Is This The End Of Us? Or Just The Means To Start Again?

“Jack....” my words fail me, tears run down my face. This was all my fault, if I’d just told him, if I just said those three words maybe he wouldn’t be in this mess now. Something grabs me from behind and pulls me away from Jack, holding me so I face the only other human in sight.
“Who are you?” the man asks. I look up at him, anger and tears fill my eyes. He looks human normal skin, wrinkles and everything, small blue watery eyes hiding behind small glasses.
“Alex Gaskarth”
“And you are human Alex?” he asks.
“Do I look like a zombie to you?” I hiss. I feel his eyes look up and down, checking to see if I’m as human as I say I am.
“Spouse not, put him with the others” the zombies on either side of lift me up and carry me away, I get one last look at Jack, dead eyes at all. I don’t bother struggling, I just let them carry me and dump me in the pen with the other people.
“Fuck” I swear, hitting the fence with my hand only to get a shock as a touched it.
“Fuck” I yell.
“Yeah I wouldn’t touched it, it’s an eclectic fence” says a guy from beside me. I just sink to the floor, burying my face in my hands and crying.
“Hey it didn’t hurt that much” the guy said, sitting down beside me.
“It’s not that” I sniff. “They took my friend, I was too late”
“I’m sorry” the guy says, putting his arm around my shoulder. “I know the feeling, they took my friend too”
“Sorry” I mumble. “I’m Alex”
“Rian”
“What was your friend like?” I ask.
“His name’s Zack, he’s a big guy lots of muscles and tattoos but he was very shy and didn’t talk much”
“He sounds like a nice guy” I say.
“Yeah... What about you?”
“Jack saved my life, he was the only one I had left and he’s gone....” I start crying again.
“Shh, it’s okay”
“What’s even going on here?” I ask.
“Wish I knew, me and Zack were ambushed walking through this empty city and the next thing I know I wake up here and he’s one of them...”
“I need to get out of here... I need to get to Jack”
“Alex you said it yourself, he’s gone”
“But he isn’t though! I saw him, he didn’t touch me, he didn’t even try to hurt me, that’s no normal zombie behaviour”
“Alex look around you, they’re all like that” Looking up I realise Rian is right, every zombie in sight moves around the building like it’s under some kind of spell, no moaning, groaning or trying to bite people. Something weird is going on here, and Jack was somehow in the middle of it.
“We have to figure out what’s going on” I say.
“We do?”
“For Jack and Zack’s sake” Rian sighs than looks at me and nods.
“Okay, so do you know...? Have a plan?”
“Hmmm”

“Seriously this is never going to work...” Rian says, folding his arms.
“Yeah it will, trust me”
“Why am I trusting this guy I just met with the weird hair?” Rian mutters to himself. I smile slightly.
“Ready?”
“Spouse so”
I take some of the water from my bag and take a sip, forcing myself to start coughing. My already abused lungs start hacking and spluttering until I can barely breathe. I hear Rian calling for help as I try not to kill myself, luckily it doesn’t take long before the door opens.
“Ready?” Rian whispers, I nod and he pulls me out the door, slamming it behind us and leaving the zombies trapped inside. Once I regain my breath we’re running.
“Come on this way” I drag Rian towards a flight of stairs.
“Where are we going?”
“I saw this guy when I got here, seemed like he was in charge and I think he’s office is up here somewhere” Up the stairs there’s a large room with glass windows looking down on the floor below. Luckily the room is empty, but on the desk it’s piled high with papers and bottles.
“What the fuck?” I exclaim.
“It’s like some kind of experiment”
“That’s exactly what it is Mr Dawson” he both turn and there’s the guy again, the one from earlier with his small watery eyes and glasses.
“Who are you and how do you know my name?” Rian demands.
“I’m sorry I haven’t probably introduced myself, I’m Antony and these are my zombies”
“Your zombies? You did this? Jack was my friend and you killed him!” I lurch for him, grabbing his collar and pulling him up to my height.
“Sometimes they slip into old habits, they’re getting better though”
“What are you talking about?” I ask, shoving him backward.
“I’m curing them Alex” he says, straightening his glasses.
“C...Curing them?”
“Yes, there is a cure Alex. You see before all of this I was a scientist and when the world started to end I started to work on a cure”
“Scientists have been trying to find a cure, for over a year and haven’t. What makes you so special?” Rian asks.
“They were looking in the wrong place”
“What do you mean?” I ask.
“The answer is not in chemicals but in their brains, it’s an emotional trigger”
“What?” Rian and I both say at the same time.
“The way to save them, it’s with emotion, with getting them to remember what they could as a person, they’re not dead boys just sick”
My heart stops, there’s a way to save Jack, there’s a way to bring him back so I can tell him how much I love him. Jack needs saving and I’m the only one who can.

Notes