Room, a middle-aged woman who had not yet mutated but was only arching her back. It did not hesitate to devour that one with the same predator's instinct that had moved her to swallow Annie Lewis as prey. Worse, another man who had been bitten and given the vaccine was now twisting where he lay and growing in size, his bones moving under his skin the same way it had with Angela. Increasing until he completed his morphing into a hideous, rotting zombie, he was worse, being the size of a truck and almost twice the size of the first one.The horrified doctor turned to run off but only fell because of how his body shook, never being more confused in his life. Now that the solution had only helped to compound the problem, what was he to do?Other people
The slightly-less-than three thousand souls within the bunker were faced with the hardest choice they would ever have to make at that point.They had come into the bunker running away from zombies on the prowl in their numbers, and it had offered safety for them until the so-called vaccine they had gotten to curb the virus rather turned the bitten victims among them into mutant zombies worse than what they had come in to escape.It was a dilemma over which was better for them to face. The five, big creatures here in a locked bunker, or the thousands that roamed all over their city.And different people made different choices with regards to this.No one knew who, but somebody opened the main door, deciding they had a better chance outside, and those who could flooded towards it in an instant, running into the starless night. That did not go without consequences, as several people fell to the ground and were trampled to death, everyone in too much of a haste to notice their pained crie
Stefan Kingsley had been a popular athlete in high school, winning several local races with shiny gold medals and coming out of several marathons in the top five, but all that had not stopped other people from outrunning him in a bid to get out of the bunker.A student away from the rest of his family living far off in another city, he had survived because he could outrun the zombies, and an old woman watching from her window rushed to open her door for him to get in as he ran from the walking corpses that followed him.The morning had begun for him with an early jog as was his daily routine, until everyone began to run helter skelter. Still, he stood still, confused, until his eyes saw two of those horrifying, walking corpses coming straight for him.Nothing could have kept him standing still after seeing that, and he ran off at top speed, with them rushing after him. Still, they had been gaining on him and he was losing hope, until he saw an open door and a woman screaming “Run in h
Two days later, there was breaking news on all the surviving stations.It ran:“PLANE CARRYING 119 HEADS OF STATE CRASHES INTO OCEAN, KILLING ALL ON BOARD.”This was news that threw much of the world into mourning, except for two men who stood on a balcony with glasses of wine as the setting sun sent orange ripples on the pool below them.“Cheers to you, General.” Malik laughed, raising his glass. “All your enemies are now dead, and the world is yours.”Rico laughed, slurping in his cup. “The world is ours, Malik. Not just mine.”The plan to make the world his had come while he made love to Lucia, precisely when he remembered the fact that all 119 leading men and women were lodged in one hotel. All that was left for him was to confirm if they were all going to return to their headquarters on the same flight, which was why he called Malik.The latter, being the faithful man he was, had soon made his way to Rico's apartment, where he found his General waiting. “Sit down, Malik.” Rico h
His mother's words occupied so much of his thoughts that he was lost in his head, and so lost that he failed to hear whatever his mother said from then on, rushed a goodbye for his siblings, and even forgot for the first time in her living memory to give her a parting kiss on the forehead that had become custom with the duo.In his haste to get away, he brushed past all of them, and got back to his own house, where he lived alone with the exception of his stewards. Even so, the sounds they made while discharging their duties — which he would barely hear on his usual day — irritated him so much that he sent all of them back home while remaining by himself, sitting on the edge of his pool with a glass of wine in his hand as the cool water washed over his feet. When the glass was emptied of its contents, he stood and started to walk around the house in a daze, moving on an unmarked path that took him from the pool to the water fountain made of a statue of an angel, to the beautiful pine
“We saw you on the TV, Uncle. Mamma made us watch it and the journalist said that you were a superhero.”“Really?” He asked the little girl, drawing out the last syllable even though deep within, he was unsurprised.“Yes, Uncle.”He smiled, thinking of the pay he would give to reward the soldier who had done it, Sergeant Malik. The man had one of the most cunning brains, helping him to record the session and ‘leaking’ it to the public. By now, it would be all over and hot like wildfire, with people moved by the video of him declaring his passion for the world, for what remained of humanity.The family members who had gathered to welcome him now moved away, each to his own business as he settled into the clean white sofa, with only Esmeralda to keep him company. The familiar sense of shame she made him feel had just hit him when he noticed that one person had not yet come to see him.“Where is Mama?”“She's asleep in her room.” She answered.“I should go see her,” General Rico muttered
When all departed, he remained alone in the silence.The shirt was back in place, adjusted neatly on his form, but he did not have the heart to say all the goodbyes, handshakes, and greetings that followed after such meetings… all the officiality and pretence towards diplomacy. Physically, mentally, emotionally — he was exhausted on all fronts, and he rested his head on the table.It wearied him that he had ended a war on one front that began another on himself. Where were the heads of state when himself and the army put themselves at risk to save everyone else. Now, they came to ask for power — which he had not taken, but had quite naturally drifted towards him as the hero of the war.He managed to get himself to stand and dragged himself to his car, half attentive to the salutes the soldiers who saw him gave, their bodies stretched to the maximum while their feet stomped hard enough on the earth beneath them to cause earthquakes. At the car, his chauffeur offered to drive him, but h
All was said and done, and they waited for his response.The 119 important pairs of eyes, and all the rest of those who were there. He felt his legs go weak, refusing to rise, but he would eventually cause them to, clenching a fist to the right side. Finding an excuse in the water — General Rico had never been a fan of drinking water, and was quick to boo in his thoughts when doctors advised it, but he took a hearty swallow then, followed by a deep breath.They were waiting, and he had to say something. The words he would say now would be immortal, remain after he was dead and gone, and be etched into the history books, if and when humanity found her feet and spread the beings that were her kind all over the face of the Earth again. When he said them, the words would have to be wise, worthy of being attributed to a wise and powerful leader. To him. And he knew that he wanted to be remembered as a great one. When his subject was taught in the history books, or made into biopics, or s
There are men who know how to inspire dislike in the people who set their eyes upon them within moments, and without any effort, and the particularly thin man that stood up when the Head of State who had been speaking laid back in his seat was one of these.“Your Excellency, General Rico Stone,” he began, adjusting a large pair of glasses that appeared to weigh his face down. “And to all 119 Heads of State seated here at this august meeting… I salute.”General Rico now found himself more irritated by the man, forming an image of him in his head. These were the kind of men who acted high and mighty, who would wrinkle their noses at the sight of poorer people, and rather throw crumbs of bread at their dogs than at people who needed them. He did not like this man.“I, elected spokesperson of the newly created Union of Heads of States have come, as the lowly servant of theirs, to speak to you on a number of matters. Firstly, is the issue of the governments, and how all power seemingly res
The most amusing thing about sex is that people are just as frightened of it as they are obsessed, especially people who are not supposed to be doing it. It is a touchy topic for them, one not to be spoken of in public, or even suggested at all.It was why ten-year-old Rico could not tell his parents of what Esmeralda had been doing, or who she was doing it with. Indeed, it was an absurd thing to do — what words could he use to express what he had seen, to speak of it to parents who hung their heads in so much misery that they barely saw anything beyond their noses.His courage failed him, and he spoke of it to no one.However, it sat in his mind all the time. Every time Esmeralda smiled at him, he could not help but think of how she felt about her secret activities. He remembered how she offered him a loaf of bread once and how he had refused, wondering which of the men it had come from and what she had done to get it.Sleep eluded him in those days, and he remained awake to see when
The doors swung open into the room where 119 heads of state were waiting for him. He raised his hand to his head in salute before going to the seat reserved for him, while his guards stood on either side of him, armed to the teeth with stern faces and guns.Even then, his mind returned to Jose.Where was he now? Was he alive or dead? Had he even made it past the end of that horrid year? Or had they even passed one another without knowing?He would never know.It was why his thoughts shifted to another sibling he knew, Esmeralda. She had been fourteen at the time, with pretty hair and eyes. He still remembered how her body had still been forming into a womanly shape at the time — things he was quick to look away from. Brothers could not look upon their sisters with that kind of desire.The problem was that other eyes did not turn away the way his did.In the face of disaster, nothing is ever the same, and nothing matters to the victims more than staying and feeling alive. Could General
He marched in his military regalia to his villa, flanked on both sides by two armed men as they started on their way to the military headquarters, where he had demanded that they come to see him. They had asked that he come to the presidential villa of some other country, but he refused, presenting an imagined fear of a coup d’etat for his reason.The true reason was that General Rico wanted to hold onto power for a bit longer, and wished to delay the meeting for as long as he could. Life had changed so fast for him over the course of the war that he did not want to go back to the past, to the scarcity and poverty and hunger he had come from.Who would if they were in his shoes?He was born into a poor family, where his parents were farmers on a small farm. They had guarded that farm with their lives at the time, knowing that any problems with it would keep them hungry for a year, but there were things his parents and the five children which he was the third of were helpless before, t