Chapter 18 Was That A Zombie?

• I’m talking to my mom on the phone and listening to a song on the radio while I sit in my room staring out the window at the storm. It’s an especially strong one I might add, because as I sit there, I notice that a tree gets ripped right out of the ground and is lopped on an electric wire a couple feet away from it. As I watch this happen, an alert comes over the radio and then the phone blinks out. “Dang it.” I say as I glance down at my phone and wonder what just happened. Hearing the alert system on the radio, I climb off my bed and walk over to turn it up before I hear that there is a serious threat. Something about a contagion in the air and that everyone should stay indoors, or they might breathe it in. See, I am not stupid. Everyone knows that if it is in the air, even staying indoors won’t help with the situation. So, I start to laugh a little before realizing that they are dead serious. Hearing the alert again, I try my phone again. Dialing my mother’s number all I get is a busy signal and then the alert sounds on my phone instead. Looking down at it like I am in a dream, I shake my head and raise my hand so I can scratch my neck. Thinking to myself, “What if this is really happening and it isn’t a test?” As I still am in disbelief, I move back over to the window and watch as the storm rolls forward and becomes more intense. I see something moving out in the hail and then it moves towards my window and the closer it gets the clearer his face is. SStepping back, I almost fall over the bed and it forces me to look down before glancing back over to the window where now the man is running full force towards my window and not stopping. I freak out and drop my phone while screaming, and finally think about shutting the curtain so he can’t see me. What on earth is the matter with that man, is the only thing running through my head as I yank the curtains closed just before I hear a loud thud on the outside of the apartment? It makes me jump and cry out before I get out of the way as the window breaks and glass shards fly all over my bedroom. Running into the bathroom, I close the door behind me and lock it. What is the matter with that man? The contagion, is it some kind of bioweapon that makes you go crazy? Feeling that something is horribly wrong, I realize that I dropped my phone in the bedroom and now there is a crazed lunatic running around possibly in there with it. Hearing the alert system sound even louder this time, I figure out that it isn’t coming from the radio anymore but from the hallway behind the bathroom. It is on the speaker system. Standing there in the bathroom, the lights flicker and then straight up fail and me without my phone for a flashlight. I feel around the bathroom for the toilet seat and am thankful when it is down before taking a seat carefully on it. The cold plastic chills my legs as my shorts ride up on them but one thing is for sure, with the door locked, I don’t think he can get in here. AAs soon as I think it, something bumps against the door pretty hard and the lock rattles against the frame for a few moments. Smashing sounds echo throughout the bathroom as they filter through the space between the door and the floor, and I hear someone scream in the distance. It chills me to the bone and yet, I am curious. So curious, that I get to my feet and steady myself against the wall with my hands before walking towards the thin sliver of light coming from beneath the door. It is the only thing guiding me along and I keep hope that it will still be there as I approach the doorway. Another loud crash and I feel a thump as I reach the door and it gives a little under pressure. Scaring me, I hold my breath and hope that whatever is on the other side goes away quickly so I can retrieve my phone and figure out exactly what is going on outside my door. But just as I am about to unlock and open the door cautiously, I hear a loud noise just outside it and decide for the moment to stand there quietly until it passes. Unfortunately, it doesn’t. It keeps pounding against my door, repeatedly and as I lean up against it with my back, I feel it give even more every time the pounding commences. If this keeps up, the door won’t last long and whatever is outside it will be on me in a matter of seconds. I doubt that I will make it out of this before help arrives and gets rid of it. As I start to tremble, I remember something my mother once said, “When a bear runs at you, play dead. Roll up into a ball and they will smack you around a few times but get bored and go home. TThen you run away and get help. You will have cuts and bruises from it, but at least you won’t be torn to shreds and dead.” For some reason this strikes to home right now and I decide that if that door comes open, I will lie down where I stand and stay perfectly still and silent. Hopefully, whatever it is will just leave me alone and then I can find help before it comes back again. This being said, I prepare myself mentally before I hear another sound and it shocks me to the core. I hear my mother pounding on the front door to my apartment. I cry out, “Mom!” Before I hear her blood curdling scream and then a loud thud on the front door to the apartment. At this point, I no longer care what this man or thing will do to me. Instead, I unlock the door and open it quickly before I rush through to the bedroom and meet him while he stares at me from 4 feet away. He has a sick look on his face and a piece of something is hanging out of his mouth that looks strangely like human flesh. His eyes are grey, and I could swear that it looks like he has a big bite taken out of his arm where it normally connects to his elbow. I turn around just in time to see another man coming in from outside the window, so I bend down in one swift move and pick up my phone before rushing into the bathroom and locking the door behind me. Once inside, I lean my back against the door and try to calm down my heart that is beating out of my chest and my all too fast breathing. The thing is that now that I have my phone, you would think that I would be happy.