Until The Bitter End

“HOLY SHIT GUYS IT’S HAPPENING” - the first tweet I see in my feed. It’s a pixelated video of people huddled together eating someone.

Must be a clip from a movie I haven’t seen, but there are a lot of comments so I decide to start reading them. Each response is another gruesome video or an account of some fucked up thing another person just saw.

It looks like all the videos are from somewhere in Asia, but I can’t tell if it’s real or some AI generated ″content″ created by people with too much spare time on their hands.

But the videos seem too realistic, and each one is completely different to the last. There’s also a ton of comments, so it would be pretty difficult to fake something like this… but then again sites like 4chan have been notorious for coordinating big hoaxes.

Going deeper into the accounts shows real, legitimate looking profiles. Some of them are verified with thousands of followers. ″Is this real?″ I ask myself.

A quick google search shows me what I wanted to see, a news website I’ve heard of posting about it. According to them there is some kind of infection that has started popping up very recently, and is causing some concern. There are no details about the infection itself, but some less-liberal countries’ governments are taking measures by blocking internet access to ″combat misinformation″.

″Probably just another covid strain″ I think to myself.

I decide it’s time to stop the deep dive and get ready for bed. Strangely there is no running water, so I have to put off having a shower and brush my teeth with bottled water. We had pamphlets sent out by the government last month about how citizens need to prepare for a possible crisis, so I went out and bought a 10L water jug not expecting to use it. Thankfully I did, otherwise I would have to brush my teeth with beer.

Once in bed I stare at the roof wondering if the water will be back on tomorrow. I have enough to drink, but I would really like to shower before work.

It was only a few hours before I was awakened by a muffled scream, and the sound of things breaking in my upstairs neighbours house. The guys living above me are having a fight, but this is more than just an argument. One is shouting to stop, and the other is screaming nonsense while furniture is moved and glass breaks.

It goes on for a little longer until I hear a final scream, met with a loud thud that causes my light fitting to shake and some dust to fall from the roof.

I can’t believe what I just heard. After a few seconds the fear paralysis washes away and I can think again, so I grab my phone and call the police.

I feel sick as I listen to the sound of the call being disconnected. The screen says ″call failed″.

I try again and the same thing happens.

No, this can’t be happening.

Next I tried the direct ambulance line and it’s the same thing.

I hear a police car speed past outside while I try with no success to get through to the fireman.

I feel a sick dreadful feeling in my stomach.

Another police car goes past outside. Why aren’t they answering their fucking phones? What’s more important than whatever the fuck just happened upstairs?

I sat for what felt like an eternity in silence. Every few minutes the police or an ambulance drove by, and the sirens would cause one of the upstairs neighbours to start screeching and running around their apartment.

I’m sitting here paralysed with fear. I feel like if I move, something bad will happen. But if I don’t move something bad will also happen.

My phone rings, scaring the shit out of me - it was my parents on facetime:

“Oskar! We have been trying to call you! The phone signal doesn’t work but we still have some internet. Are you ok?”

“No!” I whisper. “The fucking neighbour just… I think one of them just got killed” I start to cry, keeping my voice low.

“Oh my god… what are you doing? Call the police! Lock the door! We w-”

“I CAN’T! I tried everyone and I can’t get through. None of the phone lines work! There are so many police cars driving by, I don’t know what’s going on!”

“We need to try and get back to Stockholm. Please stay safe… What happened?”

“T-there was some kind of fight between the two guys living above me…. One of them was shouting and then there was a fight and there was furniture being bashed around, and now the one who was shouting isn’t making any noise… and the other keeps screeching and running around their apartment.”

“Oskar…. I… get up and go check if the door is locked. Just do that before you do anything else”.

Finally I got up from my bed and tip-toed to the front door leading out to the apartment corridor. I felt cold as I turned the deadbolt, and it made a loud click noise as it locked shut.

“Wh… what was that? Is it locked?” said my mum

“...... it is now.”

“Oh god, what if something happened? Put something really heavy behind the door so that nobody can open it. We will try and call someone to help you. I don’t know when we will come back, someone from the hotel woke us up to say the roads are closed, and nobody is able to go back down into the valley today. We will get back as soon as we can.”

“Please don’t hang up” I whispered.

“We need to, we don’t have much internet and the phone lines don’t seem to work. We will call you again in 10 minutes, please just listen to us and push something heavy against the door. We love you very much.”

“I-I love you too. Please come back”

“We are as soon as possible. Don’t open the door for anyone except the police, we will try to get back as soon as possible.”

“Okay”

And like that, I was back on my own. I couldn’t believe the door was unlocked that whole time. How am I so fucking dumb?

Next I walked as quietly as possible to the couch and pushed it into place between the door and the wall - now nothing could get in, or out of my house.

I put on socks to make my footsteps quiet and then went to the kitchen to get the only ″weapon″ in my possession - a dull steak knife - and went to the corner of the apartment where I was furthest away from the door.

As I passed the window I saw outside and it was strangely dark. My clock said it was still 4am so the sun won’t be out for a few hours - but this was way too dark.

There wasn’t a single street light on, light from the apartments across the street, or even from the tall buildings nearby. My apartment also felt incredibly silent, not even the dull hum of the fridge - and it was cold. The power is out.

***

I sat in the dark corner of my house until the sun began rising. Shortly after the call with my parents the internet dropped again, so I have no contact with anyone. The silence has been occasionally broken by a police car zooming past, with its blue lights temporarily illuminating my apartment - and every time it sets off the upstairs neighbour.

I have no idea if this is a dream or not. I try thinking back through the events such as how the night started, pinching myself, any obvious ″dream signs″ I’ve overlooked. Unluckily for me, I think this is real.

Suddenly a quiet knock at my door pulls me back to reality.

Do I answer? Who is it? Which neighbour would be checking up? What sh-

The knock comes again, and this time it’s firmer, with purpose. I sit in silence for what feels like years, and as I start to open my mouth and try to answer they try opening the door.

This time the door is locked, but that doesnt stop the handle from moving. Do I shout at them to go away? Or ask who it is? What if it’s a friend? What if it’s someone trying to kill me? I squeeze the handle of the steak knife until my knuckles turn white.

The anonymous door knocker relents after a few attempts, and I hear them spray paint something on my door before the silence returns.

***

Some more time passes and the outside world starts to brighten up. I check my phone and it says 7:16 now, but without service or internet it feels like a useless piece of glass.

Help isn’t coming. Whatever is going on has impacted more than just my apartment building.

I think back to what I read online last night to try and put together everything I know so far. Whoever has this will become extremely violent, eat other people, and scream a lot. People were saying to not get bitten, but others said that doesnt matter because people who WEREN’T bitten are still getting infected.

How did they get it then? And my upstairs neighbours, were they on holiday recently? I don’t know. Am I going to turn crazy?

How do I stop one of these people from hurting me? What if this is all solved next week and I go to jail because I hurt someone trying to kill me? Can I even kill someone who’s infected? I really don’t know if I have it in me.

This time something new snaps me out of my thought spiral, and it’s my phone ringing. It’s my friend Kristoff.

″Hello?″

“OKSAR?!” He is breathing heavily. “I’m so glad I finally got through to someone. Something is really wrong. I just got to uni and my lecturer is acting crazy - he looked really fucked up and tried to attack me. I think I hurt him pretty badly in the process, but he’s locked in the lecture hall now. I can’t get through to the police, or anyone else. Can you help me?”

“What?! How havent you seen what’s going on? And do you have power right now?”

“The fuck kind of a question is that? Why wouldn’t the power be on, and what do you mean ″what’s going on″? I just hit my lecturer with a fucking chair, I’m probably getting kicked out of my course for this!”

“Did he bite you?”

“What? Bite? No. Actually…”

My heart sank as I wondered if Kristoff was going to try and eat someone too…

“Ok I just checked, he kind of did… but I’m still wearing my jacket so he just got a mouthful of leather. How did you know that?”

“Last night before I went to bed there was a bunch of stuff on twitter about riots in asia and people eating eachother -”

“Oh yeah nice, alongside all the other primary sources of knowledge on that site”

“Yeah I know, I thought it was bullshit as well but there were also some news sites posting about it, and it… my upstairs neighbour has it as well” I started to sob again as I realised how fucked this is.

“....oh shit. Jesus fucking christ…. That explains a lot. Are you ok? You couldn’t call the cops either?”

“No…. It’s the same problem. I talked to my parents and they said to lock the door and get help, there’s some shit going down where they are too. I can’t get through to them anymore”

“Fuck, I hope they’re ok. Man I think we need to link up and hide out somewhere”

“Please! Can you come to my place?”

“Fuck no, sorry I mean no, people must have it in your area too. I don’t know what to do”

“Ok, what if we link up somewhere? What about the boat shed and we go up the river somewhere?” The boat shed is our rowing club, and it was just the first place that came to mind.

“Yeah ok” Kristoff said. “I do think we need to get out of the city, but then where?”

“North, not south, we go where there’s less people in case this does not blow over tomorrow. Do you have any friends or family living up really north? Or what about Sälen?”

“What? Where we ski!? Jesus man we can’t row all the way there, and it’s so far. But I suppose it’s way closer than any of my relatives up North. They are deep in Norrland.”

“Yeah ok maybe the ski resort is a bad idea, but at least we know the area? Its November, there will be hardly anyone there at the moment”

“You might be right. Let’s plan this out better, what if there’s somewhere closer we can go? This is too impulsive”

“Where else?”

“Yeah ok you got me. You’re right that the further up we go the less people there are. It’s a crazy idea though”

“Yeah I agree, but whatever is happening is bad. Really bad. I don’t think this will be solved tomorrow morning. It was really bad in Asia last night, it reached my parents in Austria, I don’t know where it wouldn’t be at this stage. The internet isn’t working or anything. Speaking of that, this call probably won’t work for long”

“OK, good point. Meet me at the boat shed tonight with your stuff. We will row as far up as possible and then figure out what to do from there.”

“I’ll see you there. By the way, what do you think this is?”

“Hard to say, I actually know fuck all about this stuff. We haven’t covered anything like this in med school yet. Just avoid people by the sound of it. A bite will probably be enough to turn you into one of them”

“Yeah ok, but could it be something like the walking dead?”

“Like an undead corpse? No it’s not possible. The only ones who really got it right were 28 days later or the last of us, you know the game? They had people who were infected by a fungus. It was spread first through wheat products, like bread and cake.”

“Well I″m fucked then, I’ve eaten bread since I got home last night”

“Maybe, do you feel weird?”

“Really scared, but fine”

“Did you drink water or anything?”

“Yes, well no actually, my taps aren’t working so I’ve just had bottled water”

“Ok, and I had a few beers last night but no water, and my taps aren’t working today so I had to drink an iced coffee”

“Maybe we’re onto something. What else”

“Well water is in frui-”

The phone call cut out, and I had no service again. It was a miracle we got that phone call, but now I have so many more questions. Maybe going up to a ski field 500km away is a terrible idea, but what else should we do? Things might not be so bad in the city, or other cities. We will have to discuss it more.

And who came past my door and then just sprayed something? I’m not going to open the door until it’s time to leave, but what the hell is spray painted onto it?

I wonder if Kristoff was right about the water though - there are no other obvious ways I should or shouldn’t have been infected.

Thank god I have enough bottled water to carry me through a few days. I decide it’s time to quietly pack my backpack so that I can leave when it’s dark enough.

***

The day has come and gone, and now it’s dark enough to leave. Any doubts I had about the severity of the situation were washed away by the things I saw through my window during the day.

A woman speeding down the street hit someone, got out of the car to check on the injured person, and then both of them were attacked by some infected people.

Another car just hit someone and kept going, not even bothering to stop. I think the person they hit was infected, but does that make it right?

One of the buildings down the road also caught fire, something blew up, and nobody came to help. The sound just brought more infected people out to the street.

It’s obvious when someone is infected. I don’t know how, but it makes people act like animals. They become kind of dumb too. People seem to forget everything - they can barely open a door properly.

They are also really hungry and thirsty. I saw some drinking from a puddle like animals. They don’t seem to be able to communicate either, but follow one another and move in on any sound they hear.

I don’t know if I can take one down, even if it’s coming for me. They have so much aggression and just run straight at anyone who is not infected. If it comes down to a situation where I’m stuck I would rather tie the person up in case they recover - I guess that’s really dangerous… but I don’t want to kill anyone.

I’ve got a bag packed as lightly as possible, and warm black clothes to try and blend into the night.

The dull steak knife also seemed like a terrible weapon, so I took one of the metal bars out of my desk and prayed I wouldn’t need it.

I also thought about Kristoff saying his lecturer wasn’t able to bite through his jacket, so I taped some magazines to my arms, and made a mental note to take the next leather jacket I see. The magazines aren’t the most comfortable, but I feel a little safer.

I take one more look into my apartment and wonder if I will ever see it again, and open my door as quietly as possible. It’s now time to go.

My door was really loud and creaky for years, and during a recent visit my dad was so pissed off with it, he sprayed some oil into the hinges and they don’t make a sound now. I silently thank him as I walk into the dark hallway, only slightly illuminated by the emergency exit sign.

As I close my door I get a look at what was spray painted on it earlier this morning. ″E″. What does it mean? The apartment next to me is empty and they also have an ″E″ on the door.

But now I’m faced with a hard choice: lock the door and risk making noise in the hallway, or leave my apartment unlocked? I decide on locking it, as I don’t know when I’ll be back.

Carefully I insert the key and begin turning it as slowly as possible, but when it hits a certain point the latch bolt makes a really loud click noise, magnified by the silence.

“Fuck.” I whisper, as the sound can be heard echoing through the entire corridor.

I stand still, unsure of what to do - but it stays silent.

Next I take one step, and at the same time the upstairs neighbour starts banging and screeching on their door - they definitely heard it.

I give up on trying to be silent and start running down the stairs. Another infected neighbour hears, and also starts banging on their apartment door. The corridor is filled with screams and banging.

The 3 flights of stairs felt like a lifetime, but I finally made it down and to the exit door.

The cold air hits my face as I rush out and into the courtyard, but I have no time to relax or go back up for a mask. I run straight to my bike, and start fumbling with the lock and keys until it finally clicks open. I pull the keys out and shove them in my pocket, but leave the lock and just start riding.

I think about how dumb I was for not even looking around to see if it was safe before locking my bike, but this time I am lucky - the courtyard is empty. As I ride towards the exit I look around at the garden area and think about all the summer evenings spent out here with my friends, and wonder if I’ll ever experience that again.

Going through the courtyard exit takes me to the street my window faces out on. I have to ride past the car where the lady stopped to check on the person she hit, and I start to tear up as I see what’s left of her on the ground.

I look over at my building instead, trying to focus on anything but the corpse. I look up at my window, and the window of my infected neighbours. They are probably still banging and screaming on the front door, so thankfully won’t notice me out on the street.

A light flashing in the window of the next building gets my attention, someone on the second floor is signalling me. I cautiously continue riding in the middle of the street, and stop when I’’m parallel with the window.

Someone is inside, and pointing up at a sign they have on their window. It’s completely dark out, but the letters have been drawn thick enough to faintly show “HELP”.

I sit there still for a moment, thinking of what to do. Maybe they can join me on a bike. I wave to them, and signal to come with me, downstairs.

They shake their heads, and make some kind of hand gesture I don’t understand.

I try to signal for them to open the window so we can talk, but an infected person shows up at another window in that apartment building.

It sends a chill down my spine to look at one of them in the eyes like this, even from a distance. They start bashing on their window and I can see they are screaming, but the only sound I hear on the street is dull thuds.

Suddenly the window breaks and their scream is no longer blocked by the window. It scares the shit out of me, and I’m in a really bad spot on the street so I go ahead without even looking back at the person with the help sign.

The infected person continues growling and screaming, and even though it’s too high up to get me I know others will hear it.

I start riding away as fast as I can as the footsteps and growls grow behind me, but I’m too fast on my bike - and too scared to look back. I just keep riding as fast as I can, until the screams fade away into the night.

The bikeride out of the city was a strange experience. The first snow of winter started and is usually a beautiful time, but tonight it has been contradicted by an occasional gunshot or scream in the distance to break the silence.

The further I go from the centre the less chaotic it becomes.

***

I’ve cycled for an hour now taking the side roads, staying well away from what I imagine is chaos on the highways.

The suburban neighbourhoods are extremely quiet, but I know there are people around because there are tracks in the snow.

Before long I make it to the forest area which means I’m on the final stretch to the boat shed. The rowing club has a yard on the river out in the forest, and there is not much else in the area besides summer cabins so I hope it’s really quiet out here.

There are no more tracks in the snow, so I wonder if Kristoff made it.

I’m glad I’m on a bike right now, because it is much quieter than walking in the snow.

A few minutes later the boat shed entrance is in sight. I ride up the road towards the front gate and stop a few metres ahead, realising its locked. The boat shed is a yard area in the middle of the forest, with a building for storage and changing, and then dozens of rowing boats and equipment in racks out in the open area. It has a small jetty on the river bank going out into the water so that there is easy access in and out for the boats.

After standing outside the gate for a few seconds wondering what to do a small rock hits me. I look straight in the direction it came from without saying anything, and see two guys crouched down in the trees beside the gate.

Yet again today, I stand there frozen in fear until one of them waves and I realise it’s Kristoff. He signals to be quiet and then to come over, which I do as quietly as possible.

When I get over to the pair they help me quietly lay my bike down and Kristoff gives me a hug.

″Thank fuck you made it, what a day this has been.″

″I agree″ I say.

I look over at the other person and recognise Casper, who is also in the rowing club.

We nod at each other, before Kristoff gets us to crouch down and huddle in.

″We can talk more on the water″ says Kristoff. ″Everything is locked, the fence, boats, oars, etc. We have no keys, and to make things more difficult there are two of them inside.″

″Two of them?″ I ask.

″Yeah you know…. Infected people″ replies Casper.

″Oh..″

Look, come quietly over here and I’ll show you″ says kristoff.

We silently make our way to the fence and peer into the yard area. It looks like nobody else is there, until Kristoff points at a weird pile of leaves and some tarp used to cover the boats next to the building. I can see some legs poking out of it, twitching every few seconds.

″They’re trying to get warm and sleep,″ Says Casper.

″We have been watching them inside for a few hours now″ says Kristoff. ″They were walking around and would occasionally try to grab a bird that would fly into the yard until the snow came. Once that happened they got too cold and didn’t really know how to get inside or make a proper shelter. If we’re lucky they will freeze to death″.

“Wow. I saw some of them drinking from a puddle of water. They don’t know how to open water bottles or anything” I exclaimed.

“Or they don’t like beer” replied Casper, which caught me so off guard that I started smiling.

“Okay” said Kristoff. “What’s the plan?”

“What? You guys have been here for hours, shouldn’t you have thought of something?” I said.

“Fuck man we’re not navy seals or anything. Who the fuck knows what to do in a situation like this?”

“Sorry, understandable”

“So, what do you think? There’s three of us and two of them, should we take them out?”

“Kristoff, you said we’re not navy seals so let’s not even try to start acting like it” whispered Casper.

“I have an idea, we need to cut the fence and then the locks holding the boats in, right? There are a couple of summer houses nearby, one of them will have a tool shed with bolt cutters. The nearest cabin is a few minutes away”.

The guys both nodded their heads.

“Yeah, let’s do it. Do we take our bags or leave them here?”

“I think it will be quieter and lighter for us to move without them”

“Ok, but do you guys have any food? I have hardly any, so maybe we bring one bag just to throw in anything handy like that” I said.

“Yeah, good call,” said Casper. “Let’s get moving, I don’t want to be out here all night”.

Kristoff had the most empty bag, so he kept his.

We set off and walked over to the nearest cabin. Quietly we walked through the forest and after a few minutes a small red house in the woods came into sight.

“How do we do this?”

“Let’s stay out of the clearing, and throw some rocks at the house. If there are any infected people, we can wait for them to calm down and quietly sneak away. If there is no sound it means the place is empty” said Casper.

“Ok, but what if there is someone normal there?” I asked.

“Ask them for help, or we move onto the next place. Would be nice to have a fourth person rowing”

“Alright, I don’t want to be the one to do it - but since this was my idea I’ll throw the rock”

“Thanks Casper” I said, before stepping over behind a tree and peeking around the side to get a view of the house.

Once the others were into position Casper picked up a stone and lobbed it on top of the house. We sat there in silence, but there were no other sounds.

He then picked up another rock and shrugged before throwing it on the house again. This time it hit the metal chimney which was a lot louder, but again there were no sounds.

We all grouped together and tried to decide what to do next.

“Ok” I said. “There is probably no infected there, the ones I have seen go crazy over any sounds they hear. But I want to be sure. Are you ok if I shine my light at the house? If someone is in there they will see it as a signal”

“Yeah, good call” said Casper.

I took out my torch and shined it across the clearing at the window, and made a few slow circles. I don’t know if that means anything, but I guess someone might understand.

Still nothing.

“Ok, let’s sneak up to the cabin and check through each window to see if anyone is there.” I said. “I will check each window, can you guys stay near me and keep an eye out?”

They both nodded and we made our way out of the bushes into the clearing. As we walked over I scanned over the snow for any footprints, but it was clear.

Once at the cabin, I looked over at the guys to see if the coast was clear and then shined my light into the cabin window.

First I could see the kitchen, and then a lounge area with couches. Nobody there.

Walking to the next side, I had a look into a bedroom that was also empty.

The other side of the house from where we started allowed me to see if anything was behind the couch, or in another spot in the kitchen, but it was also empty

Finally, the last side of the house had a small window for the bathroom and a gardening shed. The bathroom was also empty, and so I opened the wooden shed door to check inside and to my surprise a set of bolt cutters was sitting right there. I grabbed them and passed it to Casper, and took a crowbar to pass to Kristoff.

“Ok, the house was empty. We can go in” I said.

“We can, but should we?” Kristoff said.

“I don’t want to steal someone’s stuff, but we kind of have to”

“Caspers right, I don’t want to steal some poor guys food and tools, but we really need it. This is life or death”

“Ok, let’s do it”

“Your turn” I said to Kristoff.

“What, why? Oh, yeah I guess I haven’t done anything yet and have the crowbar. Fine.”

“We have your back”

“No, don’t stand too close. I want to be able to turn around and bail if there is something there. Was the house definitely clear?”

“Yeah” I said. “I could see everything. I don’t know if its unlocked through”

“Let’s find out” said Casper. “There are always dumbasses leaving their front doors unlocked”

That comment made me feel embarrassed about leaving my apartment door unlocked last night.

Kristoff tried the front door, and to everyone’s surprise it was unlocked.

“Ok” he said. “I’m going in, one of you shine your light into the window so that there is some extra light. I’ll only take food if it’s canned or easy to carry.”

I walked over and held my light up into the window so that I could watch Kristoff, and Casper kept lookout in the clearing.

Kristoff quietly walked in the house, and said “Hello, is anyone here? We’re not here to hurt you. If someone is here we will go, we’re just looking for food”.

There was no answer, so he continued. I watched him check if anyone was in the bathroom and bedroom, before walking over to the kitchen and opening the pantry. It was full of canned food.

He turned and gave me a thumbs up, and started putting things in his bag. I continued to scan the house, wondering if we were doing this in the safest way possible. We were definitely cautious.

Finally Kristoff wrote something on a piece of paper and came back out.

“What was on the paper?” I asked.

“It was an apology to the owner. We stole their food and tools, so I wrote what we took and gave them our names so that they can contact us if this blows over.”

“Really, our names?”

“Yeah it’s not like we’re going to go to jail. If this does blow over people will be in trouble for way worse things than stealing food. Besides, we’re about to break into our rowing club and steal a boat, why is this so bad?”

“Fair enough”

“I only took a couple of cans, but we’re travelling light so it’s just enough to get us through a few days.”

“Good idea, well let’s get out of here.”

We walked over to Casper and switched off our lights, and Kristoff told him what he found before we continued back to the boat shed.

Once we were back at our original spot by the fence, we discussed another plan.

“So” I started. “Let’s confirm the plan. We have a set of bolt cutters, so we need to cut a hole in the fence and make our way to the boat racks. We can cut the lock and take a 4 person boat since we have backpacks with us.”

“Ok, and an oar each” added Kristoff. “But the infected are going to be a problem. What do we do if they hear us?”

“Do you guys think we can fight them off?” I asked.

“Fuck, anything but that” replied Kristoff.

“God I know right. What the hell are we doing out here talking about fighting them off? I’m fucking terrified of these people.” added Casper.

“Me too. But I don’t know how else we can do this. The fence might be quiet, but breaking the boat lock and actually unloading it to the water will be so difficult to pull off silently. We are smarter than them, and they can’t bite us easily. Kristoff has a leather jacket and I taped magazines to my arms so that they can’t bite through”

“Woah really?” said Kristoff. “Good idea”

“Fuck man why I didnt think of that” said Casper. He was starting to look really scared, which was making me more scared.

“Casper” I said, trying to act more calm and hope it made him calm down. “You have the bolt cutters and we have some weapons. We will cover you while you cut it. We just have to stick together”

“Ok” he said, seeming a little calmer. “So I cut the fence, and once we’re inside I will cut the chain holding the oars, grab three, then we go to the 4 person boats and I cut one of those free. Is that what you want to do?”

“Yes, and while you do that, if the infected hear us, Oskar and I will start throwing rocks at the other side of the yard to buy us some time. Like what you thought of at the cabin” Kristoff added.

I nodded my head as it seemed like a good idea. Casper still looked scared, we’re all terrified - but I didn’t really know what to do to help him.

I feel like I’ve been put in a trance today from all the stressful events, and I’m so tired. I’m tired from the stress but somehow the stress is what’s keeping me going right now. Maybe he’s seen even more shit than me today, we haven’t had a chance to talk about it properly.

I felt like the only thing I can do now is try and boost morale, so I grabbed each person’s shoulder and huddled in. They picked up on it and grabbed each other’s shoulder so we made a circle.

“This is a fucking crazy situation, but theres three of us and two of them. We have a plan, so let’s stick to it as best we can and deal with them only if we have to”

They both looked at me and nodded. Time for action I guess.

We put on our bags and I looked at my bike. “Will I ever see it again?” I thought to myself. Hopefully the owner of the cabin gets it as some kind of reparation.

We crouched down and quietly walked over to the fence, and the plan fell apart before it had even started.

The infected people who were trying to rest and warm up near the building were gone.

“Fuck sake” I heard Kristoff whisper.

We sat there looking through the fence dumbfounded. There were plenty of footprints around the ‘nest’ the people had made, but that was the case before I got there. It was hard to tell where they had gone off to.

The yard wasnt that big, but big enough to have no idea where they were now. I guess the distraction plan is happening sooner than I thought.

I picked up a rock and looked at the guys, before throwing it as far as I could into the water near the far corner of the yard. I heard it splash, and stood there listening, and was shocked to notice one of the infected people resting on the other side of the oar rack, just a few metres away from us.

They got up and started groaning, and I caught a look at their face just long enough to see it was a girl I know from university. Her name is Signe, and tonight she was a growling, dishevelled mess - who started making her way over to where the splash came from.

I couldn’t believe how close we were. If we were any louder she would have heard us for sure. My disbelief turned to sadness seeing her as one of them, this is the first person I’ve seen infected that I actually know.

“You just saved our lives” said Kristoff.

“You’re welcome” I replied.

Casper got to work cutting the chain link fence. I’ve never tried to cut one of these before, and even though I knew it wouldn’t be as fast as in movies it is definitely louder than I expected. Each click noise made me cringe a little as I knew it would be echoing across the yard.

Casper was halfway through cutting a crescent shape into the fence when I saw Signe and the other infected person looking around. They could definitely hear us now.

Kristoff saw too, and quickly threw a rock into the water. It got their attention, and they turned around to investigate again but this time they were more riled up.

“What the fuck are you making the hole so big for?” I whispered to Casper.

“The fence doesn’t move as much as you think it will” He quickly whispered back. How did he know that? Maybe this isn’t his first rodeo.

It must have only been another 15 seconds, but it felt like an eternity. I could hear Signe and the other person growling even more now, so I quickly threw another rock. This time it was a terrible throw, landing with a loud bang on top of the building.

Now they were starting to screech and we could see them go up to the building and start banging on the door.

Kristoff threw one more rock, and although it landed in the water, Signe and the other guy were locked onto the small building.

Casper cut the fence enough, so he peeled a section away and exposed the hole for us to go in through.

I was standing the closest, so I went in first - cautious of my bag getting caught in the loose wire. Kristoff followed behind me, and once we were through Casper closed it and Kristoff opened it again on our side to help him back through. Now the three of us were in the yard with no easy way out.

The banging and screeching was so loud, but it honestly might be helping us because they are making enough noise to drown out any we make.

Since there is an oar rack next to where we went in, Casper got to work cutting the lock. The metal is a lot thicker for padlocks than with chain link fences, so we awkwardly crouched while watching the commotion across the yard at the building. From this position, even if they look in our direction it will be hard to see us properly, but we have a good view of them.

I noticed the sound they’re making is attracting more infected people. We can hear more screams coming from the woods, and Casper is taking a fucking long time with the lock.

Finally he manages to cut it, so he carefully lifts the chain off and takes 3 oars. Kristoff grabs another rock and throws it on top of the building this time, I assume to keep the distraction game up as long as possible. Signe and the other guy are even more provoked - they are screaming and banging really violently on the building now.

We make our way over to the boat racks, and Casper puts the oars down to start cutting. We have a fence behind us, the water to our left, and the building directly in front with only the boat rack between. We have a much better view of the commotion now, but it is also easier for them to see us.

The screams from other infected people outside the yard are closer, and I can see one get to the front gate and start banging.

Suddenly one comes up behind us and starts trying to get through the fence.

The three of us stop and stare at an infected guy staring straight at us. It sends a chill down my spine when he grabs the fence with both hands and screeches, before trying to bite through and get in any way possible.

He tries to force his hands through the fence in painful looking ways without flinching. Looking at him made me realise just how fucked this is.

Seeing them from a distance is one thing, but the way they go for you like some kind of hungry animal is terrifying.

I snap back to reality and turn to see if the other two infected in the yard noticed. They are thankfully still distracted by the building, and the one behind us can’t just yell out “Hey they’re over here! Guys, the food is here!”.

My stress is through the roof now, and it must be for the others too. Casper also snaps back and continues trying to cut the lock.

The sound of the person behind us screaming is so loud it hurts my ears. There are now two more joining him, and in the corner of my eye I notice one near our hole in the fence.

I look in horror as the ones behind us just try with every ounce of effort to get through the fence. They are like crazy animals. I can’t believe these were regular people just a few days ago.

Finally Casper finishes with the lock. He doesn’t bother to make it quiet, and just pulls the chain off.

Kristoff throws one more rock onto the building roof for safe measure and I help Casper take a boat off the rack. We peel the tarp off and put the boat on our shoulders, and I somehow manage to get an oar in my hand while Casper does the same. We start running straight for the water.

Once we get to the edge I try to slow down, but Casper is determined and keeps running in. Finally once he is up to his waist and I’m up to my thighs in icy water we start lowering the boat.

I turn around and see Kristoff with the third oar standing at the water’s edge. Signe noticed us and has started running in our direction, so we only have a few seconds until she gets to us.

He drops his crowbar and puts one end of the oar in the sand under his foot, and the other out like a jousting stick. Signe doesn’t notice and continues towards him, but the oar is positioned to hit her chest and she just runs straight into it. She made contact and the way it was positioned took her down, falling straight onto her back, while Kristoff was still standing strong.

He brought the oar and came into the water, but now the other guy banging on the building has noticed us. He started running towards the water while simultaneously another must have made it through the hole in the fence because there were more in the yard now.

We continued to the boat, and Casper was already sitting in position at the back, facing us to perfectly see the chaos unfold. We didn’t have time to get in without tipping the boat so we just threw our bags in and kept running into the water while pushing the boat out.

“Fucking row cunt!” I shouted at Casper, which shifted him into gear. Once Kristoff and I were up to our chests we started trying to swim while holding onto the boat, but it was really difficult with all our clothes on.

Casper was going as fast as he could, which was helping pull us further out, but I could hear the infected splashing in the water.

A few seconds later and after some desperate swimming Casper stopped rowing.

“GO!” I shouted, as I could hear more infected splashing around.

“They can’t swim, look!” he replied

Kristoff and I turned around and saw four infected people in the water, but they all stopped around the height of their knees. They were still screeching and staring, but wouldn’t come any further in.

Behind them laying on the shore was Signe, motionless. I think Kristoff killed her.

Now that we are safe from the infected I started focusing on how cold the water is.

Kristoff looked at me and I could see how white his face was. I don’t know if it was from the cold or what he just did - probably a mix of both.

“We need to get warm” he said.

I helped him climb into the boat without capsizing it, and then he did the same for me.

“We need to take off our wet clothes and put on something dry, then start rowing to warm up” Kristoff said. “The hypothermia will creep up on us if we don’t”

We all took off our wet clothes and put them in a pile at the end of the boat and then put on whatever dry clothes we had in our bags.

Snow had started to fall, and the group of infected had given up coming out into the water. There were 5 standing on the bank staring at us, growling. Never breaking the stare.

The three of us silently rowed into the night.