Hope On The Rocks: Before The Outbreak/Issue 8

This is an issue of Hope On The Rocks: Before The Outbreak, focusing on Kerri Mavis.

Kerri Mavis
Sitting with my brother, Billy, and his friend Joe, we are eating my brother’s homemade meatloaf. I tell you, he makes the best meatloaf in the world. Billy is a great cook, he really is. “How’s it going at work?” Joe asks with his mouth full. I smile and say “Good, I guess. Not very interesting, but that’s how that is.” Joe shrugs. “Not everything can be interesting, I guess.” I open my mouth to talk when the neighbour’s dog begins to bark. It’s like it’s barking into a megaphone, it’s really that loud. I raise my eyebrows and look at Billy. “It’s like that every evening.” Billy says and shrugs. “That’s a pain in the ass.” I say, getting up. “I’ve gotten used to it. Come on, sit down.” He says, continuing eating. I walk over to the door and leaves his apartment. I knock on the neighbour’s door, to which a bald man opens. I read ‘Owen’ on the sign. “Could you make your dog shut up?” I say with a ironic smile. The man just stands there, looking at me. “I asked you a question.” I say, the dog is now standing next to the man, barking. As the man proceeds to close the door, I grab the collor of the dog and pulls it out in the hall. “Let it go, lady.” The bald man spits. I don’t. Instead, I snap the dog’s neck like it was a match. Easy as nothing. I then walk back into Billy’s apartment and continues eating meatloaf.

Sure, I got a ticket. Big one. But that’s what happens when I get mad, I can’t control it. At my job, I also managed to destroy a printer because it didn’t work. So, yeah, they sent me to anger management. That’s where I am now. It’s my last day, and I am saying goodbye to my coach. “Thank you for it all, mr. Salamon.” I say, giving the hand to the long-haired, bearded man. “I should thank you, shouldn’t I?” Mr. Salamon says with a big smile. “Have fun. I don’t hope to see you again.” I chuckle and give him a friendly nod. Getting home, I turn on the TV while I take a bath. The baths at the anger management program were always cold, so I am going to take a hot, long shower. I can’t really hear what they say in the TV, but I guess it’s just the usual. “Please... care... would... but not anymore...” Is some of the spread words I hear from the TV. It sounds serious, so I turn off the water after twenty minutes. I walk into the living room with the towel, watching the news. A man is standing somewhere in DC, people shuffling around behind him. I see a woman run away behind him, only to get grabbed by one of the shuffling people. The shuffling man then bites the woman in the neck. I gasp, the reads the headline. ‘Zombies! Stay inside!’ I’m going to ignore this. I need to check in on Billy.

Ten minutes later, I am ready to leave. My old .22 rifle in my hand, and my car full of gas. Of course, my car has been stolen. People are running around outside, screaming. I see these zombies scattered around. I try to avoid them as I run all the way to Billy’s apartment. On the way, I spot Joe, running. We get eye contact, and he runs over to me. “Kerri, what are you doing outside?” He pants. “I could ask you the same.” I say. “I had to check on my parents.” He says. “They are...” He doesn’t get to finish, as a zombie takes a big chunk of his shoulder. He screams in pain and yells something I can’t hear. For some reason, I don’t help him. Instead, I continue to run towards Billy’s aparment. I get to the hall, opening the door. The bald man is laying dead on the floor outside his aparment. Billy’s door is open. I enter his aparment, seeing a pool of blood and a stranger eating a corpse. I take aim with the rifle, shooting the stranger in the head. I then see what the stranger was eating. Billy is laying on the floor, dead.

Deaths

 * Billy Mavis
 * Joe Sandy
 * Owen Altering

Credits

 * Kerri Mavis
 * Billy Mavis
 * Joe Sandy
 * Owen Altering