Chapter 1

Three months ago, a miracle happened in the morgue of a small midwestern town—a man who was found dead the night before suddenly awoken. Somehow death had deemed it high time to take a vacation and in his absence, the souls of the damned seemingly went looked for their bodies. Unfortunately for the diener who was working that day the man who returned from the grave also came back with a deep hunger. Lumbering over the man the undead ghoul leaned over and ripped out a large chunk of flesh and muscle right from his neck, then it went for his assistant. The miracle of the dead return immediately showed to be much more of a curse.

Rapidly stories of similar events started to dot the country, hospitals, funeral homes, even prisons, all began to tell terrifying reports of the dead in their buildings coming back and attacking the nearest living person with no other goal other than to feed on their bodies. Even more worrying, only hours later did more news come that those bitten or also killed by these dead returned to the land of the living as well, ready to join on this conquest for flesh. Needless to say, the country entered a marshall law lockdown within two days.

With these events happening all around the country the people went into a panic, riots, looting, and vandalism were rampant. The military stretched itself trying to deal with the dead as well as quell the people in the streets but after a few weeks, it quickly proved too difficult and costly. The number of dead continued to grow and the fear of the people only got worse. In an attempt to control things directly evacuations of high catastrophic areas were ordered, and the military pulled back to capitals putting up safe zones for the people escaping, promising safety. This too ultimately failed in the long run.

As the country began to get swallowed whole by these hordes of infected people the military found itself getting overrun at checkpoints and forward bases. Before long the dead laid siege to the safe zones themselves and eventually they were able to breakthrough. As the military collapsed the people attempted to flee to other parts of the world only to find out that this wasn’t a confined event. All around the world the dead had returned and every country was beginning to collapse just the same.

Now, three months later the state of the world was catastrophic, to say the least. The population of still-living humans barely pushed over a million, and with seven billion corpses still hunting them at every turn, the number was still ticking down slowly. These survivors had all different background, ancestry, occupations, but they all shared one singular goal now, survive.

Garrett West lived a comfortable life, he lived in a small town a few hours outside the city, he worked in his father’s successful hardware store and was told that once his father retired he’d inherit the business for himself. With medium length dark brown hair, blue eyes, and just a little bit of scruff on his face, Garrett was mostly unremarkable to anyone else that you’d pass the street. His life was normal, boring, and honestly, he loved it. Knowing that the worst part of his day would be dealing with old man Ericson’s hard of hearing made life easy. Unfortunately, things have a way of changing, and sadly it wasn’t going to change for the better.

After the initial day of infection, Garrett was working in the hardware store. The place was completely silent, he hadn’t even seen a customer all day, and he understood why. With the news playing on the old television in the store, Garrett was on the phone, talking to his father about what the hell was happening. “Dad, don’t leave the house alright, the store is dead anyway, I’ll lock up and come by alright?” Garrett said to his father while peering out the window looking at the empty streets,

“You lock up, but it’s not worth you coming here. The governor just declared Marshall Law, everyone has to report back to their homes, I don’t want you getting caught out the street coming to us and get locked up ... or god knows what else,” His father firmly replied,

“Dad ... I don’t want to leave you two alone with all this happening,” Garrett weakly replied,

“Don’t worry about us, I can take care of your mother, you just make sure you’re keeping yourself safe. Now go on, lock up, call me when you get home.” Garrett’s dad replied before hanging up the phone.

Garrett let out a sigh and shook his head moving to the register popping open the till, and grabbing it to bring to the safe. Suddenly the door opened and old man Ericson shuffled inside, immediately looking to the left, up the store. “Ericson, hey I’m sorry we’re locking up, the governor called Marshall law with everything going on, you should head home too,” Garrett explained while watching the man who seemingly ignored him, “Ericson!” Garrett called out a little louder, assuming the man forgot his hearing aid’s again.

The old man’s ears perked to the shout and he slowly looked back to Garrett and the younger man instantly dropped the till in shock. The elder’s face was pale as a ghost, blood was smeared around his mouth, a few drops of blood dripped out his eyes and a large chunk was missing from his throat. Garrett stammered trying to find anything to say while Ericson sniffed the air a few quick times while staring him down. Suddenly the man let out a roar and started to shamble towards him.

Garrett stumbled forward and knelt down reaching deep under the counter and pulling out a small .22 revolver that was tucked in the back. The foreign object shook in Garrett’s hand as he aimed up at the man, “E-Ericson, stop, j-just stay back!” Garrett fearfully ordered while he cocked back the hammer of the revolver.

Ericson snarled back and continued charging towards him, just as he reached the counter Garrett pulled the trigger sending a bullet right into the elder’s chest. Ericson slightly stumbled back before finding his footing again and let out a low growl, “W-What the fuck?” Garrett stammered out only for the man to step forward again, quickly Garrett fired a second shot, then a third, and then a fourth. Each bullet struck the old man’s large chest but none halted his advance. As the dead man started to pull its way over the counter Garrett let out a yell and stepped forward putting the barrel of the gun to its forehead and pulling the trigger again, this time sending the old man back and flat onto the ground.

Without a moment’s hesitation, Garrett jumped over the counter and fled the store. The twenty-two-year-old didn’t stop for anything, he ignored anything he heard on the streets and only focused on getting back to his home. Reaching his small two-bedroom house within twenty minutes he ran inside and locked the doors and immediately called his father. The phone didn’t ring once, he immediately got a busy signal, Garrett tried a second time only to the same result. In anguish Garrett dropped the phone, praying his folks were alright, meanwhile just outside his house the sound of gunfire and distant screams filled the air.

Three months later Garrett slowly walked the streets of his old town, the air was crisp but silent. The small revolver that had saved his life on the first day was safely tucked into the back of his pants his backpack occasionally bumping against the revolvers handle. The brown-haired man looked worse for wear these days, his hair a mess, his scruff now turning into an unkempt beard, and his blue eyes now heavy and tired. He reached his father’s hardware store, the first time since he fled, and let out a low exhale seeing the smashed windows and overturned shelves from the looters.

Garrett carefully stepped into the store, shattered glass crackled under his boots. He glanced over and saw the rotted corpse of Ericson still laying where he had last left him. He looked at the man sympathetically for a moment before stepping up into an aisle for a moment. He returned with a large painters sheet and quietly tore it open, he walked over and tossed it over the old man’s body before stepping away. “Sorry,” He gently said to the corpse before stepping over it and heading behind the counter.

The register was gone, along with the old television but he wasn’t looking for either of them. Reaching under the counter into the far deep corner he felt around aimlessly for a few seconds. “C’mon, be there...” He said under his breath before smiling as his fingers brushed against a tiny cardboard box. Wrapping his hand around the box he pulled it out, the box of .22 rounds his father had bought along with the revolver had been missed by the looters. He blew off the thick layer of dust from the top and set it down on the counter.

Pulling out his revolver he opened it up, the final two rounds still sat unused in the chamber. Garrett didn’t want to admit just how tempting those bullets had started to look the worse the world got and the longer he hadn’t heard from his family. Flipping open the box, he took out a bullet and began to reload the gun. Having spent the last few months staying in his house, only leaving to check on his neighbors once had started to drive him a little mad with loneliness. Not to mention surviving off of cans of ravioli and ramen noodles could only sate him so long before his body was craving real food.

“Food,” Garrett sighed as his stomach gurgled, he had run out a few days back, and having already taken what he could find from his neighbor’s houses, Garrett knew he needed to look around town for more. As the young man finished reloading his gun he tucked it back into his pants then tossed the remaining rounds into his pack. As Garrett walked back around the counter he scanned the store, looking it over slowly before heading over to the wrecked tools department.

The shelves were knocked over and he looked over the large tools section on the wall. Shovels, wood axes, pickaxes, all were stolen long ago. Turning back to the shelving he walked around the edges taking a look at what was on the floor around them. Tape measures and nails dotted the floor but after a moment he saw a leather-wrapped handle just barely peeking out from the fallen equipment. Kneeling down Garrett pulled out a metal carpenters hammer. “Better than nothing,” A voice suddenly said causing the man to quite literally jump back and fall onto the floor. Scrambling backward and looking over towards the voice Garrett reached for his gun, “Whoa, whoa, easy. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you, I’m not going to hurt you!”

Garrett let out a few short fearful breaths as his eyes finally locked onto the person talking, a slim redhead. With her amber hair tied back into a ponytail, emerald green eyes, and a cute inviting smile on her face, she would have been enticing to any man, even more now seeing as she could be one of the last women left alive. Garrett let out a soft, “Uh ... It’s okay,”

The woman watched as Garrett easily got to his feet before stepping towards him, “I’m Hannah, I noticed you up the road, it’s been a little bit since I’ve seen someone new,”

“It’s been a while since I’ve seen anyone,” Garrett replied while rubbing the back of his neck,

“You’re alone?” Hannah asked with a tilt of her head, Garrett hesitated for a moment before nodding, “What are you doing here?”

“This was my dad’s store, I just came in to grab a few things,” Garrett replied while looking down at the hammer, “Wasn’t much left but I needed something quiet while I went looking for food,”

“Shit, when was the last time you ate?” Hannah quickly asked back in concern,

“It’s been a few days,” Garrett replied with a weak chuckle, “I was putting off coming back to town, had no idea what I’d find,”

Hannah rolled in her bottom lip and chewed on it for a few seconds before letting out a short annoyed exhale, “Screw it,” She said under her breath before looking up to Garrett, “Hey, I was coming here to get some nails and stuff before going back to my group,”

“You’re part of a group?” Garrett replied in surprise, “There are still people?”

“Yeah, there are seven of us ... do you want to come back with me?” Hannah asked with a hopeful half-smile, “We have food, and I’d hate to see you in a few days half-chewed up,” She added on with a short giggle.

Garrett looked at the redhead in surprise unsure of how to respond to the offer, though the growling in his stomach urged him to accept. Still, with everything that had happened these last few months Garrett knew he needed to be smart, “Why are you trusting me?” He cautiously asked Hannah,

Hannah’s brow raised in a small amount of surprise, “I ... I don’t know, you look like you need help, if you come with me that would make only eight people in our group. Eight, in a town that was once in the thousands. To me, that says anyone who is still alive is an asset and that we need to stick together, try and survive this shit as a unit,” Hannah explained with a heartfelt tone, “I don’t look at you and see someone who is going to hurt us either, so ... yeah, that’s why I trust you because these days we need to trust each other,”

Garrett lowered his head, a bit ashamed of himself, “Sorry,” He lowly apologized, “I didn’t mean to make you think I thought you were up to something, it’s just, the whole way here I saw the destruction people did over the last few months. This is my dad’s store, and look at it, it’s destroyed ... I don’t know, I needed to know you really were a good person,” Garrett finished with a shrug of his shoulders,

“I get it,” Hannah easily replied as she put a hand on his shoulder, “It’s alright, so will you come back with me?”

“Yeah, yeah, if your offer stands I’ll join you, there’s nothing left for me anywhere else,” Garrett replied with a bittersweet smile,

“Cool, I’m glad to hear it,” Hannah said with a grin, “Want to help me gather up some of these nails? My group need them for a little project,”

“Sure, I’ll even check you out at the counter,” Garrett lightly joked,

Hannah let out a light laugh, “Feel free to check me out right here,” She tacked on with a quick little wink which caused Garrett to slightly blush.

The pair spent forty-five minutes gathering up nails, screws, a few tape measures, a second hammer, and a couple of hand-saws. With Hannah’s pack nearly filled to the brim with the items she slung it over her shoulder, “Awesome, come on, my jeeps about a block down, we can take that back to camp,”

“Alright,” Garrett nodded as he followed the redhead back to the entrance, “Hang on, I just need to grab something,” The former clerk interjected as Hannah began to push the door open to leave. The woman held back and watched curiously as Garrett jumped over the counter and knelt down for a moment, as he stood up he now help a photo in his hand, “Okay, sorry, I’m good now,”

“Who is it?” Hannah easily asked,

“It’s my dad and mom, back when he first opened this place,” Garrett explained with a weak smile as he looked at the photo before tucking it into his back pocket.

Hannah let out a silent understanding nod before leading the brown-haired man out to the street. “Stay close, and stay quiet,” Hannah whispered over to Garrett while she began to jog up the road. Garrett stuck close behind his head on a swivel, checking the sights of crashed cars, shattered windows, and a few rotting corpses laying on the roads. Minutes later Hannah slowed to a halt, pulled into a small parking lot outside an old deli sat a topless dark blue jeep. “There she is,” Hannah smiled while pulling off her pack and tossing it into the back. “Come on, get in,”

Garrett nodded and pulled off his pack, quickly doing the same as Hannah, “Thanks Hannah, I appreciate you giving me this chance,”

“Of course ... um, what’s your name?” Hannah replied letting out a short chuckle,

“Garrett,” He replied,

“Nice to meet you, get cozy we have a little drive before we get home,” Hannah finished as she turned on the jeep and cut the wheel, turning the jeep to the left and then back onto the street.

Close to an hour passed as Hannah drove Garrett out of his hometown heading closer towards the city, “The last thing the television and radio’s said was to stay out of the cities, why would we be going into one?” Garrett asked the redhead with a bit of nervousness pooling in his stomach,

“We’re not going into the city, the rest of our group are held up just on the edge of it, downtown is a mess for sure, but the outskirts aren’t as bad.” Hannah replied as she sped the jeep up a bit, “We should be almost there,”

“Where is there, anyway?” Garrett replied as he looked at the urban environment they began to pass,

“It’s gonna sound stupid if I tell you, so I’d rather you see the place first,” Hannah replied with a small laugh, “I promise though, things are going to be a lot better for you once you get there,”

“Alright ... here’s a question though, if you’re living out here why drive all the way back to my town to raid my dad’s store?” Garrett asked back,