Life Sucks and Then You Die...

[Guest]

The city of Grayfog is an expanding metropolis, a state-of-the-art hub of the most advanced modern civilization. Bigger and better than Manhattan island, more expensive than Colorado Springs, Grayfog has pulled Americans from every corner of the United States, and even flocks of immigrants from other countries.

But Grayfog has recently fallen silent. In fact, the entire state of Illinois has gone quiet. As far as anyone left alive in the city knows, the entire world is just as quiet. Cars no longer drive through the streets, planes no longer fly through the air, and people... living people... are few and far between.

The dead have risen from their graves and roam the strees, hunting down anyone who still breathes. The golden age of Grayfog is over. In Grayfog, life sucks... and then you die.

Seth Barrett parked is car in the open lot of the hospital. A news van was nearby, and he had a few minutes to find out what might be going on before he got to work. With his blue scrubs, it was hard to mistake him as anything but the nurse he was, so it would be hard to find out anything without coming across as nosey.

A camera man was filming two ladies, one hot beyond belief and another a woman he recognized from the news, a reporter named Heather-something. They were filming with the hospital in the background, and Seth wondered if perhaps the hospital was being sued. It wouldn't be the last time they pissed off a patient for something.

The reporter was asking the lady questions, but Seth was too far away to hear. Several other crewmen kept Seth from getting closer enough to hear, but he settled for just watching the lady being interviewed. Seth had been single for a few years, and women with long black hair and sparkling green eyes certainly grabbed at his attention.

His eyes were dragged toward several gurney's being pulled from the back of an ambulance truck. The camera man swung his camera to take in the view as well. Each of the patients were drenched in blood, and the Emergency Medical Technician's, EMT's for short, were nearly running them toward the hospital doors. The lady being interviewed was pointing toward them and speaking faster. Seth could almost hear her voice now, but he felt his duties pulling him toward the hospital. There was always too much work to be done, and today seemed like it would be a bit busier than usual.

As Seth made his way toward the doors, the reporter called out to him.
"Excuse me," Heather-something called. "Excuse me, sir, do you have a minute?"
Seth pointed toward the doors of the hospital. Now that the camera was swinging toward him, he had no interest in being anywhere near these people. "I need to get..."
"Great!" Heather-something interrupted. "I just have a few questions for you. What do you know about the recent increase in attacks in Grayfog this morning? Are all of the injuries serious? Is there any pattern to the injuries, something that might indicate what is behind these attacks?"

Seth just stared at her, not sure what to say or how he could possibly answer.
"I... just got here," he murmured. "I don't know what you are talking about." Recent attacks? I haven't heard anything about that... The other lady, the hot one previously being interviewed, was standing there staring at him with her arms crossed. The camera man, an old, short guy with curly white hair, was staring at him through his camera like he was all of the world. "I don't know!" Seth said loudly. He turned away from them and strode through the doors of the hospital. The scene he was saw was absolute chaos.

Nurses and doctors were running everywhere. Gurneys were parked in the halls, some empty but all drenched in blood. No one he saw wore scrubs that were not stained with blood. "What the hell?" Seth said quietly.
"Seth! Seth Barrett!" He recognized the voice calling his name, a nurse he worked with, Ashley Murdon. "We tried calling you," Ashley said as she ran up to him and grabbed his arm. She immediately started pulling him down one of the halls of the hospital.
"My phone..." Seth couldn't remember it ever ringing, but when he felt his pockets it wasn't there. He forgot his phone!
"Don't worry about it," Ashely said. "You're here now. It is chaos in here. We have too many patients to take care of, and no where to transfer them to. Every hospital is full, Seth! It is like this all over Grayfog..."

"Like what?" Seth pulled Ashley to a stop with his free hand. "What is going on?"
"We don't know." Ashley shook her head slowly, and her eyes seemed to be staring at something that wasn't really in front of her. "All morning we've had bite victims. Some don't survive the trip to the hospital. Some are... crazed. They attack the doctors who are trying to help them. Some of them get up and walk when they should be dead. I don't understand it Seth."

A scream from a nearby room interrupted their conversation. "We've isolated some of them," Ashley said as she pulled him along again. "We don't really know what to do with them. As she pulled open the door to the room they had heard the scream come from, Seth almost lost his breakfast. A man was sitting on top of a female nurse... He thought he was trying to eat her! Blood was spurting from her neck and shoulder, pooling on the floor around her. He heard Ashely screaming next to him. Too many thoughts were racing in his head for him to think of what to do, so he just stood there, watching the man with a bloody stump for an arm chew on the nurses neck...

---

Devin Lowe kept the camera on Heather and Maya, the young law student that Heather was interviewing. So far the interview had turned out to be a bust. Either Maya did not know anything, or she just wasn't revealing anything. Heather had stopped her in the parking lot like that useless nurse, and she talked excitedly for a while about reports of attacks coming in all morning. Devin was sure that Maya didn't really know any more than they did.

He realized that he had spaced out for a moment when he stopped hearing Maya's and Heather's voices. He was old, true, but that was no excuse for slacking off on his job. He refocused the camera on the two ladies, who had moved a few steps closer to the hospital and were staring intently through the doors.

"Oh my god..." Maya said.
"Are you getting this, Devin? Get over here and shoot this! I don't know what is going on in there. I can't believe what my eyes are seeing." Devin knew that Heather still head the microphone in her hand. She was a reporter to the core, and she would detail everything she saw for her viewers for as long as possible. "The patients are... attacking the doctors! I've never seen anything like this... there is blood everywhere in there... even some of the doctors look... crazed. They are stumbling around like... I don't know... It is chaos in there?" Sirens from behind interrupted Heather's frightful description of the hospital scene. Police were streaming in toward the building, but none were entering. They held firearms out toward the doors.
"The police have arrived," Heather continued. "It looks like they are preparing for a riot... or something."
Several nurses in blue scrubs were running for the door, holding their arms above their heads once they saw the police aiming firearms at them. Several of the police officers waved them forward, and the nurses came nearly at a dead run. Devin recognized the nurse that Heather had tried to interview earlier. His face was white and his jaw hung open. Most of the nurses who came out of the building were like that.

When the others started coming out, the slow, shuffling doctors, nurses, patients, and EMT's, Devin started getting worried. This was not a normal riot. These people were all seriously injured, even those who worked here. Heather was right: they had never seen anything like this! It was like some horror film! The police were shouting orders at the mass of shuffling, bleeding people, but their orders were being ignored. They were coming closer, like an avalanche in slow motion. Devin watched it all through the lens of his camera, a third eye that he hardly even noticed. It was natural to him, as natural as the microphone was for Heather. But when he looked for Heather, she was gone. So was Maya.

---

Maya was not sure what had happened. People just started pouring out of the hospital, walking towards the police with arms outstretched, all moaning and pouring blood from gaping wounds. Some even had blood smeared on their mouths. Maya felt sick to her stomach. She had to get away from here. Whatever was happening, it wasn't good. She knew it was related to the attacks throughout Grayfog this morning, but knowing that did not bring her much closer to an answer.

Maya started walking backward, away from the reporter Heather and her camera man Devin. She was just going to go somewhere safe until this mess was sorted out. Her job could wait until then. But after a few backward steps, she heard the first scream. From somewhere on the side of the building, more moaning people had closed in on the police. They overwhelmed them with their numbers, and many of them seemed to be trying to bite the police officers. Caught by surprise, and overwhelmed by numbers, many officers went down immediately.

Maya saw with horror that the police had been distracted by the group coming from the hospital. They were doomed. We are all doomed, she thought. She turned and ran, ignoring the screams and gun shots coming from behind her. She just hoped that none of them decided to fire at her.

There was a furniture store just down the street. Not too far away. Maya had to stop for a second and pull off her high-heel shoes, but she held on to them as she ran across the hot sidewalk. There were people all over, but she couldn't tell who was still sane and who wasn't. She ignored and avoided them all, making her way to the furniture store as fast as she could.

She slammed the glass door open with her shoulder and stumbled inside. It was cool, and it seemed to be empty. But the room was large and the owner could be hiding anywhere inside. She had no idea if he was still sane or not. She walked through the large room slowly, looking for a good place to hide among the couches and tables and other large pieces of furniture. She jumped when the door slammed open again behind her. People were streaming in, many of them talking loudly or crying. She recognized the camera man, Devin, and the nurse that Heather had tried to interview. She did not see Heather. None of these people had any blood on them, so she assumed they were sane. She had to hope. She was going to have to ride out this mess with them, it seemed.

[Artorius]

"Goddamnit! Whole f***ing city's gone to hell!" yelled Mr. Stone

The truck driver had unfortunately stopped in Grayfog to fill up. When he went to pay for gas he was greeted by a hostile cashier. When he retreated to his truck, he found himself surrounded by crazed citizens. Bewildered, the truck driver hopped into his semi and mowed them down like a bulldozer to trees. He drove as far as he could with the little gas he had before his car broke down in the middle of town. The city of Grayfog was huge, Stone had fallen on a bit of bad luck when his truck decided to run out of gas. There was no way he would have ever made it through Grayfog without filling up. So, with nowhere to go, and the entire population of Grayfog seemingly out to get him, Mr. Stone retreated into a local furniture store.

-------------------

Meanwhile, young high school drop-out Peter Stravinsky had been on his normal route through quiet Bloomington gated community before he found that it wasn't dogs attacking him this time, but people. The hapless mail-man found himself running for his life, bounding over fences, and even tackling poor Old Mrs. Johnson. Except, poor and old didn't stop her from nearly tearing his throat out. Scared, defenseless, and tired, young Peter bumped into one of the community's landscapers on his way out- Manuel Campos. Manuel had also been going through his daily routine in the community when the residents began to assemble and attack like a pack of rabid dogs.

The two stuck together, seemingly in the same situation. Luckily, neither was bit, although, Manuel saved Peter on three seperate occassions. The first instance occured when Peter tripped on the sidewalk and was nearly devoured by a crowd of raging men and women from Bloomington Gated Community. The second instance occured when Peter decided to part ways and attempted to recover his government issue mail truck. Long story short, Peter's truck was infested with "angry" people. Manuel swooped in at the last minute and pulled him into his white Toyota Tacoma. The third instance occured when Peter tried to kill a "crazy" on his own. The young mail man tried to beat a woman with a bat, but found himself incapable of taking a life. When the woman threatened to kill him with her unusually bite, Manuel bashed her skull in with a sledge hammer.

Through all of the crazy encounters, Manuel and Peter somehow managed to make it to the furniture store Manuel's brother worked at, where the landscaper hoped to find his brother safe. Peter on the other hand, just found it convenient to have a protector at his side.

[Dreamless Days]

"The fuck is happening...?" Kai asked quietly.

He sighed and ran a hand through his hair, laying back on one of the several couches in the furniture store. He stared at the ceiling momentarily before looking around the store again, studying the various faces. Many seemed to be plastered with fear. Kai shrugged.

He had been up early so that morning, and was unable to find sleep. After several attempts at trying, he had decided to go for a walk to lose some of his energy. In the brisk cold morning, everything had been silent enough, but when he had heard a load of commotion coming from the hospital, he'd just HAD to check it out.

He never even got the chance. Before he could actually get a good look at anything, the crowd that had been gathering had erupted out into the streets, forcing Kai along with them. He'd briefly heard words such as "Horror", "Crazy" and "Riot", but he hadn't seen anything to back these claims up.

Upon being pushed into the furniture store, Kai had been forced into having to settle. People were too afraid to just let him leave, not wanting to open the door again.

Kai shook his head and sighed again. He heard a noise from his right and turned his head to see a pink haired girl whimpering. He cursed.

"Seriously? You have to sit right next to ME and cry?" He asked her.

She looked up quickly, a terrified look on her face.

"Wh-what?" She asked.

"Fuck. Off." He replied, glaring.

"I'm s-sorry..." She whispered, lowering her head.

The girl quickly stood up, staring at her shoes, and shuffled away. Kai sighed once more, staring back up at the ceiling.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Shannon didn't know what had gone wrong. Everything had been fine the night before. Apart from a few rowdy audience members anyhow. But still, she'd performed her set at Heaven, a local dance club, and stayed to enjoy the rest of the night.

It was in the wee hours of the morning when she finally got into her car and began the drive home. However, she'd barely been driving 3 minutes when a guy had jumped in front of her car from out of no where. Shannon had slammed on her brakes, but alas, she was too late.

She'd begun crying then, holding her head in her hands as she tried to work up the courage to get out of the car and check on him.

"He'll be okay..." She'd whispered "He'll need the hospital but, he'll be okay..."

She hadn't needed to get out of the car. Seconds later, the guy had jumped up onto her hood, snarling and pounding his fists on her windshield. His eyes had been crazed, and the snarls that were emitted from his lips sounded more animal like than anything.

Out of pure fear, Shannon had stomped down on the gas and sent the car lurching forward, the man flying over her windshield, her roof, and finally rear window. She'd continued driving for a while, eyes wide with shock as she noticed a few more people wandering the streets that looked like that guy.

Eventually, she had pulled over, choosing to run to the police station and tell them what had happened, but she was ushered away when a number of cops had run out, getting in their cars and heading in the direction of the hospital.

Shannon followed, wanting to tell them everything, and had been in the crowd that saw the horror and disgusting scene as the crazed people left the hospital. And as such, she had followed the mass group into the furniture store too.

Currently, she sat on the floor, face on her knees, whimpering. Suddenly, she heard an exasperated voice ask her a question.

"Seriously? You have to sit right next to ME and cry?" It asked.

She looked up quickly, eyes wide with shock and dripping tears only to see a teenage boy glaring at her. She opened her mouth slowly, forcing a question out.

"Wh-what?" She asked him.

"Fuck. Off." He said in reply.

Shannon's eyes widened a little more before she spoke again.

"I'm s-sorry..." She whispered.

She lowered her head and stood very slowly. Staring at the ground, the walked away from the teenager, moving over to a wall and sitting back down on the floor again, bringing her knees back up to her face and beginning to whimper once more.

[Mojave Wanderer]

Bernard stood in his little diner “Bernard’s” and began tapping his fingers against the clean countertop. Where the hell could they be? His two employees, Angelyne and Mark, did not show up to work today, or even call in sick. The television, which was currently muted, made a faint glow across the room that Bernard could not stand. He grabbed the remote and shut it off, not paying attention to the horrific scenes being shown from the hospital, which was only a small distance from his diner. He went to the back room and reached for his sign reading “Closed” and almost even grabbed his “Now Hiring” flyers. “I’ll give them some time” he said, in a low and quiet tone, which was unusual for him.

As Bernard walked out of the backroom, he noticed the kid who worked at the café down the road running down the street. “I guess everybody is running a little late today!” he yelled one of the many windows. The café worker simply kept running, ignoring Bernard’s comments. As he began to take the “Closed” sign to the backroom, he realized something. The “kid” who was running down the street was running away from the café.

Bernard turned around to put the sign up, and he prepared to go take a look at the café to make sure everybody was fine. As he neared a door, a man walked in very slowly and made a low moaning noise. “I’m sorry we are closed. I’m going to put the sign up right now.” He said to the man. But the man didn’t stop. He continued slowly towards Bernard. Bernard looked down at the man’s feet, and one of them was missing. There was a long trail of blood that followed. “Do you need help sir? I have a phone in the backroom; sit down while I go get it.” As Bernard attempted to move past the man, the man reached out to grab his arm and nearly got it. By now Bernard was ready to do whatever he had to. He picked up a black heavy metal pan that was sitting nearby. “If you move any closer, I’m going to. . .”

Bernard didn’t have time to finish what he was going to say. The man lunged at him. He took the pan and smacked the man in the side of his head sending blood flying against the side of the wall. He’s dead, I killed him. . . Bernard stepped over the body, heading towards his phone. He found that his phone was dead, the battery completely down. He went back out to the front of the diner and looked out the window for any sign of help. There was more. More men, more women, more children, all covered in blood grabbing innocent people and attacking them like wild animals. Bernard had no way to get home, having left his car to be fixed, so he decided to exit the diner and go the same way the café worker went.

The streets were filled with people. Many attacking others as the large group moved down the road. What is going on? He noticed some people breaking off of the main group and entering a furniture store. He walked towards the door and tried to get in.
Someone asked from inside, “Are you hurt?”
“No, I am fine, now can you open the door?” He entered to find the room filled with terror. Maybe this will be over soon, he thought, maybe this will be over soon.

---

Kent Haddon woke to a normal day. He went and prepared his meal, and then showered while it cooled. He began to eat and went to turn the news on. The clock in his small apartment read 8:05. I can’ be late again, he thought as he abandoned his meal and hurried out the door.

He lived only a few blocks from the café he worked at. His route usually avoided heavy traffic and many people, but today it seemed full. The street was filled with cars all heading towards the highway for some reason. . . He reached a crossing and waited for the light to change. I’m going to be late if I don’t hurry. He ran across the road nearly being hit by two cars that didn’t seem to slow even though they knew someone was there.
He yelled out “Sorry!” but the cars sped off so fast that his words were far behind them.

At the next crossing Kent decided that he would not take that risk again. He sat waiting for the light to change. A young woman on the other side began extremely slowly across. “Lady, get out of the road!” Kent yelled, but it was too late. A bright red car came out of no where and drove right into the lady. Oh God, Kent thought as he looked at her body that was spread across the street. He tried to call for an ambulance, but the lines were down. He noticed the lady was still alive, and all the cars seemed to avoid where she was, but none stopped to help. “Wait here I’ll go get help” Kent said to the lady on the street. He took off running towards the café for help.

As Kent walked up to the café, he realized no one was inside. It was locked, and the lights were off. Anne was supposed to arrive early to open the cafe . . . He ran further down the road and heard a man from the diner yell at him. He ignored whatever it was and continued, reaching a door to an apartment complex.
Just then, a lady ran down the road yelling, “Run, they are coming! Keep moving, don’t stop!”
“There is a lady hurt, she was hit by a car, she is still alive!” said Kent in an uneasy tone.
“She is not what she seems, there is something wrong with them!” the lady said.

Before he could respond the lady pulled Kent towards a furniture store that many others were entering. As Kent stepped in, all the people inside ignored him, acting as if he was not there, or simply were to upset to speak. “What’s going on out there?” Kent said to himself as he took a seat like the many others that sat around the room.

---

Jade drove slowly down the road. It was filled with cars today, more cars than usual. She neared the high school where she taught algebra and other mathematics. She normally would have parked quite far from the school, but the main parking lot seemed almost empty today. She stepped out of her car and began moving towards the front office. Hope today is better than yesterday. A large sign appeared on the door to the front office reading “School closure due to unsafe conditions”. It didn’t look official, but she recognized the hand writing as her bosses, so she walked back to her car. “Thank goodness, I don’t think I could hand out any more referrals.

Jade walked slowly back to her car. In the distance, she noticed a large group of people moving slowly down a side street. Must be violent protestors or something, she thought as she started her car. She began driving and was surprised that she had made so much distance before she ran into a group of “protestors” blocking one of the roads she used to get to her house. “Get out of the way please!” she yelled to the large group. A few turned and began towards her but the rest simply ignored her. She pulled forward a bit more and yelled out “Excuse me, can you get out of the road?” More and more were getting closer to her car. One reached the driver window, and she noticed the blood all over the people in the road now. “Are you all okay?” she said just before the man at the window began to reach in.

She pushed on the gas right as he reached in, forgetting she was not in reverse. She looked in the mirror to see bodies all over the floor. What have I done? Just as she was about to exit her car, some of them began to get up and walk towards. She realized something was wrong. Before any could near her car again she drove away as quickly as possible.

On her way to her home she saw more and more of these things trying to kill other people like herself. She turned a corner and there were cars everywhere. All abandoned and as she tried to back out her car broke down. A little ways away a young man stood in front of a door trying to get inside the building. She noticed that he had no wounds and seemed to be fine. The “things” were everywhere, and the man seemed to not notice them at all. One was nearing him so she ran as fast as she could to him yelling,
“Run, they are coming! Keep moving don’t stop!”
“There is a lady hurt, she was hit by a car, she is still alive!” said the young man, in an uneasy tone”
“She is not what she seems, there is something wrong with them!” said Jade, as she began to pull the young man towards a furniture store that many others were entering.

When she walked in, she noticed the sadness of everyone. She was about to move to comfort one, but someone was outside trying to get in.
Jade asked “Are you hurt?”
She heard a man with a deep voice respond with “No, I am fine, now can you open the door?”
She unlocked it and let the man in. Instead of trying to greet him or comfort others, she sat down and simply let herself rest so she didn’t have to think about what happened, or what will happen.

[Hello Danger]

“Where is everyone? I’ve been trying to reach the office all morning!”

“It’s crazy right now, Robert. The hearing has been canceled, and they’re moving him out of the city…”

“They’re doing what! Under whose authority?”

“Judge Thomas and the Mayor… I tried to stall them until you got here but there was nothing I can do. They said the city’s not safe. They’re taking him and few other high risk prisoners out of Grayfog until the rioting and attacks have stopped.”

“Do not let them leave. I’m on my way!”

“Robert, it’s too late. They’ve already loaded him up on a police convoy.”

“What direction are they going?”

“What are you planning, Robert?”

“I want to be there when they unload the bastard. I want to tell him face to face it's not over. Not by a long shot.”

“They’re heading toward 103rd. They’re trying to avoid Main Street, from what I’ve heard its hell out there. Where are you?”

“My place, but I’m heading out the door now.”

“Good luck.”

Robert flipped his cell phone closed and slid it into his pant pocket. Without a second thought, he bolted out the front door…

***

“You’re a brave man, Sir,” Omar, cab driver, stated with a glance at Robert in the rear view mirror.

“How do you mean?” Robert looked up from his wrist-watch. It had already been ten minutes since he had left his house. Making good time in the largest city in world was not an easy thing to do.

“You haven’t heard about what’s going on at the Hospital? The city is in mass chaos and it’s spreading. Crazy times, my friend, and you don’t seem the least bit scared.”

“I’m an elected official. I have a job to do; there’s no time to be scared.”

The cabby simply nodded as he turned the wheel, steering the cab down another street.

“And what about you? You seem pretty calm yourself.” Robert commented on the man’s seemingly casual attitude on what was happening in Grayfog.

“I’m from Iraq, my friend. This is just another day for me,” he said with a slight smile.

***

103rd was more or less a war zone. The attacks had struck hard there and it showed. Cars and stores appeared completely deserted and some were set fire to. Bloody and injured people scattered the stretch of road and attacked anyone too close. And those still alive ran in terror.

The rioters stared blankly at the cab with mouths gapping, as it carefully maneuvered through the street at a safe speed.

“That’s it!” Robert sat forward from the back seat to point ahead. A few blocks away was the police convoy, but it appeared abandoned. “Hurry!”

“This doesn’t look good, my friend.” Omar said in low weary voice. Several groups of people were following towards the vehicle.

“These people don’t look normal... Maybe, I should turn around.” Omar warned, but Robert wasn’t hearing him. He was obsessed.

“No! We’re almost--

Robert’s words were cut short by what looked to be a corpse flinging itself onto the windshield. Omar, startled at the sight, hit the breaks and sent the thing flying forward off the window and into the street. As the creature slowly crawled back to its feet, a number of other dead were already advancing in on the cab.

“What in heaven…” Robert muttered in horror. His eyes were wide with uncertainty, as he watched while the car was being surrounded.

Omar threw the car into reverse and floored the gas. The cab sped backwards taking out two of the dead before crashing into one of the stranded cars.

“We’re getting out of here!”

“No!” Robert snapped out of it. He remembered what he had to do, and with that in thought he pushed the panic to back of his mind.

“Take care of yourself,” Robert managed to say to the cabby as he hurried out of the cab, slammed the door, and ducked behind the car they had just crashed into.

The cab had already screeched off by the time Robert had finished positioning himself at the base of the vehicle. The once people of Grayfog now turned monster continued after the cab, shuffling off in the direction it had gone.

Robert remained motionless, back pressed against the side of the car, and gathering his courage. He slowly inched out to take a quick glance at his surroundings. The majority of the dead that had been attacking the cab had now dispersed from his immediate area, but were still scattered throughout the distance of the street.

With a deep breath he pushed off the car and made for the convoy. He remained low and took cover frequently, as he advanced down the street. In several moments he had safely arrived at the convoy. Bodies littered the area, chunks of flesh missing from their necks, faces, and even some of their limbs were completely gone.

Robert quickly searched the convoy turned massacre for one body. His. But it was nowhere to be seen. Not even amongst the walking-dead in the immediate area.

He’s free.

The thought was more disturbing than the madness going on around him.

Suddenly a woman’s scream echoed out of a near by alley…

[Guest]

"What the hell are we going to do?" Seth asked. "There is nowhere to go!"

"Just calm down!" yelled Devin. "Freakin' out isn't going to get us anywhere. Just find some place to sit down and shut your mouth. The police will figure this all out soon. We just need to... sit tight."

"I saw what happened to the police," Maya said. "They were as clueless as we are. The guy brings up a good point. If no help is coming, and there might not be, what do we do?"

A scream interrupted the conversation, coming from somewhere farther back in the furniture store. The lights were on, but the store was only dimly lit. And partitions blocked off sections of it, making it look almost like a maze.

"What was that?" Seth asked. A man came into view, stumbling into a couch and leaving a trail of blood on the light-colored cushions. His mouth was covered in blood, and his left arm was completely gone. "Holy shit... its one of those things... those crazy people! He should be dead!"

Another scream came from the doorway that they had come in from. More of the should-be-deads had forced their way in.

"Oh shit..." Devin mumbled.

"Let's go," Maya ordered. "We need to find a way out of here before more of them come. We can't let ourselves get surrounded!"

[Dreamless Days]

"What the fuck..?" Kai whispered.

He stood quickly and backed off from the crazy guy. He looked around the room as people were panicking and starting to run around the room looking for an exit. He noticed one of these people run into a coffee table and knock it over, snapping off a leg.

Kai jumped over to the fallen table and picked up the table leg, wielding it like a sword. He sighed as he continued to look around the room. It might not be much, but it would hold for a little while if he had to defend himself.

He backed up slowly until his back hit the front window of the store, he looked over his shoulder and checked the street outside.

"Hey, is it just me or are there less on the strip? If they've come around, why don't we just get the fuck away from here? Find somewhere else to go." He asked.

________________________________________________

Shannon wasn't doing well. She was freaking out very badly. She had stood quickly when the crazy guy had entered the space with the survivors, and was now running around the room with tears pouring down her face. She was scared, she didn't know what to do.

She began to move again, to get away from the others coming into the space when a large guy ran into her and knocked her to the floor, not even stopping to look back. She quickly got to her feet again and felt something fall against her back. She didn't have time to turn and see what it was.

The feeling of teeth tearing into her neck came all too suddenly to her. It was a horrible pain. She collapsed on the floor and screamed as loud as she could, blood flowing from her neck and onto the ground. She felt more teeth, this time tearing into the meaty flesh around her calf.

She screamed louder, but no one came to help. They were too horrified. And all she could do is continue to scream as the crazed feasted on her flesh.

All she knew was incredible pain, as the light faded from her young and once vibrant eyes.

[Mojave Wanderer]

The door to the furniture store slowly began to open. “Lock the door!” Bernard screamed as those things began moving in. Jade moved towards the door but tripped over a piece of furniture. Bernard tried to get it shut, but there were too many to even get close to the door. Bernard grabbed Jade and pulled her up moving her away from the door.

“Thank you,” she began to say as one of the walking corpses began moving towards them. Bernard picked up a light table and tossed it at the think, but it did little but slow it.
“I appreciate your thanks, but I would be much happier if you could find a way out.” Bernard said.

Bernard noticed the kid from the café; he was surrounded by about three of the walking corpses. Bernard turned his head; he could not watch this gruesome scene. As the things began closing in on Kent, he jumped off of a couch over the things, and began moving away from the walking corpses. He avoided the corpses, allowing them to move towards other people, only caring for his own safety. He noticed the woman who saved him earlier moving towards an exit not to far away, so he sprinted towards the exit so that he would not be left behind. He was afraid he would end up like the others in the store. Dead, Eaten, Corpses.

“Follow me, I saw an entrance at the back of the store!” yelled Jade but most of her words were covered by the screams of people in the room. A girl on the floor was getting torn to pieces not too far away; Jade began to move towards her.
“No, we need to get out of here. You can’t help her!” yelled Bernard as he grabbed her arm, pulling her towards the entrance not to far away.

They reached the exit and found they were in a small alley, none of the walking corpses in sight. “Come on, my diner is just down the street, we can head there and decide where to go next” said Bernard.

“What about the rest?” said Jade, nearly bursting into tears.

“I’m sure they will find a way out” Bernard started to say as the café worker burst through the back entrance.

“Are there any corpses or people following you?” Bernard asked the young man.

“I’m not sure” said Kent, breathing heavily after his sprint to the exit.

“Well, we will wait at the edge of the alley, if no one shows up in a few minutes or if those corpses show up, we are leaving to my diner.” Bernard said to the two others, but he knew he wasn’t going to get a response.

[Artorius]

Manuel frantically called out to his brother, "Luis! Luis!"

Through all the commotion a reply was faintly heard. Luis cried out for help as the undead devoured his succulent, juicy flesh. Their rotten teeth tore and ripped brutally through fat, bone, cartilage, everything. Manuel saw his brother devoured before his eyes, but couldn't help but try and save what was left of him. He swung his sledge hammer horizontally. The blunt attack caved in a zombie's skull, a woman; she had to have been about twenty, blonde hair, blue eyes, curvy and aside from her bloody visage, extremely attractive. It was strange to observe such a beautiful creature brutally maul an innocent man. Manuel widened his scope. There was a whole crowd now finding their way into the store, they were like wild animals, biting, clawing, running. In one last futile attempt at saving his brother, Manuel outstretched his hand. Luis grabbed onto it, his grip was strong, and slowly he began to emerge from the pile. However, as the undead feasted on his living body, the stringy sinews attaching his arm to his body snapped like a rope.

Manuel stood in shock and awe as he held a sledge hammer in his right hand, and his brothers detached arm in his left. The zombies began to close the distance, but for once in his miserable life, Peter Stravinsky made the right decision. The young mail-man pulled Manuel by his waist towards the back of the store.

"We have to go!" yelled the boy helplessly.

As Manuel came to his senses he lobbed the severed arm at the crowd of living dead and set off with Peter towards the back of the store. The two could not find an exit and retreated to the warehouse in the back. Plastic covers ruffled from the night's chilly wind as the two navigated through untouched furniture. Big brown boxes packed with couches, lounge chairs, and the like also laid around the warehouse. The high concrete ceiling made the whole room seem bigger than it actually was. Peter sighed in relief when he was confronted with a raised aluminum door near the loading area. Parked conveniently near was the cab of a semi-truck.

"Fuck, yes!" cried Peter

Manuel looked a little uneasy at the vulgar language with which Peter conveyed his emotions, but otherwise he was relieved as well.

"Ay dios..." breathed Manuel under his breath.

When the two approached the cab, it was still warm, as Peter opened the door to the car, he hoped beyond hope, that the keys would be in the ignition, or nearby.

------------------------

The grizzly truck driver was one of the first to run. With reckless abandon he bolted for the exit, following another group of survivors. As he looked back to see the distance he'd made from the zombies, he noticed a hispanic man and a caucasian boy escape towards the back of the establishment. He paid them no heed as the baseball cap fell from his head. He turned around to try and pick it up, but soon came to the conclusion he couldn't- the zombies were closing in fast.

"Damn you! Damn the lot of you!" yelled the truck driver with pain in his voice.

That baseball cap had been on top of his head since he'd started driving, but he knew his life was more important than some baseball cap with sentimental value. The driver quickly made it into an alley occupied by other survivors as well. A man was talking about taking them to his diner. Alex gladly took him up on the offer, but had a suggestion of his own.

"I say we follow you to your diner, but we need to book it! There's tons of those crazy townspeople out there and I'd rather not be around when they decide to make their way into this alley."

[Dreamless Days]

Kai had been hoping to get out onto the street when more of the crazed people had appeared and pushed through the front door, filling the store even more. He'd seen a few random people running towards the back and now followed in the same direction.

As he moved into a narrow area, he ran full pelt in the same direction he'd seen others go in. Up ahead a zombie was moving in his direction. Kai didn't slow down, he just kept running.

"Fuck... YOU!" He roared.

At the last second, the teen positioned his body a little differently and raised the table leg over his right shoulder, swinging it when he was close enough. With a mighty "crack" the table leg collided with the zombie's skull and sent the thing to the floor, seemingly stunned momentarily. The table leg had now developed a small crack in the wood too.

Kai continued forward, running out into a more open space. There he saw a few zombies randomly congregating around some baseball cap on the floor. However, when they saw Kai they started for him. He turned and ran full speed toward a slightly ajar door and upon nearing it, lifted his leg and kicked it open hard.

There was a loud bang as the door swung open fast and slammed into the wall upon opening all the way. Kai jumped out into an alley and ran towards the end of it. There he saw a small group of people.

"Fucking move it! Don't go standing still you dumb-asses!" He cried as he neared them, not slowing down.

[Guest]

Devin and Seth followed Maya as she made her way through the furniture store. With everyone else running wildly through the store, the dead things seemed focused elsewhere, for now.

"Don't think I'll stop for you if you fall behind!" Maya yelled over her shoulder. They jumped over beds and couches to avoid a group of zombies, and then followed another group of survivors out through a receiving door in the back of the store. Seth couldn't help staring over his shoulder at the body of the woman being ripped apart by the savage, grotesque things.

Outside of the door, they found themselves in an alley. There were a group of people running toward the end of it already. From what they could see, everyone but the woman Seth had seen on the ground had made it out, at least as far as they knew. It was kind of hard to recognize faces, the sane ones anyway, when you were worried about your own life.

The alley was clear, but Maya knew that at any moment the walking dead things would make their way out of the back door and into the alley.

"Let's go!" Maya yelled at the group ahead. They were standing near the end of the alley. She assumed they were waiting for the others. "There is no one else coming!"

When the group moved on, led by a short, rounded man in an apron, they sprinted into the street at full speed. Devin was at the back of the group, slowly falling behind. His lungs and legs were burning, and he was too old for this kind of action.

More of the walking dead surrounded them on the street, which was the only reason Devin didn't stop to catch his breath. Wherever the fat man was taking them, it had better be nearby.

[Mojave Wanderer]

Bernard heard someone yell from behind “Let’s go. No one else is coming.” He jumped out of the alley seeing those things everywhere. “Follow me!” Bernard yelled, “My diner isn’t much farther. Jade was in the middle of the group just trying to avoid those things. They were all over, some were just lazily standing around, seeming as if they didn’t notice the large group. Others were beginning to pursue the group. She noticed a few people at the back of the group falling behind. No one else needs to die, Jade thought. Kent was near the back of the group, having caught up late. He was terrified. He had fallen a few times and was nearly grabbed by one of those things.

Bernard had to hop over a car to reach the small stairway up to his diner. He pulled out his large key ring and began to unlock the door. Kent had almost made it over the car when his sweater got stuck.

“Help! Someone help me!” Kent screamed, attracting more of the walking corpses.

“Quiet, more are coming” whispered Jade as she began to pull on his sweater. Those things kept moving closer and closer. “Got it!” yelled Bernard as the door swung open.

“You can’t leave me here, don’t do this!” Kent yelled at Jade, she began pushing some of the walking corpses away. Jade was nearly surrounded when someone grabbed her from behind and pulled her inside.

“No!” Jade screamed but she could tell it was too late. Those things had surrounded Kent and were ripping him to pieces. “Thank you,” she began to say as tears rolled down her face but as she couldn’t tell who had saved her.

“Get those windows covered,” said Bernard when he realized something. There was a large splatter of blood on the wall where he thought he had killed the man earlier. The body was gone. “Shit! One of those things is inside. Everyone pick up something to defend yourself with. The backroom was very dark for the lights were out but Bernard knew the thing was back there. “Someone follow me, the rest of you finish up these windows!” yelled Bernard. We have to kill this thing, there must be a way. Bernard pulled out the baseball bat from behind his counter and began moving slowly into the backroom, hoping that someone truly did follow him. Jade began boarding up the windows and luckily those things seemed to wander off like they hadn’t noticed the rest of the group. Maybe he saved us, she thought.

[Red_Wolf]

It is around noon, Smith judged from the position of the sun. Smith was a tall, white man and even during this infection, was still wearing a tuxedo. The group of three men wandered down the street, searching for anything that may help them survive. Scott whined, “I’m hungry! We need food!” Smith replied, “A place to survive is more important than food right now, Scott! Thinking with your stomach like that will get us all killed! Besides, we just ate this morning.”

The three walked on in search of anything that may be a safe place to barricade. Scott and Michael remained quiet waiting for Smith to make a decision on which building is safe to barricade. Scott was a short, rounded man wearing tank top and shorts while Michael was an average height, muscular African American man that wore a polo tucked into jeans. “How about this place?” suggested Scott nervously. “No,” replied Smith with just giving a quick glance toward the building. “Why isn’t it good enough? Why aren’t any of the buildings good enough?” Michael yelled, “We have been walking for ten minutes now searching for a damn building and have passed by hundreds!”

“If you would like to die go ahead and barricade yourself in that building!” Smith shouted, “The first thing wrong with this building is the fact that the door is open and there could be twenty zombies in there! Another thing wrong with the building is it has too many windows! Now we can sit here arguing about why this building is a terrible barricade, or we can keep searching for a new one!”

Michael reluctantly listened to Smith and they continued on their way. Scott pointed out, “There’s a grocery store here; maybe we could get some food!” Smith said, “Again you’re thinking with your stomach! Judging by the size of that store there could be forty zombies and we don’t wanna waste ammo. Look for some sort of tiny store or diner if you really want food.”

The three of them turned around a corner and were met by a huge crowd of zombies. Immediately, the zombies took chase and the three of them ran for their lives. Scott reached for his SW1911 pistol and fired at the horde chasing them. Smith shouted, “Over here! Get on the roof!”

Smith jumped on top of a trashcan, stepped on the top of a wooden fence, and pulled his body up to the roof of a house. Michael followed in suit, but while Scott attempted to get up, he lost his balance. Michael grabbed his arm and quickly pulled him up. Smith then leaped to the next rooftop, which was barely close enough to get to. As they climbed down into the back yard of the house Smith said, “That was way too close; we need to find a safe place quickly.”

They climbed fence after fence and cut through yards, bumping into a zombie every so often. Scott looked up and said, “I see a diner! It’s just over there!”

Smith and Michael looked up and saw a sign that read, “Bernard’s.” Smith then replied, “Why are you always thinking about food, don’t you realize we need a place to stay!” Michael replied, “You did tell him to look for a small store or diner, and there’s a diner right here.”

“Fine,” Smith said, “but let’s get on top of this house to make sure there are no infected.”

They climbed on top of the building and saw a small crowd of infected. Smith was about to say something to both of them, but stopped as they saw a group of people sprint to the diner. Scott started to talk, but Smith quickly stopped him. They watched as one of the men became surrounded and was being devoured by a group of mangled human bodies. The zombies began making their way to the diner when Smith said, “I have a plan; wait here.”

Smith climbed down into the back yard of the house and climbed a few fences. Once he was far away, he fired a bullet and started yelling. Immediately after doing this, he ran and climbed as quickly as he could and made it to where the other two men had stayed. As they could all tell, the zombies were headed off in the direction of the noise.

“Quickly and silently get to the diner,” said Smith. Once they got to the front door, they began knocking on the door. It was during this time that Scott smiled and said, “Ha, my stomach found us safety!”

[Dreamless Days]

Moments Earlier...

Kai had been running with the others, heading for the diner. He'd heard that guy crying out for help, and seen the foolish woman turn back. Swearing, and going against his better nature, he'd stopped too. Turning to crack another zombie in the head with his broken table leg, it had snapped in two upon impact, and the zombie had gone down.

Running past another zombie, Kai had grabbed the woman from behind, pulling her towards the diner. In that second of his own foolish actions, he'd felt one of the zombies grab him and latch onto his back with their teeth. Pulling the woman into the diner, he'd cried out as the zombie took a chunk of flesh out of him.

Presently...

Kai stumbled over to the far wall, dropping to the floor and sitting with his back propped up by the wall. He swore under his breath.

"The fuck is wrong with me..? I shouldn't have turned around... helping people just get's you hurt..." He whispered.

He tentatively touched the wound on his lower back and flinched as pain shot up his spine. It was a decent sized bite, and blood was oozing out of it slowly. Most of it was being soaked up by his clothes, but it was still a hazard. The others might leave him behind all because he'd tried to save another.

He was torn from his thoughts as a voice asked him a question, it was the woman he'd saved.

"Hey, are you just going to sit there and not help us at all?" She asked.

Kai just watched her.

"... Whatever." He muttered in reply.

[Artorius]

"Eh, don't worry brother, I've got your back," whispered Alexander.

The truck driver wielded only a spatula he'd found on the grill behind the counter as he followed Bernard into the darkness. His heart raced thinking of the possibilities, one of those psychos was probably in the back. Alex wasn't a religious man, but he found himself praying for his life as he followed Bernard.

----------
As Peter looked into the cab, he would notice the keys were under the pedal. He promptly picked them up and inserted them into the ignition. With a simple turn, the car engine roared. Manuel smiled at the thought of getting out of Grayfog. The Mexican jumped in the passenger seat as Peter backed out of the vacant lot. As the two drove through Grayfog, they'd notice that it was in an uproar. Squad cars, and SWAT were sporadic but still active. Buildings were set on fire, and the city was just generally in a bad state, with zombies plentiful.

However, it was soon becoming painfully obvious that the pair wasn't going to be able to simply drive out of Grayfog. The streets were congested with broken, infested cars. Furthermore, the city had been quarantined, there was no reaching the highway. As such, Peter drove to the police station, the last bastion of hope in Grayfog. He didn't know what he'd find there, but he hoped it would be salvation.

[Guest]

Devin did his best to keep up with the others as the followed the fat man toward wherever he was taking them. His thoughts kept replaying the images he had seen at the hospital and in the furniture store; like a typical camera-man, he was analyzing those memories and replaying them over and over, thinking of the best views, how they could be spun to get the best reaction. Of course, that was all nonsense now, and he attributed it to some sort of shock on his part. Unfortunately, his brain focusing on the horrifying events of the past hour caused his feet to trip on a luggage case sprawled on the cement.

Devin went down hard, and he felt a sharp pain in his mouth. Cussing inwardly, he pushed himself back up. Seth turned around and ran back to him, helping him get to his feet.
"You all right?" Seth asked.
"I'm fine! Keep moving!" Devin yelled, pushing the nurse away from him. He didn't need the kids help!

"Come on, you two! They are getting ahead of us!" Maya yelled. Devin and Seth started running, but Devin's attention was distracted again by a car racing toward them on the road. The car was speeding down the road, avoiding parked cars but not the fleshless monsters. The car veered off just as it reached them. Devin jumped back just as the car launched itself over the sidewalk and into the fence. Devin covered his face with his arms as chunks of wood flew around him. When he uncovered his eyes, Seth was gone. Blood stained the edge of the fence where the car had crashed through.

"What the..." Devin could not understand what had just happened. Suddenly Maya's hands were around him, helping him up yet again.

"Get up, old man! Hurry!" She shoved him ahead of her and he ran. The other group was too far ahead of them, and he was sure he wasn't going to make it. The monsters poured through the hole in the fence just as he passed it, but he heard Maya curse loudly. When he turned around, they were separated by at least ten of the things.

"Devin!" she cried. "Devin, help me!" Devin wanted to...he did. But he couldn't stop his feet from moving him backward, toward the other group. Toward safety. The zombies were focused on Maya, since she was making all of the noise, yelling at him to save her. What could he do, anyway? With very little regret, Devin turned and ran toward the fleeing group ahead of him. A group of zombies congregated around a car forced him to go well around, and by that time the door to the diner, where the rest of the group had gone, was shut and locked.

"Fuck!" Devin yelled. The zombies at the car all turned toward him, fresh blood dripping down their faces. "Fuck!" he yelled again. A gun shot made him jump. It was from outside of the diner. If someone had a gun, that was where Devin wanted to be. The diner was probably just a deathtrap anyway.

[Mojave Wanderer]

“Watch yourself back here, it could be anywhere” Bernard said to the man behind him as he entered the small back room filled with boxes and shelves that almost made it impossible to move. Bernard picked up a small flashlight that he always kept at the back of the room in case of power outages. “We just need to follow this blood trail. . .” whispered Bernard as he noticed it lead to the back door.

“Looks like it left” said the trucker.

“This doesn’t seem right, noticing some of the blood lead towards a dark corner,” said Bernard but it was too late. The thing jumped out of the corner and began attacking him. In the chaos, his flashlight fell and he was left to fight off this thing in the darkness. Before he knew it, the thing was on the floor and he was bashing its head in with his bat. “Are you okay?” asked Bernard, not sure if he would get a response at all.

Jade heard the knocking on the door and the noises from the backroom but she ignored them both. She made herself keep grabbing things to barricade all the front of the diner. She wasn’t sure how long they had before those things came back and she wasn’t going to open the door for anyone. If only they would go to the back, she thought while staring at the people left outside. On the counter she noticed a few pieces of paper, but she had nothing to write with.

“Does anyone have a pen or a marker?” she began to ask but she noticed one on the floor in front of her. She wrote a quick message reading “Go to back entrance" and put it up against the window. She wasn’t sure if anyone saw it, but she hoped for the best.

[Artorius]

Alexander jumped as the zombie leaped onto Bernard. The husky man stood in shock through the whole encounter, unable to move a muscle. He was lucky that Bernard had managed to deal with the zombie on his own.

"Sorry about that..." said Alex.

The truck driver was visibly shaken, but felt useless on account of what had just happened. He ashamedly scratched his head which hung below his shoulders. For now the two were safe, as well as everyone else in the diner, but how long would it be until they were overrun? Alex tried not to think about it, but worried that the undead would soon be upon them, the back entrance wasn't even blocked. The trucker made his way out of the backroom and into the dining room of the diner. Speaking to no one in particular, Alex decided to make an address to his fellow survivors.

"Look, those who would like to hold out here can, but I think it'd be best to stay on the move. So, whoever wants to live, follow me!"

Alexander walked back towards where Bernard was recovering from his earlier ordeal and waited for anyone who wanted to follow him just by the back exit.

------------------

"HELLO!" yelled Peter.

His cry echoed throughout the empty halls of the police station. Grayfog's station wasn't anything particularly grand, but it was a big place. Slowly, survivors began trickling out of the station's rooms and offices. They were average people, and they probably had the same idea as Manuel and Peter.

"So, I see you two had the same idea that most of us did... too bad. You're welcome to stay. The armory was actually stocked when we got here, there's still some firearms left, but the big guns have been claimed already. We're trying to hold out here. I'm surprised you got through, we've already got people working on closing that side entrance. Lastly, if we get overrun, there's a manhole in the women's restroom near the sinks. Its open for quick escape, but who knows what's down there."

Peter and Manuel looked at the man, dumbfounded. He was obviously the leader.

"I apologize, my name is Dalton, I'm National Guard. Nice to meet you uh..."

"Peter."

"Manuel."

The three men shook hands before Dalton continued.

"Well boys, help yourselves, we've got a modest food cache, mostly nutrition bars, protein bars, that sort of stuff. The water fountains still work too."

[Dreamless Days]

Kai sighed lightly. He wanted to stand, wanted to get away from this diner. He wanted so desperately to follow Alex and survive. However, as he looked around the room, he noticed everything seemed to be swirling slowly. And those colors he could see in the corners of his eyes seemed to always be just out of sight. He tried to lift his arm to his face and found he lacked the strength needed.

He had lost a lot more blood than he expected, and it was only now he realized it. The blood running down his back had formed a small pool between his back and the wall, and was more or less out of sight from the other survivors. He tried to open his mouth, to warn them of what had happened and what WOULD happen now. The best he could muster was a quiet groan.

Everything began to move as if in slow motion, at least, to Kai it seemed that way. He slowly saw as he no longer had the strength to hold his own head high, and it fell forward, his chin resting on his chest. He saw everything going dark. Everything going on around him seemed like it was happening so far away, in another world entirely. With every ounce of being he had, he whispered his final words.

"Sorry... Mom..."

Keisuke Nikaido quietly expired. There was no glorious last stand, no being a hero. Just silence, and the darkness that took him.

_______________________________________________

Elsewhere in the city, a loud engine roared. This was because someone was driving a dark blue Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 Coupe through the streets at dangerous speeds. As the car neared a corner the driver slammed on the handbrake and pulled the wheel tightly, the car sliding around the corner smoothly before the handbrake was moved back and the acceleration was slammed back down.

The driver of this car was Ben Grande, a stupid grin plastered on his face. In the passenger seat was his younger brother William, who was staring out of the side window, seemingly deep in thought. The two had at first made their way to Ben's workplace, where they had found the car in working order, along with what was left of Ben's boss.

Ben looked at his brother sideways while he dodged the cars on the road and kept up his speed, taking down the "Zombies" when possible.

"What's eating you?" He asked.

Will shrugged his shoulders.

"Just wondering where we'll stay the night. We don't have a lot of ammo left in your pistol..." He mumbled.

"Six rounds left." Ben stated.

The two had grabbed the gun before going to the garage that morning, and had been using it to protect themselves while they made their way there. However, as the two were talking about, they were almost out of ammo with it.

"But that's not the major thing troubling me..." Will muttered.

Ben glanced at him again.

"Oh? What is then?" He asked.

"Well..." He began, pulling his PSP out of his pocket "I'll need electricity for this too, almost out of battery. And we both know that my video games are the important part of this."

Ben started laughing, still concentrating on the road. Will however only smirked.

"I totally wasn't joking." He stated.

"Don't worry little bro, we'll find somewhere we can keep you entertained." Ben reassured him.

Will started laughing too, the brothers didn't seem to be completely phased by the whole thing. At least, not yet. To them, all that mattered was that they were both together, alive and well. Knowing this, they continued to speed through the streets.

[Red_Wolf]

“What is taking them so damn long to open a door?” Smith asked the two as they stood outside the diner. Michael was twirling his baseball bat while staring at the building when he saw a piece of paper held into the window saying, Go to back entrance.

“They want us to go through the back,” Michael said as he lowered his baseball bat. The three walked around the building where they found a door. Michael turned the handle slowly and pulled the door open. The sunlight illuminated an old man holding a baseball bat next to a corpse, and a short man wearing a red hat standing in the doorway between the front and back of the diner.

The old man said in a shaky voice, “Hello, my name’s Bernard.” Bernard offered a hand to shake, but took it back when he realized his hand was covered in blood.

Smith looked down at the body and looked back at Bernard and asked, “How do you guys plan to survive here? I can see you guys already have these things breaking through your barricade.”

Bernard calmed himself, and said in a more firm voice, “We just arrived. We were holding up in a furniture store not too far from here until we became over-whelmed. The only place I could think of running to was my diner.” Bernard made a gesture for them to come into the diner.

“Hey, do you have anything to eat here?” Scott asked Bernard as they walked into the back room of the diner.

Bernard replied, “Well, we don’t have power so you can’t cook anything, but I have pastries toward the front that you can take.”

Scott eagerly went toward the counter filled with pastries and grabbed a couple pieces of cake and began eating. After Scott finished eating, he walked into the front of the diner where he met many of the survivors. He noticed a young man sitting against the wall and went over to see what was wrong with him. As Scott got close to the young man, he heard him whisper something under his breath and then noticed a severe bite mark on his back. Scott then knew he was going to turn, but was too late to react. The teen had jumped up and sank his teeth deep within Scott’s throat, and tore out a large portion of his neck. Scott screamed in pain and Smith shot the zombie once in the chest, and then in the head.

Smith and Michael made their way to Scott. Scott was unable to talk and just made a gesture for them to get back. He pulled out his gun, put it to the temple of his head, and pulled the trigger.

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