Rise of the dead.

The radio got our attention by creating static. Jess and I paid attention closely. “This emergency alert is being broadcasted to all the survivors out there. This is a national crisis and threat to every single one of you listening. It seems that a virus has spread to humans that has turned them into monsters. The safe zone is The Field Museum of Natural History located on Lake Shore Drive in Chicago, Illinois. Bring only necessities and please leave your injured loved ones behind. We have a SWAT Team right outside the museum and they will check to see if you and others are injured. I hope you arrive safely,” the man finished, and the static signal came on again. I turned the radio off and looked at Jess.

“Well, we’ve got what we need in this car. We just need to add some gas to your car because it’s about to die, and then find the safe zone,” she replied. I nodded in agreement. Jess looked up The Field Museum on my GPS and put it on the dashboard. I drove around deserted cars and loose limbs of people. I found Marathon ahead, so I pulled into the gas station and parked in front of a pump.

“Give me a gun,” I said. “And my credit card.”

“Really Joanna?” she replied. “You’re going to pay for your gas at a time like this?” she asked incredulously.

“Yes. I am a law-abiding citizen,” I replied defensively. I threw her ten bucks. “Hey, put this in the cash register and get me a pack of Newports. And a lighter.”

“Law-abiding citizen, my ass. You’re not old enough to smoke.”

“Shut up,” I merely responded, as I swiped my card and started pumping gas into the car. I heard a gun shot from inside the store, and Jess run out with my Newports and a Zippo lighter.

“Some zombie was chilling there. Here’s your cancer,” she replied, hastily throwing it at me.

“Why, thank you.” I lit one up, and smoked it while the car was finally filled with gas. I took the receipt and got into the car. Throwing the pack of cigarettes into the back along with the receipt, I shifted to drive, and was about to speed away but a girl ran in front of our car, with a zombie chasing after her. I saw that she wasn’t hurt, so I opened the back door. She threw herself in, and I shut it on the zombie’s hand.

“Holy shit! His hand came off! It’s in the car!”

“Throw that out Jess!” I yelled, as I sped away from the twitching body. Jess did as I said, and the girl in the back was panting heavily, looking at us with wild eyes.

“T-thank you for saving me,” she whispered.

“Yeah, yeah. Who are you?” Jess snapped impatiently.

“My name is Nory.” The girl fixed her shirt that had shifted to the side as she was running. “What about you guys? And where are we headed off to?”

“I’m Jess, that’s Joanna,” Jess dully explained. I nodded when Jess pointed at me and said my name. “We’re going to the safe house.” A zombie appeared out of nowhere and I didn’t have enough time to slam on the brakes, so I simply ran him over. Nory inhaled audibly.

“Where’s that?” she asked.

“Field Museum,” I curtly answered. I maneuvered around more abandoned cars that were strewn all over the highway.

“Turn left at Exit 152B,” the navigator spoke. I sharply turned to the exit, and landed on Lake Shore Drive. I saw a few zombies clustered around a tree and clawing at it. I rolled my window down, grabbed my pistol, and double tapped all of them. Someone jumped from the tree, and looked around. They finally spotted our car. I stopped. Nory opened the car door, and the boy sprinted to the car. He threw himself in, and I drove off once again as he closed the door.

“Thanks for that dude,” he said. “I’m Luna.”

“Joanna,” I replied. “No problem.”

“I assume we’re heading to the safe house,” he said, checking something on his phone.

“You assume correctly,” Nory said. Her stomach growled.

“There’s some food in the purple backpack. Don’t touch the Ring Pops though. They’re mine,” Jess hissed. Nory grabbed a few Slim Jims, Luna took a protein bar, and Jess opened her Ring Pop hastily and shoved it in her mouth. Luna passed me my cigarettes and lighter, so I smoked one of my Newports.

“Battery low. Goodbye,” said the GPS.

“No!” Jess and I screamed. The GPS’s blinding screen turned black and all four of us stared at it.

“Fan-fucking-tastic,” Jess said, throwing out her half-finished Ring Pop. I nodded in agreement.

“Help!” we heard someone shout from nearby. There was a boy running away from a fast zombie which was right on his tail.

“Holy fuck,” Nory squealed. Jess took her shotgun, turned it sideways, and shot it at the zombie, barely missing the boy’s shoulder. The boy finally stood and looked at the body, but it lashed out and caught his legs. Jess shot it in the hand and head one more time. It laid still as the boy detached the zombie’s arm from his leg. He stared at it in silence. He awoke from whatever trance he was in when Jess yelled at him and jogged towards the car. Another fast zombie zoomed out of the bushes, but the blonde stranger had shut the door. I slammed on the gas pedal and the zombie was left standing alone.

“Thank you so much,” he said.

“Wow, I’ve been getting a lot of those today. More than in my lifetime…Oh, you’re welcome,” she finished off. I lit up another cigarette. The new boy looked at my pack longingly and I just threw it in his lap as I kept driving down Lakeshore, looking for familiar places.

Shakily, he grabbed one of my Newports and lit it. He inhaled deeply and exhaled audibly with a smile on his face. He inhaled once again, and made a few doughnuts before passing the lighter and box back with a nod. “What’s your name, boy?” I asked.

“Sean,” he said, inhaling deeply one drag right after another.

“Take your time on that cig. I’m still willing to share if you want more.” He nodded shyly and took smaller intakes of the burning cigarette. “Sean, you know where the safe house is?” I asked.

Sean nodded, and blew the smoke towards the front. Jess coughed and he apologized. “It’s up another two miles. But the radio mentioned to walk the mile before it.” I nodded while thinking about what he said. I threw my cigarette butt out of the window and Sean did the same. “So, what are all of your names? You guys all friends?”

“No,” Luna said. Everyone introduced themselves. Jess explained that she and I are best friends who were hanging out when the zombie outbreak happened and that we picked up Luna and Nory. Sean nodded in acknowledgement.

“It’s been a mile. We have to move by foot now,” Sean said. I parked the car. Jess passed out guns to the three of them and handed me my backpack as she put her backpack on her shoulders. “They told us to watch out for zombies because they’re all in this mile radius because they know people are going to the Field Museum. Most of them are slow and easy to kill, but you saw the fast ones I had. Some of them are extremely fast. We have to be careful.” We all nod slightly.

“Let’s just walk, and if we see a motherfucker, you shoot him or run the fuck away,” Jess bluntly stated. I chuckled as everyone nodded with a small sign of amusement stretched across their faces. I leave the car open and the keys in the ignition since I won’t be needing it and it wasn’t mine to begin with.

We all walked efficiently. We passed a big fountain and there was a little boy standing there looking at us with wet eyes. “Are you okay?” Nory cooed at the baby and ran towards it, and hugged it.

“Don’t! We have to check—,” Sean’s yell died in his throat. The baby bit into her neck, and Nory was screaming with anger. The baby was fiercely biting off all that he could get.

“Run, we can’t help her now,” Jess said. She turned on her heel, and ran. The three of us followed suite. We passed a park and there were lots of zombies just standing around. Sean held up his pointer finger to his mouth, signaling to be quiet. Jess and I grabbed our backpacks in our hands so they wouldn’t make as much noise. We all tip-toe ran past the park. Jess’s gun fell out of her jeans’ pocket. A nearby zombie heard and growled. The rest of them turned to look at us and stared running towards us. “Fuck,” she said, dropping her backpack and running. She wouldn’t have enough time to bend down and pick up her gun. These zombies were as fast as an average human, maybe even faster. Luna, Sean, and I sprinted and occasionally shot at any zombies that would get too close to Jess. I could see the SWAT team from far away in a line with shields and guns.

“Run faster bitch!” I yelled out of fear. Jess was slowing down and zombies were on her tail. I tried getting a zombie close to her but I just heard a click in my gun. “Shit, it’s done!” I screeched. I threw it down on the ground, and turned around and focused on running.

“Fuck it. Sacrifice!” Jess yelled in anger.

“Don’t!” I yelled, but it was too late. Jess slowed down to a jog and a zombie instantly bit her shoulder. She fell to the ground, and the zombies continued chasing after us. There was only five left out of the twenty that were chasing us. The sun was setting, and they all had an orange glow. I heard gun shots that got all of the five remaining zombies down. Luna didn’t have a gun either. Sean had his but was looking around confused. The SWAT Team must have shot them down for us. I looked at Jess who was foaming at the mouth. “Jess!” my raw voice broke and I started to silently cry. Sean looked down at her with sad eyes, and she merely mouthed ‘Please shoot’. Sean shot her in the head, and she stopped moving. Sean closed her eyes. A SWAT member came towards us, and grabbed the three of us.

“The three of you quickly must go inside the museum. Now!” he barked. I wiped away my tears and walked slowly away from Jess’s dead body with Sean and Luna on my two sides.

“Rest in peace Jess,” I whispered as I was greeted with familiar and different faces once I entered the museum with a red, tear-stained face. “I'm really going to miss you.”