The boy stood alone on the beach—a spot he had been to many times to clear the turmoil boiling in his mind—his eyes fixated on the vast and seemingly infinite expanse of ocean before him. He watched the waves relentlessly crash against the shore—their powerful force sent sprays of salty mist high into the air. He felt a cool breeze brush against his skin, carrying the tangy and pungent scent of the briny ocean; his tousled hair whipped around his face and his clothes billowed in the relentless wind. 

Soft shouting—one of a child—pulled him out of his hypnotic trance. To his right stood a mother, father, and boy who had gathered around a large school of beached fish. This struck Lee as odd—he had been out here, in this same spot, for a large portion of his life and had never seen something like this; the pace of his heart quickened and his skin formed goosebumps. 

Lee Granger was the boy’s name. He made his way from the top of the sandy embankment toward the beached fish. The boy and his parents were gone now; the parents grew fearful when they realized the state the fish were in. They lay motionless on the shore, their once bright and shimmering scales now dull and lifeless. Their bodies were bloated—swollen and emanating a pungent odor of decay that wafted through the air. Their eyes—once sparkling with life—were clouded over and opaque. Their mouths hung open in a grotesque and unnatural position. The skin was beginning to peel away, revealing the rotting innards within; Lee was pretty sure he even saw bone—then one of them moved. 

He stood, transfixed as they twitched; their tails flicked at the sand. His phone buzzed in his pocket. 

“Hello?” Lee asked, not having checked who called him. The noise on the other end was so loud, it drowned out the voice of the person, making it impossible to understand them. Lee’s mind raced, trying to make sense of the chaos on the other end of the line. He could hear the sound of metal clashing against metal and the earth-shattering blasts of the explosions; he flinched and cringed. “Hey, what’s going on who is thi—”

“Lee, can you hear me?” a familiar voice—Lee’s brother, Henry—asked, his voice cracking with fear. 

“Yeah, yeah! What the hell’s going on? Are you okay?” 

“Listen, shut the hell up for a second and tell me where you are!” Henry cried. 

Lee stuttered; he knew where he was but the urgency and fear in his brother’s voice—a voice he had known for fifteen years and, through all of that time, had never displayed such emotion—caused him to blank. After a moment of slurring his words, Lee blurted out the beach’s name. 

His brother hung up. Confused and scared, Lee ran up the embankment and grabbed his shoes. He slipped them on and surveyed the streets—looking for people. He wondered if something larger was happening. 

Though seemingly from nowhere, the boy was struck with a sickening silence—a silence that never entered the city. No cars were on the road in front of him. No one was walking through the glass buildings around him.

“Hello?” the boy called out to the empty street. Silence responded quickly as his echo faded into nothing. 

The sound of screeching tires pierced the air; Lee turned his head in alarm. He watched as a car careened around the corner, hurtling down the road at an unprecedented speed. Before he could close his eyes to shield himself from the horror of what was inevitably going to occur, the car collided with a light pole. Debris exploded in all directions. His heart sank as the driver’s body violently ejected from the vehicle, landing on the pavement with a sickening thud; a line of blood trailed from her head. Lee sprinted toward her, calling for help from the nonexistent people around him. 

Unsure of what to do, he knelt next to the woman, hesitant to flip her over. Closing his eyes, Lee summoned the courage to check for her pulse. Timidly, he placed both of his fingers on her neck and waited—praying—for a pulse. 

‘Please wake up, please be okay,’ he thought. 

After a minute, he gave up. No pulse could be found. So he sat there—tears welling in his eyes—defeated. 

“What the hell is going on?” he cried; a line of tears ran down his face like a river. 

The lady’s jaw twitched—Lee jerked back in shock. A wave of relief washed over him as he realized the woman was still alive. 

‘I must have just missed her pulse,’ he thought. 

His sense of relief quickly dissipated as he heard a sickening snap emanate from the woman’s neck. She twisted her head backward—her eyes locked onto Lee’s. He could feel his body freezing with terror. Her eyes had faded into lifeless darkness and Lee knew that he was facing something far beyond his understanding. He was trapped—caught in the gaze of an entity that had lost all semblance of humanity—and he knew that there was no escape. 

“What the he—”

Lee watched in terror as the lady lurched towards him, her hands reaching out as if to claw at his flesh. He instinctively dodged her attack, avoiding the jagged swipe of her nails by mere inches. With a sickening twist of her body, she contorted into a twisted, animalistic form, resembling a snarling wolf ready to pounce. Lee’s heart raced as he realized the severity of the situation. He was face to face with a creature of darkness—something far beyond the realm of human understanding. He knew in his bones that he was in grave danger, yet his body remained frozen—paralyzed with fear—unable to move.

A deafening gunshot rang through the air triggering his eyes to snap shut. The sharp sound reverberated through his skull; he could barely make out the urgent pleas of someone trying to rouse him from his stupor. A rough hand grasped his shoulder, coercing him to shake off the shock and start moving. Slowly opening his eyes, Lee was greeted with the sight of his older brother, Henry, looming over him with an intense look of concern etched onto his face.

Swiveling his head, Lee’s gaze briefly landed on the lifeless, inert form of the woman—sprawled motionless on the ground. The gruesome scene, coupled with the residual ringing in his ears, left Lee disoriented and dazed, but the urgency in Henry’s voice spurred him into action, propelling him forward. 

The two drove down an empty street. Henry messed with the radio as Lee sat there, replaying the last five minutes in his mind like a movie; torturing himself with every detail.

 After a few extra moments of Henry fiddling—and finding nothing but static—on the radio, Lee blurted out, “Will you tell me what the hell is happening?”

“Somethin’s goin’ on city-wide,” Henry responded quickly. “People-attacking-people. It’s some real messed up stuff. They called the army in too.” 

“The army?” Lee asked; his blood ran cold. 

“Yup.”

“What about Mom and Dad?” 

“I was with ‘em when it first started. I called ya’ and told ‘em where ya’ was at so, I left to go get you. We’re goin’ to meet back up with them on the outskirts of the city.”

“What? We’re leaving?” 

“Sure as hell we’re leavin’. This place is a mess. Whatever’s goin’ on with these people—” Henry paused, choosing his next words very carefully. He was never one to purposely scare his brother. He knew the importance of staying strong; staying brave. “—whatever’s goin’ on. This city won’t be standin’ much longer. These people…were fast and strong and they didn’t care who or what was in front of them. They just kept movin’.”

The two sat there in complete silence as they approached a dirt path leading off the main road. From this dirt path, Lee and Henry could see into the city. Fire swelled atop the tallest buildings; Lee was sure he could see people as they flung themselves off. 

After a few minutes of traveling along the dirt path, the radio kicked on. In jagged and sharp, high-pitched screeches, the boys were able to make out one sentence: 

“Russia has fallen.” 

A haunting stillness had settled upon the city, as if the very air had been sucked out of it, leaving only a suffocating void. With the dirt path having ended, Henry steered his car back onto the street—the tires crunched over debris and ash. The flickering flames of countless fires devoured everything in their path with merciless hunger. 

“Where’s Mom and Dad?” Lee croaked. 

“Last thing they said was to get on the 101 and get off on Hunter,” Henry said whilst weaving the truck through a maze of totaled cars and mangled corpses.

 “Hey, Lee,” he called, “Hey, bud, don’t look at all’at,” Henry said, grabbing Lee’s shoulder and urging him away from the window. “There ain’t no reason to go lookin’ at all that.”

Lee had managed to keep himself calm; in his mind, the waves of the ocean rose and died down, echoing the beat of his heart—but now, the sound of the ocean was becoming distant, and in its place was the harsh gargle of the woman who had attacked him. The dark in her eyes still bore into his soul. 

“Henry,” Lee whispered. “This isn’t going to end soon, is it?” 

Henry stayed quiet. His jaw clenched as his teeth ground against one another. His forearm spasmed against his rolled-up, white, buttoned-down sleeve; he contemplated his next words carefully. He did not want to lie to his brother—he knew him not to be a fool. Henry knew this wasn’t going to end soon; if ever. And so did Lee. 

“No, bud. No, I don’t think so. But that don’t matter right now. We gotta find Mom n Dad and get outta here. We’ll go live up in the woods and I’ll teach ya’ how to hunt and every day will be like a campin’ trip. Remember those? Remember how ya’ never wanted to leave after we were all ready to go?” Henry urged his little brother, a smile forming on both their faces. 

“Yeah, I remember those. That’s where we’re going? To Grandpa’s cabin?”

“Yeah, that’s the plan. It’s off in the woods. No one will find us there and if we’re lucky, we can ride whatever this is out and let the military come in and do their jobs.” 

“That sounds fun. Do you think Grandpa and Grandma are okay?” 

“They should be. Hell, they probably don’t even know this is happenin’!” Henry said, smiling even though all he wanted to do was curl up in a ball and cry. Silence descended upon them, broken only by the sound of Henry’s hands steering the vehicle. The grim sights of corpses strewn across the ground had been replaced by gory pools of blood, devoid of any remnants of human life, save for the harrowing impressions that served as a haunting reminder of what had once been there. Lee and Henry were aware of the macabre reality behind the empty bloodstains, yet neither wanted to voice it aloud. Henry still referred to them as people, for now, but he knew deep down that the time would come when he would have to face the grim truth head-on and acknowledge that these were no longer the humans they once knew. 

The highway was a chaotic mess, with a swarm of cars forced onto it. The deafening sound of honking permeated the air, as the drivers found themselves bumper to bumper, struggling to flee the city. Amidst this chaos, Lee and Henry sat trapped on the narrow, one-lane on-ramp. The city—their once beloved home—lay barren before them. The unraveling of society had occurred in just a matter of hours. Henry had witnessed unspeakable things—things that would haunt him for years to come, etched deep in the recesses of his soul. As he blinked away his tears, he tried to suppress the memories.

The morning had started like any—out with his parents, having breakfast at Joe’s Diner. The peace was short-lived, as a violent argument erupted between Lee and their father, leading Lee to storm off, declaring his need for fresh air. The moment Lee had left, a member of the kitchen staff burst out of the kitchen—crimson stains splattered across his pristine white apron—and launched himself at the nearest, unsuspecting, family. The gruesome spectacle sent chills down their spines, and, as they emerged outside, they were met with a dystopian world that bore no resemblance to the one they had known before. Hell had come knocking and society was foolish enough to answer.

Fear had reduced humanity to a shadow of its former self; people resorted to murdering each other in cold blood, gripped by the paranoia that their family and friends would turn into cannibalistic monsters. The depravity knew no bounds, with people murdering others for the sheer thrill of it. The very fabric of society—and the moral compass that guided it—had been unceremoniously dumped into the garbage as the rampaging waves of chaos engulfed the city. 

Henry had vowed to keep the horrors hidden from Lee, protecting him from the grim realities until he was ready to face them.

“Holy sh—” Henry said, rolling the driver’s window down and peeking his head out. 

“What?” Lee asked. There was no response as Henry positioned himself as if he were stretching his head toward the already setting sun. “Henry, what the hell’s going on?” 

“I see Mom and Dad! I see their car!” he shouted, falling back into his seat and blaring the horn—all in one motion. With the other hand, he rolled down Lee’s window. “Wave to them! Call them! Do it!” he ordered. 

Lee obeyed the command, stretching both his arms out of the window and calling out to his parents. The crushing realization that the odds of ever seeing them again were stacked against him hit him like a ton of bricks; tears cascaded down his cheeks. He had been so close to reuniting with them—to basking in their warm embrace—and making amends for his rash decision to leave them behind. If only he had stayed back at the restaurant, they would have all been on their way out of the city by now, heading towards his grandpa’s cabin. 

Lee strained to catch a glimpse of their parents through the rearview window. His heart raced as he saw their father’s head snap back in their direction, no doubt alerted by the frantic waving of his son’s arms. The family was separated by about thirty cars, each one a hurdle to overcome in their desperate bid to reunite. The sound of honking blared through the air, echoing the boys’ calls for help, as their parents saw the glimmer of hope that their boys were still alive. 

“Henry, what do we do?” Lee cried. 

“Get out, we gotta ditch the car,” he said, unbuckling himself from the driver’s seat. Lee followed his brother’s lead, quickly unbuckling his seatbelt and flinging open the car door. They wasted no time, and with single-minded determination, sprinted over debris and dashed through cars. As they climbed up the shoulder of the road, inching closer to their parents, Henry came to a sudden stop, his fingers clenching onto his brother’s shirt with a force that left white knuckle imprints. It was clear that something had caught his attention, and at that moment, Lee remembered that the danger was far from over. 

“What’s going on?” Lee asked. 

Henry grabbed his brother’s arm and pulled him in the opposite direction. Lee fought—bashing against his brother’s hand with his fist—crying and screaming for him to let go. 

“Lee, don’t look back,” Henry said through tears of his own. Lee’s body froze in terror as he felt the ground began to quake beneath him. He tried pulling himself free, but he lost his balance and tumbled to the ground—scraping his knees and palms in the process. He barely felt the pain; his attention was focused on the horror unfolding before him.

As he got back up, Lee’s eyes locked onto the nightmarish scene that lay ahead. Hundreds—perhaps even thousands—of people were streaming down the highway; their frenzied movements sent ripples of terror through the brothers’ bodies. A few stopped and burrowed through the windows of trapped cars, their eyes ablaze with an otherworldly hunger. But the majority were sprinting towards the on-ramp, converging on his parents’ car.

“Mom! Dad!” Lee shouted, sprinting sporadically toward his parents. Time appeared to slow for Lee as his heart pounded against his ribcage trying to process the events unfolding before him. He watched his parents emerge from their car—trying to make a run for it—only to be chased down by the growing mass of reanimated corpses.

Lee froze. He wanted to run to them. All he wanted was to feel their arms around him one last time. He knew there was no hope—in a matter of seconds they would be hunted down and feasted upon, but he didn’t care; still, no matter how hard his heart screamed, he stood, glued to the highway. He felt a sudden jolt as someone grabbed his shoulder, dragging him down to the ground and under an abandoned car. It was Henry, his hand clamped tightly over Lee’s mouth to stifle his screams of protest.

Lee thrashed and struggled against his brother’s hold, his eyes locked on his mother and father. He could see the sickening glee in the eyes of the undead as they closed in on his parents, their teeth bared and their arms outstretched. The sound of snapping bones and tearing flesh chimed through the air as they descended upon their helpless victims—tearing them limb from limb with savage ferocity. It was a sight that would haunt Lee for the rest of his life—a nightmare that he could never escape. 

Through the haze of tears, Lee realized Henry was trying to tell him something. He could barely make out his brother’s words, but he could see the fear and desperation in his eyes. It was then that Lee understood what he had to do. He nodded slowly, tears streaming down his face, and Henry removed his hand from his mouth. As the sounds of the undead feasting on their parents filled the air, the two brothers huddled together under the car, clinging to each other as they wept for the loss of their family and the world that they had once known.

—

In the time that followed, nature had reclaimed the land it had once been driven away from. Buildings had fallen apart due to a lack of management, and animals—the ones that had a natural immunity to the infection—had inhabited the fallen cities. The hordes of undead had dissipated throughout the city, resting in dark buildings and only coming out at night. They had become a part of the ecosystem; another animal that joined the food chain. The only difference was that humans were now at the bottom. 

The world had ended. There was little information about the true nature of the incident. Some believed that it was simply God’s wrath. Others believed it to be a virus that caused people to go insane. That latter seemed more likely to Lee. Still, the words of the radio station echoed in his mind, scraping against his skull and fighting to be let out. In his nightmares, he could still hear the jagged cries of the radio broadcaster croaking the words: “Russia has fallen.” 

Whatever happened, it had started in Russia; Lee was sure of it. Neither of the boys had talked about it, however. They had been too busy struggling to survive. 

The siblings had just managed to flee from the heart of the city—a bustling metropolis now reduced to ruins and chaos. It had been months since they witnessed the grisly demise of their parents, torn apart before their very eyes; an unspeakable tragedy that had left them in a state of abject silence. They had little time to ponder over their emotional turmoil as a horde of monstrous fiends descended upon the remaining survivors, leaving Lee and Henry with one sole mission: to survive. 

They fought valiantly for weeks on end, clinging to the mere prospect of survival with a tenacity that bordered on the superhuman. But now, they dared to dream, for they had a glimmer of hope. A slender chance at a life of normalcy; an opportunity to make it to their grandfather’s cabin.

Henry stood up, admiring the tomb that was once their home under the bright lights of the dotted, black void which blanketed the sky. 

“You should probably get some sleep, Lee. We have a lot of walking tomorrow.”