Prologue- Matthew and Nathan
I watched the women of my dreams and my high school sweetheart get married to some clueless idiot just a few hours ago. Why did I decide to go again? Oh yeah that’s right. She’s my sister best friend and I’m the brother with the good car. Lucky me. I think the only good that might come out of this is seeing my parents again. It seem like ages since I’ve seen my parents. About 4 years? Has it been that long?
“Ahh fresh air, boys. Isn’t it wonderful?“ my sister marveled looking at our childhood home. "Home sweet home.”
“Yep. Fresh air alright. Fresh air and cow shit!” Nathan laughed pointing at a pile near Rachel’s feet. “I can’t believe you couldn’t smell that.”
“Shut up Nate!”
Same old siblings. Same old farm.The air, the smell, and that damn creaking windmill all the same. It all seemed like yesterday we were here playing here as our parents watched. Three dumb kids. Me, Nathan, and Rachel. Time had flown by so fast. Only the rang of my phone woke me up out of my nostalgia.
“Hey shut up you two. I think I’m getting a signal out here.”
Nathan looked over at me in annoyance, but shrugged it off heading towards the house with Rachel. The signal wasn’t strong enough out here in the sticks, but I had to try. Work was all I had in life. I worked to the bone to get to top of my dream job as an ad executive. If onlyshe had stayed with me long enough to see the fruits of my labor.*sigh* Seeing her again had sure stirred up something in me. I entered the house after finally realizing my phone was nothing more than a paper weight out here in the sticks. I was welcomed with the sight of my twin brother sitting on the sofa drinking a beer.
“Dad’s going be piss you’re drinking that you know.” I said sitting beside him.
“One beer? He can live with one less beer, Matty.” he said taking another swig of it. I hated when he called me that. “Beside Rachel upstairs sweet talking him.”
“Is that right? She was always his favorite.”
“No. You were always his favorite, Mr. Perfect.”
“Hmph perfect? Not perfect enough for…”
At that moment, we cut the conversation short as we heard footsteps coming down the stairs. We both turned around smiling only to have our expressions turned into horror. Rachel stood there bloody and wide eyed. We both rushed to her side both confused and panicked.
“WHAT HAPPEN?” Nathan shirked. The blood seemed to be coming from her neck. He grabbed his tie pressing it to the wound. “Matthew you gotta find something to stop the bleeding. We gotta do something….”
I was already on the move for medical supplies. I immediately ran upstairs without thinking. Only when I reached the top I realized the dangerous situation I put myself in as I faced Rachel’s attacker. Our dad or what looked like him. He looked like a walking corpse. His skin grey and sagging. Mixes of bright red and darken old blood covered his face and clothes. Then my eyes scanned the floor to see another figure. Mom or what was left of mom coming towards me. I cried out feeling sickened and afraid by the sight. They growled reaching out for me as fresh blood drip from their mouths. Were they still human?
No. These things weren’t mom and dad. They were monsters. I stumbled and fell backwards down the steps. I got up immediately and ran for the rifle sitting next to the fireplace. Luckily our father always kept bullets in the old piece of junk.
As expected the male creature clumsily followed me down the stairs. I aimed for him as he came closer towards us and then I shot him in the arm curious to see it’s reaction. It kept coming and finally I took the fatal shot. The bullet hit him right between the eyes.
“DAD?” Nate screamed bewilder as he left Rachel’s side. He look down at the corpse and than me. “You…you killed…
“GET OUT THE WAY!” I screamed. He ducked and the gun went off for a 3rd time causing the other creature to tumble down the stairs. I walked over to it and it was our mother. It moved still reaching for my leg and Nathan stood besides me with tears in his eyes.
“She’s sick.” he said almost pleading with me to keep her alive.
“It’s a fucking monster or zombie. It’s freaking legs are gone for goodness sake!”
The debate could have last forever probably with Nate’s mindset at the time, but Rachel’s life was on the line. Her groans were enough to bring us back to reality. So without much time to spare we drove and we drove to the nearest hospital. My mind and body seemed to be on auto-pilot the whole time while Nathan did his best to avoid making eye contact with me. He seemed almost frightened by me. When we reached the hospital, our hearts dropped and we watched in amazement. The building was in flames.
“God helps us all! What in the world is happening?” Nathan groaned dropping to his knees in the street all the while the once silence radio blared suddenly.
WARNING! THIS IS A STATE OF EMERGENCY! THE CDC IS ASKING ALL INDIVIDUALS STAY AWAY FROM THE INFECTED AND THE DEAD! KEEP AWAY FROM THOSE BITTEN AND THE SICK TO AVOID FURTHER EXPOSURE! MORE INFORMATION WII BE PROVIDED IN THE FUTURE!
I said nothing. I looked over at Nathan who looked over at me. He seemed confused as ever, but I had seen too many movies and read too many comic books over the years not to know what was going on now. I walked around to the back of the car where Rachel was resting. She smiled a weak little smile. She seemed to be at peace.
“So I’m going die Matt? Am I going die in this hideous bridesmaids dress?” she chuckled. I laughed trying hard not to cry. She looked at me smiling. “I’m dying right? There’s nothing you can do.”
“There’s plenty we can do. There’s more hospitals. You’re going be ok.” Nathan said joining the conversation. She shook her head and smiled grabbing both our hands. “No. I don’t think so, but……just take care of each other and don’t fight please. Now I think I’m going to sleep.”
It was the last thing she said to us as we watched her eyes close. Her breathing slowed. Her heart stopped. Her pulse was non-existent. We cried and cried for what seemed like forever beside the car. Then she began growling. We looked at each other. Nathan stood up looking at my glove department where a handgun had been placed.
“Ill do it.” he said biting his lip.
“No.” I said coldly. He asked why. I simply answered, “Because I don’t want you to know how it feels.”
It only took one shot, but I felt like I had did something unimaginable and sinister. It was a struggle to get back in the car after such an act, but I got back in the driving seat staring off in the distance.
“We should go back home. Hold up there till this blows over” Nathan said after remaining silence for some time.
“To what? Death? I’m not going back there. I can’t.” I said thinking of the bodies of our parents and mom’s still moving corpse. “We need to keep moving. Back to the city”.
Decision: Country home or city?
