NZP Survival/Issue 1

Douglas sat on his chair, staring at his old home. Although it had lost it's former colour and everything looked gloomier than before, it managed to keep every memory intact. His dad, Phineas, walked into the room holding two cans of beer, "Your 21 now, right?" he asked.

"I'm 23 Dad," Douglas said bluntly.

"Well, you can still drink, can't ya?" Phineas asked.

"Yeah," Douglas said gripping the can, "When's Chris coming?"

"I don't know... Woman, when's Chris coming round?" Phineas barked.

"He should be here," Josephine answered as she sat down. Her face was cracked with wrinkles around her eyes and mouth, and her hair was a bleak red and fashioned into a pony tail. She looked as if she hadn't been happy for years. Ever since Douglas and Christopher had left, she had never smiled. The door banged and Josephine leapt at the chance to leave the room. The door revealed a young man standing in the frame, offering his arms to hug his mother. Josephine accepted it and shared a brief hug with her eldest son.

"Is it Chris?" Phineas bellowed from the living room.

Chris walked down and took a right into the living room, and smiled at his father. "Well I'll be damned, 'bout time you showed up," Phineas sarcastically commented smirking.

"Well anyway, we all know eachover, let's just get onto watching TV," Phineas said grabbing the remote.

"Go to the news, Jim Murphy told me something important's on," Chris suggested removing his coat.

Phineas sighed and changed the channel. Inside a large red bar read "Breaking News" and there was a look of fear inside the News Reporter's eyes. Nonetheless, she spoke without a stutter or whimper from the script, "The quarantine at both Washington DC and Area 51 have been reported to have been taken over. Zombies have been reported to be spreading across the United States killing anyone in their path. You are advised to barricade your homes, lock your doors and don't take in anyone who has been bitten. The Zombies have an extremely potent amount of the mysterious Element 115 within them and can turn bitten victims into one of them. It has been speculated that blood and saliva are even more susceptible to infection."

The screen then shown several reported infected areas, but no signs of Wit's End. By this time Josephine's eyes were watering, and she was wiping her tears. Phineas stared at her, "What are you weapin about woman? Those things aren't here yet we have time to set up defences. That Jim Murphy fella will be here in a minute to bring us our tools back, we'll use 'em to board the place up." Phineas burped and put his can on the centre table. The door banged just like before. "Get the door, Jo!" Phineas ordered.

Josephine wiped her last tear and left the room. Douglas and Chris stared at their father in disgust, "You shouldn't be cruel to mom," Douglas said.

"Yeah she's a kind person," Chris added.

"I don't care, a woman needs to know her place," Phineas replied, "But I will defend that Woman from harm."

A ear bleeding scream then entered everyone's ears as Josephine ran into the room, a chunk of the flesh on her left arm ripped off. Josephine stopped and vomitted on the floor at the sight of it. Phineas ran to his sobbing wife but before he could do anything, the Zombie of Jim Murphy entered and bit Josephine's throat. Phineas punched Jim in the cheek to little effect. Douglas pulled Josephine away and kept repeating that everything is going to be ok. Chris looked in horror as Jim tackled Phineas and bit his jugular. Chris looked behind him to the fireplace, and found Phineas' pistol infront of it. He picked up the gun and shot his former friend in the head. Jim collapsed on Phineas. Phineas couldn't speak, and not long after choked on his own blood.

Josephine used all of her strength to smile upon seeing Phineas die. Douglas was close to tears as Josephine's grip on his hand weakened until she finally gave up and died. Chris collapsed and sat on the table, shaking.