The Undead Have Risen

The night before was as normal as every other night, spent some time with my boyfriend and best friend; playing a couple rounds of Call of Duty, the morning after on the other hand was not as normal...

I'm not much of a light sleeper but loud moaning coming from my stairs tends to wake me up. I figured it was my mom coming up to work in my unfinished bedroom, but when i called out to her i didn't get a reply. I rolled my eyes and figured it was my mom being deaf and not able to hear me so i hop out of my bed and walk over to my bedroom door and glance down the stairs. At first I wasn't sure what I was looking at, my mom biting my stairs until her mouth bled? I got closer to the ground to see what my mom was doing and as I called to her bloodshot white glazed eyes met my stare. Her face was all wrong, not the kind mother who I had seen last night but some corrupted monster. Half her hair had been torn out and her mouth was cut and there was pieces of skin hanging from her mouth(I later learned it was from our carpenter who was doing work on the house). I was too scared to go down to her to see what had happened or to even try and see if I could help her. I had a bad feeling and I wasn't sure what I should do, So I locked myself in my room and cried.

I wasn't sure why I was crying, I didn't even know what was going on but it just kind of happened. I could hear her nail scraping on my door now and I stopped crying and reached for the phone. Seems like the first number I should have dialed would have been 911 but instead I found myself keying in my boyfriend Danny's cell phone.

ring, ring, ring...come on pick up...ring, "Hello?" He sounded as if he was still asleep, "Danny, sweetie..." I wasn't sure what I was going to say I didn't really know anything..."sweetheart what's wrong? are you ok?"he was fully awake now.
"no, i mean yes....i don't know...my mom she--"

"what's wrong with your mom??"

"well shes, I'm not really sure but she wasn't acting like herself she was crawling on my stairs and she had blood all over her and skin in her mouth and i don't know, I don't know what I'm supposed to do... God she's clawing on my door, I think she's breaking it down some. I don't know whats wrong with her she won't answer me."

"It's going to be okay, I'm going to get dressed and head over okay? you just stay locked up and safe, I'll see you when I get there"

"okay, I think I can do that, I don't know how much longer my door can hold but I can lock myself in the bathroom and last a little longer"

"okay I love you, I'll be there in 10 minutes."

click.

At the sound of the operator I started to calm down a little, Danny would be here and he would keep me safe. I suppose I should call 911 and tell them what's happening. I click on the phone and dial.


We're sorry but all lines are busy at this time please hold until the next operator is free.

I hang up.


What the hell is going on? Perry's not a big town and there's no way everyone would be dialing 911 at the same time....unless something really horrible was--- The sound of wood breaking cuts my thoughts in half. I look over to see my mothers arm reaching through a hole in my door searching for me. Her arm's all cut up and bleeding, her skin looks as if it's torn to the bone, I walk over to my bathroom and lock the door.

I must have fell asleep, I don't remember hearing anything but that gun shot. That loud round penetrating skin. A tear rolls down my face.
Why am I-- Images of my mother flash through my head and I remember why I'm locked in my bathroom. I get up and unlock the door.
"Hello? Mom? Danny?"

it was silent for a few moments,
then i heard someone sit down against a wall.

"danny is that you? please answer me"

"I'm here."

"Is it safe for me to come to you?"

"yeah." I hear sadness in his voice, I open the door all the way and walk over to my bedroom door to see my mother lying face down with a hole through the part of her skull where her hair had been missing and a couple through her chest.

I fall down, glancing towards Danny with tears in my eyes. He looks at me, and says "I tried to talk to her, she wouldn't listen, she wouldn't respond...she tried to bite me..I--I couldn't- I had to shoot her. She just keep coming after me even after I shot her 3 times in the chest."
Tears are rolling down my cheeks but I don't sob, I knew he had to do it. I saw the deadness in her eyes, the hunger...It felt like she wanted to eat me but at the time it felt like a silly idea. I wasn't confused by what he said, I knew something was wrong. Something was happening.

I walked over and sat next to him and held his hand.

"whats it like at your house?"

"My parents are out of town, remember? They were going to visit some family.."

"Oh yeah..Maybe we should go to your house then, I mean it's more secluded and you have plenty of ammo and guns...I'm not sure what's going on but I'm pretty sure we're going to need those."

"Yeah, we should probably call Gene too..maybe it hasn't reached his house yet..."

I grab my cell phone and charger and quickly pack a bag of clothes. I dial Genes number but nobody picks up.
Me and Danny are both worried but we dismiss it saying he's probably still asleep and okay.

We head out to his Tahoe.
Everything looked normal on the drive back to his house, it must still be in the houses not reaching the streets yet.

"It's probably worse in town" I hear myself saying. Danny tenses up a little.
Gene lives in town
"He's probably fine Danny, He has guns too and his bedroom door's always closed and you can't open it unless you wedge something between the door and the wall. I'm sure he would get his gun out if he was calling out to his family and all he got was moaning, don't worry."
A feel of sickness washes over me, but we're soon at his house. Danny grabs his pistol and we head inside.

When we got inside I turned on the tv to see massive chaos on almost every channel with the same repetitive message "Stay inside, lock your windows and doors and do not come in contact with the infected." While hearing this play over and over we make sure to check all the windows and doors and Danny sets the alarm.

All we were sure of was that some virus had contaminated our town not to mention most the surrounding cities. Buildings were being set on fire and cars were crashing in the street with riots brewing. I couldn't take watching it for much longer and I turned off the tv.

We spent the rest of the day moving most the food upstairs and loading magazines.I tried to call Gene again but no answer.


We fall asleep together locked inside his house.