Things started out rough. I’ve found in my days after the outbreak that people do not like the “z” word. The group I met preferred to call them geeks. It doesn’t make much of a difference, though. They’ll get you in the end no matter what name you give them. I’ve also learned that writing is much different now than it was before. I was a journalist before. I found that it was lonely before the group came along. The first one I met was Judy. She went by Judith, but I like Judy better. It’s more fitting. She was the leader and a mother of two. Judy was the first to talk to me.

What exactly was it like? The outbreak, I mean.

Is this like, some sort of interview? Nice way to introduce yourself, Mac, was it? My boys were terrified. They are terrified. If we’ve been keeping track right, it’s going on three weeks now. I had a lot of family, but my boys take priority over everything. You met them, the little one just turned 7 last month. Jake--that’s his name, Jake--has had nightmares since the outbreak. Alex, he’s the older one, he’s 13 now, he doesn’t talk to anyone lately. He’s killed them, he’s strong but...I hope, for my boys’ sake, this passes soon.

Do you have high hopes on its passing?

[She pauses]
I’d rather we didn’t talk about this.

People were negative, to say the least. Judy didn’t want to answer any of my other questions. Part of me believes that, at least in Judy’s case, hope is painful.

Including myself, Judy, and her two boys, there were a dozen people in total. They welcomed me with open arms. A chubby and very jolly looking man was the first to welcome me when Judy introduced me.
“The twelfth member of the family! The missing piece to the puzzle! How do you handle the geeks?”
“The what? Oh, right, the geeks. Alright, I guess.”
The man laughed and stuck his hand out to me. “We’ll figure something out for you! Name’s Chuck.” Chuck took it upon himself to introduce me to the rest of the group. Chuck had a wife, Lara, and a daughter, Elise. The rest of the group were bits and pieces of what once had been big, happy families.
There was a girl who was around Alex’s age, Maxine, who must’ve lost her parents before finding the group. Louis, an elderly man, only had his dog, Ollie, for family. The other four group members were hunting, or so Chuck told me.
“You’ll meet them when they return tonight. There’s Ben, his brother Alan then Eloise and Michael.”

Despite my polite attitude, I somehow ended up on babysitting duty. Now, don’t get me wrong, kids are cute. Kids are just cuter when they’re not around me. On the brightside, two of them were old enough and weren’t quite as loud. I wanted to talk to them about their thoughts, but it seemed I was left to talk with the seven year old.

Jake? What’s happening here?

[He is quiet and confused for a moment]
Mom said everyone is getting sick and angry.

What do you think is happening?

People are turning into monsters.

Are you scared?

[He nods]
I dream about them, too.

What happens?

[He frowns and looks at his feet]
They take my mom away, then my brother, and I run and I run but they usually get me too.

Is that it?

When they get us, we turn into monsters.

“Knock it off.”
I looked up at Alex, who had stood up from sitting on the ground. I raised an eyebrow. “You talk.”
“He doesn’t want to talk about it, leave him alone.”
I think I like kids more than teenagers.

I witnessed a natural death for the first time since the outbreak. Louis, the old man, I was sent to check in on him when he slept in one morning. He was in the RV, sleeping. When I went to wake him, he wasn’t breathing and had no pulse. He went peacefully. Ollie refused to leave his side until we finally gave him a proper burial. The only one who would talk to me was Maxine.

Were you close to Louis?

Everyone was. We both lost everything, though. He was like...a grandpa to me.
[She pauses and looks away from me]
I’d rather he went like he did than have a geek get him. He didn’t feel pain, it was for the best.

What’s going to happen with Ollie, then?

He’s family. He seems most comfortable around me, so I told everyone I’d handle him, food and whatnot.

How old are you?

15.

You’re on your own? When did you find the group?

[She pauses]
A week in. I saved Louis and Ollie and we found the group.

I’m so sorry, you’ve lost a lot.

Everyone has.

What had I lost? Before the outbreak, my family didn’t talk to me, I didn’t have a girlfriend, I didn’t even have a pet! Harassing that kid like I did was wrong. For someone who wrote about other people for a living, I had no clue how to interact with people.
The virus. I haven’t decided what to call it yet, seems to only be transmitted through contact with the geeks. Louis never turned. If anything, we do not need to fear natural death.

Judy was the first to open up to me. I’d forgotten what it was like, unscripted conversation. First of all, she made it a point to tell me how much she hated it when I called her Judy. I persisted. She also made it clear that she was long divorced.
“You’re robotic!” Judy often laughed at herself.
“What do you mean?” I didn’t usually understand what was so funny.
“Without your interview questions, you have no clue how to communicate. Even with them, you’re still pretty awkward.”
“You think?”
She was something else. Even on a bad day, she got along with everyone, put her leader smile on, and made sure everyone was healthy. Somehow, she managed to scold people despite all this leader attitude. Judy was who I hoped to live up to one day soon.
Every leader falls one day, though. Judy’s day was a normal day like any other. She went around and checked in on everyone, she congratulated Chuck and Lara on their new found pregnancy (though they weren’t so excited), and she went to do the laundry. Louis had done it up until he died, but Judy volunteered to take over for him. Maxine convinced Judy she was responsible enough to take care of Alex and Jake, which we didn’t find much of an issue with.
“Mac! Judy! Someone, help!”
They had went for a hike that day. Maxine hadn’t even brought so much as a knife with her.
“Geeks! There were geeks!”
“And you just left them there?” Judy broke into a sprint. She scolded people before, but I’d never seen her with a look like that in her eyes. By the time Maxine and I caught up with her, it was too late. The geeks were dead and so were Judy’s boys. Her sobbing was the sort of sound that lingered and ate at me. “Judy…” I touched her shoulder but she jerked away from me.
“Get away from me! I’ll handle it, just...get away!” Judy stayed hunched over her boys, I could hear her still talking under her breath. “I can handle this, it’s okay, everything’s gonna be okay, my boys...no one’s going to hurt you, I can handle this…”
The sun had set by the time we heard the two gunshots and saw Judy return. When I looked at her, all I could hear was her sobbing. It wouldn’t go away.
I was the one who had to cut her lifeless body out of the tree a week later.

That left eight. They turned to me to be leader then, imagine that. I wasn’t Judy, though.
We were hitting the second month since the outbreak, food was scarce and a flu was going around. Ben got it first after he came back from hunting one night. Of course, his brother fell ill next. If things weren’t bad enough already, Eloise was caught trying to leave camp with a good amount of supplies. That was the first person who’d been a threat to us and no one knew Elouise like Michael did.

Is this unusual for Eloise?

It isn’t like her at all.

If we let her go, will she try and do it again? Maybe this time with a bigger, stronger group to help her?

This isn’t how Judy did things.

Answer my question.

I would have to think so, yes. But she would only try again if she had a big group to help.

By trying this, do you think this is as bad as trying to kill us?

[He hesitates]
Everyone is getting sick. She tried to take food and medicine we would’ve needed to live.

An eye for an eye?

[He is silent]

I was the one to put her down. An eye for an eye. After I pulled the trigger, I couldn’t look at myself the same way. No one could.

When the herd got here, I knew they came for me. They came because of what I did. The geeks didn’t judge me, I knew that. They heard the gunshot. I brought them here.
The group ran while I held them back. The bite hurt--it still hurts. I’m trapped in the RV doing nothing more than biding the group time and waiting to die.

Judy was the first to talk to me. Sitting there, gritting my teeth in pain while geeks tried to push the door open made me see. Judy, that is. She was smiling and I could hear her.
“You’re robotic!” All I can hear is her laughter.
I can feel things begin to give. The door and my will to keep them at bay. Everything was okay, though.
Judy was the last to talk to me.