I found myself running throught the campus with a hoard of zombies chasing after me… once again.
Two weeks ago, meteorites had crashed onto Earth, causing death and destruction everywhere. Cities were lost, people died and forests burned. Chaos was ensured everywhere, and the few safe places became gathering points for the survivors.
However, surviving the meteorite crashdown was simply the first step. As if to mock us, the initial destruction upon landing wasn't all there was to it. Oh no, the real problem began after the fact, when people started showing signs of sickness. Throwing up blood and burning in fever were the first symptons — a prelude, if you will, of what was about to come.
Turns out, those meteorites had brought with them some type of virus that quickly spread among the survivors from the crashing sites and turned both animals and humans alike into what is, particulary, my worst nightmare.
Forget ghosts, monsters, demons or aliens. My worst nightmare was zombies. Its a particular fear that I've had since I was a child.
Back then, my teenage cousins had forced my 5 year old self to watch some gore-filled zombie movie in which the zombies were goddamn superhuman, chasing after people like their rotting bodies weren't even a thing and tearing bits and pieces of the victims flesh, or simply overwhelming them with sheer numbers. They seemed to enjoy tormenting my child self. Me being scared was, apparently, very entertaining to them.
Just picturing in my head how horrifying being bitten and torn to shreds until death by hoard of those things was simply too much for my vivid imagination as a child… well, since then, I've had a strong revulsion of these things.
To the point that I believed I'd rather kill myself than live in a Zombie Apocalipse world.
But, oh well, here we are.
And I did not, in fact, kill myself.
To be honest, these infected people, although we called them colloquially "zombies", weren't exactly as depicted in the movies.
They weren't nexessarely "dead". They were simply infected and mind controlled by this alien virus that crashlanded into Earth.
Sure, a lot of it overlapped but, in all honesty, they didn't look as horrifying as those movies made them out to be. Slightly paler, sure, like their blood wasn't reaching their skin very well. But not rotting. Their eyes lost focus, pupils permanetly dilated — which could be better seen on those with light colored eyes — and they lost the ability to function normally.
Speech, balance and motor control got affected too as they stumbled around the world like a toddler would.
They had strong urges to eat human flesh although they could easily eat animals too, as seen previously.
Many speculated they simply prefered to go after humans since there were so many of us. Right… that's another thing they have in commun with the movies: they eat human flesh and a bite will infect the victim.
That being said — unless the zombie in question was hungry — chances are, they wouldn't lunge at you. However, guessing wether or not one of them was hungry is simoly impossible from a single look. You can't tell if another person is hungry or not by simply looking at them — for the most part —so it poses a problem for all of us, as they also won't eat each other when hungry — it seems like only non-infected living beings can be seen as food by them — and won't go out of their way to procure food in a more "ethical" way.
And they also won't chase after animals if there is a human in sight when they are hungry.
At first, surviving these infected hoards wasn't that hard. Plenty of them had already fed — or were in the process of feeding off of something or someone.
They had plenty of "food" around: small animals, humans and even insects that could be found in cities; on top of that, recently infected people didn't seem to get hungry until 2 or 3 days after being fully taken by the infection — that is, if they didn't get killed in the process of being eaten or die later due to the wounds.
Ah, yes, another difference from the movies: badly injuried people would pass away without being turned and they never got up again.
With that being said, if they survived and turned into zombies their injuries would heal in a few days like magic. Even limbs could be regrown.
However such great "blessing" came with the worst type of downsides: being unable to chose or do anything on your own. You were completely controlled by the infection and would act as the virus's host, only aiming for it's survival and reproduction.
You would lose all sense of self and become a mindless machine walking around without a purpose. And that's what terrified me.
Nore than anything, the uncertainty of how the virus's victims experienced all of that. We, the surviving few, could only assume what it's like to be in their shoes, since no one ever got cured or retained rationality to share their experiences with the rest of us.
So, inevitably, I wondered what they experienced. Will they remember? Do some part of their conscience stays? What if that is true and they are forced to watch themselves attack and eat their friends and family? I had no such anwsers but one thing I was certain of. I don't want to even leave it to chance to experience such dreadful thing.
In short, that was my reason for absolutely not wanting to get infected. Ever.
I had already gotten "lucky" as my city wasn't directly affected by the meteorites falling, but ever since them life has been fundamentally changed for everyone currently alive in Earth.
During those two weeks, the world has crashed and burned. Any armed forces became a must to protect the safe cities borders and anyone wanting to cross the borders had to probe they were uninfected. Well, to enter the borders, that is. If you wished to leave, no one would stop you or question your status.
I, however, wasn't part of a safe zone city. Me and a couple of other students were holding on at the university's campus. We weren't allowed inside the safe zone cities due to us being exposed to the virus in the air already for too long. Our location may not have been directly affected by the meteor but it's located damn close to one major crash site. One of the original crash sites that infected people misteriously. So, naturally, the goverment forces securing the safe zones weren't eager to let us in any time soon.
And right now, I was experiencing one of the biggest changes that happened in the last two weeks.
As mentioned, I was currently being chased.
You see, to survive in a broke down world, money became a broken concept. What in the world would you do with a piece of paper, after all? Could it save you from an infected person trying to bite your flesh off? No. Could you pay the virus away? No.
So, instead, people naturally began trading in services or items. It could be literally anything, food, your knowledge, your physical strength, your specific item that you are not using… if you were able to make things, cook, grow food, fight or anything that could be seen as useful you were good to go.
And right now I was using my "speed" as payment.
Basically, I was the bait.
I must confess, though, I was not expecting such huge crowd.
I had settled into a smaller community within my college campus, we naturally banded together when the first virus alert was issued by the goverment and the country's armed forces.
In the past two weeks we had slowly been losing ground to the infected, as they entered the campus and, eventually, the buildings within.
My job right now was to lead away as many of them as possible, allowing the small combat group to slip past them and into the other block's dorm. The goal was to buy them time and relative safety to roam around the building while looking for the kitchen to gather more equipment and non perishable foods for the rest of the group.
We had been stuck in the university's block F since the lockdown alert first came and, not surprisingly, we were running out of food.
But, right now, my biggest problem was pulling through with the plan.
I needed to lead this huge group outside of the main gates then run around the whole university's block and lock them outside. Would I be able to run for that long though? And what if I ran into another group of them midway?
I know the military recently did a "clean up" of the streets but with the amount of commotion I was causing being chased by so many i couldn't be sure there would be no one else outside, attracted by all that noise.
My lungs already burned. Why did the campus have to be so damn huge?
Besides, I needed enough of a distance to be able to unlock the gates. Yes, that's right. It was still locked.
Thankfully, since I was already putting my life on the line here, I wasn't sent out empty handed. I clutched the knife in my hand. That was my life-line.
The sharp tool would come in handy in case i got into an unexpected situation, however, it wasn't its only use. Although I hoped I wouldn't have to use it for the worst case scenario.
That knife was there to guarantee a peaceful death instead of a horrifying one. With so many of them, I could only imagine how horrible my last moments could be. A chill ran down my spine as I pushed that thought out of my mind.
Truthfully they weren't very, uhm, graceful.
The infected chasing after me would consistenly stumble and fall, causing a domino effect behind them.
That was my saving grace.
They were so incredibly clumsy their hunting abilities were halved.
I had rounded them up so that I wouldn't get unexpectedly jumped at from the sides.
I knew the layout of this campus better than anyone at this point.
I saw a familiar "alley" between two dorm buildings and slightly slowed down to check if there was anyone standing there.
Nothing in sight, seemed safe to go in throught it for a slight shortcut. Should be fine, right?
Besides, the narrower path would force the infected to go through in a line… there is nothing they are worse at than this. That would surely stall many of them.
I took a sharp left and sped up once again— rushing through the alley while checking for any strays that might jump out from the windows.
I gripped my knife harder.Despite my doubts and griviences, I'd not hesitate to stab anyone lunging at me at any given time.
Contrary to my expectations, no one jumped out of the windows to have an opportune snack. At least not before I made it out of the alley.
Behind me I heard windows crashing. Too late buddies.
Seriously, these guys are a joke.
Rushing out of the alley I turned a sharp right, ready to go through another shortcut.
I set my sights right between buildings C and D. If I ran through these I could reach the main gates without having to go all the way around them.
Saving time and stamina was essential if I intended on coming back alive.
I quickly checked if there were any strays in the path. Didn't seem like it.
I had already made the decision, I would go through the narrow path intead of taking the long way around.
Again, sounds of windows crashing came just after i had already passed them. It should be fine.
Glass shards flew everywhere and this time, right above me. Startled, I covered my head and neck to protect myself from the falling shards, causing my arms to be exposed and cut in the process.
I heard the sound of a falling body. I didn't need to look behind me to know what was going on. One of them had jumped out quite quickly and fell flat right behind me.
I continued to ignore the commotion and kept running, I was almost out of the alley.
Graaaaaah-
The infected started tripping on their fallen comrads once more.
As I approached the end of the alley I saw it.
The main gates were in sight!
However just as I was stepping out, I heard it. This time coming from the side.
Graaaaah-
The unmistakable sound of a zombie ready to bite. It was way too close to just keep running. It would grab me if I did.
After two weeks of having these repeated types of encounters, this was now almost second nature.
I abruptly stopped and took an atack stance towards where the sound came from. It was very close.
Without giving it any time to process what was happening I swung the knife and lodged it right into the man's neck.
Slicing it through and out when removing it.
He dropped dead almost instantly.
I was now sprayed with blood and the lingering sensation still made me want to throw up.
But I didnt have the luxury of dwelling on it.
The others were still moving behind me, having already resumed their chase without any signs of exhaustion.
They might be clumsy but they sure are relentless. I was now sweating cold on top of everything else, and the cuts on my arms were stinging a bit.
I pressed on, the main gates were just beyond reach now.
As I approached the gates I took note of the keys I had on me. The cold metal pressing against my skin underneath my shirt.
I had attached them to a long string and used it as a necklace — the easiest and most secure way I could think of to carry it without accidentally losing them on the way as I ran like a madman through the whole campus.
I reached into my shirt collar to pull out the keys, getting ready to unlock the gates as quickly as possible as soon as I reached it.
Thank God I were black today, instead of the white shirt I usually pick up. I thought as I glanced down to my slightly darker shirt dyed in blood.
My nervousness and tiredness were finally starting to show and my hands were trembling slightly.
The adrenaline that kept me moving until mow was finally running low and I still had to run a full lap around the campus site… my future was looking bleak indeed.
I made it!
I reached out to grab onto the lock—