Pastel Meltdown

A Tragedy is a Sin Gift Wrapped in silk

********** 6 hours after infection, POV Bill **********
*Pant* *pant* I managed to get away from that group of infected, I managed to escape and lose them in the housing districts. I got to a fairly small one story house and hid there. Everything fell silent except for my panting.

To put it bluntly, everything was covered in blood. I had looked up for only a second and at first it looked as though the people that lived there liked the color red for their walls and ceilings. Nope. All of it was blood that had been splattered across everything.

I started to look around, check for other infected things that could’ve been in the house with me. When I found nothing there, I decided to board up the houses doors and windows, being as quiet as possible.

I had just finished up the repairs when I suddenly heard ghastly moans coming from a closet. ‘Dammit I forgot to check the closets and bathrooms.’ Sighing, I got my gun ready and aimed it towards the closet in question.

The moans were now getting annoying and slightly louder, I thought to myself, ‘wonder what poor bastard tried to hide in a closet.’ I was met by the site of an elderly woman that must’ve been in her 70’s. There was an oxygen mask and an oxygen tank.

The woman made a demonic screech before sprinting towards me, without hesitation, I pulled the trigger and sent twelve bullets at her; Ten of the bullets hit her directly in the chest at random parts, one hit her in the left knee, and the final one hit straight in the neck. She fell over dead as soon as the final bullet hit.

After checking and confirming that there was no infected left in the house, I holed myself up in the bedroom. I used the previous owners bed for my nights sleep there.

************************

I awoke to a sudden sound coming from my pocket ‘wait, sound. My god, I forgot about my cell phone, wonder who it is.’ I pulled my phone out of my pocket to see the name of the last number I ever thought would be on there. “Wade.....”

I picked up the call as soon as I uttered his name and spoke fast “Wade? Is that you? Are you okay?”

I stopped my questions when I heard a crying, frantic, woman on the other side of the phone...

********** 48 Hours after infection, POV Zoey **********

It was dinnertime in my family's old home near the center of Pennsylvania; I had returned home for the holidays and everything seemed to be going off like it usually did. Meaning dad would go on about how I should join the police force. When that didn’t work, he just talked about the latest horror films and some of the past ones we watched together when I was younger. Well, that and all the times dad took me to the gun ranges, but back then he still thought I would become a police officer.

Of course, mom would be even worse. She would nag and lecture me over how I’ve let my grades drop and how if I didn’t stop watching those ‘silly’ horror films, she was gonna make me drop out and move back in. Of course, as routine, I told her it was research. She always gave in after a few hours, finding no way to counteract comments like that and let it go for the time being.

Honestly, I would say I’m a horror connoisseur, otherwise known as a horror maniac. I loved horror films to death after my father decided to bond with me using them.

Anyway, we were all having our usual dinner like I said. Things were going better than I thought they would go. That was until I started hearing some kind of ghastly moan from nowhere.

“Guys? You hear that?” I said, putting my fork back on my plate.

“Hear what, honny? I don’t hear anything.” Mom said, confused by my question.

The moan came again, slightly louder this time. “That! It sounds like a zombie or something...”

“Oh my, really Zoey? You should stop watching those horror movies, they’ve finally gotten to you.” She paused, taking a breath before speaking again. “Well, first thing after your break you are getting rid of those films and getting your grades up. Or else.” Mom glared daggers at me for a moment until dad came to the rescue.

“Now hold on a minute dear, I hear it too.” Dad said as he started to get wide eyes.

“What are you both talking abo-” Mom stopped mid sentence, dad dropped his fork and shakily pointed it towards something behind mom. I didn’t get a good look at it at first, but even then I had no doubts as to what it was.

With a cold and deathly screech, it charged for mom. She barely had time to see what it was before screaming in pain as it ate at her neck.

Dad jumped from his seat with his dinner knife, charging for the undead he barked, “Zoey! Get the revolver from under my bed! Quick!”

He dove at the undead creature and started to stab the zombie’s head over and over as it jerked in his arms. I rushed upstairs, afraid to see what was happening. I rushed over to dad’s gun cabinet and jerked it open.

Pulling the revolver out, I quickly managed to fit in three bullets and stuffed the majority of the others in my pocket, a large quantity of them falling to the floor during my haste. I rushed back downstairs to find the undead zombie that bit mom had died, but mom was now gnawing on dads neck.

I aimed the gun towards the empty husk that used to be mom, my eyes got watery as my finger clicked on the trigger, hitting her in the center of her head.

After she fell to the ground, I fired another shot into her skull to make sure, then another. If the gun didn’t have only three shots in it I would’ve been there for hours. But after the first few clicks dad stopped me with a weak breath.

“Zoe, sweetheart.” His eyes were bloodshot and he was crying hard.

“....Y-yeah d-dad?” I was trying my hardest not to cry, but I failed to hold them in and they started pouring out more liquid than the niagara falls

He motioned for me to get close to him and I carefully obliged, with a whispered, hoarse, and very fearful tone, he spoke up. “Zoe, we b-both know whats-s gonna happen. Y-you know what t-to do.......”

I couldn’t stop crying now. I had started to speak extremely fast and I sounded hysterical as dad took in slow, calm breaths. In the end he shushed me and ordered me to do it.

I loaded the revolver so it had all six of its shots, he stopped me from raising the gun when he motioned he had a bit more to say though.

“Zoe, h-here take this.” Dad handed me his cell phone. “H-hit speed dial s-six, a man should be on the other side of the phone that goes b-by the name of Bill. He’ll keep you safe. Now d-do it, before I change my mind and we b-both regret it.”

Nodding to him, through choked tears; I raised the gun to him, “I love you dad.” I whispered as I pulled the trigger, killing my father and stopping him from resurrecting as a zombie.

I fell to my knees crying. For the next two and a half hours, I had only cried, sitting in that same position. After I stopped crying, I noticed it had gotten substantially darker, I remembered what dad had told me to do; and so I opened his cell phone and hit the speed dial button six just like he told me to.

The phone rang for a while but no one had answered, I was worried about ‘if dad’s friend had already died’ and things like that. But I called again just incase. After about three rings, someone had answered the other end of the line.

“Wade? Is that you? Are you okay?” A gravelly voice on the other end said.

I started crying a bit again at the mention of my dad’s name; after taking a few deep breaths, I spoke up. “N-no, he’s d-dead. I’m h-his daughter Zoey.”

The man on the other end stayed silent, I decided to continue. “A-are you, Bill?”

The line was silent for what felt like hours, but turned out to be minutes. Finally, the man on the other end sighed and responded “Yes....Yes I am, are you okay?” He made his voice sound a bit more caring, but I could hear the sorrow in it, if only faintly.

“Yes, I’m okay.”

Bill sighed with what I could only guess is relief before speaking up. “Where are you? What’s the address? I’ll come get you and we can get you out of here.”

“706, North Sweet.” I said, wiping away the tears in my eyes.

“Alright and do you have a weapon on you?”

“Yes, but only my dad’s revolver. I think his shotgun is upstairs too in the gun cabinet still.”

“Good, now the streets are too crowded, so we have to meet up at a halfway point. I’m at 1300 Junction Street so..” He paused taking a breath and what I could only assume as him looking at a map, “Well.... Looks like we have to meet up at the local bar, it’s about two miles to the north of your house, go there, not only will there be a higher chance of other survivors, but it also may be well barricaded and holds a small stock of their own guns.”

I had started up the stairs for the shotgun when he said this, it took me a second to respond, “are you sure it’s wise, Bill? I mean, I don’t think I can make it out there on my own like that.”

Bill spoke up almost immediately, “Well, if you’ve got a better idea that has a better chance at us not dying then I would be happy to hear it.”

I was silent for another minute or so when he spoke up again. “Thought not. Now, do you know where the local bar is?” He asked as he started to pant, I could more or less hear a zombie or two in the background; before I spoke up, I heard gunshots, then Bill continued. “Sorry, zombies got in through the boards.”

“Y-yes. I do know where it’s at, the slum one at the corner of Mars and Gloomy right?” I asked, I had already started to look out the door and windows and saw swarms of zombies in small groups out there everywhere.

“Yes, that’s the one. Go there but use the alleyways; avoid all the main roads if at all possible, and try not getting spotted. These bastards from hell really love sound, ‘specially car alarms.”

********** 56 hours after infection POV Bill **********

Goddamnit! I was running from alleyway to alleyway with about ten zombies right on my tail. I had to blindly shoot behind me and hope I hit them. ‘For god’s sakes, I pray Zoey has a better time getting to the bar then I do.’

I turned to look behind me as I turned the corner to where the bar was located, I saw just about three zombies left. I started to sigh with relief when I remembered there were still zombies after me.

I looked back to my front right as another zombie charged for me, I curved around it and got to the back entrance of the bar, I tried the door but it was jammed shut. “Goddamn, this day just gets better and better.”

I hoisted up my m16 and aimed it towards the four offending zombies. With precision shots, I killed them before they could even get near me.

I heard the sounds of clicking from the bar and guessed Zoey must have made it inside before I got here. I turned around right as a zombie came face to face with me. Everything seemed to slow down as there was no doubt in my mind that the thing would kill me. Then, right before it took a bite out of my skull, the back door shot open and a shotgun loomed in front of me, jamming itself inside the infected’s mouth. It tried to gnaw on the gun and cut through it to get to me, but failed. It squirmed for another few seconds before an audible ‘click’ was heard, right before the sound of the shotgun going off.

I turned around to come face to face with a biker gang looking fellow. He smirked at me and before I could say anything he spoke up. “Happy birthday, old man.”