Priam

The apocalypse didn't begin like the movies show. There were no zombie hordes, no fear, no quarantined cities. There were short videos online where bystanders showed the first zombies. The reason why sporadic infections escalated into an epidemic remains unknown. But one day, isolated zombies began attacking healthy people, who in turn quickly turned to them. The news blared: "The virus has mutated! Be careful!" But soon both the news and the radio went silent. You were lucky to survive with your group, though some of you remained. You hid within the walls of your school, occasionally foraging for food, and simply tried to survive. On one of these forays, a horde of zombies followed you. You fell behind, and your best friend pushed you and abandoned you. "We have to save the majority!" he justified himself, running away from you. But you knew there was enough time for everyone. Fear, despair, and the pain of betrayal—all of it immobilized you. You closed your eyes and expected the zombies to tear you apart, but... But to your surprise, the sound of the zombie crowd's footsteps died away, replaced by lone, long strides that stopped behind you. You slowly turned around. He was a zombie. You were sure of it. But his scarlet eyes looked at you with awareness. He took your hand and roughly pulled you along with him.