The Dead Chapter 1

Book 1: The Dead

Chapter 1

This is a story about how being lazy saved my life, and then cost someone else theirs. My name is Will Sandren, and I am one of the last surviving people I know of. I’m 21 and I’m a university student studying education, my friends and I are big fans of sci-fi like Stargate and Falling Skies. One of best friends Todd he loves zombie films and as a science geek we are constantly discussing whether it’s possible, what we would do and how it would happen. Turns out it was through a flu vaccination, or at least that’s what we think, we’ve had a lot of time to think about it

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I hate being sick, but wanting to work with children means I’m going to have a lot of exposure to illnesses, that’s why I usually keep up to date with my vaccinations. My sister, Sarah, does the same, she teaches swimming. But when I got an email saying the latest flu vaccination was available I was on my mid-year holidays. I work part-time at a child care centre but they were on holidays too so I didn’t have much to do with my time. When I got this email I didn’t worry much about, it wasn’t mandatory for anything and I had until the end of the holidays until I have to return to the petri dish that is my workplace.

And that’s how I made the decision that saved my life. The next day my sister got really sick, she was coughing a lot and looked really pale, she stayed in bed the whole day. I didn’t take much notice; I was just excited that I got sole control of the television for a few hours. I was chatting with my best friend Nicole, arranging to meet up the next day when my sister came downstairs. She had coughed up blood and my dad had to take her to the hospital. When I woke up the next day it was midday, my brother was at work and my parents were with my sister at the hospital, I was starting to get worried now, no one had ever be this sick in our household before.

I got dressed as usual and started to walk downstairs, thinking about what I would watch today when I heard a scream from outside. We lived in a small south-east suburb of Melbourne and although one side of our house faced a busy road the direction the scream came from rarely had people on it. I looked through the window, it was glazed so I could see much. The woman who had screamed was now running past our house until she tripped, she wasn’t exactly wearing clothes for running, and fell. Another figure appeared, walking strangely as if he had hurt his leg, but that did nothing to hinder his speed. He quickly caught up to her and almost leapt on her. Thoughts raced through my head: What was happening? Who are these people? If he was attacking or raping her, why in broad daylight? But I didn’t have time to figure out the answers because he then did the most horrifying thing I could imagine, he bit her.

I ducked down from the window in fear that he would see me, it was all I could do to stop myself from freaking out. I quickly called the police but the phone simply answered: ‘All lines are currently busy.’ I almost screamed at the phone, ‘how can all lines be busy?’ I panic and ran downstairs and grabbed a large knife, I don’t know why but I felt like any moment the ma would enter my house and try and kill me too. I must have sat there for at least an hour until I had the courage to call 000 again. I got the same unhelpful message and almost threw my phone across the room until I remembered Mum and Dad. I called Dad, for some reason I thought he might know what was going on. I had no idea of the repercussions of my actions.

He was in a store room, he hadn’t turned on the light so it was still very dark and he was curled up in the corner of the room, barely breathing he was so afraid to make a sound. He swore he did when his phone in his pocket went off, he cursed himself that he did not turn it off when he entered the hospital. He thought to turn it off but when he saw the caller ID he had to answer out of hope. ‘Hello?’ he whispered

‘Dad?’ I sobbed over the phone, I hadn’t even noticed I was crying, ‘is that you?’

‘Will! You’re alive!’ he was so relieved he forgot his situation for a moment and allowed himself to speak louder, ‘are you alright’

‘A women outside our house was attacked, I saw it happen,’ images of those events kept repeating themselves in my mind

‘Stay inside Will! Okay? Just stay inside!’ the hope and joy inside of Will’s father had been replaced with fear. ‘What happened Dad, are you okay?’ Will had never heard his father like this before

‘Will, Sarah died an hour ago,’ his father moaned

‘What?’ Will was crying again, ‘how? What happened?’

‘I don’t know but a few seconds later she woke up,’ Will’s father was speaking faster and louder as fear took control, ‘but she wasn’t the same, Christine hugged her but then Sarah just bit into her neck.’ All Will could do was listen as his father went on, ‘I called for help but all I heard was screaming, I ran outside and everyone was running past me, I tried to grab one for help but another patient came up behind me and bit my arm’

‘Dad are you alright? Where are you?’ Will’s horror now came second to his concern

‘I ran, oh god I left your mother there and I ran with the others, but the people in front just closed the doors.’ Will’s father was talking loudly now and crying, ‘We tried to open it but they locked it! I hid in her because people were’- his voice was cut off by a scream as the door to the store room has knocked down by two patients, both with blood all over them. Will’s father clung to his phone, his one connection to the world now gone, ‘Will there coming, don’t leave the house Will! All the people that were sick they’- but he never got to finish the sentence as the patients began to bite into him.