Chapter 2 -The Living Dead

Jake woke up only to find out that everything around him was chaotic. Electronics equipments were destroyed. Jake found out that people were dead in some mysterious way and now he was alone. Jake decided to find out his friends and families condition. With that in mind, Jake walked away to the setting sun . . .

It’s been a while since I woke up and found things were not right. The sun has set and stars have come out. The moon is full high in the sky. I can see the way clearly, thanks to the moon. Every single gadget is broken, my watch is not an exception.

Without nothing to count the time, I don’t know how long I’ve walk. My parents’ house and also my friends’ are in the outskirt. It’s kinda far from my apartment. I regret my decision to move from my parent’s house. Well, I thought that they deserve to get their happy life just the two of them, free of worries for their child. And I also want to get independent. But, with this distance... Well, it’s okay back then before today. I could get there by bus. But now, with nothing to ride, it’s just really troublesome. Hhh… I really hope they are fine, survivors just like me.

The scenery around me hasn’t change since I got out from my apartment. Broken cars are all over the road, with some have been burnt. Seems like everything that has electricity on it has been overloaded or something. I’ve been walking for hour, and I still can’t get used to those dead people lying disturbingly all over the place. Those and added with this full moon, things become eerie. I get a goose bump from this situation.

I don’t know how long I’ve walk. One thing that I know is that I walk in the right direction. By the look of my surrounding, I can say that my destination is not far from my current position. A glimpse of light of hope comes out from my heart. My legs are killing me right now. I think I should take a rest.




I’m looking at my surrounding. There are some buildings that I can use as a resting place for tonight. I move my leg to the restaurant at my right side. It was a well-known restaurant which now ruin is the best word to describe it. I walk inside and find other dead bodies. It’s not that I don’t expect this. I exhale some air and try to find some free-of-bodies room as my base. Luckily, the employee room is that kind of place, so I decide it as my base.

I go to the kitchen to find something to fill my stomach. Walking that far makes me hungry. Plus, the last time I’ve eat was this morning. I walk to the kitchen looking for food. I find the kitchen is in a very bad condition. Some parts of the roof are fall down. The fallen walls are covering the hole on the ceiling. There are still some fires around the place. Seems like the ovens and stoves were exploded by the look of it. Thanks God I don’t have any oven nor stove that use electricity. If I have those, I might be not walking in here right now.

I wander around the kitchen surrounded by ruins and dead bodies. I finally find the freezer. It seems was explode too, but that makes things easier. The freezer door is open because of it. I step inside to find something to eat. Most of them are destroyed and not edible. After looking so hard, I find some big meat under fallen shelves. It’s really big and I’m sure I can’t finish it myself.

I take that big chunk of meat back to the kitchen. I use a big butcher knife there to cut the meat down to smaller slices. Now it’s fit my portion. Next thing is to cook it. I use some fire around here to cook it. I don’t know whether I cook it well or not. That’s the least thing I worry about. What I do care is filling my stomach. I’m really damn hungry. I eat that meat viciously as if I haven’t eaten for weeks.

After I’ve done eating, I decided to rest. I go back to the employee room. Luckily they have a very nice and comfortable sofa here. It’s not as comfy as my bed, but it’s much better than sleeping in the floor. I lie down on the sofa and stretch out my legs. It feels very good. This comfort really pleases me. I try to close my eyes and start to sleep in an instant.

I somehow awaken from my dreamless sleep. My head feels dizzy from that sudden awakening. I hear some really noisy rumbling sound from somewhere. I think that’s the reason I’m awake. I get off from the sofa and realize that my surrounding is darker than before I sleep. I peek from the window and see the moon hidden by the clouds. It’s kinda harder to see now.

I walk carefully to the front. The light is better here, though it doesn’t help much. Now I hear a noise. It’s like some chair or something has been knock down. That sound come from the upstairs. Now I get a goose bump. But, when I think again, it could be another survivor!

I try to remember the location of the stairs and turn out I don’t know where it is. I remember that the employee room has a map for emergency exit there. I head back and find the map. After learning the stair’s location, I hurriedly head there. Unfortunately, my path’s blocked by collapsed roof. I can’t go through. It seems like this is the source of rumbling sound from before.

I hear another sound now. This time it’s a sound of something being dragged. The sound’s heading towards kitchen. I remember now that there is a hole in the ceiling in the kitchen. Perhaps I can see something from that hole.

I quickly get to the kitchen and look up to the hole. The hole is quite small. Most of it is covered by debris of fallen roofs and walls. I try to climb over the pile of debris. I can hear the dragging sound clearly now that I almost reach the hole. When I want to peek inside the hole, suddenly there’s something fall from the hole, hit me and roll down to the kitchen floor. It’s really surprise me. It’s a dead body with a sad condition. It has lost its lower parts. I ignore it, continue climbing and peek through the hole and see nothing out of ordinary.

I get down again. What was that sound? I look at the dead body that was fall from the hole. His insides are expose and hanging from his open wound. Fresh blood’s flowing out through his wound. I didn’t see it before because it was too dark. Poor guy. Even though he already dead, his condition still makes me feel pity for him.

I turn my body and heading towards the door. I shall get back to sleep. Suddenly, something grabs my ankle. I turn in fear and look down. It’s that dead body from before. It grabs my legs and now looks to my face. It should be dead already. How can it still move? There no such thing as ghost nor zombie, right?

I waggle my leg to let it free. I manage to get free, but I fall down as a result. The dead body’s crawling towards me while whispering something. I want to run away but fear freezes my body. I can’t move my body at all. It’s getting closer and closer.

As it getting closer, I can hear the word he’s whispering. “…elp…” I think he’s trying to say help. I collect all of my courage and try to hear him. “Please help me….” That’s the words he’s been whispering. The moonlight comes in through the window. Seems like the cloud has gone now. With the help of moonlight, I can see his face. His face looks so pale and has this begging expression on it. Tears are flowing from his red eyes.

My fear slowly leaves me. I don’t see him as a menacing and scary thing anymore.
I try to ask him what happens with him. From what he’s telling, it seems that he don’t know anything. He’s telling me that when he woke he was still fine. Then he smelled something being cooked. When he wanted to approach me, he realized that his way is blocked by some debris. He then tried to clearing his path. Somehow I didn’t hear this back then. Maybe I was too tired. When he finished and managed to get through, he ran towards the stair.

“Then, when I reached the stair, suddenly the roof fell above me. I didn’t have any time to react. I feel that something big fell on me. I feel a great pain and was thinking that I was done for. But, then I realized that I was still alive. I opened my eyes and saw that my lower part was gone and I could see my inside. The pain is unbearable. I tried to find you. I want you to let me free from this pain. I want you to kill me…”

He looks down. His voice was trembling. I can feel his pain, crawling around while dragging your intestine like that. I want to help him. I think it’s better for him to die than living like this. But then again, he’s in that condition but still alive. How can I kill him? If I do something wrong, his pain might worsen.

I stand up and tell him to not worry. I walk around kitchen. I’m thinking hard to how to kill him. He’s literally immortal by now. How can I kill an immortal? That question running through my mind. Well, one thing do cross in my mind. But, I’m not really sure if it will works, not to mention that I have enough guts to do it.

I exhale and take the butcher knife from the table. I hold it tightly in my hand. I can’t do this. This is the same as killing a person. But, that man looks up and stares directly into my eyes. His gaze shows the pain and misery he’s been trough.

“I’m sorry,” I say it to him to which he reply, “No, I’m the one who should sorry.” He smile and close his eyes. “Now, do it!” His voice still trembles from pain, but I can feel his determination.

I gather all my courage toward my right hand. I grab the knife tighter and lift it high above my head. I close my eyes for a while. I exhale again. I open my eyes and realize that this have to be done. For the sake of that man. This is hard, but I believe this is the best for him. I swing the butcher knife hardly downwards.

“CRASH!!” The knife slice trough his hard skull. Fresh blood flow out from the crack on his head. His body trembles hard. I really hope this will works. It seems that he’s feeling extreme pain right now. His teeth close tightly to hold his pain.

Then out of sudden, his body stops trembling. No movement can be seen or felt. Blood still flow from his head. I think he can rest in peace now. I let go the butcher knife and fall on my knee.

I kill a man. My hands tremble. I look at my palm. It’s covered with blood. What have I done? I’ve killed a man. I know it’s a must, but still… My heart doesn’t allow it. I feel very bad and weird. There’s something hard giving pressure on my stomach. I can’t stand it. “HUAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!” I let out all of my pressure on that scream. It’s echoing on the darkness of the night.

Jake has experience an awful night on his way to his parent’s and friends’ places. Now his mind is filled with guilt and pressure. The next morning, he still has to go toward his destination, with a little glimpse of hope.