Zombie Apocalypse 2.0 Read online

conversation last night I’m more determined than ever to find out what’s going on around here.” Leni replies.

  We finally arrive at our stop and as we head out of the subway station and begin our trek to Brandon’s house, I notice Leni looking at me and smiling. I return her smile and infuse it with joy and contentment. “If only she knew how much she means to me.” I say to myself as we begin our walk to Brandon’s. He told me he lives in a two story house just past the Botanical gardens. I check the map on my phone and see we're going in the right direction. As we near the entrance of the gardens, I ask Leni to strike a quick pose just outside the entrance. “Just a quick photo,” I ask as I take her picture with my phone. “Nice,” I say to myself. “Come on, let’s keep walking. According to the map, Brandon's house should be just around the next corner.”

  As we enter the grounds of Brandon’s house, I find myself highly impressed. Brandon's been a classmate of mine since elementary school and one of my best friends since like forever. He just moved into this new house three months ago and this is the first time, I’ve had a chance to come and visit. I ring the doorbell and comment to Leni, “Nice digs, huh?” as we both gaze in awe at the snow-covered grounds. Everything still looks pristine, white and bright as if the snow had just fallen. I’m startled back to reality by the sound of Brandon’s voice.

  “Hey guys,” Brandon says as he opens the door. “Come in. Just hang up your coats here in the foyer then follow me.” Brandon leads us into the kitchen where I can see he was eating some KoKo Krunch.

  “Where’s your dad, Brandon?” I ask.

  “He’s in his study, working from home today.” he responds. “It’s kind of weird though because the phone has been ringing off the hook and he’s been hunched over his desk studying a bunch of charts and documents. I tried to take a peek last night but he had locked the door to his study. He hardly ever does that. I think he’s on a conference call right now. Don’t worry though. I can get around that. I’ll get you some information one way or another. Come on, let’s go to my room. I have something to show you guys.” As we begin to ascend the stairs, we run into Brandon’s older brother, Jonathan as he’s coming down and he’s grinning at us in a weird, sinister way. As soon as he sees me, he suddenly becomes very serious. As we pass him, I suddenly get this really eerie feeling. I don’t say anything. I don’t want to freak anybody out since it could just be my hyperactive imagination at work considering everything that’s going on. Entering Brandon’s room, we can hear the muffled sounds of conversation.

  “What’s that?” I ask him.

  “That is what I wanted to show you. I put a tiny microphone in my dad’s study late last night. I used a spare key I found and I’ve been recording his conversations. I haven’t listened to any of it yet. Been waiting for you guys.”

  “Very cool.” I remark as we sit down to review the information.

  The morning passes quickly as Brandon, Leni and I sit and listen to his father’s fascinating and almost unbelievable conversations. It’s been mind blowing to say the least to discover that this superbug everyone is talking about is way, way more than we expected. Our city is under siege and on the verge of what sounds like a Zombie apocalypse due to a viral outbreak. Okay, so "zombie" is my word but that’s what it sounds like to me according to what we're hearing from Brandon’s dad. Whatever measures the authorities have taken until now are obviously not working because it sounds like the virus causing the outbreak is drawing ever closer to our city. I’m feeling really anxious and with a great sense of urgency, I tell Brandon we need to talk to his dad…now! “Yeah, you’re right. Let’s go talk to him.” Brandon replies.

  As we hastily exit his room and begin to descend the staircase, we’re met by an eerie stillness and that weird feeling from before just stops me like a barricade. I can feel the goose bumps crawling up and down my skin as we confront absolute silence where moments before we could hear lots of activity in this big house. “Mom, where are you?” Brandon calls out. Suddenly, breaking the silence, a piercing scream erupts from the kitchen and I see Brandon’s mom stagger towards us bleeding from what looks like a massive bite wound. We run down the rest of the stairs and frantically towards her. “What the hell happened?!” I scream. Suddenly, a man in a hooded sweatshirt steps out into the foyer from the dining room and starts heading toward us. I can’t see who it is but he has a crazed look in his eye and he’s coming toward us menacingly so I pick up a heavy candlestick from a table near the staircase and throw it at him. It barely slows him down. Leni runs off towards the kitchen and comes back with a butcher knife. She throws the knife at the stranger and it hits him in the leg. He falls, his leg writhing in pain but it only stops him momentarily and immediately he starts getting back up. Brandon, Leni and I pick up his mom up and carry her up to Brandon’s room. Quickly I lock the door while I tell Leni to call 9-1-1. As I tend to his mom’s wound, I ask Brandon for a first aid kit. Looking at Brandon's mom, I ask her, “Please tell us what happened?”

  “It was Jonathan,” she responds with labored breath “He’s not himself. He’s like…like a monster. He came up behind me and just bit me. It was like he wanted to eat me.”

  “Oh my God, Brandon! It sounds like your brother’s been affected by the bug! He’s turned into a zombie!” I scream.

  “Okay, Mom, you have to stay here. We’re going to get help.” Brandon tells his mother as he wraps a towel around her wound.

  “Where’s your dad, Brandon? We have to go and see if he’s okay.” I say. I ask Brandon if he has anything I can use as a weapon and he points to his closet door. Opening it, I notice a baseball bat in the corner and grab it. I slowly open the bedroom door and take a quick look around the second floor landing. Seeing no one, I tiptoe to the head of the stairs and look down. All I can see is a blood trail on the floor but I do not see Jonathan. I signal to Leni. “Did you call the cops?” I ask.

  “Lines are dead, I checked. And I can’t find my cell phone.” Leni answers.

  “We have to find a way to get help. And we have to find out what’s happened to Brandon’s dad!” I tell her. I grip the bat and slowly descend the stairs, looking each way as I go and follow the blood trail. It ends in the study. There on the floor of the study I see Brandon’s dad. He’s not only dead, he’s been mutilated. There is blood and gore everywhere. Suddenly, out of the shadows steps Jonathan and he grabs me by the back of my shirt, grabbing a hold of my left arm. Startled, I drop the bat and scream as I struggle to break free but his grip is tight and I hear and feel excruciating pain as the bones in my arm crack. I fear I’m done for. Just then, out of the corner of my eye, I see a letter opener on the desk just inches away and immediately make a grab for it. I take hold of it, just barely hanging on to it and begin to stab Jonathan. I can’t see him but I can hear him making these horrible, screeching sounds. Somehow I manage to stab him in the shins and he releases his grip allowing me to run. I’m feeling intense pain in my arm but I’m thankful he didn’t get to bite me. I manage to make it up the stairs in one fell swoop and burst into Brandon’s bedroom. As I attempt to slam the door shut, Jonathan rushes in, the force throwing me to the ground. Leni jumps on him in an attempt to help me but in return she’s smacked in the face and forcefully thrown to the ground, and I can see she’s unconscious.

  Doubled over in pain, I look up and see a badly bleeding Brandon coming towards his brother with an ax. I hear a blood-curdling scream from Brandon’s mom as he swings the ax and with one quick stroke severs his brother’s head. Then I hear nothing. Silence. Jonathan is gone. Executed by his own brother. I see Brandon with the ax in hand as he stands there in a state of shock. I get up and with all the strength I can muster, I grab the ax from him with my good arm and set it down. “Brandon, please sit down. It’s okay. It’s over for now.” Brandon doesn’t say anything and I still don’t know where all this blood is coming from. I glance over at his mom and notice that she’s bleeding heavily again so I grab a towel to try and stop t
he flow of blood. Just then I notice her eyes. They’re set back in her head and she begins making the same screeching, blood curdling sounds I heard from Jonathan. “Oh my God! She’s turning!” I scream as I attempt to get away from her. Just then someone grabs me and pushes me to the ground. It’s Brandon and he has the ax in hand again. In one last desperate act, he swings the ax at his mom as she lies prone on the floor, screeching and arms flailing. Suddenly, she's stilled because her son has killed her. Just then Brandon collapses as I hear Leni moaning on the floor. I run to her thinking I have to get her out of there and get her some help. I search frantically for her cell phone and find it in under the bed. I dial 9-1-1. I make the call and begin lifting a semi-conscious Leni from the floor. “The cops are on their way, Leni. Just hold on. You’re gonna be okay.” I tell her hoping that I’m right.

  There are pools of blood everywhere. I can’t believe what has happened. Brandon’s mom, dad and brother are dead and my friends are wounded and maybe dying. Our hopes of surviving this are dwindling as the seconds tick by. My arm is broken and the pain is extreme but I head