{ BEFORE THE APOCALYPSE }
" You do know my wife is hosting this party for your birthday?" Rick grinned looking at Mark as they stake out at the front of Lord Patrick's home. " I told you, Rick. Cassandra is planning a surprise party also and gosh I can't wait to have her all to myself." Mark replied " Cassandra? The girl with a big tilt." Rick looked at Mark and laughed. " Don't laugh, she is the woman I wanna spend the rest of my life with." Mark burst out laughing " oh really? You said the same thing when you met with, Lily. Or do I need to remind you?" Rick laughed passing the stethoscope to Mark. " Patrick is on the move, We need to catch him in the act if we are going to have him arrested. Let's go!." Lord Patrick was being watched by the FBI for some time now. He had been involved in some drug dealing and needed to be brought in. Rick took out his radio phone calling all police units. As the police units mobilized, Rick and Mark stealthily moved closer to Lord Patrick’s mansion, blending into the shadows. The mansion, a sprawling estate with tall iron gates and meticulously trimmed hedges loomed before them. “Keep it quiet,” Rick whispered, his eyes scanning the perimeter. “We need to catch him in the act.” Mark nodded, adjusting his grip on the stethoscope. The two men crept towards a side entrance, where they knew Patrick would be exiting any moment. The tension in the air was palpable, the night silent except for the distant hum of traffic and the flickering of light bulbs. Suddenly, the side door creaked open, and Lord Patrick stepped out, accompanied by two burly bodyguards. Mark and Rick exchanged a glance, their muscles tensing in readiness. “Now!” Rick hissed into his radio, signaling the waiting units. Instantly, the tranquil night exploded into chaos. Police cars roared to life, headlights cutting through the darkness as officers poured out, weapons drawn. “FBI! Freeze!” Rick shouted, stepping into the open, his badge glinting under the harsh lights. Lord Patrick froze, his eyes widening in shock. The bodyguards reached for their weapons, but the police were quicker. “Drop your weapons! Hands on your heads!” Mark ordered, his voice steady. The bodyguards hesitated, but seeing themselves hopelessly outgunned, they complied, slowly raising their hands. Lord Patrick sneered, his aristocratic features twisting in contempt. “Do you know who I am?” he spat, his voice dripping with disdain. Rick stepped forward, unfazed. “We know exactly who you are, Patrick. And tonight, you’re going down. If you think you can wiggle your way out of all of this then you don't know who you are dealing with." Rick smirked As the officers moved in to cuff the suspects, Rick’s radio crackled with a new message. “Dispatch to Agent Rick, we’ve intercepted a communication. Patrick’s men are aware of the raid and are heading to his secondary location. Proceed with caution.” Rick’s face tightened with determination. “Looks like the night’s just getting started,” he muttered. He turned to Mark. “We need to move. The party might be a bit delayed.” Mark smirked. “Let’s wrap this up quickly. I’ve got a surprise party to get to.” With that, they hurried back to their car, ready to chase down the remaining members of Patrick’s drug ring and put an end to his criminal empire once and for all. " Have him sent to the narcotic department," Rick instructed one of his men as they raced into darkness. " Step on it, Mark, or we are going to lose them," Rick shouted a little impatient "You need to slow down mate. We are gaining on them." Mark replied his muscles tensed as he swerved into the road hitting the racing car beside him. The men looked out of the car with the police site blaring. " Watch out!." Rick shouted as the men bashed into the oncoming vehicle. The accident was fatal as they were in critical condition. " Call an ambulance." Rick looked at Mark as he helped the men on the floor. " We need an ambulance here right now, multiple casualties. We need some medic and fast." Mark radioed He was moving closer to Rick when he heard a bullet fly past his ears. He looked at his front and watched Rick land in his kneels. The look in his eyes showed he wasn't anticipating the incident. Everything becomes hazy. Rick looked at Mark as the muffled sound of the incoming ambulance was viably heard. He looked at his ringing phone and tears fell off his eyes. He saw Martha was calling. " Stay with me man, don't you close your eyes. You hear me! You are going to be fine. Stay with me!" Mark shook Rick as he tried to keep him conscious. Rick felt life slowly leave his body but the constant voice of Mark and the loud siren kept his eyes open. Rick looked up the roof and saw a figure I'm black. He pointed towards the location while Mark tried to trace the killer leaving him on the cold ground. He closed his eyes as he felt a hand lift him into the carrier to be carried into the ambulance. ************************************************************************** { WEEK ONE } Rick had just opened his eyes in a very long time, everything felt like it wasn't real as he looked around to see many people coming in and out of the ward. " Where am I?" he said slowly opening his eyes. He saw a woman putting on a white gown and pressing something into his IV. " who are you?" Rick asked, his vision a little blurry. " You need to relax, Mr Rick. We are doing everything possible to make sure you are alright." She replied Rick tried to get out of bed but couldn't. He closed his eyes again and drifted into a long sleep. ************************************************************************** { WEEK TWO } Rick had his eyes opened again and this time, he saw there were little people in the ward and most of them were scared. It almost looked like a bad dream. He looked around and the sound beep of the machine could be heard. Rick looked at his gunshot wound and saw it was getting healed but his body felt sore. He looked at the flowers that were brought and noticed they were recent and blossoming. " Can I have some nurse over here?" Rick shouted but the people looked at him like some lunatic. " A nurse please!" Alex shouted again " Can you keep your voice down? You are going to wake up the sick." Another patient shouted at Rick and he kept quiet. Rick looked at the table, he saw it was a message from his wife and wondered why she had never come to visit him once. Trying to get to the paper. Rick fell off the bed and collapsed. He felt a loud ring in his head. The pain was so excruciating that he held his head in agony and pain. " What is happening to me? Can someone help me please!" Rick shouted out loud. Suddenly, a mysterious system appeared right in front of him. " What? What the hell is this? Can anyone see this?" Rick looked at the scripted message right in front of him. [ YOU HAVE BEEN PICKED AT THE EARTH SAVIOUR. YOUR BLOOD CAN END THE BREAKOUT OF THE APOCALYPSE. PRESS YES/NO TO ACCEPT THE POWER OF THE ZOMBIE SYSTEM ] " Zombie system? What the hell is a Zombie system?" Rick asked himself as he fell into a long slumber yet again.{ A LOST WORLD } WEEK THREE Rick woke up and saw the ward door was barred. He remembered trying to reach for a letter and quickly got up. He unplugged the machine he had stopped working and looked around. The hospital was a mess. " what happened here?" Rick asked himself as he walked closer to the window that was closed. Looking outside the hospital, Rick saw a lot of people walking up and down in circles. He was confused. " Why are there a lot of people at the hospital? is there an emergency?" He asked himself walking back to his bed He looked at the bed where he had seen a letter from Martha but it was no longer there. Looking at the beautiful flowers, they all seem old now and withered. " How long have I slept for?" Rick looked at the calendar right in front of him. " Have I been asleep for three years? l or three weeks?" He asked himself checking out the year on the calendar. The static television began to make some weird sound causing a little bit of noise. Rick looked up a
Rick's eyes fluttered open, and he found himself in a dimly lit room. His head raced from the blow, and for a moment, he struggled to remember where he was. The recent events came rushing back – the hospital, the zombies, the strange system, and the group of survivors."You're awake," a voice said, startling him. Rick turned to see a man in his late forties sitting beside him. He had a rugged look, with a scruffy beard and a determined expression. "You had a rough time out there. You could have died out there. what were you thinking?" Rick tried to sit up but winced as he felt a sharp pain through his body. "Where am I?""You're safe for now," the man replied. "We brought you back to our hideout. My name is Greg, by the way."Rick looked around, noticing a few others in the room, including the woman who had initially approached him outside the hospital. She was speaking quietly with another man, her face filled with worry. Rick looked at the room and saw they were in a well-furnished
Rick and Emily stood frozen, eyes wide as the arrow's tip was pointed at their faces. The archer, a woman in her mid-thirties with fierce eyes and a no-nonsense demeanor stepped forward, her bow still drawn and aimed at Rick's head."Who are you, and what are you doing here?" she demanded, her voice showing she wasn't ready to listen to stories. " Details." She added looking at Rick and Emily Rick raised his hands slowly, signaling he meant no harm. "I'm Rick, this is Emily. We just need to get inside the station to gather supplies. We're not here to cause trouble." The woman narrowed her eyes, assessing them for a moment before finally lowering her bow. "I'm Lisa. This place is crawling with infected. You two have a death wish or something?" Rick sighed in relief as he lowered his hands. "No death wish. Just trying to survive. We heard a gunshot. Was that you?" Lisa shook her head. "No, but I've been tracking a group of raiders who were making their way here. Looks like they migh
"What was that for? You don't have to kill her." Rick shouted pointing his gun at Lisa while she also pointed her arrow at him. " She was slowing us down and killing her was the best option. The tension became palpable while both of them had their weapons pointed at each other. They didn't know the zombie was closing in on them. Seeing Emily's corpses the horde were over her eating every bit they want. Rick watched as he puked over the fence. He looked at the system message and picked, crackers. he wondered what the crackers were for anyway. Immediately it appeared right in front of him and Lisa was astonished. " how did you do this?" Rick said nothing but he turned back to walk. A was met by a stern face. The man's looks showed he was having a battered face with marks. He had a gun on one of his hands and a bow on the other. " I would drop that if I wear you." He looked at Lisa and back at Rick." If you haven't noticed, you are outnumbered," Rick replied walking closer to him. "
" Are they dead?" Lisa asked cupping Rick's face in her palms. "No, ark get them out in time. Here is. route and location they are. We are going to find them and join with them. I am sure we could be safe with Mark." Rick smiled knowing his family was safe. " But first we need to get dressed and have a warm bath. He stood up and walked about waking into his room and he had another severe headache. Rick groaned as he fell to the floor. Lisa watched and was scared not knowing what to do. She couldn't possibly call 911 everything was in shambles. An encrypted message appeared before Rick [ SYSTEM TASK; FIND A HOSPITAL THAT WOULD TAKE YOUR BLOOD SAMPLES. A MESSAGE WILL BE SENT TO YOU ON HOW YOU ARE GOING TO FIND THEM ][ SYSTEM REWARD; A NEW SUV RIDE WITH LOTS OF COMFORMITIES ] Rick felt his headache gone and looked at Lisa. " There is a change of plan. We need to find a hospital." Rick’s hands trembled as he read the system message. The headache that had momentarily paralyzed him fad
Lisa and Alex saw many people tied to poles that were being experimented on. Alex felt a sharp pain in his head again and he fell to the ground. The system sends a message again. [ SYSTEM MESSAGE: THE HOSPITAL HAS BEEN COMPROMISED, LEAVE AND MOVE TO A SAFE LOCATION][ SYSTEM REWARD; YOUR SUV AWAITS YOU JUST OUTSIDE THE HOSPITAL. MAKE IT THERE IN TIME BEFORE THE HERD REACHES YOU ] Alex got up " It looks like this place has been overrun with some shady people. The system just asked us to leave." He sighed looking at Alex's face. " Look, that is Doctor Morgan," Lisa shouted looking at Alex to walk closer to the Zombie with a white uniform. " I think whoever was outside there killed the real Doctor Morgan. We have to leave here as soon as possible." Alex looked at Lisa " Did the system tell you anywhere we are supposed to go?" Lisa quickly shot a zombie that was moving closer to them in the head. " I think there is something special about them. " Alex walked closer to the cage lo
Rick was surprised to see a zombie staring at him and Lisa as they unbarred the door. "What the hell is that?" Lisa shouted, helping Rick to have the door closed back. "We need a way out of here." Lisa looked at Rick, who was pacing up and down. The whole hospital had been taken over by the horde. Their noise was visibly heard as Rick kept pacing back and forth. The system had provided a ride, and all they needed was to get there in time. "Did you see that?" Lisa looked at Rick. "And can you stop pacing? You are making me nervous." "I didn't see what you saw, Lisa. I saw a zombie that was ready to attack us, if that is what you are asking of me." Rick said, gently rubbing his hands over his hair. He brought out his gun and checked the rounds he had left. He knew a few rounds would save them from the zombies. He needed a plan, and it had to be fast. "The zombie we saw when the door was opened was different. It is almost like she knew what she was doing." Lisa tried to gain Rick's at
Rick looked at Lisa and noticed she was getting hot. He looked at the SUV van and quickly ran towards it, trying to open the door. "Damn it!" Rick shouted. "What is it?" Lisa managed to speak, looking at Rick, who was getting worked up. They both looked back and saw Morgan walking towards them with the herd. Rick looked around and saw an iron bar that he used to pry the door open. He ran back towards Lisa and helped her to her feet. They managed to get into the SUV van just in time before the hearing got to them. "You can hide forever." Morgan shouted with her face, now a zombie."What did your blood do to her?" Lisa looked at Rick. "I am not sure. How are you feeling?" Rick looked at Lisa. He saw that her eyes were getting white and were looking horrible. He knew she was changing. Lisa noticed the look on his face and smiled. "You don't have to look at me like that." She said and coughed,vomiting some blood. Rick looked around the van and gave her a white cloth. The van shook gre