Chapter 1 : Today

POV : A.C

[Klamath, California 17 December 2020]

My day start when dawn comes. This is my day off but I got the code blue from hospital, so I need to work anyway. My daughter, Emma still asleep and I don't want to wake her up.

I entered the bathroom, look at the mirror and see a man that really looks like me. With short black hair, blue eyes and stubble. I turn my face to shower, turn it on and then wash my body up. After that, I eats sandwich while using my white doctors coat. Wash my hand, take my sedan key then drive it.

I drives in Klamath, a peace suburban city where there's not too much pollution and people. I look at my analog wristwatch that pointed to 5. When I arrive at the hospital, I parks my car on doctor's place. I run my way to emergency room, right when some police sirens blowing and moving through the main street.

I opened the hospital doors, and there's a nurse called me. "Doctor Adam Charlemonth, sorry to bother you.. but the other surgeon has wait for you in the room." When I hear her out, I quickly burst to surgery room.

This patient got a car accident but also got an asthma. After one full hour, the surgery didn't goes well. He's running out of blood also oxygen. I walks through corridor that lead to main lobby. But when I take a turn to the front doors, there's a quite crowd down there. I can see from afar there's a girl trying to...I don't know what she want from the other woman.

I try to seperate them because they already bait more crowd. But when I get closer, the girl has bite the woman right on her neck, and then eat the flesh freshly. The blood dripping down and the wound is opened. In other hand, the crowd are screaming while bites their lips. Then, the shocked security aim handgun to the girl right on her head.

"Stop right there lady." Says the only security here, with some bravery in it. But his face can't fool other, he's absolutely scared. When the girl turn her face to him, she start closing distance with the security. "I said st-" He can't even finish the sentence before the girl jump. She push the security to the ground, holding his neck up and then bite through it.

I got confuse about what just happen, it's can't be. The girl just killed two people. I heard more shouting and when I turn, I found more securities coming, guns in hand. I look back to the girl when she look at the security. Believe me, I know what will happen. I rushing for the back door that lead to the parking lot. While opening the door, I heard some gunfire from inside. I walk to my car, and I see the same things happen, but now the victim is a man.

The man lock my eyes. He get chased by really-pale women, and also her face has no emotion but hungry. "HELP ME!!" He emptied his entire lungs, and then screaming from the other side of the parking lot. I want to help him, but I know when I got there, the man just going to die. After I regret myself to watch his last moment, I run to my car and lock myself in. "What?! NO! PLEASE!" I still can heard the man shouting again, then followed by screaming from his voice too.

I rest my head on the wheel, ignoring the pain agony from him. After a while, I turn on my car then drive away from hospital as fast as I can. My hand trembling while sweat coming from all over my body. My head goes spinning when I thinking about what was that. Are they a cannibal cult that need humans? But it's impossible, this is too inhuman for nature. I drive my way home and can't stop thinking what if this thing happen in my neighborhood. And also Emma.

My eyes can't focus as if I got something in my mind. And suddenly...I hit someone that running from the side of the road. I get more freaked about what I just do, but what if I hit someone cannibal like at hospital. I hold the doorknob while calming myself up. I get out of the car, walking to the man slowly while checking surrounding. Checking his pulse, but can't find a beat.

I drag him back to the side of the road to clear the main road. I close his eyes and do little pray. I walk back to the car, but feel someone groaning. I turn back, right when the (I think) dead man hold my neck and try to bite me. I try push him back but can't fight his great strength. He is just some more inch from me, but I punch him on the head side before he can touch me. "Damn." I says while running to my car. I quickly close the door, leaving the man on the other side, try to break in.

He clawing and bashing the window, but not strong enough. Suddenly a deer coming from a thick forest, the one that lead to mountain. The man quickly turn his head in sudden, and glaring at the deer. The deer also give the man an innocent eyes to look at. The deer feel threatened and start moving backward, and the man start chasing the innocent being. "What the hell is this." I murmured as place my head on the wheel.

Suddenly, someone roaring again loudly and make my head up and steady. I take a look to my left, only to found the very same forest like before. I turn around to look at my rear, but it's just as quite as before. Then I turn to my right and see a little girl walking lazily from the side of the road, but slowly turn to run and then she tried to breach my right door. The window is screeching even if there's no massive effect on it, but still leave a barely visible cobweb pattern on the window.

I quickly turn the car on and then drive away from there. I look behind to see the girl still running for me, even she's stop when see another prey, tough. I'm trying to put my focus on driving and try not to overthinking about this all. I also try to control my breath, and assume that Emma is still safe.

When I entered my neighborhood, the same thing happens. But surely it's more quite than the hospital scene. I turn my car and search for my house. "Twenty-two." I murmured to myself and then stop in front of my house. I'm walking to the front door, right when the cop cruiser with red-blue siren moving through the road.

I open the door, just to know that the door is locked. I rub around my pocket to search my key, and just realized that I'm not bringing the key with me. That's mean the door locked from inside. I knock the door for several times and calming myself when there's more 'scene' happen in my neighborhood.

The door opened after a while, but just little, that only a cat can pass through. The barrel of Spas-12 shown, and the door carefully opened. When the door finally opened wide, it's reveal an 18 years old girl with blond hair, blue eye and aiming the shotgun at me.

"Did we have some kind of trust issue or something?" I say.

"Dad!" She realized and suddenly hug me tightly. "I thought you were one of them."

I pat his back and then release the hug. "Well.. it's good that I'm not one of them yet."

"Don't say 'yet', Dad." She looks mad.

"It's bett-" I got cut off by sound of roaring. Just by the sound, I can tell this is inhuman. "There's one in my back far side isn't it?" I ask but not turning back yet.

Emma nodding while readies her Spas-12. I turn my back to face a man just like before. I can't tell the expression, because it's between angry and hungry but I can certainly tell what's the face look like. Well..it's like normal head, but it's more pale than normal skin, even in his skin tone. The yellow eyes is eye catching, and I guess with that eyes, whomever see this iris can probably guess that he or she is 'different' than normal.

"Shit." I say right when he start charging.

Emma march forwards and then blow the man's head with his shotgun. The sound is really loud, and I think the entire neighborhood can hear that. I look to left and see another man and women running to the sound. And this is bad, I think.

"Get in!" I says as rush with Emma inside the house. I locked the door as soon as we get inside. I look at Emma that freaked out, and I give reassuring nod. After some a while, the group is on our front door, trying to get in. They're still roaring while bashing the door.

I want to know how strong they are. If a little girl is possible to break my window, what about few of 'them' against a door. And for some reason, I regret it. The door's nail is start to shake and it's can break any time. I quickly hold the door with my body, and brace their strength.

"Emma, take some planks, nails and my hammer." I say to Emma and she rush to the kitchen where I place it.

The 'thing' on the other side of the door is too powerful for a human being. They still bashing the door without any hesitation. The door's nail is no longer shaking because now it's been more loose. And then Emma came to me just in time.

"Put it there." I says and pointing to our coffee table. When she put the things down, the bash suddenly stopped.

"Are they..?" She looks at me expectantly.

I released myself from the door, and they're actually stopping. I move to the nearest window from here, and see the man and women I just saw are chasing another easier prey. "They're leaving." I says.

I take a step back and then sit on the living room sofa with exhausted feel. But then I get back to my feet and grab stuff that Emma has brought for me.

"Close all of the curtain we have." I says as trying to plant some nails to barricade our door with the planks.

Emma rushing to the every single window to close the curtain. "Is this mean we're not going to get a new shelves?" She ask from other rooms that make me realize what planks did I just use.

"Sorry Em, but no Christmas decorations this year." I says as put the second planks to plant. And after some planks, finally it's time to rest. I sit back on sofa and relaxing my muscle.

I turn living room television on, while Emma rush to coffee table with her laptop. She opened the screen, turn it on and wait patiently as she watch the news from television.

"...live from Washington, DC. I'm reporting to you about what is happening right now, things that make the world panic..." Emma turn his vision to her Laptop. "...this situation is happen through the entire world, but surprisingly south east Asia and Africa continent is not worse than other Asian continent, Europe and America. But this thing still pandemic.

"We still doesn't get a name for the spreading virus, but this thing surely so lethal. This new discovered virus is change human behavior and make them back from death, just like zombie.

"And from what we know, the virus is so.. lethal. It's not killing people, but instead.. they turn the infected. They're transforming into kind of zombie like you saw in Hollywood. This this infected that we call as 'zombie' is like a moving factory, every time they bite a non-infected human, the human be one of them, but it takes some time to turn depend on how bad is the bite. Witness says that the infected always have a yellowish eyes as a clue for infected."

I take my note book and scribble whatever the presenter says. I look at Emma using her laptop to scroll through Facebook page. "Em, search some survival guide and live hack in the internet," I say as giving her my notebook and my pen. She gives me a confused look. "Draw it on the book, I know you got some good drawing hands." I continue and then back to my feet, almost no wondering how she will react.

"O..kay." She say as working with her laptop. "Where are you going, Dad?" She says when I walks for the back door.

"Checking the back doors and looting some stuff." I say as make sure the back door is locked. When I'm pretty sure it's locked, I get myself to my bedroom and open my wardrobe, then search for some stuff I store inside. Of course not just shirt and pants that I search.

After some second, I found some useful thing. A metal black-white coloured baseball bat. I use this very often during my college year to play baseball, but still in good condition for some match. My Father taught me to play baseball since 6 years old, while my brother taught Emma to use firearm since she's 12 years old. My brother is part of army, but yeah..things went south. My brother died 2 years ago when the terrorist attack.

I wipe that old memories, and collect my belongings. Beside my wardrobe, there's my working table. I open the left drawer and found, one out of three working flashlights. I open another drawer and found two dusty Handy Talkie, I bought this when Emma was 5 I think? I can't barely remember. But I think some nudge will fix it, but of course not from me. I'm a Doctor not an Electrician.

I store all of that in one backpack including some fresh cloth, except the bat. Yes it's too big for a backpack. I bring the backpack and baseball bat to living room and see Emma has filled some page of notebook.

"Find something?" Ask Emma but doesn't turn to me, and keep on her works.

"Not much." I say as throw my bat to the sofa and put the backpack beside coffee table. I rummage the items from inside to show it to Emma. "I got one flashlight, and the other two from my drawer seems broken. There's also two HT, and in any chance if we found an Electrician, I'm sure they can fix it." I say as let her look at the items i brought.

"I think I have two flashlights in my drawer. I bought it when we goes camping last year." She says.

"'Kay, will get it." I reply and goes to her bedroom. I opened the door and show a nice and tidy bedroom, I doesn't mention I was a mess with cleaning part, though. I search for her drawer and find what she exactly says. I take the flashlights and then back to the living room.

"Is this enough?" Ask Emma as she let me look at her drawing. There's a rain water collector system for drinking, makeshift gasmask? I don't know if we need that, portable stove, and makeshift tent.

"It is." I say and take a sit on sofa and inspecting my baseball bat.

"So what we gonna do now?" Suddenly she ask me.

I'm shrugging. "I don't know, maybe waiting for government. But we still need to survive alone." I say as look at the sky, well.. ceiling actually. "How much shells you have?"

"Not much, maybe ten."

"Since I've no gun, I'm going to use the bat. Take the flipping knife you get from your uncle, and use that as your main weapon. We can't take a risk to kill zombies using hundreds of bullet, because there's no way we can produce bullet by picking some leaf around here, and we still don't know how much they are out there."

Suddenly our front door is pushed from outside. And maybe I talk to loud and attract the nearest zombie. I grab my baseball bat, walking to the back door. I turn back to Emma and give reassuring nod.

"Make sure he still provoked, I'm going to deal with him." I say and she nodding.

[Klamath, California 18 December 2020]

I jolted awake when my alarm goes off. I quickly turn the alarm off. I don't move at first before sit on the edge of my bed. I hold my own head using both of my hands, try to keep myself up after some wave of headache. After a while, my head finally back to normal. I raise to my feet, then stretch my hand before walking to my room window.

I look outside, and it's terrible as I imagine. I cross my hands and see everything I can from my view. With just one night, it can change everything. There's a car crashed in front of the neighbor across of me. There's no zombie in sight, either the zombie has running to another place, or they just hidden at all.

I sigh before walking to my bathroom. Turn the shower on and then wash my body. It's so unbelievable that the zombie virus is real, and happening. It's not an internet prank or whatever it is. This one is for real. I keep thinking of everything, right before actually realize that I just standing still bellow the shower. I think this is too much to learn. As if you just born yesterday but need to work tommorow. Wait... Is tomorrow still exist? Or even.. is this day exist?