Chapter I: The Dead Delinquents

NOBODY EVER expected the world to come down to this, especially not in their lifetime. Cannibalistic monsters at every turn. The once colorful city was now stained with crimson. Blood, guts, and brains splattered all over the walls of buildings. The world had turned to a living Hell.

More than half the world population was turned. The ones still alive were extremely lucky. Every living organism was now an endangered species, except for the living dead.

Eight delinquents stood dumbfounded, looking down from the roof of the detention center. Each of them was still alive because of the closed-off section of the building: solitary. Zombies raided the facility while they were safe. They had no clue what was going on outside the secured door. Committing crimes had paid off.

"We have to get weapons." A quiet, raspy voice caught their attention.

The voice belonged to Hayden Fredricks, arrested for drunk driving that ultimately resulted in the murder of a family of four. She tightly clenched her fists until they turned a ghost white. She put her brave face on, though her chest tightened with fear.

"How?" A tall, lanky boy questioned.

Ethan Valentine, arrested for attempted murder. He didn't seem like the criminal type at all, in fact, he was known in town for being so caring. Nobody knew the full story.

His dark brown eyes sparkled with tears of terror as he watched a zombie limp across the street, letting out loud, gruff groans. He stuffed his boney hands into the pockets of his orange jumpsuit, stepping back from the edge. He couldn't bear to watch any longer.

"We'll-"

"Open your eyes, Hayden. We're as good as dead." A blond boy cut her off with an eye roll.

His name was Collin Keys, arrested for doing illegal drugs, and selling them as well. Though it wasn't enough to put him in solitary, his annoying demeanor drove the officers up the wall enough to place him into it.

"What if we're the last people alive?" Gracie Gray asked, which only frightened them more.

She was arrested and placed in solitary for manslaughter. Though, much like Ethan, they didn't know the full story. Her brows furrowed in worry as she stared at her fellow inmates. None of them had an answer.

"Seriously! Are we just going to let the human race go extinct because we're too scared to do something?"

"I'm fine with that," Collin stated. He was being completely genuine. He shrugged his shoulders, "Either way, we're dead."

"Stop saying that!" Exclaimed the youngest member of the group. Archer Maclaughlin, arrested for murder. After being beaten up at school a few too many times, he brought a knife with him. Without thinking, he stabbed his bully. Once, twice, thirteen times. He was simply a scared boy who wasn't cut out for the harsh society of the world. He squeezed his tearful eyes shut, falling back onto the concrete of the roof.

"Afraid of the truth, little man?" Hayden taunted before shaking her head, "Before I was locked up, there was a building that sold weapons not too far from here. Maybe a mile or two."

"They're slow. We could easily out-run them." Aria observed. Aria Tucker was arrested for brutal criminal assault, which was deemed by the judge as attempted murder. When her autistic twin brother came home from school, telling her that he was going to kill himself, she put it upon herself to make sure that he was never bullied again. And he wasn't, but it came with a price to pay.

"Yeah, but those motherfuckers are sneaky," Evelyn Hawn added. She was arrested for the theft of many medical supplies and medicines and assaulting an officer when she was caught. Her mother eventually died because she never got the items home. "When you're bitten, you're dead."

"We'll climb off the roof and make a run for the weapons shop that Hayden mentioned. If it's only a mile or two, like she said, it won't be hard to get there." A deep, masculine voice chimed in.

Britton Salls, arrested for attempting to burn down the white house; shocking, but true. His crime was seen as the worse crime that could've been committed, which lead to, not only being placed in solitary but also being isolated. Though the section of the building was labeled as 'Solitary Confinement', they were still given roommates to prevent insanity. Britton, on the other hand, stayed by himself.

He turned from the road below to face the others. Like Hayden, he also put his brave face on to diminish his fear, but it still lingered.

"We get the weapons, we kill the zombies, we find somewhere safe." He concluded.

The detention center was no longer an option. The windows and glass doors were completely shattered. The dead bodies of officers and workers limped and groaned around the hallways. They could fix it up, but they didn't want to deal with the dead bodies. Their best option was to find someplace else. Someplace safer.

"If zombies have taken over the shop, we're so screwed." Gracie sucked in her lips, slowly shaking her head. She wanted to save the world, but deep down she knew this was a suicide mission.

"Way to encourage me." Collin sarcastically said.

"Do you have a better plan, Keys?" Hayden glared, seeing him shake his head. "That's what I thought."

They followed Britton to the built-in ladder on the side of the building. He carefully observed the surroundings below before beginning to climb down.

"Hurry up." He whispered.

They followed close behind each other, making their way to the ground. Collin was the last to make it to the sidewalk below. The sound of his shoes hitting the concrete grabbed the zombie's attention.

"Damn it." He muttered under his breath as a few more zombies inched towards them.

"Run," Aria quietly said. Adrenaline coursed through her body, causing her to yell out, "Run!"

Hayden harshly grabbed Aria's wrist before running off. A zombie reached out in front of her. She attempted to dodge it, but the dry, bloody hand smeared on her face and jumpsuit, leaving a stain.

The delinquents ran as fast as they could while the cannibals slowly followed behind. Hayden led the group, trying to remember the direction of the building but her mind raced with too many thoughts. She took a quick glance behind her, finding that they had successfully outrun the monsters.

"They're gone." She told them.

They slowed down, but still kept a quick, steady pace. Hayden was able to remember where the shop was located. She felt calmer but still kept a close eye out. They were nowhere near safe.

The hot sun beat down on them as they jogged through the city. Sweat beads appeared on faces, even though they had just been running for fifteen minutes. The only thing that could be heard was heavy panting and soft footsteps on the road.

"We're almost there." Hayden breathed out.

"I'm going to throw up!" Archer complained between pants.

Gracie put a hand on his back to keep him going. She sent a reassuring nod his way, motivating him.

The journey seemed to take hours, but in reality was twenty minutes. Britton opened the glass door, holding it as they quietly stepped inside. The shop was clean and organized. Guns, knives, and other weapons hung from nails on the wall. Expensive price tags hung from them by a string. A sense of safety relieved them.

The others walked off to search for the perfect weapon, while a white piece of cloth caught Hayden's eye. She picked it up and dusted it off before walking over to a glass gun case. Her reflection stared back. Blood smeared on her cheek from the zombie earlier. Her eyes glossed with tears as a phrase her father used to tell her repeated in her head.

"It's okay to be afraid." She said out loud. A single tear shed from her gray eye, rolling down her cheek. She wrapped the cloth around her head like a bandana. It fit her perfectly.

She went to join the others at the back of the shop. Britton distributed guns to the others that gathered around him. She caught his eye as he handed a gun to Evelyn. He grabbed a pistol from the shelf and handed it to her with a calming smile.

"Thanks, Britt." She responded with a small grin. She unzipped the top part of her jumpsuit, revealing the black tank top underneath. She securely placed the gun in her waistband.

Meanwhile, Ethan had gotten his hands on an axe. It was slightly heavy, but his fingers fit perfectly around the handle. He stared at his reflection in the blade. His face was still a slight shade of pink from running, and his tousled brown hair stuck to his forehead. Otherwise, he looked fine. He looked as if he wasn't in the midst of an apocalypse.

"Badass, right?" Aria caught his attention, staring with a wide smile at the treasure she had found. In her hands was a bright, gold sword. She turned around to show off the covering she had grabbed, which was secured by a strap on her shoulder. She slipped the sword inside.

The taller boy nodded, copying her goofy expression. They walked side by side to find the rest of the group.

"Everybody ready?" Britton asked, stuffing the box of remaining bullets in his pocket.

Gracie put the magazine of her gun back in its place and nodded.

"Let's go save the world." She said.