Zombie Hope- Ch 1

Chapter One: Let's start with the beginning

It's been over five weeks since I've been infected. When the infection began, that first week I was alone. Two weeks later, I'm bit.
There's been rumors going around that the government has created a cure, but they needed a live specimen to test. Which meant they had to head out of their "safe" zone and into the field. They couldn't go to the army; it was practically overrun. So, they've sent small squadrons of troops to head out and capture some of us. Try to capture some of us that is. They've failed several times... many do not come back.
There are those among the undead who still cling to their humanity. Very, very few. I am one of them and I am hoping that this recording gets put to whoever because I do not know what will become of me. I can feel the hunger. Always gnawing at the back of my brain. It's just binding its time. I can literally feel my humanity slipping away from me. Slowly slipping out of my grasp.
I-I don't know how much time I have left, so please, sit and listen to me for a few hours. No doubt you're inside a safe room protected with at least ten inches of steel between you and the undead. Let's start with the beginning......

Six weeks ago.....

The first thing that happened to those who got it were symptoms of the flu. A really, really bad flu. That's what everybody thought it was. The flu.
It was nearly the end of my junior year. I had just gotten my permit and I had  just turned seventeen.
Less and less kids showed up at school. Everyone was missing more days than normal. Houses began to have signs out on their lawns. Quarantine they said. Stay away. Far away they said. Nobody was out on the streets except those crazy nutters that you see every so often, spouting nonsense at anyone who would hear them. "The zombie apocalypse is coming!!" screamed one as I was walking home from school one day. Thank god a friend of mine decided to walk with me. It actually happened to be my Physics partner, Cane.
He knew that me and this other kid named Jason Mallenray were kinda dating so he knew I was both off limits and somewhat available. We were both talking about this big physics exam we were to have in a couple weeks. God, I'd give anything to even take an exam right now. "Stock up now! While you still have chance!" the nutter screamed at us. "If there was a zombie apocalypse, wouldn't we be seeing legions of the undead walking around trying to eat out our brains?" Can asked the guy. "The only reason why you're not seeing the undead is because the government is taking those who are infected with the virus away. Away to labs to be tested. Quarantined. You name it, they're probably doing it."
"If the government is quarantining people, why haven't we noticed?" I asked him. "Because they're doing it secretly!" the man said, lowering his voice as if we were going to be overheard. "Look," Cane spoke up, "We really have to get going. Goodbye, sir." With that, Cane steered us away from the crazy man. "You'll all be doomed! Condemned to walk the earth as one of the living dead!" the man screamed. Then Cane did something I never thought he'd ever do: he didn't look back but gave the man the finger as we walked home.
That man had no idea how right he was. We were condemned to walk the earth, with an unsatisfied hunger. We were all screwed.

Sorry, I'm getting ahead of myself. So, basically all that filled the streets were the "crazies" as my dad dubbed them. The people who were handing out zombie survival guides and gear. All that was nothing compared to their shrieking, though. They never shut up. Not even at night.
One night, about a couple days later, several men in army fatigues were over at my neighbor's house. They knocked several times, loud enough to wake the dead. Pardon the pun. Suddenly, they  knocked down her door and went on through. The next that I saw shocked me. People ran out. People that looked starved, sick, and scarily thin. People that were being shot at. This whole scene was playing out beneath my bedroom window.
Then, I did something really stupid. I opened my window and screamed, "What the fuck are you doing?!" Everybody stopped and looked at the girl in a gray tank and polar bear PJs. "Get back inside!" screamed one the army men, jolting everybody out of the stupor they were in. The thin people shrieked an inhuman shriek that immediately reminded me of the Flood. (Yes, I am still a hard core Halo fan!) The Flood were zombies. These people sounded like the flood.
"Ah fuck berries," I muttered as soon as I put two and two together. A couple marines took the few spare seconds to wipe out the zombies that were heading towards my house. I was hiding underneath my windowsill until the shooting stopped. I peeked back out. The marine that yelled at me was glaring at me. I gave him a sheepish smile. "You did not see anything here. Nothing, do you hear?!" he snapped. My response was to close and lock my windows.

This happened the rest of the week. Later one night, I woke up from a restless nap to hear my parents yelling. For the past couple of days, they were going at it. Here's the thing: Mom wanted to leave, but Dad wanted to stay and wait for rescue. My mom nearly screamed at that part in frustration. All I wanted to do was play some Firefight in Reach. Upgrade my shields and weapons and be one unstoppable, badass spartan.
Too bad I wasn't one of those spartans. I sulked in my bedroom. I took up my sketchbook and flipped through the pages. I had been locked up in my room, expecting the worst. I had done my homework out of pure boredom, then I had doodled some in my sketchbook. None of it was really good.
"Screw this," I muttered. I was getting really sick and tired of waiting for someone to come rescue us so I grabbed my messenger bag and began to put stuff in it. A change of clothes, travel toothbrush and paste, travel shampoo and conditioner, cellphone, chargers for my phone and ipod, ipod, got my kindle and charger. I also grabbed my camera. Hey, you never know when you'd need the flash. After packing the necessities, I walked quietly down the stairs. The yelling stopped.
Crouching at the end of the beginning of the first flight of stairs, I watched my mom smooth down her hair and walk over to the door. She opened it. There in the doorway was a marine in fatigues who pretty fatigued himself. He didn't look half bad either. Probably in his mid-twenties. "Excuse me, ma'am. My CO thought he heard some yelling a little while ago. Something happen?" he asked. "No, sir," my mom answered straight faced, "My husband and I just had a little tiff, that's all." Then she smiled all sweet-like.
I rolled my eyes. Obviously, this man had some pretty good eyes to detect my eye-rolling. My eyes widened as I caught him looking at me. He winked at me as if to say "I'm not gonna blow your cover" and then smiled. Then he went out the door. Mom closed the door and sighed. "We cannot stay here forever, John, we can't." John was my dad's name. Maddy was my mom's.
I quietly crept upstairs and into my parents' bedroom to the gun vault in their closet. I already knew the combination. Don't ask, besides I won't tell. I opened it and took out a standard-issue police shotgun and a SMG. I grabbed two pistols as well. Stuffing several clips and shells into my bag, I left a note for my parents. Telling them that I was fine and that they could always call me. All that stuff.
Then, I undid my screen on the window and slipped out. Just as I climbed up onto a neighbor's eave, I heard footsteps. I immediately crouched down and hid in the shadows. A shadow passed on the sidewalk and then the body followed. It was the marine from my house. I must have shifted my foot or something because a couple pieces of gravel slipped out and clattered to the ground. The marine quickly swiveled in my direction. "Who's there?" he called out. "Uh... a flesh-eating zombie?" I answered.
The marine laughed. "Come out," he called softly. I peeked out. "Hi!" I said freakily happy. He cocked an eyebrow and walked up over to me. "What are you doing out here?" he asked, "You're going to get killed." I shook my head. "I came prepared." I patted my bag. "Uh huh," said the marine. He just smiled. "Aren't ya gonna report me or something?" I asked. Generally, when somebody(i.e. me) is outside at dark, the marines normally report them to their CO. I don't even want to know what'll happen next. That was just a precaution, to prevent others from getting infected.
The marine shook his head. "Anyway, you're heading in the direction of a military outpost. You'll be able to see it in the morning." With that, he handed me a map with a big red circle in the middle. "You see? That's the outpost. We're here." He pointed about four to five miles south. Then, he started walking off. "Wait!" I called after him. He stopped. "Thanks," I said. He nodded and said a good night and for me to be careful. We went our separate ways.

In the morning, I woke up on a rooftop with a sore back.  I stretched and ate a quick breakfast. I must have traveled  at least three miles last night before I fell asleep. I took out the map and nearly freaked. There were black circles all around the area. Black circles meant hives. Hives meant packed up zombies in one area. "Just my luck," I muttered.

I crept down a fire escape onto the ground. I walked a couple of steps and stopped. A soup can rolled out from one alley. I tiptoed over and nearly ran the other way. There was a zombie digging throughout a dumpster. It found a cereal box and tried to shake out what was left of the cereal which is to say that there wasn't much to shake out. I watched it. Then, it lifted its head and sniffed the air. I suddenly recognized it... him.
Jason. Jason Mallenray. Oh fuck, my boyfriend's a zombie.
Well, technically he's not my official "boyfriend"..... Still, it freaked me out. Jason looked straight at me. I let out this pathetic EEP! noise and he charged at me. I took off down the alley with my zombie semi-boyfriend after me. If I could scream, I would've the entire way. I had slung my shotgun over my back with my messenger bag bouncing along.
I took a turn and I came to a dead end. "Oh no no no no no!" I said, panicking. I saw a ladder but it was too high up for me to reach. I turned around to face down my enemy. If I was going down, I'd be taking him down with me. Jace just stood there watching me as I watched him. "Well?!" I snapped. That seemed to knock him out of his little trance that he was in. "Don't shoot," came a voice. It was from Jace. "Say wha-?" I said. "Don't shoot," Jace repeated and held up his hands. "Yeah, like that was the first thought I had in mind," I told him sarcastically.
"Alli," he warned me. His use of my nickname startled me. Suddenly, he brushed past me and began to stack boxes. I swiveled my shotgun in his direction. "Do you even know how to fire that thing?" he asked me over his shoulder. "Actually, I do know how to," I replied, "Remember this, I am NOT some little idiotic blonde girl, 'kay?"
Us going back and forth like this almost felt normal. "Remind me... Why are you doing this?" I asked him. "A horde is coming," he said simply. "Oh," was all I said. Once he was done, I heard several shrieks nearby. "Go up, the ladder," Jace said, giving me a little push. I jumped on the boxes and up the ladder. I looked down in time to see him knock down the boxes.
Then I saw the horde. I was hella glad that I avoided that mess. I continued my trek towards the military outpost and quickened my pace when I heard the sound of gunfire. I nearly ran down a fire escape and was about to jump onto the ground when something slimy wrapped around me and tightened like a boa constricted. "Help!" I croaked out. Through the smoke, I saw two figures heading towards me. I called out again till I was released.
I crawled out and sat down. "Thanks," I rasped. "Well, look who made it this far," said a voice. "Nah," I said as I recognized the voice. It was the marine who helped me. "Hey Maya, might wanna check her out first before she joins," came an unseen figure. A woman of a about twenty two crouched down in front of me. "I'm Maya and you are?" she asked.
"I'm Allison Mckendra. Call me Alli," I said. "Well Alli," Maya said, "Welcome to the Survivors."