Just another day in the Apocalypse

"They're called zombies, Keith." She laughs under her breath. "Remember the massive news report that went out a year or so ago? The World Organization of the Unknown. They had that underground project that, supposedly, got taken care of. You remember that?"

"I was in Iraq getting shot at, I didn't pay attention to news . . . Wait, Zombies?!" Keith was shocked

Dare decides to play it ignorant. With a sigh, she says, "An underground facility was infiltrated by government agents. There was some project that WOOTU was working on that apparently got out of hand. This thing that's causing zombies to pop up everywhere. No one knows how it really got out, since the government likes to keep things on lockdown, but it did. One bite and you're screwed within forty-eight hours."

"Holy . . ." Keith was speechless. He had nothing to say to that. Freakin' zombies

Dare laughs a bit. She's sorting through files that she makes attempts to avoid Keith seeing. She pulls a device out, almost like a Bluetooth, and listens for sounds. "Hey, Joey, can you hear me?" She thanks the heavens that Keith can't hear him.

"Dare... whe... you?"

"Colorado, Joey. What's up with the signal?"

"News re... now... Zombies... all... Denver."

"Sh**. I was afraid of that. Look, I'm heading out of town with a guy."

"Where... you... going?"

"I'm not sticking around for this. It's either me or them."

"Cal... looking... you."

"That's no surprise. You-know-who has been sending me emails and calling me for days. I had to shut off the GPS to keep him off."

"Be... careful."

"Will do. You still holding tight down there?"

"... For now."

The signal cuts. Dare swears under her breath.

Keith tried to take it all in, but it was so much. Zombies, infesting Denver, even exsiting

Dare stood against the wall with a sigh. "Alright, look. I'm giving you two options here. Come with me or stick around. Obviously I'm a bit ahead of the game than you."

"Alright, but we need to go to my apartment. I don't have guns, but I'm a soldier and avid outdoors-men, I have supplies and weapons." Keith headed to her door, his hunting knife and the pistol at the ready. "It's at the corner a few blocks east"

Dare pulls a back of supplies on her back. Food, medical supplies, whatever was needed she had. Walking over to a closet, she picks out a few things. She put two knives on her belt and a crossbow on her back. "I have more here than you think, Keith. I'm afraid I've known about this whole mess for a few years now." She laughs. "We'll go wherever you need to, but I'm pretty dang equipped here too."

"Good" Keith listened at the door for anything, but heard nothing. He pushed the door open and made his way down the hall and to the stairs. "Clear" he said to Dare as he went down the stairs and to the front doors of the apartment building. The streets were empty, no people, no zombies, no bodies, everyone was gone. Keith didn't know what to make of that

Dare went on beside Keith. "People fled the city. If they did, the zombies probably followed them. We probably should do the same. They're in the northern states, but I doubt they're in the south yet."

Keith nodded "Do you have a car?" he asked as he stepped out on the now silent street. Something was very much wrong. Not five minutes ago a riot was going on, and now not a soul could be seen, not a sound heard. Keith made sure to tread cautiously, scanning the area for danger.



Marc sat at a desk, several people dead on the ground near him. There was a crooked smile growing on his face

"Yeah, it's out at the garage. The thing's probably fixed by now," she says, keys ringing around her fingers. "I lived up around New York after I moved away from home. Riding in the country and I'm running the limit, taking the road to the New York. Massive creep in the road, and it's the middle of the night, and I hit the thing. I wake up an hour later, dang headlight out, and I'm miles from any pick-up. Out on those backroads, you don't get signal."

Keith nodded, then began to move through the street. He was listening for anything at all, but nothing could be heard. The few blocks to his apartment seemed like an eternity, but the made it. That's when it all made sense. The people who were still people were holed up in buildings as the zombies shambled in a mob through the street. They were so far away from Dare's apartment that they couldn't be heard, but less than a block from Keith's apartment they were loud and clear. Keith opened the door to the building for Dare, letting her in first.



Marc's hand was shaking, the grin on his face fading as the people on the ground got back up. He had shot to kill, but these weren't people anymore, they were zombies who didn't need their hearts, lungs, or anything but their brians

Dare takes on first entry and walks inside. "Nice place," she says.

The walls were a dark green, and lined with every kind on bludgeon, machete, and imaginable. Clearly a Cold Steel fan, a triplet set of Heavy Machetes, twin Indian War Clubs, and an Irish Blackthorn. Along with those were a series of homemade weapons. Pipes, fittings, end caps, and a 6000 weight limit trailer hitch were assembled into a 4 and a half foot morning star, and twin 2 foot war-hammers. Spears, aluminum baseball bats, hunting and butterfly knives along with bo-staffs filled in the remaining spaces. Without a word, Keith went into his room and came back out with three empty dufflebags. "Take anything you'd like, there are extra belts to hold them in the in the hall closet" He took the other two bags into the kitchen and went to the pantry to get food and water.

Dare took on a spear for a close range fight, as she wasn't much of a weapons person. She was quick to react, that had gotten her far, but she still had the lingering memory of what nearly happened a year ago.

After Keith filled the two bags with jerky, caned goods, and water, he went into the main room where Dare was and picked up the third bag. He went to the hall closet and pulled all the belts, he would need them. To the untrained eye, it would have looked as if Keith was taking weapons at random, he wasn't even looking, his gaze was inside the bag, organizing the weapons. He pulled all of his Cold Steel and homemade weapons, as well as three baseball bats, and several hunting knives. Keith went back into his bedroom, returning with a backpack that was already full of something. Rigging himself up by lashing belts together across duffelbags, Keith picked everything up with ease and it all fit nicely on his back. "I'm ready when you are, Ma'am" He said to Dare

Dare pulls a back over her back and says, "We're heading out to the hunting country, Keith. Down south where the food's all local and it's nothing but a southern ride." She grins. "We're heading down to the Carolinas."

"Not a bad idea. The less people around, the better" Keith headed back out onto the street where a wall of bodies was clamoring towards them at more than a shamble. "Dare, we need to go, now" Keith said


Marc peered down from the window of the office building to see two people on the streets, one with a spear, the other with a mess of duffelbags. His grin returned as he darted through the building, down the stairs, and onto the streets. He put on an air of helplessness, confusion, and weakness as he approached the two.


Sasha and Matthew had been preparing for this day for years, they both had a horrid nightmare at the same time of an apocalypse. Ever since that night, they began research and preparing. They were in their truck, heading down 18th where they saw three people in the streets

Dare kept a tight grip on her pistol, already cocked in her hand. She was rather worried they were members of WOOTU who had recognized her in the streets. She whispers to Keith, "This really isn't a good day to get surrounded."

"No, Ma'am" Keith agreed. He saw the puny man and immediately assessed him as a threat equal to the couple driving the truck. "What do you want?" Keith asked in a loud voice



Marc was really good at pretending to cry, he was sobbing in the street, pointing to the horde on it's way


Sasha and Matt debated for a moment. "We're heading south, out of the city" Sasha said. "It might be safer in numbers" Matt finished. They were a younger couple, strong and smart

"Do any of you carry weapons?" she asks.

Marc shook his head, lying about the gun under his shirt.

Matt and Sasha nodded, pointing to the back of the truck. Keith walked up to investigate, and nodded to Dare. The were armed to the teeth with a multitude of weapons

"Well, we're on our way to the Carolinas and I'm afraid we don't exactly have a pickup to drive. We can put half in one car and half in another or I can take mine and I'll lead the way down."