Apocalypse Life/Issue 4

Issue 4 - Meeting
It was nearly impossible to escape. Just before, Julius was running from five zombies he had attracted. Every turn in the neighborhood, there would always be one. Some of them looked like they just woke up, while others seemed like they were getting ready to leave. He had no idea which to take; certain roads had cars piled up, blocking the way. Others were just dead ends. Turn by turn, Julius is losing the chance of a clean escape.

He was already clutching his bat as he moved, just in case the things would get too close. He still has second thoughts of fighting them; they're still normal people in his mind. But no, they weren't people anymore; they would do anything to open him up and eat his insides. If not, they would try to infect him and turn him into them. Julius doesn't have any other option but to defend himself.

As he passed by the houses, he always regretted not being able to scavenge them. Still, the duffle bag full of canned food and other perishable items he shouldn't have brought assured him that he won't go hungry for a while. He was just feeling greedy. And plus, who knows what those houses could be hiding? It could be more of those things, waiting to come out. That, and the walkers behind him can't wait.

Juliust thought he had it easy at first; four or five (he couldn't dare look back) of those things followed him all the way. Other walkers he passed by ignored him, as they were either too busy to spot him or could not hear his light movement. Still, the duffle bag is starting to get heavy; it'll be hard to move, especially when a walker gets too close. He was getting ready to just drop it and abandon it, but he knows these supplies will help him. Food might be much harder to come by, especially in a world like this.

Julius continued to move, not certain if he should take a break by killing his pursuers and resting somewhere. But something forced him to slow down, almost stopping his tracks.

"Hey! Hey you!!!"

Julius heard a loud voice of a man from his south-west side. He swore this attracted the other walkers around him.

"Hey!! Stop for a second..."

Julius turned. It was a hooded man, holding a snub-nosed revolver on his hand, running as if nothing was chasing him.

"That bag o' yours.... what's in it, hm?"

Julius looked at his bag, confused as to why he's more interested in this than his current state. He didn't seem to care about the walkers chasing him, which had trickled down to just two by now.

"It's... f-food," Julius replied, some slight shivering in his voice.

The man pointed his gun at him. "Give it to me! C'mon, give it to me!!"

Julius slowly backed away, as the hooded man carefully aimed his gun at him. "C'mon, man! I don't want to starve!!"

The man hadn't noticed the walker that started approaching him since he called Julius. It quickly bit his shoulder, causing the man to shoot his gun. Julius flinched at first, then started running. He noticed other walkers emerge from what they were doing and approached the man. He couldn't have helped him. The man was getting ready to kill him, Julius thought. He had nothing but ill intentions.

Julius left the man to be devoured, shouting agonizing shouts of help. He continued to shoot his gun until it was out of ammo, further alerting many other walkers. Julius passed by a few, causing their attention to him. Once again, he has new pursuers to worry about. He had to evade a few that were already at his sides, causing him to move faster.

His constant movement already started paying off; he started seeing an exit from a distance, leading to the college. So far, his running only attracted more walkers that were in the sidewalks, or in the lawns of the houses. There weren't too many for Julius to worry about.

Or so he thought. As he was closing in to the exit, he saw a whole horde amassed in a street beside him, that they were completely blocking the way. How they gathered here is beyond Julius; all he could think of was to run faster, and faster. He didn't want all of them to follow him, but unfortunately, it was the opposite; the whole horde, or at least a huge portion of them, turned to his attention and started chasing him. Julius increased his speed, now calmly sprinting instead of jogging.

Julius dared not look back. The groans behind him scared him enough. He closely clutched his bat, as he was closing in to the road that leads to his now former college. A few stragglers caught his attention, quickly adding to the small horde that chased him. Julius turned back for a quick glance. It was a whole wall of them.

He didn't want them to follow him everywhere. He had to lose them somehow. His sudden adrenaline rush quickly boosted his speed, now running briskly instead of just sprinting. Perhaps running faster and faster then suddenly turning will quickly lose them.

It was close now. The opened gate that leads to a different road was only a few feet close.

He reaches it. The feeling was somehow of victory, as Julius was finally a considerable distance away. He sharply turned left, still running. A flashing bright yellow light quickly lit his way, stunning his vision for a bit, and slowing his movement.

It was an incoming car, apparently driving toward his way.