Dead Men Arise

Lori checked her watch repeatedly. It was 10:50pm and she had only ten more minutes until her shift was over and she could go home, at last.

Lori worked in a grocery store, not too far away from her house. Which was a good thing, as she was able to walk to work everyday. She usually enjoyed her day at work, but things could get really boring during those last few minutes. Especially when there were no customers and only the boring radio station playing the same old tunes, over and over again.

Jose was supposed to have arrived, as he would take over for the night shift. Nothing pissed Lori off more than having to wait for him after her shift was over.

Lori was checking her phone when she heard the store’s door opening.

Damn! It’s a fucking mess out there. Mother fucking cold wind!
Jose never cared about his bad language.

My bad girl… I had to get some shit done and it took me longer than expected. I got this now!

Lori couldn’t care less about what Jose was up to, all she wanted was to get home, take a long and warm shower and jump on her bed.

This is the last time I’ll sit here waiting for your sorry ass to arrive Jose! Do you even know how many times you’ve entered the store saying the same crap? I’m out of here!

Lori walked towards the door. Jose was right; the wind was really intense outside.

“Oh well! You’ve got to start saving for a car Lori!” She said to herself while putting her earphones on.

She embraced herself and stepped out.

For as long as she had good music playing loudly in her ears, nothing else mattered. She noticed the night was unusual. Very quiet, no traffic… only the wind.

Even the loud neighbourhood guys weren’t playing their daily basketball. She noticed, however, that a ball and two bicycles were left there.

A loud police car cruised passed her and she barely noticed.
While crossing the street a few blocks ahead, Lori was almost run over by a speeding car. She cursed out loud and kept walking. She knew very well it was her fault for crossing streets without checking.

The only thing that really struck Lori as odd was when she passed near a popular pub and noticed that the place was deadly quiet. The neon sign was gleaming, the music was playing… but there were no voices.

She decided to take a peek inside.

Lori opened the door slowly.

“What the hell? What is going on here… where is everyone?” This pub should be crawling with drunk people right now.

Lori shivered when she realised that something was way off here.

She took her earphones off, put them back in her pocket and continued walking, faster.

Now she could really feel the eerie night, the cold wind was punishing and the silence was deafening.

Farther down the street the silence was broken by a loud ambulance siren.

She stopped by the convenience store nearby and noticed the “closed” sign at the door. But two guys were inside watching a news channel.

One of the guys noticed Lori at the door and rushed to it.

What are you doing outside? Go home and lock the doors, go!
The guy shouted without unlocking the door.

Hey, do you know what…
Lori tried asking but the guy ran back to the TV.

“I have no clue what that guy is up to, but I better get home right now!” Lori continued on her way, almost running now.

She tried calling her roommate, she didn’t pick up. Her house was right at the end of the street.

The street looked quiet and empty.

When Lori was two or three houses away she noticed someone had crossed the street and was now coming straight towards her. It looked like a man. Maybe a drunk man, judging by the way he was tottering.

“Hi, are you alright?” Lori asked, as if trying to buy time so she could make it home.

The guy didn’t reply and continued walking in her direction. She ran to her doorstep and as she opened her purse to get the keys, her cellphone rang.

Yeah?

Lori? Are you home? — Lori’s mom asked worried.

Hi mom, how are you? — She replied while trying to find her keys, the guy was getting way too close now.

Answer me Lori! Where are you?

I’m home mom, just trying to find my damn keys…

Listen to me, get inside right now! — Her mom shouted nervously.

Why are you so… — Lori couldn’t finish her question.

The phone inside her house rang at the same time she found her keys. Lori rushed inside, leaving the front door unlocked.
Hold on mom. — She said while running through the kitchen and getting the phone at the living room.

Lori threw her purse over the sofa and answered the phone.

Hello.

Lori? Thank God you’re home! — It was Marie, her roommate.

Why? What is going Marie? — Lori asked trying to understand why everyone was so stressed.

Are you alright? Did you lock the house? — Marie sounded really worried.

Jesus, what the hell is going on after all? Why is everyone telling me to go home? — Lori was starting to get frustrated.

Turn the TV on right now! Put it on a news channel.

Lori felt chills up her spine. For the first time she thought something bad was happening, the feeling hit her so hard that she almost got sick.

She put her cellphone down over the sofa, grabbed the remote and turned the TV on. Some stations were off the air, she quickly thumbed to a news channel.

A news reporter with a familiar face was giving live news in a studio. It was clear that this was not a regular program, the reporter looked aghast. She held a piece of paper and her hand was shaking, and so was her voice.

“…a report just arrived from the newsroom…” The reporter paused, looked at the camera and then down to the piece of paper. “…the numbers are impressive, the emergency lines are overwhelmed.
We’ve been getting reports from reliable sources, and I honestly don’t know how to tell you such news…”

She paused again and read the piece of paper once again, looked to someone off air, behind the camera. As if looking to receive the “go” order to deliver the unbelievable news.

“…the government have ruled terrorists and biological weapons out. Apparently, the thousands of casualties against civilians that started taking place earlier tonight at the local airport, are being caused by… by the dead.”

What?! — Lori shouted.

This is crazy! I know… don’t ask me how or why, but I’ve seen it. That’s why I didn’t make it home, I had to run back to the office and I’m locked in here with 5 other people. The recommendations are to stay inside, avoid any contact with people outside. They said these “things” are strong, extremely violent and dangerous. Some people are saying they’re contagious, although it hasn’t been confirmed officially. But there are reports of people behaving weird after being bitten by one of these things.

My God! — She couldn’t believe this.

Lori couldn’t think straight, was this a bad joke? Some stupid kind of a prank?

She started tuning into other news channels and the news was the same.

Was the dead really attacking the living? It can’t be true, just can’t.

Then she found a news channel with footage of the incidents.
People being attacked and mauled. A group gathered around a young woman, who apparently had a broken foot and couldn’t run away. The audio was horrifying, the image was blurred by the news station.

The TV crew tried ramming the dead away with their truck, but they wouldn’t move.

Lori was now in a state of shock. This is real… She completely forgot about the phone, the cellphone, and most importantly. She forgot to lock the front door!

She got up, turned the TV off but was too scared to go check the front door.

The house was deadly quiet.

All of a sudden she heard footsteps coming from the kitchen. She knew it couldn’t be Marie, her roommate.
Who’s there? — She asked hoping to hear a policeman or a firefighter, heck, she just wanted to hear a living person.

“Oh God please help me, please!”

The man slowly entered her living room, not a living man… a dead man!

It was the same man she saw outside. Maybe he saw her, or smelled her… it doesn’t matter. He was there, inside her house.

The man had blood all over his left shoulder and arm. There was a huge and deep wound in his neck and head. Flesh and skin were missing from areas of his body.

Lori screamed in panic and fell down while trying to run. The creature, which was silent until now, let out a terrifying screech and charged in her direction. She kicked him in the chest, buying enough time to crawl under his arms and run into the kitchen, smacking and cutting her right leg at the dinner table.

The kitchen was the main rooms of the house, as all other rooms were connected to it, including her bedroom.

Lori ran straight into her bedroom and tried shutting the door, but the creature was following her closely. She almost didn’t have enough time to throw herself into the bathroom and lock the door.

The creature went silent for a few seconds, then it started scraping and throwing itself at the door.

Lori couldn’t believe this was really happening. Zombies? Really?

She never cared for horror movies, especially dumb ones about zombies and now this. She almost giggled thinking how crazy the situation was.

All of a sudden the thing went quiet again. This time all Lori could hear was her own breathing.

She got up and noticed the injury on her right leg, it was bleeding. Lori slowly walked towards the bathroom door and pressed her left ear against it.

A horrifying scream and more banging against the door sent Lori back to the bathroom floor. The creature wasn’t going to give up. At least the door seemed to be holding okay.

“Oh God, please help me!” Lori wasn’t the religious type, but all she could think about now was asking God for help.

She started praying, or at least saying the words as they came to her head. After some time of this, she feel asleep on the bathroom floor.

The sunlight changed the scenario; it looked almost as if it was a regular morning. Lori could swear it was all a bad dream, if it wasn’t for her injury and the blood on the bathroom floor.

She got up slowly and looked at her reflection in the mirror. She slowly began to wash her hands and face before drinking some water.

The next smart thing to do would be to check her leg and get it cleaned up, and that’s what she did. Her right leg wasn’t badly injured and she was able to clean it up with a wet towel.

The shocking surprise was that her left leg was also injured, she didn’t notice during last night’s terror.

That leg was slightly numb. As she proceeded to get it cleaned up, the shock. She found a nail… a human nail!

“Oh crap, no no!” She couldn’t believe her eyes. That thing tried to grab her legs during her escape.

She washed and scrubbed her leg, the only thought that ran through her mind was that she was going to die, or worse, she would become one of them.

“This can’t be true! What the hell am I supposed to do?!”

Lori’s mind raced thinking of all the stupid things her friends used to say about zombies. Even when one friend mentioned something about zombie apocalypse survival kits sold online.

“Who would have thought? I sure could use one of those now.” Lori thought.

The creature, still on the other side, started growling and throwing itself against the door once again.

Lori knew the door would hold up, but what if another one showed up? Sure there are more of these things out there, right?

What if the creature screeches attract more? Are they able to smell her blood? If this thing is contagious, is she infected?
How long until she turned?

She knew she had to have her leg checked. But there was nothing she could do, the creature wouldn’t leave her room.

This went on for two days. Lori survived on two cereal bars and tap water.

When the sun came up, she didn’t even care to go to the door to check. She grabbed a piece of soap and threw it at the door.

The creature responded as usual.

“Shut the hell up! Get out of here! Get out! Dammit!” She shouted.

Lori couldn’t take it anymore. She was losing it.

The day dragged on as usual.

Just before the sun went down, Lori heard footsteps entering her room.

“Oh no!” She thought.

Knowing that more of these things banging against the bathroom door could easily take it down and she would be done.

She crawled as far away from the door as possible and waited.

The creature let out one of its terrifying screams and then a gunshot.

“I can’t hear you now! You stinking fucker!” said a male voice.

Lori was scared to death and tried to remain quiet, but one of the guys heard a sound coming from the bathroom after the shot was fired.

“Hey, boss. I think there’s something in the bathroom.” the man said.

One of the guys reached for the knob but the door was locked.

“Hey… are you alive in there? We can help, open the door.”

Lori didn’t think twice before getting up and unlocking the door.

Four heavily armed guys were in her bedroom, all in military uniforms. The creature blood was all over the floor, she instantly noticed that one of the guys clearly aimed for its head, it was gone.

Her reaction was to throw both arms up in the air, showing she wasn’t harmful.

“Young lady, are you hurt?” asked the guy who seemed to be in command.

“No… well, yes. I hurt my leg during my escape.” Lori said.

“Ok, were you bitten or injured by the dead?” he asked firmly.

“No. I was able to lock myself in the bathroom before it could reach me.” Lori answered without thinking.

She was scared to admit that the creature in fact injured her leg. She had no idea who these guys were. What if she was infected? They could have shot her on the spot.

“Okay, did you get in contact with the blood?” He asked.

She looked down, the thick, dark blood was everywhere.

“No, no sir. The only blood you’ll find in the bathroom is my own.” Lori answered, fearing he would notice that she was lying about her injury.

The “boss” turned his back and signalled something to one of the other guys.

He approached Lori and looked deeply into her eyes.

“She looks clean.” the man said.

Suddenly the tension left the room.

“What’s your name?” a soldier asked.

“Lori”.

“Well, you must be hungry Lori. From the mess in your bathroom I’d say you were in there for at least a couple of days. Here, take this,” he handed her a ham and cheese sandwich.

Lori thanked the guy and nodded, letting him know he was right.
She devoured the sandwich.

The men proceeded to Lori’s kitchen to scout for all the food and supplies they could carry.

Lori wanted to tell the guys to leave her stuff alone, but she knew they wouldn’t stop. She knew her only chances was to stick with these strange military men.

“Let me know if you want another sandwich.” said the soldier.

“The name is Mike, by the way.”

“Thanks Mike! Nice meeting you.” Lori replied grabbing another sandwich.

“Here, let me help you clean that wound.” Mike reached for her leg.

Lori tried her best to keep Mike away from her, but he quickly noticed that it wasn’t just a regular injury as she had stated. It was clear she lied about it.

Her world stopped for a second, and her eyes watered. They looked at each other, but not a single word was said. Lori couldn’t believe it. Mike silently agreed to keep her secret.

“Alright, we better get out of here. It won’t be long until they find us,” said the man in charge.

Carrying everything they could, they walked carefully towards the front door.

Her neighbourhood was now an unknown and strange place. What about her friends and family? Could she trust Mike?

Lori was battling with her mind as there were so many questions without answers. But a recurring question that kept running through her head was how much time she had left before she turned into one of these creatures.