Before the Storm

The fires, the chaos, the death and the blood, it was everywhere that we went. No matter what town we went through, or what street we drove on, it was there. It was like some bad movie that you couldn't stop or get away from. Each and every direction that I looked I saw these sick people tearing into others and eating them. Each and every second, I felt myself slipping even more into depression. I didn't want to be here anymore.

We had made it down to Macon, and it was a little bit better than Atlanta had been. It was a bit more in tact, but it still wasn't safe enough to be able to stop and take a break. So we just drove on through and I did my best to keep my attention to somewhere in the car, or far off in the distance. Anything to keep me from looking at the hungry faces staring back at me with blood lust.

With Zack having been in the Army for so long now, it wasn't surprising to me at all that he was able to look at everything going on around us and not bat a single eye lash. He was used to the killing, the shooting and the blood shed. He was one of the best snipers in his company; It was kind of his job to kill when needed.

We drove for another hour outside of Macon, still not entirely sure where we were going. We were in farm country now, surrounded entirely by fields of corn, peach trees, vineyards, and other produce. Zack pulled over on the side of the road and brought the SUV to a stop. Neither one of us had gotten a wink of sleep since leaving the refuge, and I knew Zack was dog tired by now.

He turned the engine off, bringing the car to a hush and leaned over to rest his head on the top of the steering wheel. He brought his hands up and began rubbing at his eyes, trying to keep himself awake for as long as possible. Although I knew, without at least a little bit of sleep, he wouldn't be lasting much longer.

"Do ya want me to take over for a bit?" I asked, looking around outside. No where was safe now, and I didn't want to risk staying in one spot for too long and risk getting surrounded.

He shook his head back and forth slowly. "No." He shrugged his shoulders. "I don't even know where were goin', Jay. There's no where to go and there's no use in drivin' around aimlessly wastin' what little gas we have."

I pulled my lips in between my teeth and bit down slightly. I continued to look around at our surroundings, a tall wall of corn obstructing my view from seeing any farther than the edge of the road beside me. I was getting uneasy and I felt the air around me begin to thicken. I hoped that it was just me over thinking again.

"What if we went to the airport?" I asked. He turned his head slightly and looked at me out of the corner of his eye, waiting for me to elaborate. "We could get on a plane and fly out of Georgia."

He shook his head again. "That's not an option. I overheard some people saying that all flights in and out of the state have been cancelled."

I sighed, feeling defeated. Our only option to get out was to drive, but we weren't gonna be getting anywhere fast without gas. That was problematic considering everyone around us was so hostile. It was a surprise we were able to get what we did get at the Exxon station without a problem.

We were stuck without a single idea on what to do. Zack leaned back in the chair and ran his fingers through his hair, knowing what I already knew. We were most likely going to have to spend the night here in the car and pick back up in the morning. It was late, and there was no use trying to think of a plan while we were both exhausted.

He pointed his thumb towards the back of the car where there was more room to actually lay down and get some rest. "Well, ya better go back there and get some sleep then. I'll keep watch."

I shook my head. "No way," He looked over at me with a hard expression on his face, not wanting to deal with my protests when he was this tired. I could already see the bags forming under neath his eyes. "I slept while we were at the refuge. I could stay up a bit longer and keep watch. You need the sleep more than I do."

He looked forward at the straight and narrow road disappearing into the night, chewing on the inside of his cheek and contemplating what I had just said. "I don't know, Jay ..."

"Zack, you can trust me. I'm not completely useless and I'm not just going to fall asleep the second you do. You don't have to be in control over everything," I chuckled a bit just to take the edge off of what I was saying so it didn't sound like I was being rude. "Now get some sleep."

I reached down into the cubby hole under the ash tray and grabbed the gun that Zack had originally taken from the house and sat in in my lap. I'd be lying if I said I didn't feel extremely nervous just having this thing touch me. I had never shot a gun before except for a couple times when I was younger when my Grandfather had taken me out for target practice, and even then I wasn't that good. However, I knew that Zack needed the rest, and he never would have agreed to it if he thought I couldn't handle it.

I looked over at him expectantly, waiting for him to head to the back of the SUV so that I could move over into the driver's seat, just in case we needed to get out in a hurry. "You sure you can handle it?" He asked.

I just nodded my head. "Yes. I'm sure."

He nodded his head and slowly began making his way into the back seat where our bags had been sitting. He just shoved them down onto the floor and balled up his jacket to use as a pillow, getting himself comfortable enough to fall asleep.

Once he was all settled in, I sighed and looked forward out the windshield. The moon was shining down brightly, illuminating the street and making it a little bit easier to see. I slumped down into the seat a bit more and moved the back of the seat so that I was laying down slightly, just to get myself comfortable.

It hadn't even been five minutes and Zack was knocked out cold, even snoring softly. Aside from that, everything was quiet. There were no cars driving up and down the road, no sounds from the surrounding farms, nothing. If we weren't in the situation we were in, I'd say it was pretty peaceful.

I leaned over and rested the side of my head against the cold window, wishing that the sun would come up just a little bit sooner tomorrow morning.



A loud, sudden bang jolted me awake. I hadn't even realized that I had fallen asleep. When did I fall asleep? I sat upright and shot almost completely over the center console and back into the passenger's seat. I looked out the window, and saw that Madisen was standing there, a worried yet relieved look on her face.

I was in total shock at seeing her. How did she even get here? I slid myself back into the driver's seat and unlocked the door, looking back and seeing that I had thankfully not woken Zack up from the noise.

I jumped out of the car and ran up to her, engulfing her into my arms as she did the same with me. Fresh tears were escaping my eyes. My grip around her was so tight and I didn't want to let her go in fear that she was just going to disappear. I didn't want this to be a dream.

"How did you get here?! What happened?!" I asked in a flurry, pulling away from my best friend slightly so I can look at her properly.

"Me and my dad got out," She said, her voice shaking. I looked behind us and saw her dad sitting in the driver's seat of her car. She too began crying as her emotions began to overwhelm her. "We were driving and I saw your Dad's SUV sitting on the side of the road. Are they with you?"

I looked down at the pavement slightly, shaking my head. "It's just me and Zack." I said in a low voice.

Her hand shot up to her mouth, her eyes having nothing but sympathy for me. "I'm so sorry." She whispered.

I shrugged. "I don't even know what happened to them. They were in Atlanta when it happened. Zack and I went there to see if they'd be at the refugee center but they weren't. The place got overrun a few hours later."

She nodded her head as if she understood. I looked back at her car once more, seeing her father sitting in the passenger seat with his head in his head in his hands. My mind clicked and I looked over at Madisen again, who had a saddened expression on her face.

"Mad, where's your mom?" I asked slowly.

She broke down, her face contorting into pain and sorrow. She buried her face into my shoulder and began sobbing uncontrollably. I began looking around us, remembering what I was supposed to be doing in the first place and keeping watch for any sick people that came out through the fields. Surely Madisen's cries could be heard from a distance.

"We lost her." She whimpered, her jaw shaking from the crying. "We were trying to leave the house when one of those things latched onto her." Her face was then overcome with disgust. "We tried saving her ... It was no use."

We stood there in silence as I comprehended what she had just told me. Madisen's mom was like a second mother to me. I felt a pang in my heart at the thought of losing her, but I couldn't even imagine what Madisen was going through right now. I didn't know where my parents were, but at least I didn't see my mom get killed right in front of me.

"These things aren't what we think they are." She said suddenly, causing my gaze to go back to her.
"What do you mean?"

"They're not sick, Jaycee." My brow knotted together. I was bewildered at what she was saying. Did she even know what she was saying? "I mean, they start out that way. But then they die, and they come back."

I blinked a couple of times and my lips parted as my jaw began to fall. It felt like nothing in the world made sense anymore. She was talking crazy right now and I couldn't wrap my mind around it.

"What, are you saying these people are like, zombies?" I asked, a disbelieving chuckle coming out.

"I know how it must sound, but it's true!" She insisted.

"Madisen, zombies aren't real! They were made up for movies." I pulled away from her and took a step back at from her. "I can't believe what you're saying."

"I know I'm not exactly emotionally stable right now but I know what I'm saying. I'm not crazy! I saw it." She revealed. I just stared at her in disbelief.

"What are you talking about?"

"My mom." Her words were coming out sternly now, her desperate to get me to believe her. "After we got her away from it, we bandaged her up and tried getting her to the hospital. It was so crowded that we couldn't even get close, so we had to go somewhere else. No matter what we did, she just kept getting worse and worse. Her fever was so bad, and she began to cough up blood. Eventually, her breathing got so shallow that I could barely even hear it, even getting right up close to her."

I stood there staring at her as she told me what happened to her mother and why she was no longer with them. I nodded my head, silently telling her to continue.

"She stopped breathing. Just, all together. Dad tried resuscitating her for about a half hour straight after that, but finally called it." She looked at me, her eyes wild with anger and determination. "She had no pulse, Jaycee! She died right there in the back seat of my car! I know she was dead!"

She was yelling now, and all I could do was tell her to try and be quiet as to not alert any of the sick people towards us, if there even were any around. I just didn't want to take the chance.

"Okay, but that's still not telling me how you think these people are zombies." I said, really just wanting her to get to the point.

"We sat there for what seemed like forever. She was dead and there was nothing we could do. We couldn't get to the hospital or the police station. Nobody was listening and nobody would help us. After a while ... She started moving again. She started breathing again, but it wasn't her. It wasn't my mom. Her eyes were yellow and her skin had no color. She didn't even speak to us! She lunged at my dad, and he had to put her down."

What she was saying didn't make even the slightest bit of sense. I wanted to believe her because she was my best friend and she had never had a reason to lie to me before, but what she was saying was impossible! Unless the person's heart was jump started by a defibrillator, by a doctor in a hospital, or they were lucky enough to be resuscitated, they didn't just come back.

"Please, you have to believe me." She finished, looking at me through watery eyes. She clasped her hands together in front of her and took a small step towards me. "I'm telling this so you'll know. So you'll be prepared and know what they are. They're not people anymore."

I swallowed hard and tried to process everything. The thought of something as unrealistic as zombies roaming the streets of Georgia was just too outlandish to be true. I shook my head back and forth and began pacing in front of her. I ran my fingers through my hair and took a deep breath in to try and calm myself down. I didn't even want to talk about this anymore.

"Where are you and your dad headed then?" I asked her, still walking back and forth in front of her. The sun was beginning to slowly creep above the horizon now, making it a bit easier to see.

She shrugged. "We don't know. We were just trying to get away and find some place safe to hole up in."

"That's us too." I said, nodding my head in the direction of the SUV where Zack was.

"Can we come with you? We could stick together, watch out for one another." She wrapped her arms around herself and followed me with her eyes.

I stopped pacing just then. Thinking about what she had asked wasn't even an issue. I nodded my head. "Yeah, that won't be a problem. What all do you have with you guys?" I asked, referring to any supplies that we could use.

"Just a little bit of food and some gas. We were gonna find a gas station to fill up at, but we saw you parked on the road before we found a place."

"Well, we could put everything you got in the back of the SUV. Take one car so that it's easier to stay together."

She nodded her head and we both walked back to her car to tell her dad what was happening and get the stuff that she had in the trunk of her car. She opened the driver's side door and leaned in, informing her dad on the situation and I grabbed a couple of the back packs that were stuffed inside the trunk.

I walked back over to the driver's side door on the SUV and popped the back end open so that we could put the stuff inside. Zack stirred a little bit, but ultimately didn't wake back up. Considering the fact that normally he was a very light sleeper, it only went to show how tired he really was with being able to stay asleep with all the noise going on around him.

"You guys will have to crawl in from the back. Zack's in the middle row sleeping." I informed them. They both nodded their heads, Madisen's dad staying silent but giving me the smallest smile he could muster instead.

After getting everything situated in the back and Madisen and Mr. Barnes had gotten in, I walked back up to the driver's seat and got in myself. Shoving the key back into the ignition that Zack had taken out before and placed on the dash board.

"Do either of you know how far away the next town is?" I asked, turning in my seat to look back at them.

Madisen shrugged her shoulders, but her dad spoke up quietly for the first time since being here. "About ten miles. It's small but it should have a gas station."

I nodded and thanked him, turning the key and bringing the engine back to life with a roar. I started driving down the road in the direction we were going in the first place. I glanced back at Zack momentarily. He was going to have a real fit when he woke up and noticed we were on the move again.