Hope On The Rocks: Before The Outbreak/Issue 9

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

Kevin Gardner
“Go! He’s at the church!” I yell, reloading the gun. “I see him!” “You got him?” I ask, crouching behind a wall. “Damnit, he got me!” James says, leaning back in his chair. We’re sitting in the staff room of Scranton High School, playing video games. The other teachers usually give James and me weird looks, but well. We’re having fun. “You think you can get him?” James said, waiting to respawn. “Yeah, of course.” I say, as the principal of the school approaches us. He doesn’t like it when we play games in our breaks. But to be honest, I don’t care. He has never liked me, and I never liked him either. “Gardner, I thought you had a lesson now?” Mr. Gremlin says, arms crossed. I look at my watch. Five minutes still. “Yeah, in five minutes. Plenty of time.” I say, not stopping playing. Gremlin then slams my laptop shut. I only barely manage to remove my hands, preventing them from getting hurt. “What’d you do that for?” I ask, packing my laptop down. I have to go anyway. “You’re a teacher, Gardner, not a soldier.” Gremlin says, looking me in the eyes. “It’s just a game, man.” James argues, returning to the table with a cup of coffee.

I get a ride home by James. I hate my job. The teachers hate me, the principal hates me, the students hate me. I don’t know what I’m doing wrong? “Hey, man.” James says, pulling over by my house. I bought it a few years back when I had a girlfriend. She moved out after I proposed. She said she ‘wasn’t ready’ and ‘thought I was immature’. Now I have it for myself, can’t get it sold. “You’re okay?” “Thanks for the ride.” I just say and smile. I grab my bag and leave the car. “I’ll pick you up tomorrow, alright?” James says, as I walk up to my house. “Sure, thanks.”

I enter the house, close the door and head for the kitchen. I’m hungry, need something fast to eat. I find a bag of chips, and start eating them. I sit down by my computer and watch some reviews on some games. Finishing the chips, I open the trash can, finding it to be full. With a sigh, I take it up and head outside. As I open the door to my front lawn, some pale man with white eyes attack me. Snapping his jaws, growling. I drop the trash and push the man away. Returning inside, I try to close the door, however the man is in the way. “What are you doing?” I yell, trying to close the door. “Help!” I stand here, fighting this guy for at least five minutes. Then I hear a gunshot and the man drops dead. Looking, I see Lenny Hilton, my neighbour. He’s a nice man, been living here in Scranton his whole life. I remember when I was a kid, he’d take me and my friends out to the lake. The parents loved him. Now, this nice man is standing with a shotgun aiming it at me. “Kev, you’re alive?” Lenny asks, sounding exhausted. Startled by Lenny shooting the man, I say “Of course I’m alive. Why’d you kill that man?” “Come on.” Lenny says, getting into his car. A few more people, seeming like the man who attacked me, are approaching my house. I don’t know what to do, so I get into Lenny’s car. “What’s happening here?” I ask, slowly realizing it myself. It’s obviously the zombie apocalypse. “You don’t watch the news?” Lenny says, driving off. “The virus broke out.” “What virus? What do you mean?” “The CDC had this virus, that turns dead people into cannibals. They stated they had it under control, but they didn’t seemingly. Now we’re all doomed.” Lenny explains. “Wait... so they’re zombies? Like in the movies?” “Yep. Just like in the movies.” I lean back in the seat, watching as several of our neighbours run screaming out of their houses. Lenny doesn’t stop. “Where are we going?” I ask. “The town hall.”

Deaths
None

Credits

 * Kevin Gardner
 * Lenny Hilton
 * James Gutenberg
 * Matthew Gremlin