zombies, dude

Date: 10/8/2021

A zombie plague was tearing across the U.S., so the government rounded up everyone who wasn’t infected and had them live cities surrounded by huge walls. The zombies were surprisingly human-like and very sociable, so it was hard to tell who was infected unless they were tested. However, one major give-away was the fact that zombies had the overwhelming urge to tackle, bite, and otherwise maim people whenever the sun began to set. Until that happened, they didn’t seem to be aware they were infected (even if their flesh was decaying out from under them), but felt compelled to be around people constantly. If a zombie was discovered, quarantined, and treated early enough, they could potentially recover and be normal people again. But it was really difficult to restrain and isolate them without using extreme force. One evening I was walking with a friend. She was being unusually touchy and kept trying to hug me. It was starting to weird me out, so I told her to stop—but that made her lash out in anger and, seemingly, fear. She began foaming at the mouth and crying out in pain. She grabbed at me and I kept shoving her back, careful to avoid her jaws. By now we were starting to get attention from others who were near by, and everyone soon realized what was happening. People started running, trying to get as far from the zombie as possible. I ran away too, though my zombified friend called out for me in anguish. I just tried to ignore her, fighting back the urge to help her. As the sun fell below the horizon, I finally made it home. When I opened the door and rushed inside, I found my mom and brother glued to the T.V. They were watching the news, which had just announced that the virus was now spreading through the air—not just bites. That’s how it was able to get beyond the walls. My family all agreed that we needed to get somewhere far away to ride out this plague. So we all hopped in the car and left the sanctuary of the walls. Eventually we came to a motel in the middle of the desert, where we got a room. The problem was there was a family already there who refused to leave, insisting on sharing the room. We figured out pretty quickly that they were zombies and fought them off long enough to close and barricade the door.