It was evening.  My family, including both of my parents, my sister, and finally me, were visiting the Johnson Clock Tower.  At this point in time, I had no idea about the pandemonium soon to occur, nor did I know the pain and suffering we would have to face in order to survive.  

All I was thinking about were my two best friends: Lisha and Susie.  I had known Lisha for years; she was always there for me throughout my ups and downs and I trusted her immensely.  She had an odd and cute face, with black hair and tanned skin.  Because we had been together since middle school, it's was inevitable that we were close; however, because of that proximity, afraid to ruin anything we had, we remained friends for now.

Susie, on the other hand, appeared in my life out of nowhere.  She was whimsical, flirty, and with her white skin, she epitomized Asian beauty.  I admired her outgoing nature, she was able to make friends easily, and she and Lisha hit it off immediately before I was introduced.  The two apparently lived right next to each other, so they soon became best friends, Lisha's softer yet sarcastic nature complementing Susie's bright, energetic attributes.  

"Hey, stop zoning out.  I know what you were thinking about, girls right?  Why don't you just marry that nice one that you always talk to" Autumn(my mom)

I wondered what they were doing now.  As a teenage boy, it was natural for me to think about girls.  I was in my hormonal years!  These bubbly thoughts, however, would soon be replaced with a more sinister realization.

The clock tower shook.  People were running around, finessing themselves down the staircase.  For those rare magic users, they jumped out the windows and used wind to gently land themselves down.  For my technologically impaired family, without walking with our phones out, we had no idea what was happening. Thinking quick, my sister checked her phone, quickly clicking to her news app.

"What?  Is this a joke?  There's no way this is happening." Hannah(my sister)

"What's up?  Why is everyone running around?  Is there an earthquake?  I don't feel anything though.." Danny(my dad)

"If there was an Earthquake we would have felt it... it has to be a sale right?!" Autumn

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

"No... it'll take too long to explain to you guys.  John, it says there's a strain of viruses creating zombie like creatures.  You know what that means, right?" Hannah

Of course I did.  I was surrounded by media depicting zombies, but they were always a myth.  Putting aside the occasional bath salt addict that bites people, zombies were an unrealistic fiction that, despite its preparers and those who long for an apocalypse, would never come true.

"What?  There's no way.  Are you sure it's not just a movie set or people are being gullible?  Give me your phone." John

I quickly snatched my sister's phone and checked the news sites.  There were thousands of articles in hundreds of languages in the past 10 minutes, all painting the same picture: there was a pandemic.  Targeting specific parts of the brain, it creates only two instincts in humans: sexual reproduction and food.  Quickly skimming through an English article,  it was said that the virus spread through the exchanging of bodily fluids.  The ways for this to happen were endless, but the easiest way was for a bite to occur, mixing saliva and blood.

Running to the window, I looked outside.  Although it didn't look like there was any blood or corpses out in the city, there was chaos, with people pushing each other and stepping on those who had fallen; some people had even taken to driving their car through crowds to get away.  Realising that it wasn't all a joke, I ran back to my family and urged them to leave.

"Mom, dad, let's leave.  Long story short, there's a virus that turns humans into crazy people and if we come into contact with one of those crazy people, we'll also be turned into them." John

"Is that why everyone is running around?  Okay, let's go then." Autumn

"Attention everyone.  It appears that there is an outbreak of the virus in this very building.  The company director has said that he is willing to go to any length to prevent it from leaving this building.  Please evacuate immediately, you have three minutes" Clock Tower Speakers

"What the fuck?  Three minutes?  We're on the highest floor, even with the elevator it would at least two minutes to get down, with this crowd what are we going to do?" Hannah

My brain was rushing.  What were those extreme lengths?  And how the hell could we get down from here?  There were only two ways down: the elevator and the stairs.  It was impossible for us to run down the stairs enough, and there was no way the elevator would make it in time.

I looked around.  There were broken windows, people screaming and yelling all around me.  My family as well as a couple others looked like they had given up: they huddled together to share their last moments.

No.  What the fuck?  How could this be happening to me?  Am I going to die here?  This has to be a dream... wake up!

In that moment, I heard an explosion, and quickly thereafter, it felt like I disappeared.

"Hey, stop zoning out.  I know what you were thinking about, girls right?  Why don't you just marry that nice one that you always talk to"

I slowly opened my eyes..