Last days on Earth

Few years has passed since the apocalypse was set loose on the planet. The world was recovering and even though it was at a slow pace , progress could be seen world wide.

Amongst the survivors was a group of friends whose efforts helped save the human race. They were grieving the lost of their fallen friend who sacrificed himself to secure his friends survival and that of mankind. One of the friends named Caroline was devastated by his death the most but there was no time to grieve as they had to keep on moving because they were being hunted down by the FBI and the secret service agents under the authority of the President himself. Two weeks has passed since the pursuit and Caroline was going through some of their old stuff and came about a letter from Michael and in the letter he confessed to her how he first felt upon meeting her for the first time.

Throughout the letter there was a poem which touched her deeply and this brought tears to her eyes. One part of the poem stood out the most to her and it stated - My blood was in a ferment and my heart ached so sweetly and absurdly. I was full of hope and anticipation was a little frightened of something and full of wonder at everything. I was on tiptoe of expectation, my imagination played continually, fluttering rapidly about the same fancies like Martin about a bell tower at dawn. I dreamed, was sad even wept but through the tears and through the sadness , inspired by a musical note or the beauty of evening shot up like grass in spring. The delicate sense of youth and effervescent life. This brought her to her knees and filled the room with her tears. As Monica came to comfort her Bill saw some vehicles approaching their hideout. It was the President who's daughter was infected by the virus a few months back but they kept it under the wraps

The President wasn't going to kill his only daughter so they hunted the group but with little luck their way. This was the case until they captured Jack unexpectedly at a local pub drinking Skotish Whiskey. They took him to a secure base outside town where they tortured him for days until he gave up the location of his friends. As the FBI and secret service agents closed in on the friends location so was a mysterious individual hot on their trail. He kept tabs on the FBI and followed the friends for some time now. The FBI and secret service agents surrounded the farmstead where the friends were sleeping and just as they were to move in , the mysterious individual sent a warning that someone was around by letting the cattle out. This caused the friends to be woken up by the disturbance and saw the lights of the SUVs. The individual opened the back door and told them to follow him if the wished to live so the friends followed a path led by the individual no-one knows yet. The path led them to two trucks waiting for them ready to go.

As they were driving away Caroline and the others thanked their rescuer he then replied with a silent smirk. The road was long and silent until they came upon a nearby town called Retribution which was infested with walkers. They left their cars behind to minimise the noise. As they were strolling through the town they notice a child locked in a car surrounded by two zombies probably her parents. They took out the zombies with ease and rescued the child but the child was resistant until she recognized the stranger. The child shouted "ZARDO" and fainted afterwards .They were friends few years back when he saved her life right before she was about to be devoured by a zombiefied dog.

The friends took her along to keep her save thus slowing them down a little but the friends did not mind the company as she was a doll. As the sky dusked and the shadows got longer and hard the group found shelter at an abandoned wearhouse near the edge of town. As the group set up camp and lit a small fire to keep warm there was something strange lurking in the darkness. The friends introduced themselves to the child and in return she introduced herself as Catherine but they can call her Cathy. Few hours into the night Cathy was drawn to the sound in the darkness so she went to investigate this strange noise. Caroline woke up thus alarming the group of Cathy's disappearance in which Zardo and Bill went out looking for her. Cathy wondered further into the darkness getting her closer to the sound. Just as she got close her flashlight turned off and just as she was about to scream out for help Zardo found her. They walked back to find Bill but something else was following them. They caught up with Bill and they almost fell off a huge structure but had to drop the flashlights in order to catch on to the reeling. Bill had a flair in his backpack so he took it out and lit it but what they saw in the light almost stopped their hearts as they we're surrounded by walkers. They found a path through the horde of walkers only to run into a roadblock. There was only one way out of this so Zardo decided to distract the horde of zombies by running the opposite direction making a lot of raucous and throwing things around to lure them away from his friends. Bill took Cathy and ran to safety but when they regrouped at daybreak Cathy was nowhere to be seen. Bill told the group that they ran into another horde just before making it to the group and he couldn't save her eventhough he tried his best but it was all in vein. Bill assured Zardo that Cathy wanted him to know that she's now safe with her parents in heaven and that he should not worry or grief over her.

The group found a car in working condition just outside the borders of the town. They yet again embarked upon the journey of finding Jack's whereabouts where they found their next clue just few kilometres out of town. They figured out the clue which showed them a map with Jack's location marked with an X. The group followed the trail to the base but few meters away, they were surrounded by soldiers who was ready to put anyone down that does not belong. The soldiers gave the group the orders to surrender but that was not the case for the group of friends so they ran for cover behind a huge boulder.

As the soldiers cornered them and opened fire upon them, out of nowhere Zardo pulled out an impenetrable shield that protected them. As the group tried to figure out a plan to escape Caroline saw a stun granate lying beside her but it was in the line of fire. Just as she went to reach for it one soldier saw this from afar forcing him to open fire unto her. Zardo saw this and pushed her out of the way forcing the shield to weaken this allowing a bullet to penetrate the shield and hit Zardo. Caroline did get the stun granate and threw it to Bill who then threw it in the direction of the soldiers causing them into a temporary stunned state thus allowing the group to escape and find shelter .

The group found a cave near the bunker to tend to Zardo's wound before it got infected. The girls had to take off his shirt to look at the wound and as they took it off Monica saw a weird tattoo on Zardo's back thus seeing this she then showed it to Caroline. As Caroline muses into the unknown Monica called her to ask if she's fine but she replied with silence not uttering a word. After Monica took the bullet out , Caroline pulled her aside to show her a few pictures of the group a months before Michael's death. They all were in the picture enjoying a nice relaxing Sunday afternoon at the beach. In one of the pictures the boys took a shot with their backs facing the camera and Micheal`s tattoo of a broken heart could clearly be seen.

The two women did not discuss the situation any further. They thought it was just a coincidence for him and Michael to share the same tattoo at the same place so they decided to put a pin on the matter and rest for the night. As morning approached Bill woke up the group but Caroline was awake the whole night. She couldn't sleep because she kept thinking about her last memory with Michael. Monica went out of the cave for some air but noticed the soldiers closing in on their position, she then alerted the group but it was too late. The soldiers was already infront of the cave blocking their exit. Michael couldn't move so he told the friends to go on without him and showed them another exit behind the waterfall. At first they did not want to leave him behind but with their window closing they left him behind. The soldiers broke through the barricades the friends had put up before leaving and found Zardo lying there with blood all over him. They found nobody else and left Zardo behind with the thought he's dead.

Bill confied in Monica about Cathy because he' s being haunted by her ever since her death. He let Cathy die in order to save himself, he explained that they were cornerd with no way out and he saw his life flashing infront of his eyes. Bill then threw Cathy off the ledge to distract the zombies creating a chance for him to get across safely but not before glancing back onto Cathy screaming while she was mutalated and turned into a zombie.

After seeing the guilt in his eyes Monica did not say anything to the group as they were closing in on the base's entrance. They were dumfounded as they found no resistance as there were no soldiers guarding the base. It

was all a diviece plan by the general in charge to lower them into an ambush.

For days now the General has been torturing Jack to get intel on his friends. Once he got what he needed fom Jack, he locked him in a cell in the deepest part of the base sublevel 12 the basement. The General knew that his friends will come looking for him in which they eventually came. He was prepared for them but they weren't prepared for what they found at the base.

As the friends entered the first level they found very little resistance as it was empty. As they went in further into the base they were faced with challenges neither of them could comprehend. As Caroline stopped for a breather and stared into a mirror below the stairs. Her worse fears came to life within the mirror as the mirror is capable of drawing out one's worse fears. This shoched her and sent her tumbling down the stairs hitting her head. She was dazed for a few minutes, all she could see was the face of abandonment within her self. What she saw made he realise that in the end the ones closest to us are the ones who dealt the most pain when they are gone.Caroline got up and continued with the group down to sub level 11 where they ran into an unwanted obsticale.

It was two GPMGs that fires nato-standard 7.62mm rounds programed to shoot anything that moves thus guarding the entry to the basement. Monica saw the guns and regocnized it from her childhood memories from when she and her step-dad went hunting. She saw that no-one was behind the guns so she figured that they must be automatically programmed to fire on their own. She found a bottle behind them and threw it in the direction of the guns. The bottle got obliterated but not before aligning the two guns facing each other. The guns destroyed each other and created a safe way for them to open the door.

Caroline broke the lock on the door as she was a master thief in her previous live. As they entered the basement they saw Jack hanging from two ropes tied to his arms. As they were busy cutting him down the General grabed caroline and orderd them to surrender.

Surrender was not an option for them as they knew once they surrendered the General would have their heads. Just as things seemed to look dull for the group , they heard shots coming from beyond the basement door. This distraction allowed Caroline to escape from the clucthes of the General and in doing so she disarmed him. She then shot one of the soldiers beside the General as the ball was now in their court, the doors opened and a dark presence glanced through the hollowed shadow of darkness.They all felt the coldness of death approaching them, slowly they moved backwards. Without hasitation Caroline let a few rounds fly into the darkness to scare whoever was coming their way. They heard a thunderous roaring creature tumbling down the stairs. As no-one can make out what it is Caroline fired the last two rounds of the glock19 in her hand.Caroline ordered the General to go and confirm it's death but he refused as he knew that her Glock was empty. Without a second thought the General attacked Caroline but

she fought back and sent him tumbling down the floor.

As the General stood up the creature entered the door. A sign of relief and disbelieve could be seen on their faces as the creature turned out to be Zardo. They had a lot of questions for him but there was no time to catch up on the Hows and Whys as the sub-levels were now flooded with the undead. They had a squabble over what to do with the General as Monica couldn't leave someone behind for dead no matter how gruesome their action were previosly as she valued human life more then anything. The rest wanted to kill him for what he did to Jack.

They took the General with them dispite their wishes. They needed weapons to defend themselves againts the dead army so the General supplied them with weapons as an act of good faith. They started to ascending up the stairs just as they got to the seventh level a zombie came through the door and tackled the general down the stairs. Just as they turned around to help, the General gave them the order to go on without him as he knew that this was the end for him as he was already bitten by the zombie. Caroline cried but they had to keep on moving in order to get out before the all the explosives went off. When they reached the third sub-level Jack was held at gunpoint by Caroline as she wanted to know who Zardo really is becouse he knows them better then any other stranger.

Zardo assurred her that he was who he says he is. Caroline did not believe him as his character and scars seemed quite similar to that of Micheal. Zardo came clean with her as they needed to move so he told them he was an ex soldier who was sent to kill them but he needed them to destroy the dam.

A flashback shows how he planted bombs on each level of the dam and if they did not keep on moving they would be buried within the rubble. The first explosive went off in the basement causing a domino effect of explosions and the levels started to flood. As they were about to make it out Caroline lost her footing thus resulting in her almost falling through the opening they were suppose to cross over. When all seemed lost for Caroline Zardo grabbed her hand and saved her. As he was pulling her up the structure beneath him started to crumble and she noticed it. She then told him that it was okay and she pleaded him to let go. Zardo refused to let go as he mumbled to her that he's not going to loose her for a second time but just then the structure gave way and they fell. Just then Jack and Monica launched themselves forward and grabbed Zardo's legs and they pulled them up onto a secure ledge.

Caroline heard what Zardo mumbled to her and wanted an explanation. Zardo confessed to her that he is indeed Micheal but he lost his memory and could only remember glimps of his past. When he caught her hand as she was falling he had a vision of them and how he felt about her before the explosion two years ago. It came to him in a flood of memories at once before he killed all the soldiers in the cave. They finally got to the first level with freedom at arms reach but there was a problem in the form of a horde of zombies with an all you can eat bavaey of dead ground soldiers. They had to pass the horde in order to escape. Micheal then revealed another secrete about him in order to save his friends. He told them that they should not think less of him after this and he's sorry for the next part as he transformed into his zombie state. They got scared but he explained to them becouse his blood is one half of the cure he can control the transformation and not loose control and go full bezerk mode on them.

Everyone was shocked and scared so they retreated a few steps back and gazed upon him as he approached the front door the horde had barged through. The friends were scared but Micheal assured them that it's fine and not to panic. He then walked out the door and the friends were muted and yet confused as the horde of zombies started to follow zombie Micheal outside.As the zombies cleared a path out the base, the friends got out just in the nick of time right before the final structure of the dam exploded and collapsed. As a result of the explosion the zombies including Micheal lost control and persued the group but they were already clear of the base and safe except Caroline. She stayed behind hoping to get some answers from Micheal. A structural beam fell over her and now her leg was trapped. While she was trying to get it unstuck she did not notice the horde closing in on her.

It was in that moment in time where she understood and excepted her fate. It was the end for her so she thought but as the zombies got closer and closer to her Monica stood tall above her with an M79 Grenade launcher she picked up in a military vehicle releasing hell fire unto the horde of zombies. Micheal regained his humanity back after seeing Caroline in danger and right before a car beside him exploded. He took cover but the blast threw him onto another car behind him. All the zombies were decimated in the area and the gang helped lift up the beam to free Caroline. Micheal stood up in discomfort and Caroline rushed to his aid, she helped him to walk because he was a little disorientated and light headed about to pass out. As he was passing out he gave her a map of one of his safe houses at the coast. They loaded him in the back and drove to the safe house but the road was blocked by cars and they had to take an alternative road through a farm stead.

Two days later at an abandoned campsite outside town , Micheal came to and started exploring the site. He then found the group around the round table feasting. When they saw him up and about they were glad so they asked him to join. Micheal asked Bill and co what had happened after the dam exploded becouse he can't remember what happened after the final explosion went off. Jact told Micheal that after the dam exploded it flooded the lower valey where most of the zombies were and it flashed out all the rotens in the area. They quickly brought him up to speed with everything since then. As night fall creeped around the corner the group of friends got ready to rest after a long day of hard work.

Micheal walked up to Caroline wanting to thank her for saving his life but he frozed up. Without uttering a single word he gave her a kiss on the forehead as an act of love and care. Micheal was broken yet again because of the fact that he could not have a dalliance with her.As dawn peaked through the roaring waves of the ocean Micheal woke up and when he was just about to open the cabin door a cold morning breeze woke the rest of the group up. As they set around the table to discuss what their next plan of action was going to be, Jack had prepared some lemon tea for their morning breath. As they made it to dawn, they heard a broadcast on an old 90's vintage radio broadcasting safezones across the world. As the world seemed lost to this bloodsuckers, scientist have found a planet similar to earth's conditions and made an effort to take all the survivors on a long voyage through space. This would be a chance at a new start, a fresh beginning for humans to inhabit this new planet and call it home.

After hearing the news there seemed to be hope glancing from their eyes. They thanked GOD for this news and plot a course to the nearest pick up zone which was 62 miles from their location. As they were travelling to the assigned location they stumbled unto another obsticale. The road was blocked off so they had to travel on foot as they were two miles out. They stumbled upon another horde of zombies but managed to walk pass them without making a sound. They got to the safe zone just in time before the ship took off.

The engines of the ship was so loud that it turned out to be a megnet for zombies. It pulled all zombies to their location as time was running out for the few survivor the barriers were breached by the undead. With seconds remaining Jack gave Micheal his ultimax 100 HMG to help fend off the zombies to allow them a few more minutes to take off. Bill jumped out just as the doors were closing as he had trouble dealing with Cathy's death. The two friends secured the time to allow the ship to take off as their ammo ran low they decided to run to a nearby fishing boat to escape the dreadfull fate of their death.

They knew that the zombies could not swim so they prolonged their lifespan a few days longer. They were at sea for two days. As supplies ran low they found themselves in the mist of a raging hurricane as death found them again they embraced it with a hug. After the hurricane passed there was a message on the radio that played over and over again, it stated that one could cheat death more then once but at the end it always finds it's way back to you with a different face.