I helped Mina back to her feet, and we followed the woman into the room. I closed the door behind us, securing the lock as I did so. The room was a twenty by thirty foot lab space with three medium sized windows set in to the back wall. Benches and cupboards ran around three of the walls, and sat on the floor with his back propped up against a cabinet was the woman’s colleague.

He was a thirty something caucasian male with thinning hair and a thin frame. He looked at us through his glasses and I could see his face was covered in a sheen of perspiration. He wore a v neck sweater and it was rolled up on the left arm where he held bandages, from an opened first aid kit next to him, over a wound on his forearm. I knelt down next to him.

What happened?”, I asked as I gently pulled his hand away from the bandage, and lifted up the material. The skin beneath was black with necrosis around a large open wound on the forearm deep enough to show muscle fibres and a hint of bone.

"We were working late when the zombie virus story broke. The night security guard had locked the gates. His daughter had come to find him. I don’t know when she was attacked, but she turned when she had been let through. She bit our colleague who then turned and the two of them then attacked her father."

"There is a dead zombie downstairs in the lobby", I said.

"And that would be my colleague, Simon. I put him out of his misery, but alas I am no fighter and i got bitten in the process."

"We have just killed the security guard outside in the corridor", I said.

Mina spoke. “What happened to the daughter?”

"As far as I know", said the injured man, "she is still out there somewhere on campus. Be careful if you see her. She can run."

"We have traveled from Paddington to get here", I said. "We have had to run most of the way ourselves, and been chased every step of the way. Not all of them can run, but many of them can."

"His name is Joseph", said the anglo

Indian scientist behind us. "And I am Meera."

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

Myself and Mina then introduced ourselves. Joseph studied me.

"Was he the first one you killed? The security guard?"

"No", I said. "I have already had to kill before now."

"Only zombies?", asked Joseph.

I looked at Mina before answering. “No”, I said. "I have helped others who have been bitten.”

“Helped?" Joseph laughed until he started coughing, and then he sat there in silence regarding me.

“I can feel it inside of me. The disease, the virus, the pathogen, whatever it is. I can feel it growing stronger. I can feel it trying to take control. When it happens I want you to kill me too. I want you to end it before I can do any harm to anyone.”

I nodded my head. “I will, Joseph. I’ll make it quick."

When he breathed his last I did not wait for him to turn. I took my blade, drove it into the top of his skull and then covered him with a lab coat.

Meera had guided us to another room on the the same floor. Darkness had now fallen outside. The three of us settled down in armchairs. I had distributed food from the backpack for us all, and Meera had made coffee with the last of the milk from the fridge.

The university boilers were still on, and so we had put the radiators on. I took out the radio and while we ate and drank we each sat in our space, and listened to what was happening to our world.

The United States military remains in position on the East coast, and significant fighting has been reported throughout New York, Philadelphia and Boston. It has been confirmed that all five branches of the military - army, Air Force, coast guard, marine corps and navy - are involved in this operation. The National Guard have also been deployed throughout the region and have been placed on state of alert throughout the country from coast to coast.

The British Government have said that London is still affected by the zombie outbreak, but that the situation remains under control and optimism and confidence remains high within operational control.

In Sweden, evacuations continue in Gothenburg as the Swedish government has confirmed that regions within the city are no longer under their control.

Tensions have risen in Eastern Europe today as Russian ground troops have moved into its neighbouring countries of Estonia, Latvia, Belarus and the Ukraine. The Russian Government have said these measures are necessary for the security of the Russian people.

Tensions have also risen along the borders of India and Pakistan today. It is reported that false stories of zombie attacks on social media within both countries triggered these events.

Chinese troops have opened fire today on protestors in Hong Kong. The number of casualties are unknown but protests have continued throughout the day to international concern.

Also in this region both South Korea and Japan have announced immediate plans to increase the size of their armed forces.

Throughout the world eyes remain on events occurring in North America and Europe.