I was first on the scene.

1 hour earlier. . .

“My name is Ridley, sir.” I thrust out my hand towards the new chief of police and gave the most genuine smile I could muster as I kept his domineering stare. “Nice to meet you, Ridley. My name is Chief Brackett. I’ve never had a woman working in my precinct before.” I groaned upon hearing this but kept that smile up for show regardless. “Yes, well, I’ve been with the precinct for 15 years this coming May.” He gave a slight scowl upon hearing me speak up for myself but continued down the line of awaiting officers to continue the meet and greet.

Our previous chief decided to pull a fast one and took 50 kilos of cocaine and half a million unmarked bills out of the evidence locker and made his way down to Mexico just a week ago. His name was Devon Bloom and had been our chief in command since before I first started back in May of 2008. I had always admired him and appreciated how he led us efficiently and equally. There was no sexism or crude men jokes coming out of his mouth and fortunately for me, everyone else in the precinct took after him. You can imagine that it was quite a surprise once hearing the news of him taking a leave of absence the way he did. *Sigh* I was going to miss that motherfucker.

“Alright everyone, glad that we all got to meet, I’m sure that I will get to know each one of you more later but for now, there’s shit to get done. So, get the fuck out of here and do your job,” bellowed Chief Brackett as he turned to go into his new office. I smirked briefly to myself knowing full well this was going to be a blast but went back to my own desk to prepare.

I grabbed my jacket and turned off my desk lamp before walking over to my partner's desk, Marc Whitley. “Hey Marc, you ready to go get this shit done?” I asked as I approached his desk. He turned around and said, “Fuck yeah!” Both laughing, we headed towards the doors and out to the car.

30 minutes later. . .

“Just drop me off here and I’ll catch you later,” Marc said as he opened the passenger door to get out. I rolled my eyes but just gave him a quick look and drove off. He was always out fucking somebody and did so every single patrol. He wasn’t picky, it could be a sex worker or a mom out shopping, his goal was just to get his rocks off and as often as humanly possible. I just shook my head in disgust and continued down the road when the radio crackled on, “Attention all units, attention all units! We need all units to head to St. Avoe immediately, I repeat, all units to St. Avoe immediately!” St. Avoe? I thought as I turned around and headed in the right direction. I dialed Marc to let him know that his private party would be cut short but was sent straight to voicemail. “What a prick,” I muttered as I put my phone down and headed to St. Avoe, only a 30-minute drive from my current location.

Present. . .

I was first on the scene. I couldn’t fathom what it was I was looking at. From a distance, all I could see was rolling thick black clouds of smoke and the flickering glow of a fire. Upon getting closer, my eyes were not believing what I was seeing. There were human beings getting up out of the fire and milling about the place in search of something, I wasn’t sure what.

I parked my car a couple blocks away and proceeded to get out of the car when out of the corner of my eye I noticed somebody walking towards me. I turned to face them and reflexively put my hand on my holster, putting my other hand up in greeting. “Hello there, my name is Officer Ridley. Are you okay? Are you hurt?” Upon hearing my voice, the man who looked to be in his 30s with only shorts on started to quicken his pace. His arms slightly rose as he opened his mouth to speak but instead let out a low moan.

My heart started to beat faster as my mind tried to catch up and once, I heard that sound, my brain had an epiphany. Zombies? There’s no fucking way! “Sir, are you hurt?” I asked again as I unclasped my holster and grabbed the handle of my gun, feeling slightly more secure.

The man kept coming towards me and was roughly 50 feet away from where I stood. I kept my hand up as I once more asked, “Are you hurt?” He continued his slow amble and again let out a moan, not giving me any notion that he understood what I was asking of him. I opened the door to my car and started to get back into it when I noticed a bright movement in front of the car.

Those people on fire I noticed earlier had started to make their way to my location and were about to touch my car when I turned the ignition and put the car in reverse. I backed away slowly, trying to comprehend what exactly I should do when the man in shorts banged into my door. I looked up at him trying to see any sign of recognition when he raised a hand to bring down on my window, leaving behind a smeared print.

I backed away more and started to turn the car around, noticing that there were about 8 individuals, 7 of which were on fire continuing their descent towards me. I pulled away, making sure everyone was accounted for as I peered in the rear-view mirror. Taking the radio in hand I clicked the talk button, “This is Officer Ridley, I’m in St. Avoe and I don’t know what to make of this situation, over.” I released the button and could only hear static coming through. My stomach tightened even more as I pressed the talk button again. “I repeat, this is Officer Ridley, can anyone hear me? Over.” Still nothing but static.

I put the radio back in its holder and continued driving away, noting the dare I say it? The Zombies still making their way in the mirror. I picked up my phone and dialed Marc again, this time getting his voice on the other end. “Hello? Where the hell are you?” he asked, a note of panic in his voice. “I’m in St. Avoe due to the emergency transmission that came over the radio. I tried calling you, but it went straight to voicemail. Where are you?” I answered, revving the car up to 60 and making my way back in his direction. “Shit Ridley, I’m on the corner of 5th and Chestnut and you wouldn’t believe what I’ve just seen. I fired my weapon on 2 people a couple of minutes ago, but they got right back up. I shot them in the leg Ridley, the fucking leg! I had to high-tail it out of that area. I think I lost them for now but something very odd is going on here and I don’t know what to make of it.”

I closed my eyes in exasperation for a brief second, trying to comprehend what he just went through. “Marc, I honestly have no idea. I got here to St. Avoe and there’s seven of these things on fire and they were just about to reach my car before I got the hell out of there. Marc, I think, I think these are zombies.” I waited patiently for him to take in what I said and heard nothing but silence for what felt like forever. Finally, he replied, “What the fuck. I mean, they just got back up like they weren’t shot at all and just kept on coming and they were moaning. . . Oh my god, zombies? Do you really think so? How in the fuck?”

“I’m on my way to your location, try to lay low and get off the streets. I’ll call you when I get to 5th and Chestnut.” I hung up my phone and pressed the gas lever down, cranking the engine up to 90 on the highway and hoping that I made it to him in time.

20 minutes later. . .

Marc’s end kept ringing endlessly when I made it to the corner, he informed me about. “Fuck Marc, where the fuck are you? I muttered to myself as I kept the car in idle, redialing him again and again. I looked around and took in my environment, noticing that the roads were surprisingly empty minus a car parked on the side of the road here and there. I didn’t see anyone around but took another minute surveying the area before reluctantly getting out of the car.

I took my gun out and kept it by my side as I attempted to call Marc yet again, finally his voice came from the other end, “Ridley, where the fuck have you been?” He sounded scared and was speaking in a low voice. “I’m where you told me you last were, where are you?” I replied, feeling a sense of uneasiness wash over me. “I’m inside the hardware store across the street. I’m hiding underneath the office desk in the back of the store. There were more of those things outside, those zombies, but they walked past a few minutes ago. You didn’t see them?”

I turned toward the direction of the hardware store and slowly walked across the road. I continually kept looking all around me as I made my way across, afraid to move too quickly lest I made any noise. I got to the door when I heard, that low moan from not one but a group of the zombies. I looked and saw them coming around the corner a block away and locked eyes with the first of the pack. Upon seeing me, it let out a moan and alerted everyone else to my presence. “, Marc, get your ass out here, we have to get the fuck out of here.”

In an instant, Marc was at the door and opening it up, a wave of relief washing over his face upon seeing me. We ran back to the car and were off down the road leaving those zombies in the distance.

Ridley didn’t want to stop driving but unfortunately, the gas was running low. Since they left town, Marc and her hadn’t thought to be on the lookout for a gas station, but instead were too focused on getting the hell out of town. By the time they pulled away from across the hardware store, there were twenty-plus of those re-animated corpses coming towards them, their arms outstretched and moaning.

“We need gas.” Signed Ridley, filling Marc in on their already dire situation.

“Ain’t that fucking great.” He replied, straightening up and looking out for the next available gas station.

“If we can’t find a gas station, we are going to have to siphon some from another car.” Said Ridley, thinking just how or where they were going to get a rubber tube to do so.

“There’s a gas station!” Marc pointed out a little too excitedly but quickly reeled it in realizing the situation we were in.

I scanned the surroundings quickly as I slowly pulled up to the gas pump, seeing that they were not out of service, and sighed a breath of relief.

“You mind pumping while I take a look around?” I asked, turning towards Marc. He looked back at me with a shocked look but composed himself and nodded.

Leaving Marc to the gas, I pulled my gun out and walked towards the little store, noticing that the door was ajar with broken glass all around. I stepped over the doorway and did my best to walk over the glass, but a few pieces still crunched under my boots. Grimacing, I waited for a second to see if anything or anyone would stir but nothing did. It was a very small store where I could see everything from the doorway except for one door that led to the back room.

Placing my hand on the doorknob, I readied myself before opening it. Taking a deep breath, I slowly opened it but before it could open an inch, something pushed up against it to shut it close. I didn’t hear a moan as I pressed my ear up to the door, so maybe somebody was alive?

“Hello? Can you hear me? Are you okay?” I asked, trying the door again, this time it wouldn’t budge.

“Get out of here!” A lady screamed from the other side.

“Ma’am, my name is Officer Ridley, I can help you.”

“Those things are going to come back, get the fuck out of here!”

“Ma’am, my partner, and I have a car. We are getting gas right now and trying to get as far away. . .” Ridley trailed off, where would they go too? Was there any place safe?

The lady was sobbing now and was distressed. Ridley knocked on the door, doing her best to stay calm and soothing.

“Please open the door, we can help you.”

The doorknob started to turn, and the door was pulled in as the lady showed herself to Ridley. This poor woman. It looked like she was wearing an oil mechanics suit, but it had been soiled and ripped in several areas. Her hair was disheveled, and her face was dirty with tear streaks running down her cheeks. She looked up at Ridley and broke out into a smile of pure relief.

“I never thought I’d see another human’s face again.” She said as she slowly walked out of the room, the smell of her unwashed body hit Ridley hard, but she kept a straight face to reassure the woman.

“Here, help me grab some food items and water and we can get the hell out of here.” Ridley suggested as she rooted around for bags or boxes to place food in.

Once the car was loaded with supplies, Ridley offered the woman a set of clean clothes for her to wear, she always kept a set of sweats in her car. Marc had introduced himself to the woman whose name was Cyndi. She was a 22-year-old woman who just moved out to the small town of Manteen after dropping out of college and breaking free of her family’s rigid rules and expectations. She had gotten a job at the gas station as a gas attendant and enjoyed the solitude of it out here, until now.

“Where are we going?” Cyndi asked timidly, looking into the rearview mirror to meet my eyes.

“I’ll be honest with you, I haven’t the faintest idea.” I replied. We all sighed in unison, where would we go exactly?

“Maybe we should focus on finding a house out here, it’s desolate, so we should be able to see if any of those things are coming from miles. I could use a place to lie down for a bit.” Marc said as he rubbed the back of his neck, showcasing that we had been in the car for too long.

“We could try my house, it’s only a few more miles down this road and I don’t have any neighbors around me for miles.” Chimed in Cyndi.

“Did you live alone?” I asked.

“Yes.” She replied.

I nodded and continued down the road towards Cyndi’s home hoping that nothing had wandered its way into or near her place.

Pulling into Cyndi’s driveway it was beginning to get dark, so Marc handed Cyndi a flashlight, and he and I both checked the ones on our guns before getting out of the car. Flashlights on, we surveyed the area slowly and carefully. The door was locked but Cyndi had a spare key she placed underneath the mat and allowed us to go in to check the place out. Upon seeing that there was no one inside, we unloaded a box of food and some water and locked the car up with the rest. We didn’t dare turn on any lights in case someone saw them and approached us. So, we closed all the blinds, which thankfully were all blackout curtains, and lit a few candles that Cyndi had stashed in case of emergencies.

We took our turns getting a quick washcloth bath in, which felt like the best thing, and were able to get into some clean clothes. Thankfully Cyndi had some of her old boyfriends’ clothes so Marc had something to wear. We gathered in Cyndi’s bedroom which had the fewest windows and was furthest from the door as we dug into an unhealthy meal of gas station delicacies. Cyndi didn’t have much difference from the gas station since she had just recently moved into this place and the food store was too far away to get to by her bicycle.

“I’ll take the first watch,” I said as I wiped some crumbs off my shirt. I got up reluctantly and walked into the living room to post up. I was beat but I wasn’t going to allow myself to fall asleep until Marc got up in a few hours. I opened the curtain slightly to look outside and all I could see was blackness with bright stars shining through. What a beautiful sight for such a fucked-up situation they were in.

In the early hours of the morning. . .

Cyndi couldn’t stop itching. The rash she developed around her wound was driving her insane. Her body was getting hot, and she was feeling uncomfortable in her clothing. She would wear less clothing but was afraid to let the others see where she was bitten. She was on the last watch waiting impatiently for the others to wake. . .

Stirring awake, the first few moments felt as though I was waking up on any regular day. Thinking about getting coffee ready, taking a morning piss, and looking forward to the workday ahead. Instead, the realization of the current state of the world hit me like a ton of bricks. I sat up and reached for my gun which was under my pillow on the bed that belonged to Cyndi. Feeling a little relieved that it was there, I got up and rubbed the sleep out of my eyes. It felt good to be able to sleep on a bed but for how long would that be manageable?

I walked into the living room finding Cyndi sitting on the couch.

“Good morning,” I said to her.

“Morning,” she replied.

I walked into the kitchen and flipped the switch, relief flooding across my face that the electricity was still working, for now. I looked through the cupboards and found some coffee and a drip pot. I set some water on the stove to boil and heard Marc walk in.

“Morning,” he said groggily, looking worse for wear but managing to give me a small smile as I turned to face him.

“How’d you sleep?” I asked as I poured the boiling water into the drip pot.

“You know, I’ve slept better but I really can’t complain, considering.” He replied as he went to look for three cups for us to pour the coffee into.

Cyndi was still out in the living room just sitting on the couch, not making a move. Just simply staring straight ahead.

“You okay?” I asked as I walked towards her with a cup offered out to her.

Caught off guard, she looked taken aback but quickly refocused upon seeing my outstretched hand.

“Thank you,” she said as she took the cup, ignoring my question completely.

We all sat in the living room enjoying our precious cups of coffee, even though it had only been two days since everything went to shit, coffee felt like such a treat. I’m sure we were all thinking, how long would this last? How long would the world be mad? How long would coffee last? How long would we be able to stay in this house? There wasn’t much to eat at the home since Cyndi just moved in, so supplies were already limited. We would need to go out but to where?

“I hate to say it but I think Marc and I will need to go out to look for supplies and to see what the situation is out here in these parts.” I said as Marc groaned loudly, I knew he would. “You can stay here and get some rest; we should be back by nightfall.”

“Okay,” she acknowledged, taking another sip of her coffee.

After our coffee and using the restroom, Marc and I loaded up into the car and headed out. Looking around in the daytime, there really wasn’t much to see around Cyndi’s house beside a few houses way off in the distance. At the end of Cyndi’s road, I looked to the right and the left, to the left, was back to the gas station, and to the right was what I expected to be a small town. I turned the blinker on to turn right and instantly felt foolish, knowing full well that turn signals no longer mattered.

A few tense minutes later we approached the outskirts of the small town, the sign outside of it stating, Welcome to Pine Cove Pop. 1,453. I momentarily stopped the car to scan the area and saw nobody milling about outside and slowly proceeded down the main road.

We parked in front of the small ma-and-pop grocery store that was supposedly named after them with the sign Jasper’s hanging over the front door. Putting the car in park, I sighed and looked over at Marc who looked worried. “Alright, let’s make sure the coast is clear first inside and then fill up a shopping cart for each of the essentials, sounds good?” I asked.

“Sounds like we have to,” Marc replied, checking his pistol.

We got into the store and slowly made our way down each aisle, thankfully there were only a few. We got to the store’s backroom within a few short minutes. I placed my hand on the back door and looked at Marc who was giving me the go-ahead. I opened it slowly and the smell hit us instantly. I wanted to gag but kept my composure as I walked through the doorway looking around for any signs of movement. There wasn’t any but Marc and I found what the smell was coming from. There were three bodies hanging from the ceiling that had soiled and wet themselves after becoming deceased. There was no air conditioning either, so the heat magnified the smell intensely. If I had to guess, I would say that this was the Jasper family taking the only way they knew how to get out of this mess.

We walked back into the main storeroom and closed the door behind us. “Well, at least the coast is clear,” I said with some uncertainly, feeling sick to my stomach. “Let’s get this shit over with.”

Marc and I each took a shopping cart and some bags along with us and started to walk around, grabbing anything of use; water, canned goods, toilet paper, coffee, cigarettes, rubbing alcohol, band-aids, etc.

After we got everything loaded into the car, we got into the front seats and took long deep breaths. “Shit, that was probably the most intense thing I’ve ever done,” Marc said as he fished out a bottle of water to sip from.

“I agree, I’m just thankful there were no more of those things around,” I replied as I started the car up and turned around to get back to Cyndi’s house. I found it odd that we didn’t encounter any of those things here today. Where were they hiding? What the fuck was going on?

Pulling into the driveway, I turned the ignition off and stared for a second at the front window, noticing that the curtains were moving slightly, as though someone were pressing up against them. That’s odd, I thought as I got out of the car.

“Marc, do you see that?” I asked as I walked closer to the house.

“Yeah, that’s odd. What do you think Cyndi is doing in there?” He responded.

I walked up to the door and opened it slowly, walking over the threshold and looking towards the living room. Cyndi was up against the window as if she were trying to claw her way out of it and uttering a slow guttural moan. My hand went to my gun reflexively as I called her name out softly, “Cyndi?”

She turned towards me, her eyes giving me a blank stare but her mouth was opening up to moan even louder upon seeing me. She came towards me with her hands outstretched, continually moaning. Fuck, I thought as I drew my gun up and aimed at her leg, firing. She went down fast but after only a few short seconds, she started to get back up to the best of her ability. She dragged her shot leg behind her, reaching out towards me while moaning ever louder. I raised my gun higher this time and shot her in the chest. She kept her footing during the blow but continued as if she was never shot. Finally, I aimed for her head, fired, and this time she didn’t move again.

One month later. . .

I opened my eyes and quickly seizing my gun, aimed it toward the entrance where Marc and I shared a room in an abandoned building. We left Cyndi’s house shortly after burying her body in the backyard. After that, we packed up all the necessary items in the car and took off for a destination unknown. I just didn’t feel right about staying in a deceased person’s house, especially one they had interacted with, no matter how short-lived. Sweeping my gun across the opening, I saw nor heard anything. Maybe it was all in my head. Maybe this whole end-of-the-world situation was really getting to me. Who knew that this was the future?

“Did you hear something?” Marc asked as he sat up to rub his eyes.

“I’m not entirely sure but I don’t think there’s anything there,” I responded, tucking my gun away.

“We really need to find some water today; my pee has been one scary ass color these past few days.” Marc snickered as he stood up to stretch.

“I know, we are going out today to look,” I replied softly. I wasn’t sure where we were going to find water and had been stressing about it the past few days. If they stayed in the city, the possibility of them finding bottles is slim with the added risk of more of the undead. If they left the city, then maybe, just maybe, they could find a well or body of water to boil water from. There were no definite answers, the uncertainty of either trip made me cringe and groan internally.

Marc pulled out a makeshift map they both drew up of their surrounding area. They would focus on a new area each day and add more to the map as they continued to explore. So far, the map was sketched out to include roughly 20 blocks. I looked down at the map, the only thing that seemed to push me to get back out there. We were putting in too much time and effort to not be rewarded soon, right?

Getting ready, I holstered my gun after checking it and cleaned up my bedding, placing it into my backpack. After packing up, we headed out west to explore more. Water was the most important thing on our list, but they could use some other things besides more food; toothbrushes, toothpaste, clean clothes, a bed, etc. Sometimes I wish that we had stayed at Cyndi’s but then again, how long would that have really lasted? They would have had to leave eventually, especially with how far away the house was located from anywhere.

It was roughly 8 in the morning, the sun was up and shining, and sweat was starting to bead on the back of my neck as we continued down the main street, keeping a vigilant eye out. This city was in ruins. After leaving Cyndi’s, they decided to head over to the biggest city nearby, Tahoe. The biggest meaning, its population was approximately 50,000. They arrived here a few weeks ago and were able to find water for the first couple of weeks but then it seemed like they all disappeared. They never even found empty bottles.

Nervous about whether today will be another bust, I gritted my teeth and continued. I didn’t want to give off any sort of desperation, for my own sanity and for Marc’s. Reaching the street, they visited yesterday, they made a right and headed towards a grocery store. Much bigger than Jasper’s, which meant there would be more places for those things to hide in there. Shuddering, Ridley peeked through the doors but couldn’t see anything since the power was out and unfortunately, the sun wasn’t coming up in the right direction to lend its light.

Looking back at Marc, I gave him that determined look of confidence as I reached out to grab the door handle. Pulling it open, I gripped my gun harder as I slowly advanced into the store. The place was a wreck. There were groceries strewn about, blood had been thrashed about, and there were a couple of bodies lying down in some of the aisles.

Taking it slow, we made our way throughout the store, checking for any signs of movement. Our main concerns were those lying down, just because they were doing so, did not mean that they were not dead.

A couple of weeks ago, on an outing out east, they came upon a couple of those bodies. Slowly approaching them, I cautiously kicked one with my foot. The speed that hand had when it shot out and grabbed my ankle, made me scream and fall backward, my foot still in its grip. I kicked his head in with my other foot and afterward held my ankle for what felt like an eternity. Marc ran over to check in on me and after seeing the scene, just kneeled and laid his hand on my shoulder.

One of those things had never touched me before until that moment. I could still feel its hold on my ankle at times. That alone has caused me to wake up in alarm every day since. Coming back to the moment, I continued staring down at the unmoving body. Eventually, I grabbed a nearby broom and poked it, but nothing stirred. I poked it again, again nothing. Sighing, I placed the broom back and continued with the search.

Looking around, I couldn’t see Marc anywhere, that’s odd. He doesn’t usually leave a room unless he informs me first. Scanning the area, I noticed a black doorway in the back of the store. Staying wary, I made my way to the doorway, stopping for a second outside before going in. Besides the usual rank, there were no smells to cause alarm. Living in the city really builds up your immunity to smelling death every day.

“Marc?” I called out quietly.

Turning on my light, I walked over the threshold. Scanning my light, I didn’t see much but a desk that was disheveled, some bloody prints, and someone kneeling over something. . .

Approaching the back of the figure, I called out Marc’s name again.

“Marc?”

Upon hearing my voice, the being turned around and gave a blood-curdling howl. My eyes wide open, I looked down at where the thing had been kneeling and saw Marc’s face just staring up towards the ceiling, unblinking. I trained my gun on the zombie and pulled the trigger.

I’m all alone in this world. . .