I used to hear from people that in the end of the world, doomsday, there'd be plenty to fear. In the end of the world, there'd be a grand war between man that would shake the earth to its core, in the end of the world, there'd be an onslaught of nuclear explosions that would bring upon a nuclear holocaust, in the end of the world there'd nuclear winter and plagues, in the end of the world humanity would no longer exist. They were wrong, there was no war, there was no nuclear winter, but there was a plague, and it snuck in under the radar like the hush of summer.

Before the military could respond, before the big man could turn the keys and press the button, the world was over with the quiet hush of death. Not an army in the world could save us. People, human beings were dead, and just like that… they were alive and became flesh eating monsters, those that were lucky enough, died, those unlucky enough survived, those cursed were eaten and turned into one of those things walking outside, but then again… maybe they were right after all, when doomsday came there was plenty to fear, and it was them…

THE DEAD CHRONICLES, PART THREE:

EVE OF DESTRUCTION

Written by Felix Vasquez Jr.

The walking dead.

The "Crossroads" mall.

The city. So fast, and unclear as a lightning strike.

All of it was such a blur, it happened so quickly. The armored bus crashed through the gates slamming through the groups of walking corpses that met them, the millions of walking dead surrounded their bus pounding along the doors. It plowed through the freaks that grabbed at them. The bus overturned throwing the group down, they rushed through the dock, Ana at front as they rushed onto the boat, Ana stood along the deck watching Michael see them off as they sailed along the water, she could still remember the look on his face as he looked down at the bite on his arm. Wanting so bad to go with them, to be with Ana, but doomed to walk the Earth as the undead, the shot of his gun could be heard in the distance as it echoed for miles.

They sat on the boat as Terry hovered around them with the digital camera floating adrift the gentle waves and dark cloudy skies. "Get that camera out of my face!" Ken ordered. They landed along the coast of the island, stepping forward in caution as Chips began barking wildly. Nicole suddenly lost her grip as he rushed off into the woods barking. Nicole rushed after him as shapes zipped through the trees finally coming out of the shadows. Groups of zombies rushed at them as Ken and Ana shot rapidly, Terry's camera falling along the floor of the dock. "Get behind me!" Ken screamed shooting rapidly, "Run!" Ana turned without a moment's hesitation and turned running and screaming.

It was all a blur from there. She couldn't remember what had happened after; but everything suddenly went dark as she turned and fled. Ken's gun could be heard going off in the distance, his cries echoed through her mind, Terry's screams could be heard amidst the rabid growling of the walking dead…and suddenly the darkness was met with echoes of voices and then silence. The stench of rotten flesh whisked through the sea air like a dark cloud, the silence resonating through the air as seagulls broke through the clouds.

The boat floated along the gentle ocean waves, the silence was almost deafening as the sun rose from the horizon spreading a mist of dew along the air. Ana's body lay along the deck, strewn about and unconscious, her gun lying beside her hand as the motion of the boat jerked her head from side to side, her clothes were stained with blood, her arms and forehead black with bruises. The sun shone down onto her hard as her shallow breathing resonated amidst the deafening silence, a distant repeated slamming could be heard by her side. All essence of time had drifted away as she wheezed and struggled for oxygen. Finally, the boat brushed along the tide and came to a sudden halt screeching and scraping along the sand and stopped along the shore of an island as the wind blew through the trees.

Ana suddenly stopped breathing as the slamming beside her continued and the sea gulls landed along the bow. Helicopters could be heard in the sky and slowly their sound became louder as they became closer to the beach. The large black helicopter landed along the sands of the beach. Suddenly, footsteps were heard along the deck, slowly approaching her and stopped at her feet, the barrel of the gun slowly reaching down to her face and nudging her cheek as her head turned to the side. A young officer stood above her looking down as two others crawled along deck.

"What's the status?" a deep voice asked underneath a black mask, a deep audio voice booming through the mask.

"Unconfirmed, sir," the man replied. Two men dressed in full bodied SWAT uniforms, and wearing full black masks slowly walked along the deck and stood by the young officer standing over Ana. "Check her for bites or scratches," the older officer demanded as he kicked her gun into the water.

The two young soldiers tore off their masks from their faces, one was a white shaggy brown-haired young man looking to be in his late twenties, and the other was a black man with a goatee, reached into their pockets. The white officer wiped the coat of sweat from his forehead and pulled out a mask quickly placing it on Ana's face. The black officer rushed over and knelt down grasping her wrists down onto the floor pressing the weight of his knees along her wrists. The young white officer leaned down on one knee as the banging persisted beside him, and he lifted her shirt and pants searching for body wounds.

"Check everywhere," the black officer ordered.

"I know," replied the white officer as he searched over her entire body. Moments passed. "Well?" the black officer asked.

"No wounds," he replied with furrowed brows wiping sweat from his face obviously stressed from the heat and his heavy uniform, "Dear lord she smells bad."

"Looks like she's been to hell and back," his partner replied. The black officer stood up grasping his gun at his side as the young white officer took his mask off her and took off his gloves placing his fingers along the side of her neck.

"Is she dead?" the black officer asked.

"Her pulse is fading, I can barely feel it," he replied, "There's no visible bites or scratches, either."

"What do you think could have happened?" asked the officer.

"Could be a number of things," he explained wiping the sweat from his forehead, "The sun, the heat, maybe thirst. My guess is she probably went unconscious from starvation." He stood over her furrowing his brows, "She's a very pretty girl."

"Ho, geez," his partner scoffed, "You and blondes."

"Shut up," he replied hitting him, "She's dying. Show some respect."

"Medics!" his partner called, "We need a gurney here immediately." Three armed medics ran along the sand with a gurney in tow as armed guards spread around the beach with their guns drawn.

The banging on the boat in the distance drew their attention prompting the black officer to hold his gun up. "We take her, sarge?" the young officer asked.

"Yes," the sergeant replied looking down below the ship in a gutter, "Rush her on a stretcher and take her back to the base for recovery before she gives out." The medics jumped onto the deck and rushed to Anna. The young white officer stood up looking down at her with pity as they grabbed her, lay her atop the stretcher and strapped her body carrying her off. "Lieutenant Paige," the sergeant beckoned. Paige ran along the deck looking back as they carried Ana to the helicopter and stood at attention as the sergeant looked down below the ship.

"Yes sir?" Paige asked saluting.

"Look at this," he said pointing down to the gutter. Paige looked down and furrowed his brows in disbelief as he gazed down wide eyed in horror.

"How did that thing get down there?" he asked.

"That's what I'd like to know," replied the sergeant, "I'm calling in some CSI to see how that thing got down there, and how she managed to survived without a bite or scratch on her."

"She smells like seawater… and rotted flesh," Paige explained, "Should I begin calling for back up, sir?"

"No," the sergeant replied gazing down, "I want you to see that the survivor makes it back to base okay."

"Why me?" asked Paige.

"Well, maybe you can make some sense out of her surviving," explained the sergeant, "And you're sweating like crazy."

"It's the heat," replied Paige, "This uniform is very heavy."

"Fine," replied the sergeant, "Go back to base and get something to eat. Cool off."

"Yes sir," Paige replied saluting, "Thank you, sir."

"Has she been bitten?" he asked.

"No, sir," replied Paige.

"Make sure," he explained, "If we bring her back and she's bitten-"

"-I checked her thoroughly," Paige explained, "She's technically in good condition, but her pulse is fading fast and she's likely suffering from anemia."

"What's the rundown of the survivor?" he asked.

"Caucasian female, in her late twenties to early thirties, blonde, possibly about 105 pounds, we found a bruise on the corner of her forehead which may be a possible concussion, and we found a few bruises on her shins, she had no apparent bites or marks but upon analyses there seems to be blood between her fingernails and along her face."

"Which means?" asked the sergeant.

"It's likely she had a scuffle with a few of them and out of some act of god," the lieutenant emphasized in surprise, "made it out unscathed or she encountered someone who'd been bitten."

"That person?" he asked pointing down into the boat's gutter.

"It's likely," replied Paige looking down at the zombie in disgust.

"We'll begin investigating the scene and take in the stowaway for testing," explained the sergeant.

"But, sergeant, shouldn't he be kill-?"

"—Dismissed," the sergeant replied walking off as Paige sighed annoyed, looking down at the zombie in disgust. He wasn't really sure if what the sergeant had planned was a good idea, but at the moment he wasn't prepared to argue. Being away from the base always made him nervous, and considering the growing numbers of the infected, he took every opportunity to go back to safety. He wasn't aware how much the infection had taken, how many people were dead, or how bad the carnage had gotten, but he didn't want to know, he just wanted to get back to the base where he'd be safe.

Ana awoke to the bright sky looking down on her and wiped her eyes feeling the hot pavement below her body burning her skin as she staggered woozily, attempting to force her self to stand up. She stretched and yawned aloud as her hair blew into her eyes. There arose an eerie silence as she looked around coming to a sudden frightening realization; she was back at the mall. Back on the roof of the mall except… she was alone. She began panting aloud in fright as she grabbed her head whimpering softly. She looked around for the other survivors but couldn't see them. She looked across the parking lot and saw no sign of Andy. "No…!" she muttered with a whimper. Suddenly a loud slamming broke the silence and she staggered back in fright looking toward the roof door.

They were there banging and growling to get in, she looked around for a gun or weapon, but there was nothing except the signs she and the group had hung. She ran across the roof looking around and scurrying and feeling around as the banging continued. She ran to the edge of the roof and gasped aloud in fright as she looked out onto an ocean of the walking dead. There was nothing but mindless blank mangled faces looking up at her grabbing, as they growled aloud, the endless sea of corpses desperately toppling each other. She looked across the lot and suddenly saw Andy, leaning down with his back turned as he wrote on the marker board. Ana squint her eyes as Andy turned and raised the sign; all she could see was blood spread among the surface. She cried out in terror and looked around whimpering, "Where'd they go…?" she muttered as she began crying aloud, "Somebody, please!"

Suddenly, a low alarming beeping arose as everything faded, almost as a force ripped her from her scenery, and she awoke wheezing loudly, her body retching as she instantly sat up wheezing and began screaming aloud. She tore off her oxygen mask shrieking and looking around at the darkness that surrounded her. She cried out in horror flailing her body as four nurses rushed into the room holding her down as she watched them and screamed in horror. They held her body down as she fought them off crying out horribly, grasping her bed tightly. "We need to sedate her!" A nurse screamed as they attempted to hold her down. She screamed frantically as they stood on top of her holding her body down as a nurse rushed into the room with a needle and injected her IV as the other nurses held Ana's arms and legs down. She continued screaming madly and incoherently as the sedative began to instantly take effect and her frantic screaming quickly faded, her body finally stopped struggling and she dropped laying her head on the pillow, her eyes wide open in horror, tears running down her face, her mouth hanging down as her eyes glazed over.

After two minutes, she'd finally stopped struggling and the nurses began murmuring as she lay still on her bed slowly slipping unconscious. Her vision blurred as the voices of the nurses faded away, and suddenly she, as almost a glimpse of her reality faded away, she could see Michael, standing in front of her with a content smile as her eyes closed and everything went dark in an instant. A sea of darkness enveloped her mind as the sounds faded away, and all she could hear were Michael's last words to her as she left the dock, "It's okay, it's going to be all right". It was a declaration no one believed at the time. She finally awoke again to silence, slowly she regained her vision, as she groaned aloud and opened her eyes slowly, the shine of the fluorescent lights in the distance burning her eyes, all she could hear were distant mutters and her heart monitor beeping, an all too familiar sound to her. She sat up quickly and looked around as corporal Paige stood across from her half concealed behind her curtain. She gasped, yelping aloud.

He stood up quickly as she yelped aloud and he toppled her holding her down as she screamed looking up at him in horror, "Get off me!" she screamed.

"Relax!" he screamed holding her down, "I'm not going to hurt you!" She panted abruptly breaking from her scream and looked up to him wheezing and panting.

"Where am I!" she screamed as she crawled back on her bed in fright.

"Relax, please relax," he urged her, "It's okay."

"Where—where…?"

"Try to gather your self," he urged her, "You're safe. Are you going to calm down?" Ana nodded with a soft whimper, "If you don't," he warned her, "They're going to come in here and pump you with sedative again, and I don't know how much more you can take before you give way. So, relax, for your sake." He panted and eased off her body as he stood up and grabbed his clipboard.