Phase One: Identify (Territory of the Dead)

by Wynters, Rose

  “Move,” I heard the unknown man yell. “They are coming this way.” His voice rose in panic, his breath loud. My heart sped up in reaction. It was worse than watching the scariest horror movie. If only this was make-believe.

  It was difficult to make sense of the screen. He was running from room to room, and the view reflected it. It was nearly impossible to figure out where he was at, and what would happen next.

  I hoped he would make it out of the police station alive. After all, his camera was our last link to the world beyond the walls of my home. With every frantic pant, I was right there with him.

  He was nearly to the entrance of the station. I could see chairs placed in the lobby, and thick panes of glass behind them. People were rushing out the double glass doors, desperate to get away from the horror within.

  I slowly stood up, completely in tune with his desperate flight. The door was only a few feet away now, and I began to think he might make it. Suddenly the camera stopped, though, and fell to the floor. When it did, the lens cracked.

  We couldn't see anything but feet, but we heard plenty. A man screamed, a terror-stricken sound of pain and desperation. Somehow I knew it was the cameraman, and my eyes briefly slid shut in dismay.

  There was a loud thud from the screen. A man lay there, an eye staring unblinkingly right at us. The other eye was gone, and his expression was forever locked into pain and agony.

  “My God,” Dad whispered, aghast. “They've taken the police station.”

  Chapter 4

  The three of us were up the rest of the night, although Mom was able to sleep through it all. It was a long night, filled with pain, despair, and hopelessness. Dad left the television on, hoping something would change.

  The police station eventually grew quiet, except for the sounds of the zombies groaning and snarling. The man that died eventually changed, his blue eye turning red. It was scary to see such a close up of madness, for that was what it was. There was a complete lack of humanity in his gaze.

  Growling, he raised up. He hit the camera unintentionally, causing it to spin in a different direction. The room was total and complete carnage. The white floor was filled with body parts, chunks of flesh, and blood. The amount of red that was visible from the angle of the camera was mind-boggling. With that amount of blood, I couldn't see how anybody could have survived.

  There weren't any bodies left, although the zombies were moving around. You knew it was them. They just walked in a different way than someone alive did. We never saw the cameraman again, and hopefully never would. Now that he was dead, he wasn't a person I'd want to encounter.

  Dad tried repeatedly to call out through those endless, dark hours of the night. My grandparents lived in Illinois, and they were elderly. We didn't know if they were dead or alive.

  Dad tried to get Jayden to call his family, but Jayden declined. Eventually Dad asked if he could, which Jayden agreed to. No matter what number he tried, all he got was a busy signal. He gave up, frustrated.

  “Dad,” I finally said, unable to bear the silence anymore. It was those still, silent moments right before the sun started to rise. A new day was dawning, but for what? There wasn't anyone but the dead to enjoy it. “Do you think everyone out there is dead but us?”

  He shook his head firmly. “No, there are bound to be others out there. We just have to find them. They are probably holed up somewhere, much like we are. I refuse to believe that we are the only survivors, and I don't want you thinking that way either.”

  An urgent, but quiet knocking on our front door jerked us all to our feet. Dad moved toward the door cautiously, while Jayden and I followed close behind. He turned and held his finger to his lips, warning us to be quiet.

  I exchanged a puzzled look with Jayden, who looked like what you'd expect from someone who'd just survived a night of hell. His hair was unkempt, and he had dark, purple circles underneath his eyes. The whites of his eyes were extremely bloodshot. Even then though, I had to secretly admit he was still hot.

  It was an odd thought to have when you didn't know if you'd live to see another night. The normality of it, though, made me feel better. At least, slightly better.

  “Do you think zombies can knock?” My voice was the merest of whispers, so soft I wasn't even sure if he'd heard me.

  He gave a quick shake of his head. “No,” he replied, his voice as low as mine. “That's someone still alive, I guarantee it.”

  We turned back to my dad as he carefully peeked out of the closed curtain that hung over the glass in the door. Immediately the tension left his shoulders. “It's Amanda and her father,” he told us, pulling the door open.

  Dad beckoned for them to come in quickly, and shut the door behind them. Amanda rushed over to me and hugged me, her body trembling violently. “Where is your mom?” I asked, dreading the answer.

  “She's dead,” she replied, her voice breaking as she started to sob. I looked past her, and saw her dad was crying as well. He was normally immaculate, but his dress slacks and button-down shirt were torn and covered with blood. He looked as if he'd aged ten years since the last time I'd seen him. I shook my head in disbelief. It had only been a week ago.

  “Were either of you bitten?” My dad jumped into the conversation, wanting to establish facts first.

  “No,” James, her father, responded. He was silent for a moment, his mouth tightening in pain. When he did speak again, his voice was thick with grief. “Lisa,” he stopped, swallowing painfully. He cleared his throat and tried again. “Lisa is dead. She was attacked by one of those monsters.”

  Dad shook his head in regret, placing a hand on the other man's back. “I'm sorry to hear that, James. Lisa was a good woman.”

  James exhaled heavily. “Amanda and I barely made it out of there in time.”

  “Where were you at?” I directed my question to Amanda.

  “We were at home,” she responded, but her voice was flat and lifeless.

  My mom walked up, placing her arm around Amanda. I was relieved to see her. Mom had a way about her that others found comforting. Hopefully, she could help my best friend. “Come in here, Amanda, and lie down for awhile.” Amanda let her lead her into the living room.

  James picked up where she left off. “We were all at home when this mess started,” he said, keeping his tone low. “I couldn't believe it. In fact, I still can't believe it. None of this seems real, but all you have to do is take a look outside and know that it is.”

  “I know what you mean,” Dad responded, shaking his head. “Do you know anyone else still alive?” It was hard for me to listen to him ask that question. My mind simply couldn't accept the thought that everyone I knew was dead.

  James shook his head. “I was up all night calling people. I couldn't make contact. I'm not sure if the cell phones are out, or if it's simply that many people trying to reach their friends and loved ones. I don't know about you, but to me it's the worst feeling, not knowing if they are alive and no way to find out.”

  We all nodded in agreement. Jayden was leaning against the wall, watching us. He spoke up. “So how did the zombies get to you?”

  “It was all my fault,” James replied, his voice so low I had to lean forward to hear it. About 4 I got up and turned on several lights. I didn't realize it would attract them like it did, and I never dreamed they were as strong as they are. Within minutes, they had the house surrounded.”

  “What happened then?” I asked, desperate to hear what he would say. Knowledge was power. I wasn't sure we could survive this, but I was going to learn everything I could that might help us.

  “I went up to the second-floor and opened a window for a closer look. They were hitting the sides of the house, even the walls. At first, there was only ten or so, but more kept coming. They knew we were in there, and they were determined to get to us.”

  My heart jumped in fear. “Are they smart enough to open doors or pick up something to break windows out?”

  “I don't think so, at least t
hat wasn't how they got in at my house. They just kept coming and coming, hitting everything they could. Finally, enough of them were able to break the door down. After that, we locked ourselves in a bedroom. When they got that down, we had no choice but to climb out on the roof.”

  He looked past us to make sure Amanda wasn't listening. My mom had her occupied on the sofa bed. “I begged Lisa to get out on the roof, but she refused. She was scared of heights, and thought she could bargain with the zombies.”

  He exhaled loudly, his eyes bright with tears. “We had to watch them tear into her. She begged them to stop, but they never even registered it. They might look human, but there is nothing human inside of them. They live for one thing and one thing only. To eat us.”

  “You needed a gun, James,” my dad said.

  “I sure as hell wished I would have had one,” James replied, his face grim. “God forgive me for saying this, but I would have put her out of her misery myself if I would have had one. Lisa suffered, and there was nothing I could do for her. I'll have to live with that for the rest of my life, as long as that might be.”

  It was a horrible thing to hear put into words. I changed the subject. “How did you get here?”

  “It wasn't easy. By then, most of the zombies were in our house. We had to jump off the roof and pray we didn't break a leg or arm in the process. My car keys were in the house. We tried a few of our neighbors, but they were either dead themselves or to afraid to let us in. Amanda actually thought of coming here. Thank God you're okay.”

  Dad nodded. “Same to you. I'll tell you what. Why don't you go upstairs and take a shower. In fact, we could all use one. We can take turns. Then we will see about getting some breakfast and making some plans.”

  James nodded in agreement. He gestured at his shirt. “Do you have a change of clothes I could use?”

  “Sure, I'll get them.”

  They started up the stairs, leaving Jayden and I standing there. I looked in the living room at Mom and Amanda. They were talking pretty seriously, so I didn't want to disturb them. “Want to go in the kitchen?”

  Jayden gestured for me to go first. We were silent as we walked into. The sun was up, the kitchen bright and cheerful. It was a mockery of our circumstances, and the world outside these walls. What was the point of having such a cheerful looking room when you could walk out the door and die immediately?

  Jayden sat down, pushing his hair back from his face, but I wanted to take a look outside. I moved from window to window, but couldn't see anything out of the ordinary. At least it was ordinary if you considered a completely silent world with no signs of life normal.

  There were no cars moving down the streets at all, no people in their yards or on their sidewalks. It reminded me of this show I'd watched once. In an old, abandoned mining area they had built a fake town, literally out in the middle of nowhere. It was complete with new, suburban type homes and mannequins instead of people. There was even a lawn sprayer that would come on at preset intervals. My neighborhood reminded me of this abandoned town, where nobody lived.

  Except it didn't have the dead walking the streets.

  I filled Jayden in on my thoughts. “I keep hoping this is something just temporary, that a few days from now life will be back to normal. Deep inside, though, I know that's not the case. Things will never be what they were before. What kind of future are we going to have when we could die anytime?” I asked, turning back to look at him.

  He was watching me patiently with a wary expression across his attractive features. “I guess we have to learn how to live in the moment,” he finally replied, turning his face to stare out through the window next to him. “I mean we have no guarantees about tomorrow. We will just have to live the best we can, take happiness when it comes along, and learn to cope with the pain of losing the ones we love. It's definitely not going to be easy.” He sounded really mature to be twenty years old.

  “How are you really doing?” I asked him, my eyes narrowed on his face.

  He gave me an irritated look. “I wish you'd stop asking me that every few hours. It's not helping. I'm doing the same.”

  “Fine,” I muttered back. “I'd just like a warning if you decide to go psycho or anything.”

  “Yeah,” he answered sarcastically. “I'll be sure to give you one.”

  Mom walked in, looking exhausted despite the sleep she'd had. There were tiny drops of dried blood across her neck and the front of her nightgown. I hadn't noticed it the night before. “Amanda is asleep, which is something she definitely needs. I'm going to start some breakfast,” she told us, moving toward the sink. “After that, I'm going to take a shower. I'm just glad we still have electricity.”

  I walked over to the counter, looking in the drawer. Neither one of them seemed to notice. “Is there anything I could do to help?”

  “No,” she replied, taking out a mixing bowl. “Just take your number for the shower.”

  “Okay,” I replied casually. “I'm going up to my room for a little while. Just let me know if you need me.”

  She nodded in response, her mind a million miles away. Jayden sat quietly, his face sad and pensive as he stared out the window. The pain, tension, and grief was so thick within the air of my house that I felt like I could cut it with a knife. It was getting to me. I really needed some time alone with my thoughts.

  Running quietly up the stairs, I locked myself in my room and grabbed the CD player and some headphones. Within minutes, I was listening to rock and painting my toenails. The world had went to hell, but at least I'd have pretty toenails.

  Chapter 5

  I got nearly an hour of escape before a knock came on the door. I felt a lot better from the time spent alone. For that hour, things had seemed almost normal. It was time to face reality again, though, and with a sigh I got up to answer it.

  Jayden was standing there, a serious expression on his face. Sometime in the last hour he'd showered, and looked a lot better than he had. His long hair was pulled back into a ponytail, the stubble on his face completely gone. “Your mom sent me up to get you,” he told me, looking past me into my room curiously. “She said it's time to eat.”

  “Alright,” I replied, moving out into the hallway and closing the door behind me. My room was my oasis, and I really didn't want to share it with anyone. Even Jayden, despite the crush I'd had on him for years. The crush was long over, though. I'd been over it since he'd graduated two years before.

  We were both adults now, not that I was getting to enjoy it. At least he'd had two years to experience freedom. I'd traded high school and childhood for a life that would be spent trying to remain hidden from zombies. I grimaced at the thought. Compared to this, I think I preferred high school.

  “Looks like you had your turn at the shower,” I said, attempting to make conversation as we walked down the hallway.

  “Yeah, I went back to my house and got some stuff,” he replied calmly.

  I stopped and looked at him in disbelief. “My dad let you?”

  Jayden shrugged. “How could he have stopped me? Yes it was dangerous, but it's still my life and my choice about how I want to live it. I couldn't have walked around in the same clothes. Besides, we don't know what's going to happen in the future. There was stuff I wanted to keep with me, just in case we have to move fast.”

  I started moving again, but slowly. I wanted to hear what he had to say. “Like what?”

  “A few outfits, my wallet and cellphone, and some pictures,” he replied from behind me. His voice was so completely flat I knew he was making a huge effort to stay in control of his emotions. I was willing to bet the pictures had been at the top of his list.

  “Oh.” I went silent, not wanting to say the wrong thing.

  We walked into the kitchen and everyone but Amanda was there. She was still asleep on the couch. Mom had breakfast on the table, and they were already eating.

  “Good,” Dad said, swallowing his bacon and taking a sip of coffee. “You kids are here. Sit d
own and get some breakfast. Then, we are going to plan out our next steps.”

  My dad, always the planner and plotter.

  It only took a minute to get my food and dig in. Surprisingly, I was starving. Mom was an amazing cook.

  Everybody was silent for the next several minutes while they ate. Mom was the first one to speak. “For today and maybe tomorrow, we are okay on groceries. After that though, we are going to have to consider what we will do for fresh stuff like milk and eggs.”

  Dad nodded, exchanging a look with James. “Eventually, we will have to venture out. We need to know what it's like in town, and like Beth said, we will need fresh groceries.”

  “Then what, Dan? If we are lucky enough to meet others like us, will we try to band together? Or will we stay here and take our chances?” James looked like he really didn't care for either option. I believe he just wanted things to go back to normal, but it was way to late for that.