This is How You Died...

Early spring, a gentle breeze carried the sweet scent of blossoming flora around the beloved city of New York.

Ding, Ding, Ding

A rather simple alarm awakens the resting man. His eyes flutter open as if he'd been thoroughly engrossed in his dream. His messy black hair distorted and disturbed his otherwise matchless beauty. The man was Alex Lin.

"Five more minutes" Alex thought as the alarm wouldn't stop ringing.

DING DING DING

"Okay, damn. I'll get up" Alex thought to himself as he rolled out of his cheap mattress. He quickly got changed into his day attire as today was his college orientation.

Alex considered skipping altogether but his family paid a pretty penny to help him through his first semester. "Might as well make the most of it, no?" Alex asked himself.

He walked down his dorms staircase, hoping not to run into any other people. Alex Lin was an introvert who only knew how to study, he only managed to stay rather fit looking due to his blessed metabolism. Running into other people was never fun for him. If connection is a human emotion, he is not human.

Though Alex's wish did not come into fruition. A group of students walked passed him on the left side of the staircase. Three women walked with an almost unreasonable proudness, as if they just won the lottery or something of the sort. One of the women looked weirdly flustered when she locked eyes with Alex.

"She's quite cute" muttered Alex under his breath "like a baby Siberian Tiger."

Fortunately, they walked by without uttering a single word to him.

"They must be upperclassmen." Alex thought based on their confident walk through the building. It wasn't the posture of an unpolished freshman yet to learn the building layout. It was a strut driven with a clear destination in mind.

Finally, Alex arrived at the auditorium three minutes before the start of orientation. Punctual, but not early by any means. This was a regular habit for Alex, as he was lazy but didn't want to leave a bad impression.

******

30 minutes go by of nonstop rambling that nobody wanted to hear. Not to be a pessimist, but the lack of interest was nigh palpable.

"Attention students, while your here at this university please feel free to use the resources mentioned in the…"

And Alex was out. He wasn't usually one to ignore important information, but come on. Alex along with about half of the student body was completely dazed and struggling to keep their heads up.

gkhkhghkgkh!

A gut wrenching scream suddenly interrupted the quiet, slicing through the silence of the auditorium like a knife. The ones who weren't awake certainly are now. The scream continued to echo even though you could tell the origin is quite far.

"What could be so painful" Alex's dull words mocked the girl that was screaming. He assumed she was just attention seeking, a tedious but common thing among people his age.

Alex was the first to get up and leave. He was sleeping anyways so there no point in staying now. As he was getting up the ding of intercom went off above his head.

[ATTENTION STUDENTS: THIS IS NOT A DRILL, LEAVE YOUR SEATS AT ONCE AND RETURN TO YOUR DORMS]

[ATTENTION STUDENTS: THIS IS NOT A DRILL, LEAVE YOUR SEATS AT ONCE AND RETU..]

The intercom suddenly cut out, causing even more panic among the students. Alex was calm though. He had a more realist thought process and knew screaming and crying like a child wouldn't help anyone.

"Hey what the hell is going on" a thin student asked loudly.

Alex couldn't help but ridicule the kid. "If anyone knew, it would be the professors"

"So stop babbling like a buffoon and go ask them"

The thin student's face reddened in embarrassment. His pride getting in the way of rational decision. Though, he knew when to back off, so he walked away with his head down.

"My name, it's Dakota. Don't forget it. Bastard."

Alex couldn't bother responding to Dakota as he saw the entire interaction as an entirely pointless use of energy.

By now the entire auditorium was clear except a minor few who were straggling. The panic was visible on everyone's face, the rumors spreading wildly.

Alex wasn't a person to follow herd mentality though. He made his own decisions and stuck with them unless he a clear reason to change his mind. In this case, information was the most important.

Alex walked along the stairs in a slow but confident manor toward the stage. He climbed up onto the platform where the faculty was previously chattering on about useless details. Alex then walked toward the back room where the professors fled.

He was right to assume they didn't go very far.

"What are you doing back here" a middle aged male professor asked Alex. "You really should get back to your room, it's serious."

"How serious could it possibly be?" muttered Alex in an almost condescending tone.

"No need to be such a dick." The professor responded coldly.

"Listen, I don't know all of the details but I hear it's some kind of virus spreading across the city."

"Haha, very funny professor, Now tell me what's really going on." Alex smirked.

"Are you dense? I know it's hard to believe but don't be an idiot."

Alex tuned out the professor as he offered no information that helped him in anyway. "A virus doesn't cause screaming dumbass."

Alex contemplated the information he has gotten thus far.

That's when he heard it. The eerie and raw sound of nails scratching against the door. A deep and and seemingly antagonizing growl followed it. Even to Alex the noise caused an unmatched fear like he had never experienced.

"What the hell?" Alex pondered before walking up to the door.

The windows on the door were those tinted type where you could only see an outline of the person through it. Alex could only make out the slow movements of the man through the door, as well as the various people with him. Alex reached for the handle but every instinct in his body screamed at him to stop. Even if Alex was stubborn he wasn't an idiot.

So he ran and ran and ran. Alex was driven purely out of his morbid curiosity. What was on the other side of the door?

He had to find out. But his life was in danger, so of course he ran. The coward usually survives the longest, no?

Unfortunately, Alex was really just weak as hell. The laziness usually catches up on you eventually though. He tripped as soon as he exited the auditorium.

He let out a slight yelp, "Dammit I think I skinned my knee." Alex muttered. He got up, his previous dignity no where to be found. He now slowed down and walked with a slight limp toward the parking lot. Twenty minutes went by before he got there, every minute a painful one.

There was a haunting silence, there wasn't a sign of life in sight. He was about to enter his car when he realized he didn't have his key. "What a blunder" he thought. Just my luck for this to happen on a day like this.

At that instant, the unmistakable sound of chewing was heard to his left. It was more of a chomp though, the smell of blood followed soon after.

Alex walked up to the sound as he was unaware of the hell he'd soon endure.

Five feet.

The sound was around the corner of a red pickup truck, the color was strangely vibrant, a pretty red but ugly for a vehicle.

That's when Alex laid eyes on them for the very first time. They had a human figure, but the visible rotting flesh made it clear that it was not. It smelled of death, Alex only recognized this fact because the smell reminded him of his time at the graveyard.

They were in every sense of the word, a Zombie.

Alex was proud of his normally calm demeanor but he completely froze as he locked eyes with the creature. His body, numb with fear, was soon knocked over by a mix of the harsh wind and his already unsteady balance.

The worst part about being eaten alive is no doubt the sound. That along with the zombies shit eating grin right before digging in.

The zombies breath hot was against his skin. Blood streamed out in large arcs, painting the parking lot in deep crimson. The sickening sound of ripping flesh and snapping bones soon filled the air. Alex's cries were not heard by anyone, at least not any man. It was a painful 30 minutes up until his death.

A robotic voice was heard by Alex in his final moments of life.

[Infinite Revival] - Skill Registered

Ding, Ding, Ding