《Zombie Survivor Diaries》


 Chapter 1: Keeper Prologue

    Keeper¡¯s hair brushed against the side of her face, short, lightened, golden-brown locks that trickled down, almost to her shoulders but not quite. The wind was calm, placid, gentle, caressed her skin as she stared into the distance, wondering about all that lay beyond her. Glistening, the sand reflected the beaming sun. She loved it here.


    She stared, her eyes glued to the horizon, then she found her eyes focused on the ship. The ship was tall, magnificent, old, it moved towards her at a slow pace, waves lapping at its sides as it came closer and closer. She did not have to light the signal, luckily for her it was daytime, and this meant that she could relax, ponder, stare as much as she wished. In her mind, she could already start painting this singular image. The white cruise ship would gently move across the ocean, delivering passengers to their new destination. A map of places, a path that led to anywhere they seeked.


    She was a lighthouse keeper, a girl surrounded by many duties; those that could fill her entire day, those that were less important. These tasks fueled her inspiration, much like the ships would as they came into the bay. She loved to paint pictures in her mind, images that she often found herself reminiscing about.


    The ship had now almost made it to shore. It kept moving, creeping quickly towards her with no intent of stopping. It ploughed through the ocean, making no notice of anything that stood in its path. She thought it was odd, peculiar that it was not doing what it should be, shouldn¡¯t it at least move diagonally so as to not hit the shallow water? She had many questions. Why did it not stop? Her stomach tightened, she ran, ran towards the light, she thought to herself, perhaps the captain was dozing off, maybe the light could wake him.


    Her lighthouse was old, it was not automated as the newer ones were, she thought of it as a minority, an antique. She loved it, maybe more than her village did, it was her safe place, where she felt most at home.. She was almost there, she saw the top, swiftly flew up stairs, lit the light. The beam was brighter than the sun, she pointed it in the direction of the ship, surely he would see it? No reaction¡­ What?


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    Keeper started to worry even more, her stomach gripping itself as she imagined what would happen if the ship ceased to stop. It was dangerously close, so close that she could now make out the figures of people, people who started to jump off the ship? huh¡­ why? They fell, masses of people did, it was chaos, a sea filled with bodies. Curiously, she grabbed her binoculars, peering through the lenses, studying the ship. Her eyes flew open widely, she gasped as she saw that people were attacking each other, noticed growths sprouting from their bodies, some vastly different from the rest, a scattered array of bulbs. . the ship was soon to hit, the edge of the island was just there and so was the ship.


    Instinct took over, and she ran, her legs falling in and out of time with each other as she grabbed her backpack, filling it with supplies; a clean set of clothes, food, water, that was all she needed. Rapidly searching outside of the lighthouse, she looked through boxes, looked around for a weapon of some sort, got it! she pulled it out, a knife, a blade made of cold iron, big, shimmering, hopeful. How else would she make it out of here alive?


    Right as she was about to flee, she heard a sound; metal tearing into rocks. It was so loud and clear, that it had disrupted the peace of the environment around her. With the crash came screams, moans and cries for help. Her panic only grew worse with every noise that came from the now crashed ship.Her heart pounded, her breathing becoming heavy and labored. She knew, knew she needed to run.


    Without looking back, she fled, sprinting to the other side of the island where she knew there was a little boat. The land that she was now at was little, surrounded by water. Despite being small, she knew it would put some distance between the lighthouse and crash site.. Quickly, she reached the boat, exhaled deeply as her little rowboat looked so promising. Swiftly, she grabbed a hold of her backpack, throwing it into the boat and started to row. Her arms moving quickly until she was far enough off of the coast


    She needed help. It was at that moment that she realised that it was not only her who was running. Looking behind her, her eyes flooded with distraught as a girl, maybe around the age of 17, trembled as she attempted to stop the boat. Cried out to stop keeper. The girl screamed, helplessly bellowing out to Keeper as she frantically ran from a couple of infected who chased her. Keeper wasn¡¯t sure if she wanted to actually wait, for all she knew that this could put her in danger.

 Chapter 2: Surgeon Prologue

    The hospital was overflowing with patients. Normally, this time of the year was  calm; mid spring wasn¡¯t the time for accidents in the city, but today was different. There were a great deal of people suffering strokes and full mental breakdowns. They attacked anyone in sight and had to be restrained or sedated. Every single bed was full with all doctors and nurses working overtime to keep up with the seemingly endless stream of patients.


    Surgeon was working with her superior doctor on one such patient. He was in an extremely bad state, cuts, bites and gashes everywhere on his body. As such, he was a priority, the rest of the patients, while injured, were not in such a critical state as this man was.


    Other doctors were never really sure what to think of Surgeon as they couldn''t read her face, if they could read anything from it, it was that it was devoid of emotion working on patients like a mindless and heartless machine. But right now, no other doctor cared what Surgeon thought, their minds racing and panicking at the situation. Some of the doctors had actually gotten wounded from some of the patients, others were thinking about their children and significant others. But the doctor and surgeon right now were occupied by this patient, who despite being sedated, started spasming and moving. Slowly trying to grasp things and mumble, Surgeon¡¯s eyes started going wide. This person was starting to awaken from sedation and they couldn''t apply more without risking death.


    Another doctor was called in to keep the patient steady so that the two doctors could finish the operation, but then something strange happened. The wounds and incisions started to close up, weird fleshy growths started filling up every little incision made and covering the body. Almost as if it was trying to protect it from further harm, but suddenly a loud scream was heard. It was that of the doctor holding the patient down as his neck was between the patients teeth, blood streaming from it.


    Surgeon stepped back as the man started grasping around him trying to hold the doctor in its mouth as the doctor tried to escape, his eyes begging for help, looking directly into Surgeon''s eyes only to be met with a cold but shocked look.


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    ¡°We have to get out if all patients are like this. Pack your stuff and get out of this building now¡± she said as she let the machine that was keeping the man sedated pump him with a lethal dose. The only other doctor left quickly ran to his locker alongside Surgeon who grabbed her own backpack and stuffed it with her own clothing and her car keys which really was all she brought. ¡°Let¡¯s gather some medicine before leaving.¡±  She said.


    The nurses and most doctors were still running around the hospital trying to help people but the screams became louder and louder. The two of them quickly went back to the operating room where both the doctor and patient were dead on the table.The two of them stuffed their backpacks with simple everyday medicine. ¡°Hand me your bag,¡± she said quickly and the other doctor complied, handing over his bag without a second thought as Surgeon threw some more medicine inside. But it was at this point she noticed, the screams stopped, not a single person screaming for help or screaming in pain. ¡° We have to go¡­ now¡±


    The leader role almost came natural to her, or so the doctor thought. In truth, there was only a single thought inside of her head, I must survive and save my family. She didn''t have a husband or children but she did have parents and a brother she cared more for than anything else.


    The emergency exit was directly to the left out of the operation section, luckily for them it should have been empty right now. The two of them sneaked out right until they exited the operation section. The exit was free but both the front and the right had an infected stumbling about. And it only took them a single second to notice someone that wasn''t infected as they screamed and charged at the pair.


    The two started making a break for the door, but the doctor slipped and got back up again, this single second, this single moment had decided his fate. As Surgeon easily took the lead in the sprint and opened the door to step out of the building, she took a single look behind her and noticed that the infected were right on the other doctor''s tail. She couldn''t take the risk, saving a life didn''t take priority for the first time in her life as she said ¡°I am sorry.¡± A single sentence that ended a life, the doctor''s eyes went wide as horror took over his face. ¡°No Wai-¡± But the sentence was cut off as Surgeon closed the door. A loud bang followed by a scream of pain that filled the air as she slowly moved down the stairs making sure not to fall on her way down.

 Chapter 3: Tattooist Prologue

    The Tattooist sits in her office, discussing a design for her customer, before she knew it she was caught, stuck thinking about the times before this, the times when everything was much more simple. Her inmates fulfilled simple wishes, tattoo patterns that did not seem in any way difficult; a tear next to an eye, a skull embedded on their shoulder, something sweet like a heart, their mothers name filling its outline. As time progressed, her job changed, became increasingly difficult , requests piled in, they were different, complicated. These integrate tattoos of a man and woman holding each other close while being consumed by a fire. It held special meaning, and importance, ¡®until death do us part¡¯, it was symbolic, a meaning greater than its appearance.. But to her, relationships were impermanent, never would they live up to their expectations, never would they last. Much like life, she thought to herself. At the end of the day, money was money and her appearance was close to her. She liked to prove she was the best of the best.  Her customer was rather picky as right now she had shown her about 4 designs already none of which were to her liking. The latest design she came up with was luckily more to her preference and the couple decided on a price. 200$ for a smaller tattoo that was decently detailed. The woman looked sick as she tried to leave, so Tattooist slowly helped her walk and asked if she was okay. The woman didn''t reply in any understandable way, the only thing that came out of her mouth was mumbles, something about her feeling lightheaded. Tattooist decided to grab some water for the lady, in the back of her office was a bathroom that she could use when necessary. Despite her being the only one allowed to use it she never really liked using it anyway. As she filled a glass of water she heard some more stumbling, it came directly from the room she just let the lady in. Tattooist rushed over, afraid the lady fell over and hit something. She didn''t care for the lady in particular but she really couldn''t risk being sued right now, her company meant a lot to her, it meant that her life was back on track and going in the right direction.But as she entered the lobby the woman was standing up looking directly at Tattooist. She changed, her body had growths all over her body, growths that werent there when she was with her just a moment ago. But that was not the only thing that happened as the woman rushed towards Tattooist, who was barely able to keep the woman off of her as the sudden lunge surprised her. Quickly she looked around to find something she could use to keep the woman off. She then realised the glass in her hand as she moved the woman off of herself. Then she threw the glass into the woman''s face with all her might. It shattered into a thousand pieces, scattering onto the woman''s body and the floor. It didn¡¯t look like the woman would get up anytime soon, so Tattooist made her way into the back to grab her phone and stuff to call an ambulance. But as she made her way back to the front of the store while on the phone she noticed more people outside, all with these horrible growths on their bodies. Something was wrong, very wrong as 911 wasn¡¯t responding either, the line kept ringing and ringing but there was no response. The people outside had not noticed her yet so this was her chance to go back into the building, grab some more supplies and what not. This entire situation looked like it came straight out of a movie and if her movie knowledge was correct she would get ripped apart if she moved out onto the street. Staying inside and thinking of a solution would be better¡­ for now.


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 Chapter 4: Mortician Prologue

    It was a calm day at the crematorium as there was no funeral planned today and there were not many people visiting the graveyard. Inside of the building there was the Mortician, for him the day was not as calm as for those outside. His scalpel slowly slid into the corpse, it pushed aside the flesh and bone to reveal exactly what was inside . The way he moved the scalp was almost like that of a conductor guiding his orchestra. Classical music was filling the cold sterile walls of the dissecting room. He was careful not to let a single drop of blood touch the shiny white tiles on the floor. The man on the table was young, barely reaching his 30¡¯s, the skin although now more white of colour was light brown as the man was of hispanic descent. It sure was different compared to his own. He, as a 52 year old white man passed his prime time long ago, yet he worked diligently and swiftly to find out how this man died. The police asked him to investigate this as they weren¡¯t sure if he was murdered or if he killed himself. From the looks of it he died of poisoning. The only thing to do now was to make sure that the man didn¡¯t die of anything else. Despite being very sure about his conclusion, he wouldn¡¯t let his reputation as the best Mortician in his state to falter. It took him a while before he finished up as he had to restitch the corpse and clean the morgue. But after he finished up he took his hat and cane. Despite his children saying that he had no sense of fashion, he always felt comfortable in these clothing, a black suit, white undersuit and black tie. It took a long time to get ready in the morning but it was worth it to him. It represented order in the chaos of his emotions. This simple routine helped him a great deal when his wife died. But after all this time it just became a habit. The garden that surrounded the crematorium was beautiful if you could ignore the tombstones that slept next to this garden. The garden was filled with flowers of every colour and green everyone. In the distance he noticed a woman who just a moment ago was praying beside one of the many gravestones. She stood up jittery, a movement that no other person would make, as she turned there was something wrong with her, bulbous growths were all over her body. It was as if she changed right before his eyes. The beauty of the garden was still there but now it seemed corrupted as this woman started running. Mortician could only look at the woman and keep his cane close at hand. He wasn¡¯t old enough to need it to walk, but he kept it around for style. It looked good, he always said. But Mortician had no time to hesitate, as he knew that the woman was going straight for him. The door behind him was already locked so getting back inside was not an option and neither was running. His cane ready for a blow, he watched the woman carefully running towards him and at just the right moment swung the cane. It wasn¡¯t on purpose that he aimed for the temple, but out of pure panic. And as it hit the woman slumped down to the floor with a soft thump. Mortician quickly tried to call the emergency services but they didn¡¯t respond. The Phone kept ringing and ringing but nobody responded. The Mortician was wary and panicked but kept up his composure even when he was all alone surrounded by a beautiful garden and a dead woman.


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 Chapter 5: Akela Prologue

    Akela was busy this day as he and his group were getting ready for an adventure into the woods. Today they would learn about setting up tents and making fires, most kids already knew how to do this but it was a fun exercise to keep them busy nonetheless. He enjoyed spending time out here in the wilds and gladly offered his saturdays to his scout group and let the kids enjoy their saturdays in the wilds, playing around while learning at the same time. The best of the kids already had a couple of badges that they would proudly display to others in their own group. He knew that some of the kids here could soon become a leader of themselves although most of the time they would leave the scouts at that point to go and study at colleges or universities.  As he took in a breath. Birds were chirping, the wind blowing, leaves rustling and kids groaning and moaning...kids groaning and moaning? Akela woke up from his day dream and as he looked around, the 3 leaders and 28 out of the 30 kids there had growths all over their body, they were all moaning looking at him and the two other kids with hunger in their eyes. Only a moment later the infected jumped on one of his scouts. In an almost automatic reaction Akela kicked the leader off of the kid who couldn''t have been older than 12. The other kid ran off at the sight of his friends and elders mutating and changing into beings that did not look human. It was horrific, these kids drooling and ready to pounce both him and the other kids. Akela didn¡¯t have many options, all he could do right now was take the child and run, run towards the cars that weren''t that far from here. In fact, there was a bus. It was meant to take the kids to the woods but now they could use it as an escape. ¡°GET TO THE BUS!¡± He yelled as loud as he could, hoping that the other kid could hear him. As the infected started taking more of a notice to their surroundings, Akela picked up the kid and ran as fast as he could. Now he was glad that he exercised regularly and went on plenty of walks in the woods as he could easily keep ahead of the infected despite carrying a twelve year old with him. The bus wasn¡¯t far, he could see it right there only a couple of feet further. He didn''t take the time to look behind him and see if the other kid was closeby, if he did the two of them might get killed. As he stepped through the door a sense of accomplishment filled him up, but only for a moment as behind him the groans grew louder. ¡°AKELA WAIT!¡± The kid he left behind yelled. But as he yelled the infected turned towards him, he attracted the infected as his eyes grew wide realising what he had done. Akela had to save him, so he pushed the 12 year old with him back and jumped out trying to get the attention of the infected. And just as they got distracted by the kid yelling, they turned their attention back at akela, who ran like hell around the bus. Luckily for him, the kid was able to jump into the bus. Akela however was in quite a dangerous situation, the infected were catching him up and one even managed to scratch his back, leaving a nasty gash in his flesh. But with the adrenaline pumping he managed to run around the bus having distracted  the infected enough for both kids and himself to get inside and close the door. All they had to do now was drive.


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 Chapter 6: A boat ride that changed life

    That singular moment shook keeper out of her instincts, someone was there begging for help. Screaming at the top of her lungs to live, the shrieking sound was followed by many of the infected sprinting after the girl. It was a gamble, if she were to stop now there would be a big chance the infected would be able to get onto the rowboat. However if she didn''t stop, it would be her leaving this girl to die, letting someone who was clearly still normal die just for her own safety. Could she do it? Could she sacrifice someone else over herself? But as she was considering her options her own body spurted into action, rowing back to the shore. ¡°What am I doing? Why am I going back? I¡¯ll die if I go back.¡± Phrases kept repeating in her head, despite her body rowing to the shore to rescue the girl her mind didn¡¯t follow, her mind was conquered by fear yet her body moved without stopping, determined to rescue this girl.


    Her eyes followed the girl who fell, she was chased, the panic creeping on her face as she ran like her life depended on it. The rowboat was only one jump away from the shore, anything closer and they wouldn''t have the time to escape. It was now all on the girl to make the jump, it was on her to save her life, if she failed Keeper couldn''t do anything more for her then she already was doing and if she made it then Keeper would have a second mouth to feed.


    The girl leaped and surprisingly enough, leaped well, landing right into the rowboat. ¡°GO GO GO '''' The sound of her voice bellowing over the sound of the infected. Keepers arms moved without a word, following the girl''s leadership without question despite being older than her. The Infected however lept after the boat, one of which scraped it, rocking the fragile boat against the water. But once the infected hit the water it was obvious that they already had a singular shortcoming, they couldn''t swim or at least this one couldn''t. Other infected started coming down the slope, luckily for keeper and the girl, they were long gone by the time the infected were able to come close. ¡°The name is Jill. Thanks for waiting.¡±  The girl said as she relaxed on the rowing boat, her body was cut and bruised from the crash. ¡°You can call me Keeper.¡± Her voice was shaky as she looked up at the woman so she could inspect her up close. Now that she could get a better look at her body she noticed that the woman was of asian descent, her hair cut short with a pair of fancy sunglasses on top of her head which surprisingly didn''t fall off in both the crash and the trip to the boat. The rest of her outfit seemed to point towards her or her parents being fairly wealthy. ¡°Keeper? That''s a weird na..?¡± She stopped mid sentence as her adrenaline levels lowered and she started throwing up over the boat. Realising and coming to terms with what had just happened. It was obvious that she had seen much more than keeper.


    It appeared that this moment of safety allowed both of them to take a deep breath. The water was calm as if nothing had ever happened, Seagulls flying above them peacefully. The only real sound coming from the paddles pushing against the water and the puking of Jill. The closest city was about half an hour away by ferry, it would certainly take longer with a rowboat. But this gave them time to think up a plan. Neither of them knew what they were dealing with so coming up with a plan would be crucial. ¡°Do you have a cellphone? Maybe we could call the cops or rescue services to clean up the boat.¡± Keeper said after taking a deep breath, it was clearly bothering her that she was stuck with someone, rowing away from the place her art and peace were. The freak accident now fading out of sight as the rowboat started getting further and further away. ¡°What? No, all the lines are dead anyway, I tried calling 911 when it all started but I got no response. I doubt it would be any different now. ¡± She said in a mocking tone. It seemed that normality had returned in her and she was acting mostly like a normal girl her age. Yet what she said was worrying, 911 not responding to an emergency call could only mean that either they were getting too many calls at once or nobody was there to respond. Both options were equally terrifying. Keeper didn''t know what to do, hell she barely understood what the situation was in the first place. She was calmly on her island taking care of the lighthouse and then BOOM, she was running away from monsters that looked like people. ¡°They were people and then out of nowhere they changed into these monsters, I was on the deck right before the crash and everyone there just started changing and attacking the people that didn''t change. The crash really saved my life.¡±  She said nonchalantly as if she wasn''t puking just now. Although the explanation was difficult to understand, she could piece together what had happened. Or at least imagine the scene that Jill was explaining. A boat covered in creatures like the ones she saw, attacking anyone and anything that is moving, ripping them apart as if it was nothing. Jill tried to run to the edge of the yacht using some kind of rope to climb over the bars that would have normally prevented anyone from falling off. The infected tried to chase her. Perhaps that was why the infected were tumbling off before the boat had hit her island. Even so, Jill should consider herself lucky for not dying the moment the crash happened.


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    After their short conversation the two girls kept quiet for a while, it had been about half an hour rowing, yet their destination was not in sight by a long shot. Keeper was getting tired but did not want to say anything to Jill, who was staring off in the distance into the direction of the crash. ¡° I am sorry, your family must have been on that ship.¡±  Keeper said quietly as she noticed Jill looking back. Something she didn''t think about, Jill was on a yacht, something you would normally go on with friends or family. Something you would go onto if you were to have a vacation and Jill has not said anything about it so far. ¡°No, not really. I was on the ship with my manager but he was the only person I really knew there.¡±  She said without turning towards keeper. ¡°My manager turned into one of them as well of course. First one I noticed turning. It was almost as if he turned into one of those zombies out of a zombie movie. But not quite the same, as he just changed. He didn''t die or anything like that, he just changed. Weird growths appeared all over his body, foam from the mouth, things like that.¡± It kept feeling strange for keeper, hearing Jill talk about what happened in such a casual way. ¡°Keeper right? Do you think the mainland is safe? Anything on the news?¡± Jill asked as she turned towards Keeper. As she did, Jill noticed how tired Keeper actually was and offered to take over the rowing. Which Keeper gladly accepted, her arms sore from the half hour, realizing just how much she was out of shape after she started living in the lighthouse.  ¡°I don''t know, but it is our only option really. I was planning on docking the boat somewhat off of the main part of the village but we would need to get to my car if we don''t want to walk. But it really can''t be that bad can it? I mean sure it was on your ship but did it really already spread to the cities? Viruses don''t go that fast do they?¡±  Keeper had more questions but decided to stop asking here, it might show Jill that she is panicked and confused, something she didn''t want to do. ¡°I looked on facebook and twitter, it seems like almost nobody is responding or saying anything. The ones that do are asking if there is anyone out there that can either help them or join them. Do you want me to respond?¡± Her phone was now in her hands. It was clear that Jill''s hands were shaking holding the thing, realizing that there was a chance the entire world around her had started crumbling. Keeper while worried, wasn''t as heartbroken at the fact, sure they were in danger but something about it felt invigorating to her.


    Another half an hour passed. Jill was more talkative this time around, telling keeper about the things she had seen on the internet. Locations of people still alive and videos of the infected. Keeper now was able to see the infected up close. A video of the change was posted on youtube by someone named SurvivorKentucky708. The change was swift and clear, the infected looked very much the same as anyone else. But there were things off about the video, first in the background one of the infected changed into a completely different looking person, unlike the other infected. Keeper looked at Jill and Jill looked back. Both of them noticed the weird change of one of the infected. ¡°Did you see someone like that on the ship?¡± Keeper looked at Jill as she asked, only to be met by a confused face and the shaking of her head. The weather started to worsen, clouds in the distance were getting more grey by the minute. Luckily, the beach where keeper planned to dock was in sight so they wouldn''t have to worry about the weather while out on the water. This did mean they would have to find shelter somewhere and if the reports were true, the two of them would have to traverse a village that seemingly would be full of these infected. If they were like the zombie tv series she was watching that wouldn''t have been a problem, she always wondered how people died in that series anyway. But from what she had seen these infected were just as capable as people. just slightly slower than a normal person while running. This meant that the infected could easily overrun them, Jill didn''t seem like the fighting type and she knew that she herself was as good as a towel in an actual fight. The two of them sadly  didn''t have any time to plan as the shore was now close enough to dock.


    As Keeper stepped out of the boat she looked around. Nobody was there, she didn''t hear any sound coming from the road and there was nothing on the beach. She motioned Jill to come out of the rowboat as she slowly looked at her surroundings, she has been here before but knew that this might be the last time. The sand wasn''t the pretty beach sand you would expect, it was more dark of colour and rough to the touch. Around her was a cliff, it wasn''t high but it was high enough for her not to be able to look over. The Sky was now getting dark, it was almost as if the warm bright sun was abandoning the situation much like they were. ¡°Keeper, What now?¡± Jill said rather casually and loud. First keeper was confused as to why she asked her for leadership, Jill at first glance looked far more capable but then Keeper realized that Jill was actually rather young despite looking at least 20 years old. Keeper looked up at the sky one last time to take a breath and glanced at the road.

 Chapter 7: The Infection, Undead or Sick?

    The Mortician looked over the corpse of this woman once more, this time leaning more closely over her to inspect her body. The growths didn''t move and felt quite solid under his working glove. He always kept a pair inside of his pocket just for these situations, or to pick up unsanitary things. The latter came up more often, but he always told himself it wasn¡¯t why he carried them around everywhere. He looked at his surroundings, luckily they were still peaceful but this time he didn''t want to see the beauty of this place, he needed to find something sharp, a stick or rock would do. There were enough sticks around but none were big enough or sharp enough to be used. His hand followed the floor until it eventually met a rock that felt sharp enough to cut through this woman''s skin. He knew something was wrong purely based on the blood that was coming from this growth, It either contained blood vessels, or was filled entirely with the blood. The rock wasn''t extremely sharp so Mortician had to put in some effort to remove the growth. After picking the growth up and looking at it closely, Mortician noticed something curious, the cells that made up this growth were unstable in structure. The unstable structure of the lump showed that this piece of flesh was highly unnatural, but he could have guessed that much from just looking at the creature. He put the lump back down next to his victim. The lump was different then anything that he has seen before and he has seen a lot. It wasn''t cancerous like he thought it would be, but they weren''t normal cells either, but he couldn''t say anything specific without any equipment.


    If the emergency line was just busy he would be in trouble after this. But as he looked back to the entrance of the graveyard he realized it wasn''t the case. Above the stonegate, far up behind the building that was across the graveyard rose a big plume of black smoke after a loud crashing noise. Followed by another and another. The ground of peace was now disrupted. Loud noises booming through the surrounding area, the animals scattering away from the trees they were in a moment ago. The fields now felt empty. A singular cloud drifted in front of the sun, stealing away the bright vibrant colours and replacing them with dull versions of themselves. The field of death surrounding Mortician, stopped feeling like a place for peaceful rest and instead looked like a forebode of doom.


    The Mortician slowly moved to the big stone gate in front of him. Normally he would enjoy the 5 minute stroll from the gate to the crematorium. But today this walk was anything but peaceful. It felt as if something dangerous could pop up any moment. Each step was loud, as the gravel beneath his feet crunched with even the slightest pressure. The five minutes it took him to get to the exit felt like hours on end, every step he looked around him, making sure there wasn''t anyone else around. But now he stood right in front of the arching stone gate. The Alarms of cars went off left and right. Yet it was silent, early silent. The screams that were loud a minute ago now all disappeared. There were only two cars close by, his own and a stopped car on the middle of the road. The windows still intact, a younger man inside. The man was moving frantically, ripping at the seatbelt, trying to tear it off. ¡°An Infected, It seems like the woman. Frantic, Aggressive¡± His thoughts were put into actions as the infected upon seeing him started hitting the window. Cracks appearing with each hit. But Mortician noticed his car wasn''t alone, it was surrounded by two infected who would attack him on sight. One infected he could deal with like he did previously, but two would become difficult to handle. Especially if number three in his car managed to break free. He would have to think up for a plan. It was time to start an experiment, a dissection of the situation. See what he was up against.


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    His eyes followed the movements of both infected. They both were moving around the car. Almost if inspecting it for lifeforms, for food or movement. The distraction gave Mortician enough time to move closer without being spotted. The silence was no comfort, normally he would enjoy the sounds of nature, but now it was but a distraction to his goal, his car. The two infected would have to move away from each other for Mortician to safely attack either of them. Yet it didn''t seem like that would happen any time soon. So Mortician slowly grabbed a rock, it was small and light, throwing it would be no problem for him. Despite his age he was actually still quite fit, always trained he thought to himself. That way you can get most out of life. With a simple throw, the small stone flew towards the creature''s head, as it hit, the creature turned with ferocity. It walked aggressively towards the gate as Mortician hid behind the wall. But his tactic worked, only one of the infected came towards him. Now knowing what they were and what was happening. Mortician started realising what he feared. He had just killed a woman out of self defence, but this person was still a person, heavily sick perhaps but still a person. Could he, knowing this, kill someone. The infected was close, but Mortician was stuck in his struggle, a man or a monster. He has killed one before, he can kill one again, he must kill one again, if he didnt, he would die. With one swing he swung towards the infected, but he didnt aim this time, it collided with the creature''s chest. The air was knocked out of the infected as it stumbled back, before once more launching itself at Mortician, who instinctively reacted by swinging the cane against its neck, it now falling limp to the floor. But the sound made by the little fight made the infected in the car smash and thrash against its restraints even further, breaking the window with a loud shattering noise. In doing so, covering itself into shards of glass. The other infected that used to be around the car, now was running towards Mortician as a mad man. Its sharp claws fling around It wildly. Mortician didn''t know what to do, Now that the second one was actually attacking he couldn''t simply take it out. He swung his cane at the creature, but all hits did not do much, as each swing lacked power and precision, the power and precision his previous attacks did have. As the infected slashed at Mortician it scratched his cheek before being pushed to the floor by a bull rush, in a panic, Mortician pushed his shoulder into the infected. Then he ran towards his car, as fast as he could, slamming the door behind him as he reached it. The Infected however started getting back up, running towards the vehicle, its mouth almost foaming with rage. Mortician felt in his pocket and grabbed his key, inserting it so he could quickly start it up. He started backing out only to be interrupted by a loud bang onto the window, the infected smashing at it as the Mortician quickly drove away into the city, looking for help himself.

 Chapter 8: Stone Cold Operation

    Surgeon started to find her way down into the parking garage, leaving the banging behind her as the sun fell into the stairwell. The Image of peace mocking her, trying to get her to feel safe. But she kept the same pace, walking slowly but surely down each step. She was weary and had two bags of medicine on her back. The chance to slip was slim but right now it wasnt one she could afford taking. Each floor had a door to it with a little window, a window that Surgeon peeked into every floor. Inside she could see the same infected as before, patients, doctors and nurses all shambling around with huge lumps of flesh grown all over their bodies, they were shambling over the cold tiled floor of the hospital, moving slowly and without direction. Whatever this was, it was spreading surprisingly fast. If everyone here was already gone, then this must mean the city is in complete chaos. She would have to act fast if she wanted to find her family. Her pace fastened as she started thinking about this infection.It was nothing like she had seen before, no disease spreads so fast and affects people in such a quick way, Doctor Building was shambling down that hall, while just 10 minutes ago he was perfectly fine. Surgeon stopped for a moment to look at the man who used to be the biggest asshole she knew but quickly realized that she didn''t have the time to stop. Her legs started moving faster as she eventually reached the garage.


    Dozens of cars stood on the gray asphalt, the structure only giving way to the emptiness of the vehicles, nobody inside, their owners upstairs stumbling around looking for their next target. Luckily for Surgeon the area was devoid of people, nothing to jump at her as everyone was in the hospital itself. In the corner of her eye she could spot smoke rising in the distance but her mind was racing, rolling over multiple things at once. First, how was the disease spreading so fast? Even diseases like ebola didn''t spread this fast nor did it affect people this fast. Some patients had been here for a while, but just a moment ago she had seen doctors and nurses that were not infected the last time she had seen them. Second, if this was how fast the disease was spreading, then how long until it would be able to reach her family, who were at the other side of the country at this point in time. Lost in thought she started carefully walking across the parking lot. Her car parked right in the middle of the building. But suddenly, a noise broke the everlasting silence. A groan, soft and high pitched. In a small moment of panic Surgeon started looking around her, where was it? Her eyes peered over every vehicle, looking for some kind of movement, any movement¡­ nothing. Yet she heard the groan once more. Light Footsteps were echoing throughout. Yet Surgeon couldn''t see anyone. The shuffling was only getting closer without Surgeon being able to locate the source. But then the moan turned towards an aggressive yell coming from behind her. As Surgeon quickly turned around she finally found what she was looking for. A little girl with the same growths over her body, just as infected as everyone else. Yet her face was untouched, the infection left its mark over everything but the young girl''s face, whose eyes were filled with rage, lunging at Surgeon trying to strike her down. As Surgeon faced the girl she swiftly jumped backwards. She was shocked as she saw the girl fall right on her face after the attack, slowly picking herself back up. From the looks of it the girl was barely 6 years old, there was blood on her mouth, clothes and hands. She had most likely already killed someone without hesitating. Surgeon stood there for a moment, hesitating. This was the perfect opportunity to deal with the threat, yet she couldn''t. It felt strange to her, she never hesitated over a patient, or a choice but now she just watched as she slowly backed away from the child. Her hand grabbed a hold of the door handle behind her and pulled on it. The door was closed however, she pulled again but still nothing. As she looked behind her, she noticed it wasn''t her car. It was the same model and color but it wasn''t her car, there was a pink handbag on one of the front seats. Her eyes glanced back at the girl, she was making her way towards Surgeon once more, her slow and light steps would normally be a joy to hear, but now it was all the more terrifying. Surgeons calm and collected self was lost to her for a moment as she desperately started looking for her car until moments later she found it. In the corner, not too far from where she was right now. With the two bags in her hands she gave up all care for safety and started running. She had to reach her car, quickly grabbing her keys out of her pocket. It didn''t take long before she entered her car, throwing the two bags she had with her in the back. She sat for a moment, thinking about what had just happened. Killing a grown man that didn''t try to kill her was absolutely no problem. But a little girl that wanted her dead became a big deal? Why? Was it because she was that young? Quickly she recollected herself. Her eyes returned to her calm and collected look. The child was still moving around somewhere, but Surgeon didn''t care as she set her mind to one thing and one thing only, getting out of here.


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    As Surgeon started up the car she noticed the little girl run towards the car but Surgeon swiftly and calmly locked the doors. The girl was too young to damage the car in a significant way. However as she tried to go up the parking garage she was met with a car standing in the middle of the ramp. There were no signs of movement in the car. Yet it was clear that the engine of the car was still running. The girl was still a long way back so Surgeon did not really worry about her. She would have to get out and move the car somehow. Surgeon had yet to face a fully grown infected so she wasn''t sure if she could take one on. Her hand went for her horn but realized that the sound might draw unwanted attention. If any infected are around then they might come swarming on the sound, she would have to get out and just check herself. She wasn''t one of those Americans that had two guns in the back of her car much to her disappointment right now. With a single push she swung the door wide open. The girl was still waggeling towards the car but her pace was slow enough that Surgeon should have enough time. Her steps were light and careful, not wanting to alarm whatever was inside the vehicle if anything at all. Slowly but surely moving towards the driver''s seat. Nothing was inside that she could see, nothing was shattered and nothing was broken. This only told her one thing, someone abandoned the car while not infected. Her doctor instincts started to show as she started thinking about the infection rate of this disease and if these people could even be cured for their affliction. Would it be a disease like rabies or would it be some more supernatural virus like the ones that they often talk about on TV or movies. But she quickly snapped back into action as she looked behind her. It was clear that the girl did not want to give up on her chase, she was now running towards Surgeon, if this was an adult she would have been screwed, her zoning out might have cost her an arm or leg or worse. Caution was not something that was on the table anymore as the girl approached, she looked into the car and noticed the keys¡­ they were still there. Her hands immediately reached them to start it, the vehicle roaring loudly as it turned on. The sound did not affect Surgeon in the slightest, as she recklessly drove the car up to the ramp, she barely missed one of the vehicles that was parked to the side as she stepped out and ran back to her own car. To her surprise the little girl was right there in front of her once more. But with one swift kick into the girl''s stomach she fell and collapsed on the floor, rolling down the ramp like a doll. Surgeon swiftly jumped into her car and started it up. In her back mirror she noticed the little girl standing back up, luckily it was far too late as Surgeon swiftly drove to the exit of the parking garage.