1 The Beginning of the End

"I can't remember the last time I felt alive…"

These were the words spoken by a dark-haired youth just before exhaling a plume of heavy smoke from his lungs. Youth? That was not entirely accurate. After all, today was Zane's 18th birthday. Yet there was no celebration to be had, no cards wishing him well, not even a single text message by one of the few people in his life recognizing that he had been alive for eighteen years as of today.

Perhaps the young man would have dwelled on these thoughts more, while staring vacantly into the urban backdrop of his stereotypical American high school if not for a sudden disturbance, which drowned out his own self-pity.

While sitting in the courtyard and smoking a cigarette in place of actually attending his homeroom class for the morning, Zane witnessed a peculiar disturbance at the front gate of the high school which he attended. A group of people that seemingly had no connection with one another had approached the front gate of the school and were trying to barge their way in.

At first, Zane had no interest in this minor commotion, but when the sole police officer stationed at the school went to check out this disturbance, things suddenly turned interesting. The police officer shouted at the crowd gathering at the gates, but to no avail. It was almost as if these people could not even comprehend basic English.

The lack of response from the crowd compelled the police officer to approach the gate in an attempt to force them away. Which Zane watched with a disinterested expression. Yet the moment the officer made contact with the rowdy crowd, a shocking sight revealed itself to Zane, who was the only bystander.

The crowd latched onto the police officer and began biting him in multiple areas, their teeth ripping through his flesh, and biting off chunks. But what was perhaps the most peculiar thing of all was one of these crazed individuals bit into the police officer's neck and tore into his carotid artery.

Desperate to save himself, the police officer somehow managed to break away from the crowd who was still behind the gate, trying with everything they had to break it down. The bloody sight of their attack on the police officer caused Zane to stare in silence as the man fell to the floor and bled out on the spot.

The only sign of distress from Zane was the fact that the lit cigarette he was previously taking a drag from fell silently from his petrified fingers and onto the ground below. Thirty seconds to a minute passed as Zane watched the scene, which was ripped straight from a horror movie while remaining completely unmoved. That is, until the most bizarre thing happened.

After no more than a minute, the deceased police officer raised to his feet, his neck and uniform clearly blood stained, while his eyes were completely devoid of life. At first, it appeared as if the man was simply recovering from a nap, but then he snapped his attention towards Zane and slowly but surely started moving towards the young man.

In a moment of crisis, a human being generally had two potential responses. Most would flee in terror if they had witnessed such a thing. Yet Zane was calm, outright emotionless as he slowly rose to his feet and reached into his pocket, where he pulled out a small folded knife.

With a motion that was perhaps almost too naturally Zane flipped his pocket knife open and took a fighting stance as the bloodstained police officer rushed towards him as if he were a sprinter. Knowing that he only had one chance, Zane punched out with his blade towards the rapid police officer's skull, puncturing it, and digging deep into the man's brain as he tried to tackle Zane to the ground and bite his face off.

The attack instantly killed the deranged police officer, who Zane stared at in disbelief. Had he not witnessed this very scene himself, he would never believe it if someone were to recount exactly what had just happened.

After all, it was a scene out of a horror movie, one revolving the resurrection of the dead, and the spreading of a virus that had the potential to wipe out all of humanity. Yet Zane had watched with his black eyes as the crowd murdered the police officer by biting into his arteries, only for the corpse to rise from the dead and immediately assault him.

Something was seriously wrong with the world, and Zane did not have the luxury to wait and find out just what was happening. Instead, he quickly unhooked the police officer's duty belt, which contained a holster that housed a pistol, pepper spray, handcuffs, a radio, a med pouch, spare magazine pouches, a flashlight, and a much larger knife that was meant for one thing and one thing only.

After strapping the belt around his waist, and fastening the thigh strap, which was meant to secure the mid ride holster, Zane picked up his lit cigarette and put it in his mouth, while fetching his blade, which contained a certain peculiarity. Embedded on the tip of the blade was a small spherical object that was coated in blood.

At first, Zane thought it was a chunk of the deceased police officer's brain, but then after wiping the blood off of it, he realized it was some kind of crystal. But before the young man could further investigate the mysterious object, the gates to the school were forced through by the crowd of rabid madmen that had gathered outside not long ago.

Knowing that he didn't have enough ammunition to deal with the crowd, Zane took off running back into the school, and towards his classroom, which he was currently playing hookey from. After all, he knew better than anyone what this exact scenario meant. It was the end of the world as he knew it, and if he wanted to survive, he needed to fetch his backpack, which contained some supplies which would be essential to his survival. 

--

In Zane's classroom sat a gaggle of students. It was the time of the day that homeroom took place. Some students used this free time to study, while others used it to gossip. Seated among the many students was an adolescent girl with crimson hair and blue eyes. Perhaps an adolescent is not the best descriptor, as this young woman had turned eighteen earlier in the year.

Still, the crimson-haired beauty was speaking with her friends, while they were discussing some gossip about the boys in the school that were as equally popular as they were. Yet while the group of young women were giggling and enjoying their free period, one of them was on their phone where she immediately screamed out loud in a voice so loud and shrill that the entire class looked her way.

"Holy shit! Look at this!"

The young woman then handed the phone to her friends, where the crimson-haired beauty gasped in shock. What was being displayed was a news broadcast announcing a state of emergency not only in the city, but nationwide.

Videos of large mobs of people cannibalizing others were spread across the internet, while the White House had officially declared a nationwide state of emergency, pleading the citizens of the nation to stay indoors, and barricade themselves inside while the national guard and law enforcement agencies worked to get the situation under control.

It was not just the crimson-haired beauty and her friends who were watching this broadcast. Word had quickly spread across the classroom as more and more students looked at their phones and gazed at them in horror at the breaking news.

One of the students did not even believe what he was seeing, and thought this was some kind of sick joke.

"You can't be serious? What is the government playing an April fool's joke on us?"

However, it was not April 1st, and this was quickly pointed out by other members of the class who confirmed that this breaking news was the reality that they were all currently living in.

Even the teacher herself was shocked at the disturbance that had suddenly overtaken the country. She was quick to give an order to the class in order to prevent a sense of panic from overtaking them.

"Alright, class, we need to shut the door, lock it, and barricade it, as the White House has stated. We have no idea how long these riots will be going on for, but until this chaos subsides, it is my responsibility to look after you all… Wait a second… Where is Zane?"

As if summoned by the very mention of his name, Zane walked through the door in the next moment. The class gazed in horror as the young man they normally called the "quiet kid" entered the classroom covered in blood and with a handgun holstered on his thigh. 

However, he did not even bother to address any of his fellow classmates, instead he quickly rushed towards his desk, and grabbed his bag, where he immediately made his way towards the door. Unfortunately for him, the teacher immediately blocked his attempts to escape from this prison. Where she scolded him for his unsightly appearance.

"Where do you think you are going, young man? Have you not seen the broadcasts? And why are you covered in blood? Is that a gun? Where did you get that!?!"

Zane appeared completely emotionless as he spoke a single word in a tone that matched his facial features.

"Move…"

The teacher, however, did not do as instructed and instead ordered other kids to begin barricading the door while continuing to scold Zane.

"Kids, hurry up and barricade this door. Some desks will do fine! Zane, are you even listening to me?"

Zane simply did not have time to wait around. The rabid crowd was already in the school, no doubt devouring any stragglers, or those classes closest to the entrance, who had yet to receive news of the national crisis. Every moment he wasted in this classroom, he risked being trapped in this school, and that was the last thing that Zane wanted in this dire situation.

Thus, Zane did not say a word. As he reached into his holster and pulled out the handgun that he had scavenged from the school police officer, he pointed it directly towards the forehead of his teacher in an intimidating display of force. A cold tone was in his voice as he repeated his previous command.

"I said move…"

The teacher froze on the spot; her legs were no longer able to contain her weight as she fell to her knees with an expression filled with dread. All the while, Zane gazed at her coldly while holding a gun at her head. He was about to pull the trigger and end this woman's life when he heard an irritated voice shout at him from behind.

"Zane! What the hell do you think you are doing right now? You're not seriously going to shoot Miss Bennett, are you? What the fuck is wrong with you?"

Zane turned around to see someone he had not spoken to in years. Someone he was incredibly close to during his childhood. It was none other than the crimson-haired girl who had tied her hair into a ponytail. She gazed at her old childhood friend with a look of fury on her pretty face, while her arms were crossed beneath her substantial bust.

It had been so long since Zane and she had been close that Zane was honestly surprised that she remembered him, eliciting a single word response from the man as he stared in disbelief at the young woman who had grown so beautiful over the years.

"Elena…."

Before Elena or Zane could continue their conversation, blood-curdling screams could be overheard throughout the hallway. They were getting much closer as the second passed, and Zane knew it was already too late to escape.

He was trapped here in the place he hated most, with the people he hated most. Knowing this, he sighed heavily, and placed his loaded handgun back in its holster while helping the students barricade the door so that they could survive for at least a little longer.

And they had done so just in time, because the moment after they shoved a desk in front of the door, a bloody hand appeared on the window, followed by a young woman who demanded entry.

"Please! Help me! Please save me!"

However, just as one of the students made a move forward to shift the desk out of the way, and open the door, the woman in the door way was pounced on by several students who were covered in blood and injuries. The students safely inside the classroom watched in terror as the girl was devoured right in front of their classroom door.

As for Zane, he took a seat at the back of the class, gazing out the second-story window with the same expressionless face that he always maintained during class. He had no idea how he was going to escape this situation with his life intact… All he could do was wait… Wait for the door to break down, and for his life to be taken by these rabid corpses.