I heard the buzzing of my phone, and jumped out of bed to answer it. It was Steven calling. Strange because Steven never usually called me, but he was with the boys. So I figured he was calling to meet for breakfast.. Little did I know I wouldn't be eating breakfast for a long time...

His words were like ice as my mind went blank. A shiver shot down my spine at the word,

"Run!"

I hung up the phone quickly and still in shock ripped open the curtains to see his words in stark reality.. Over night the outbreak happened and the streets were filled with the lifeless bodies of victims and zombies alike. I could barely tell which were corpses and which were eating the corpses.. my heart filled with despair. My stomach filled with fear. And my pants.. well.. I changed my pants..

As I threw on my new Levi's. Suddenly a name shot into my brain, the first real thought I'd had since the call.

"MIKE!"

I looked out the window again looking for his black two door Nisan.. Yet it was gone ..

"How could he leave me!?"

Rage filled my mind, while sadness was replaced with loneliness as I realized I had nobody left but myself.

With just the clothes on my back, I began searching. I found a few cans of food, a knife, and a trash bag. I put all the loot I collected I into the bag and headed out.

The first thing I noticed was the walking corpses moved very, very slowly.. so slow I couldn't understand how so many people succumbed to the hordes over night. "How could anyone get caught by those things .." I thought as I walked cautiously past them to the main road. They moaned and sauntered towards me, moving like cinder blocks were tethered to each foot.

"First things first, I've got to find the boys.."

I remember the name of the hotel Steven told me, yet I had no idea where to go. Luckily my phone still had 80% charge and zombies aren't electricians, so the internet still worked .. I threw open Google maps and headed out, sadly Google maps doesn't account for zombies along the way.. So I had to improvise my route. Within a couple hours and a few annoying detours. I had made it!

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Of course the first thing I see is all the boys tearing down zombies one after the other as they took hold of the streets. Armed with bats, logs, and axes. They bludgeoned and smashed at the slow moving targets. Crimson spray covered the streets and sidewalks.

All the boys, except mike...

Now the loneliness was gone but doubt took it's place.. Doubt in myself for letting him sleep outside, and doubt in his still breathing existence.. I could never have forseen the outbreak yet I felt solely responsible for Mike's disappearance. Although I had met up with the boys and I was ready to figure out the plan. Well until I heard honking...

My eyes shot up towards the sound. I had heard that nasally joke for a horn at least a hundred times on the trip to Riverside. I knew without a doubt it was mike. Whether it was out of guilt or bravery I still don't know. I charged off into the direction of the horn. Only to be met with the thousands of zombies also headed towards the sound of the horn.. I ran as hard as I could, the sound of my foot falls drowned out by my ragged breaths. The zombies lashed and bit, clawing at my shirt and my jeans. Teeth flaring, blood and spittle spewing. Still my eyes tunneled in on the black Nisan running circles around the hordes.

It all seemed like a dream as I ran through the jungle of corpses towards the metal fortress of the car. "There I would be safe, there mike would be safe." I thought... I hoped .. Finally I dodged the last of the zombies at the front of the horde and reached the Nisan. I pulled on the door handle to jump in, but my leg was siezed by the iron grip of the dead. I jumped into the air, in panic and kicked a hole in the decayed flesh that was it's face. With a Yelp and a leap I tried the passenger door. No avail, a corpse was upon me again this time I felt it's raspy wet tongue along my neck. I ducked and swung an elbow into the maw of the creature. The Nisan pulled forward to block me from the gathering horde circulating around my pink blood filled body. Hunger in their eyes. I raced around the back of the car and pulled on the rear driver side door. It opened! I jumped in and slammed the door shut..

Mike's foot slammed against the peddle and the car shot forward, mowing down and disecting a group of living corpses in front of us. He continued on towards a forest and looked back at me.. suddenly a huge weight lifted off my shoulders as he said...

"What's up.."

literally that's all he said.. what's up.. what the fuck man I thought you were dead... That's all you have to say... But fuck it, I guess that's mike. Unafraid of social queues, and apparently zombie hordes.. However my mind wasn't totally at peace, I noticed a large red and puffy scratch along his arm, indicative of infection. And another deep cut on his leg. The blood had pooled and dried along the ridge of his seat. If I was going to keep mike alive, I was going to need supplies.