|| Chapter 2 ||

May 1, 2020

Max Bieber slowly opened the bathroom door, finding a pool of blood beneath him, along with a man. He's dead, as chunks of flesh has been taken out of his torso and neck.

Max carefully stepped over the newly infected man, and walked down the hall, back into the bar.

The bartender is on the floor behind the counter, getting eaten by two infected customers.

Max stood there, clearly in shock, but he stayed silent. He glanced around the bar, finding a few more dead people on the floor, buy there are no alive -- or living dead -- ones left.

Max slowly approached the open bar door, where he stepped out into the warm air.

Screaming erupted from down the street, and people ran for their lives away from the infected ones chasing them.

As Max took in the sight, a car sped by him. His eyes locked onto the vehicle, just before it slammed into the telephone pole.

"Oh fuck", Max flinched after hearing the loud noise it made.

It was so surreal, and it snapped him out of his shock.

He bagan to panic.

People ran by him, accidentally bumping into him, while the living dead chased them.

Max, seeing this, started running, also.

After seeing how chaotic the main Street is, Max ducked down an alleyway.

He jogged down it, hoping to get back around to the parking lot, to get his vehicle.

As he was jogging, he heard crying from between two dumpsters.

He continued jogging, but ultimately stopped once he realised what he had passed.

Max slowly retraced his steps. He neared two dumpsters, where a girl is sitting between them.

Her knees are pulled to her chest, and her head his against her arms.

"Hey...are you okay?" Max quietly asked, attempting to soothe the young girl.

The girl immediately looked up, giving Max a full look at her face. Her cheeks are wet with tears, her eyes are huge, puffy and red.

She has brown eyes, long lashes, a cute button nose, and dark hair. She also has a small birthmark on the left side of her nose.

She seems to be a teenager, which Max wasn't expecting.

Max knelt down in front of her, which only caused the girl to cry even more.

Max reached out, but she quickly shook her head.

"P-Pl-Plea-Please, g-g-go a-away, pl-please", she sobbed, refusing to look at him again. "Pl-please, d-don-don't hurt m-me."

Max stared at her for a moment, understanding that she must have witnessed something awful.

She's horrified, it's all across her face.

"Hey, I'm not-", Max started to say, but he was interrupted by a scream from further down the alley, back on the street.

The girl immediately backed up even further. She buried her face in her knees and cried softly.

Max sighed, glancing back down the alley. He saw several people ran by, while one was grabbed by an infected person.

"Listen kid, I'm trying to fucking help you", Max snapped, looking at her again. "We have to go", he grabbed her arm and started to pull her up with him.

But she's dead weight. She refused to move.

Max forced her to her feet, where she crossed her arms across her chest. She's so short that she can't even see over the dumpster.

The girl looked up at him with tears in her eyes. Her bottom lip trembled as the few tears slipped down her cheeks.

Max held his hand out for her take. "It'll be okay, I won't let anything happen to you, I promise", he told her.

The girl looked at his hand, then she accepted it. She tightly squeezed his hand, and the two started moving down the alleyway.

Once they reached the end, they came out to the parking lot behind the bar.

She and Max made their way through the full parking lot, careful not to alert anyone or anything of their presence.

Max reached his vehicle. He opened the passenger door and helped the young girl get inside, then he quickly walked around to the driver's door.

He glanced over to her, finding her looking down at her hands, which have blood on them.

Her eyes moved to Max's hands, which are still covered in blood from the bathroom incident.

"D-Did y-you kill one?" the girl shakily asked, glancing up to him.

"I had to", he answered. He reached I to his pocket and grabbed his keys, then he started the truck.

Max carefully backed out of the parking space, then he started to leave the lot.

"Wh-Why are we leaving? Th-There's nowhere for us to g-go", she spoke.

"We can go to my apartment until we figure this shit out", Max responded. He stopped at the parking lot exit. "What's your name, kid?" he looked over at her.

"M-Mia, and I'm not a kid", she told him.

Despite the circumstances, Max started to smile. "Mia -- is that short for something?" he questioned.

"Mikayla", Mia told him.

Max nodded. "Well, Mia, I'm Max", he told her.

He pulled out of the parking lot and started driving down the street.

As he neared the next big intersection, Jimin saw one of the living dead. He's eating another person, who's dead on the ground.

"A-Are they z-zombies?" Mia quietly asked.

Max looked at her for a moment, finding her staring in horror at the events unfolding outside.

"Hey, don't look out the window", Max told her. "You don't need to see that", he focused on the road. "How old are you, anyway?"

"Sixteen", Mia quietly answered.

"Yeah? You still in high school?" Max asked, trying to distract her from the outside world.

Mia looked at Max for a moment. "Yes", she answered. She stared at him, who was focused on driving. "How old are you?" she asked.

"Twenty-three", he answered.

"Are you from-", she started to ask, but she couldn't finish die to a vehicle slamming into them.

It slammed into the car, in jer side, which caused the vehicle to flip and skid into a telephone pole and a fire hydrant.

The two of them were knocked unconscious almost instantly.

.....

Two hours later, Max Bieber slowly began to regain consciousness. He can hear water pouring out from the fire hydrant, and screaming from somewhere on the street.

Snapping and snarling came from his door, so he slowly looked over, finding a bloody face peering in at him through the broken window.

The zombie snapped at him, trying to grab ahold of him with his teeth.

Max hung upside down, latches into his seatbelt. He remembered the girl ne found in the alleyway, and immediately looked over at her.

She's dangling from her seatbelt, unconscious. Small, thick, droplets of blood dropped onto the car below them, from her head.

Max reached over and felt her neck, finding a strong pulse.

He sighed, clearly relieved.

One thing Max Bieber dosen't want to do, is break a promise.

Max unclipped his seatbelt and felt onto a mess of glass. A piece pierced his leg, but he barely felt it.

He grabbed a long piece of glass, then he stabbed the zombie with it, killing it instantly.

The snarling stopped, only allowing the water to be heard.

Max turned to face Mia. He reached up and unclipped her seatbelt, and caught her before her head slammed into the ground.

Max, then, squeezed out of the small broken window. He reached in and grabbed Mia, then he pulled her out.

Once Mia's back rested against the hard concrete, Max checked her pulse again. It's getting stronger.

Despite the circumstances, Max smiled.

As he started to lift her up, she woke up.

And when she didn't understand what was happening, she screamed and started fighting him off.

Max immediately let her go.

"Hey, hey, hey!" Max whispered. "Stop screaming!" he told her.

The girl slowly came to realise who the man is, her only friend in this new world.

An obvious amount of relief washed over her face. She immediately shot up a d clung to this stranger, who she's too trusting of.

She so bed into his neck, remembering everything that she's witnessed that night.

Death.

Max gently rubbed her back, sighing as he did. Je made sure to keep an eye on their surroundings, and eventually saw a group of the dead approaching them.

He, easily, lifted the younger girl up, then he turned away from the approaching group of infected.

Mia's soft sniffles against Max's neck caused him to move faster.

He needs to get her somewhere safe, then he needs to figure out what the hell is going on.

As Max jogged down the chaotic street, he saw a number of things happening.

People murdering people, the infected ripping the alive ones open, the looting of stores, cars on fire.

It's a chaos.

Max reached the building to his appartment. He immediately ran inside and decided to take the stairs.

Once he made it to the floor his apartment is on, he cautiously walked down the hall.

He reached into his pocket and pulled his keys out. Once he unlocked his door, he lowered Mia to the ground.

"Go on inside", he told her.

Mia looked up at him, then she stepped inside.

Max immediately followed her. He carefully shut and licked the door, then he walked by her, leaving her to stand by herself.

Max grabbed the remote from the table in his living room, he flipped the TV on.

"There have been hundreds of attacks reported across the United States and it's neighbouring countries", the news anchor announced. "President Mike Pence has, reportedly, been infected and rushed to the hospital".

A long pause went by as the woman paused her words.

"What are you doing in here?" she questioned, looking off in the distance. "Hey!" she started to backup.

A scream erupted in the background,and the camera slammed to the ground, signalling the end of the news forecast.

"Wh-What was th-that?" Mia quietly asked, stopping beside Max.

Max glanced over to her. He was better able to see her face, which caused his heart to drop.

She has a small amount of blood on her forehead. Her crying has stopped, her nose is red, her cheeks are flushed, and her eyes are puffy.

Max rested his hands on her shoulder. He turned her to face him, then he assessed her forehead.

He gently touched it, which caused her to flinch. It's a small cut up near her hairline.

"Let's get this cleaned up, okay?" Max told her. "You don't have any other wounds, do you? From before the accident?"

The girl ratted her brain for the answer, but couldn't answer. Tears pooled down her flush cheeks, and shook her head almost instantly.

Max nodded to her, he wipes her cheeks, then he led her to the bathroom. He lifted her onto the sink, then he wet down a cloth.

Mia, now almost at eye level with the man, got a much better look at him.

His blonde hair is messy, he has beautiful eyes, and a worried look across his face.

Max began to wipe her forehead off, cleaning the wound. He noticed her gaze towards him, and rose an eyebrow.

"What is it?" Max questioned.

The you girl simply stared at him as his eyes focused on her wound. She seems mesmerized by the man in front of her.

"Thankyou for saving me", her voice came out quite, but confident.

A small smile rose to his lips after hearing the words. A sense of accomplishment washed over him.

"Well, I couldn't just leave you there", Max simply replied. He finished wiping the blood away. "You'll be fine, you don't even need stiches", he wiped the small cut with a dry cloth.

Mia nodded to him. "Thankyou", she said again.

"I'll get you back to your family in the morning", he told her, which caused a frown to form on ner face.

"I don't...." Mia trailed off. "She.....they..."

Max stared at her for a moment, then he nodded, understanding what she's trying to tell him.

"It's okay, you don't have to tell me", he softly spoke.

Mia bit her bottom lip after it began trembling.

Max took a step back. "My bedroom is across the hall, get some sleep, if you can", he told her.

Mia gently nodded. She dropped down off of the sink, and walked out of the bathroom, into his bedroom.

Max walked back out in the living area. He heard people run down the hall, right outside. He, then, walked to the windows in the apartment. He looked out at the city.

Smoke is pouring from several buildings. Lights from fires are lighting up the streets. Max pulled his cellphone out, wanting to make a phone call to someone, yet he couldn't.

No Signal.

Max, frustrated, tossed the phone onto the window sill, then he yanked the curtains shut.

***

Thnx for reading plss vote and comment on this chapter :)

05/01/2021

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