Elizabeth "Liz" Rogers had always known that she lived a blessed life. She was under no delusions about the privileges that were made available to her that others didn't have access to. A pair of loving, supportive, and incredibly wealthy parents. A high-ranking private high school. Specialized tutors for every subject. Wonderful friends, and siblings that were only sometimes annoying. With all that and more, she felt a strong sense of obligation to just succeed, but excel, if only just to ensure that nothing was wasted on her.
And excel she did. Top of her class, voted valedictorian by her peers, ace of the school volleyball team and capable enough to get a scholarship to her university of choice. Liz was the pride of her family. and though her success should've earned the envy of her peers, her amicable personality meant she had far more friends than enemies.
While Liz had not expected such good fortunes to last forever, neither did she expect to have the rug pulled out from beneath her so suddenly. In the span of a single day, her life had irreversibly changed, and all her accomplishments meant nothing in this new world.
From sleeping soundly in the comfort of her home, surrounded by her loved ones, to being tucked away in a cold, foreign office, with danger on all sides. A lifestyle that was unimaginable a few weeks ago. Liz tried to be strong for her siblings, but no amount of bedtime stories or jokes could alleviate the hunger in their bellies. What scraps they had was given to the kids, while Liz did her best to sleep away her hunger.
Hope was in short supply, and even the ever-optimistic Liz could see the writing on the wall. No food, no heating, and no signs of rescue. There would not be a heroic army to mow down the zombies in a blaze of gunfire like the movies. Even if humanity could survive this, she and her family would be nothing more than statistics, one family among many to meet their end in this disaster. The only silver lining was the realization that they wouldn't turn into zombies and attack others after their death, but that provided little comfort. And yet, their inevitable demise did not come.
*
Liz watched as the elevator went down the first floor of the mall, signalling the departure of Ray, who moments ago had all but saved them from a painful death by starvation. The first other survivor she had seen in almost a week. There had been others holed up here previously, but as supplies dwindled, they opted to take their chances outside. Given that none had ever returned, she had considered it extremely unlikely that anyone could get past the horde of zombies on the first floor, which was why she was so caught off guard when Ray first appeared.
Ray was certainly no knight in shining armor, that was for sure. When Liz had first woken up and seen him standing in the doorway with a crowbar, jacket stained with blood, she had thought he looked like a cartoon villain. In hindsight, she was quite embarrassed at her reaction, and the bruise on her knee is unlikely to let her forget about it any time soon.
Sure, he was a bit distant and awkward when they spoke, but that can easily be attributed to him not being used to company. In fact, she probably had it better than him in that regard, at least she had Mia and Jason to keep her company. To be completely isolated in that hellscape out there was not a nightmare she would wish even on her worst enemies.
"C'mon you two, let's clean everything up!" Liz said enthusiastically, putting her thoughts away for later, cheering the kids up and getting them to do their parts as well. She had meant what she said to Ray when he was leaving. It was obvious he was more than competent, so the only thing she could offer him was a safe refuge in the midst of this ruined city. As such, it was only right that she should make it as clean and welcoming as possible, to await his return.
*
The post apocalyptic life was not nearly as exciting as Ray had imagined it would be now that he had become accustomed to his lifestyle. When you take away the only source of danger from the apocalypse, life becomes almost the exact same as before, except everything was just less convenient.
Ray's daily routine has already returned to the pre-apocalypse state, which meant staying holed up in his room all day. With plenty of food stored up, and the only source of entertainment being his laptop, there was very little reason to go outside. He had already paid visits to police stations and hardware stores and have stocked up on all the tools he needed: everything from guns for self protection to a smoker to preserve meat.
With his floor in the apartment barricaded by wooden boards and the perimeter surrounded by zombies, Ray's home base was impenetrable. No one was stupid enough to be braving a zombie horde just to ransack a shitty residential apartment building, and he'd have home field advantage even if they did.
He'd have been more than content to continue killing time in his room if not for two major problems that he's been trying his best to ignore. The first problem was obvious: the electricity isn't permanent. Sooner or later, everything will come to a grinding halt, and Ray will lose access to his refrigeration, heating, and even his entertainment. Considering the apartment's quality, that day is likely to come sooner rather than later. Of course, he could always just move to a different place, or even a different city altogether. Some place with renewable energy, like solar or wind power, but that led to the second problem: Liz and her siblings are dependant on him for survival. It's been three days since he first found them, and the food he supplied them should last a few more days, but eventually they'll be in the same predicament.
It was theoretically possible to save them, but it would involve him personally wiping out half the zombies in the city, between their mall and the nearest safe haven at the university. Ray knew it was selfish of him to prioritize concealing his ability, but he believed it would only lead to trouble if it was ever found out. He didn't trust Liz enough to think that she won't blab about it to others if rescue ever came, and it would only spiral out of control from there. Plus, who knows what she would think? Regardless of how the zombies treated him, the fact that he was bitten made him potentially dangerous to those around him. Even now, he still had the occasional nightmare of the scars in his arm festering and rotting, consuming the rest of his body as he turns.
Sighing to himself in annoyance, Ray closed his laptop, sick of watching the same movies over and over. Putting on his jacket and shoes, he headed out again, hoping that the cold air would clear his mind. Almost by instinct at this point, he grabbed his backpack as well. Never know what one can find when they aren't looking.
*
Heading out the door, Ray nods in greeting to the silent zombies standing on either side. Tied to their limbs with string are tin cans, designed to rattle loudly if they make sudden movements, alerting Ray if they sense any humans nearby. An ingenious system if he said so himself, and he did. He had grown to recognize them as useful allies, and every time he passed by, he made a point to greet them.
Wandering in no particular direction, Ray pulled his hood up over his head to protect his ears from the biting wind. All around, the living dead stood. Some unmoving, simply waiting for prey that may never arrive. Others shamble with purpose, living out a parody of their past lives as they try to continue their daily routine. All of them ignore Ray as he walks through the city. Why there's such a huge variance in their behaviour is still a mystery, but one that's lower on the priority list. In fact, he had no idea how he was going to examine that aspect of their biology, especially when the zombies don't behave very normally around him.
As he walked, Ray tried his best to organize his thoughts, jumbled and messed up as they were. Could he rely on the survivors at the university to help Liz and the kids? No, not a chance. There were simply too many problems that he lacked the solution for. For one, initiating contact with them was risky in and of itself, since it could lead to that bite scar on his left arm being discovered, and he had no good excuse for it. Even if he did bypass their scrutiny, it was unlikely that a rescue effort would be launched for a mere three people, only one of whom was capable of pulling her weight. In that case, could he rely on Liz and the kids to fend for themselves? Also no. Not only did they have no weapons or food, but they were also surrounded in all directions by hungry zombies, and a single mistake would result in their demise. The two kids, Jason and Mia, were total liabilities, but he knew Liz would never abandon them.
Swearing to himself, Ray shook his head, trying to get rid of the negative thoughts that were invading. "Fuck it," he muttered, shoving a zombie out of the way as he walked down the sidewalk. By now, the zombies were nothing to him but minor obstacles, easily ignored or dealt with. It was funny to think that just a few days ago, he had nearly pissed himself in fear at the very thought of confronting a single one. Perhaps that just goes to show how adaptable the human mind was, that even this bloody and fiery hellscape became completely normal to the young man.
Eventually, Ray's wandering feet led him to a very familiar storefront:
Betty's Knickknacks
. A tiny, locally owned bookstore that sold board games and other curios as well. He had worked here, part-time, before he secured his internship, and still visited on occasion to participate in game nights with some regulars. It was one of the few social gatherings that he still attended, outside of work, before the outbreak happened.
Pushing open the door and hearing the nostalgic ring of the bells affixed to it, Ray breathed a slight sigh of relief to see that the store was devoid of people, both living and undead. While he was far from being friends with Betty, the owner of the store, the old lady was friendly and affable, and he would've hated to see her go out like this. She deserved better than that. Still, was that all he came here for? To check on his former boss? His brain said no, because it was already scanning the shelves for games that kids would like. Despite the fact that he was repeatedly telling himself that he didn't want to commit to being their protector, his hand was already reaching putting the board games into his backpack. After all, poor Liz was probably going insane trying to keep them entertained.
Just this once.
So I can tell them I won't be coming back.
So they can be ready to fend for themselves.
*
