I'll See You in Hell

‘Come on Joey; they’ve broken in!’ cried Corey excitedly, shoving me forwards with the barrel of his pistol as he flicked his dark hair from his eyes. ‘We gotta head ‘em off!’
Grabbing a nearby shovel, I ran towards the commotion with Corey eagerly at my heels. Luckily, weapons of all kinds adorned the corridors to ensure maximum protection from those thirsty for brains.

Zombie attacks were becoming a regular occurrence at the old hospital where we and a few hundred other had taken up residence. Since the outbreak six months ago, ordinary life had been put on hold as the nation battled with the walking dead.

I remember the day I found out about the zombie attacks- it was happening just like the horror movies had been telling us for years. I was woken up by my two best friends screaming, pointing shaking hands at my wife and child who were coming in through the door. At first, I didn’t see what was wrong. Then the moon emerged from behind the clouds and illuminated my wife’s bloody face, her eyes large and black like saucers straight from hell. She was gnawing on something as though she was an animal, dragging my six year old son behind her. Lurching forwards, I realised she was chewing on his leg, ripping the flesh from the bone and swallowing it in rapid bites. Somehow, we made it out of the house alive and sheltered in the relative safety of Corey’s home. From there, we witnessed more unspeakable acts of cannibalism and murder and unfortunately, only Corey and I made it to the hospital alive.

‘Look out!’ I yelped, skidding to a halt and struggling to raise my shovel in the narrow corridor. The first zombie emerged from a shadowed alcove and judging by the fact it still looked vaguely human, it probably hadn’t been infected long. The more recently a zombie has been infected, the more intelligence it has remaining- although of course, they never have much intelligence in the first place.
Luckily, Corey had my back. Boom! Splatter! His bullet ripped a hole neatly through the front of the zombie’s head, rendering it immobile and causing brain matter to stain the previously pristine walls.

Hygiene became extremely strict after the dead defied normality and began attacking the living, and scientists discovered that the viral infection which raised the dead could be passed on through a bite from the infected.

The scary part was, the freshly infected used their remaining strength and intelligence to try and infect the living until they were no longer in control of their bodies and succumbed to the virus. This was evident everywhere you looked. When my other friend, Laurie, was infected whilst we were running to safety, the first thing we noticed was her eyes. Her pupils dilated, and then came the fear; she knew what was happening to her and despite her inevitable death, she stayed strong until the very end. Opting to try to hold back the zombies chasing us before she transformed, we had no option but to watch our friend’s limbs get torn off as though she was made of plasticine, her steaming innards pulled out and fed to hungry mouths, her body mutilated and unrecognisable in seconds. That’s not something you forget easily.

‘Pow! Pow!’ grinned Corey, placing two fingers to his head in the shape of a gun. Rolling my eyes at his childish behaviour, I looked him sternly in the eye.
‘If there’s one, there’ll be more. You ready?’ He nodded his agreement and held his gun in front of him with both hands, his legs slightly apart, the standard safety stance.

I’ve known Corey for as long as I can remember. We were born just weeks apart and are rarely without each other’s company. He can be an idiot sometimes, and I know I annoy him with my serious side, but quite honestly I can’t imagine life without him by my side. As he’s the older one, he’s always seen it as his duty to protect me.
Motioning to Corey, I headed off in the direction of the moans.

Once we’d negotiated the twisting corridors, we reached the final room where approximately five zombies were wandering around aimlessly. Through the open door behind them I could just make out more zombies approaching- if they got in through the door like these zombies, we would have a hard time getting rid of them. We had to shut that door. I stuck my arm out to stop Corey from going any further and leaned towards his ear.

‘I’ll distract ‘em whilst you shut the door,’ I gestured to the end of the room. ‘Then-‘
But clearly Corey had been thinking along the same lines as me, and would hear none of it.
‘No.’
‘Corey look, we’re gonna-‘
‘No.’
‘Corey!’
‘I’m not putting y’ in danger Joey! Besides, we both know I’m the more agile one.’ Winking, he glanced around before shuffling off in the direction of the door. I pulled him back.
‘Remember, if anythin’ should happen to us...’ I began.
‘Don’t go to heaven; go to hell. It’s more fun and they’ll treat y’ really well,’ finished Corey, punching my arm playfully and walking off once more.

Call it our tradition when entering an infected zone.