Surrounded: A Zombie Anecdote, Part 1

Brad stood in his kitchen with his phone pressed tightly to his ear.
"Okay mom, just stay safe, This will all be cleared up soon...love you too...bye."
He put his phone down and joined Dom in the living room.
"Any more news?" Brad asked.
"Nothing that we don't already know. What's going on with your parents?"
"They both are being held at work. Pretty much everyone is. The panic is definitely setting in," Brad answered.
"And of course they want us to stay inside, lock our windows, lock our doors, keep shut in until this all "blows over". Idiots. What are the chances that this will just, blow over?"
"I don't know man, but until it's brought to our doorstep, we should just chill, you know?"
"Yeah, you're right." Dom calmed down.
"I'm getting some water, want anything?" Brad asked.
"Naw, I'm good."

Brad went back into the kitchen, took a cup from the cabinet and went to the sink. Brad lived in the middle of nowhere, Grafton, Ohio. His home resembled a large log cabin, and the cornfield in his backyard added to the "middle of nowhere" feel. AS he brought the cup of water up to his mouth he looked out into the backyard. He let go of the handle, the cup clanged in the sink.
"You okay?" Dom asked.
"Come in here," Brad demanded.
Dom came in and stood next to Brad, looking through the back room, out the back window, at a figure standing at the edge of the cornfield.
"Who the Hell is that?" Dom asked.
"No idea."

Brad walked into the back room, Dom followed. The figure started walking forward towards the house. Slowly, slumped over, drunk-like, it creeped across the lawn. The boys looked at each other and walked to the backdoor. Brad grabbed the wooden baseball bat that he had placed at the door in case of an emergency.
"Hey, who ever you are, get the Hell out of here," Brad said.
"I don't think he heard you."
The figure kept coming forward, unaffected by Brad's words. Dom took a step closer.
"Hey!" He yelled.
The man stopped, turned his head towards Dom and let out a low, but loud moaning noise.
"I think he heard you," Brad said.
"He's coming this way, what should we do?" Dom asked. He seemed frightened, frantic.
Brad looked at Dom and nodded his head slightly.
"How do we know that.."
"Are you kidding me, dude? Look at it. There's no way it's not," Brad interrupted.
He looked down at the bat grasped in his hands.
"Brad."
He continued looking down.
"Brad!"

Brad looked up, the man was right in front of him. Dom stumbled backwards onto the deck. Brad wound up, took a step, and took a swing. The trespasser took the blow, and fell on the ground. Brad stepped over the man and swung down, crushing his skull into the grass. Brad turned and fell to his knees. He vomited and tried catching his breath.
"Shit dude. You okay?" Dom asked.
Brad stood up and took a deep breath.
"Yeah. I can't believe that just happened."

It was close to 7 o'clock. The sun was setting, giving way to the autumn night. A scream broke the silence.
"Who was th.."
Dom was interrupted by more screams, then silence again.
"Sounded like it came from the neighbors over there," Brad said, pointing to the house up by the main road. "Check it out?" He asked nervously.
Dom paused.
"I'm going to need a weapon."

The two went inside and changed into warmer, safer clothes, then went to the garage. Brad went to the tool bench, and with a hammer and some nails made his old bat into a more lethal killing device. Dom searched the garage for gardening tools, or anything else he could find. He pulled a medium sized pickax from the corner.
"Dibs," he said.
Brad looked over at Dom's find.
"Tight," he said.
They looked at each other and smiled.
"Hella tight!" They said simultaneously.
Laughter filled the air, something that one takes for granted during a normal day, but at a time like this, laughter was one thing that would keep them sane.

Weapon in one hand, and a flashlight in the other, the boys made their way down the hill in front of Brad's house to a path going through tall grass and shrubbery that would take them to a small creek behind the neighbor's house. They found it hard to stay calm, as their ears and eyes played tricks on them. Their flashlights were never still. They hit the creek and looked up at the house on the other side, on top of the hill. The lights were on and everything seemed normal. Dom searched the area with his light.

"There," Brad said, pointing his beam of yellow light into the mud below.
"Culprit?" Dom asked.
"Probably."
There was a woman lying face down in the creek. Her shirt was soaked in blood and water.
"She must have fallen off the deck," Brad said.
"Or she jumped? Trying to escape?"
They stared.
"Is the blood from the fall? Or a bite?" Brad asked, hypothetically.
"I honestly don't want to find out, dude," Dom answered,
"We need a plan. Do we check this whole situation out? Or do we go back, and figure something else out?"
"There's a proportion to be met between escape and defense," Dom said, quoting lyrics.
"Okay, I'm not too sure what you're trying to get at," Brad chuckled a bit, "but let's just go back."

They were both much more terrified than they could show. Brad led the way back up the path to his house. Behind them, the woman in the water moved her arms, and pushed herself onto her knees, blood dripping from her neck.

It was 8:30 when they decided to go to Dom's, not too far down the street, to check on his mom, who was not answering her phone. They loaded supplies and weapons in to Brad's pickup truck. Brad started the old thing they drove down the long, stony driveway towards the main road, leaving the safety of the house behind, and pushing their fears to the side. As the truck reached the end of the driveway at the top of the hill, the headlights shined eerily on the blood soaked neighbor in the middle of the road.

"Holy shit," Dom mumbled.
Her left elbow was cracked, the bone sticking through her skin, same with her left ankle. Brad put the truck in park and turned on the brights. She just stood there, undead but lifeless.
"Your turn," Brad said.
Dom let out a long breath. He got out, and took the pickax from the truck bed. The woman looked his way and limped towards him. Dom chose the pointed end of the tool. He wound up and swung, penetrating the woman's skull, and taking her down. He struggled to pull the steel out of her head, but got it out. Brad stuck his head out the window.
"Nice! Clear her off the road so we can go."
Dom dragged the body to the side of the road and got back in the truck.
"That was crazy," he said, breathing heavily.
"Catch your breath, bro. Every thing's okay," Brad said.

They turned right on to Route 303 and headed towards Dom's. The world as they knew it was now unknown. They didn't know what they were going to find, what had happened, or what was going to happen. But down the dark, country road they went, head first, into an unknown, undead world.