Chapter 1

Unruly Beginnings
The alarm rang, waking Daniel from his peaceful sleep. He turned over and stretched his body
to feel the cool sheets. He put on his silver glasses and glanced at his phone; 10 am and below it
there was a text from Claire letting him know she was in class. Daniel was tired but looked
forward to the rest of his day off, planning to reach out to his close friend Sebastian later on to
share some exciting news.
He went out to a diner, a block away from his apartment, enjoying the cool weather early
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spring brought with it. As he entered the diner, he overheard some people mention a large
increase of patients in hospitals. He shrugged it off and sat in a booth.
“Good morning sir, what can I help you with?” the waitress asked.
“Can I just get some scrambled eggs with bacon?”
“Yes sir, and do you want coffee?”
“No thank you, not a big fan.” he quickly glanced at the menu.
“Give me some hot chocolate.” Daniel replied as he handed her the menu.
He unlocked his phone and began to run through his apps, wasting time as he waited for his
meal.

“Doctors are still trying to understand what is causing this mass illness. Reports from across
the globe have come in as they are receiving many patients with the same symptoms that closely
resemble that of the common cold but are much more aggressive.”
Daniel focused on the reporter’s voice as worry began to spread through his thoughts. He
received a text from his mom asking if he was all right but before he could respond, he noticed
the whole dinner had gone silent. He looked up from his phone and saw everyone looking at the
TV, listening to the reporter.
“We’re not sure what this means but there are reports of patients losing the color of their eyes
and making an eerie groan.”
Within a split second, everyone turned towards the direction of a scream. Daniel stood up next
to his booth and looked through the window trying to find the source along with everyone else,
but they all failed to notice the silent, sick man sitting in a stool.
An eerie groan began to fill the diner. One of the customers turned around and came face to
face with the infected man. His skin had lost its color, pale with dark veins spreading throughout
his body. His eyes were a white canvas, with nothing to show but its red veins.
“Oh my Gooaaaahh!”

1 Start of March/early spring

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 The man screamed as this thing grabbed his throat and began to crush it. It showed no
emotion, no sense to express why.
Others quickly rushed to grabbed the infected man’s hands and pull them away from the
other’s throat. People moved him away and tried to see if he was ok. The two men who pulled
the infected away began to struggle restraining him.
His strength was great. A few more seconds and he would have destroyed the other man’s
windpipe. Still amidst all this commotion, the sick man’s face was blank and he continued to
groan. In the struggle, the infected man managed to bring one of the restrainer’s hands close
enough to bite him. The man yelled in pain pulling away causing part of his flesh to tear away
from the still clenched teeth.
The sick man turned to face the other still holding him. He looked into its dead white eyes, the
flesh from the other man’s hand hanging from his mouth causing him to freeze in shock. It
quickly grabbed his face and began to squeeze. One of its fingers slipped into the man’s eye
socket, creating an orchestra of screams in the diner. Blood began to pour out. He punched and
kicked but nothing would cause it to let go.
Everyone started to run out into the street, where others were running from more of those
pale, white eyed things. Daniel ran to his apartment and called Claire.
“Come on come on, answer the phone Claire!”
He grabbed his car keys and began to drive towards the school.
“Daniel what’s going on! People are saying there’s some disease and it’s making people
crazy! Where are you?”
“I’m on my way! Wait for me in your class and don’t go anywhere.”
“I’m not in my class I’m going to the parking lot.”
“No! Go to the nearest building and I’ll come to you! Please do that for me!”
“Ok I’m going inside the gym, please hurry Danny, I don’t like this.”
Her voice was fragile, Daniel knew he had to hurry and make sure she was safe. As he was
speeding through he began to see the chaos unfold. People beating others, pushing them in an
attempt to avoid the infected. He had to slow down at each intersection to make sure no one sped
through and hit him. As soon as he saw no one coming, he’d keep moving.
The school was at least 30 minutes away but Daniel would make it there within 10 minutes as
he sped through the streets. The neighborhood nearby brought more infected into the school
along with those who were already there. As Daniel arrived, he could hear gunshots from the
universities’ courtyard. He parked his car at the courtyard’s steps and rushed to the security guard
in hopes he could get a weapon. He saw one of the infected grab the guard from behind. As the
guard panicked trying to remove the infected behind him, the two more continued walking
towards him and grabbed him, tumbling down with him. The guard yelled as the two infected on
top of him and tear into his skin. Daniel stopped for a moment. He couldn’t believe what he was
seeing.

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 He noticed the pistol in the guard’s right hand. This was his opportunity to get it. He ran
straight after it pushing away students running for their lives.
The guard was flaying his arms around trying to hit the infected on top of him. He began to
plea for help as Daniel arrived.
“Please get these things off of me! Please!”
Daniel grabbed the guard’s right arm and took his pistol.
“What are you doing? Help me!” the guard’s words could barely be heard amongst the wails
of panic and pain.
Daniel looked across and saw more of the infected coming; he knew there was nothing he
could do. He looked at him, with a disheartened look and said, “I’m sorry.”
As he ran to go find Claire, he could hear a haunting clamor of pain. The screams of the
security guard were drilling into his ears. Daniel kept running assuring himself there was nothing
he could have done.
The campus had four buildings, each placed to create a square with two entry and exit lanes.
The campus was large but aside from the four buildings, plains of grass and trees made the
entirety of it. Two large parking lots were in front of the two main buildings. In the middle of the
four buildings was the large courtyard where students would spend their free time. The two
buildings a person would see when arriving would be the administration building on the left and
the main course building to the right. Behind the administration building were the student dorms
and across from the dorms was the physical center where Claire would be waiting for Daniel.
Chaos continued throughout the campus as Daniel fought through the students attempting to
run for their lives. The wails of pain and fear added more adrenaline. Daniel could feel his heart
trying to push through his chest. He arrived at the girl's locker room. It was quiet, the lighting
kept him from getting an eerie feeling. He drew out the pistol, ready for anything.
"Claire." he calmly spoke. "Sweetie it's me."
"Danny?" She called out his name. Her heart was racing but hearing his voice brought her a
feeling of reassurance.
"Are you ok? You're not hurt?" he asked.
"No, I'm ok now. I'm so happy to see you're ok." she kissed and hugged him. "I couldn't stop
thinking about you. What's happening and... where did you get that gun?" she asked.
"I don't know, the news said that a lot of people had been arriving to hospitals with the same
symptoms. They thought it was a fever and now this is happening." He looked outside the door.
"Some guy was infected too; at the diner down the block. He killed a man and that's when
everyone ran. I don't see any of those things out in the hall. We should barricade the doors. Wait
till help comes." Daniel grabbed Claire's hand. "I need you to stay close to me, keep an eye out
behind us. If I say to run you do not hesitate, ok? You run and hide somewhere safe and wait for
me to find you."
She nodded.

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 "I love you." he kissed her and they headed out the locker room.

Claire clenched Daniel's hand; the screams from afar pushed her closer to him. They arrived to
one of the exits and saw the carnage. The blood spread across the field. Daniel opened the door
and saw many people lost, scattered with no clue of what to do. He yelled to whoever could hear
him. He couldn't stand and watch them die.

"COME OVER HERE! HEY! GET INSIDE! TO THE GYM!"

People turned around and quickly ran to the building. A mob of infected followed them, their
wails following close behind the fleeing people.

"Come on we have to get to the gym and block the entrances from those things." Claire and
Daniel ran to the gym with the others following close behind. Daniel scanned the area making
sure it was safe. "Ok, go and block the other doors, I'll take care of these."
The people started rushing in with a few grabbed by some infected that showed a more rabid
state than the majority who were roaming around. One of them leaped on a girl, grabbing her
hair and pulling her to the ground. Her screams caught Daniels attention. He turned around and
saw the infected ready to maul her. He aimed his pistol, took a deep breath, and without
hesitating, fired two shots. One hit the thing’s right shoulder and the other went through its neck.
It fell giving the girl enough time to get up and run inside the gymnasium. Daniel closed the
doors using a chain to tie the handles together.
He looked through the small window on the door, watching the infected man he shot get up
and start to quickly limp towards him with the mob following close behind.
Daniel quickly and yelled at the others. "I need help here! They're gonna get through the
doors!"
People quickly ran to help keep the doors closed.
"We need something to put as a barricade!" Someone yelled.
Everyone started pushing the doors as the infected began attempting to break through.
"A lock! We need a lock for this chain!"
"Someone check the office!"
Daniel looked up to see the white red veined eyes of an infected through the glass. They kept
the mob at bay and placed a lock to keep the doors from opening. The infected stopped trying to
force themselves in and just stood. They weren't trying to get in, they simply stood still. A few
were drawn by some noise outside and left but the majority stayed outside the gym's doors. Soon
enough a large amount of them were spread across the campus.
Within a few minutes everyone had calmed down, trying to understand what was happening.
Some were on their phone looking at videos of what was occurring while others were talking to
their loved ones assuring them they were ok, but many were desperately redialing in hopes of an
answer.

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 One of the students stumbled across a live video. "Hey look at this."
Everyone gathered around the girl's laptop, set on a bleacher for them to see. There were three
masked strangers. Others found and began to view the video on their phones.
"The world is in chaos and I'm sure all of you who are watching are asking yourselves what's
going on? Why is this happening? Who are these people and what do they have to do with what’s
going on?" his voice fierce.
"Is this a joke?" someone asked.
"Are they on the Golden Gate Bridge?"
Murmurs from the group began to spread around but they all fell quiet when the man in the video
began to speak again.
"This world is gone now. I want you to forget everything. All your friends, gone; your family,
gone; your home, the life you knew is gone! No one is deserving of anything! We are what has
caused all of this. We are everywhere. We are in your businesses, corporations. We are in your
government, your military, and hospitals. We are all over the globe! We created this pathogen.
What you see outside now, what is killing or has killed your friends, those you loved, is what
will clean the world of the abomination that is man!" The man's tone simmered down.
"We all did this. Every person is responsible for where we are now. Wars, poverty, the
destruction of our lands, oceans. Violence, corruption, children being killed because of the
ideology of others. There is nothing good worth saving. We all are terrible people. No one is
better than the other is. The earth has cried for too long and we just kept ignoring it, spitting at its
face as we kept walking, continuing with our putrid life. Don't expect much aid from your
government or military, most of the important ones are a part of us. We'll shutdown all forms of
communication in the next 3 minutes. So take what time you have now to call any loved ones
alive and share your final words. Don't fight this, the best thing to do now is enjoy your last
moments, pray to whatever deity you believe in and end your life before the true suffering
begins."
The three masked figures walked towards the edge of the bridge. The clouds hiding the
horrors below. They turned to face the camera.
"For those of you willing to fight and overcome this new world, we wish you luck. Sincerely
we do. Nevertheless, there is no hope; you're only drawing out the inevitable. If the earth or
those infected don't kill you, then I know for sure your fellow man will. But, if there is that
chance that you somehow overcome everything, that you aren't beat by the corrupted or become
corrupted yourself by the new world then... I hope you can redeem humanity and give the world
what it deserves. Goodbye." They all leaned back and fell. The camera would keep recording live
for 3 minutes before the signal would cut off.
"What? What was that? Did those three really just kill themselves?"
"So did they cause all of this?"
"No. Didn't you listen? They said there were others, some huge group that planned this."
Conversations began springing up. People arguing, others crying. Daniel walked around the
gym, listening in on people's conversations.
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 "So are those things like zombies?" a person asked.
"Nah, not really. Zombies are those who were dead and were brought back to life. I haven't
seen anyone that was killed and come back." another replied.
"Daniel!" Claire cried out.
He turned to looked at her. Her eyes were on the verge of tears. "What's wrong?" he caressed
her hair.
"My dad won't answer. I tried calling Alex and Rachel but they won't answer." she wiped the
tears in her eyes.
"Hey don't worry about it ok." he gently lifted up her chin to see her eyes.
"Your dad is ok and so are your sisters. We'll see them soon, ok? Don’t worry about it."
Daniel looked behind her and noticed the infected getting closer to the doors again. The sound
from inside seemed to lure them.
Daniel walked around warning others. "Hey. We have to keep it down here. Those things are
still out there. More could show up if we aren't quiet."
"What are we going to do? If those people in the video were right, there's no one that'll come
looking for us."
"We don't know that for sure. We just have to make sure this place is safe and wait for help to
get here…or wait for an opening and leave." Daniel replied.
"What about food and water?" Another asked him.
"I don't know." Daniel thought for a bit.
"There's some snack machines around the building. We could get some from those."
"Yea but I don't think anyone wants to put a dollar and wait for a bag of air 16 times.”
“Not to mention those stupid things like to eat up your money too."
"What about the cafeteria? They have some sandwiches ready inside the fridges and drinks. A
few people could quickly get the stuff."
"Ok but how do we get past those things? And..." Daniel asked before another spoke out.
"Hey! I don't think these things can see really well."
Daniel and a few others walked towards the doors.
"Look." the young man began to wave his hand in front of the infected. It continued to look
aimlessly.
"It doesn't follow me."
Someone knocked on the door. The infected moved its head a little but didn't seem too
acknowledge the sound either.
"Doesn't look like sound affects them too much either."

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 "Try knocking harder." another suggested.
They knocked but the majority ignored it. In the distance, a few began to shuffle towards the
door but stopped after a few steps.
"So they can't see and some are deaf?"
The infected looking through the glass let its head fall hitting itself. It rested its head on the
door and moaned eerily.
"Looks like these things are unpredictable."
"Or they're toying with us."
"Really? I don't think they're that smart."
"Who knows what those people made. All I know is that those things want to kill us."
Daniel stayed quiet. Trying to piece together what they were. Were they simple mindless
killing machines that targeted those they saw, heard or possibly smelled; or did they have a
higher understanding than the people thought?
An hour went by; the gym was quiet with the groans of the infected filling in the gap. Things
weren’t so tense as before, some talked to one another, others played games on their phones but
the majority found nothing worthwhile to do but wait and hope for a miracle.
“I’m hungry, does anyone have any food?” a girl asked.
“I could go for something to eat too.”
“Like I had said before, the cafeteria in the dorms building has some food and drinks ready.”
“Ok but who’s going to go get them?”
Everyone looked around at each other. Daniel got up.
“I can go, but I need at least four others to help me get as much as we can.”
Claire was not happy to hear this.
“If we create a distraction, we can run to the other building, get the food and be back in a
couple minutes.” Daniel claimed.
“Easy for you to say since you got the gun, what about the others? If anything goes wrong
you’ll be able to shoot your way out.”
“I got 12 bullets left, not enough to deal with all of those things out there.”
“I don’t care, like hell I’m going out there just to get myself killed.”
“The human body can go about three weeks without food, but without water it can barely
manage 3 days. So we’ll need to do something soon otherwise we’re toast.”
“Three days? Sounds good to me, besides that’s plenty of time for help to come.”

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 “And what if it doesn’t come within those 3 days? Then what do we do?” Daniel remarked. “I
don’t like this anymore than you, but we have to do something soon. The courtyard doesn’t have
many of those things out there so we should be able to get to the building across with no
problems.”
“How do we get out, there’s a bunch of them outside the main doors.”
“Through the maintenance room, there’s a door that will take you outside. I don’t know if it’s
safe though.”
“I’ll go check”
“While he does that, I still need four others to help me get the food.” Daniel looked around as
others stared at him, afraid of what could happen. “C’mon guys, we have to work together.”
“I’ll go”
“Ok, just 3 more.” Daniel kept asking.
“You promise to be a good shot?”
“Yes I do”
The guy sighed, “Might as well do something worthwhile.”
The other man came from checking the maintenance door. “Not a lot of them out there, the
noise from the city must’ve drawn them away.”
Daniel kept looking across to see if anyone else would join them. After a few seconds, he
knew no one else would help and shook his head in disappointment.
“Ok, let’s get ready to go.” They began to head towards the maintenance room when Claire
pulled Daniel aside.
“What are you doing? I don’t want you going out there.”
“I’ll be fine, plus we need the food. The sooner we get that problem out of the way the better.”
“Ok but why you? Why can’t someone else do it?”
“I’m the one with the gun remember.”
“So? Just give it to someone else and let them risk their life.”
“I’ll be fine. Trust me ok?”
“Fine.” Claire replied with a worried face.
He kissed her and joined the other two.
“Ok guys.” He was surprised to see them with some bats.
“Found them by that closet.” He handed one to Daniel.
“Good, that should help out. My name’s Daniel by the way.”
“Hector.”
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 “Nick.”
“Nice to meet you guys. Here’s the plan, we move quickly, quietly, and stay close to each
other. If things don’t look like they’re going well we’ll run back here.”
They agreed and went out. It was warm; they could see some infected pacing around the field,
others standing in place. As they steadily moved towards the dorms halfway across the courtyard,
an infected spotted them and let out a wail that shook their bones.
“Dammit! Hurry let’s go!” Daniel yelled.
Daniel and Nick ran towards the dorms but Hector kept looking back and forth trying to
decide if he should run after them or go back.
“Hector! Hurry!” Daniel screamed as he held the door open for Nick.
“I…I can’t!” Hector told himself. He looked at Daniel and shook his head. As he turned, he
saw the infected leap towards him, barely missing him as he avoided its lunge. He started to run
back.
“No! Hector!” Daniel yelled.
“C’mon, let him go. Let’s do this and get it done.”
A few ran after him while the majority pursued Daniel and Nick at a steady pace.
“If those things get huddled up at the maintenance door we won’t be able to get in.”
Daniel was frustrated. “Why did that idiot have to go back? It’s going to make things a lot
harder.”
“I know, and that’s one less backpack filled.”
“At least he took the attention with him.” Daniel let out a sigh.
“And their eyes still work.” Nick commented.
They were now in the cafeteria, they carefully walked around making sure no infected were
inside with them. They started to get whatever food was prepared in there.
“I’ll get the drinks, and you fill up on the prepped food.” Daniel ordered.
“Ok.”
Nick went towards the counter and started to stock up. He looked at the food ready to be
served, “Should we get some containers and fill them up?”
“I guess, just be quick. I’m almost out of space for these drinks.” Daniel angrily replied.
“Look around and see if anyone left a backpack behind.”
Nick saw the containers across the counter. As he climbed over it, one of the infected rose up.
Its white eyes locked with Nick’s. It swung trying to grab him; Nick leaped back but got hurt as
he landed.
“Ah! Dammit! My ankle!” Nick grunted in pain. “My ankle!”

9
 The infected slowly climbed over the counter, its eerie gasp echoed through the cafeteria.
Daniel ran towards the sound. Within moments, he aimed his pistol and shot. The bullet went
straight through the infected’s face. He rushed to help Nick. He only hoped the worst hadn’t
occurred.
“Are you ok? Did it bite you or scratch you?”
“No. It just scared me and when I jumped back, I landed badly. I think my ankle is sprained.
“Can you get up?”
Nick tried to move his leg but to no avail. As Daniel helped him up, they fell quiet. The
wheezing breaths of the infected were like that of an asthma attack, except much slower and
deeper.
“C’mon let’s go.” Daniel grunted as he lifted Nick, arm over shoulder.
“I got the bags; you focus on not missing any shots.”
“Alright, let’s go.”
They headed out of the cafeteria quickly, Nick struggled keeping Daniel’s pace but he had to
fight through it. He bit his lip as he dragged his left foot across the ground. They were crossing
the courtyard when one of the infected ran and lounged itself behind them. Nick rolled away
trying to stay away from it. Daniel tried to get up but the infected grabbed his leg and pulled him
towards it. It climbed over him and started to swing its arms like a child. The infected grabbed
part of Daniel’s shirt and moved in to bite him. Daniel quickly grabbed its forehead in one hand
and its lower jaw with the other. The infected shook its head violently trying to move closer to
Daniel. Nick grabbed his bat and crawled as close as he could.
“HELP ME!” Daniel cried out.
“When I say now throw its head towards me!” Nick braced himself for the pain he was about
to endure. “NOW!”
Daniel threw the infected’s face with all his strength towards Nick. Nick quickly stood, using
the bat as a cane to pick himself up, putting all his force on his left leg. He cried out in pain and
swung the bat upwards hitting the infected’s jaw. As it tried to get up, Daniel grabbed Nick’s bat
and beat the infected’s skull in.
Nick’s anguished cries attracted more towards them. Daniel looked up and saw as more ran
towards them. He quickly grabbed the bags and picked Nick up.
“C’mon we’re almost there.”
They made it to the maintenance door but when they tried to open it, their hearts dropped.
“It’s locked.” Daniel murmured.
“What? It can’t be locked!”
“CLAIRE!” Daniel yelled
“OPEN THE DOOR!” Nick cried.

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 They continued yelling and banging on the door. As the infected got closer, Daniel got ready
to make a stand when suddenly the door opened. Nick fell almost bringing Daniel down with
him. Daniel pushed Claire back in and dragged Nick inside. As one of the infected was about run
in, he slammed the door and locked it, feeling the brutal hits the door took.
“What happened?” Claire asked.
“Did you lock the door?” Daniel asked enraged.
“No, I was trying to see if my dad would answer my calls. I haven’t been over here since you
guys left. That other guy came back out of breath and said you all got separated.”
Daniel walked towards the gym with a scolding look. Claire stayed behind helping Nick up.
His eyes quickly scanned the gym for Hector.
“Hector! Where are you!” he yelled.
Hector stood up from a small group by the bleachers.
“Hey man I’m so sorry. I couldn’t make it so I had to turn back.”
Daniel walked towards him, everyone was quiet, their eyes locked on the situation. Daniel
grabbed Hector by his shirt and pulled towards him, causing Hector to stumble down.
“Hey relax! I said I was sorry! I didn’t mean to run!”
“So it wasn’t enough to leave us behind, you had to lock the only way to get in.” Daniels
voice was deep, ready to unleash his anger.
“Wait what? I didn’t lock the door. I, I ran but that was it. I swear.”
Daniel’s temper cooled down, he let go of Hectors shirt and took a step back.
“Then who locked the door?”
Before Daniel could start asking more questions, someone responded.
“I did.” A 55-year-old man said as he stood up.
“You?” Daniel replied. “Why would you do that?” His anger slowly started to rise again.
“He came in running and I had to make sure this place stayed secured.”
“Then why didn’t you wait for us to come back so you could open the door!” Daniel spoke
harshly.
The man said nothing.
“Why weren’t you there ready for us, huh? We would’ve died had Claire not helped us!”
Daniel turned to the others “Why didn’t any of you come to help?”
“You said it would take a few minutes. That getting the food would be fast and easy. You took
a while so we thought you were dead or stuck.” The man replied.
Daniel looked at him with revulsion. He decided to not waste his breath and took out three
drinks from his backpack before tossing it on the ground along with Nick’s.

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 “Split it evenly.” He said while walking back to Claire and Nick.
Daniel sat handing a drink to each as the others looked through the bags.
“There’s not enough for everyone here.”
Daniel heard the comment and in a bitter tone replied, “That wouldn’t have been a problem if
more had gone to help us.” Claire rested her head on Daniel, helping him relax and ease his
frustration.
After a couple of hours the food was gone, the gym was silent, and the mood in the room had
simmered down. A few were asleep but most talked amongst themselves. Daniel was calm but
still agitated about what happened earlier. Sundown would arrive soon and he knew they couldn’t
stay here, not like this. In his mind he debated whether to stay and wait or go outside and look
for help. Seeing as his thoughts always seemed to side with the latter, he made his choice and got
ready to leave. Claire woke up; noticing what he was doing, she followed him to the maintenance
room.
“What are you doing?” She asked.
Daniel sighed. “I’m heading outside to see if I can find more food and help.” He grabbed a
backpack and two big sport bags.
“What? No you’re not?” she couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “Why are you going out
there for people who don’t care or appreciate what you just did?”
“I’m not doing this for them; I’m doing this for you.” He stopped and realized what he had
said and prepared for what was coming.
“Oh really? Because if it was for me, you would stay right here and not go anywhere.”
“Sweetie look” He turned around and saw the stern look that made him laugh. He smiled and
looked away to not make things worse.
“What’s so funny? Tell me. I want to know what’s so hilarious about you going out there.”
Daniel focused. “I’m going out there to find help.”
“But-“
“I know that those people on the video said there wouldn’t be none but we have to try. I’m not
going to wait here to starve when we could find a safer place or maybe even help. I will be back,
I promise. And you know I don’t make promises I can’t keep.”
“I just don’t want you going out there on your own. What if what happened earlier happens
again and this time no one will be there to help you like Nick did. Let me go with you.” Claire
caringly suggested.
Daniel quickly responded “No. I don’t want to lose you.”
“And you think I want to lose you? We said we would work as a team and get through our
problems together.”

12
 “I know and we are. I need you here to make sure what happened earlier with the door won’t
happen again, ok? I’m going to find help and bring back what we need to make it through this.”
He pushed her hair behind her right ear “I love you and I’m not gonna sit by without doing
anything.”
“Ok, but please come back. I already lost my family and I don’t want to lose you either.”
“Hey, they’re not gone. Don’t think that way. I’ll be back and we’ll have a better fighting
chance than we do now.” Daniel walked towards the door. “Be ready to close it ok?” Claire
nodded.
Daniel slowly opened the door to look outside and saw the whole area filled with infected. He
quickly closed it, letting out a grunt of anger.
“What is it?” Claire asked.
“Too many of those things outside. I’ll have to find another way out.” He thought and
remembered the windows above the bleachers.
As they walked out to the gym, a guy approached them. “Hey.”
Daniel looked at him with no response.
“I just wanted to say thanks for the food and drinks you guys brought. I’m sorry if most of us
have acted like twits. I guess a lot of us are still in shock with what’s happening and are just
trying to get ourselves together. I can’t speak for everyone though.” He turned to look at the 55-
year-old man.
“Don’t worry about it; it’s uh, no problem.” Daniel calmly replied.
“My name’s Roel and I’m here to help with what I can. I may not be the best person in shape
but I can still help in other ways.”
Daniel smiled. “I appreciate that. Look I’m heading out again alone and I could use your help
in making sure I can get back in here without any trouble like before. Also making sure no one
here tries to do anything to my girlfriend Claire.”
Roel looked at Daniel concerned. “Are you sure you want to go back out there? I don’t have a
problem helping out but I’m not sure it’s such a good idea.”
“We could use more food and help; and I intend to find it.”
“You should ask for some help. I’m sure there are some that feel guilty and will cooperate.”
“No that’s fine. Alone I’ll be able to move quickly and not worry about others getting hurt.
It’ll be dark soon so I won’t be long.”
“Alright. I’ll make sure you have a way back in.”
Daniel nodded and walked up the bleachers. The others stared and saw as he opened the
window and climbed down. He stayed low and quickly moved towards his car parked at the front
steps of the courtyard. He got in and started the vehicle, quickly driving out towards the closest
corner store near the neighborhood.

13
 “He made it to the car.” Roel told Claire.
She nodded but showed no relief.
Driving through the wooded area made it seem as if it was just another drive home, that was
until he reached the neighborhood and saw the mayhem. Cars destroyed from accidents, bodies
in the streets, the infected walking aimlessly. He noticed how some didn’t pay attention to his car
while others slowly followed.
Daniel saw the “Fast Outing” sign of the gas station. The place looked untouched. He parked
the car and observed as best he could to make sure none of those things were lurking inside.
Within a moment’s notice one of the infected burst through Daniel’s window. It started wailing
while forcing itself inside, the glass slicing through its skin. Daniel moved towards the
passenger’s seat. Trying to pull itself in, the berserk infected grabbed the center of the steering
wheel and pressed down on the horn. Daniel looked at the rear window and saw three more run
towards the car.
Another berserker came from behind, startling him. The other three jumped on the hood of the
car and began beating it, one smashing the glass from the back. Daniel’s fear kicked in, what was
he going to do? Heart pounding, he tried to find a way out. As he took out his pistol ready to
shoot, he saw the keys in the ignition and came up with an idea. He grabbed the right arm of the
infected that had broken in and pushed it towards the head of the seat, breaking it. With the other
hand of the infected still pressing down on the horn, he placed the pistol on its forehead and
killed it. He adjusted his leg for both pedals, started the car with the gear set in reverse, and
floored it. He forced pressure down on his back to help brace for the impact. The car hit an
electric pole causing the infected on top to fly off.
Daniel quickly shook himself, grabbed his supplies, and ran out. He saw the infected on the
ground, wailing but quickly starting to recover. The one that was breaking through the
passenger’s window ran towards Daniel. Daniel ran towards it and prepared his bat.
“Raaaaahhh!” Daniel let out a roar as he hit the infected, which fell dead on the ground. He
quickly ran inside the store and blocked the doors with an ice-cream freezer.
He hid behind the counter so the berserkers wouldn’t find him. They ran up to where the car
was initially parked and stopped. Their wheezing breath soon took over the silence and they
began to head on their way. Daniel released a sigh of relief and began to catch his breath. He
could feel the heat from his body leaving through the openings of his shirt. The sweat slowly
sliding down his skin.

14
 “How you holding up?” Roel asked Claire.
“I don’t know. Stuck between hopeful and desperate.” she quietly replied.
Nick was waking up from his nap before letting out a grunt of pain.
“Don’t move your leg too much. It’s sprained so you need to let it rest.” Claire quietly
advised.
Nick nodded and stretched the best he could to get in a better position. Claire let out a sigh
and leaned back on the bleacher. Roel looked at her and thought what to say.
“Hey uhh, don’t worry. I’m pretty sure Daniel’s on his way back. He should be here any
minute now.”
“Yea.”

15
 Back at the gas station Daniel was filling up his bags with as much food as possible. He
opened up a bag of chips and a drink to enjoy while storing the food in his bags. Every few
seconds he would stop and make sure there weren’t any of the infected outside. In the back of his
mind he was trying to resolve the issue about the vehicle but brushed it aside as something that
would be dealt with quickly, hopefully. He heard some noise from the back. He readied his gun
and bat, slowly walking towards the door leading to the back storage. As he peaked to see across
the room, a man burst through quickly trying to close the door from the infected behind him.
Daniel rushed to help. Running full force he slammed his body on the door, shutting it.
“Oh thank you so much! You don’t know how much I-“ He stopped and looked at Daniel.
“Daniel?” the guy asked.
Daniel turned to recognize his friend Neel.
“Neel? Man, am I glad to see you!” as they greeted each other with a bro-shake, the infected
began to slam on the door. The harder hits meant that a few berserkers had joined them. Daniel
and Neel quickly pushed some storage shelves in front of the door and left, locking the door
behind them.
Neel sat down by the refrigerators to catch his breath.
“Whoo! That was something right?” Daniel’s tone was livelier now that he was with a friend.
“You don’t know how glad I am to see you. Me and Claire were at UNC with a bunch of
others there and, and… I’m just glad to see another familiar face.” Daniel noticed that Neel was
covering the top of his left hand with a bit of blood sipping through. “Here let me get you some
band aids. Should be some around here.”
“Daniel.” Neel quietly spoke.
“Yea hold on, I think I found some here…” he stopped. It had completely slipped his mind. As
he got up, he turned to look at Neel. He was sweating and shaking a bit. “You didn’t get that
because of the shelf did you?”
Neel looked up at Daniel, his eyes were beginning to lose their color. “One of those things
managed to bite me when I reached to close the door. Daniel, I…I don’t. I.” Neel could not find
the words to say.
Daniel stepped back. He could feel his chest pushed in. “No you’re not, you-you’re not going
to be one of those things. I can get you back to the campus and you can rest.”
Neel turned away from Daniel with his head down. “I don’t want to be like those things. I can
feel my body changing, it hurts. It’s aching all around.” He stuttered in pain. Neel turned back to
look at Daniel. “Please. Please don’t let me turn into one of those things.”
Daniel’s throat ran dry; his mind trying to comprehend what he was just asked to do. He
looked away. This couldn’t be happening.
“Daniel, please!” Neel groaned in pain. “Please don’t leave me like this!”

16
 He turned around, he couldn’t believe what he was seeing. Neel’s skin turned pale; his eyes
were overtaken by bright red veins. As he stared at his friend, he pulled out his pistol, removed
its safety and moved it around his hand.
“I’m sorry I made you do this.” Neel’s voice was close to tears. He turned away from Daniel
and closed his eyes.
Daniel aimed the weapon with one hand. It was heavy, tears slowly rolled down his cheeks.
He slowly pulled the trigger, firing a single shot.
In an instant, it was over. He slowly walked back until his waist hit the counter. Gently he sat
down and looked at Neel’s corpse, laying on the ground, his blood slowing overtaking the white
tiled floor. He had killed him; the first person he had befriended when he began studying at
UNC.
After ten minutes, Daniel got up and finished filling up the bags. He was tired. The energy
and determination Daniel had was gone, his short-lived joy had been pried from his hands. He
picked up the bags and without looking back, he left. He tried to turn on his car but to no avail.
As he looked up, he saw a large horde walking straight towards him. It wasn’t over yet.
He had to get back to Claire. He started to jog towards a van in the middle of the block,
hoping he would be able to start it and leave. As he was close to reaching it, another horde
appeared from a nearby alley with a few berserkers spotting him. They let out a bone-chilling
shriek.
As the berserks took lead, Daniel knew he would not make it to the van. He saw a church at
the corner of the street and made a run for it. Bursting through the doors, he threw the bags
across the hall, locked the doors, and hid behind a corner. One of the berserkers ran straight into
the doors. The impact startled Daniel. He readied his gun in case they broke through; something
he knew would happen any second. They continued to hit the doors, each harder than the last.
Daniel took deep breaths ready to at least eliminate the berserkers and deal with the larger
horde more easily. After a couple seconds the banging stopped. Daniel leaned from the corner to
see what had happened. There were large cracks on the doors. A few more hits and they would
have broken in. It seemed the berserkers quickly lost interest and disappeared within the horde.
“No way out through there.” He remarked.
Daniel picked up the bags he had tossed and slowly walked around the church, making sure
there weren’t any inside. He went into a classroom and found a small group of eight. Two kids
and the rest adults.
“Are you here to get us out?” One of the men asked.
“No. Hiding from them like you all.”
They fell into disbelief once more. A woman noticed the bags with food.
“Thank God! Finally some food!”
As she got up Daniel took a step away from them to show he was not going to share.
“What are you doing? We’re starving here and it looks like you have more than enough.”

17
 “This isn’t for any of you.” Daniel firmly stated.
The father of the children quickly replied. “I don’t know what your problem is pal but we
starving here. Been waiting for hours for help and I’m not going to let my kids starve because
some idiot wasn’t taught how to share!”
Daniel quickly dropped a bag and pulled out his gun. The man stopped in his tracks.
“Whoa ok. Let’s uh, not do anything crazy ok?”
“I’ve risked my life for this and it won’t be in vain.” Daniel stopped and looked at the two
little girls.
“They can each have a drink and whatever snack they want. You’re all welcome to come with
me and join my group if you like. Then you can enjoy whatever I have here. Otherwise don’t
bother. I’ll give you all a heads up before heading out.” Daniel closed the classroom door and
went inside the sanctuary. He went up to the second floor and sat down, looking down at the
altar.
It brought him memories of when he would attend church back home with his family. Those
days were long gone. Ever since he had moved to North Carolina to attend school, Daniel had
slowly begun let go of his old life. He smiled a bit remembering the memories of when he was
younger. His mother would tell his younger siblings and him stories from the Bible. He could see
it still, clear as day, his younger brother Manuel on top of the bunk bed with one of his arms
dangling down. Angela, the youngest of them all, laying down at the other end of Daniel’s bed,
the oldest, Salvador, in his room finishing homework and his mom laying down next to Angela
as she told them the stories. Sitting there made Daniel think of the life he had led so far. In
comparison to many, his life had been a good life.
A loving family, a good job, and a girlfriend that loved him. Much more than many could ask
for. He started to feel sad, knowing those were now nothing but memories and that he may never
see his family again.
He looked around the sanctuary, pondering on what would come next. Would he stay at the
campus with Claire, make a journey back home with her to Texas and Colorado to find their
families, or look for a safe haven where humanity could rebuild again.
The sanctuary soon took on an orange theme. Sunset arrived, it was time to go. Daniel picked
up the bags and started heading out of the sanctuary. He peeked from a corner to look at the
horde, it had disbanded but there were still a few left. When he arrived at the classroom, the
group was gone. He looked around until a whisper got his attention.
“Psst. Over here.”
He turned to see the group ready to leave, standing by another exit.
“Ok, so where are we going?” One of the men asked.
“UNC.” Daniel replied.
“You sure it’s safe?”

18
 “There’s more people there barricaded in the gym. We’ll be safe with numbers.” Daniel
looked through the glass doors. “You see that white van in the middle of the street? That’s our
ticket out of here. We’ll have to be fast though, I wasn’t able to get a good look inside so if it
doesn’t run we’ll have to be quick on our feet and find another car.”
“Oh it’ll run.” One of the people claimed.
“Why do you say that?” Daniel asked.
“Because it’s my van and last time I remember it was running well.”
“Ok then. On my say, we make a run for it. You go for the ignition and I need someone to help
me carry one of these.”
Daniel stood at the door, holding its handle. He looked at everyone and nodded. Each agreed
and they ran out.
As they ran to the vehicle, the wails of the infected began to follow. Quickly they climbed into
the van. Alec, the owner of the van, started the vehicle and yelled to know if everyone was
inside. Daniel rushed inside and closed the door, hitting the back of the driver’s seat yelling,
“Everyone’s here now go!”
Alec slammed the pedal and took off. A few berserkers gave chase but quickly gave up while
the others slowly followed behind. Daniel sat down and took a deep breath.
“When you get to the school, just head straight in. Gym will be in the second building to the
right. Oh and you’ll want to go up the steps and into the courtyard. If there’s still some of those
things roaming around, we can easily climb on top of the van and get in through a window.”
Everyone stayed quiet on the drive to the school. When they arrived not many of the infected
were around as before. Alec drove up through the steps creating enough commotion to attract the
infected’s attention. Luckily, there were no crazed ones allowing them to climb up the van with
no worries. A few of the wanderers slowly moved towards them but the majority went on with
their own agenda.
Roel opened the window and started to help them inside. Others soon joined in. Daniel
handed the bags of food to Roel. “Don’t let anyone get anything just yet.”
Roel nodded.
Daniel sat down next to Claire. She could tell something was off. She leaned her head on his
shoulder.
“Is everything ok?” she asked.
He didn’t quiet hear her. Daniel’s mind was split. On one side he was trying to figure what he
was going to say to the people once they settled down, the other kept reminding him of Neel.
Claire nudged him a bit. “Hey, is everything ok?”
“Hmm? Oh yea, just trying to figure out what to do next.”
“You sure? Because I can tell when something is off.”

19
 He gave her a small smirk. “Yes I’m sure.”
“Ok, if you say so.” She closed her eyes for a bit. Her heart was relieved knowing Daniel was
now back safe.
Daniel saw the automated lights turn on; he looked around to see everyone seated down. He
patted Claire’s thigh to let her know he was getting up. As he walked towards the center, he
signaled Roel to bring him the bags. The murmurs soon quieted down, the attention was all his.
“My name is Daniel Gómez. I know there’s a lot going on right now through everyone’s
minds. What’s happening? Will help come? How much food do we have? Questions that I myself
am asking, but that won’t do us any good. We have to stay focused and remain calm. Whatever
issues there were we have to look past them and focus on our survival.” He looked at the 50-
year-old man. “Does everyone understand?”
Few nodded, others said yes.
“How long do you think we’ll be here?” someone asked.
“I don’t know. The best thing to do is stay here at the university and make it as safe as
possible. Whether it be for a few days, weeks, or even months.”
“You can’t force us to stay! I have family that I need to get to.” A woman cried out.
“I’m not forcing anyone to do anything. If you want to take your chances out there then feel
free to do so.” The woman’s face was saddened along with a few others. “It’s hard, but we have
to stay focused. No matter what we can’t let all of this get to our heads. We have enough food
and if rationed right it’ll last us at least two more days. By then we will have made this school a
safe place for ourselves. For now we eat a bit and rest.”
“How much do they get?” Roel asked.
“If it’s something small then one per person. Have them split drinks and the larger bags of
chips with each other… and count to see how many we are in total.”
“Gotcha.” Roel began handing out the food with a few coming to help him. Daniel took a bag
and some drinks then sat with Claire. He observed the people and hoped the following days
would bring something good.

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