Zombies: Part One

-

I sit on the couch inside my dark apartment,

facing the door which I have boarded up.

The whole world’s on lockdown. All citizens

have been advised to shelter where they are.

People, it seems, are turning into zombies,

and it’s happening at a frightening rate.

The only thing to do is watch the news,

which has reverted to twenty-four hour

coverage on the deadly pandemic.

I’ve been following current events for days.

It turns out that, over the past few months,

a virus has been on the loose infecting

the vast majority of the population.

It lies dormant for months, before you turn

and become something like a rabid dog,

losing your mind in favor of bloodlust.

There's no other way to describe the sickness.

Most of the population has gone mad.

It wasn't caught, at first, because the dormant

period hadn't run out on those who were

among the first group to contract the virus,

and, by the time they had developed symptoms,

half the world's population had already

caught the disease. By then it was too late.

Today, another anchor reads the news.

Yesterday, the last one had come to work

and viciously tried to strangle his co-anchor

while she was on-air reading from her script.

They shot and killed him in the altercation,

which ended in a barrage of gunfire,

and was heard transpire somewhere off set.

His co-anchor survived the brief assault

but was quickly taken into quarantine.

They’re updating us on all of that now.

She’s infected and soon to be euthanized.

I stand up and walk to the nearby window.

I peek through the wood slats that I installed

in order to keep out unwanted guests.

Nothing. Outside still seems like a ghost town.

I don't know how long this pandemic will last,

but I made sure to visit the gun shop

and procure the means to protect myself,

along with grabbing a copious amount

of ammunition, should I ever need it.

I have my pistol lying on the table,

always within arms reach, and several shotguns

stored in the hallway closet. Though no one

has stopped and tested my security

system, you never know when it might happen.

So far, the road has been my biggest worry.

I’ve found that making noise will draw them out.

The cars, the few out on the road, go fast

when they drive past. Sometimes, I will see one

emerge to check out what had made the sound

and then mindlessly roam about for a victim.

But I think any noise will draw them out.

So, I stay quiet and I watch the road,

making sure that they don't loiter for too long.

All I can really do is bide my time.

Maybe they will rescue us sometime soon.

If they don't, I guess I will have to venture

out for supplies. At the rate things are going,

I'm sure it's only going to get harder

to make forays into the city proper.

Time is not on my side. These are dark days.

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