Brain Dead

by Alice Carina

  Prologue

  Prologue: end of the world as we know it

  Jake's POV

  I was lying on my back, staring up at the ceiling. My sister, Marianna, was sitting next to me, chatting away. I can't remember what she was saying, but I remember smiling and laughing, teasing her at every opportunity. We had always had that relationship, easygoing, but closer than most siblings. If anyone had asked me at the time, I would have said we were as close as twins.

  I may not remember what Mari had been saying, but I could never forget that day, no matter how hard I tried. I didn't know how long I had been lying there, but it was probably for a while. Me and Mari had spent hours in the same situation countless times before. That was the kind of relationship we had; we would talk for hours together, for no other reason than to spend time together.

  Mari was the first to notice there was something wrong. She was looking out the window, and it didn't take long for me to realize there was something very wrong. Her face was pale, her eyes wide as she stared outside. She just kept staring outside, and it creeped me out. I was beginning to think there must have been some kind of huge car crash right outside our house.

  I sat up so I could see outside, to find out what it was that had freaked Mari out so much. I barely got a glimpse of the smoke rising up into the sky before Mari grabbed my arm and dragged me away from the window. I had no idea what was outside, but obviously it wasn't a car crash.

  Mari looked around desperately, but I wasn't sure exactly what it was she was looking for. Whatever it was, whether a weapon to defend herself or somewhere safe to hide, she never found it as we heard a crash coming from downstairs. It sounded almost like breaking glass, and there was banging on the doors, the hinges straining under the assault.

  I will never forget Mari's face as she stared at the stairs, waiting for something - I wasn't sure what - to come up them. She was terrified. Whatever she had seen had shaken her more than anything else in her life... but she had still reacted to it. She hadn't been frozen in shock or in denial... Mari did her best to save us.

  Unfortunately, the moment the door broke it was too late. I didn't know it at the time, but while my sister and I had been relaxing, talking about whatever came to mind, the world around us had been falling apart. Cars had crashed all over the streets and there were fires everywhere. Everyone outside was screaming and panicking, and we hadn't noticed a thing.

  Mari knew what was going to happen, I could see it in her eyes. She knew what was coming, and she didn't know how to deal with it. In the moment where the door had been opened and I was standing behind Mari, confused about what was going on, she froze. I don't know what would have happened if she had kept moving, but I do know what happened as she froze in front of the stairs, terrified as she heard the sounds from below.

  At first the only sounds were the banging on the door and glass shattering, but once the door was forced open, we could hear something different. It was a sort of grunting sound, and it was unlike anything I had ever heard before. The only thing it came close to was something out of a horror movie.

  Mari was frozen with fear, but I was just confused. I knew there was something down there, something dangerous, but I had no idea what it was that was coming. For a few minutes, there was nothing but the strange grunting sound. But then we heard our parents moving downstairs. Their bedroom was downstairs, and they had probably been alerted by the door being broken open and the windows shattered.

  "Who's there?" my mother asked, her voice shaking and too high.

  The only response was more grunting, and I could hear a strange noise near the front door. It sounded like something was being dragged across the floor. I could hear my parents moving closer to the front of the house, and I couldn't say why but I was terrified that something was going to happen to them.

  Mari and I stood there, frozen, waiting for something to happen. It was only when we heard our parents scream that we began to move. We were trapped upstairs, so whatever was down there wouldn't have much trouble finding us. We needed to hide, both me and Mari knew it.

  We ran in opposite directions the moment we heard the screams. I couldn't say what made me move, but I knew that I couldn't just stand there. So I ran. I ran to the safest place I could think of in the house. My room. I hid under the bed, not knowing what else to do. Mari ran to the only room upstairs that had a lock; the bathroom.

  I had left the door open, too afraid to close it behind me as I desperately tried to find safety. So I had a perfect view of what came up the stairs after us. At first I thought it was my parents, covered in dirt and blood, I don't know where from. But as they moved closer, I could see that their skin was too pale and they were covered in wounds that looked like... bite marks?

  I held my breath as they stumbled up the steps, more people injured like them, but strangers that I didn't recognize, coming up behind them. I could see the bathroom door from where I hid, and I knew that Mari was hiding in there. So when the... people turned towards the door, I knew that Mari was in danger. I didn't dare move or say anything, but they were getting closer while I watched.

  Mari knew that they were outside the door, there was no doubt in my mind about that as she locked the door and barricaded it. The more noise she made the more attention she brought to herself. They were beginning to surround the door, completely ignoring the rest of the house. I wasn't sure what to do, but I doubted I could stay where I was for long. Not with so many of them.

  "Jake!" Mari screamed. "Run!"

  I didn't hesitate as I carefully crawled out from under my bed, trying not to make a noise. I sprinted out of my room and down the stairs before those... things noticed what was happening. There weren't any more of them downstairs, but the moment I stepped through the broken ruins of the front door, I could see more destruction than just a handful of them could cause in such a short amount of time. There were probably hundreds of them waiting out there.

  Chapter one

  Chapter one: the new world

  Brain dead zombies. What more could a person ask for on their eighteenth birthday? Of all the days to be attacked by the flesh eating undead, today was the day! I was finally a legal adult, and the world was already over. Fantastic.

  I was crouched on top of one of the shelves in the grocery store. Below me was the canned goods, exactly what I had been looking for. Unfortunately, I couldn't get my hands on any of them without making noise, and there were at least ten zombies in the store. So much as one misstep would alert all of them to my presence, and that would obviously be bad.

  I had been stuck crouching on top of the shelf for more than half an hour, just waiting as patiently as possible for a chance to move or for a better plan to come to me. Unfortunately, nothing had changed since I had gotten into this situation, and the odds were definitely not in my favor.

  This wasn't exactly the first time I was in this kind of situation, but normally I could just abandon ship if the stakes were too high. But this was different; I hadn't eaten in two days, and my normal cache of food was almost empty. I couldn't survive much longer unless I got more food. And the cans in front of me were just what I needed. I couldn't let this opportunity pass by.

  There wasn't anything I could do except wait until they left or there was something else to distract them. Unfortunately for me, there was no one to rely on if anything went wrong; I was alone.

  It was safer to not stay around other survivors who could turn against you at any moment. In some ways, other living humans were more dangerous than the actual zombies. At least you knew what the zombies were going to do; they were consistent. But humans would do what ever they had to to survive, even if it meant sacrificing someone else. I had learnt that the hard way.

  In the new world order, the people you
knew and loved came before the strangers that banded together to survive. There were only a few survivors who actually looked out for their new companions. Most only travelled in a group because it was safer, and it meant there were more targets for the zombies other than themselves.

  So, I was stuck on top of a shelf with no one to help me, and nowhere to hide should worse come to worst. Plus, I couldn't leave without that food. Well, it could be worse; they could know where I was.

  I probably shouldn't have thought that; it only jinxes it. Sure enough, while I was still stuck there, one of the zombies grunted, sniffing at the air. It began to stumble in my direction, coming closer with each step and drawing the attention of others with its grunting.

  My day really couldn't get any worse. The only consolation was that I didn't have to worry about making noise any more; the zombies already knew I was here. So, no matter what I did, however loud it was, it didn't matter as long as I had an escape route, which I did.

  So, as quickly as possible, I reached down and grabbed the cans, no longer bothered by the rattling or clinging of metal on metal as I jammed each of them in my bag. I tried to focus on the food that I needed, and there was plenty of it to take. Before the first zombie was even halfway down the aisle towards me, I already had two dozen of the cans, three can openers (you couldn't be too careful) and I still had room for more.

  I had already filled my back pack with eight water bottles, so I was set for that, but the food was a problem. I was tempted to stay longer, but by the time I had grabbed five more cans, the zombies were almost upon me. In the new world order, you had to prioritize staying alive in the moment over surviving in the future, so I took what I had and left.

  There was a reason I was on the top of the shelf. It was pretty simple really; I had come into the store through the ventilation shaft in the roof. While the zombies tried to reach me, I stood up carefully and first pushed the bags into the vent before I pulled myself up into the ventilation shaft above me. After that, there would be no problem.

  At least, that's what I thought. I felt a tug on my foot as something grabbed my shoe. Looking down I could see one of the zombies, taller that the others, had been able to reach me before I escaped. Okay, things could get worse.

  It wasn't exactly the wisest thing to do since a single bite would have infected me, but I kicked the zombie in the face, trying to get it to let go. Seeing how it was the undead I was attacking, all kicking it did was let it get a better grip on my foot. There was one thing to be said about zombies; they were strong.

  So there I was, hanging from the vent with a zombie pulling at my foot. I kept kicking it, either at its head or its fingers, but nothing was working. I was kind of in trouble, and it was looking pretty certain that I was going to die.

  A gunshot rang through the air, making my ears ring. The hand on my foot loosened and I quickly pulled myself out of range. Looking down, I could see the other zombies surrounding the shelf, and below them, out of sight, was the limp body of the taller zombie, a hole in the side of its head and the dark, rotten blood splattered on the floor beside it.

  Out of the broken window, I could see someone standing on top of a bus, wearing a gas mask and holding a rifle propped against his shoulder. My saviour noticed my glance and did a quick salute before he jumped down from where he stood and disappeared into the opposite building.

  What the - ?

  There was no time to think about it as I followed the ventilation shaft to the roof. After that, I moved across the rooftops as much as possible, not touching the ground if it wasn't absolutely necessary. As soon as I was somewhere safe I would have to work out what exactly had just happened, but for now I didn't have a clue.

  Chapter two

  Chapter two: heroics

  After what happened in the store, I was a little shaken up, and not just because I had almost been bitten by a zombie. No, if I was honest it was because someone had gone out of their way - even using precious ammunition - to save my life. From what I had seen so far, no one would do that unless they had an ulterior motive. So the real question was; what did he gain by saving me?

  I figured that it wouldn't matter so much because whatever the reason probably wouldn't affect me. Even if I saw him again there was no way he would count on me feeling indebted. That meant that the only reason he would seek me out was if there was something he had to offer in return for whatever it was he wanted. All I had to do if I saw him again was avoid him.

  But still, it bothered me. I hadn't seen anyone else with him, so he probably wasn't a part of one of the groups that believed in 'working together'. He could still be part of a group, but if he used ammunition to save someone that wasn't part of the group, he obviously wasn't very close with the others. Or, and the most likely explanation, he was moving on his own like I was.

  Well, it didn't really matter since I avoided everyone I came across, zombies AND humans. Neither was trustworthy, and I didn't particularly see a point in staying close to other people when I was capable of surviving on my own. If it was someone really smart and capable, someone who would actually increase my chances of surviving, I might take on the risk of being betrayed, but I had yet to find anyone else who didn't just panic at the sight of the living dead.

  So, there I was, sitting on the rooftop of an apartment building - they were the largest and had the most rooms with locks that I could hide in if anything went wrong - looking down at the street below. I guess I was getting sentimental in my old age of eighteen. Or bored. Who could tell?

  The first few months of this apocalyptic world had been filled with fear and panic, but after so long dealing with the zombie threat, I kind of got used to it. I knew the patterns of both the humans and the zombies now, so the only threat was when I was searching for supplies. That was the only time I had to go anywhere near the zombies or risk running into my fellow human beings.

  The rest of the time, now that there was no technology, no tv or music, no computer or games, I had nothing to do. I could still get my hands on books to read, but even that couldn't occupy all of my waking hours. Sometimes I just sat on the roof and watched as the zombies and - on the rare occasion - humans move on the streets below. It was something to do, I guess. And it wasn't exactly boring, so why not?

  Today was like any other... at first anyway. It started like usual, the first zombie moving into the street - they moved through buildings at night, I didn't know why, but I could guess - closely followed by at least a dozen more. They would all stumble down the street, but no matter how many disappeared onto new streets, more kept coming, keeping a relatively constant number of the undead on every street.

  The larger streets could gather hundreds of them, while smaller ones sometimes had none at all. You'd think it was the luck of the draw whether zombies were around or not, but personally I thought that was too random. There were probably reasons behind every action they made, you just had to look for it.

  And that was one of the things I did with all my spare time. I watched them. Even if it was just to watch them repeat the same actions over and over again, simply observing them gave me a lot of insight into their behavioral patterns. Just setting aside a constant time everyday, changing it once I knew what they did during that time, told me everything that they did in the area I was in.

  This knowledge I had accumulated was very useful in finding the perfect times and places to move, and it helped me to avoid the zombies. It was also this understanding of what the zombies did everyday, and how they reacted to different situations that I knew that there was something about to happen. They didn't make any really obvious movements, but it was clear from my vantage point that they were up to something.

  Unlike always, a few of them started moving away from the street. During the day, the only time they weren't wandering the street was when they had found some trace of humans, whether it was a fading scent from up to a week before, or some remnant of the past making noise - a radio or a phone were common before all the powe
r finally ran out - but that was the only reason they strayed from moving further throughout the city.

  But I had kept close watch on the entire street ever since I had come here two weeks ago. I had made sure that there was no possible reason that they would wander into buildings for any other reason than that someone else had been here. There was no other way to keep them away, so that meant there were others in the area.

  Fortunately, I knew for a fact that there had been no one close since my arrival, which meant that what had attracted the zombies was a fresh sign, movement from today. And just by how many of the zombies were moving, it was clear that there was someone there right now. Of course, I wouldn't know for sure until the humans made a move and it was too late, but I didn't doubt that they were there. After this long, I knew the zombies better than I had known my sister.

  Well, at least this would be an interesting learning experience, whether the zombies caught whoever it was or not, I would be able to learn a little bit more about how they reacted to situations. They were moving just as slowly as usual, probably so as not to scare off their prey, but they were clearly gathering around the arcade across the street. Why anyone was in an arcade baffled me, but the zombies clearly thought they were there.

  It happened faster than I thought it would, and as the fight began I could see why; there was more than one person. Normally, you'd think that a group would move slower than one lone person, but when zombies were attacking, more people meant less chance of the zombies cornering you. This group had only three members, and they did what could be the best or worst thing they could do in the situation; they ran into the street.

  The street had more zombies, but less chance of getting cornered. From where I sat, I could tell that it was the wrong move; too many zombies had already gathered around the building and more were closing in. Those poor three were almost certainly doomed. Unless they sacrificed someone and ran for it. Or they had weapons and enough ammo for dozens of zombies. Good aim wouldn't hurt either.