Apology from a Zombie

It had been a mistake.

Elizabeth sat on the bus with her younger brother, fast asleep under her protective arm as she stared out into the rain. Her CD player was turned up to the highest volume to block out all the noise of the bus hitting random bottles and potholes, only moving with the jerking motions of the vehicle as it made its way through the city. She was staring out the window with a slightly aggravated expression at the gloomy scenery. Elizabeth rubbed a hole through the moisture on the glass as she sighed, unsure of how to deal with the current situation that had befallen her. Her young brother's soft snoring was vibrating against her chest as he nuzzled closer under his jacket.

She smiled at him, and kissed his forehead, running her fingers over his soft hair that was so short. He always admired the short army cut that their cousin Darrel had. She turned off the CD player and tucked it in her backpack as well as dig around for change. Did they have enough to stop by a McDonalds for dinner? Probably not.

Elizabeth looked at her reflection in the mirror. Dark circles were underneath her eyes, hair messed up and ratty. Her favorite grey jacket was stained with ketchup, dirt, and who knows what else. It needed to be washed. She looked at her teeth-a nasty dark yellow. She needed to find a toothbrush.

Suddenly the bus screeched to a halt from its slow procession. The people on the bus, mainly elderly folk and people trying to get to work, raised their voices in protest. "What's going on?"

"Oh my…did we break down?"

Elizabeth nudged her brother awake. "Danny. Hey, up an' attem', mini-man." Danny yawned and rubbed his eyes as he looked around the bus. He didn't say anything as Elizabeth hugged him tighter. She was seated right behind the bus driver, and could hear him mutter something which she knew was never a good thing when it came from an adult.

"What the fuck?!" he whispered. Elizabeth sat up straighter as she looked over the seat and through the large window shield as the wipers furiously deflected the rain. "What the hell is that thing?!" Elizabeth looked at the thing creeping across the street for only a brief second before she quickly stood up. Whatever it was, it was coming their way. The bus driver turned to her. He was a young Asian, young enough to be a senior at high school. He looked absolutely terrified. "Are you seeing this?"Elizabeth could only nod. "What is it?"

Elizabeth ventured a guess mentally, not knowing how true she had been. A zombie? "…Dude, whatever it is, don't open the doors of this bus."

"I…wasn't planning on it," he replied quietly. Other bus passengers began to stand and look. Elizabeth pulled Danny to his feet as the bus driver put the bus in reverse and drove backwards. The frightening figure started to fade in the rain, making Elizabeth relax slightly. That was, until a heavy thump rocked the entire bus, and the sound of a tire popping. Elizabeth lost her footing and fell right back into her seat, Danny's eyes flying wide open from his sleepy state.

"What was that?" Danny asked. He pressed his hands to the window, crawling over his sister to see outside. "Elizabeth?"

The bus driver stood. Sweat was dribbling down his face as he turned to the worried passengers. "We probably just hit a pothole. I'll go check to see how bad the damage is. We'll be out of here soon."

Don't do that! Don't go alone! Elizabeth stood up and said, "Wait a sec!" The man opened the bus doors. How stupid are you? "That thing's still out there!"

"Would you rather be a sitting duck?" he countered as he walked down the steps. "I'll be back in a few minutes, don't worry. That thing was a ways away from here-it couldn't get here that fast."

Elizabeth just watched silently as the man left. She could see the top of his head as he walked past the windows to the back of the bus, but disappeared as soon as he crouched down to inspect the tire. The water was still dribbling down the window as she rubbed her eyes. "Elizabeth!" Danny exclaimed, his voice barely above a whisper. Elizabeth's attention was drawn to her brother as he still had his hands pressed up against the window. "Why's-"

Elizabeth instinctively covered her brother's eyes with one of her hands. "Holy shit." Her other hand shook in disbelief as she frantically wiped at the window to get a better view. She was praying silently that what she thought she had seen, wasn't what it really was. Elizabeth shuddered, and suddenly had the urge to vomit. She thought someone in the back did vomit, due to the putrid smell that was lingering around her. Bodies… "No…f-freakin' way."

She stood and grabbed her backpack. "Danny, come on."

"What?" Danny asked. Elizabeth grabbed his hand and tugged into her brother into the aisle way. "Elizabeth?!" he squeaked.

"Wait here," she whispered. "Don't move unless I tell you to." Danny nodded. Elizabeth smiled for a moment and placed her hands on his shoulders, slapping his cheek in a playful manner. "I'll be right back." With a deep breath, she stepped onto the street in the rain. The cold air made her shutter as she looked to where the bus driver should have been.

He was nowhere to be seen. Elizabeth's face fell faster than the rain, realizing the awful truth. He left us. He ran away. That…that… She couldn't get the words out. They were on their own. Elizabeth did not bother to look at what might have made the tire pop. …Hey, good idea. True, the bus driver was something short of a jerk for abandoning the entire bus and the people inside, but Elizabeth could see why he did so. If what she thought was happening was indeed happening, it would be every man for himself. Damn, I'm a coward.

Danny had not listened to her. He was standing on the bottom step of the bus, but Elizabeth was not mad at him for disobeying. It made her job of abandonment a lot easier. "Dann, you got your bag?"

Danny turned around and showed his cameo backpack on his back. Elizabeth smiled. "Good. Come on, let's go."

"Where are we going? Hey, where'd the bus driver go…?"

"Don't worry about him-he went to go get help," she lied. He doesn't need to know. "Come on." She helped him down the step, and grabbed his hand. His hand was as nearly as big as his, even though they were five years apart. He stood at her shoulder, but his baby face made him look like he was four when he was actually nine. Or was it ten? Elizabeth quickly did the math in her head. Nine. She quickly led her brother down the street, away from the bus. She hoped she was doing the right thing.

"You think you know what's best for him?"

"Personally, yes!"

Elizabeth stumbled as her knee gave way with a tremendous crack, popping out and then back in of place. She fell in the street and bit her tongue, making her eyes water, massaging her knee temporarily. "Elizabeth?"

"I'm okay, I'm okay." Elizabeth pulled herself up and bent her knee a few times. Damn my bad legs! The two walked through the empty streets, Elizabeth breathing heavily. I…no…We can't die here. "Come on, keep up." Dann needs me. We need to get out of here alive. I won't let my brother die here… She and her brother walked through the rain, observing the dead bodies and bloodied corpses as they went. At one point Elizabeth turned over a few bodies, just to get a good look at some of the faces of the people that died. Danny just cried as he held onto his sister's hand tightly.

"E-Elizabeth?"

"Huh?"

"I wanna go home. I want Mom."

"YOU CAN'T TAKE CARE OF HIM."

"…Don't worry, Danny. I'll get ya home." Elizabeth and Danny just wandered around until Elizabeth felt an odd buzzing coming from her backpack. She flipped the backpack off her shoulder and ripped open the top pouch. Her cell phone was vibrating. She shuddered, hoping that the name did not read 'Home'.

Luckily it did not. But unfortunately, it was someone much worse. Elizabeth's hand shook. "Damn…" She opened the phone and said, "Hey, Todd. What's up?"

'Eli! Holy crap, guys, I got a hold of her!' Todd shouted into the phone. Elizabeth could hear other ecstatic voices that made her want to cry. Damn. 'Are you okay? Where are you? Is Danny with you?'

"…Yeah. Dan's with me. We're fine," she replied quietly. Danny's grip on her hand tightened as they made their way to a building nearby. She broke the glass with her foot.

'What was that?! Eli, everyone's worried. Where are you? Did you see the news?'

"News?" Elizabeth opened the door and ushered her brother inside. It was a sports equipment store. She went straight to one of the counters and set Danny on it, pulling a few granola bars off the shelves and stuffing one in her mouth. "Mmp. What news?"

'The one about that city being overrun by…I dunno…something! That's all the TV's playing. Your parents practically went berserk when you two went missing! Where are you?' Todd replied. Elizabeth let the sentences' hang in the air as Danny ate some more of the granola bars. He jumped off the counter as the two walked to the back area of the store. Like Elizabeth thought, there was a camping section. Glancing at the back of her phone, she read seven o'clock pm. She covered the speaker part of the phone.

"Dan, get some sleeping bags and find a tent. We're crashing here tonight." She turned her attention back to the other end of the line. "Really? I haven't gotten a chance to find a TV yet." She paused, giving her brother thumbs up as he found a tent and spread out the sleeping bags. "Do they know what's going on?"

'One of the reporters said it was a zombie apocalypse, and it's true. We're all in a safety camp…thing.'

Elizabeth froze. "…You guys were attacked?"
'…Yeah. Michael's gone, Eli. So is Nicole's brother. We were attacked at school. James and Nicole are okay. Nate was attacked in the shower of the boy's locker room,' Todd muttered into the phone. Elizabeth let a twinge of a smile grace her lips.

"The shower? And he survived?"

'Killed the zombie with a bar of soap, believe it or not.'

"That is so lame. Not something you'd expect during a zombie apocalypse. Wonder if that's gonna be in Left 4 Dead 3." Elizabeth chuckled at her own joke, but ran her fingers through her hair.

'Eli, don't laugh!'

"Dude, if I wasn't laughing, I'd be crying my eyes right now," she replied. She sat on one of the sleeping bags inside the tent, watching as her brother snuggled in his. She patted his head.

'Why would you be crying? You guys are alright, aren't you?'

Elizabeth paused as she looked out of the tent entrance. "Be right back, Danny," she whispered as she climbed out of the tent. "Hey, Todd? What's the best type of baseball bat? Danny and I are shopping."

'You guys are shopping during a time like-wait a minute.'

"Just answer me, ya moron," Elizabeth snapped.

'…You might want to take one of each if you've got the money for it,' he replied quietly. Elizabeth smiled as she grabbed one metal and one wooden bat from the shelves-the biggest ones she could lift. She set them aside as she dug through the golf clubs, talking to Todd as she went to find something suitable for Danny. Her phone was dying. '…Eli. You okay there?'

"Never….never been better," she replied quietly. "I…look, Todd, I gotta go. The cashier is giving me a weird look." Elizabeth wasn't lying about the cashier, she thought smugly. The dead cashier's eyes were falling out of their sockets, goggling at her. She told herself it was out of jealousy that she was alive. "I'll call you when Danny and I get somewhere…" Safer. "…Where we'll get better reception. The phone's only showing one bar here-we'll be out of here soon."

'Eli. Don't you hang up. Please…please don't…' Elizabeth thought she could hear sobs.

"Dude, don't cry. I know everyone's staring at you right now. Don't you dare cry, it makes me look bad," she said, trying her best not to cry herself. Unspoken words were being sent through the phone.

We're not gonna make it. So please don't cry for us.

"…Hey, Todd?"

'Sniff…yeah, Eli?'

"…Love you. Thanks for being an idiot of a best friend," she whispered, hanging up.

'Eli, don't! I-'

Elizabeth tucked the phone in her pocket before turning it off. She dragged the baseball bats and golf clubs to the tent and sat quietly, staring down the aisle towards the door. She could see the figures shifting outside as zombies passed, and she gripped the baseball bats tighter.

…Danny, I'm so sorry.

When the glass crashed and Danny woke with a jolt, it was all a blur. Elizabeth remembered grabbing her little brother's hand and giving him a golf club, both running to the back entrance of the building and escaping onto another street. They sat on the curb, sobbing and crying as the temperature dropped and instead of rain, it began to snow. The snow was stained by the fresh, scarlet blood that had been spilt on the ground. That blood was also stained on Elizabeth's clothes as well as her baseball bats. Danny's face was covered in blood and his golf club had bent in two.

The bus driver was dead on the sidewalk outside, head smashed by a baseball bat. His teeth were still visible amongst all the mush along with the bite mark on his neck, eyes rolled back in their sockets. It was missing a tooth-a tooth that Elizabeth had yanked out of her arm without much of a fuss. Danny doesn't know zombie stories that well. He won't find out. I've gotta get him out of here…before… She didn't want to think about it.

"Hey, Elizabeth? Is your arm gonna be okay?"

Elizabeth smiled as she wrapped it up with the first aid kit her brother always carried in his backpack. The bandage wrapped her wound to stop the bleeding, but she had no idea how much time she had left. She pulled out her cell phone, tempted to turn it on when she heard the beep of a horn. Whirling around, Elizabeth flagged whoever was driving the car down; hoping whoever it was would stop. Her head throbbed as the car pulled to a stop.

The people inside were something Elizabeth couldn't exactly see. Her vision was beginning to get blurry. She had to get him out of here! Please don't make me argue. "Could you take my brother with you? He hasn't been bitten-he needs to get to my parents. They're somewhere outside the city! Please!"

Whoever it was, he didn't complain. Danny was quickly taken into the car, much to his protest. "Elizabeth! Elizabeth, get in the car!"

She shut the door as Danny pounded on the windows. "Tell Mom and Dad I'm sorry, and they were right! Now, person who's driving the car, go! GO!" The person did not waste a minute-Elizabeth could barely see the car in the distance anymore. Please…let them survive. Oh god… Her head throbbed as she slowly staggered through the staircase of a nearby apartment. She turned on her phone, and dialed.

'ELI! WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?' Todd roared over the phone. Elizabeth laughed hoarsely as she busted open another door, this time it was an apartment room. 'YOU GAVE ME A HEART ATTACK! Don't ever do that again…'

"Hey, I called, didn't I?" she replied. "How is everyone?"

'Fine. We've gotten evacuated to a safer location,' he replied. 'You?'

"Never better," she replied, looking at the bite mark that was wrapped on her arm. She had opened an apartment on the top floor, locking herself in. "Danny's on his way to you guys."

"Really? What about you?"

Elizabeth stared at the bite mark. "…Todd. I won't be coming."

'Oh, so you're coming later.'

"No, Todd." Elizabeth stared at herself in a mirror in the room. She was deathly pale, her eyes bloodshot. She sobbed as she slammed her fist against the mirror in one last fit of anger, and then made her way to the couch. She settled on it comfortably. "…I…I won't be coming. At all."

'What?'

"I got bit, Todd. And you know what happens when shit like this…y'know."

'No…no. You've gotta make it…'

"Todd? Could you do me one favor?"

Elizabeth could hear him crying again. 'W-what?'

"Just…keep talking to me. I don't wanna…I-I don't wanna be alone when I go…" she whispered, before sobbing again. "I was so scared, Todd. I'm such an idiot-what was I thinking? Running away with Danny. I dragged him into this…and I don't even know if he's gonna make it out alive..!"

'Eli…you said you wanted for me to keep talking. So I am. Whadya want to hear?'

"…Swimming. How did you swim meet-gah!!"

'Eli?! ELI!!'

Elizabeth writhed and gagged choking up blood. Her head was spinning-she could barely hear her friend anymore. She knew she was going, but she didn't want to go. Not this way. I…no…please, God, no… She was afraid. It felt like she was suffocating, drowning in the endless waters of death. The open window suddenly looked inviting. She crawled towards it, phone in hand as her friend frantically screamed and shouted. She momentarily wondered how her other friends were taking this panic of his, and whether Danny had made it or not. She coughed up more blood, staining the white carpet as she dragged herself to the window. The open breeze was fresh, and she deeply inhaled it.

'ELI!'

"…I-I'm…so…sorry…" she whispered. The phone fell from her grasp and towards the concrete below. She watched it fall, and clutched at her throat one last time. This…sensation of falling…is this what flying feels like?
….
A group of survivors made their way through the city. As they passed an apartment building, one of them stopped and looked at a crumpled body on the ground. "Naw, that gal was a smart one! She must've jumped when sh' knew sh' wuz fucked."

The other survivors ran up to her backpack and salvaged through it. "I found a CD player! It has batteries!"

"Hey, she had a twenty. Awesome." One survivor, a boy, dug through her wallet until he pulled out a picture. He looked it over, and looked at the girl's face. In the photograph there was the dead girl, as well as two other young people. One boy had his arm around her; a little kid was on her back. He turned it over, and read the inscription. "…Gone Camping. Huh. Guess she had a boyfriend and a little brother." He felt sick. The little boy was about as young as his sister. This girl and the other boy were older than him. She had not made it, and he was pretty sure neither did the other two. Was he going to die..?

His younger sister walked up and looked at the photograph. "…She died smiling."

The boy looked at the dead girl's face. The corners of her lips were turned upwards, eyes squinted. "…Yeah. I guess she did."

"Guh…." The girl froze as a hand shot out from underneath the girl and grabbed her brother's arm. The zombie smiled as the girl shakily held out the photograph to her, and took it before devouring the girl's arm along with it. Most of the group ran, but the brother tried fending the zombie off. "Ets…nuw…yuuss…" the zombie moaned. It held the girl away from her brother as he swung with the newfound weapon-a baseball bat.

"NO! CARRIE!!"

The zombie grabbed the baseball bat from his hands and yanked him towards her. She sank her teeth into his neck--blood dribbling down as he cried out in anguish. "No…I can't die…"

"Jack…" the little girl cried. "I'm scared…" The boy looked at the zombie with blazing hatred until he watched a single tear fall down her face.

"Ei….suuuu….saaarrriiiieeee…" the zombie wailed. The boy took his sister's hand, and the zombie watched them with crying eyes. "Ei…suuuuu saaaarriiiieeee…."

I'm so sorry. You having to die was a mistake…