1 Chapter 1: Midnight Bus Accident

Midnight, in the city

Atkinson Young was riding the city transit bus to his home while listening to a breaking news on his new headphones. He was actually listening to loud music, but the ERNN just cut in.

He wasn't actually listening as he had already fallen asleep much earlier. He works as an intern at the city library so he almost never gets his sleep on schedule.

"Breaking news, a strange miasma seems to have spread spontaneously across the nation. The leaders have not spoken up about anything just yet, so please stay on and wait."

"Everyone must stay home and stay away from anyone as much as possible, this includes your family and friends"

"This is not a drill, chemical warfare might potentially be the culprit for numerous cases of zombie like people across the nation"

"Nations across the globe are experiencing and reporting this in succession with similar reports of the miasma that seems to have caused people to become crazy."

"Symptoms such as sudden burst of anger then a breakdown seems to be common"

"We advise EVERYONE TO-" it cut off there but of course, Atkinson didn't hear anything.

That was the emergency responsive news network (ERNN) playing. It was a well funded news report organization that spanned the globe.

They gave the most vital and important news to every country in the world. It was up to the people to download their application to listen or not, there was a monthly subscription.

Naturally, extremely wealthy and powerful people would always receive the news much earlier than the average person.

Meanwhile in the bus, it was sparse as usual which meant Atkinson could take as many seats as he wanted for his naps. He was always the last stop and the bus driver would always kindly wake him up.

However, at this moment when he would hear the bus driver shout his name, a pitiful scream was heard instead.

It all happened incredibly fast, the person sitting in the front of the bus, who looked frantic and haggard since he got onto the bus, suddenly jumped onto the bus driver. Immediately breaking the plastic window guard using his head before wildly slashing his sharp nails and biting at the bus driver.

The initial scream penetrated through his loud music from the headphones causing Atkinson to jump up with his heart beating fast as soon as he heard the scream of the bus driver. His headphones dropped which made the screams even more pronounced.

Although his actions made him seem frightened… in fact he was actually just shocked. A few years has gone by on this bus and nothing like this ever happened.

Ever since he was born, he was born without any empathy or sympathy which makes a psychopath. He was extremely apathetic but that doesn't mean he can't cry… only when he feels immense pain.

Growing up was hard for him, at least that's how people saw his life. Top doctors, neurologists, psychologists and researchers studied him and tried all kinds of methods to 'cure' his illness.

Nevertheless, there was no answer to his illness and after he was declared safe to be around people, no one bothered with him anymore.

Maybe his parents would have been able to help, but his father disappeared when his mother was pregnant and she passed away just a few hours later giving birth to him.

Maybe if he was normal, then his life would be riddled with bad luck and sorrow. But he was different.

Back to the bus, Atkinson regained his composure and stood carefully rooted to the bus. The screams have died down after what seemed like eternity but was actually just a mere 2 minutes.

Large amounts of blood flowed from the front to the back. The bus crashed into an electronics shop when the bus driver was attacked, causing it to tilt downwards front to back.

Atkinson expected to hear shouts and screams from people outside trying to help… and he did, but it was chaotic and the shouts were of equal fright and pain to the bus driver. It seems that there was a big murder spree going on in the city.

Maybe it was the purge, except the government didn't announce it? Probably not, maybe it's the zombie apocalypse, probably not.

Atkinson suspects that the murderer and other murderers outside are actually zombies. Except it seemed too far fetched, he isn't the main character of some novel or movie. This was real life.

Contrary to his thoughts the murderer was actually a zombie. Atkinson quietly pulled out his short metal bat from his work bag as he readied himself for a potential attack.

He was in an awkward position as the bus was tilted back but he made sure to be in the middle of the aisle so he has the greatest room for mobility. All of these actions were done in mere seconds.

While he prepared himself, the zombie pulled itself out of the driver seat hunched over, Atkinson saw the eyes of the zombie.

It was deep orange almost glowing due to the dimly lit bus, its skin was also unnaturally pale. Only now, did Atkinson confirm his theory, the murderers were indeed zombies.

Shocking Atkinson once again, the zombie actually produced a human sound. It sounded like it was crying and moaning at the same time.

"Ugh ugh waa why wh-" The sound came from the zombie, it was low and almost inaudible. But Atkinson heard it and felt confused, so the murderer isn't a zombie but just a junkie?

Atkinson did not move from his spot, people who show psychoactive behaviors were not to be messed with even if they are weak.

Trying his best to not make a sound, he grabbed his headphones and put them in his bag. Then he proceeded to inch slowly towards the back door of the bus.

Should I try knocking him unconscious first? Who knows, he might come after me as soon as I try to leave. That's right, Atkinson believed this was a tactical retreat, definitely not an escape.

As soon as Atkinson opened the back door a creaking sound was made, then the zombie came running towards the sound. As for why the zombie didn't rush to the noises outside, that's because they were relatively far and have quieted down.

Atkinson realized his mistake and hastily deflected the zombie's arm that came down reaching for his head. He wasn't very strong or athletic… fortunately so wasn't the zombie.

Atkinson and the zombie fought amateurly for a few minutes before Atkinson bashed it head and kicked the zombie backwards.

It was an incredibly epic and tiring battle for Atkinson. He stomped on the head for good measure before sitting down and taking a rest.

The zombie's strength was above his, but he had the upper hand with the bat and his vision and coordination.

Upon closer inspection, it seems that the zombie was truly a zombie. Not only did blood ooze out but there was also a strange purple matter in the brain bits.

The driver would've been able to kill the zombie if he wasn't trapped and suddenly attacked.

Atkinson felt pained at the moment, his bat and favorite sweater were stained with strange purple goo mixed with blood.

Whatever, he has a whole box of them at home. He tried to wipe off as much of the smelly goo as he can using his work suit before leaving the bus.

Atkinson was now wary of anything that moved so he quietly speed walked into the small apartment building across the street.

He was careful to stay as far away as he can from any figures in the dark just to be safe since there weren't many street lights on.

Luckily the door to the small apartment building was not locked, so he quickly went inside and almost ran to the stairs.

He wasn't scared, he was just cautious and knew that he had to find a safe place to stay fast. He read many books as an intern at the city library, so he knew a lot about zombies, mostly fictional ones.

But he also knew some real scientific ones, such as the parasitic zombie ant fungus.

On the second floor, he walked past the first few doors because there was a strong stench coming from them.

He randomly chose room 5, It was actually unlocked so Atkinson cautiously checked the rooms.

After finding that there wasn't anyone, he locked the door and windows.

He immediately fell onto the bed and fell asleep out cold.