• Sen felt the rain against his skin, and knew he’d have to hurry. He quickly let claws extend from his fingernails, and began to dig through some soft ground he discovered, just outside the Wal-Mart. Digging more, he was in the back of the store, in a corner that had not yet been covered. “Fools,” he said. “That’s a guaranteed way to get weeds in your friendly neighborhood store.” He stayed there, having no true need for food or water in his state, that of a zombie.

    The wind and rain picked up, the true storm would start soon. Otaki began to cry in fear and held Dran tightly. He simply held her tightly as well, and stroked her hair. “Hey, you’re not dying, okay? It’s like you said, there is a God who’s watching us, he wouldn’t let you or me die like this.”

    The volume of the pounding, unrelenting rain and the shrieking winds steadied, and Megan screamed and jumped onto the couch, gripping Kait tightly. “Oh dear God please help us!” she cried.
    Kait cried with Megan, and moved one of her arms to hold Megan as well as Jason. They sat there crying for about five minutes when they were somewhat calm. Kait let go of Jason and held onto only Megan. “You still scared?”
    “Yeah, Kay, I am.”
    “Well, if we don’t make it through this alive, I just want you to know that you’re my first real friend ever, and my best friend FOR ever.”
    “You’re my best friend too, Kay.”
    There was a sound from the back of the store, like a door closing. It was actually that exact sound, causing Megan and Kait to jump. Jason shot up, grabbing a pistol he got from a guns section, this place seemed to have everything. “I’m going to take a look,” he said.
    “I’m going with, I don’t want you alone.” Kait didn’t mind leaving Megan, who was exhausted and was already asleep on the couch, sleeping peacefully.
    “All right, but keep your distance.”
    Smirking at him, she said “Fine, Mr. Big-Scary-Soldier-Man Jason.”
    The two laughed, as Jason ran to the back of the store, Kait following close. There, they saw a zombie, more than one, but three. Kait ran, doing her best not to scream, slightly failing, as Jason shot one, killing it on the first shot. Kait was, without even knowing, unfortunately near the raw meat, which Jason saw through a mirror, as well as another zombie, a blonde girl, who looked only a bit younger than Jason. “Kait!” he yelled, as he moved, and pushed down, a shelf, which removed the zombie’s head with a massive thud.
    Kait jumped at the noise, and again as she saw her would-be assailant. Jason also looked at the girl, and couldn’t believe his eyes. It was the same girl from the picture he held, his former girlfriend, Jessica. Jason fell to his knees, crying, trying to think of words to say. He looked at Kait, and couldn’t take the image as the young girl as a zombie, her green eyes being blank. “We are the damned,” he said. He suddenly burst into a yell, screaming “We’re all dead! Every single one of us!” He then went to an enclosed area in the back of the store. It was outside, but only rain hit it, no wind to worry about.
    Kait wished to follow, but as soon as she turned around, a thin, almost skeleton-like zombie was right in front of her. She was certain it was the end, but before she could scream, the zombie took the liberty to do so himself. There were five long, sharp, claws piercing his head, and the zombie quickly fell. As he fell, another zombie stood, the claws returning to his hand. He had dark brown hair, long enough to cover his face if he wanted up front, but shoulder-length in the back. He looked at the zombie girl, and the picture. “Damn,” he said.
    He then observed the girl, who was clearly terrified of…everything, really. “Sorry you needed to see that,” he said, with an accent that one could only get in San Antonio, Texas. An accent that gave him a tiny slur, and a voice deeper than it was, but not by much. “What happened here?”
    Kait flew off the handle in panic, and said quickly “Before you blew that guy’s damn brains out with your HANDS!? My boyfriend saved me, but I guess this girl was his last girlfriend or something, he ran to the back, and he slammed the door to outside.”
    He sighed, and said “You may want to come with me, this might get a bit crazy.” Holding out a hand, which no longer showed traces of claws, he said “My name is Sen, that’s all you require for now to know me.”
    She didn’t shake the hand, but said “It’s not personal, but I don’t want to risk getting infected. I’m sorry, it’s a survivor thing.”
    “Understood, I wouldn’t expect any less. Human instinct is to preserve life no matter what it means, you’re simply using such instinct.”
    Kait blinked a couple times, then ran to the back of the store where she saw Jason go. Opening the door, she was shocked that there was no wind where they were, and Sen refused to follow.
    He simply looked at the body, and finally asked out loud “What have I done to humanity?” Stepping outside finally, he heard Kait say “Yeah, I met a guy, he’s a zombie, but he says he might have been the one to start it.” She then turned around, “Oh, hey Sen.”
    Jason turned around, his face red. Pointing a gun right between the zombie’s eyes, he said “You? You’re the ******** who started this apocalypse!?” Yelling, he said “On your knees! I’m a soldier of the U.S. Army, on your knees!”
    Sen did as he was told, and got on his knees, putting his hands behind his head. “I only came to apologize, for your family, your friends, your girlfriend. I know what it feels like, to lose somebody like that, having no control. I also lost my girlfriend, before all this of course.” Taking a deep breath, not that he needed to take any breath, he began his story. “My girlfriend and I met in Texas. I was a freshman at John Jay High School, so was she. I don’t know how it happened, but we fell in love, deeply. During our senior years, having skipped our junior year, I got her pregnant, but two days before we graduated, and a week before my daughter was due…”
    Releasing the breath, Sen finished. “…there was a horrible crash. It was a miracle I lived, and in my rush to help the passengers of the other car, she bled out by a piece of glass that penetrated her stomach, also killing the baby. I was also going to propose that day. I would’ve been a father, I could’ve been a husband, but it was all gone in seconds. You’re angry, I know that, soldier.”
    “Jason,” he said, still seething with anger and hate.
    “Jason. But you can’t let that control you, as I did. We actually have a lot in common, you and I, more than either of us would care to know.”
    Kait stood up, looking like she was going to burst any second. “I’m really sorry about your girlfriend, Sen, but isn’t this a bit much? Millions of people have died, my entire family, they all…” She burst, just as one would think, and ran. She bolted across the store, right by a now-awake Megan, into the girl’s bathroom, and locked the door.
    Sen glared at Jason with his red eyes, and said “Go to her. I know how bad it hurts to lose a love once, losing a second over a display of hate would be something even I can’t imagine.”
    Jason looked at himself, soaked by the rain. What had he become? “You’re sick,” he said, looking Sen in the eyes. “You…” He didn’t finish, and instead went back inside, after Kait. Megan was no longer at the couch, which Jason did not notice, as he got to the bathrooms. “Kait? I wanted to say I’m really sorry about just now.”
    Kait came out, with tears streaming down her reddened face. “What happened to me isn’t your fault,” she sobbed, not wanting to think about her family. Wrapping her arms around him, she asked “Do you play Halo 3?”
    “For you, sure.” Jason picked her up, and set her down on the couch, bringing her a half-gallon of chocolate milk. “So we don’t need to go back too soon for more.”
    “Oh, you.”
    Kait opened her bag, and pulled out a hard drive for the console, and put it in, signing herself in. The Grey Goddess signed into Xbox Live. She smiled that she was able to connect, and her eyes widened as the next notification appeared. The Grey Goddess, 5 friends online.

    Sen was roaming around inside, when he found a girl sitting alone. She had bright blue eyes and red hair, and aside from those and a few inches, actually greatly resembled his former girlfriend, Rose. Looking around, he humorously asked “Is this seat taken?”
    “Help yourself.”
    Sen took her up on that offer, and sat down beside the girl. “Could I get your name? I’ll give you mine in exchange, Sen.”
    Smiling, she said “Megan.”
    “Megan, that’s a nice name. Is Kait your friend?”
    “Yes, she’s my BEST friend.” Under her breath, Megan muttered ‘And my only friend who’s alive.’
    Sen heard what she said, and simply stated “I’m sorry about any friends or family you may have lost. It’s a bad idea for me to say this just after meeting you, but I am the person who made the virus, released it, as well as being the first zombie, and the only one of my kind. But today, I figured ‘Why am I doing this? Revenge?’ Now I’m devoting my efforts to HELPING humans.” As twisted as it was, he was actually proud of his work. He didn’t want it to spread as fast as it did, however, reaching all over America in only five days.
    “I never really cared awfully too much when I got to the orphanage. I never had any friends, so yeah.”
    “I’m sorry to hear that, I’d think you would have plenty of friends.”
    Megan looked at him, examining him. He was certainly a zombie, the red eyes and green flesh on his lower-left face down to his chest said that much.

    Kait always set her games to be 15 minutes long with unlimited scores, as well as random weapons. When the timer ran out, a brutal scoreboard appeared, 107 kills to 96. “Damn, Kait,” Jason said. “I really suck, don’t I?”
    Laughing, she said “No, that was actually my best game ever. Dran could never get his aim straight with Halo, and his friends weren’t too much better than he was.”
    Jason’s eyes widened as he realized something. “Kait,” he said, “Halo’s the most popular shooting series there is! People would probably raid anywhere to get a copy of Halo 3 for while they waited, and since we can connect, we can probably find more survivors.”
    Kait leaned against Jason, and said “Strong, good-looking, AND smart? Is there ANYTHING you don’t have?”

    Dran was upstairs with Otaki, she was asleep in a room. He’d pulled a comforter over her as she slept, and was sitting in a nearby corner, not tired in the least. Pulling out a small book from his backpack, he opened to the first blank page, his new journal entry would be put there. I don’t know what day it is anymore, they all seem to be the same to me by now. All I know is that Kait and I have been living through this for six years, and that this is my first entry since the s**t hit the fan like this. Yesterday, I met a girl named Otaki, who’s asleep next to me right now. There’s a hurricane outside, and I’ve boarded all the doors and windows to be certain she’s okay. He pulled out a small stereo and a few CD boxes, and started one up, quietly. Kait’s not with me, she’s at a Wal-Mart with her new friend Megan, and what might be her boyfriend, Jason. I don’t like him, not one bit. He’s taking my little sister from me, the one thing I swore to protect. If he was a zombie, I’d be more than happy to- He stopped when he heard a crash, like wood and glass shattering. Looking up, he realized the window Otaki was near broke, and many of the little pieces had pierced her, as she screamed. Dran quickly stood up, and grabbed her, running downstairs, where he remembered seeing a truck in the garage.
    He put her in the passenger seat, and climbed into the driver’s seat, hotwiring the truck. Slamming the gas, he drove right through the garage door, into the storm, which seemed to be lightening up a bit. “Otaki, hang tight, okay? Everything’s going to fix itself up, just gimme some time.”
    She didn’t speak, but as he raced out of San Diego, he pulled over under clear skies. Dran put his hands on Otaki, trying to figure out just how many pieces of glass were in her body. He looked at the end of his sword, where a small ring with two blue feathers hung off the hilt. Closing his eyes, he said “Come on, mom, if you can hear me, any family, fix her. I don’t care what you do to me in exchange, just HEAL OTAKI’S WOUNDS!” Otaki stopped bleeding, as Dran felt a stabbing pain in all his body that didn’t last too long. “Otaki, I need you to listen closely, okay?”