Surviving, Not Living/Issue 1 Rewritten

This is a rewritten version of Issue 1 of Surviving, Not Living, entitled Apocalypse Incoming. This is the first issue of Volume 1.

Issue 1 - Apocalypse Incoming
Moonstar Mall had once been a happy place. Children would play in the jungle gym while their parents attended informal business meetings in the nearby coffee shops. The food court was always the busiest, having lengthy queues from each establishment. New stores would pop up and old stores would shut down but there had always been an array of friendly employees that were eager to help struggling customers. It was a place where people would feel safe and relaxed.

That was before it began… Before they came. The norms and values of society had broken down within days. Things people would have never done before finally became acceptable to do – looting, murdering, stealing. There were no police to stop the murders. No paramedics to help the wounded. People were forced to adapt. If they didn’t, they wouldn’t survive the harsh, new world.

Moonstar Mall had been trashed within the first few days. The bars of the jungle gym had been ripped off and used as weapons against the infected. Blood splatters made hopscotch areas barely visible. The windows of the coffee shops, as well as every other store, had been smashed in. People were frantic with worry. They grabbed anything and everything that they could get a hold of – from canned food to nappies to bikes.

In the middle of the madness, two people ran alongside a strip of shops. The first person, a man, had floppy, black hair and had his arm over the woman’s shoulders. He couldn’t have been any older than thirty. He had a full rucksack on his back, not fully closed due to the sheer amount of canned food that had been jammed inside. Around his body was another bag – a satchel. It was filled to the brim with a variety of sanitary products.

The woman was a brunette and had her hair styled into a pixie cut. She was considerably shorter than the man and visibly pregnant. Panting heavily, the woman held her belly through the maxi dress as the two ran. Her eyes were wild. She didn’t know where to look.

Just a few feet in front of them, a grey-haired old woman crouched down over a young man’s body. She was knelt down in the middle of walkway. The pair skidded to a halt went they saw the woman. The man felt his heart sink in his chest and his mouth go dry – not the usual reaction to seeing an elderly woman. The old lady’s head snapped upwards as her nose picked up the scent of the two adults. Slowly, she rose to her feet.

The man pushed his pregnant wife behind him, acting as a barrier. The elderly woman turned her head slowly, revealing a grotesque sight. Her skin was as white as snow and the irises of her eyes had turned a milky-white colour. Her blazer had been torn to shreds at the front and stained with blood. What looked like the end of an intestine was hanging out from the inside of her stomach.

“She’s one of them…” The brunette spoke with a shaky voice. “She’s one of the infected.”

The woman stepped forwards with her right foot and limped, leaving her left foot dragging behind. Saliva fell from her mouth as she – or, it – stumbled towards them. Despite there being dozens of crazed people around them, the infected only focus on the couple.

“Michelle,” The man spoke quietly, getting his wife’s attention. “When I tell you to run, you run. Run for the exit and don’t stop. She isn’t the only infected in this mall.”

That was when it hit Michelle. What the woman had once thought were people limping from their injuries were in fact not people at all. They were one of the infected. Almost half of the beings in the room were undead. Michelle nodded, agreeing yet not saying a word.

“Go!” The man shouted. As he did so, he leapt forwards onto the infected and pushed her to the floor. Michelle sprinted past her husband, her sights focused on the glass door at the end of the room. With one swift movement, the man lifted his foot up and slammed his boot on the forehead of the infected. “Take out the brain.” That’s what they had said on the news. He repeated the action multiple times before the infected stopped struggling and died, as its skull caved inwards.

The man instantly started running after his wife, not stopping to flick the pieces of decaying brain from the bottom of his shoe. From the stores surrounding them, both people and infected began to emerge. The people had recognised the increased numbers of infected and were all sprinting to the same exit. The undead were following suit, eager for their next meal.

Peculiarly, Michelle suddenly stopped sprinting despite the apparent danger of being eaten alive. Her lip trembled and her eyes widened. After moving her arm slowly, the woman felt her crotch. Eyes alive with fear, she looked back to her husband who was only a few feet away.

“David!” A blood-curdling scream came from her mouth. The noise heightened the man’s adrenaline and made him more desperate to reach his wife.

When he caught up with Michelle, David put his arm around her shoulder and pulled her along. “What are you doing? The door’s right there!” He exclaimed.

<p class="MsoNormal">“My waters have just broke.” She looked up at him.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Oh, we’ve gotta go.” David replied. Michelle’s words echoed around his head. “Let’s hope that Sarah‘s still outside.”

<p class="MsoNormal">The two darted to the exit, a stream of looters and infected just behind them. Momentarily, an overweight man carrying a large TV managed to pass the couple. Although, an infected jumped out from one of the shop windows and slammed him down to the floor. The infected raised its head in glee before slamming its face into the man’s neck and taking a rather large bite of flesh. Michelle shrieked as she hopped over the body and continued forwards. It was a struggle – running when the baby was coming – but she had to do it, if not for herself then for the child.

<p class="MsoNormal">After bursting through the mall’s glass door, the first thing David heard was the sound of his daughter’s voice.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Daddy!” She shrieked.

<p class="MsoNormal">Parked in the disabled bay in front of the mall was the family’s maroon Range Rover. David’s daughter – Amelia – sat in the back seat, tears falling down her face. The girl had long, blonde hair and clutched a small, brown teddy bear. She looked like she was no older than ten. In the driver’s seat, Sarah was sitting with both her hands raised in the air. The family friend was being confronted by a disgusting, hairy man.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Get out and give me the keys now!” He demanded. “I’ll shoot you, I swear!”

<p class="MsoNormal">Leaving his wife’s side, David ran a few steps to a brick wall that had collapsed. He leant down, grabbed one of the bricks and span around, slamming it into the back of the assailant’s head. The man instantly fell unconscious and dropped to the floor. Sarah gulped and then looked up at David.

<p class="MsoNormal">Sarah had mocha brown skin and black hair that had been tucked behind her ears. She had a bewildered, scared, almost child-like look on her face. She was very youthful. The woman scooted across to the passenger seat to allow David entrance to the car. Although, before he entered, the man reached down and took the attacker’s gun. Amelia opened the door and Michelle scrambled inside.

<p class="MsoNormal">As soon as the door shut, infected pressed themselves close against the glass. Their mouths frantically opened and shut as their fingers clawed at the windows. A shiver fell down David’s spine as he heard the screams of the attacker awaking to find his stomach being devoured.

<p class="MsoNormal">Michelle panted heavily in the back seat, clutching her stomach. An infected slammed onto the window next to her and she let out another ear-piercing scream.

<p class="MsoNormal">“‘Chelle, you okay?” Amelia asked, not before covering her ears with her hands. Sarah looked back at her through the rear view mirror.

<p class="MsoNormal">“She’s not bitten, is she?” Sarah asked David who had begun to back out of the parking spot. The car bounced up and down as it rolled over bodies of humans and infected alike.

<p class="MsoNormal">“No,” David shook his head rapidly. “She’s gone into labour?”

<p class="MsoNormal">“Are you serious?!” Sarah shouted.

<p class="MsoNormal">“I wish I wasn’t.” He sighed, slamming on the accelerator. “We’re okay, though. We just need to find somewhere safe to deliver the baby.”

<p class="MsoNormal">“No! We’re not okay!” Sarah exclaimed. “That baby is coming and it’s coming now!”

<p class="MsoNormal">David focused on driving for a second and tried to gather his thoughts. He span the wheel right to turn out of the parking lot and onto the main road. “We’ve got time.” He told Sarah. “Some people are in labour for days.”

<p class="MsoNormal">“Yeah, and some people give birth within four hours!” Sarah instantly replied. “Look, you know that I’m a trainee midwife. If it comes to it, and, I mean this is a last resort, we could deliver the baby in the back of this car.”

<p class="MsoNormal">“Just hold on, hon’.” David spoke back to his wife.

<p class="MsoNormal">Sarah unclipped her belt and climbed between the two seats to reach Michelle. She grabbed her head and turned it so that their eyes met. “Just look at me and follow my breathing.” Sarah instructed. Michelle nodded. “1… 2… 3… 4… In, out. In, out.”

<p class="MsoNormal">“Do you wanna hold my bear?” The little blonde girl reached across Sarah, holding out her teddy bear.

<p class="MsoNormal">After a few seconds of being ignored, Amelia’s shoulders slumped and she sighed loudly. The girl turned her attention to the window. It was hard to see them while David zig-zagged the car to avoid the abandoned vehicles but there were large oak trees lining the road. It could be described as picturesque if there weren’t mangles bodies every few feet.

<p class="MsoNormal">__________________________________________________________________________________

<p class="MsoNormal">A few minutes later and David was finally turning onto the main highway out of their hometown. The car skidded along the tarmac as he pulled a sharp right.

<p class="MsoNormal">“We just need to get out of the city.” David called back, turning his head to look at the girls. After turning back, he instantly slammed on the breaks. The highway was gridlocked. It seemed that everyone had same idea – get out of the city.

<p class="MsoNormal">“You’ve gotta get us out of here! The more people there are, the more infected there are going to be. And that’s not exactly safe, is it?” Sarah replied. She was young but obviously very wise.

<p class="MsoNormal">“There are going to be more of them freaks in the city!” He spat back. Throughout the conversation, Amelia sat with a bewildered look on her face, not moving her eyes from her panicked step-mother.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Your wife is giving birth right now!” Sarah shouted. “Do you want your baby to be delivered in the back of a car?”

<p class="MsoNormal">Abruptly, Michelle jerked forwards and clutched her stomach in pain. “He’s coming,” The woman said through tear eyes.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Okay, okay…” David shook his head. He shot a look over his shoulder before reversing and turning the car around. “We’ll get her to the hospital!”

<p class="MsoNormal">“No, no, no!” Sarah exclaimed. “You heard the news broadcast! All public services shut down two months ago – that includes the hospital!”

<p class="MsoNormal">“Well, what do you suggest then?!” The man punched the steering wheel in anger. The road into the city was completely empty, drastically different to the road leading out of it.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Get us to a house.” She instructed. “And no, before you say anything, I don’t care whose house it was. The chances are that the owners are dead, anyway.”

<p class="MsoNormal">“Sarah, we can’t just break into someone’s house!” David told her, speeding along the road with no set destination.

<p class="MsoNormal">“You don’t understand!” Sarah screamed, visibly annoyed. “Amelia, watch Michelle. Make sure she keeps her breathing up.” The dark-skinned woman climbed back through to the front and into the passenger seat. Amelia scooted over and placed a hand on the pregnant woman’s shoulder.

<p class="MsoNormal">“David, you need to listen to me. Society as we know it is gone. There are freakin’ zombies everywhere! Hundreds of people are dying every day!” The woman began to make elaborate hand movements, getting carried away with what she was saying. “There are no police! We could murder, steal and get away with it. Breaking and entering is what we’ve got to do to survive. We’re gonna be doing worse things than that as this hell-on-earth continues.”

<p class="MsoNormal">Sarah relaxed into the passenger seat and sighed loudly. There was no response from David, signalling that she had succeeded in her rant.

<p class="MsoNormal">Amelia leant forwards and poked her head between the seats, “There are huge houses along Elm Street. We used to pass them every day on the school bus!”

<p class="MsoNormal">“Those houses are out of the way, too. There won’t be many people – or infected – to disturb us.” Sarah agreed. “Good idea, Amelia.”

<p class="MsoNormal">“Then let’s go there.” David nodded. “If I’m breaking into a house, it goddamn better be a nice one.”

<p class="MsoNormal">In the back of the car, Michelle sat all alone. Hundreds of different thoughts raced through her mind. Will she be okay? Will the baby survive? Throughout the crazy past few months, she had managed to convince herself that the pregnancy was a death sentence. Sure, she was a qualified midwife and had taken Sarah under her wing. There was no way she could deliver her own baby and Sarah definitely couldn’t either.

<p class="MsoNormal">As the car turned onto Elm Street, a tear fell down Michelle’s cheek. The brunette watched the houses fly by as she silently accepted the fact that she would soon be dead.

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