Killing Corpses (zombie novel)

Chapter Eleven

"It all started just under a month ago." Calum murmured into the silence. "Abbie and I knew each other way before this whole thing broke out. Way before..." Abbie clasped Calum's hand and gave him a smile. He smiled back.
"We were neighbours. Unfortunately, we lived right on the outskirts of Manhattan, while this disease broke out in the centre of New York. Apparently, these two stupid University fuckers were messing around in their chemistry lab, and managed to create a damn epidemic. Don't ask me how, I only had tie to read three lines off of a newspaper before I was nearly bit. We were hit pretty hard, 'cause we were so close to the city. Our families weren't home... Mine were working, and,"
"Mine were out on a date," Abbie said, her eyes brimming with tears.
This time it was Calum who gave Abbie the support.
I felt terrible, as if I was making them tell me this. "Look, I can relate... You don't have to tell me all this..."
"No," Calum said. "If we're gonna work together, we have to know each other's stories."
I nodded, and let them continue.
"Anyway.." Calum began again. "I was watching football on the TV, and this news report thing flashed up, saying 'Breaking News', like what pops up when the president dies or whatever. At first I thought it was a virus or something, so I changed channel, but it was on there too. Every time I tried to change channel it was just the same thing, over and over again, so I phoned Abbie and asked her about it. She told me she had it too. So I ran through to her's and we watched it together. It was all about how those two stupid idiots had somehow managed to create a gas, that turns you into one of them. Apparently, they had been fucking around in the lab after hours, and weren't being monitored, like they should have. They all thought it would take a few days for the outbreak to come, but it only took a few hours. And in that time, they managed to print newspapers, make posters, anything to warn people. They had no idea it was so fast. That's when the outbreak was confirmed.
"Halfway through the news report, screaming started and everyone ran, the camera tipped over and hundreds pairs of feet either ran or shuffled past. All you could hear was either screaming or groaning, or rasping. That's when we realised that this wasn't a prank."
The silence that followed was deafening.
Abbie continued for him. "The first Reaper we saw was three streets up form us. He was chasing Aaron Miley - A guy I used to go to school with. At that point we had no weapons, so our only thought was to get out of there, found a car, and drove faster and further than we ever had before. New York is a death sentence now. We didn't - don't - even know if our parents are alive.

"Then," Calum took over again. "We found this subway, and this ticket booth we're in right now, incase you were wondering. I've watched enough of The Walking Dead for a lifetime, so I know if a place has protection of any kind, use it. Hence the shutters. We've been hauled up here ever since, surviving on what food we have left."
That horrible silence followed again, as I let all this sink in. A zombie apocalypse...
How could it even be real?
I sat thinking to myself for a while. In a way, I was glad my parents were dead for once. At least I didn't have to worry about them...
Then there was Carrie and the other orphans. I wondered it the disease had hit them yet...
Was there anyone else? No. That was it.
I was basically alone, in an apocalypse, with two total strangers.