HOW IT ENDS

“The small riot that started in the city of Boston is slowly spreading all over the U.S. Boston has been under utter chaos in the recent weeks...” The sound of the reporter fades as I walk away from the TV to my bedroom and close the door. I should’ve never started that experiment in the first place. Now look what I’ve done. I thought I could actually contribute to the scientific world, but all I did was destroy everything. Because of me, the world is under an apocalypse. Because of my failed experiment, because of the monster I created, the world has to face the consequences. Guilt eats me up every night. I’d do anything to undo this.

The volume of the TV increases. It was probably my sister, Audrey.

“We advise everyone to stay inside. Zombies are not to be taken lightly and are increasing rapidly in population as more and more people get infected. " The reporter continues on the news.

I sigh. I get up and walk to the kitchen just to realize we’ve run out of water. “Hey Audrey? Is there no more water left?” I ask, searching other more cabinets.

“Probably not. We’ve been locked in here for three weeks and all we had were four bottles of water,” she says as she looks up at me from the sofa. “What now?”

I swallow.

“You know what? I’ll go out tonight and get some water and hopefully some foo-”

“Anna, you’re not going anywhere,” Audrey interrupts me.

“Well, if we don’t get any food, we’re gonna die in here, anyway"

She stares at me, eyes filled with worry. Audrey has always been sensitive. I wonder what her reaction would be if she finds out I’m the one who caused this mess?

“I’ll go with you,” she mutters.

“No, you won’t,” I reply, “It’s dangerous"

“I don’t care. It’s either we die in here of hunger, or go out together"

I shut my eyes close and sigh.

“Fine,” I mumble, “We’ll go out tonight and we need to be really careful”

“Got it”

The world outside grows darker, but the sound of zombies growling doesn’t stop.

We get into thick clothes, a precautionary measure from zombie bites, and grab some important stuff.

I open the door of our apartment slightly and peek outside. Once I’m sure there’s no zombie lurking around, me and Audrey slowly walk outside.

The hallway of our apartment is filled with blood and broken limbs. This is all my fault, isn’t it? I fight the tears gathering up in my eyes. I walk up to our neighbor’s door, which is already open. I push it slightly and Audrey gasps behind me. I look down at the dead body of Elizabeth, our neighbor and Audrey’s classmate. Her face is completely ruined. Her skin ripped apart by those vicious monsters. It’s my fault.

“Stay quiet,” I whisper.

Audrey nods.

We both creep to the kitchen and search the cabinets for anything that could possibly keep us alive.

“I’ll go check in the bedroom,” Audrey mutters.

I nod and continue searching the kitchen.

Audrey yells. I quickly turn around.

“Audrey?!” I whisper.

I rush to the bedroom and find her trying to resist a zombie. I cover my mouth with shaking hands. I need to do something. I need to save her. I can’t lose her. Do something! But my legs refuse to move and I stand still as the monster digs its teeth into her neck, tearing apart her flesh. She screams in pain. Tears rolling down her eyes.

“No,” I whisper, “No! Audrey!”

“Go Anna,” she mutters with all the remaining strength in her body, “Please..”

“I’m not leaving you alone!” my voice cracks as I sob heavily.

“Anna just...” her voice was soft, fragile, “I love you”

And then she was gone. And it was my fault.

I take slow steps backward as the zombie comes closer to me. I turn around and run back to my place.

As soon as I get inside, I lock the door. I fall onto my knees. A huge sob escapes me. Please let this be a dream. I can’t lose Audrey. Not her, too. Not Audrey. Please. Everything inside me breaks. I scream and hug my knees. The pain tears apart my chest. All the guilt, the sadness, the anger, I let it all out. I cry until my eyes run dry and my throat hurts. I cry until there’s no more tears left in my body. Nothing but a wound that stings so hard.

What’s even the point?

I get up and walk to my room. I open the drawer and grab my bottle of sleeping pills. I open the lid halfway and then pause. This isn’t right. I can’t die. It’s my fault and I have to do something about it. I can’t die and leave the world to suffer because of me. I have to fix this.

I have to fix this. I have to fix this.

I repeat the words in my head until I know what I’m going to do.

I leave the bottle on the table and rush to my study room, where I keep most of my lap equipment. I haven’t opened this room ever since the incident.

I gather all the important stuff.

I think I have everything I need. Except, the DNA of a zombie.

I grab a golf stick. Audrey loved golf. She’s go playing every Friday.

I’m gonna hit a zombie in the head, and get it’s blood on the stick. This has to work out.

I go outside and search for any zombies creeping around. I take slow steps forward. I pause when I hear a noise. I turn around and hold the stick up. It’s a zombie.

I take two tiny steps behind as it moves closer. I hit it on the head with the stick. It doesn’t budge. Oh no. I hit him again, and it still stands still. It growls and digs its nails into my arms. I scream out of pain. I deserve this anyway. It gets on top of me and bites into my cheek. I shut my eyes close. It pulls away from me and leave. Tears roll down my cheeks. It’s over, isn’t it? Is this how it ends? It’s all my fault. I always thought I was brave, guess not. I’ve caused a tragedy, haven’t I?