Red at Day

In two days, we'll have spent a week waiting for anyone to arrive. No one has mentioned the lack of people showing up. Zaida has been beside herself waiting for Dakota. She would keep looking out the windows hoping that he'd stumble out from behind a tree. Eventually we had to tell her to move away from them in case a zombie saw her. Now she sits on the stairs in front of the door, hoping he'll just walk through any minute.
“Annabelle, can you come see this?” Paris asks. I nod and follow her outside, carrying a piece of toast I was hoping to finish. As we walk the leaves crunch from underneath our feet. The world that was once brown and dying, is once again being filled with life. The trees have begun to bud and the temperature has slightly risen. It feels like it wasn't that long ago that this place was covered in snow. Maybe that's how this will turn out. Although everything has died, life returns and creates something new and beautiful. I want to believe that. I have to with what's going on.
“This is it,” Paris says, once we reach the back of the house. Adriel is waiting for us. In the small clearing between the house and the trees is a dead body. It doesn't belong to anyone we know, but it lays face down in our home's earth. Not even our home can stay untouched from all this madness.
“They're starting to make their way here,” Adriel says, “I don't know how much longer we'll be safe here.”
“I'll talk to everyone about leaving early...” I say, “I just...”
“We're all worried about Zaida,” Paris sighs, “But even she should know that we can't wait for a bunch of zombies to come by and attack us. That's not what Dakota would have wanted.”
“Hey, gu- Yikes!” Uma calls from the kitchen window, “That doesn't look good!”
“What's up?” I ask.
“Issa found something!” Uma calls.
“Someone should tell her it's not safe to yell anymore,” Adriel sighs.
Inside, everyone crowds around Issa, his arms folded in victory. It's nice to see him have such a smug look on his face.
“I'm sure you're all wondering why I've gathered you all here,” Issa chuckles.
“Get on with it,” Someone calls.
“Oohh look at me, Mr. Meme,” Another mocks.
“Okay,” Issa says, laughing in response, “I've been on this fucking laptop for days trying to dig up anything I can about this whole zombie thing.”
“What did you find?” Cain asks.
“I'm glad you asked!” Issa says, “I hacked into the American Government's database and found something juicy.”
“Do aliens exist?” Uma asks.
“That's classified,” Issa laughs, “But I can tell you how and why this thing got out.” The room goes silent and stale. Everyone gets a bit uncomfortable.
“Okay,” Issa continues, cracking his knuckles, “Digging around only confirmed what we all already knew. The United States was playing with a virus. Long story short, thanks to their new president that was just sworn in, a zombie outbreak happened.”
“They fucked us?” Rupert asks, feeling angry and betrayed.
“Well, yeah,” Issa says, “But I have good news. This virus has been in their possession and played with for years. They'd been perfecting it in case they needed a backup bio-weapon.”
“How is that good news?” Rosa asks.
“Because they have a way to kill it,” Issa says. Everyone bursts out in a thousand little questions. The room is loud with questions and hope. Issa waits for everyone to quiet down before he goes on.
“The cure is a little complicated,” Issa explains, “There are actual poles on the North and South poles. Should someone go and activate them, that specific pole will kill all the zombies with an electronic pulse on that side of the hemisphere. It should stay on until we activate the second pole. All the zombies will be dead and the poles will shut off.”
“How do they know which brains to fry?” Zaida asks.
“It picks up on lifeforms that don't have any brainwaves,” Issa explains, “You know, aside from your typical white boy.”
“And they didn't already try to use it?” Clara asks.
“No,” Issa says, “They didn't think it'd be necessary. They were given orders by the president to handle it with military force.”
“Turn that shit on!!” Kali yells.
“I can't,” Issa says, “I need to be there at the pole to enter the kill code.”
“Do we know if they actually work?” Bruce asks.
“No,” Issa says.
“So you're suggesting we just travel to them only to see if something might work?” Rupert asks.
“Why not?” I ask, “It's worth a shot if it can get rid of the zombies.”
“Why not? Because we need to stay here and live!” Rupert says.
“We could live and save thousands of lives if we do this, though!” I say.
“At what cost? Our own lives?” Rupert asks, “We don't even know if we can save lives!”
“What about food?” Adriel asks.
“Loot,” I say.
“Gas?” Machi asks.
“Loot!” I say.
“Shelter?” Paris asks.
“Loot!” I say.
“We have to leave here anyway,” Issa says, “Why not have a destination while we travel?”
“What if we don't make it...?” Zaida asks.
“What if we do?” Uma counters.
“Damned if we do, damned if we don't,” Cain mutters.
“Loot! Loot! Loot!” Uma starts cheering. Issa and I join her. Soon a few others until we're all chanting to start looting.
“Are we all in agreement?” I laugh.
“Yeah!! Loot!!” Everyone hollers. Everyone's laughing and having more fun than they've had in days.
“Is everyone packed?” I ask. Everyone slowly nods.
“We need to decide if we leave now or in two days,” I finish.
The sound of glass breaking and shattering on the floor leaves everyone's hearts in their throats. A deafening amount of groaning can be heard from all around. Issa turns around to look out the window. I hear him swear under his breath before ordering everyone to grab their shit and get in the cars.
“Where do we even meet up?!” Clara panicks.
“There's a Walmart we can go to,” Kali suggests.
“That's fine,” Bruce says, “I can't take anyone in my van, though. It's full of everyone's shit.”
“I'll take Rupert, Rosa, Adriel, and Zaida,” Issa says.
“Uma and I can take Cain,” I offer.
“Machi and I have Kali” Clara says. That's everyone. We break. Clara and Rupert go to the back door to fend off the zombies trying to get in. Kali and Uma guard the front door. Everyone else runs upstairs to grab their belongings. I run into the girls room. I slide my arms through the straps of my bag and grab Uma's things. Issa is in the kitchen. He's already packed and grabbing his laptop. Bruce and Paris take the last of the food from the kitchen and put what they can in their bags. The leftovers are carried away in their arms, making them look like food bandits.
“We have to go!” Clara yells.
“Come on, guys!” Uma yells up the stairs. Another crashing sound is heart. Clara and Rupert sprint from the backdoor yelling, “Run! Run! Run!” Uma shoots two zombies trying to push through the front door. They fall with a loud thud. Outside, the dead are alerted of our presence and try to get into the house. As they reach us, we shoot them down. The earth soaks up the blood spilling from their head wounds. Cain pushes past met to get to the jeep first. I have to unlock it with my keys before he can get in. Uma and I share a humerus glance, then run to my car. Everyone else goes to their vehicles. Five zombies spill outside of the house, chasing us. Cain swears up a storm, being unable to open my car. I take the keys from my pockets and fumble trying to unlock the doors.
“Hurry!” Cain yells. My shaking hands drop the keys.
“Are you kidding me?!” Cain yells.
“You're not fucking helping!” I yell back, picking up the keys. I unlock the drivers door and then my friends' doors. After we jump in, we shut and lock the doors behind us. Uma and I throw our things into the seat next to Cain. I turn the engine on and floor it to Walmart.