The End of The World As We Know It

[Raydo]

The lights flickered again.

Liam was surprised the electricity had lasted this long. It had been four day since everything had gone to hell. The news had said it was some sort of virus or something that was turning people insane. He had seen people eating each other out in the streets. He had made it home just before it everything had fully descended into chaos.

For four days he had stayed glued to the television and radio as reports came in from all over the world about cities falling, their citizens turned into monsters. Liam didn't leave his apartment, hoping he would soon wake up and this nightmare would be over. Maybe he would be late for work, but morning never came for him.

Flicker.

The television had gone dark a few hours ago. There was seemingly nothing left. He had heard movement occasionally outside his apartment. He had recently moved here from the city. He really didn't know any of his neighbors. The phones had stopped working almost immediately, so congested. He had sent his mom and dad an e-mail while the internet had been working, but had never received a reply. They had packed up in a motor home and left to tour the country earlier that year. He had no idea where they were, and wondered if we ever see them again.

Flicker.

He had always read it was good to stock up on supplies. He had always planned to, in case there was some emergency but it never seemed like it was that important...Until no at least. He had a couple more days of food and maybe a little bit longer supply of water, but that was it. Then he would have to leave his apartment, admit this wasn't a nightmare.

Off.

He sat in darkness. The world seemed to stop. There was no sound except the quiet growls of the monsters below on the street.

@Herrith

 

[Herrith]

Okay...this could be a lot worse.

Aimee looked around again before tightening a bolt on her engine, hood popped wide open. She thought that would work. No way to find out unless she turned on the engine. Issue was...that also meant a few dozen flesh eating zombies would pop out of the woodworks and end her dreams of a beach house and leaving the Christian lifestyle. Now, that was the worst. Especially with a dad who served in the Marines in the Gulf War. At least his knife finally came in handy for something. Finally. She looked around once more in the small side alley that she'd managed to hide her car in before everything had gone to hell.

Before everybody liked to eat people. Aimee quietly shut the hood and scaled the fire escape to the sixth story of her apartment building. As far as she knew, there'd hardly been any survivors. A few scattered shots and commotion here and there. Nothing that would get her the hell out of this place. And the engine would be a bad bet. A few zombies with enough mass? That was going to slow her roll in no time. So for now she would havs to stick with hiding out, chowing on shitty fast food, and making sure to stay relativelt quiet.

Aimee pulled herself in to the window on her level, carefully shutting it before creeping down the hall to her apartment. She fiddled with her keys, accidentally dropping them with a notable CLINK on the carpet, and muttering a curse.

Oops.

 

[Raydo]

It wasn't too long after the lights when out that he heard the thudding in the apartment across the hall. He really didn't know many of his neighbors but he knew the old lady from across the hall. Ms. Adams or as she insisted everyone call her "Gram" was a sweet old woman who always seemed to know when someone could use a hot meal.

It was her apartment that he heard the noise coming from. He had tried checking on her when all of this had started but no one had answered. He thought maybe she had been out, hopefully visiting family. Had she returned? Why would she come back here?

Working up the courage to leave his apartment since the world had gone to hell. He slowly opened the door. He clicked on his flashlight and slowly turned the handle as another round of thudding came from the apartment across the hallway.

As the door opened he heard several curses down the hallway to the right. He poked his head out, seeing the woman who lived next door. Liam only knew her face enough to recognize she lived there but didn't know her name. To be honest, she never seemed like she was home. The perfect neighbor.

"Uhh..Everything alright?" he asked, a profoundly dumb question. Nothing was right anymore. Another thud came from across the hallway, and Liam shined his flashlight on the door, the nice wreath she always kept on the door coming into view.

He hoped Gram hadn't fallen and injured herself. He wasn't sure what they could even do if she needed medical attention. He stepped to door, and put his hear to door but heard nothing except the occasion quiet thudding noise. "Ms. Adams...you okay in there?" he asked.

 

[Herrith]

Aimee jumped and fell onto her back, reaching for the knife stashed in her jacket before pausing. Her brain finally registered that it was an actual human thing, not a zombie thing. She sighed and leaned her head against the floor, a hand going to her heart out of habit. She exhaled sharply and went to pick up her keys, sarcastically nodding her head and rolling her eyes. She recognized him. He did his laundry on the same day she did, downstairs. At least, when she was around and not doing small concerts.

Old times. Now she just tried to stay alive. A large thump came from Gram's room. She looked at the door and watched as her neighbor went to knock. Aimee closed her stance and stood up, pulling her knife before tapping the nerdy-looking guy on the shoulder. She looked at him and shook her head, mouthing, "Bad idea."

Aimee looked back at the door and slowly stepped away. She'd seen enough horror movies to know where this was going.

 

[Raydo]

As soon as he knocked on the door, the knocking inside stopped. "What if she needs help?" he whispered back. When no one came to the door. "I am just going to go inside to check on her." he said slowly reaching for the door handle.

When he turned it, it was locked, which was unusual for her to have the door locked when she was home. Liam had mentioned to this several times. He reached for his keys, she had given him the spare set when she had gone out of town a month or so ago.

"Ms. Adams, I am going to come in." he said. Even though he wasn't speaking loudly, it sounded loud in the empty hallway.

The key turned, and the door opened to reveal a dark apartment. He heard some rustling inside. "Ms. Adams?" he called out, raising his flashlight.

There she was, eyes glassed over, skin almost rubbery. She looked towards him, growling before moving towards him. He hadn't seen one of those things close up. He froze, physically and mentally. What was this? What was happening?

Within seconds, the elderly woman was reaching for him, mouth open. He finally snapped to, just able to hold her back. "Ms. Adams! Its me...Liam!" he called out. It was no use, she was gone.

He struggled against her, she was stronger than she looked. She snapped at him, Liam just barely pulling away in time.

 

[Herrith]

Aimee shook her head but stayed silent. Perhaps she was being paranoid and there was nothing to actually fear. Maybe Gramma was just tired and needed a nap. Oh, come on. You've seen all the **** that happens when you don't expect the worst. First, broken strings at a live show, now this. She nervously glanced around as Liam made his moved to unlock the door. She readjusted the knife in her hands as the light shone on her. Yeah, that wasn't a natural skin tone at all. Not even for an old lady.

She took a half step back, about to go and shut the door before Liam made yet another dumb mistake. He was in her grasp now, and Aimee gasped in surprise while Liam attempted to wrestle himself free. She rose the knife, about to stab something, but froze, contemplating for a moment as though she couldn't quite bring herself to do it, then grunted and grabbed the old lady by the shoulder, sending the knife as deep as she could into the woman's ear and almost feeling sick from the sensation. She slowly pulled out the knife and wrinkled her nose, backing away. The back of her hand fell over her nostrils and she dropped the blade, going down the hall to let out a gag.

Now she knew what it was like to stab someone. What next? Calculus?

Ew. Ew, ew, ew.

 

[Raydo]

It took all his strength to hold the old man back. Several times she came dangerously close to his face as she snapped at him. He fell backward, holding the woman's neck back.

He wasn't sure exactly how long he struggled but it ended suddenly as the now truly lifeless body slumped on top of him. He sat there for second, unsure what happened before he brain caught up. He flung her to the side and slid back across the hallway trying to get as far away from the corpse as he could. His stomach twisted, luckily he hadn't eaten much.

“Y...you killed her…” he said in a detached tone. Of course she had to...Liam had seen her eyes. That wasn't Gram...not at all all. “I guess I should thank you.” He said still shocked. He stayed seated against the wall, knees pulled to his chest.

 

[Herrith]

Aimee heard the thump of the old woman's body and winced, leaning over to throw up in the hallway, finishing up her little panic attack. Instinct just kicked in and she went full samurai on what used to be the sweet grandma that made everyone cookies. She wiped her mouth and stood up straight, attempting to regain a more steady breath. She cupped her hands over her mouth, making sure to consciously inhale slowly. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale. Better.

Aimee eventually calmed herself enough to release her hands. She'd dealt with stage fright before. This was much, much, much worse. She snatched up her knife before joining Liam on the wall, hanging her head while attempting to wipe whatever blood sat on her blade into the carpet. Her eyes kept wandering to the corpse, her mind second guessing its decision. No, no, she was gone. You did the world a favor. You did this guy a favor. Stop thinking. Stop. Stop right now. Please? Damn, I'm hungry. I also need my guitar. It's in the Pony downstairs. See? Not thinking anymore. Aimee looked back toward the carpet, then stood, ignorinf Liam's comment. Her tone was flat.

"Come on...let's put her back in her room. Give at least a little respect."

Why was it so easy?

 

[Raydo]

His mind retreated, not really wanting to deal with the fact that an old lady had just tried to take a chunk out of him, and now she was dead. Her words snapped him back into the moment. She was right, of course, Grams deserved at least that much.

He pushed himself up and carried the old woman back into the apartment and towards her bed. It smelled oddly normal, like any average old person. It made his head dizzy, there was nothing normal about this world. They covered her body with the blanket out the bed.

Liam pulled the door closed as the exited the room. "Now what?" he asked just as much to himself as he did the woman in the hallway with him. "Are there even others left out there?" he asked. He had seen some people running on the streets below a few days ago, but now it was pretty much just the shambling monsters that used to be people.

He ran his hands through his messy hair. "I'm almost out of food and water. I was sure the army or something would come in and save people....but nothing." he said.

What was he going to do?

 

[Herrith]

Aimee looked toward the window at the end of the hall, contemplating what Liam had said. Her mind flicked back to the car. If they were lucky--she could start that and get them moving. There wasn't nearly enough food to last for an extended period in this apartment. Plus, who knew how long till the things outside found a way in? If worse came to worse, she'd just walk out of the city. It was doubtful such a thing would happen with what she knew about her vehicle, but still possible. In case things went wrong, though...they'd need a distraction. Her mind went to the music equipment in the back of the muscle car.

Mini amp. Bass guitar. Cables. Idea. Stow it for later.

"I...have a car outside. And a way we might be able to get moving. There's...complications, though."

Aimee nodded and went to unlock her door, finally, stepping inside the small apartment to look around. Some food here and there. Nothing major. In fact, there was dust collecting on the tables. Her personal effects were mostly missing, save for an acoustic guitar in a case.

"Army's ditched us, neighbor. Probably holed up with what survivors they could get on an island or ship or something. Since the power's gone, all methods of communication are botched save for personal stuff. Battery powered. Maybe an old HAM or something, I dunno. I've got a hunch they ditched the inner cities. Too populated. Might--"

She paused.

"Might resort to extreme measures."

 

[Raydo]

"Wait...leave?!" he asked getting up to follow her. "Wouldn't it be better to stay? I mean I don't have a lot of supplies but this is a pretty big apartment building. I am sure there is plenty of stuff left behind. We just gotta wait this thing out." he said.

He listened as she told him the army wasn't coming. It was not what he wanted to hear. "Where would you go anyways? I heard before the TV went out that this thing was everywhere." he said.

In reality, the sooner they got out the better. Sure there were supplies now, and maybe they could hold out for a long time with the supplies in the building, but eventually, they would have to leave and maybe there would be less of those things out in the country where there were fewer people.

"Maybe you're right..." he considered. He wasn't cut out for any of this. He was a high school teacher!

One thing was certain, he didn't plan on leaving the only alive soul he had seen in days. He didn't know this woman, and maybe she would just leave him but he found himself desperate to not be alone. Panic fluttered in his stomach.

"I'm Liam by the way." he said later, realizing he had never introduced himself in their handful of time passing one another.

 

[Herrith]

Aimee grabbed a pack, swiped some energy bars and water into it, then grabbed a charger, some portable power packs, earbuds, and all the CDs she could stuff inside (luckily most of her collection, minus the weird classical stuff). Lastly came the CD player. She set that on the ground next to Liam and zipped it up, immediately pivoting to snatch up one of her acoustic guitars and zipping it into its case. She sure as hell wasn't leaving that one around. A few spare strings for the road, too. She slung that over her shoulder and picked up her car keys. Oh. Right. Names.

"Aimee. With an 'i' and two 'e's'. You got anything to grab before we go? I'm all set."

She looked around the apartment one last time, having never grown an attachment to it, and was grateful that she wasn't paying any rent for much longer. No gas money, either. Maybe this whole zombie thing was growing on her. Her mind flicked back to the plan. Oh, yeah. That. Best wait until they were both ready to explain. She headed for the hallway window anyways, intending to linger there while he contemplated life or something. She had no idea what nerds did. Oh wait. She was one. The Star Wars poster on her wall gavs it away. Damn.

 

[Raydo]

Liam stood, mostly quiet as Aimee packed. All of this felt surreal. Surely he would wake up, he wanted so badly to wake up. Why was she packing music stuff? It seemed like wherever they were going, all this stuff would be a burden.

She had largely ignored his question of where she intended to go. He teetered on whether or not just to let her leave. They were safe here, relatively speaking. The thought of going back to his place and being there all alone with the dead woman across the hallway made his stomach turn. No. He would go, even if it was a terrible decision.

He ran back to his apartment and grabbed a backpack. Threw some clothes inside, a notebook, pens, and some food and water. He didn't have any weapons perse, but he had a bat that had been signed at an Atlanta Braves game when he was a kid. He didn't really know anything else to bring.

He walked to the door, looked back once more at the simple apartment, guessing he wouldn't be seeing the place again and walked out.

He crawled out Aimee's window, relieved she hadn't decided to leave him. He guessed he was following her for now. Maybe they would find others who had survived if there was anyone else to find. "So where to?" he asked quietly.

The weather was perfect outside, other than the deafening silence broken by the occasional breeze that passed by.

 

[Herrith]

Music may have been a burden to Liam, but it was one of the only things that Aimee had left, especially since her band was currently either in a mob of walking idiots, dead, or ditched her for whatever plane they could get onto. She wouldn't have been surprised if all three of those had happened in one order or another. Aimee climbed down the fire escape while Liam came out with his own stuff, her pack slung around one shoulder and her guitar resting over the other. She quietly opened the trunk to the muscle car, stuffing her guitar in with the rest of the equipment, and pulled out the bass guitar and mini amp.

I don't use this, nor is it mine. I got my own stuff to lug around. Aimee chucked her pack through the passenger side window of the car, into the backseat, which held even more stuff. She hoped Liam would find someplace to put his things and looked down either side of the alley for trouble before popping the hood one last time. The silence made everything she did so much louder in her mind. It certainly was unsettling. She glanced around, checking the engine for the last time. Moment of truth coming up...either we roar and sputter to our deaths, or live a bit longer with a good growl.

"Where to? Haven't gotten to that step quite yet. Kinda making this up as I go along. Here, let's see if the engine works."

Aimee grabbed her keys and went to sit in the driver seat while Liam said whatever he had to say.

 

[Raydo]

He looked around nervously as she examined her car for a moment. With each bump or clang, Liam cringed at just how loud it sounded. He wasn't sure what to expect, but pictured them being mobbed by some sort of horde. Nothing came though, even as the hood slammed down.

A gas guzzler like this was probably not the best car to have at the end of the world, but if it got them out of town it would done its part and if they died before that...he guessed it didn't matter anyway. He tossed his bag in the back seat alongside hers. He sat in the passenger's seat, bat resting between his legs.

“We will want to get out of town, but I'm sure all the obvious ways will be blocked, I had heard something about that on the radio when this all started.” He said. Her lack of any type of plan beyond the next step worried Liam. He was a planner, but that wouldn't serve them well here. They needed to move fast.

He found himself holding his breath as she went to start the car, if it wouldn't start they would have to make some decisions quick...

 

[Herrith]

Sputter sputter sputter.

No dice. Take two.

Sputter sputter sputter.

Uh oh.

Aimee shut off the engine and looked around before hopping out of the car and popping the hood again. She looked at the machinery, exhaling sharply in irritation as she fiddled with the equipment and tubes within. Right now, it looked like the spark plugs were being the pieces of crap that they were. She had intended to replace them--at least, before the apocalypse happened. The woman tightened the parts again and looked up and down the alleyways once more, giving a hopeful pat to the engine itself before shutting the hood and climbing back into the driver's seat.

She looked at Liam, reached for the keys, and tried again. Sputter sputter sputter.

"C'mon, babe...start up for when it matters...I promise there's no cops on our tail this time..."

She turned the key one last time and the Mustang roared to life. A figure appeared in the alley in the rear view mirror. He certainly wasn't yelling for help, so Aimee assumed the worst and put the car into drive, pulling it into the street and to the right.

"Hold on to your stick there, friend. Sorry 'bout the sharp turn."

Aimee checked for any other things walking around (or desperate survivors), keeping the car in a low gear as they cruised at around 15 MPH. No sense speeding and wasting gas. Yet.

 

[Raydo]

The car didn't start on the first...or the second tries. Of course, it wouldn't start, but luckily it was loud enough for everyone within two miles to here. Liam cringed, waiting to be eaten alive.

Aimee jumped out of the car and started to tinker underneath the hood again. Liam looked around, spotting the figure coming around the corner from behind them. "Uhhh Aimee!" he called out as she slammed the hood down again. It still didn't start. He looked back, the figure was coming closer and closer as it shambled towards them.

"AIMEE!" he called out louder this time right before the engine roared to life. He let the breath out he had been holding. They pulled away, easily outpacing the shambling corpse. "I can't handle this." he said, mumbling to himself as they pulled out on to the roadway.

They drove for a few minutes, Liam finally noticing his hand starting to hurt. He looked down, noticing his knuckles were pure white from the grip he held on the bat. He kept expecting to run into something, someone, but it was deathly still, except for Aimee's car which happening to be the loudest vehicle man had ever created.

Well, they hadn't died yet, only forever to go!"

 

[Herrith]

Aimee had a smile on her face as they rumbled down the street, keeping a relatively slow pace as she took the roads she knew out of the city. The main routes were blocked. She knew that much from when she first got here. Thing was, she wasn't exactly a 'main route' kinda gal. It came in handy when she was looking to avoid cop patrols that had her plate memorized. Or, even earlier, when she used to hotwire cars and drive the local sheriffs wild. Fun times. Sucked that the human aspect of being a criminal was mostly gone, as far as she knew. She chuckled and took a side road, the intersections ahead more or less blocked off by cars. The alleyways and narrow back streets were pretty clear though.

Aimee pushed on the throttle and shifted gears as they headed toward the outskirts of the city. With any luck, they could make it to the countryside, avoid hordes of zombies, dodge crazy survivors, and see if the next town had any improvement in survivors. For now she hadn't seen a whole lot of crazy stuff not yet.

"Think you need to relax, Liam. It's the end of the world. Not like we've got a college class we're gonna be late to or anything. Plus, no hordes of zombies you see in the movies all the time. At least not yet. I think the town's still pretty intact all things considered."

Aimee glanced over and then looked at the back seat.

"Hey, grab a CD out of that pack. Might help take your mind off things a bit. Got a big collection of crap."

 

[Raydo]

With each sharp turn, each impossibly small alleyway she sped down, Liam died a little on the inside. His face was pale, maybe this was worse than getting eaten alive.

They sped towards the outskirts of towns. The buildings grew smaller and were more far apart with each passing minute. Was it going to be this easy.

He gave the woman a sideways look, too afraid to take his eyes off the road to scowl properly. He had loved college, he would want nothing more than to have a class to go to. Heck, he would have even chosen his own classroom hyper children than this. Just two weeks ago, he was counting down the days until summer and now he would give anything to go back.

He looked at her for a moment, before following her gaze to back seat. He doubted music would help, but...whatever. He picked up the CD case. "Who even has CDs anymore..." he said as he flipped through. To be honest, he was more of an NPR and talk radio guy than a rock guy, which Aimee was obviously a fan of. He picked a random blank CD and pushed it into the player. The guitars came in and that caused Aimee to speed faster as they entered a more open patch of road.

He looked up ahead and there was a channel between two cars that they could pass but there was a small pack of zombies blocking their way. Liam felt the engine rev slightly as the music picked up.

"Don't you fucking do it..." he said, gripping the handle above the passenger window.

 

[Herrith]

Aimee was enjoying herself as Liam fought the urge to totally lose his cool. She could tell, out of the corner of her eye, that he was not enjoying his time in the passenger seat, and made sure to 'accidentally' swerve at least once just to rub it in a bt, a sidelong smile falling onto her face. At least they managed to get out of the city relatively easily. But now came the car crash and bottleneck quandary as Liam found a relatively plain and dust-covered CD from the pile. Of course it had to be this song.

"People who like good music have CDs. And people who don't have cell reception or online music galore because the apocalypse happened. Interesting choice. I take it you don't ride shotgun all the time?"

Her smile slowly faded as a few monsters came into their way. She eased the brakes and brought them to a stop as Liam warned her. Now that you opened your mouth...fine. She shifted the gears and looked around them, picking up speed a few feet before stopping once more. They were slow. She was fast. Math was pretty simple there. Aimee also wanted to practice her drag racing skills in case society weaved back together. She got the motor revving and felt the wheels grind before shifting into gear and taking off toward the zombies. The vehicle picked up quick and they soon had a couple speed bumps under the tires. She looked at Liam as the song reached its chorus and smiled.

"I can hammer those out. Come on, smile. Live a little. Don't tell me you didn't enjoy that little bit there."[/i]

She patted him on the shoulder before speeding up and kicking the vehicle into a more fuel efficient gear.

@Raydo