Then and Now

Then and Now

By Gabe King

I walked into the office building not knowing what was happening. Our wifi had been shut down and service too. I couldn't watch the news or look anything up. With the coronavirus going around I had heard people talking about a new virus spreading but I thought it was just another string.

I got to my office and started on my work. Since the power was out in my office I had to type using a typewriter. I brought the work I had done to my boss and he checked it over.

“Write a news article about this new virus. Someone brought it over to the US.”

“I would but I dont have service in my house, so I can't look anything up.”

“Use my wifi, it's slow but works.” He said and I picked up my phone and left. I went to my bosses house and did some research. I learned that no one had died yet from this virus and it wasn't contagious, but there was no cure. 

I kept reading and reading but nothing that interesting popped up, except one thing. The thing was that doctors had tested over a million people for the virus, and there were no symptoms and every single person who was tested had it. I

 kept reading and saw that people with this virus hallucinated, they saw things, things they couldn’t explain. But it only happened for a day or so.

The Next Day

I walked into work again to see everybody the same. Why would I think they were different? I thought to myself. I blinked and everyone's skin was pale. Their eyes are lifeless. Do I have the virus? I thought. I looked at my fellow work buddies. Their mouths were covered in crimson red fluid, almost like blood. One had a liver hanging out of its mouth. 

Then they ran at me. I fell to the ground, screaming. They were, they were eating me! I blinked again and all my work buddies were standing over me. Their eyes were not lifeless anymore.

“Jones, you ok?” Jim said as he stood over me.

“Yeah, yeah. Does anyone else see that right light?” I said. The sun looked so much brighter.

“You mean the sun?” Brenda said as they all laughed. I laughed nervously. They helped me up and I went back to my desk. The power was back on and I could get on my computer again. When I did the first article had a picture of a show. A Zombie show. I clicked off the ad and shook my head. Am I going crazy? I asked myself as I sat up. I went to my boss and asked him if I could take a walk.

“Yeah, sure.” he said and I walked out of the building. 

I was walking when I saw a sign that a man was carrying. The man was old and looked like a drunkard. But then my eyes fell onto the sign he was carrying. It said The End is NIgh. I shook my head again. I need to see a doctor, I thought as I scheduled an appointment.

“Pickle, Pickle wake up!” I woke up with a start. Marcella was standing over me and she threw me my bag. “There coming, a whole herd. We have to go, now.”

“What about Sam and Jesica? Do we just leave them?” 

“There on a run, there better off than we are. I already wrote a message in case they come back, but we are going to Atlanta. There and if we see they see us, good. We have to go, so get off your tired butt and let go!”

I hopped up and ran. I took a glimpse outside the window in the building we were staying in and froze. I had never seen so many walkers before! I pulled out my machete in one hand and my revolver in the other. We ran and ran and ran. I saw another one of our group, Nathan, and called out for him.

“Find us a car!” I yelled. He hopped down the building in a flash. A flare shot over the heads of us and the walkers, and landed right in front of us. We saw the hoard turn towards us.

Nathan almost hit us with the car and signaled Get In! We couldn't hear him because he was mute but we all learned sign language so we could communicate. We drove away as fast as we could.

“Who shot that flare?”

“Someone who wanted us dead.” I looked behind me to a man standing on top of a building. His suit was cropped and a red scarf wrapped around it. He looked straight at me and the only letter on his nametag I could see was J.

I sat back on my couch to watch tv. I Made some boxed mac and cheese because the power was finally on. I changed the channels until I got to the news. When I did it was talking about the new virus. I clicked off the tv and sat back and slept. I dreamt about the world and whenever coronavirus would be over. 

The Next Day

I walked into the hospital and asked to see doctor Jemm. They told me she was busy and they would call my name when they were ready. An hour later of me sitting on my phone and playing a murder mystery game they called my name. 

“Mr. Jones?”

“Here.” I said as the woman led me to the back rooms. Mrs. Jemm looked at me curiously.

“You sure you want to get the test? It's expensive.” She said as I looked down at my clothes. I didn't even realize that I hadn’t showered or brushed my teeth. I even slept in my suit!

“I was really tired last night and ran out of coffee this morning, so I forgot some things. But yeah, I have the money for it.” She looked me over again and said:

“Ok.”

We made it to Atlanta. We found a building where the sign was falling off. It spelled Inkies. It clearly wasn’t the real name of it but that's all that was left. I picked up my walkie talkie and tried to signal the others.  

“Sam, Jesica, do you read me?” Nothing. “Sam, Jesica, DO you read me!” Nothing again. I stomped my foot on the ground when a glitchy sound game from the mic.

“Y-yeah we're hee-eere. We’rrr-e coming baaa-ckkkk.”

“NO DON’T!” I yelled into the walkie talkie, “ITS OVERRUN BY WALKERS!”

“Whhhh-aaa-ttt? It’s ooooo-veeeee-rrrrr run by Waaaaaaaaa-llllllkerr-ssssss?”

“Yes, come to the building that says Inkies. We're camping there. You guys should be in Atlanta, so find the building!”

“In Atttttt-lanta? Weeeeeee-re SUUUUUUU-PER far away ffffff-rrrrrr-ooooo-mmmmm there.” 

“What do you mean?”

“We lllllll-eft there aaaa-ges ago! Weeee-re coming tttt-urning arrrrrr-ound now. Sam, gooooooo back to Atttt-llll-ann-taaa!” the walkie talkie shut off and everything went quiet. I looked around at our surroundings. 

“We need to find a place inside of the building. Come on. Nathan, you stay here and look out for them.” I said as me and Marcella walked in.

My test came back positive. I was pretty sad yet I kinda already expected that it would be positive. The hallucinations, the dreams, my head throbbing. But one thing that the Mrs. Jemm said to me, which I had heard before, was something strange.

“We all have it,” She said, “I might sound crazy but it's just a matter of time. This virus was made by them. You'll see. Once a couple die, we will die. All of us. They know how to kill them,” She put a finger to her head, then made a gun with her fingers and pretended to shoot. “It's the head. They made this. They made this. They made this. They made this. Don’t, don’t tell anyone I didn’t warn you. You might just wanna get your gun license.” Then she ushered me out of the room.

“By the way,” she said, “ I know how to stop it. Stop it all.”

I was awestruck. At first she was a pretty red headed woman with freckles and now she was acting like a drunkard who was speaking about the end of the world. Just like the man on the side of the road. 

I made it back to my office desk when someone entered the room. A man in a suit with clear riot armor walked in and went to my boss. The only thing I heard him say was this:

“Call your wife or kids or anyone you love. Because you're about to die. Tell everyone else that before they turn. My boss started stuttering about something. 

“Are you the ones across the street? Our rivals? How dare you barge in here and tell me I'm going to die! I am the boss of Thinkies and I will not let you kill me or my people!” My boss pulled the 44 magnum from the desk and put it to the man's heart. The man smiled then opened his eyes. He didn’t expect this.

My boss pulled the trigger and from inside the kinda clear glass, red splattered all over. A bunch of men ran in with guns and started shooting people. I hid under my desk and waited till they left. Then one walked past my desk and dropped a 1911 on the floor. I picked it up as he flipped my desk over. I had never used a gun but I learned fast. I closed my eyes and pulled the trigger. The man fell back in a pool of red.

I sat up and ran to my bosses office. A man opened the door and I jumped on his back. He started shooting wildly and I put my gun under his helmet and shot. The face shield grew red as I sat up. I ran to my Bosses side as he held his leg.

“One of the rickashay bullets hit my leg. I’ll be fine though.” He said as he looked up. The man my boss shot from earlier stood up, his eyes pale. His armor fell off and my boss shot 3 bullets into his chest. The man still walked though. He fell on my boss and I remembered what Mrs. Jemm the doctor said.

“It's the head.” I said aloud and I put some lead in the man's skull. The man dropped dead for the second time and my boss pushed the body over.

“How did you know to shoot the head Jones?”

“The doctor told me.”

“Huh, well let's get out of here before anything else happens.” he said and we walked out of the small room. The soldiers from earlier had all left and a bunch of dead people littered the ground, their heads splattered. We looked out the blood stained window and looked at Atlanta. Helicopters were sending bombs on the ground and people in the streets were being shot.

“Well, this is it.” My boss said, “This is the apocalypse.”

Me and Marcella walked around Inkies and found some food, and blankets. We walked up a flight of stairs and we opened a door to another room. It was filled with skeletons. Three walkers were inside and I pulled out my machete. I hacked the head of one while Marcella popped some lead in the other two. 

We looked outside to see Sam and Jesica’s car pull up. The glass was broken where we were and we looked out and waved. They waved back. The door opened behind us and a man walked in with a torn up suit. It was the man who shot the flare. I pulled out my magnum and Marcella lifted her AR 15.

“Woah woah woah. We don't want trouble.” 

“Then put down your gun.”

“Ok ok ok.” he said as he put the 1911 on the floor and kicked it over to us.

“What do you mean we?” I said as another man walked behind him, his left leg prosthetic. 

“I'm Jones, this is Boss. when all this hell started his leg got blown off. We found him another one.”

“Why did you shoot that flare?”

“It wasn’t meant for you. A herd of walkers came with me and Boss. We were with two others but they got separate also. I saw Boss a long ways with you guys. He was in a building and I wanted to signal him.” Then the door busted open with Sam, Jesica, and Nathan.

“Jones?” Sam said as he gave him a pat on the back.

“Marcella, Pickle, put down your guns. Their friends. They saved us.” Jesica said as we lowered our guns, hesitantly. A walker came in and Boss kicked it right back down the stairwell.

“Man, we haven't seen you guys in weeks! Where is Finn?”

“Finnian went with them. The others.”

“The walkers?”

“No. Them.” I said as Sam looked up and down. 

“Well, let's get the supplies. We can stay here for about a month without scavenging.” Jesica said as we got everything out of the car. When we got back to the office we kicked the walkers out the windows and removed the skeletons.

“This used to be my desk, right here.” Jones said as he helped Boss take off the prosthetic leg. “I killed that man right there, and right there, and I finished that one off also.” he said pointing to two men in armor and one man in the bosses office.

“So Jones, question. Do you have any idea how to stop this? Or stay safe?”

“Well,” he said, looking out the broken glass at the thousands of walkers, “I know someone.”

The End