Tearing through flesh and hitting bone. Sharp teeth shearing tendons. Blood dripping down chins. It’s finally happened. The apocalypse. Pestilence has won and we will be expunged by our own kind. Well, they used to be our kind.
I drive my step-dad’s SUV. They haven’t found me yet, but they will. I keep my calm; this is no time for panicking. I stop by Hunter’s house and tap on the walkie-talkie. He hears my signal and runs out of his house, Droganov in hand.
“You ready?” He checks his bag.
“I’ve prepared for this my whole life.”

I gun the accelerator and we have exactly one minute and thirty seconds to get to Ryan’s house. We pass Gary’s on the way, and see him loading up his truck. Our trip is truncated because Gary decided he wanted to make his own way to the Safe House. That is fine with me; I just want to get to Ryan before the infected do. He waits right inside the house. He grips his double-bladed Katana. He is ready for close-quarters-combat. We now have five minutes to get to the Safe House in the country, which would have been difficult except there are no cops left. I hit eighty so we get there in time. At the house we will be fully guarded against the anathemas out destroy us for food.

I glance at Ryan through the rearview mirror. His usually jaunty demeanor is serious and occupied by thoughts. Hunter is just excited to live up to his name. I look out the windshield. The sun is setting, which means seeing will be difficult at the Safe House. We do not want to be ostentatious, so we cannot use outdoor lights. We only use Mag lights and candles. We reach the House in less than five minutes. The once flamboyant white house is tarred black to keep hungry eyes off of it.

I park the car and we jump out. Ryan unloads his swords and his “Face-Lifter” (it’s a metal meat tenderizer). Steve, the keeper of the Safe house, runs to greet us. The timorous man grimaces as he appraises our group.
“No one else?”
“Don’t worry, Steve. They’re on their way.” I’m not sure if I am lying to him. He seems worried enough in this situation as it is. We gather our supplies and we head inside to prepare for the battle of our lifetime.