Decimation (Ianthony Apocalypse AU)

night one

zombies seen: 1
zombies killed: 0
near-death experiences: 0
human deaths witnessed: 0     

"What? Dude, it's the middle of the night and-"

I ignored Anthony, dividing the items he had laid out on the table and stuffing them frantically into the two bags, my hands shaking wildly. 

I noticed him out of the corner of my eye. He watched me from the hallway, his eyebrows raised.

"You wanna help me?!" I demanded, hesitating a little before shoving half the knives in one bag. 

Just then came a long, raspy groan from the back room.

And then came another, this one higher-pitched and longer.

Anthony's eyes widened and he swore, darting for the room. I followed him, snatching up two dining room chairs. He had slammed the door and stood with his back against it, panting.

"Did you see them? How many are there?" I gasped, placing the chairs in front of the door even though I knew it would be essentially worthless.

His eyes were wide and his hands shook as he backed away. 

"There's... there's two. Inside, I mean. There was at least one more by the window."

"Fuck," I breathed, hearing scratching against the other side of the door. "We have to go. Now."

He nodded; I knew we only had a minute at most. The two of us couldn't possibly hold off who knew how many of those... things. How did you even kill them? Stab them in the brain? Shoot them in between the eyes? I had seen a countless number of zombie movies and TV shows, and yet I felt completely unprepared.

Anthony and I threw every other canned good, filled water bottle, flashlight, and lighter into the bags; just as I swung mine over my shoulders, the deafening sound of splitting wood echoed from down the hall.

"I just filled up my car earlier. We'll be better off taking mine," Anthony breathed, grabbing his keys before sprinting through the door to the garage.

I was terrified to see how it looked outside. I was glad Anthony was driving so I could close my eyes and cower in fear whenever necessary.

However, it looked completely normal outside.

The night was still. The streetlights were down and the headlights were the only source of light, but the more my eyes adjusted, the more it looked like any average Sacramento night. The streets were empty and a couple houses had broken front doors, but my imagination had definitely gotten the best of me.

I relaxed a little, running a hand over my face. I felt filthy already. I refused to think about how long it could be before I could take a shower.

"So... we'll swing by Kat's first since it's on the way to your parents', then we'll stop there, then my mom's on the way out of town." Anthony swallowed hard, his eyes frantically flickering all over the road ahead as if something could jump out at any second. "Anywhere else we should stop?"

I shook my head, slowly. "I don't think so." 

We pulled out of our subdivision, onto the road leading downtown. I saw the first zombie then. At first, he looked like a normal guy on the side of the road, but as we got closer, I picked up on the limp in his step and the huge gash all the way across his bare back.

Anthony sped up, seeing him (it?), too. It saw the car and limped over, but only followed for a few seconds before turning away and sulking down the sidewalk.