A grey-eyed, chubby, middle-aged man wearing a fashionable suit walked out of a bathroom that was connected to a big office. His balding head still had some dark brown hair on the sides and back. Exhaling a breath, a drop of sweat streaked down his light-colored skin. So, he wiped it off with a handkerchief and buckled his belt.
“I need to attend a meeting now. Clean up my office before leaving. Oh, and arrange my paperwork while you’re at it. It’s just the usual.” [Middle-aged man]
He said and proceeded to fix his red necktie, pat down his black trousers and jacket, and smooth out any wrinkles on his white shirt. Then, satisfied, he walked towards the door leading out of his office in his black leather shoes. When he put his hand on the handle, he turned his head to look behind him.
“Did you hear me, Jessica?” [Middle-aged man]
“… Yes… M. Goldfrey.” [Jessica]
Jessica answered, bent over on the desk with her black skirt lifted up to reveal her bare, round bottom.
“Goldrey?” [Goldfrey]
“I mean… Honey.” [Jessica]
“Good. Then, remember, see you again after work.” [Goldfrey]
Smiling vulgarly, the man gave one last reminder and exited the room, leaving Jessica alone. She let out a long, shuddering breath, stifling the various emotions bubbling up. Gritting her teeth, she stood upright, rubbed her eyes and pulled down the hem of her skirt.
“You messed up, Jessica… You messed up so bad…!” [Jessica]
She muttered frustratingly, tugging at the red ID card pinned to her left chest pocket. After taking a moment to suppress her dark thoughts, she went to the bathroom to clean herself up and got to work. Like her boss ordered, she went around the office and wiped away any mess that she found. Then, she sat at the desk and looked over the stack of documents that were left there.
“Why am I doing this…? Why am I doing this…?” [Jessica]
Even as her hands were diligently moving to accomplish the task assigned to her, her mouth kept repeating the same thing as if it had a mind of its own.
“Him… And him… And him…! All of them…! Why…?!” [Jessica]
Jessica’s blue eyes grew dark and muddy.
“… I just want it to end.” [Jessica]
She whispered a small wish that she kept locked away and continued to work. Once she was done, the glasses-wearing woman stood up and went to the door to leave her boss’ office. She knew that, outside, upon crossing the doorframe, she would see her colleagues. They would be wearing suits, sitting at their desks, doing their work or going about their business.
And, she would walk among them as the only idiot exposing so much of her cleavage. The men would lewdly stare at her while the women would sneer. They would gossip behind her back, whisper insults within earshot and call her out, asking for her time using one reason or another.
“You can do this. You can do this. You can do this.” [Jessica]
So, Jessica mentally prepared herself. The moment she turned the handle, a commotion could be heard.
“…?” [Jessica]
Wondering what it was, she opened the door a bit and peeked outside.
“““AAAAHHHHH!!!””” [Employees]
People were screaming. There was chaos as men and women ran around, getting attacked by their colleagues who groaned and growled like beasts.
“Kyle, what are you doing!? Stop, STOP!! AAAAAGHHHHH!!!” [Employee]
A man tried to keep his friend at bay, but failed. He was caught in a hug and bitten on the side of his neck. Blood spurted violently as a chunk of his flesh was torn off.
“KYAAAAHHH!! AAAHH, AAAHHHHH!!!” [Employee]
A woman screamed at the top of her lungs. She tried to get away from a colleague who latched onto her right arm. She was pushing his face using her free hand with all her might, but to no avail. He was mindlessly sinking his teeth into her arm like an ear of corn.
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“What the hell?! What the HELL?!! Gah! Ahhh! GET OFF! GET OFF MEE!! AHHHHHHH!!!” [Employee]
Someone attempted to escape from the sudden carnage visiting his workplace, but he crashed into a woman and fell. The woman, blood dripping from her mouth, latched onto him and bit his throat as he thrashed on the floor like a fish.
“HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!” [Employee]
A woman was standing there, laughing like a maniac, not caring that she was getting chewed on by three other people.
“DIE!!! DIE!!! DIE!!! DIE!!! Huh?! AAAAHHH!!! GYAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!” [Employee]
A man was mounted on top of another and repeatedly smashing his face in with a laptop, turning it into a bloody mess. He was so engrossed in his act that he noticed too late when a woman showed up behind him. Turning around, an opened mouth with rows of teeth filled his vision. Before he could react, it clamped down on his nose and ripped it off.
“What…?! What is happening…?!!” [Jessica]
Jessica stared at the gruesome violence unfolding in front of her, scared, but more shocked than anything. Her coworkers were covered in blood and killing and eating each other. The office floor that she had grown familiar with had suddenly turned into a hellish landscape of death. While she was frozen in place, her mind trying to register the horrifying reality, a chubby man barreled into the room, knocking her away.
“Ow! M-M. Goldfrey?!” [Jessica]
She exclaimed as she sat on the floor and looked up at her boss who had quickly closed the door.
“HELP ME!!! HURRY!!!” [Goldfrey]
With rushed and panicked movements, Goldfrey attempted to push the bookshelf that was next to the door in front of it. However, it was too heavy for him, so he tossed out the books on it and tried again.
“WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR, WOMAN?!! DO YOU WANT TO DIE?!! HELP!!!” [Goldfrey]
After roughly enlisting the aid of a disoriented Jessica, the two blocked the door with the bookshelf, stacked on the books to make it heavier, and pushed the sofa in front of it too.
“Ok… Ok… That should do… It’s safe now… They can’t get in… They can’t get in… Aghh… Arrhhh…!” [Goldfrey]
The balding man put his left hand on the left side of his neck, groaning and grimacing in pain. The collar of his white shirt was stained bright red.
“M. Goldfrey, what’s going on…? Why, is everyone… And is that, your blood…?” [Jessica]
“HOW SHOUL-?! How should I know?!” [Goldfrey]
He was about to angrily scream at Jessica, but hurriedly stopped himself and cautiously peeked at the door he had just blocked.
“My own employees suddenly went crazy and attacked everyone! One of them bit me! Argh, god, it hurts!” [Goldfrey]
Looking at the blood on his trembling left hand, his face twisted in fear.
“Oh no, no, no, I’ll bleed to death…! I need to get this treated…! M-med kit! My med kit! It’s in the bathroom! You! Keep guard, make sure no one gets in!” [Goldfrey]
“Wha-wait! Me?!” [Jessica]
“Yes! Don’t let any of them in! And call the cops! Damn it! I’m bleeding! I’m actually bleeding…!” [Goldfrey]
Jessica, dumbfounded, stared at her boss as he disappeared into the bathroom with a weeping voice. When he locked himself in, she snapped out of it and slowly turned around to fearfully look at the barricaded entrance. There was still a commotion happening outside.
“I-i-it’s, it’s gonna be okay. It’s gonna be okay. It’s gonna be okay… Right, I’ll call the police. I’ll just, call the police…” [Jessica]
The blonde-haired woman took out from her skirt pocket a black, rectangular smartphone. As she fiddled with the touchscreen, she was interrupted.
“HEY!” [???]
Someone was trying to enter the room, but only managed to open the door by a crack because of the bookshelf and sofa that refused to give way.
“DAMN IT!! LET ME IN!!! I SAW YOU RUN IN HERE!! YOU’RE THERE, AREN’T YOU?!! FATSO!!!” [???]
The angry and panicking voice of a man could be clearly heard on the other side as he kept pushing and banging on the door.
“Roussel…?!” [Jessica]
Jessica, recognizing his voice, reflexively muttered.
“JESSICA?! LET ME IN!! HURRY!! HURRY!!!” [Roussel]
The person, Roussel, also recognized her and demanded her help in a scared tone.
“GODDAMNIT, YOU WHORE!! LET ME IN!!! LET ME IN!!! AGH, NO!! NOOOOOOO!!!” [Roussel]
But, before she could do anything, the door suddenly closed and the muffled death cries of her coworker could be heard for a few moments.
“…” [Jessica]
Jessica silently turned around and walked away. She called the police on her phone, but nobody answered. Next, she proceeded to access different social media applications to post a request for help.
“What…?” [Jessica]
And she saw that many people had already done it, posting about how they needed rescue because a bunch of nut jobs were going around attacking everyone in sight. It prompted her to look out the windows and what she saw once again shocked her in place. There were pillars of dark smoke rising here and there, crashed cars that were on fire and humans running on the streets in fear.
“Oh my god…!” [Jessica]
She then understood that whatever was happening in her building was happening to the rest of her city.
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“That’s how it began for me, about two months ago. Some people on the Internet called them zombies, but I didn’t believe it… I still can’t believe that it’s true…!” [Jessica]
Jessica finished recounting her past experience to Ryner in a teary, scared voice. She was sitting on the floor in front of the desk with her back against it while hugging her legs. The blonde-haired woman looked terrified, which was understandable given what she had been through.
“Mmm, there’s not really any clue on what caused the outbreak.” [Ryner]
Though Ryner, who was sitting on the rectangular coffee table before her and keeping his eyes on the bedroom’s door, didn’t seem too concerned about it.
“Anyway, how long before that Goldfrey guy turned?” [Ryner]
“I think… About an hour later.” [Jessica]
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Item of interest
Coffee table:
* A table of short height.
* Break off the legs for improvised clubs.
* If it’s made of wood, it can be turned into firewood.