Day 31: Aftermath

**Warning: Picture heavy. Um...oh and it’s long. (Info dump?)**

It was the gunshots—not the nightmare—that woke her.

Veronica had slept long past it, though not without considerable effort. Her sheets were in a ball around her feet, well below the heavy comforter, and Dominic’s pillow was between her thighs. Raising her head, she inspected the room she was in, barely blinking at the sound of more gunfire.

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Day 30: No Return

“Hey has anyone seen Fadil?” Liz asked, glancing around the room. Richard screamed and the sound of falling objects exploded from the back room.

“Shit,” Matthew cussed and quickly rushed to the stock room. The door wouldn’t budge. Something had fallen and was blocking it shut. “Give me a hand here,” he said. Josh and Dominic stepped forward and together, the three men forced the door open.

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Day 29: Loose Ends

“Looks like we’re not the only ones under attacked,” Troy said, motioning towards the bodies. “This place got wrecked!”

Matthew continued up the stairs, stepping over blood and detached limbs. “Hey! Is there anybody in there? Let us in,” he shouted, banging the shutters fiercely, hoping to get the attention of someone inside.

An odd humming sound was coming from behind them and Natalie glanced back over her shoulder. At least two dozen zombies were heading their way, groaning and hissing as they gathered closer. “Oh my god, they’re coming.”

“Open the door!” Matthew shouted again with Troy and Natalie joining in. The metal began to shake and pretty soon the three of them were staring blankly at a large group of people inside the store. Moving Natalie into the door first, Matthew turned and fired off a couple rounds at the incoming group. Three zombies fell before he jumped backwards inside the store and watched the shutters fall into place. “Thank you,” he said, as JC helped him stand. “The world’s gone to shit. It’s a madhouse out there.”

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Day 28: Turn Out the Lights

“Can we run through this one more time?” Troy asked as they stood at the exit of the emergency room.

“Sure,” Matthew sighed, motioning for Natalie to hold her position. “Natalie’s going to remove the automatic timers so that the emergency doors open. You and I are going out there to clear any roamers who may be lurking out back, drive one of those ambulances closer, pile in all of the stuff we’ve collected and get the hell out of here.”

“See, this is where the plan hits a snag for me. Where exactly are we going?”

“I don’t know, Troy. Hopefully we can find a place that’s not…infested.”

“Here we go,” Troy said as Matthew gave Natalie the signal.

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Day 27: Friendly Fire

“Oh my god! Someone just crashed into the car where Dom is hiding!” Veronica shouted. Soon after, something that sounded like firecrackers rattled off outside and she quickly stepped away from the door. “And now someone’s shooting!”

“Shooting? Shooting what?” JC carefully stepped closer and peered out. “I see a truck…someone’s pulling into the station.”

“Who’s shooting?” Jeremiah asked.

“I don’t know. There are two…three people with guns; two guys and a girl and another girl is carrying a few bags with her. Whoa, wait…wait a second, they see Dom! They’re getting to Dom!”

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Day 26: Night Terrors

“Where are we going?” Liz asked as Johnathan sped down the road. She and Nina took over the backseat and she held the little girl’s hand as they watched the scenery go by in blurs of green and gold. The occasional zombie would stray out in front of Johnathan’s bumper and he’d plow them down without hesitation.

“I don’t know. Anywhere we can find life.”

“Well, it’ll have to be somewhere with a gas station. You’re almost on E,” Fadil replied.

“Damn it, you’re right. This is why Nina and I ended up at the Roadhouse in the first place,” Johnathan said, kicking himself. “Great. Now what are we going to do?”

“There’s a station coming up soon, turn here,” Fadil directed.

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Day 25: Cliffhanger

“Be careful,” Katrina said as Jake slowly opened the door at the end of the hall. He stepped through and immediately gagged on the stale air as it hit him like a ton of bricks.

“Holy crap,” he wheezed. “What the hell is that?”

“Death,” Elise whispered. “Just like Georgia’s greenhouse.”

Josh pushed forward and Katrina followed after him with Elise trailing behind, being careful and watching every step she took. “It’s so dark in here,” she said as they barely made it inside the shadowy tunnel.

“Yeah it is. We should have probably grabbed a light or something before coming in here.”

“Wait, try this.” Jake patted his jeans pocket before revealing a book of matches.

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Day 24: Incurable

A loud crash echoed through the empty hallway and everyone turned. “What was that?” Natalie asked.

Matthew stepped in front of her, hand clutched on the butt of the guard’s gun, he moved closer towards the door. “Hello?”

“Are you serious? You don’t go shouting ‘hello’ when you’re investigating noises!” Troy groaned. “Are you expecting them to reply? They don’t talk!”

“What is it?” Avery asked as Matthew snatched open the door to the storage locker.

“A stairwell.”

“Wait, you’re not seriously thinking about going down there are you?” Avery asked, watching Matthew check the load on his weapon and step inside the door. “You have no idea what’s down there!”

“Hence the reason I’m going to see,” Matthew sighed and started forward. Troy dropped the crate to the countertop and he and Natalie followed down after him. The stairs led to an employee’s only section of the hospital where the laundry and maintenance rooms were located. At the end of the hallway was an elevator. The lights indicated it was headed to the basement.

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Day 23: Serenity Prayer

“I don’t see him!” Veronica said, peering out the slats of the shutters. Panic set in. The zombies were covering both sides of the building making it impossible to open either door for Dominic. “This is your fault you son of a bitch!” Veronica yelled in Richard’s direction. She stormed away from the door and back-handed him as hard as she could. Richard’s eyes shut and he kept his mouth closed as he licked the split on his lip while struggling in the binds of the rope. “If he gets hurt, you’re next!”

“This is bullshit, why don’t we just throw him outside right now?” Jeremiah suggested, standing closed-fist beside the businessman.

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Day 22: Kill it with Fire

“Are you going to explain yourself or should we throw you outside to that creature?” Reggie asked, taking a closer step towards Johnathan.

“No! You can’t hurt my daddy!” Nina exclaimed and rushed into Johnathan’s arms. “Please. He’s all I have left.”

Johnathan kissed her cheek and bowed his head with a sigh. “You’re right, Reggie. I haven’t been completely honest with you,” he started as Fadil entered the room. “I told you all that I was the projects supervisor. What I didn’t say was there were several projects happening over the course of eight years.” He took a seat as the others gathered around him. “The original working project was to find a cure for cancer and other diseases that manipulate cell structure and DNA and we were close…at least I thought we were.”

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Day 21: Trail of Blood

“Josh and I will head back down and…”

“Wait, no, stop right there,” Katrina interrupted Jake before he completed his sentence. “It’s dark, it’s scary and there’s no telling what caused the lights to go out. Like Elise said, these places are made to keep running. You are NOT about to leave the two of us up here alone. Weapons or not you can forget that.”

“Ok…” Jake said through gritted teeth. “Ladies, would you like to accompany Josh and myself down into the boiler room to get the power back on?”

“Yes, we’d like that very much,” Katrina replied with a smile.

“Stay behind us and stay close,” Josh grinned watching his cousin’s assertiveness get under someone else’s skin for a change.

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Day 20: Endless Night

“What about him?” Troy asked, motioning towards the guard.

“We need to take care of it,” Matthew replied.

“Take care of him?” Avery asked. “He was conscious and talking a second ago.”

“Yeah and Lorelei was just sitting there complaining about her face. If he’s been bitten, he will turn. It’s as simple as that. I’m not taking any chances with my life.”

“Yeah but…”

“How about this,” Matthew interrupted Avery’s rebuttal, “We put it to a vote. All in favor of seeing if the guard can be saved, raise your hands.” Natalie, Troy and Matthew’s hands remained at their sides and he nodded. “Majority rules.”

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Day 19: Afraid of the Dark

“We killed him,” Veronica cried into Dominic’s arms. “We got him killed.”

“This isn’t our fault,” Dominic soothed, gently brushing his hand over her back. “There is no way we could have predicted this outcome, Roni.”

“It was dangerous, we knew that. Kurt’s dead because of us!”

“Kurt wasn’t doing this group any favors by sitting around drinking. His belligerence is what got him killed,” JC said, inching back another step as the body continued bouncing beneath the door. The echoes of the zombies outside reverberated against the metal shutters and he guessed there were at least five out there munching away on Kurt’s remains.

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Day 18: Deadly Secret

“Liz, hand me that shovel,” Fadil groaned as he struggled to keep the doors shut. She rushed over to the wall and snatched the gardening tool from the rack. Fadil shoved it between the handles of the door and quickly backed away. “We have three maybe four minutes tops before whatever’s out there gets inside. Look for something, anything that can be used to fight them off.”

“What about the riding mower?” Liz suggested. Fadil took a look at the gas gauge and sighed.

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Day 17: Ground Zero

The group continued driving, multiple ideas being shouted from every corner of the SUV. Jake drove towards the beach, the one place everyone could agree on. Hoping it was as secluded and empty as they believed with it being mid-fall and too cool for swimming. “Hey, pull over up here,” Josh said as something outside the window caught his attention.

Jake slowly rolled to a stop just on the sand and the four of them exited the vehicle. “What’s up, Josh?” Katrina asked, moving beside her cousin.

“Take a look at that.” He pointed a ways up the beach and they followed with their eyes. Situated along the coast overlooking the breakers was the town’s iconic red and white lighthouse. And like so many ships on approach to Cabot Creek’s shore, it was a sight for sore eyes. “What do you think? One entrance, a great lookout and most have rooms for where the keepers would spend the night.”

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Day 16: No One Can Hear You Scream

“Did I stop speaking English at some point or is everyone conveniently ignoring the words coming out of my mouth? I’m not going in there and getting myself killed! And I’m sorry, did it fail to grab your attention that there are bloody handprints on the door with even bloodier boot prints leading towards it? You people are insane!”

“YOU’RE NOT GOING TO…” Matthew growled and angrily stepped forward. Natalie placed a calming hand on his shoulder and took lead.

“Lorelei, you have a choice. You can shimmy your narrow hips and bulimic buns through that window or I can take Matt’s knife and put an end to your constant whining. And if you think for one second that I’m bluffing,” Natalie glanced back at Matthew and smiled as he politely offered her his dagger. “Try me.”

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Day 15: A Grave Mistake

“Well that was easy. Now how the hell do we wake him before he becomes zombie chow?” Veronica asked, watching Kurt snoring soundly outside.

“Like this,” Dominic replied and began banging on the glass. “Wake up you piece of shit!” The others took point and everyone continued screaming for him until he started to stir.

“Kurt! Kurt!”

“Wha…” Lazily rubbing a hand across his face, Kurt finally opened his eyes and pulled himself up. When he fully came to he realized while in his drunken stupor, the others had placed him outside on top of a car parked in the lot. Nearly falling as he roused, he caught himself and shook off his dazed feeling. “Son of a bitch!” he growled and glared towards the front doors and the others frantically yelling for him.

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Day 14: Sticky Situation

“We don’t have weapons! We can’t fight them all!” Fadil shouted as he checked the security monitors again. “There are too many of them.”

“Why are they all coming here?” Liz asked, moving beside Fadil. “What do they want?”

“Weren’t you listening earlier?” Fadil sighed and turned to face the group. “We’re their food source. They’re probably guessing the best place to feed is a restaurant.”

“Great! That’s just fucking great!”

“Daddy, are they gonna get inside? Are they going to hurt us like they hurt Mommy?”

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Day 13: Highway to Hell

“We have to get out of here. There is no way we can take on all of these things!” Josh said, pushing against the door as a window was smashed in beside him.

“There’s a truck parked in the back,” Elise announced, rushing breathlessly back into the room.

“Perfect. Grab that tire iron and let’s get moving!” Jake said. He and Josh waited for the girls to get to the back door before they shoved off the front and sprinted after them. Almost immediately a swell of undead piled into the foyer, growling and shoving as they staggered after the group. “Keys, where are the keys?” Jake yelled as he frantically looked around the visors and dashboard. “There are no fucking keys in this truck!”

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Day 12: Restless Souls

“What the hell?” Avery exclaimed. “Seriously, I mean…what the hell?” No one replied. Instead they continued staring out of the windows along the hall as they made their way towards the elevators. Nothing out there indicated that the world had forever changed. Aside from the fact that it was Monday and not a single soul could be seen for miles excluding the zombies, of course. It was dark out but it was also downtown in an often bustling city. There were no lights from passing motorists, no loud music, no rampant conversations. Just stillness.

Ever since the guy popped off the stretcher, Avery’s mind raced with the possibility that everyone he knew and loved had met the same fate. His fiancée Penny, his dog Max…even his 4,000 Instagram followers. All dead. “This stuff is only supposed to happen in movies!” he tried again. “Not in real life. But those things…they’re real. They’re people—like us.”

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Day 11: Isolation

“How are we going to do this? Vote to see who’s going out there? Draw straws?” Richard asked, looking over the group. It was obvious from the suggestion he was none too thrilled with the idea. While the prospect of security stroked his fancy, being the one to actually pull the trigger was a whole other story. “We could also pull names from a hat.”

“Seriously? No one is going to volunteer?” Dominic scowled.

“How about this,” Veronica started, before anyone else could weigh in. “We take turns doing the dirty work. The heavy lifting shouldn’t fall on the same person every time. And since Dom and I took care of the clerks in the back, our names are not going in that hat. So, Kurt, JC, Richard, you three can discuss it among yourselves.”

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Day 10: On Parade

“I’ll go,” Reggie spoke up. “It’s my restaurant, I know what to do. But, I’m not going alone. Someone needs to be lookout in case there are more of them on the roof. Someone, preferably with a weapon.” He glanced towards Johnathan and sighed. “Well don’t all speak at once.”

“I’ll do it.”

“Daddy, no!”

“Nina, you’ll be fine. I’m not going far, I promise.” Johnathan stood and slowly approached Liz. “Keep an eye on her for me, please?”

“Sure.”

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Day 09: Plagued

“KILL HIM! HURRY!” Elise shouted from her spot in the corner. Phil had become extremely agitated, his unintelligible grunts and gurgles were beginning to distress her. The noise inside caused an almost equal reaction outside as moans of the gathering horde could be heard through the walls.

“There’s more of them on the porch,” Katrina announced, rushing through the house and shutting off all the lights. “We need to do something damn it!”

“Jake!” Elise whined.

He stepped forward and reared back, preparing to swing. “NO!” Georgia yelled. She stepped in front of Jake and he stopped mid motion.

“Look, lady, it’s four against one for getting Phil the hell out of this house. He’s not human. I don’t know what I have to do to get that through your thick skull but this is happening!” he snapped and shoved her out of the way. Georgia pushed back, again stepping in front of her neighbor.

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Day 08: Dead Ringer

“I thought you said he was dead!” Troy shouted in Natalie’s direction.

“He was…he is!” she exclaimed and backed away from the stretcher. “Maybe it was gas.”

“Gas? His hand came out from under the sheet and touched me. Dead men don’t move!” Troy stated the obvious. “You must be incredibly bad at your job to miss that!”

“I know how to do my damn job! He has NO PULSE!”

“Oh for Pete’s sake,” Matthew growled. Grabbing a combat knife from his right boot, he pulled back the sheet and placed the blade beneath the man’s nose and waited. “No breath. He’s dead and you’re a fucking idiot. Now that we’ve cleared that up, you think we can get a move on?”

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Day 07: A Game of Survival

“What was that?” Veronica asked, turning quickly towards the sound.

“Probably a fucking cat,” Kurt grumbled, barely looking up from his cup. “It’s always a fucking cat in the movies,” he laughed.

“Someone should probably go see,” Richard replied, glancing towards JC.

“Why you looking at me? You suggested it, YOU go see. Kurt’s ass over there talking about scary movies and shit. Brothers never last in those situations ESPECIALLY if they go investigating strange noises like a dumbass. Thank you but no thank you,” he waved him off and pointed to the floor. “I’m staying my ass right here.”

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Day 06: Aim for the Head

“Nina!” Johnathan rushed forward and pulled his daughter back. Moving towards his luggage, he quickly sifted through the piles of perfectly folded shirts and grabbed the 9mm handgun from beneath. Hurrying back to the restaurant’s main entrance and the rapidly disintegrating glass doors, he aimed and fired two shots. The first went wide. The second shot hit the approaching zombie center mass. “Damn,” he growled and moved a little closer.

Aiming his weapon once more, Johnathan caught the man in the forehead and he instantly dropped to the ground. The growling and smashing stopped and the group appeared safe…for now. “What the hell…did you see that?” Liz stammered, clambering to her feet. She’d dropped beneath a table as the shooting started but kept an eye on the action. “He…you shot him but it didn’t seem to have an effect. He just kept coming!”

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Day 05: Flesh and Blood

“Georgia, please! Let me in,” a panicky, gruff voice shouted on the other side of the door. “Help me, please!”

“Wait,” Georgia stood and moved closer. “It’s Mr. Collins, my neighbor,” she said, peering through the glass side panel. “Let him in.”

“What? Are you sure?” Josh asked, still forcing his weight against the door.

“Yes, I’m sure! Let him in!”

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Day 04: Something's Rotten

“Get them inside, quickly,” Natalie Scott urged as another explosion rocked the ground. “Come on, come on. Shut the doors! Hurry!” Four more made it inside behind her before the emergency doors slammed shut and she disengaged the automatic timer. Moving with great urgency, she rushed through the next set of double doors, pulling an injured man with her.

“What the FUCK is going on out there?” Lorelei Lester shouted in panic as she frantically ran in behind the others and positioned herself against the far wall. “Has everyone lost their fucking minds?”

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Day 03: Alive Inside

“Block the doors, hurry! Don’t let them get inside!” JC Crystal shouted as he and Richard Dietrich pushed themselves against the doors. Veronica Meier shoved items in front of the entrance of the Sheep Mart as more and more infected pushed from the outside. “The fridge! Get that thing over here.”

Dominic Bryant kicked at the cord on the freezer as he moved behind it. Ice cream shook inside the container as he thrust the large appliance against the double doors. “Ok. That should hold them for now,” he sighed, backing away.

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