ATZ - an English Adventure - Anna and Chris (part 1)

With a tear in her eye Anna pulled the door to the flat closed, simultaneously drawing a curtain down on the life that she and her fiance had tried to build together.  All her dreams - their dreams, her career in the ambulance service, his in banking, a wedding in the spring attended by all their family followed by kids (she hoped!), two you know the usual, boy and a girl... All of that gone in the uncertainty that was the present reality! Was this the apocalypse? was it happening across the UK or even the entire globe?  Was humanity on the brink? She didn't know, all she DID know was that Thanet was gone, just gone, in the blink of an eye her world had come to a crashing halt. Looking over at Chris, she could see him shifting from foot to foot as if he could not contain the energy that now surged through him and she barely recognised the man she had wanted to spend that life with.  Looking down at the bag containing the medical file on her partner, she longed to look through the clinical findings from Chris's assessment and discover the answers to the change in her fiance's demeanor.  But right now she just needed to get out of here and get some breathing space. Right now they just needed to survive...

Look at her, going all dewy eyed at a pile of bricks! He feels a surge of contempt welling inside of him, further fueling the energy that threatens to spill out of him at any point.  Come on, COME ON! He can barely keep from shouting the words as they shriek across his brain. 

His fingers curl around the handle of the large kitchen knife, feeling the smooth plastic and imagining the devastation that the long, razor sharp blade will cause. A disturbing smile works its way onto his face as he pictures the flow of blood as he parts the skin of his victims…

Hefting the 'Bag for Life onto her shoulders, she tested the swing of her hockey stick and found that if she wore the straps over both shoulders like a rucksack she could move more or less unhindered.  Nodding at the big man she indicated she was ready to go and headed toward the tall wooden gate that led to the alleyway at the side of their property.  One last, longing look at the flat she had shared with Chris and she was off.  Peering around the gate, she crept to the corner of the alley where it spilled onto the main road.  Stealthily she edged around the phone box on the corner and looked upon the devastation that had occurred during the long day yesterday. 

Putters and Chris take in the last moments of their old life!

"Zombies" are everywhere!

All through the night she had heard screams, sirens and on a couple of occasions what she thought were gunshots.  Worried about her partner she had ignored it, for the first time in her professional life not heading toward the awfulness that humanity managed to inflict upon itself.  Looking out on the main road she saw the devastation wrought by the aftermath of the "Mother of all Storms" and the spread of the strange contagion.  Bodies lay strewn across the roads and pathways, some intact others not so much, all showing signs of bite marks.  At the top of the road, a bus was blocking the corner – clearly abandoned.  Behind the row of houses next-door she could see a pillar of smoke clawing its way into the sky, the burning truck still smoldered.  A low moaning drew her attention to a group of the infected over by Raymond's (Her neighbour - next but one) motorcycle, eight of them crowded together, turning as one as they caught sight of her and started shuffling toward her. 

a mini horde by Ray's sweet ride!!

Ducking back into the alley she gestured to Chris to follow her, peering into the gloom between the two rows of houses and spotting a swaying figure ahead.  Chris switched the big kitchen knife from hand to hand, clearly irritated by the cautious approach that Anna was taking. He may have been justified as half the group of zombies crashed into the back of the young couple, moving surprisingly quickly despite their awkward gait.  Anna shrank back as Chris was slammed into the wall by the weight of the infected. Slashing wildly with the knife, he managed to open the throat of the closest before drawing the hand back when a zombie clamped it's teeth over his forearm and drawing blood. This just seem to send the big man into a frenzy and he threw a massive haymaker punch at the offending male zed, crunching it's jaw and sending it to the floor with its head and neck at an awkward angle.  Lunging forward with the knife leading the way, he drove the point into the eye of closest zombie dropping it to the floor instantly.  Stepping over the body of the now "dead" zombie he grabbed the last by the neck with one enormous hand and with an impressive show of strength, slammed it headfirst into the bricks.  Reaching down he pulled the bloodied knife from the face of his victim, before turning back to the astonished Anna who, had looked on the fight with what had started as fear for the safety of her partner and had ended as horror at the seeming ease that he had dispatched the infected.  Before she could say anything however another zombie drew too close to her and she was fighting for her own life. 

The zombie bites down on his arm, tearing the skin and spilling his precious blood. His hypothalamus dumps a shed load of adrenaline into his system and he feels invincible! Strength surges in him and he lashes out with a stunning punch that staggers the offending zed and snaps it’s head back with a loud crunch, remembering the knife in his other hand, he buries it into the eye of another. With a roar of elation he heaves the final pitiful zed into the alleyway wall, busting its head wide open like rotten fruit. This display of his power is intoxicating and he looks around for more playthings, disappointed when he finds there are no more. He takes a quick step towards the woman without any real idea of why, arms raised he reaches out just as another dead thing lurches out of the dark alley. 

the horde pursue the young couple

Chris explodes into action

Years on a hockey pitch had given her quick feet and good balance and she managed to adopt a fighting stance and hefted her stick with a grim determination.  As the infected reached out, she dropped her shoulder and letting it's hand pass by her left arm with room to spare.  Hooking the creature's ankle with the blade of the stick, she dragged it to the floor before crunching the solid wooden end into it's face, breaking the soft bones and pummeling it's brain.  Having cleared the immediate area, the young couple headed further into the alleyway in an effort to escape the rest of the mini horde behind them which they could see getting closer by the second. 

bloodbath!!

its dark and scary down here!!

the rest of the mini horde in pursuit!

Reaching the end of the alley, Anna stuck her head around the corner trying to get an idea of the challenges ahead.  Standing stock still in the middle of the road stood the latest horrible consequence of the last day or so.  Swaying back and forth the zombie child looked no more than 12 years old, with spikey hair and a blue hoody he looked like an ordinary, everyday kid – except for the blood dripping from a bite to his arm, that even now made a small puddle by it's feet.  Some-how she'd managed to block out the thought that the "zombie" virus or whatever was causing these mutations would affect all sections of the population including the very young! With a whimper she fell back against the wall her mind reeling from the impact of that realisation.  

the first PEF comes into sight

and is revealed as a zombie kid!

Chris sighed, straightening up he seemed to stand even taller, drawing in a huge breath before exploding into action. With a meaty thunk the knife crunched into the forehead of the child, pretty much opening up the top of it's head like a tin can.  With barely a look back he strolled into the rear courtyard of the row of terrace house next to theirs, nonchalantly ignoring a small pack of infected not yards away.   Anna drew in a shaky breath and followed her fiance, grabbing his hand on the way through and pulling him into the property.   

He sighs, so bloody weak! So what? it’s a kid! what crappy sentiment is that? What will whining do about it achieve, it won’t stop the brat from snacking on you! He screams in his head at the tedium of it all, watching as she tortures herself at the thought of zombie children. Fuck it, he pulls in a deep lungful of air, stoking the almost permanent anger that resides within him – FUCK IT! He lets the rage fill his being with power as he charges at the zed. Kid or not he slams the blade into the forehead of the child feeling it slice through skin and bone, shuddering with pleasure at the destruction he causes.  It’s over too quickly though and he walks passed the still twitching body looking for more fun…. 

Chris takes care of their little problem...

Anna dashes by and grabs Chris by the hand

Walking through the kitchen, Anna spotted a set of car keys that sported a BMW tag, probably for the Mini Cooper out front, pocketing those she directed Chris upstairs to see if there was anything else worth taking with them.  It felt very strange walking through the house, up until this point Anna had never broken a single law in her life and now she had "killed" infected human beings, committed a B&E, stolen keys for a car she had every intention of taking if necessary and was contemplating what she could pilfer from her neighbour! 

where they find keys to their neighbour's car!

A noise from upstairs brought her out of the dark thoughts that threatened to overwhelm her again, signalling to Chris to head up to the next floor.  Curious to see if anyone else had survived, the young paramedic naively pushed open the door to the main bedroom.  The curtains were clearly drawn as there was precious little light to illuminate the room, only a sliver from the landing that the couple were standing on.  

"Hello?"  more of a question than a statement, Anna's voice creaked a little at the end from a ramped up sense of foreboding.  "Cara? Mandy? Are you here?". 

A familiar low moaning sound was the only warning she got as the ladies who lived in the house poured out of the dark room.  Mandy in her trademark yoga outfit throwing herself at Chris with her long, false nails curled into claws desperate to scratch and bite and tear.  Cara, the estate agent and Mandy's partner of five years led with an open mouth, her perfect white teeth stained with bright fresh blood! Anna managed to lift her hockey stick in time to jam the blade of the stick into Cara's mouth as the newly "turned" zombie bit down, causing teeth to break and the ex-estate agent to pull back away from the medic ready to lunge again.   

then they find the neighbours

Chris punched Mandy hard in the stomach with as much strength as he could muster, the force of the blow throwing the zed backwards but otherwise not slowing the infected woman down.  With the knife he slashed at the yoga teacher's face, opening up her throat and lodging in her vertebrae. The zombie staggered sideways from the attack and into her former lover giving Anna enough time to crash the hockey stick through Cara's forehead. 

His fist connects with a satisfying thud, so much power concentrated in a single punch that causes the irritating yoga bitch to crash into the pretentious shabby-chic wardrobe in their bedroom.  He follows up with a swipe of the blade, the sharp edge cutting through infected skin with ease and slamming into her neck. 

Anna looked horrified at the two zombies they had "killed", her and Chris had spent many evenings around the young couples flat, drinking wine and playing "Cards Against Humanity".  The sound of Chris pulling the knife from their friend's neck caused her stomach to turn and she turned her head in time to avoid puking up all over Cara.  Everything she had eaten in the last 48 hours came pouring out to spill onto the floor and mingle with the blood. Straightening up, she wiped her hand across her mouth and headed back downstairs, tears falling unchecked down her cheeks. 

Gotta keep moving, come on, come on let's keep going! Nothing left to do up here.  Those two lesbian bitches were just too easy, more blood needs to flow.   

before adding neighbourcide to the list of crimes committed this day....

outside zombies mill about with no fresh blood to draw their atention

some look set to leave the area all together...

Chris followed his stricken partner downstairs, a neutral expression on his face with no hint of what was passing through his mind.  Anna heard the back door bang open as another infected person crashed into the house.   Hurrying out of the house with Chris in tow, intent on breaking into Raymond's place she failed to notice the dying dog lying on the floor in the porch.  Stepping on it's tail Anna jumped back as she felt it shift pathetically, the bite mark showing prominently on it's hind leg and let loose a mournful howl that was none the less incredibly loud.  A shiver shot down her spine as the pitiful howling triggered instincts long since forgotten in modern civilisation, ancient instincts that fuelled the basic fight or flight mechanism.  Anna cringed as she thought of all the infected humans that the poor dogs last breath would attract at the same time her heart broke (again!) at the tragedy before her. 

when a dying dog draws them back

and adds to their numbers!!

"Look out!" She cried instead as a zombie stumbled out of the door behind her fiance, grabbing his shoulder and preparing to sink it's teeth into the big man's neck.  The few nano-seconds of warning gave him a chance to lift his knife and drive it backwards over his shoulder and neatly into the right eye of the zombie, dropping it without a sound.  Anna stood open-mouthed in shock as she realised he hadn't even looked to see where the zombie was positioned, he'd just eerily hit the target! Chris threw her a smirk that was becoming all too familiar lately as he reached down and drove the knife quickly and cleanly into the dying animals brain, ending it's misery.  Anna felt fresh tears rolling down her cheeks and began to wonder how many more tears she would shed before she could "shake it off" as Chris suggested as she watched him stroll off toward Ray's house. 

A shift of the foot and his hand is moving before he even realises the zombie is there, the knife slams into the infected's orbit with unerring accuracy, piercing what's left of the creature's brain.  He doesn't even look back as he silences the dog's pitiful whining before walking around to the next house. 

don't forget to check the cupboards!

Anna grumbled as she began to follow Chris, cursing softly under her breath at the changes in her fiance.  Again, she was lost in internal strife and again it cost her as another infected female burst through the door and raked its filthy fingernails down the length of her exposed forearm.  Skin split as the sharp claw-like nails tore her from elbow to wrist and spilling her blood to the concrete. Anna let out a cry as she stumbled back from the ferocity of the attack, scrabbling to keep on her feet. With a wild swing of her hockey stick she drove the creature back as she connected with a solid thump to it's ribs.  Although she knew that it wouldn't kill off the creature, it did buy her enough time to land an overhead, two handed blow to it's forehead. 

the horde closes in

from all over!

Anna hurried after her partner who'd already put a brick through the neighbours front door and let himself into the property.  Rushing into the hallway, she was about to start in on him for abandoning her and for the dog and for his crappy behaviour recently! She caught a glimpse of him through an open door to the left, just before the stairs.  Bursting into the Smith's front room she heard a meaty thud as Chris drove the kitchen knife full force into the body of Anita Smith, Ray's pretty wife.  This was followed by an enormous haymaker to an elderly gentleman zombie, who could have been Ray's father or father in law, driving it back into Ray himself and clearing some space.  Looking around, Anna hefted her stick as two more zombies closed in on her.....

a whole room full of hurt!

end of part 1, more to follow.
hope you enjoy
dGG