• As I ran down the sidewalk, I tried to think about how my crazy-a** life came to be. My mom, when she was pregnant with me, was chewed out by one of those creatures. My dad somehow saved me, yet the same fate awaited him when I was just ten. I survived as best as I knew how, and eventually found myself with a rag-tag group of survivors like me.
    There are four of us all together, two girls and two guys. There’s Laura, a housewife that had no idea any of this was happening before we busted into her backyard, looking for supplies. Next up is Deb, who’s just a kid who ran away from home at 16. Chuck, a crazy guy, found me first, and me.
    So, now that you’re caught up, let’s move up to the present. Chuck’s really sick, and so I was chosen to get him some meds that might help. What I didn’t expect was a wave of those skin-eating monsters in the street. My lungs are burning, and it feels like they’re going to explode. Finally, I take a sharp left, and they continue forward.
    I catch my breath and notice the sun is setting. Those evil things are much more rabid at night, so I either need to get home or get a weapon. Fast. I walk down the road cautiously, trying every doorknob.
    Locked. Locked. Jammed. Door’s blocked. Finally, after what felt like a hundred god damned locked doors, one’s open.
    I walk into the dark store, or what used to be one, and call out: “Hello?” I know it seems stupid to call out like that, but it was for my own safety. Most people would kill you, rather than believe they’d need to feed you. After a few minutes of no one answering, I explored further, finding a few cans of food. Quickly stuffing them into my backpack, I kept looking. Eventually, I found a strange looking gun, which, upon closer examination, revealed to be not a gun, but a flamethrower.
    I smirked and nodded, knowing that I could easily get home this way. Slinging my bag over my shoulder, I peeked out the door, seeing if any face chompers were there. Since the coast was clear, I snuck out, vowing to only use the totally friggin’ awesome flamethrower if I was in serious trouble.
    Turning the next corner, I stop dead in my tracks. At least twenty-five of those damn things stood between me and the hotel we used as a bunker. Well, now’s a better time than any. I thought, picking up the heavy weapon. I chuckled a bit. “I hope y’all opted for cremation.” I said in a dark voice, with a chuckle. I turned on the power and almost got thrown back by the force. I mowed down the skin-biters. In seconds, turning it off. “Oh hell yeah!” I laughed and ran forth before more came.
    I got to our bunker and dropped my stuff down, sweating from both running and killing those monsters. Laura, and the kind heart she is, noticed my arrival, asking me all sorts of questions.
    “Oh! You’re finally back!” She cried. “Are you hurt? They didn’t touch you, did they? Where’s Chuck’s meds? Why are you all sweaty?”
    I laughed her off slightly, explaining that I was fine. I also pulled out the medicine, handing them to her. “And I’m sweating because of this baby.” I picked up the flamethrower, showing her.
    “What is it?” she asked lightly, blushing from embarrassment.
    “A flamethrower.” I said, smiling. I gently put it down, nodding to her. “We shouldn’t use it unless we’re in a really bad situation.” I took the meds to Chuck’s room, slowly helping him to sit up. “How’re you feeling buddy?” I asked in a soft voice.
    “Like I got hit by a truck.” he grumbled in his forever grumpy voice. I gave him some pills and hoped for the best, sighing some as I walked out of the room.
    I fell into step behind Deb, who was probably just waking up. “Hey, kid.” I say, smiling a bit.
    She just scoffed at me, looking back. “We have to kill that crazy b*****d.” She stated simply, catching me off-guard.
    “What the hell are you talking about?!” I demanded, quickly putting my hand on her shoulder, turning her around.
    She frowned and shoved my hand off. “You heard what I said! I saw him last night, when he was sleeping.” she said, shaking her head at the disapproving look I gave her. “No! I wasn’t being weird, I swear. I heard him yell and ran in. He was trying to pick his skin off or something.” she said in a hushed voice. “If you don’t believe me, go look at his arms.” turning away quickly, she nodded, more to herself. “Just make sure he doesn’t kill you first.” she grumbled, storming off.
    I sighed and swallowed, peeking into Chuck’s room. I saw him there, sleeping. At first, I smiled, until he started tossing and turning in the bed, just freaking out.
    I went up to his side, and watched him throw off the covers, starting to itch and scratch his already red raw skin. He began bleeding and shot awake, glaring at something in the deep darkness. “I can’t…anymore…” he said and his glare slowly turned to me. “Get. Out.” he said simply. I quickly obliged.
    I stood outside his door and stuck my ear to it, listening closely. I heard a disgusting plopping and ripping from the other side, and I walked away, looking for the girls.
    I made it into the main den, where Laura and Deb were talking quietly. “I think something bad’s happening.” I stated as a loud crashing sounded through the rooms. We all scrambled around the area, trying to find weapons. As I searched for the very useful flamethrower, I was confused to see that it was not where I had left it.
    “I put it in the closet, it’s locked, for safety.” Laura said quickly, grabbing a lead pipe.
    “Well I can’t keep us safe if it’s in there!” I said and watched the monster creep around the corner and lunge at Deb, who didn’t have a weapon, but was trying her best to fight him off. The battle was lost quickly, and the creature devoured her, while Laura and I ran into a dark room, closing and locking the door. I watched the main room we had just come from.
    By the time I looked out, Deb, or whatever was left of her, was lying on the carpet. The white bones were spotless, and in a small pile. I gasped, not really seeing where the other monster went to. I could only look on in horror as the bones that belonged to my friend began rattling and shaking, as a dark shadow began coating them. It was slow, at first, then the bones suddenly sprang up, all black. The…thing, glared straight to the door we were behind, with deep red eyes.
    “Laura.” I began quickly, turning to see the woman crying on the dilapidated bed. She looked up, tears rolling down her ruddy cheeks. “Follow my lead, it’s our only hope.” I whispered, opening the curtains and glancing out the window. The ground three floors down seemed really far away, but as I said, it was our last resort.
    I took a deep breath before jumping, hearing the door slam open. I hit the ground right after I heard Laura cry out in pain. I didn’t need to look up to see what had happened. I was knocked out for a little while, and after I woke up, I looked down to my leg, hoping not to see what I already felt. My bone was sticking out of the leg, but what I really didn’t expect, was the color. My bone, sticking from my leg, was a dark charcoal onyx color. I had some clue as to what could’ve happened… And that meant that the disease spread through the air. Chuck was the monster, being older than me, turned into that monster. Young Deb’s bones were stark white, while mine were black. We were all doomed from the beginning. I lay silently, awaiting my fate, when my arms got incredibly itchy.