Epidemic | Teen Ink

Epidemic

May 9, 2011
By Anonymous

Hi. My names Zane and as of right now I'm one in a population of less than five-hundred thousand, worldwide. We'll start from the beginning; I was born into a small town in Georgia. I guess that's how I was one of the lucky one's to survive. So about ten years ago, scientists decided they would try to create a new kind of drug/bacteria that could cure cancer or any disease out there. After nine years of trials and tribulations, the scientists finally thought they had the perfect bacteria. They left the bacteria overnight in a Petr dish. As the hours passed, the bacteria multiplied at an impossibly fast rate. Soon they were covering the outside of the Petr dish and spilling onto the nearby table. When morning came, the lab was opened by a lone janitor. He entered the room and swept, he absentmindedly put his hand on the bacteria. He looked at his hand an immediately ran to the emergency contamination room. He was flushed with chemicals and cleaned,
but it was already too late. Later, when the janitor went home and crawled into bed, his wife noticed something different. His speech was limited, his eyes were tinted red, and he seemed hungry. Just like that the first zombie picked off his first victim. From then on the disease spread like wildfire. Any human bitten by a zombie would either transform into a hideous creature or be eaten alive. I was lucky to survive. I heard the epidemic on the radio and zombie proofed my house. I stocked up on what I needed to survive Zombie attacks and lived happily in my home. But finally I caved in, I needed human contact. I packed my things and left my home
This brings you to my current situation: walking into a local store located in a small desolated town in Georgia. My ultimate goal is to reach Boston. I always liked the weather there and it like a pleasant place to live. As I walk into the store, I'm hoping there are no zombies. Zombies don't generally come at you unless you make some sort of distraction (loud noises, bright lights, etc.) or if they see you. Thus me walking quietly down the street or into the market is no harm, but being out in the open always puts you at a risk to being seen. Having a zombie see you would mean a fight, so if I could prevent it I would prefer to be alone. By now I'm in the store and walking past the colorful advertisements. I round the corner and walk towards the chip isle, when I hear the faint rustle of the door chimes. Right when I was about to shoot the zombie a
voice calls out, "Come at me!"
It takes me a moment to process the other human being in the room. Then, out of nowhere I say in the highest voice I possibly had, "Hi."
I rounded the corner and came face to face with a burly man. We stared at each other; both making an analysis with our eyes. Him: weathered skin, skinny but muscular, and tall. Me: short, scrawny, and small. There was no competition and nothing to say.
Then, out of nowhere he spoke, "I'm Buck. What's your name?"
With a shaky voice I said, "Zane. My name's Zane."
He replied with a steady voice, "Well Zane, I reckon' we have two possibilities: to go on alone or to join forces and travel together. We would have a better chance of survivin by bein together, but that's my opinion. I can get ya to where ya need to be, but then I’m leavin’. I just need a human to talk to."
After a pondering the thought, I replied, "Sure."
We finished our business in store and headed for the car. Buck drove a black shiny truck. I climbed in the passenger side and he drove. We talked for most of the car ride and I told him about my dream to live in Boston. Buck agreed to drive me there.By seven we made it through a couple states and decided to get some rest. We cruised by neighborhoods, parks, schools until we came to a kind of secluded field. It was small and looked like a ruined cotton field. Buck parked the car and we made ourselves comfortable. It isn’t the Trump Tower, but we made good with what we had. We rolled our windows down a bit and the cool air streamed in. It helped us spark a conversation. By midnight we passed out. That was the first night in a while where I slept peacefully. It was kind of nice knowing there was another human with you. I liked Buck, he had his weaknesses, but overall he was the best you could have in a zombie infested world.

When I woke up, it was well into the afternoon. I looked forward and saw in the field what looked to be moving ants, but bigger. I squinted and realized they weren’t ants. They were zombies. I reached over to wake up Buck, but for some reason he wouldn’t budge. With every second the zombies were getting closer. They were less than thirty feet away. I yelled at Buck and told him the zombies were coming. He bolted up and reached for the keys on the dashboard, but right when he was about to ignite the engine, the keys dropped. The zombies were less than ten feet away and closing in fast. Buck fumbled for the keys, but they somehow disappeared under the seat. Now the zombies were in a close proximity, they were beginning to touch the car and push it. Buck found the keys and started for the ignition. The zombies were now breaking the windows. The engine roared loudly and Buck stepped on full throttle. The car shot out of the field, crushing and carrying zombies on its way. Soon though, the zombies disappeared and my heartbeat returned to normal. It was an adrenaline rush of my life. We talked for hours about the attack and how epic it was. When we finally stopped talking, the sun had set. We had traveled through a couple more states, and by tomorrow we would be arriving in Boston. For now, we needed out rest. We yet again drove past neighborhoods, schools, etc. Today, we chose a small space in the woods. It was a bit eerie looking, but we had each other for protection so it was okay. The night gave me a kind of unsettling feeling, but soon I dosed into a dream filled sleep. I dreamt about the life I had before all this happened. I dreamt about how fulfilling my life was before all this happened. I guess it’s funny to think that all the things we take for granted are all the things that make life joyful. I miss it. The dream only lasted until the sun rose. Today would be a nice day. There were no clouds in the sky and I would finally get to reach Boston.

We started driving about an hour after I woke up. The car ride was quiet. I just wondered what was going to happen to Buck. It was sad to think about our relationship coming to an end and my loneliness beginning. I did enjoy Buck’s company; he was the first human I had contact with for months. It would be sad to see it end. The hours rolled by. We didn’t speak, not because we had nothing to say, but we didn’t know how to say it. I wanted to say, “Buck stay in Boston. We can hangout like this car ride. I’ll miss you if you go. You’re like a father to me.” But none of that came out. All we could hear were the sounds of the air conditioning. It was dusk when we rode into Boston. The town looked peaceful and nice. There were no zombies in sight. Buck parked in the middle of a street and we got out. I grabbed my bag and we said our last words. Awkward. The air was tense with a mix of sadness. As Buck was walking back to the driver’s end of the truck, a zombie popped out of nowhere. Then, two, three, and they multiplied to at least sixty in a matter of seconds. Me and Buck did the only thing we could. There were too many to fight, we did the only thing we could we ran back to the car. We drove away from that street catching a few zombies on the way. We made it back to the highway, with adrenaline pumping but happy. There was a change in the mood. It wasn’t said, but we both knew we would be riding together for a bit longer. We drove away together with smiling faces.


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