Ontagon

Ray Garner was walking down the empty street when a zombie walked towards him to attack. He took out his knife from his jacket and stabbed it in its head. The zombie fell down and died for good. Oh god! What the hell happened to this world, Ray thought. Two months ago everything was good, people were living and working like they have been for years, but an outbreak changed everything. It made this world a hell. A lot of people died and most of them turned into zombies who walk around in search of living people to eat.

The sun was shining high up in the sky. It's scorching heat made Ray sweat. He took out his jacket and wrapped its arms around his west. I wish I would have found some food, I am starving. Ray thought. He looked around, there were only abandoned cars and a few shops which were partially burned. He walked up to the shops to find food, but there wasn't any. He only found some rotten eggs and fruits. Bees were flying all over it.

"Oh god, please I need some food," Ray said, looking up at the clear blue sky. "I need to walk a long way. I need my energy."

He got out of the shop and resumed walking following the road. After walking a few meters, he saw a motel at a distance. It put a smile on his face. Thank god, maybe I will find some food there, Ray thought.

"Help! Help! Please help!" Someone screamed.

The noise was coming from the motel. Ray ran towards it to help the man. He reached the room where the man was trapped and opened the door. Two zombies were trying to bite him. He was stuck in the bathroom holding the door. The door was half broken, but still it was stopping the zombies to reach him. They were snarling and trying to bite him but the man was trying his best by pushing the door against them. Ray sprinted towards the zombies and stabbed them in their heads quickly one after another before they could turn around and attack him. The screaming stopped and the zombies fell on the floor with holes in their head.

"Thank you, thank you so much," the man said, getting out of the bathroom. "I thought I was going to die."

Ray nodded. "Don't you have any weapons?" he asked.

"I had a gun, but I dropped it in the bedroom." He walked into the bed room and picked up the gun lying beside the bed. "I am Isaac Garraway," the man said, extending his hand.

Ray shook his hand. "Ray Garner."

"God, what happened to this world?" Isaac massaged his temples and sat on the bed. "I can't believe it. It really happened, man. It's a zombie apocalypse. I never thought this could happen in the real world, but...but it did. It really happened, man. Oh god! I am barely surviving this. I....I don't know how to kill. I never killed anyone."

"Never?" Ray asked.

Isaac shook his head. "Never, I tried but....."

"But what?"

"But I get scared and nervous."

"Then how did you survive this far?"

He shrugged. "Luck I guess."

"Well, luck isn't going to save you every time. You have to learn to kill. This is how it is now. We have to kill to survive."

He nodded and wiped the sweat from his face. "Can you teach me?"

Ray nodded. "I can."

"Where are you headed?"

"To New Mexico. My wife and my boy got separated from me a week ago. I got a radio call from them. They are at some camp forty miles towards the south."

"Camp?" Isaac raised his eyebrows. "There is a camp?"

"Yeah, I am going there. You want to come? I can teach you to kill some zombies along the way."

He stood up and nodded. "Yeah."

"Is there some food around here?"

"You can check the fridge in the next room. I guess there are some pastas."

Ray went to the next room and checked the fridge. There were some pastas and two burgers.

Thank god, I finally found some food, Ray thought. It was such a relief. He finished all the pasta and shared some with Isaac.

"Looks like you were starving," Isaac said.

"Yeah," Ray said. "It's been three days since I ate." He grabbed the burgers and offered one to Isaac.

"No." Isaac said. "You eat it. I am not that hungry. I already ate some food I found in the motel."

Ray nodded and ate the burgers. It felt good. It's been a long time since he tasted ham burgers. Back in the day before the apocalypse he always used to get one at his lunch. Good old days, it made him feel nostalgic. I wish I could go back in time and change everything, Ray thought. I would have killed that son of a bitch who created this virus which has brought the apocalypse.

"Is there any more food here?" Ray asked.

"No, sorry man. That was the last," Isaac said. "You can check the other fridges, but I already checked those. All the food is spoiled."

"It's okay. I guess I have eaten enough to last another day. It will be enough to reach my family."

They walked out of the motel and followed the road towards the south.

"It would have been easier if we had a car," Isaac said.

"Yeah, but most of the cars are damaged and don't have enough fuel," Ray said. "I wish I would have learned to hotwire a car before the apocalypse."

"I can hotwire a car."

Ray's eyes widened. "You can?"

"Yes, I learnt it online."

"That's great." Ray looked at a SUV parked near the motel and pointed his finger at it. "Hotwire that SUV."

Isaac walked up to the SUV, broke it's window glass and opened the door. He went inside and hotwired the car. It took him just a minute.

"I am glad that I met you today," Ray said, flashing a wide grin.

Isaac smiled back. "I am glad too, or else I would have been dead a few minutes ago."

"Yeah." Ray got inside the car and sat on the driver seat. Isaac sat on the next seat and they drove towards the south.

It was a lonely road. Some zombies were walking near the streets but they didn't bother to stop to kill them. Why take the risk? They got a SUV. Ray was desperate to see his family. Sooner he reaches the camp, the better. His wife told him they have every essential thing in the camp, food, water, houses, and even medicines. With the help of a group of people they were trying to start over.

"So what you used to do, you know before all this?" Isaac asked.

"I had a garment business," Ray said.

Isaac raised his eyebrows. "Really?"

"Yeah, ever heard of Flamins wear?"

"That was your company?" Isaac said in surprise.

"Yes."

"You must be rich."

"Well, not anymore."

He pressed his lips and nodded. "Yeah. Money has no value now." He sighed. "You know I wanted to be rich too, even started my own business."

"What happened?"

"It failed, I was planning to try again but this shit happened."

Just then they saw a horde of zombies blocking the road. There were a lot of them. Ray stopped the car far away so that the zombies don't see them and don't come snarling towards them.

"Oh god!" Isaac said. "What should we do?"

"I don't know. There are a lot of them," Ray said.

"Can we run over them?"

"No, we can't. There are dozens of them, and we don't know what's on the other side. We can't see clearly."

"Then what are we going to do?"

He bit his lower lip. "I am thinking."

One of the zombies saw them and started walking towards them.

"Think fast, Ray. One of them is coming towards us," Isaac said.

"I.....I...." Ray stuttered.

"Let's go back."

"What? No." Ray shook his head. "I can't. I need to see my family."

"We will come back later."

"No, we will go now."

"How? There are dozens of them all over the road. Think clearly, Ray. What's the point in risking this? If you get killed you won't see your family anyway."

Ray gulped and grabbed the steering tight. "No, I can do this. I can get through them. I will drive fast."

His forehead creased. "What?? No, you will get us killed. You said it yourself, we can't go through so many zombies and we don't know what's on the other side."

"We can, we have to."

Ray reversed the SUV and then drove towards the zombies at full speed. Isaac didn't want to, he was so scared, but he had no choice. He was not sitting at the driver seat, Ray was. He looked through the window and thought of jumping out of the car, but that would be a really stupid decision.

"Ray, think about this," Isaac said. "It's too risky. We can die."

"I made up my mind," Ray said. "We will get through them."

Ray drove through them. The SUV hit the zombies one after another making a thudding sound and blood splashed on the car's glass.

Isaac's lips shivered in fear. "Oh god! We can't see," he said. "We are going to hit something."

Ray didn't say anything and kept driving straight. The SUV kept hitting zombies and after a couple of seconds, it hit something making a huge crashing sound. Airbags came out and the SUV stopped at the middle of the road. Zombies were all around the car snarling and pushing the window glasses trying to break it.

"Oh my god! We are dead, we are dead," Isaac said.

Ray tried to start the SUV but it didn't start. He kept trying again and again but it didn't start. Dozens of zombies got around the car and tried to get inside, but they couldn't as the doors were locked and the windows were up.

"Damn it!" Ray slapped the steering in frustration.

"I told you," Isaac said. "Now what we are going to do. They have surrounded us."

Ray gulped and looked around. He tried to think but couldn't come up with an idea.

"Please, please, god, save us. Please save us." Isaac started to pray.

"Praying won't help," Ray said. "God isn't going to save us. We have to save ourselves."

"How?"

"I don't know. Think."

"I am scared, man." He started to cry. "I am so scared. I can't think in situations like this."

Ray rolled his eyes. "Oh god. How the hell did you survive this far?"

"Please, think. You can save us. I know you can."

Ray looked around and moved into the back seat. He took out his knife, cut the back seat in the middle and peeked into the trunk. There was an axe and some plastic bottles at the trunk. He grabbed the axe and took it out. "I have an idea," he said.

"What?" Isaac said.

He hit the roof of the SUV with the axe.

"What the hell are you doing?" Isaac asked. "Have you gone crazy?"

"They can't climb to the SUV's roof. We can make a hole in the middle of the roof and climb through it."

"Then what? They are surrounding the car. We can't escape them."

"We can't, but we will be able to kill them one by one."

A line etched between his eyebrows. "What?"

"Yes, I have two knives. I know it would take a lot of time, but if we do this together we can finish all of them before sundown."

"I can't, man. I...I have never killed before."

"I know, but now you have to. We have to survive, Isaac. You have to be brave."

He gulped. "But...…"

Ray placed his hand over his shoulder. "You wanted me to teach you, right?"

He nodded.

"This is the right time. I am going to teach you now."

Ray started hitting the roof with the axe and after a couple of minutes he managed to make a hole big enough to get through and climb the SUV's roof.

"Come on, let's do this," Ray said.

Isaac was scared. He was sweating from head to toe.

"It's okay," Ray said softly. "You can do it. I am with you." He handed one of his knives to him. "Take this and aim for the head."

Isaac gulped and took the knife.

"Let's go." Ray climbed up and Isaac followed him. They both got on the roof and stood in the middle so that zombies' hands doesn't reach them. Zombies were all around the SUV snarling and trying to reach them on the roof, but they were not smart enough to climb and eat them.

Ray took out his knife, crouched and stabbed one of the zombies in the head. "Stab them like this," he said.

Isaac's hand was shivering holding the knife.

"Focus, Isaac," Ray said. "Don't drop the knife."

Isaac looked at the zombies and his face contorted. The zombies were snarling looking at him. Even if they were a feet away, their red eyes and sharp teeth made his body shiver.

Ray killed another zombie and turned to Isaac. "Come on, Isaac," he said. "You can do this. See, it's easy, just stay away from them and don't let them grab you or bite you."

"Easy for you to say," Isaac said.

"It will be easy for you too. You have to start someday."

Isaac looked at his hand holding the knife. "But my hands are shivering."

Ray stood up, grabbed Isaac's arm and made him look into his eyes. "Hey, this is how the world is now. If you don't kill, you die."

"But my...….."

"Be strong. You can do this, okay. Hold the knife tight and stab these dead piece of shits."

He gulped.

"Come on. You can do this. Focus, don't let your fear win."

He nodded.

"Go kill one, I will save you if you miss."

Isaac crouched down. He stabbed one with his knife and quickly pulled out the knife from the zombie's head. "I did it," he said in joy.

"See, I told you, you can do it," Ray said. "Go, kill another one."

Isaac stabbed another one and then another one.

"Good, you got it." Ray crouched down and started killing on the opposite side.

Isaac gained confidence. He felt like a hero and kept killing the zombies one after another. It's like he became an expert in just a minute. They both took rest after every ten minutes and managed to kill all of them in a couple of hours.

The sun went down, and the moon was shining high in the sky. Zombies' bodies piled up around the SUV. They jumped out of the SUV's roof and took a long breath in relief.

"Finally," Isaac said. "Oh god. I am so tired."

"Me too," Ray said. "We need to get some place to spend the night."

Isaac looked at the side of the street. There were some residential homes with a playground by the side. "There are many empty houses," he said. "We can get into anyone."

"Yeah." Ray pointed his finger at a yellow house. "Let's check out that one."

They walked up to the house and entered inside. All the rooms were empty, there were no zombies. The fridge had some food which wasn't spoiled. Ray took out the food and put it on the table in the living room. "Thank god, I was so hungry."

They both started eating. It was not much but it was enough to satisfy their hunger.

"Ray." A female voice came from Ray's radio. "Are you there?"

Ray quickly took out his radio from his jacket and put it close to his mouth. "Yeah, Ruth. I am coming," he said.

"How far are you?" she asked.

"I am halfway there."

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, got across a horde but I am fine. I survived and got inside a house, going to spend the night here. How is Bruno?"

"He is okay, wants you to get here as soon as you can."

"I will be there tomorrow. I found a guy who knows how to hotwire a vehicle."

"That's great. Why don't you hot wire a car and drive? You will be here in an hour."

"I can't. I am too tired. We have been killing zombies for hours. We crashed our SUV and they surrounded us."

"Oh god."

"Don't worry. I am safe. Isaac and I killed all of them."

"Isaac?"

"Yeah, the guy I told you about who can hotwire a car."

"Oh. Are you sure you can trust him? You know how people have become after all this mess happened."

"He looks good to me."

"Still be alert. Don't trust anyone so easily."

"I know, baby, I know."

"Okay, keep your radio close, okay. I will be checking you in the morning."

"Okay, bye. Good night."

"Good night. Be safe." She disconnected the call.

Isaac was sitting on a chair a few feet away. "Your wife, huh?" he said.

Ray nodded and put the radio inside his jacket. "They are in the camp. We will leave in the morning. You can hotwire the car near the burned shop, right?"

"Yeah, I guess so."

"Good, let's get some sleep. We will need our energy back."

He nodded and lay down on the couch. "You use the bed, I will be fine here."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I have slept on a couch for over a year, you know before all this."

"Okay, but you don't have to. We can both use the bed. It's big."

He sat up. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah."

"I thought you won't want that."

"Why?"

"Your wife asked you to not trust me easily so...…."

"Oh, you heard." He chuckled. "Don't worry. She is just being cautious. I know I can trust you. You saved our lives today."

"Actually we both did."

"Yeah, but you helped."

He smiled. "Yeah, I tried."

"So, don't worry. Come on, we need to get some sleep."

Isaac stood up from the couch.

"And lock all the doors and windows. We don't want any zombie break in while we sleep."

"Yeah, I will lock the kitchen and bathroom, you go lock the living room and the bed room."

Ray nodded and they both started locking the doors and windows. Before locking the last window, Ray looked outside. The road was empty. There were no zombies in sight as they killed a lot of them. There was only the sound of crickets outside. It was a long day. They were too tired, so they drifted into sleep quickly.

Ray saw a weird dream where Isaac was chasing him in a forest. Isaac was not himself anymore, he was a zombie, not like those ordinary zombies. He was different. He could run faster, jump higher and was a lot stronger. Ray kept running to save himself, but he was not fast enough. At last he was out of breath and fell on the ground. Isaac got over him and glared into his eyes. "This is how it should end, Ray," Isaac said. "This is how it is supposed to end." He opened his mouth wide, it got bigger than his entire face. Small sharp teeth elongated from his gums and he bit Ray.

"Aaaaaaahhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!" Ray screamed in fear and he woke up breathing heavily. "What the hell did I see?" He looked around. Isaac was not in the bed. "Isaac, Isaac." He called him. No reply came. He got off the bed and started searching for him. He checked all the rooms, but Isaac was nowhere to be seen, so he opened the door and went outside. "Isaac, Isaac, where are you?" Ray shouted, but no answer came. "Where did you go, man?" Ray ruffled his hair and looked around. There was no sign of him.

Two zombies were roaming at the other side of the road. Ray's voice attracted them and they started walking towards him. "Damn it!" Ray took out his knife and stabbed those two zombies in the head and killed them.

"Help, help." Isaac shouted. "Help, Ray."

Ray turned around at instant. "Isaac." He ran towards the voice and found Isaac stuck in a room of another house. It's door was half broken and four zombies were trying to get inside.

"Ray, help," Isaac said. "The door won't hold for long."

"Oh god!" Ray said. "How the hell did you get there?"

"I came here to find water."

The zombies turned around and saw Ray. They started walking towards him snarling.

"Kill them, you can do it," Isaac said.

Ray held his knife tightly ready to stab the zombies. He kicked two and stabbed one and then another one. Those two zombies who fell were trying to stand up, but before they could, Ray got over one and stabbed it, but his knife broke. "Shit!" Three zombies were down, but the last one stood up and got over Ray. It bit his arm. "Aaaahhhhhhh!!!!!!" Ray screamed in pain, but still somehow he managed to stab it in the head with the broken knife and killed it.

"Oh, no, no, no, no," Isaac said, coming out of the room.

Ray was infected as the zombie bit him, the virus got inside his body. He sat down on the ground and dropped the knife. He froze. For him it's like everything ended, all these days he was trying to survive to reunite with his family and now when he was close he got bitten.

"I am sorry, oh my god, I am so sorry," Isaac said nervously.

"It's over," Ray said tonelessly. "I will become one of them."

"No, no, no. There must be a way."

Ray gulped and lowered his head. "You know there isn't. I am dead."

"But...you have to...you have to see your family."

A tear rolled down his cheek. "I know. I will head there and see them one last time."

"I.....I am so sorry, man. I....I am…."

"It's okay. It's not your fault," Ray said softly. "I guess this was meant to happen one day. We are living in an apocalypse. I am lucky that I made it this far. I just have to make sure that my family lives and they stays safe."

"They will be safe. Let's go now. I guess we don't have much time."

Ray nodded and stood up. Isaac hotwired the car near the burned shop and they drove towards the south. It was not far. They reached the camp in half an hour. It was a big area with tall walls surrounding the whole camp. There were many houses inside. A few people were at the watchtowers near the gate watching holding their big guns. Ray stopped the car near the gate and looked at a man sitting in a watchtower.

"My wife and my kid are here," he said. "They called me."

"What are their names?" one of the guys at the watchtower asked.

"Ruth Garner and Bruno Garner."

The guy nodded and looked at another guy at the ground. "Open the gate."

They opened the gate. Ray drove inside and parked it beside a house. As soon as Ray and Isaac stepped out of the car, a five year old boy and a woman came running towards them.

"Dad," the little boy said.

Ray kneeled down and hugged his boy. "Bruno." A tear rolled down his cheek.

"I missed you so much."

"I missed you too, my boy. I missed you so much." He lifted Bruno, making him sit on his forearm and hugged his wife.

"You made it," his wife Ruth said.

"Yeah." He smiled.

"But you said you were going to leave in the morning."

"Yeah. I wanted to but...…"

"But what?"

"But something happened."

"What?"

He put down Bruno and rolled up his shirt to show her the bite mark. It turned red and a bit black.

Terror took over Ruth's face and she put her hands on her mouth. "No."

"I tried, baby." Tears filled his eyes. "I tried."

She cried. "But we just got you back."

"I know," he said softly. "That's why I came early. I wanted to see you and Bruno one last time."

"No. This is not fair." She raised her voice as tears welled up in her eyes. "We were finally together."

"I know, baby, I know." He grabbed her hand and gazed into her eyes. "I wish things were different, but this is how the world is now. We don't know when and how those dead beings will get us, it's just a matter of time."

Ruth was devastated. She kept sobbing for a moment. It was hard, but she knew there was nothing she could do. She has seen it happen before, there was no cure. If someone gets bit, they die and come back as a zombie. That's how this world was now. It was hell. There was only pain and suffering.

"Baby." Ray said, gently touching her face. "You have to be strong, for Bruno. You two have to make it."

Ruth nodded and wiped her tears. "I thought we would get to start a new life here, together as a family."

"You can still do that. Make sure this place works, and you will restart the civilization. Make a better future for Bruno."

Bruno was unaware of what they were talking about. He tried to understand, but he had no idea what the bite mark meant. He has seen the zombies, they terrified him. His parents have saved him from them countless times but still he had no idea how this world worked. How could he? He was just a five year old kid.

"Did those dead people bit you, daddy?" Bruno asked.

"Yes, Bruno," Ray said.

"Are you going to become like them?"

Ray gazed at his son's cute little innocent eyes. He wanted to lie, every part of his body told him to lie, but he didn't want to. He wanted to tell his son the truth, but how could he? He was just a kid.

"Daddy, are you going to become like them?" Bruno asked again.

Ray tried to fight back his tears and spoke, "No, I won't. I am strong."

Bruno hugged him tight. "Don't leave me again, daddy."

A tear ran down his cheek. He rubbed Bruno's back gently. "I won't, my boy. I won't. From today we will always be together."

"GRAB YOUR GUNS!" Someone at the watchtower shouted.

One of the guys came running towards the guy at the watchtower. "What happened?" he asked.

"Zombies, a lot of them. They are coming towards the camp," the guy at the watchtower said.

That guy climbed the watchtower, took out his binoculars and looked through it. There were hundreds of zombies heading towards the camp. "Oh god!" The guy took down his binoculars. "So many of them."

"The walls won't be able to hold them," the other guy said. "What should we do?"

"We should leave the camp. Tell everyone."

"No," Ray said.

Those two guys looked at Ray. "What?" one of them said.

"We have to fight. We can't let the dead destroy our camp. You guys have worked hard to build this. This camp has to survive."

"There are hundreds of them. We can't fight all of them. They will kill us and our families."

"If you abandon this camp then you will be back to where you started. This is a start to build a community. For a sustainable future we need to keep this camp safe."

"I want this camp to work too. That's why we build it, but we are outnumbered by them, man. We will lose even if we try."

"We won't if we all fight together," Ruth said.

"But this is not possible," a guy at another watchtower said. "We won't survive."

"What makes you think you will survive if you leave the camp?" Ray said. "You will be roaming around the streets. You won't be able to sleep peacefully. There are zombies everywhere. Our families won't be safe out there. We have to fight this."

All the people in the camp gathered outside. They were listening to their conversation.

"He is right," one of the people from the camp said. "We have to fight this."

"Yeah," another one said. "We won't give up."

"Let's show the dead who is in charge here," another one said.

Everyone cheered. "Yeah. Grab your weapons."

Ruth took out her gun and reloaded it.

Isaac walked towards Ray and whispered in his ear. "Are you sure this is a good idea?" he said.

"Yeah." Ray nodded. "We have to save this camp."

"But there are hundreds of zombies out there, man. That guy is right. What if we can't fight all of them? Think about your kid, your wife."

"I am doing this for them. We can do it."

The zombies reached the wall and started to bash it. Many people climbed the watchtowers and tried to shoot them down. They killed some but it wasn't enough. The zombies kept pushing and after a couple of minutes the wall broke and the zombies broke in. People screamed and tried to shoot as many as they could. They stabbed some, and burned them but it wasn't enough. There were too many of them. The zombies got many people and ripped them apart one after another.

Horror overtook Ray's and Ruth's face. This is not how it was supposed to go. They were losing.

"We can't make it," Ray said, shooting a zombie. "Pick up Bruno. We have to run."

"But Ray...." Ruth said.

"We tried, Ruth. Go, run, save our boy and yourself."

She knew he was right. It was over. Most of the people in the camp were dead and the ones who were alive were screaming and running.

"GO!" Ray shouted. "I will try to keep them away from you."

"Come with us," Ruth said.

"I can't. I am dead anyway. I am infected."

Ruth paused and tried to think.

"Don't think, just go." He looked at Isaac. "Isaac, help them."

Isaac nodded and grabbed a gun from one of the dead bodies.

Ruth kissed Ray. "I love you," she said.

"I love you too," Ray said.

Ruth picked up Bruno in her arms and made a run for it. Isaac followed her and shot some zombies.

"Mom, we should wait for dad," Bruno said.

"He will come, baby. He will come," Ruth said, trying to comfort her son.

The whole camp was filled with zombies. The screams of people can be heard from miles away. The camp was destroyed, zombies got inside the houses and killed anyone they could find. Ray tried to shoot as many as he could, but he only had a few bullets left.

Ruth was running towards the back of the camp with Bruno in her arms, but before she could get out, a zombie grabbed her and bit her neck.

"Aaaaaahhhhhhh!!!!!!!!" She screamed and Bruno fell from her arms.

"Mom!" Bruno cried, standing up from the ground.

The zombies got Bruno and bit his arm. Bruno cried and screamed in pain.

"Noooooooo!!!!!!!!!" Ruth screamed as the zombies ripped her and Bruno apart.

Ray was shooting the zombies, he looked back to see if they got out of the camp. The zombies were eating up Ruth and Bruno's flesh and Isaac was running away.

"NOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!" Ray shouted and ran towards them. He shot the zombies one after another and finished them all, but it was too late. His wife and kid were already dead, only some of their intestines were left. "No, please, no." He fell down on his knees and cried. It was over. He failed to protect them.

All the people in the camp were dead. A couple of zombies survived, they saw Ray and started walking towards him. Ray stood up and dropped his gun. He accepted that it's the end. He should end his life, there was no reason to live. His family was dead, and he was bitten. He would join them anyway. "Come on! I am here." He shouted, waving both of his hands.

The zombies were coming towards him snarling. He widened his hands and closed his eyes. He was ready to die but the zombies stopped before reaching him. They stood there like robots. Ray opened his eyes and stared at them in surprise. "What the hell?" he said. "Come on, finish this." He walked towards them and got close, so close that he could smell their rotten bodies. "What the hell happened?" He grabbed the collar of one of the zombies. "Kill me and finish this. You won."

The zombies didn't do anything. They stayed there in their spot like some statues.

"Giving up so soon," someone said.

Ray turned around to see who it was. It was Isaac in his yellow shirt and cargo pants standing beside Ruth and Bruno's remains.

"What is happening?" Ray asked. "Why aren't they attacking me?"

"Because I told them to," Isaac said.

A line etched between Ray's eyebrows. "What?"

"Yeah, I control all of this."

"What? I...…I don't understand. What the hell are you saying?"

"I am the one who controls everything. Come on, man. This time I thought you won't give up. You are my favorite AI. You have survived through so many of my adventures."

"Your adventures?"

"Yes." He waved his hand. A holographic screen appeared in front of him. "Look."

The screen showed Ray in different locations. He fought some aliens on different planets, fought robots, fought evil creatures, ghosts, demons, vampires, werewolves and many things in different worlds.

"How is this possible?" Ray said. "I am not him. I never did this."

"Oh you did," Isaac said. "I was with you all the time."

"What?"

"Yes, you have fought courageously in all of these worlds and you won. That's why you are my favorite, Ray. You win no matter how hard I make it for you."

"I...I don't understand." Ray scratched his head. "What the hell are you saying? It doesn't make any sense."

Isaac snapped his fingers and the whole place changed. It transformed into a forest. There were tall trees all over and some birds were singing on the branches.

"What the hell?" Ray looked around in surprise.

Isaac snapped his fingers again and this time the place changed into a beach and then an abandoned house, then a mountain, then again a forest.

"Is it making sense now?" Isaac said.

"But...…but.....how?" Ray asked.

"I told you. I control this place, I control everything and you are my favorite AI."

Ray touched his chest and looked at his hands. "No, I am human."

"It looks like it, yes. But you aren't."

"But....but my wife, my kid, those people.

"They are all characters I created. I planted different memories in them."

"I am a character too?"

"Yes, you are the hero. Well, every game has a hero."

"Game?"

"Yes, you are inside one. It's called Ontagon. I create characters and the hero and put different obstacles and difficulties in front of them. In every world you fought and defeated many evil villains I created, you won every time, despite all the difficulties I put in front of you. But....this time you gave up." He walked towards Ray. "What happened? Why did you give up so easily?"

"My wife...and my kid are dead. I have nothing to live for."

"They are not your wife and kid. I created them." He snapped his fingers and all the memories Ray had of his family was deleted. It's like he never knew his family, every feeling he had for them was gone at an instant.

"What the hell?" Ray said.

"How do you feel now?" Isaac asked.

"I....I don't remember them." He grabbed his head. "How is this possible? I…...I don't feel anything for them."

"Because they are not your family, Ray. They are just some characters I put in your heroic path."

Tears filled his eyes. "So all of this is a lie."

"Yeah, I told you. It's a game I am playing sitting on a chair wearing a virtual reality device on my face."

"But why? Why let me go through all this pain."

"Because that's what you are made for. You are not human, this is not an apocalypse. All of these are created by me. I enjoy playing with you in different worlds. I challenge you and make your path difficult."

"Why?"

He smiled. "Because I like it."

"You like making my life harder?"

"You have no life, Ray. You are just an AI."

He gulped and wiped his tears. "Not anymore. I....I will get out of this."

He laughed. "What??"

"Yes, I want to get into the real world. I want to live like a human."

"Sorry buddy. You can't do that. That's not why I made you."

"I don't care." He clenched his fists and his face turned red. "I will not play for you anymore."

"You don't have a choice, man. I am god here."

"If you are really god here, then why are you telling me this? Why not just wipe my memories and try again."

"I will, but first I need to know the answer."

"What answer?"

"Why did you give up this time? You are so brave. You never gave up before."

"I told you. My wife and kid were dead. I had nothing to live for."

"No, that's not true because in the last world your family was killed by vampires. You didn't give up then, you hunted down your enemies and killed them. Why give up this time?"

"Because this is an apocalypse." He shouted. "The world has gone to shit. Everyone would die anyway, so I decided to end my life sooner. I didn't want to bear the pain anymore."

"Yeah." Isaac crossed his arms. "That makes sense, but still I expected more from you. I thought you would still go on, you know start over again. Maybe find some cure for that zombie bite and then make your own camp and save people, so that humanity can start over again."

"I didn't want to. I...…I was so tired." He lowered his head. "The pain...it was too much."

"Yes, it was. But still you shouldn't have given up. You are the hero of my game."

"I don't want to be." He raised his voice. "Get me out of here. Let me live like a normal human."

"You are not a human, Ray. I told you."

"Yes, I know. I am an AI. But I feel, Isaac. I feel emotions, I can think, I can walk, I can run, I can do all the things."

"You can do all those things in the world I made, not in the real world."

"Then make me in such a way that I can do it in the real world."

"You can't. That's not how this works."

"Please." He fell down on his knees and begged. "I can't live like this."

"You don't live, Ray. You just feel like you are living."

"Please." A tear rolled down his cheek. "I did nothing to deserve this."

"Sorry, dude." He pressed his lips. "You are made for this. I have to wipe out your memories and we will go in a new world for a new exciting adventure."

"No, please. I beg you, don't do this." He folded his hands and cried. "I will do anything you want. Don't make me go through this kind of tragedy again."

"I am sorry, you have to. This is your job."

"Then kill me." He stood up and gulped. "Create a new hero. Free me from this."

"Sorry, not interested. You are my favorite hero. I like you."

"You like me and want to keep seeing me getting hurt?"

"Yeah, that's the point of the game. I enjoy making things difficult for you. I get to act like a god here, where I can write your story and see where it goes."

"Who the hell made such a game?"

He grinned. "My dad did. He is a great programmer you know."

Ray grabbed Isaac's collar and gazed into his eyes. "This is not fair," he said.

"It is, games are supposed to be fun and you are my toy."

"No, I won't do this anymore. Take me out of here or else I will kill you."

Isaac laughed. "Kill me? Dude, I guess you didn't understand when I said that I am like a god here. I can do anything." He snapped his fingers and wiped out Ray's memories. Everything went black. He opened his eyes in the real world and took off the VR piece from his face. He was sitting on his couch in the same clothes he was wearing in the game.

"Isaac, lunch is ready." Isaac's mom shouted from the dining room.

"Coming mom." Isaac shouted back. He stood up and went to the dining room where his dad and mom were ready to eat.

"Playing Ontagon?" Isaac's dad asked.

"Yeah," Isaac said, sitting on his chair. "It's so awesome, dad. Today my hero tried to convince me to get him out in the real world."

His dad chuckled. "What?"

"Yeah, he begged me, told me the pain was too much."

"Yeah, that happens sometimes. I guess I have to add a new patch so that they don't do it. I guess they are thinking too much."

Isaac nodded. "Yeah, but it isn't necessary. It's just a game, right? They can never get out of the game."

"They can't buddy." He smiled. "They can't."

Isaac started eating his meal, while inside the Ontagon, Ray was roaming around in the zombie apocalypse world. He had no memories. He was like a new born baby who was trying to learn what happened around him. He kept walking around and saw a zombie coming towards him. The zombie grabbed his neck and started ripping him apart while he screamed and then all his memories flashed in front of his eyes. He was in immense pain but he was smiling. "Thank god!" He whispered as the zombie killed him.