“We got another fever, Taylor!” the doctor said. I sighed. The Fever had been going on for a while. So many people had gotten it. No one knew how it started. We couldn’t stop it. Many people had gone insane because of it. There was so much grieving and sadness. Everybody thinks it’s the apocalypse because no disease has ever been so bad. The Fever was worse than the Spanish Flu. It spread worldwide.
The Fever is so dangerous, because it burns you out. It takes a long time to burn you out, but then it wakes you up and turns you insane. We think that The Fever has such a high temperature that it actually burns a little tissue of your brain and makes you insane. I had been treating it for three years.
After work, I headed back home. I walked because my house was only three blocks away from the hospital. As I was walking home, I saw an explosion. Then, everything went black.
I woke up in the hospital. My right leg was in a cast. I saw a pair of crutches next to the bed. I called out for my nurse, but no one came out. I stumbled out of bed. Turns out my leg was not broken. It had healed over time. I wondered how long I had been asleep. It takes a long time for broken legs to heal. I was very thirsty and hungry. I felt sick. Like I had a cold or a cough. My hair was probably sticking out and tangled. I slipped on the clothes next to my bed. There was a glass of water on the table and I drank the whole thing in one gulp. After I took off the cast, I walked outside my room. For some reason my door was boarded. I kicked it open. Were they trying to kill me?
I regretted coming out of my hospital room. One of the patients of The Fever was out running about. He turned towards me. His mouth was foaming and his skin was decayed. Part of his mouth was ripped. His leg was partially eaten which made him limp, but he was still sprinting towards me.
“Calm down, yes I know you’re hurt but sprinting will only make it worse,” I said, trying to calm him down, but it only took me a moment to notice that he would not listen. I ran back inside my hospital room and locked the door. I climbed out of the window. Too bad I was on the third floor. My hands were the only thing that was keeping me up. I was scared. I didn’t want to fall. The ground seemed 300 feet away. I climbed carefully down the side of the hospital and when I got back on the ground I collapsed. I was so relieved to be on the ground. I saw that the other side of the hospital was destroyed. I went home to find out that the explosion had also taken my house.
I knocked on my neighbor’s door but nobody answered. I called my younger sister but she didn’t answer either. I decided to drive to my parent’s house in Atlanta. They were the closest family to my home in Roswell. It took an hour to get there. It would usually take a long time but no one was on the road.
Then I saw a piece of paper on the floor, I picked it up and read it aloud.
“The explosion has blown up half the hospital, the infected got out and infected most of the people in Georgia. I’ve been hiding in my basement for days now and I haven’t seen anybody pass by my house. If anybody is reading this I will be out of the state by now and on my way to California. I need to get out of Georgia before the infected go to other states and to different countries. My wife and kids have been infected. I don’t have anything else to do but run. I have a house in Atlanta I might stop by there for a while,” the page said. I stuffed the piece of paper in my pocket. I figured I might meet the person who wrote it later on.
Once I pulled up into my parent’s driveway, I took their key from under the mat and opened the door. No one was home. I searched the tiny house, but my parents were nowhere to be found. I tried calling them. I tried texting them. They wouldn’t respond to anything. I decided to stay there until they got back.
After a few days, my parents still hadn’t gotten back. I went to the 99 cent store for groceries but it appeared that no one was there. Someone was actually there. It was the cashier, who had The Fever too. I ran to the back of the store. Someone had the idea of hiding there too. It was a man named David. He said that he had been hiding back there looking for food. When he found out the zombie……
“Wait, zombie?” I asked.
“Yes, zombie. Have you not figured that out yet? This has been going on for a month. Ever since part of the hospital exploded in Roswell and the infected got out, there have been zombies all over,” said David.
“Wait, a month?!” I asked.
“Yes, a month! Were you not listening? Do you want me to explain it to you again?” asked David impatiently.
“No, sorry. It’s just that I woke up in the hospital after the explosion,” I said.
“What? Well then, you would’ve been bit by now,” said David.
“Well I woke up in the hospital and the door was boarded,” I said. The cashier was banging on the door and trying to get in! David handed me a hammer.
“Hold this,” he said. David kicked open the door which made the zombie stumble back. “Give it to me, NOW!” I handed it to him and he took it and hit the cashier in the head with the hammer. It went through his skull and into his brains. We walked out of the back. We locked the store’s doors and helped ourselves to all the food in the store.
“Are you sure it’s not stealing?” I asked.
“It’s not stealing if there’s no government around to stop us,” David said while chewing on a Snickers bar.
“One cop is probably around to stop us,” I said.
“Trust me, they’re doing the same thing as us,” he said. He finished the last bite of the candy bar. He threw the wrapper into the bin. He was acting very calm. But I was about to cry.
“What was your life like before the virus spread? Did you have a family? Kids?” I asked.
“Are you always this nosy? That’s my question for you,” David replied. “What’s your name anyways?”
“Taylor,” I said. I grabbed all the water in the refrigerator section and dumped it in a shopping cart.
“You have to keep your inventory light, because you’ll have to carry it all,” he said staring at the water in my cart.
“If you wanted some you could’ve just said so,” I said while handing him a pack of water. When I got home David followed me.
“You have to move around or else the zombies will catch your scent,” he said.
“Well I’ll take that chance,” I said. “You can stay over if you want I have an extra bed.”
Once nightfall came, David said to turn off all the lights because the zombies are attracted to light. I wondered when parents were going to
get home. Will they ever get back? Are they dead? Falling asleep to thoughts like this will make you toss and turn. I scolded myself. Eventually, I fell asleep.
I woke up to David shaking me. “We have to get out of here! Come on! The zombies got in!” he yelled.
“They’re not zombies!” I argued.
“We have no time for this! We need to grab as many supplies that we can and get out!” he pushed. David dragged me out of bed and started getting supplies. I packed some clothes and put on fresh clothes. I rushed into the kitchen and stuffed food and water in my suitcase. I rushed out of the kitchen and while I was running out the door I saw my parents. They had been infected.
I almost started crying when we got out of the door, but we needed to get out of there. I got into my car and rushed out of there. How could I concentrate on driving when I just figured out the reason why my parents weren’t coming home?
David drove to a nearby motel which didn’t look so clean. The signs were falling down. One of the numbers above the doors fell off. We picked a random key on the wall in the lobby. We went to the room that the key fit in. When we went inside we noticed that someone else had the same idea. David pulled out his hammer and walked up to the zombie.
“I’m not a zombie!” the not-zombie yelled.
“What?!” questioned David.
“Oh my god it’s a kid!” I exclaimed.
“Hey! I’m turning 18 in September!” he said.
“What are you doing all alone in this motel?” I asked.
“Oh, I ran away before the apocalypse. What great timing isn’t it?” he said.
“Your parents must be worried sick!” I said.
“No they hate me,”he shrugged.
“I’m sure they don’t,” I said. “What’s your name?” I said.
“Ned Hickery,” he said shyly.
“Ned Hickery? The kid genius?” I asked.
“This is Taylor, I’m David,” said David.
“Wow, you really need to clean this room up,” I said. I looked around the room. Posters covered every corner of the room. Dirty clothes were strewn across the room. Gadgets of all kind were covering the small desk. A suitcase was laid on the bed, it was overflowing. The room smelled like dirty socks and I could hear a movie playing from the computer.
“Yeah, you should see my room at home,” Ned said. Then, out of the corner of my eye I saw a suitcase under the bed. I bent down and pulled it out.
“What’s this for?” I asked.
“That is none of your business,” Ned said and he pulled the suitcase out of my arms. I was suspicious. Why would he be hiding a suitcase under the bed? Why didn’t he let me open the suitcase? I was so engrossed in my questions I didn’t notice David pulling my arm.
“Come on Taylor, there’s nothing here let’s just pick another motel room,” David said.
“Wait! Don’t you want to see what’s in the suitcase?” he asked.
“I thought you didn’t want us to see what’s in the suitcase,”I said.
“I just didn’t want you to open it, it sets off an alarm if the fingerprints don’t match mine,” he said. He opened the case. It had one vial with a clear liquid inside.
“I’ve been working on a cure for Zombitis,” he said.
“It’s originally called The Fever,” I argued.
“You’ve been working on the cure? Why haven’t you used it yet?” David asked.
“Oh I did, it just made the zombie look human, it still had the virus,” Ned said. “I need you to take me to the lab in Monroe, then I can finish the cure.”
“We’ll help you,” said David. “As long as you cure my kid and wife first.” No wonder he doesn’t want to talk about his family, I thought.
“Okay,” Ned said. “Let’s get on the road now!” We packed some food and stuffed it in the trunk.
“You’re almost 18. Can’t you drive?” I asked.
“My car broke down at a gas station, I had to walk to the motel,” he said.
“Then you drive,” said David. He stopped the car and Ned went up, turned on the navigation system and started the car. After thirty minutes we were only a few minutes away from Monroe. Since there were no more cars on the road we could go as fast as we wanted. Then, suddenly, the car jerked.
“We hit something!” I exclaimed. Ned stopped the car and I jumped out. I ran to the back of the car. We had run over a zombie. I heard a groan coming from behind me. It was a zombie! I screamed. Ned and David rushed out of the car. They saw what it was. David grabbed his hammer and smashed the zombie’s head. The zombie fell to the ground and I recognized that it was my younger sister.
“That was my younger sister,” I stammered.
“Really? Oh wow, we could’ve-”
“Shut up, Ned,” said David.
Once we got inside the lab we noticed that the place was totally zombie-infested. David locked up some zombies in a huge display case in the lab. Ned took samples from the infected and locked ourselves in a tiny room with vials and ingredients. While Ned worked on the cure, me and David sat down and talked.
“Hey, are you okay?” David asked.
“Yeah, I just don’t know what to do,”I said.
“Well, sometimes it’s just good to run,” David said. David said something familiar. He wanted his wife and kid to be cured. What he just said. I pulled out the piece of paper that I found on the street.
“What’s that?”asked David. He ripped the piece of paper out of my hand. “Hey, that’s my writing, I wrote that! You found the piece of paper?”
“Yeah, I guess so-”
“Guys! I got it!” Ned exclaimed.
“Ned, be careful before you-” Ned slipped and the vial in his hands had been broken. “Slip.”
“Ned! What have you done! You finished the cure but then you broke it!” David yelled. “Do you remember how to do it?”
“No, but I do have a copy of the ingredients at home!” Ned said.
“And where is that?” I asked.
“California,” he said.
“Oh great, this always happens when somebody finishes what I need,” complained David.
“David? Do you know how to fly a plane?” I asked.
“Yes, but I’m a little rusty,” said David.
“I don’t care, let’s get that cure!” I exclaimed.
David drove us to a nearby airport in Monroe. We boarded a plane, after David checked to see if there was enough fuel.
“I usually fly jets,” he said.
“Just fly the plane,” I ushered. All of us sat in first class.
“I’ve never sat in first class,” I said.
“I have,”said Ned.
“Of course you have, you’re the most smartest kid in America,”I said. Ned helped himself to all the snacks in the cart. I drank some water just to keep myself occupied. Ned almost scared me to death when he had a spaz attack, I thought he caught The Fever!
Finally the plane took off and while it did Ned was going to the restroom. “Ned! Get into your seat! We’re taking off!” I yelled. Ned scrambled out of the restroom and sat in the seat next to me.
After a while, I decided to get some food. Ned ate all the snacks for the first class passengers so I headed to the back of the plane to grab a snack. As I headed to the back of the plane I noticed that there was a sound coming from the back of the plane.
“Ned! I think someone’s at the back of the plane. Grab David’s hammer,” I said. Ned handed me the hammer and followed me to the back of the plane. When we got there I opened the bathroom, no one was there. I opened the curtain the back, no one was there.
“Well I guess no zombie is here then,”I said. I turned around and a zombie was right in front of my face! I took out the hammer and smashed the zombie’s head. I kicked it aside.
“I’m not that hungry anymore,”I said. We got back into our seats. The ride wasn’t smooth, David wasn’t kidding when he said he was a little rusty. When the plane landed we noticed that the plane was a little dented and that he must’ve not have landed well.
“David, you destroyed the plane,” I said.
“Yeah, I haven’t flown in a few years,”he said .
“We can see that,” I said. Me and Ned started chuckling. “We saw a zombie in the back of the plane.”
“Wow, quick change of the subject,” he joked. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah, it was just really surprising,” I said.
“It nearly bit Taylor,” said Ned.
“Yeah and I wouldn’t brag about it,” I said.
“Why wouldn’t you? It would be a very interesting experience,” said Ned. “We have the cure anyway.”
“No we’re here to get the cure right?”I said.
“Oh I already have the list right here, I grabbed it while you guys were talking, you really need to shorten your conversations,” Ned said.
“Wait what? You were here with us the whole time,”I said.
“No I wasn’t, I used my hologram,” he said. He showed us the disk in his hand.
“How did you? Holograms haven’t been made yet!” I exclaimed.
“Oh yes they have, I’ve spent my whole childhood trying to make holograms and I succeeded,” he said.
“Well then, let’s go back into the plane, but maybe a different one this time,” I said.
When we got back to the lab we noticed that the zombies in the display case were gone.
“Where did they go?”I asked.
“I have no id-” A zombie had jumped onto David’s neck and bit him!
“Ned! Work on that cure!” I commanded. I smashed the zombie’s head with a hammer.
“Put me in the display case! Now!” David yelled.
“Okay,”I said obediently. I dragged him into the display case and locked the door. Then he started shaking. It looked like he was having a seizure but much worse. His skin turned pale and his eyes turned bloodshot. He started banging on the glass and I looked away. I couldn’t stand to see my family or friends a zombie. He started shrieking, and I heard banging all around us, we were surrounded by zombies.
“Hurry up Ned!” I commanded.
“Here,” He handed me a vial of clear liquid. “Don’t use it yet, we need to go to a machine in the lab that will copy the cure.
“This is going to be hard,” I said. “Grab a weapon Ned, we’re going to get to that machine the hard way,”I said.
“Are you sure about this?”Ned asked.
“Yes,” I said.
“Because there is a tunnel right there that leads to the machine,” he said.
“Well that tunnel is still infested with zombies,” I said.
“Oh well, here goes,” said Ned. I kicked the door open and all the zombies turned around and started sprinting towards us. We aimed for their heads. When all the zombies were dead we ran to the machine and copied the cure.
“C’mon, let’s go back to the lab,”I said. Then when we got across the tunnel we noticed that the zombies had gotten in.
“Let’s take a bowl of blood on put the cure inside,”Ned said.
“Where are we going to get the blood?”I asked.
“Did you not see the floor?” Ned questioned. So Ned and I put the blood on the floor and poured it into a bowl. And then we poured the cure into the bowl as well. Then we laid the bowl out for the zombies. They slurped it and turn back human.
“Eew! What’s that smell?”
“Why am I slurping blood!”
“Mommy! Where are you? I wanna go home!”
Me and Ned walked into the room and noticed that David got out of his display case and was cured!
“David!” I exclaimed.
“Taylor! We did it! You guys did it!”
“How did it feel being a zombie? What did you think?” Ned bombarded him with questions.
“I actually didn’t feel anything at all. It’s like waking up from a dreamless sleep,” he said.
So after that we cured all the people in Georgia we worked on other states. David got his kid and wife back and Ned reunited with his parents.
Me, I rebuilt my home. My parents were cured and pretty much every person was cured except the people who were killed. So in the end everything turned back to normal and we all went back home safe and sound. For now…….
THE END