In the end there was One

The world has gone quiet after the virus was announced. They survived the first few weeks untouched but now Toni, Mike, Kara and Lydia must face their fears and venture out into the unknown. How wil

The shadows of the pine trees left Toni questioning his sanity. The arms of the dead trees seemed to scrape at the wind as if controlled by some contemptuous demon intent of dragging him to a fiery hell. But alas that would have been a sweet release. He had survived, that is all that had mattered in the beginning. Survival. Yet now it seemed a very much a hollow victory.  Toni gazed out across the grey and desolate city knowing what lay dwelling in the darkness of those streets. The limbs of the dead flashed in his memory, scalding is foolishness for thinking about it all again.

  They had begun as four, four friends who had survived against the odds. When the government had released the news that the city had been breached by a flesh eating virus that killed the host but then resurrected them as feral beasts with the desire for flesh, Toni, Kara, Lydia and Mike had crammed the basement of Toni's house with enough supplies to last them a few weeks and hunkered down for the wait. But fate had a different plan for them all. After the first few weeks the radio station stopped broadcasting which was followed by rolling blackouts, which finally ended in total electrical fallout. As they began to realise candles only work for so long. The decision was made that they would have to leave and head for the quickest way out of town, if there was a way out. The few radio broadcasts they had received had held disturbing and terrifying news. At first they were about staying indoors and keeping out of sight. They then went on to cover any symptoms or questionable activity in your area. But what finally tipped the scales was when the broadcaster in mid sentence began warning the people of a wall being built around the city and citizens being shot in the streets by government men in hazmat suits. This was shortly followed by radio silence, and when the presenter returned they had replaced him with a slow speaking robotic like government lackey who reminded everyone to stay indoors and keep calm. He could still remember the look on Kara’s face when the signal had ended, how they all knew what had actually happened. So as the group started their escape with two rifles from Mike’s dad’s gun store and a pistol they found in a box marked miscellaneous, they unlocked the industrial metal door of the basement and began theTheir assent. The world was silent, like a western tumbleweed moment before John Wayne wandered into shot.  It all seemed surreal for the first couple of minutes before they had their first encounter. Kara had stopped at her parents’ house two doors down to see if anyone was around and to collect a few belongings. They had been standing in her open plan kitchen when the patio doors erupted in a torrent of glass as two walking corpses barrelled their way into the house. Mike had the first shot off before anyone could react. Mike had grown up as a single child with only his dad to care for him. Most of his adult life had consisted of strip clubs, gun ranges and bars. So when it came to fire power he was one of the best if not the best trained marksman in the county and he had four medals for marksmanship on his mantle piece to prove it. The first shot had sent the larger of the two corpses back through the now open patio doors, while the second shot  ripped the head from the second corpses shoulders leaving a fountain of blood the decorate the once immaculate marble flooring. They realised that their position had now been compromised and it was a fight for survival from here on out. Running from the house Toni had grabbed the keys to Kara's dads '69 mustang and was now in the process of getting the machine started. With a deafening roar the car burst into life and they were off again this time ready for what was to come, or so they thought...

After twenty minutes of continuous foot to the floor driving Toni eased off the accelerator to let himself think. They had passed no one, not even the living dead seemed to prowl the streets. The roads were mostly clear apart from a few over turned cars or cars that had been brushed to the side, obviously by some army vehicle or bulldozer. As they reached the centre of the city everything changed. The roads grew busier and more than once they had to stop and retrace their path. It was on forty Seventh Street that they were in the process of turning back due to a five car pileup when Lydia noticed the little girl crouching at the side of the road. She screamed for Toni to stop. Feeling the urgency in her tone, Toni hit the brakes a little too abruptly causing everyone to slam forward. Before anyone could stop her Lydia had left the car and was running full sprint towards the fragile child who now lay in the foetal position facing the wall of the building. It was at this point you could see how physically fit Lydia was. After joining the women’s basketball team and competing to a high level in the hundred metre sprint, there was no questioning Lydia's physical ability as she closed the gap between the car and the girl in less than a few seconds. It was at this point that they noticed the wall behind them come alive as corpses came to life and started towards the four. Lydia neared the girl and was in mid motion to pick up the little body when the child rounded on her like a cornered cat. The little girl (whose left arm and face had been scraped down to the bone revealing her jaw and elbow joints) began tearing chunks of Lydia’s left calf and thigh with her teeth. While dragging the ravenous child along behind her Lydia screamed back at the car. They all froze; no one could move or say anything but one thing they did realise was that Lydia was gone. As she slowed to a hobble her eyes now streaming tears from the pain and realisation of her fate, Lydia collapsed and lay still on the asphalt just as the wave of corpses washed over the mustang. Nails, teeth, and bones all three scraped at the outside of the vehicle and all three inside huddled desperately in the front seat hoping for a way out. They could count how many now circled the car at least forty and ten of which were on the roof or hood continually scraping away at the chance of a fresh meal. Toni put the key in the ignition and turned but nothing happened, he turned again but the engine remained still. It was then that the rear left window exploded inwards as the hands of at least five corpses came scrambling in grasping at whatever their reach would allow. Mike was in the back seat and had the rifle aimed out the window as he began firing at the continuous wave of fresh targets.  Toni felt the pressure well inside realising that this could be his fate. As he took a deep breath and turned the key for the third time the engine replied with a subtle cough and then the heart warming roar of the v8 engine followed. Slamming both feet on the accelerator, they shot through the wall of bodies and came face to face with Lydia’s corpse now white eyed and foaming at the mouth. Without any hesitation Toni ploughed the Mustang into their friends body turning most of what remained into a fine jelly. As they cleared forty Seventh Street Kara began to sob uncontrollably as she gazed out of the side window into the bleak streets.  "She’s gone, you killed her... she’s gone".

 

No one spoke for the next thirty minutes as they reached the city limits sign. All of a sudden Mike told Toni to stop and pull over. As he did Mike opened the door and got out. Kara noticed him limping and as the realisation welled up inside her she slowly started to whimper in tears. Toni dragged himself from the driver’s seat and walked out to stand next to Mike on the edge of the road. "This is my stop buddy. No point going any further, ill only slow you down or worse have you for lunch”. He looked down and saw the pool of blood that had formed on his thigh, slowly beginning to congeal. It was at that point that Toni began to cry as his friend turned away and began to slowly walk back the way they had come. All he could do was stand and watch as his friend headed into the sunset, he didn’t even call after him or stop the insanity. He knew there was nothing he could do but it still tore him up inside. As they started off for the countryside Kara could see a wall contrasting against the sky in the distance. As they drew closer they both soon realised what the wall was. It was a fence to the outside world. The radio presenter hadn’t been joking when he said they had fenced them in. The old saying like lambs to the slaughter crept into Toni's head like some sick joke. He stopped a hundred yards from the wall to see what options they had now. As he walked slowly towards the gate he looked up at the unmanned towers and the deserted outposts. Something wasn’t right the sickening feeling in his stomach only added to the tension as he neared the door. He combed over the access door but only found a security panel which when he entered some number sequences responded each time with a defiant buzz. Toni began to kick and slam at the door; he ripped at the hinges with his fingers until they bled; He grabbed a piece of metal from the ground and began hacking and slashing at the frame; He swung the rifle from his shoulder and took two shots at both locks. But nothing stirred within the metal. It was as he slid down the door defeated and beaten that he noticed the numbers scraped into the dirt eight, seven, four, one... He stood now with confidence and tapped the code into the security panel. The door shuddered and opened with a slight screech as the metal rubbed against metal. As he looked back to call to Kara he saw her sprinting flat out for the door with a horde of corpses close on her tail. Toni screamed for her to run as he stood through the doorway one hand on the emergency close button. He could see the terror on Kara's face as she closed the gap between her and the door. He began to count down in his head thirty yards... 25 yards... 15 yards as she neared the door the closes corpse lunged and caught her ankle throwing Kara off balance. As her shoulder grazed the frame of the door, she threw her hand out to grasp for something to wrench her free from the corpses death grip. Toni watched it happen in slow motion as she kicked and crawled the last few yards fighting every inch of the way as he stood frozen to the spot watching her lose her fight for life. She crossed the exit as the second corpse grabbed her right leg and began to pull her back. Her once beautiful nails dug grooves in the metal frame as the inches she had fought for slowly slipped away. Kara looked up at Toni and her gaze seemed to tear into his very soul looking for something to make him help her but she found nothing. As Kara realised her end was imminent, she fixed Toni with a smile and let go of the door frame. He punched down on the emergency close button before the screams began.  The ground rose up to meet him as Toni slipped into unconsciousness.

 

He woke cold and stiff, but alive. The reality of the situation slowly came back to him as he recollected the last twelve hours of his life. It was dark now; he couldn’t determine how long he had lain on the ground for. All he knew was that he was safe. Dragging himself from the ground Toni began to walk towards the tree line. The hill was steep as he slowly trudged his way to the summit in a trance like state. He closed of his mind to the trauma and the pain and just focused on making it to the top. A voice in the back of his head kept reassuring him that he was alive, that he had survived and to be happy. Yet he had lost so much in order to survive. The last images of his friends began to circle in his mind. Lydia’s demonic face as he drove a ton of motor vehicle into her. Mike's acceptance as he slowly walked back into hell. Kara’s smile seemed to haunt him somehow as the summit of this little hill came into view. He was almost climbing the last twenty yards or so. She was smiling as she was dragged to certain death and he had stood and watched it happen knowing that he could have decided whether she lived or died. The thought overwhelmed him as he lay down on a clearing looking out over the silent city. The spot he chose had once been a family picnic area but years of vandalism and neglect had rendered it useless and a shadow of its former glory. The sun was due to make its debut on the world as Toni lay down and closed his eyes. He wiped away the last tears and the last memories of his friends and waited for the sunrise.

As the light swept across the world Toni loaded the pistol that he had found in the basement what seemed like a lifetime ago. The four rounds were loaded and the gun was cocked. Rising to his feet he uttered no prayers no last minute words of regret. As he raised the pistol above his head and fired into the air once, twice, three times. He lowered the gun to his temple and gazed upon the new day as he made it his last. The fourth shot seemed to ring out across the city. His body crumpled to the floor. Yet before the dust had settled there was a whistle from a falling object which could be heard in the distance, like a stone dropped from a great height. The bomb struck down town and immersed the world in fire erasing the house, that car, the wall and everything in-between almost as if wiping the slate clean.

Author's Note

looking for some pointers and thoughts on ideas ect. glad for any feedback as really wanting to branch out in my writing.