Alive Inside

Jeffrey shivered as he tried to sleep on the floor of the mini mall, feeling the chill in his bones despite the number of blankets covering him. When he felt the need to rub his arms for warmth, he knew that sleep wasn't going to come easily this time either, but then again it never did since the beginning of the outbreak.

It must have been two years now, maybe three, since everything had gone to absolute hell. There was no start or end to it, you were either simply caught up in the middle of it all or far away enough to see what was coming. Jeffrey was one of the latter, but ultimately it didn't matter. The virus, the infection, the whatever the hell it was, it was an airborne thing. Unavoidable and horrifyingly virulent. Millions of people all over the world were dropping like flies in their houses, on the streets, it didn't matter where, only to rise again and make millions more turn into god-fucking-damn zombies; actual, literal zombies. Chaos ruled quickly and brutally, and the few number of people immune to whatever was in the air became even fewer as time went on.

For all Jeffrey knew, there were only a handful of people left in the world, and the last survivor he knew had just died a month ago from overdosing on sleeping pills, of all things. Sleep wouldn't come naturally any more, the man had explained when he and Jeffrey had met in the mall, talking to pass the time. The mall had been empty since the beginning, but it was a good place to fortify, hole up in and sneak out for supply runs. There had been other survivors and things were good for a while... but they were all gone now. Dead or lost. All that remained in the mall to show that they were ever around were the words 'Alive Inside' spray painted on the door, along with their names written in permanent marker underneath, each one - except for Jeffrey's - crossed out with a neat horizontal line.

As Jeffrey lay curled up on the icy floor, he decided that he would cross out his name on the door tomorrow. It wasn't like anyone else was going to do it for him when the time came, and at this point he didn't expect to last much longer with food getting scarcer and more dangerous to find. Well, he knew what starving to death looked like and he didn't want that. Perhaps it was time to move somewhere else... or take enough sleeping pills to not have to worry about anything ever again. It was not the first time he considered it.

Sherri's heart raced as she raced through the woods. A group of the infected had been chasing her for a full 20 minutes, no stops, and she was beginning to feel faint. She had nothing in her backpack that could possibly help her. A water bottle? Lip gloss? She was better off with her bare hands. The young woman cursed herself silently for not carrying any weapons. The only thing she really had was a small pistol, and that had run out of bullets a mile ago. Sherri could hear the monsters getting closer as her legs grew weak and she began slowing down. The girl pushed herself to keep going, knowing that if she stopped, she wouldn't be able to start back up again. She looked back momentarily to see how far away the infected were from her, happy to see they were several yards away. Not looking where she was going, Sherri slipped on a small rock and collapsed to the ground. She struggled to stand up, her legs numb from running for so long. She looked down for something to use as a makeshift weapon, realizing that she couldn't run forever. She spotted a thick branch on the ground and picked it up, ready tho fight. "C'mon! I'm right here!" Sherri yelled, causing the infected to quicken their pace. The five monsters stumbled toward her, ready to make her their next meal.

Sherri backed up as they reached her, unsure if she'd be able to handle them all with just the stick. Before she could think it over completely, they were only a few feet away from her and it was time to fight. The first one attacked, grabbing her shoulder with its half-eaten hand. She grabbed its head with her shaky fingers and pushed the branch through its eye socket. It slumped to the ground, even more lifeless than before. The second one, a lady, tripped over the first, making it easy for Sherri to push the stick through her soft, decomposing skull. After killing the rest using similar techniques, Sherri rubbed her stick in the grass to clean the entails off of it, then sat on the ground beside their corpses.

Sherri looked up at the sky. The sun was almost ready to set, which meant if she didn't find shelter soon, she'd be exposed after dark. The girl stood shakily then began walking forward until she was out of the forest and onto the highway. Sherri looked around for somewhere to rest for the night, the sun lowering more toward the horizon. "Bingo." she said as she spotted a mall in the distance. Except for a few infected in the parking lot, it looked completely vacant. Sherri began walking toward the front of the building, barely enough strength in her to continue on. The drifters snarled at her as she made her way toward them, then began limping toward her. Sherri sped up toward the doors of the mall and tried to pull them open. They wouldn't budge. She pulled again, this time harder. They were locked. The infected were getting closer. She shook the doors frantically, as if that would magically unlock them. Unsure of what to do, the girl turned around toward the monsters, not sure if she had the strength for another battle.

Jeffrey's eyes snapped open as he heard the door shaking. Immediately fearing the worst, he took his pistol out from under his pillow and flung off the blankets as he scrambled to his feet, imagining a horde of undead gathering outside. The second he aimed his gun at the door, he remembered that no mindless zombie would have any reason to try to come inside, due to the heavy shelf blocking the way, concealing any movement at the same time. Another second later, the thought occurred that the cause of all the ruckus might have been a living, breathing human being.

Rushing towards the door, Jeffrey pushed the heavy shelf out of the way and took a peek outside. Evidently his instinct proved true and he frantically shouted out, "Hang on!" as he pushed the shelf further, then rummaged through his pockets for the key to the door. Retrieving it in what he felt was a few seconds too close for comfort, he opened the door and dragged the person inside, then immediately closed the door and locked it again.

For a moment, Jeffrey was stunned to see another survivor and a girl at that. He simply stood staring until one of the undead outside pressed itself onto the door, its milky white eyes looking hungrily through the glass. "Here, help me with this," Jeffrey said as he pocketed his pistol and began dragging the heavy shelf back into place.

Sherri stood still as the young man spoke, stunned to see another person. She hadn't had contact with another human being in a whole year, and and didn't expect to see one ever again. Aa he spoke, his words seemed to pass through her as if they were holographic. She watched as he struggled to push the shelf back silently, unsure if he were real or not. Sherri had had hallucinations before of old friends, family members, and acquaintances, but never had she thought of anyone she hadn't seen before. They had all come at times when she really needed them, too. Like the time when she'd been surrounded by the infected and her dead father had come back to guide her through the herd. He didn't come by much, nor did the rest of her hallucinations. She wondered if this one was good or bad. Would he be able to help her?

The frightened girl reluctantly helped push the shelf back into place, trying hard to feel the tug on the other side of it as the stranger put it into its place. She could feel a slight tug as he pulled it toward the door. Half reassured that he was really there, she pushed the shelr harder to help move it into place.

With one last grunt, the shelf was back in its spot jammed under the door handles. She turned to the man, unsure of what to say. If he were a hallucination, he already knew her name so.no introduction was needed. Sherri stared at him, looking him down for clues of who he was. Fighting the urge to actually reach out and touch him, Sherri decided to speak. "Who are you?" she asked looking his eyes for answers. Thoughts raced through her mind, but were interruped as one of the infected began pounding on the window. She lookee at it, temporarily mesmerized by the thing, the turned back to the man and stared at him more, this time searching his body for bites with her eyes. She'd made the mistake of failing to look before, and that resulted in her having to shoot a close friend. She wouldn't make that mistake again.