Endangered/Issue 15 (Old)

This is #15 of Endangered and is titled State of Emergency. It is part 3 of Voume 2.

State of Emergency
''“As we all know, the world has been hit with a massive plague which we have titled ‘The Z-Virus’. This plague has tore across the major cities of our great nation and tore them to pieces. The infected individuals of this virus have...have almost become zombie like. Who ever knew the Walking Dead would become a true story?”

“Well I am here today to bring you, the nation of America, news. We are not alone--other countries have been faced with his disease. Mexico, Russia, China, England, they have all been hit with this. They too are under chaos. Now so far no one has been able to control this, but we’re working on it.”

“But I’m gonna be honest here, it’s not good. Cities have been severely damaged and this virus is only getting worse as it moves around from county to county. We have the army doing it’s best to help, but this thing is just too strong. Not only are people turning on each other, but people are losing their loved ones, without even getting to say goodbye. They're just dead, and that’s it. So with that, and all the riots, death, and damage, I am sorry to announce that this is a State of Emergency. Lock your doors, be with your family, protect yourselves, and be safe. This is your President and I wish you good luck, and may God be with us.”''

17 Hours Earlier, T-Minus 17 Hours Until State of Emergency “Are you safe?”

“Y...a..”

“This signal fucking sucks--Are you safe?”

“Yeah.”

“You’re at the house? You got your stuff packed?”

“Yeah Ethan, it’s all packed.”

“Alright, good. Good. Did you get ahold of Vicky yet?”

“All main lines are down, we’re only talking because of the private line.”

“Shit. Alright I’ll try and get in touch with her.”

“Good. So um how’s it looking up there?”

“Not good. It’s a war zone out here. Alright I got to go.”

“Be safe. I love you.”

“I love you too.” Ethan Brash hangs up the cell phone, which he was using with a secure line, and tucks it back into his pocket. With that done he adjusts his hat slightly before looking out the door and down into the city. Currently, Ethan rides in a private, steel black helicopter that belongs to the PPD. He was one of the few people to volunteer and head around in the helicopter to get a view on the city, and evacuate a few certain people. Wasn’t the job of a lifetime but it gave Ethan a better view of what’s going on down there.

It’s been about three hours since the chaos first unfolded. The situation has died down slightly but the chaos is still unfolding, and it looks worse from the air. From up there Ethan has an overhead view of every little detail, and it’s not good. Although he won’t admit it, he never expected this to happen. He failed his case to look into this.

“So what now?” Ethan asks up ahead to the pilot while taking out his cigarette.

“Well we got what’s going on the city, so we might do some pick-ups.”

“What do you mean by ‘pick-ups’?”

“Police chief has ordered a few important people be picked up.”

“Important? I’m pretty sure every fucking life down there is important.”

“Well not important enough for the chief’s list.” The pilot counters while Ethan just rubs his temple, also letting out a deep sigh. Apparently the rich people were more important than the poor. In his mind it was stupid.

“Bullshit.” He mutters under his breath. “So who exactly are we picking up?”

“Well first on the list is….Jake Ryker.”

“Jake Ryker? As in the mob boss?”

“Yeah, that’s the one.”

“You gotta be fuckin’ kidding me. We’re helping a criminal of all the peopl-”

“Not my orders.” The pilot defends himself to the annoyed Ethan, although Ethan knew it was the truth. They had to follow orders, it was their job. So instead of trying to fight it, Ethan just mutters something unhearable before turning his attention to the rest of the crew. Besides him and the pilot there were only about three other people: The co-pilot and two other officers. However Ethan can’t help but notice one of the officers is sickly pale, and his nose is bleeding. “Hey umm officer, you okay there?” Ethan asks but the officer doesn’t respond. Instead he just stares out the window and grunts. “You okay?”

Suddenly the man lets out a loud scream and turns toward them, it was then and there that Ethan saw the bite mark on his shoulder. The infected officer instantly bites into the other officer while Ethan goes for his gun. Just as Ethan grabs his pistol the infected man jumps for the pilot and digs into his neck, forcing the pilot to scream and his blood to fly everywhere. With no one driving the helicopter Ethan quickly grabs onto the chair and grips it tightly just while the helicopter goes out of control, as it spins and rapidly descends. Ethan’s screams even go under the sounds of the helicopter going down and the screams of the pilots.

After a few mere seconds the helicopter makes a crash course for a nearby building and Ethan can see the helicopter about to make contact.

After that everything goes dark.

Making his way slowly down the dimly lit streets, Michael makes sure to not to lose sight of his guide Tate, who leads him down the streets. Tate, who currently holds a bloody bat in his hands, looks cautiously around the area while going down, Michael close behind. While Tate recognises the area he can barely see what’s going on due to the darkness; he just hopes those infected things don’t sneak up behind him.

After taking a quick look of his home area Tate is saddened to find most of his neighbor’s houses trashed or emptied. He could only imagine what happened to them but Tate didn’t even want to know. He’d rather just go with the idea that they’re alive instead of dead, so instead of dwelling of that he moved on with Michael.

“So Michael.” Tate tries to stir up a conversation, since they still had a pretty decent walk ahead of them. “Have you got in contact with your daughter?” Probably was a very touchy subject but Tate was curious, and judging by the look on Michael’s face, he guesses that he hasn’t.

“No.” He says after a few moments, and Tate can sense the sadness in his voice.

“Sorry to hear that. I’m sure she’s fine though.”

“She is.” Michael immediately says sternly. “She’s safe.” Tate gives him a brief look of pity.

“Well, you don’t exactly-”

“She’s fine.”

“Alright, alright.” Tate drops it and just goes back to walking around the neighborhood, with Michael still keeping up. Michael, who has his hands digged into his pocket, can’t help but notice how, well, ‘fancy’ the area looks. Michael used to live in an area like this when he was a kid.

“So you rich or something? I mean, this place looks pretty good, for this city at least.”

“Nowhere near it, I just know the right people.” Michael instantly gives him a look of weariness, slightly thinking these other people were criminals. “Not criminals. I was in the music business.”

“Oh, had me scared for a sec’.”

“Yeah bro I ain’t no mafia dude. Besides I’d probably be the worst one.” Tate cracks a smile while Michael keeps up his serious front, before smirking after a few minutes. Despite being the depressing person he is, he still kept a sense of humor.

“I can believe that.”

“It’s true.” Tate smiles before focusing back on the street. To their surprise there were no infected in sight, nor did they hear any. It was a great sign just came as a surprise. “So you ever live in an area like this?”

“When I was a kid. Parents had a house up around here. Haven’t spoken to them in years though.”

“Ah, k. Just wonderin’.” Tate says before stopping. The two had arrived at their destination, the Levine House. “We’re here.”

To his right Michael sees Tate’s house. It’s a pretty decent size with blue paint, and a pretty large lawn. Looked pretty nice, even for Michael’s taste. After a second Tate begins to make his way up the pathway, until arriving at the front door, all while Michael is following. Once at the front door Tate knocks a few times. “It’s me. Open up, sweatie.”

Michael proceeds to hear the sounds of locks unlocking before the door swings open and the two are met with the image of Destinee. She instantly smiles once seeing Tate and wraps him for a hug, not even noticing Michael at first. She only notices him once Tate pulls out of the hug. “Sweatie, this is Michael. He’s uh--an old friend, I guess.”

“Michael?” Destinee definitely heard the name. “Are you the dude Tate met a bar?”

“Yeah, that’s me.”

“Ah, I remember him talking about you. Name’s Destinee.” She extends her hand to Michael and he shakes it, while Tate just stands there, smiling at Destinee. “So are you gonna let us in?” He says to which Destinee moves out of the doorway and allows the two men in before shutting it, then she once again locks it.

“So how’d you two meet?” She asks upon the door being finished, while Michael heads into the living room. The house was very nice, as was the furniture. As much as Michael would love to sit down he stops himself to be polite.

“I found him in the city. He’s uh,” Tate scratches his head. “I asked him to stay with us if that’s okay?”

“It’s perfectly fine. Gotta help others in times of need, right?”

“Yeah, I was just making sure you were okay with it.”

“Why wouldn’t I be? Am I some wicked old witch who kills strangers.”

“Pretty much.”

“Well, fuck you, Mr. Levine.” She jokes to which she laughs with Tate, while Michael still stands in the living room a little uncomfortable. He was grateful and all but he just felt weird being in there with two basically strangers. After a moment Destinee turns toward him and smiles. “You can sit down if you want. I’ll go get some sheets for the spare bed.”

“Thank you.” He says before instantly sitting down on the first chair he sees, while Destinee walks off to get the sheets. Upon sitting down he smiles and it feels good to just relax, with Tate still standing at the doorway. Always felt good to help someone especially men like Michael.

“Thirsty? Hungry? I think we got some stuff in the fridge.”

“No, I’m-”

“You’re not badgering off me so don’t worry. I’m being nice here, you should accept it.”

“Um then I guess I’ll have a water.”

“Alright then, be right back.” Tate walks off to get some water while Michael just follows him with his eyes, slightly smiling. He can’t believe he was lucky enough to come across such nice people.

About an hour later, Michael sits down on the guest bed, wearing only an undershirt and boxers now. Laying comfortable on the bed, the very nice bed he must add, all he wants to do his sleep. He’s very tired after the long ass night he’s had, but he just can’t find it within himself to sleep. So instead he lays there silently, and thinks about his night. The priest can’t escape his, nor can the chaos, nor can Sarah….all he wants to do is see her. He needs to make sure she’s okay, and first thing tomorrow morning, he’s gonna head out and find her. It’s the only thing he can do.

In that moment Michael looks up to the door after hearing a knock, to which after a second Tate walks in. He too appears tired but he probably can’t sleep; Michael can’t blame him at all. “Sorry to bother ya, just figured I check up on ya.”

“Yeah, it’s cool.” Michael sits up slightly. “Wasn’t sleeping anyways.”

“You and me both. Anyways, I just wanna ask you about something.”

“Shoot.”

“So, I’m guessing that you’re gonna wanna go find your daughter?” Tate knows it’s an awkward question but he still asks. He nods. “So tomorrow I was thinking of going to the store tomorrow, just to get some stuff--”

“That’s probably not the smartest move. I mean, it’s gonna be worse than Shop Right after a snow storm warning.”

“Probably will be. But still worth a try. Anyways, I figured maybe if you could help me then afterwards we can go to your daughter’s place. Sound alright?”

“Yeah, yeah. Sounds good to me.”

“Alright then, I’ll see ya in the morning.”

After having a little talk with Michael, Tate makes his way into his bedroom where Destinee lays softly on the bed. Even when simply sleeping she was a beauty to Tate; no way did he deserve her. She was just to amazing, he had to be the luckiest guy on earth.

After thinking of how lucky he is, Tate makes his way to the bed, careful not to wake Destinee up, before laying back down and putting the blankets over him. Luckily he didn’t wake her up, at least that’s what he thought until she turned over toward him. “Was someone sneaking off to their mistress?” She jokes. The thing about Destinee is she was always chill with jokes like that.

“Of course, you know me.”

“I’m pregnant for a few months and you’re already banging other girls. I’m gonna beat yo’ ass.”

“The sad thing is that you probably could.”

“Of course.”

“Haha, but yeah I was telling Michael something.”

“Something? You keepin secrets from meh.”

“No it’s just--” Tate pauses for a second, knowing Destinee wouldn’t want him going out there. “--We’re heading out tomorrow. To get some supplies.” The smile on Destinee’s face disappears goes way just as quickly as it came upon hearing that. “We’re just gonna get supplies, and check up on his daughter.”

“You can’t go out there!” She instantly quieted down, not wanting to wake Michael. “You can get mauled by those--by those things, or shot, or-”

“Honey, I gotta do this.”

“Why? We’re perfectly fine right now and the army should be heading through soon.”

“And what if they don’t?”

“Tate-”

“I’m just saying, we should he prepared. You and the baby should be prepared.” Destinee still looks unconvinced but Tate simply smiles and plants a kiss on her forehead. “I’ll be fine, and that’s a promise.”

6 Hours Later, T-Minus 11 Hours Until State of Emergency Staring out the window of his penthouse, Daniel only lets out a tiredly moan while watching the chaos’s aftermath. Unlike the people left out there to fend for themselves Daniel was safe in his penthouse, so he simply just sat at the window and watched it all unfold. He saw helicopter crashes, car crashes, fights, riots, and even infected tearing people apart. It was quite a show; definitely better than most movies he ever saw. Then to top it all of, Daniel had a good sleep in his comfy bed.

Now wearing only a bathrobe, with a nice cup of coffee in his hands, Daniel collapses onto his chair and sighs in comfortness. He then proceeds to take a sip of coffee, throws his feet onto his foot rest, then finally turns on his TV. Of course the first channel that comes on is about the all the chaos last night. Boring. So he changes it to the next channel. Same thing. He groans.

“Fuck this.” He changes the channel again, it’s the chaos again. “Fuck this.” He then changes it once more and finds it’s the same fucking thing again. “I swear to God, fuck this TV.” Daniel mutters to himself before deciding to just go on DVR. He had some shows to catch up on anyways, like Breaking Bad. However before he can hit play he is thrown off guard by Desse entering the room, and Daniel can tell he seems concerned about something.

“What the fuck do you want?” Daniel casually asks while sipping coffee again, and he notices Desse mutters something. “Well?”

“I just came to check up on you.”

“Why?”

“Well there was a city ride attack yesterday.”

“Oh yeah, that thing. I’m perfectly fine, it was just hard to sleep with all the noises outside.”

“Thing? If I may, more than fifty people died last night and--”

“Were they anyone I knew?”

“I don’t think so.”

“Then I don’t care. Better them than moi.”

“Really? You don’t even care.”

“Naw.” Daniel notices the look he’s receiving from Desse. “Is that a problem?”

“No. Not at all.”

“Good. Now um--get me some donuts, I’m starving over here.”

“Alright.” Desse says, holding back his clear annoyance, before walking off to fulfill Daniel’s wishes. Once Desse exits the room, Daniel finally hits play on the TV and smiles once it starts. He was ready to relax.

After muttering a few times in his sleep Dre finally stirs awake from the corner he slept in, although his sleep wasn’t the best. He was basically trapped in a corner due to the amount of people in the WaWa that night, and his neck was hurting due to the bad sleeping position. He only grunts, briefly rubs his neck before standing onto his feet, although his neck still hurts. He ignores it however. Looking around the still pretty crowded WaWa, although some people already left, Dre spots McCoy sitting on the other side of the store, sitting against the wall and drinking a water bottle. Dre was just happy to see he was still there; considering McCoy was the only person he knew right now.

Silently making his way across the store, trying not to step on anyone, Dre soon walks up to McCoy, who notices him almost right away. He smiles at the presence of Dre, although it’s a light smile. “Morning.” Dre says, also pointing at the spot next to McCoy. “This corner open.”

“Be my guest.” Dre sits down against the wall next to McCoy, who extends his bottle over to Dre. “Want some?”

“I’m good.”

“Sure?”

“For all I know you probably backwashed in that thing.”

“Have it your way.” McCoy takes another gulp of the bottle, finishing it dry, to which he proceeds to toss it onto the floor. “So how’d you sleep?”

“Alright, my neck hurts like hell though. You?”

“Didn’t really sleep. It was to crowded. We probably would of had more room if it was just us.” McCoy looks at Dre once saying that final sentence, and Dre knew what he was getting at.

“What the hell did you want me to do? Leave them out there?”

“No--well, I don’t know, maybe.”

“Dude!”

“I’m only looking out for us here.” McCoy defends himself, although he was pretty unsure himself. Dre just sighs and rubs his temple.

“It’s fine. Lets just--” Dre looks outside and sees how bright it is. “--talk about what we’re gonna do now.”

“Well, the military is probably gonna set something up soon. So we could just wait for that.”

“Wouldn’t count on it. There’s like probably hundreds of places hit just as bad, I wouldn’t expect to see them anytime soon.”

“Well, when you put it that way.” McCoy ponders of what the hell they can do until someone opens up a safe place for them to go. “Is there anyone you wanna go get? Family, friends-”

“My folks. I was on my way to get them when I ran into you, so I wanna go get them.”

“Alright, sounds fine by me. They live nearby?”

“Shouldn’t be that far. I know the way.”

“Alright, lets go then.” McCoy pulls himself onto his feet with Dre, before rubbing some dust and dirt off him. However Dre suddenly remembers that he isn’t the only one with family, McCoy must have someone out there.

“What about you? Should we go see your folks?” Dre’s question causes McCoy to stop dead in his tracks, and Dre can tell he’s wrestling himself on the inside.

“No. Let’s just go get yours.”

“L-ly-lynn?” Silence.

“Lynn?” Ethan mutters as his eyes flutter repeatedly, into they finally snap open. The suddenness of awaking hurts his head like hell and Ethan moans to himself, before trying to move his arms. They hurt as well, and so does every other movement he tries to make. His whole body was aching worse than a dude being shot.

Pressing through the pain, Ethan lifts up his arm and wipes the blood from his head before looking around. That’s when he remembers what happened sort of. He remembers being in an helicopter crash, but that’s about it. He doesn’t remember much after that. That’s when Ethan realizes that he’s still in the helicopter. Grunting to himself Ethan lifts himself onto his feet despite the pain, that’s when he sees the situation he’s in. Half of the helicopter is stuck into the window of the hospital, while the other half hangs out the window.

Taking a deep breath he also notices the other two officers that were with him before are gone, mostly having been thrown from the chopper. However Ethan can still see the silhouette of the pilot still lodged in his seat, and he was still moving. Curious, Ethan slowly makes his way over to find the infected pilot struggling to get of the seat. He, or it now, is stuck there.

After looking to the door he sees that he can easily hop into the building without falling to his death, so he turns to do that, but he pauses. He couldn’t just leave this dude here to rot as an infected. Digging into his pocket he sees all he has is a pistol and a pen. He wasn’t gonna waste a bullet on him so there was one option. Gripping the pen close he turns toward the infected and shoves it into his neck, killing the pilot instantly.

With that act of pity completed Ethan makes a jog for it and leaps out of the helicopter, where he lands on the ground of the building floor. But the pain from the jump only forces Ethan onto his knees; he’s gotta take it easy. Grunting to himself Ethan than stands up and looks around the room. He’s in a hospital. Just his luck; an injured Ethan gets stuck in the cliche horror place for movies. Oh joy.

Gripping the pistol close Ethan slowly walks down the hallways, which are filled with flickering lights. Surprisingly, the hallway is empty. This place must of been hit hard, but there weren’t even any bodies in the hallways. It was all strange for Ethan, but he had no time to dwell on that. All he had to do was find an elevator and get out of there.

After making a few turns down the deserted halls he soon comes across what he thinks is a elevator, so he quickly jogs down there. To his luck it was an elevator, and since the power is still on it, it should work. Quickly tapping the down button, he is met with the sound of the elevator coming down to his floor. He smiles.

However in that moment he also hears a noise coming down the hall, and knowing it ain’t gonna be friendly, takes shelter behind the corner of the wall. Peaking over he can see the image of a lone infected roaming the halls in search for food, it must know Ethan’s there. Gulping, he just grips his pistol and decides to not waste time. He steps out from his cover, aims, and delivers two bullets into it’s chest, killing it in an instant.

Of course that proved to be a mistake because he suddenly heard screams coming from around the hospital, and they weren’t human screams. Quickly looking toward the elevator he expects it to open...but it stops. It doesn’t fucking open. “Gotta be fucking shitting me!” He yells while trying to open it himself, but the damn thing was busted. No point in trying to open it.

Hearing the screams get closer he turns and fires a few more rounds, hitting some in the chest region. But they just kept coming, and Ethan wasn’t gonna take these on. Turning around he notices the locked staircase, and he shoots the lock quickly before running in, and slamming the doors shut behind him. Once the doors were shut he ripped off his belt and put it between the handles, locking it. Well, that was over.

Grabbing his ached stomach, Ethan then moves down the stairwell, seeing that he was only floors floors up. He’ll be down soon enough.

3 Hours Later, T-Minus 8 Hours Until State of Emergency “Least we get to drive this time.” Tate says while driving down the road, with Michael sitting in the seat next to him. “Yeah, I definitely didn’t want to walk again.”

“Same here.” Tate takes a turn down the street, focused on his driving, while Michael remains focused on the surroundings. The area was completely trashed and the once packed streets were now like a ghost town, with only the ghost of the dead in this place. Michael always knew the city would get bad but not this bad. He only sighs and turns toward the radio, wondering what people were saying about it.

“Can I turn the radio on?”

“Oh yeah man, help yourself.” Michael clicks on the radio and both men listen to the first channel that comes up, which is talking about infected.

''“Those things--in fact, this whole situation is on us! The gods need praise, we’ve been neglecting them and now this is their revenge.”'' Michael flips the channel.

''“It’s zombies, man. People been saying I been crazy for preparing for this, but--but whose laughing now? Not them because they’re all dea-”'' Michael flips the channel again.

''“Isn’t it obvious? This is like the matrix and those things are like a computer virus.”'' Michael doesn’t even bother to listen to that one and he flips the channel.

''“The drugs caused all this shit. Bath salts, Bath fucking salts. I’ve been trying to stop ‘em but these drugs are just going too far-”'' Michael decides that all these theories are stupid so he turns of the radio. “Well people sure do got some weird predictions, huh?” Tate says to which Michael just nods, before looking in the area again. They made it to the supermarket, but of course Tate wasn’t the only one with this idea. The whole place was packed with cars and people all over the place.

“Shit.” Michael steps out of the car to try and see inside; it was a madhouse. Like single moms on Black Friday. “Do you still wanna-”

“Yeah.” Tate grabs two weapons from the back, a baseball bat and hockey stick, before stepping out of the car and handing the stick to Michael. “Only if you have too.”

“Alright then.” He grips the stick tightly, yet hesitantly. “Ready?” Michael nods and they run for it.

Immediately after running into the front doors, the two men saw the chaos inside. People were literally getting into full out fist fights over anything they could find, and for all they know, people could be armed with guns or something. Lucky for them however, Michael saw no infected in the mix so they were clear on that. But were the infected or people worse? “Alright umm just grab anything you can! We meet back here in ten minutes!” Tate says before bolting right, having a certain aisle in mind. Since Tate was already out of view, Michael bolted straight forward, and while holding the hockey stick close, began pushing people out of his way. He had no idea what he was even looking for but anything would do. Water, Food, stuff like that.

Tate on the other hand had something else in mind. He was heading for the baby aisle, hoping to get his hands on items for baby care.

“How much farther you think?” McCoy asks while sitting in the drivers seat of the vehicle. “I don’t mean to seem pushy or anything.”

“Naw, it’s fine. Just a question.” Dre looks at the street sign up ahead. “A few blocks actually.”

“Sweet.” Luckily the two young men had come across a car abandoned in the street, the keys still in it. Sure they felt bad about it but they probably needed it more. Either way this car is taken it a lot quicker to get to their destination, compared to the long walking they would have to do. However due to McCoy never getting his drivers license, Dre had taken control of the wheel.

“So mind if I ask you something?”

“Sure man.”

“So I was just wondering--you don’t gotta answer if you don’t want too--but why don’t you wanna go see your folks?”

“Well, they don’t exactly live close.”

“Well I’m pretty sure the university has given us an unexpected break, so we can go up there.”

“It’s not just that.”

“Oh. Sorry for bringing it up.”

“It’s fine. I just haven’t seen them for awhile, or talked to them. I sort of,” McCoy stops himself to try and think of the right words “I sort of left unexpected.”

“So ran away?”

“Yeah, pretty much.” Dre wants to ask why he ran away but judging by McCoy’s body language decides not too. Dre himself ran away when he was eighteen, only difference was he kept in contact with his folks.

“Sorry for bringing it up.” “It’s fine.” The two enter a brief silence before finally Dre brings the car in for a stop, a slow stop not sudden. McCoy guessed they had to be there; but the area seemed a little bit trashed. Then again all areas were trashed now probably. Dre however just sits in the car for a moment before finally opening the car door and stepping out, McCoy right behind him.

Following Dre over to the last house on the left, the pair walk up the stairs until finally arriving at his front door. The Ocean Residence, Dre’s home. Dre just stands at the front door and smiles at the sight of seeing his old home, before going to open the door. But it was already opened slightly. He tensed up. “It’s alright man.” McCoy tells him. “Just go in, I’m right behind you.”

He slowly opens the door and walks into the living room. The house was completely trashed, and ransacked. “Dad?!” Dre shouts but receives no response. “Mom?!”

Instantly running into the hallway he however comes to a complete halt upon getting there, and he freezes. He just completely stops dead. Making his way over McCoy soon sees what Dre’s looking at. On the ground is the dead body of Dion Ocean, with multiple bullet wounds in him. Although McCoy looks away quickly, he believes he saw the body of a woman farther back. Dre however just stands there looking at the bodies, not being able to muster up the tears to cry. “Dre-”

“It--it looks like he um died defending her.” Dre silently points out, trying not to cry. He shakes his head to himself and just rubs his red eyes. “Can I have a moment?”

“Yeah, man. Take your time, I’ll go wait in the um car.” Dre doesn’t respond and just waits until McCoy’s out the door for him to fall onto his knees.

“C’mon, c’mon. Pickup.” Ethan mutters to himself, with his cell phone pressed up against his ear. It’s been about ten minutes since he got out of the hospital, yet that wasn’t his only problem right now. Currently, he’s trying to get ahold of Lynn to tell her that he’s alright, and since the phone lines turned back on that wasn’t a problem. For some reason she hasn’t picked up and he was getting nervous. “Just pick up the fucking phone, please.” He mutters again in hopes she’ll pick up.

Just in that moment she does. “Ethan?” She asks in a mixture of panickness and happiness, and he instantly smiles.

“Yeah, it’s me.”

“Wh--where the fuck are you?! You didn’t return my calls last night! I thought--I thought I lost you and Vicky. Well, she’s not dead I just hadn’t been able to get ahold of her.”

“Alright, I’ll find her don’t worry.” “Wait, are you okay? What the hell happened?”

“There was a crash--”

“Crash? As in, car crash?”

“No, more as in helicopter.”

“What the fuck! Are you okay? Did umm did you injure anything--”

“I’m fine, just a few bruises.”

“You sure? I mean I can look at you just to make sure.”

“I’m fine, for now. I just wanted to call and make sure you’re alright.”

“Well, thanks. I’m fine it’s just--” Lynn says but pauses fast, catching Ethan off guard. It is then that the phone goes silent, but he can still hear her.

“What’s wrong?”

“I--I think someone’s outside.”

“Wait, what? Someone as in person or infected?” She doesn’t respond at first, and he panics. “Lynn? Lynn answer me!”

“It’s a--” Lynn starts but Ethan then heard something in the background, something horrible. The fucking scream of infected that ring out near Lynn. “Oh my God they’re outside!”

“Lynn just hide in the bedroom or something. I’ll be home soon.”

“Ethan, Ethan! They’re--” In that moment Ethan heard the sound of doors banging and the sounds of infected inside his house. Lynn doesn’t respond after that except for the sounds of screaming, and he freezes up. He knows what’s happening over there but he doesn’t want to believe it.

Despite the city being thrown into full out chaos and deaths being higher than ever, Daniel still made Desse take out the trash. Just goes to show how much the man didn’t give a shit about anyone besides himself, and frantically, Desse just wanted to strangle him sometimes. He was rash, irresponsible, an ass, and just the most annoying fuck Desse has ever worked for; and that’s saying something. After rambling about Daniel in his head, Desse picks up the bag that was around his shoulder and tosses it in the trash can, which he makes it on try. He always was good at basketball, and not just because he was black. Smiling to his own shot he turns around to head back up, but is met with a strange image. Not infected or anything, but a man. A man who leans at the entrance wearing a hoodie to conceal his identity. Desse grips his pistol. “Hey buddy!” The man turns toward him. “Who the fuck are you?”

The man simply lowers his hood to reveal his face, and it didn’t take more than five seconds for Desse to recognize him. It was Jake fucking Ryker, the most powerful dude in the city, even more powerful than Daniel. “Jake Ryker?” Desse asks to make sure he was confusing him with someone else, to which he nods.

“Yes, that’s me. Just figured I’d stop by.”

“I thought you were evacuated? I mean I figured you would be.”

“Helicopter crashed before it picked me up, so I’m stuck here.” Ryker says while digging into his pocket and pulling out a small white case, to which Desse recognizes as cigarettes. A pretty nice kind too. After taking one out and lighting it up, he takes a nice smoke.

“So um what’s the pleasure. Do you wanna see Mr. Brown?”

“Not in a million years.” Ryker smirks. “Infact I came to see you.”

“Me? Well, what could the pleasure be?”

“Well, I know you want Brown dead. Lets face it, most people do.” Ryker exhales his smoke into the misty air, before going for another round. “You want one?”

“Quit.” Ryker shrugs and goes back to smoking. “So what were you saying?”

“Look, this city is a free for all now. All law enforcement are weak, it’s pretty much every man for himself. So, I decided this was the chance to umm--what’s the word? A city takeover.”

“Takeover?”

“The mob. This is our chance to take over this city fully, and show off our power. But, there is a problem.”

“And what’s that?” Ryker points upwards. “Daniel?”

“Correct. Let’s face it, I don’t like Daniel. I want him out of this picture, so now’s the time.”

“And why you telling me this?”

“Because, I want you and your friends to do it. You guys will get it done more quickly and less bloody than I could, so yeah.” Taking the cigarette out of his mouth he then crushes it against the wall. “So I just want you to kill him, then I’ll take you guys in.”

“So you just want us to kill him?”

“That’s it. You okay with that?”

“If it means no more Brown than hell-fucking-yes.” Ryker smiles at this response and simply just puts his hood back up then, and stands to his feet.

“Alright then, tell me when it’s done.” Ryker makes his way back to the black limo sitting nearby while Desse watches him go, before heading inside.

Sitting silently inside the car, McCoy taps his finger against the window still, bored. It’s been about fifteen minutes since he left Dre alone with his parents and recently he began thinking something was up, although he still stayed in the car go give Dre his space. McCoy may have never felt the feeling of seeing your parents dead body but he presumed it was wasn’t good, so he knew that Dre needed to be alone. He was most likely crying in his house right now.

Taking another look out the window he sees empty and Dre hasn’t come out, so he thinks nothing of it; instead going back to relaxing. However after another six minutes of just sitting there, and still no sign of Dre, McCoy begins to think that he should go in there. He didn’t want to seem rude and impatient to Dre though, however he just sighed and instead got out of the car, and makes his way up to Dre’s house.

Walking up the front steps McCoy pauses at the door, debating if he should go in, before deciding going in was best and he walked in the door. However upon entering he is met with the sounds of a piano playing, and the player was pretty good. After walking forward, and seeing that Dre was no longer with his parent’s bodies, he instead walks into the kitchen. Empty. So instead he follows the piano sounds further into a room in the back, with a closed door. Upon arriving there he stops, thinks, then slowly opens the door.

Inside the room he watches while Dre sits on the other side and slowly plays his piano, making sure each note is perfect. The way he was playing was simply amazing and it took a high level of skill, so McCoy just stopped and listened. Dre, not knowing McCoy was there, just kept playing and playing and playing. His face however was blank, no happiness yet no sadness. It’s like this music was calming him, yet wasn’t at the same time.

After Dre plays for a few more minutes McCoy decides to speak up a little bit, just to inform Dre that he’s there. “Dre?” McCoy says after a minute, to which Dre ignores it and keeps playing. “Dre?”

Dre stops this time and just sits there for a minute, before finally turning toward his friend. “Hey.” his voice was still smoothing but McCoy saw past that.

“You okay?”

“Yeah, yeah. Fine.”

“You sure? It’s been like twenty minutes and--”

“I’m fine, alright?” Dre turns back to the piano.

“You don’t have to be alright, you know that? You can just let it out.”

“Dude fucking relax, I’m fine!” Dre says a little more harsh this time, to which McCoy doesn’t persist any further. “When I was a kid, it was never my parents that cheered me up when I was sad. It was, well, this. Music.”

“When I was sad I would just come here and play. Never knew why but playing always just--I don’t know the words for it, cheered me up I guess. Soothed me.” Dre turns back to McCoy, who listens intensly. “I can see your not intrested so-”

“No, I’m perfectly interested. Let it out.”

“Naw. That’s pretty much it.”

“Well, then play all you want.” McCoy encourages and Dre nods, before going back to the piano. “Take all the time you need.” McCoy begins to walk away from Dre, who sits there and thinks for a minute, before going back the piano. He was already feeling better.

It’s been a long, long, long day for him. Reports of these riots have gone viral, and the press crowded outside in only a few minutes. Even now they were willing to risk their lives for answers. Well, he had delayed it long enough; now was the time to speak to them.

Standing to his feet and adjusting his tie, President Barack Obama exits the small little officer he was in, looking for peace, and into the White House hallways. Instantly he was met with the Secret Service, who were all down the halls with their weapons; now was more time for danger than before. Making his way down the hall he was greeted with numerous “hello, sir” from his men before walking into the exit of the White House. Even from the doors he could see the giant crowd outside demanding answers. Now was the time.

“Sir, we have the whole area covered, you’re safe to go out.” Secret Service member Ford informs him, to which Obama nods.

“Alright then. Just make sure Michelle and the kids are safe.”

“Will do sir.” Ford heads off for Michelle while Obama slowly makes his way out of the White House, and upon opening the doors, was met with numerous flashes of camera and reporters raising their mics. If they wanted him to speak, then they were gonna get him too.

Walking to the set up stand Obama picks up the microphone, taps it to make sure it’s working, then coughs before speaking. “Good evening, ladies and gentleman. It’s been a long day hasn’t it?” No one answered and was just silent. “Well, where do I even begin.”

“As we all know, the world has been hit with a massive plague which we have titled ‘The Z-Virus’. This plague has tore across the major cities of our great nation and tore them to pieces. The infected individuals of this virus have...have almost become zombie like. Who ever knew the Walking Dead would become a true story?” Obama begins his speech.

“Well I am here today to bring you, the nation of America, news. We are not alone--other countries have been faced with his disease. Mexico, Russia, China, England, they have all been hit with this. They too are under chaos. Now so far no one has been able to control this, but we’re working on it.”

“But I’m gonna be honest here, it’s not good. Cities have been severely damaged and this virus is only getting worse as it moves around from county to county. We have the army doing it’s best to help, but this thing is just too strong. Not only are people turning on each other,"

''“Because, I want you and your friends to do it. You guys will get it done more quickly and less bloody than I could, so yeah.” Taking the cigarette out of his mouth he then crushes it against the wall. “So I just want you to kill him, then I’ll take you guys in.”''

“but people are losing their loved ones,”

''“Ethan, Ethan! They’re--” In that moment Ethan heard the sound of doors banging and the sounds of infected inside his house. Lynn doesn’t respond after that except for the sounds of screaming, and he freezes up. He knows what’s happening over there but he doesn’t want to believe it.''

“without even getting to say goodbye."

''Instantly running into the hallway he however comes to a complete halt upon getting there, and he freezes. He just completely stops dead. Making his way over McCoy soon sees what Dre’s looking at. On the ground is the dead body of Dion Ocean, with multiple bullet wounds in him.''

"They're just dead, and that’s it. So with that, and all the riots, death, and damage, I am sorry to announce that this is a State of Emergency. Lock your doors, be with your family, protect yourselves, and be safe. This is your President and I wish you good luck, and may God be with us.”

Upon saying that Obama walked away from the stand as the reporters constantly screamed questions.