The Beginning - A Zombie Apocalypse

June the sixth was a cold eerie morning and my freezing body and shattering teeth propelled me at an enlightened speed towards the bathroom. Inspecting my sleepy face in that extra-large mirror that Lisa insisted on having, I quietly roared John O Connor you are the greatest, as I smiled and hugged myself. Being wide awake I made a strong coffee and plonked my tired ass down beside the heater, after a previous hard day’s work, switching on CNN world news.

Instantly a news flash rang out and my ears strained wondering what the hell could be that important at such an early hour. It felt like there was something up but at this point and time there was no solid information. Minutes later we were informed of an impending presidential speech and the intensity of my feelings wavered. Later again they announced that the government had commandeered all broadcasting stations and controlled the news. Shocked beyond belief I quickly decided to go up and wake Lisa my wife from her well-earned sleep.

But before I initiated that action, I decided to ‘ink’ my new leather diary, a birthday present, documenting the string of events and strange activities that were happening this bright new day. As I was editing my entries there was yet another warning to all house-holds, to lock all doors, shutter up windows and secure basements. Now I was scared shitless and promptly dropped the pen and slapped the diary on the table. I tore up the stairs to the bedroom and tried to wake Lisa as gently as I could without causing too much fuss. But being so spooked I overdid it and she woke, screaming loudly waking the children Daniel and Jane in the processes. Calmly I tried to explain the situation about the radio broadcast as she put on her night gown and trundled down the stairs to the kitchen. She knew by my distressed state that something unusual was up and figured I was too traumatised to explain it clearly. As she listened to the radio she realised that the real information had not yet been broadcast, except that we were to board up our houses and stay inside. So she directed the stunned me to the shed for tools and wood, as she would ring her family and close friends to see what was up. Phone lines were engaged not a single person was contactable, so in a state of panic she stashed the ‘cell phone’ in her pocket should anyone ring and she rushed up to the children. Daniel and Jane six and eight years of age were already crying and wondering what all the fuss was about. Lisa with her motherly instinct began to talk softly and comfort them as I brought in a bunch of tools and wood and began hammering and sawing securing the sitting room and kitchen as that was my initial objective. By now the children were totally on edge and Lisa calmed them by saying the Government instructed us to make the house safer but that was not enough to keep them calm. So she searched for some of their favourite DVD’s and asked Jane to put them on pretending that she could not use the machine and that occupied their time for another bit.

Then the cell phone rang and Lisa’s dad talked about the president’s speech, but because we were so busy securing the house we missed that broadcast. She called me into the kitchen and repeated the news that there was a horrific epidemic, a zombie epidemic. My initial reaction was a loud ‘what’ but I didn’t want to disrupt the flow of news so I listened. She repeated, the virus was first spotted in New York, down in the village near a vegetable stand. A down and out ‘wino’ started to follow people around and then suddenly he began to attack and bite their arms and legs as if he was starving. The symptoms did not develop in the affected people until days later and the hospitals were not equipped with knowledge to deal with such an unusual situation. Zombie’ism was not on the priority list of the medical fraternity as they actually knew nothing about this virus and its effects. So with no control procedures in place it spread like wild fire and there was no way of knowing who was affected. Being the first ever zombie infestation known to mankind, the World Health Organisation was not informed until it was too late and as a result did not respond quickly enough to stop the spread. So the fastest way to communicate to the public was to allow the government take control and get the President to inform the public of immediate measures as staying put, securing home, resist contact with strangers and report any unusual behaviour. The whole country was at risk and that included our home place the city of Philadelphia.

We stared at each other for minutes in disbelief wondering if it was for real. We then resumed the job of securing the house and making preparations for at least a two week period. I investigated all entry points to the house and began to secure every vulnerable opening including all windows, with strong boarding that I had stacked away for extreme weather events that presently happened all too frequently. I found metal grids in the basement that helped reinforce the windows further. There was also an old metal gate that I was able to fixe to the front door to reinforce it, so that we could get in and out if necessary without weakening the entrance. The physical house now being safely secure led us to our next task of ensuring enough food and water to last a siege. Fortunately we had a bunch of large barrels in the basement, a beer project that I put on ‘the long finger’ so luckily we filled them while the water supply was still on. We had some food but not enough to last the two weeks or longer that we expected to be there so we toyed with the idea of going out to buy more supplies. We realised it had to be done immediately as by now, most people were in panic. I fetched some petrol cans from the basement and heading to the door I warned Lisa to slam shut the door behind me. I said under no circumstances, talk or allow anyone, absolutely no one, no matter what happens, even if it was your dad or sister, to come in. That reality of that statement made it blindingly clear to Lisa that things had changed, a totally other world the ‘new old world’ was in and as I drove away I knew that I could be locked out too. I immediately stocked up on gasoline at the local gas station down the road, just before the big rush started and I did not speak to anyone, not even people I recognised. Time was of essence as everyone needed food and by now most people would have realised that. Shortly afterword’s I arrived at the supermarket and wasting no time I charged down the aisle picking up what was left on the nearly empty shelves. It was mostly cans of vegetables and bits and pieces until I spotted the still plentiful fresh veg section. I filled my trolley with everything that was available especially potatoes right up to the brim and proceeded towards the till. Scrutinising everywhere I realised the que was getting longer and people were behaving more erratically. So after one last tour and coming across another stash of tinned beans I headed straight for the till, twitching nervously and impatiently until it was my turn. My whole ‘being’ was on red alert for strange movements or weird behaviour around the store as was everyone else. Literally no one talked or made eye contact and you could feel acute tension in the air. Then I saw a man staggering forward and backward making strange noises near the drinks department and literally everybody in pure panic looked over at him in shock, ready to exit rapidly if needed. But after a few minutes we realised he was drunk and calm settled once more over the whole supermarket. I wondered why the till lady was still working and not at home taking precautions, she obviously was not so worried or was misinformed or, or, or as my mind wandered and I thought ethically if I should let her know. But alas my turn came as I thought about my own family so I unloaded and reloaded my trolley and paid up, in just under five minutes, that was quick. I grabbed everything and rapidly moved to the car shouting to the till lady that there was an epidemic and did she know? I did not wait for a response as my anxiety was growing by the minute and looking from left to right I opened the boot of the car and flung everything in within seconds, all ready to go. As I got to the driver’s door I saw a distinct zombie like creature with dirty red platted hair, disgustingly covered all over in yellow pussy bile and murky reddish blood. It was crawling towards me leaving a trail of thick slime behind him from the far end of the carpark. In utter shock I closed my gaping mouth and forced myself to stop looking as I hopped in to the car, twisted the ignition key and luckily was able to make my get-away. I navigated home slowly but safely through chaotic traffic as fast as I could, never having to stop.

As pre-arranged I drove up to the house, in full view of the peephole in the reinforced front door and biped the horn three times very softly not to raise attention. Then I walked in a straight line tapping my head every time my right foot touched the ground as agreed, right up to the peephole and spoke quietly to Lisa, deciding to tell her about the incident later. She was happy to see me as she inspected and questioned me and then proceeded to open the door. Checking that nobody was about or ready to attack us, she opened the door to the hall which was a second line of defence in case we were attacked. Then we both unloaded the food and gasoline into the hall as quick as we could and after slamming the door shut again I parked the car in the garage out of sight. All the time we were very worried, highly alert and did not take any chances. I had to go through the processes of entering the house once again and it worked beautifully! We had decided before I left that no one would be allowed in until the epidemic was declared over not even close relatives and that was comforting as we already had made our choices, just us the immediate family. It was only when the door was bolted that I realised how utterly stressful it had become and I relaxed a bit and took a deep breath. We sat at the kitchen table me filling in the diary as we made a cup of tea and then we realised what a mess the world and humanity were in. It suddenly dawned on us that the world would be a different place after these events and we could not imagine the destruction or damage on a catastrophic scale that might be upon us!

Six months later a military battalion came upon the house still intact and in order to enter they had to batter down the front door with force to get it open. They broke through the second defence system in the hall and found a very ugly site. A family of four people, two adults and two children slaughtered, covered in blood, half eaten and badly mutilated all huddled together in a pile in the corner of the sitting room. It was a disturbing, sad and surreal discovery and the Lieutenant Officer could not stop the tears welling up in his eyes. The mutilated family were taken first to the special hospital for autopsy and then the incinerator, to be destroyed in case of live re-infection. In the house after a second and last inspection of every room before they left, they found a diary on the kitchen table and took it as future evidence.

Many years later an elderly lady, a librarian researching for a book on the epidemic was checking through the evidence from the Zombie Apocalypse archives long after the recovery and she spotted the black leather diary. She got permission to take it out and began to read it. She found it very informative, compelling but also strangely disturbing to read. The sad thing was that this family were never attacked by human zombies but instead were infected by a cat that the children befriended and their parents foolishly allowed into the house.