Jennifer White's Story

It seemed to be a pleasant day, much calmer than Jennifer was used to. Well, yes, there were zombies roaming around, but when you took those out you were left with car-less streets, no deadlines, no money troubles, and a warm sun.

Unfortunately, zombies were very much a factor in ruining this great day.

The smell of blood, waste, and decay hung thick in the air already; Jennifer had to roll up her windows and turn on her car's air recirculator to avoid it, and even then it was rank. The stench was all around, and there was no escape from it. So this is what the zombie apocalypse is like, Jennifer quipped mentally as she cruised along the streets, occasionally needing to speed up to evade pursuing zombies. Well, perhaps 'zombie' was a bit incorrect in some cases. There were those who had died and turned, crying for her flesh, but there were also those who clung to life and did whatever they needed to survive. They shot other survivors, they killed for food and weapons, they pushed others in the way of the horde to save their own skin, trying to ignore the desperate and painful screams as they ran. Jennifer was faced with both types of zombies, and both were equally as dangerous.

So she drove. But not out, just around. She tried to keep from running over too many bodies as a sign of respect, but after a while of this she gave up trying. Bodies filled the streets, too plentiful to miss. It would have bothered her more if she knew any some of them. Occasionally she would see one collapsed near a mutilated zombie, bearing wounds all over to prove their victory by struggle. The intelligent would beg to be killed, but the 'zombies' would beg for help, oblivious of their inevitable transformation. For the intelligent, she fetched her tire iron, mercifully granting their wish as painlessly as possible. For the cowards, she waited in the car, offering reassuring words and trying to explain the situation to them. She gave them time to come to grips with their death—time any sensible survivor with a gun would not have given them.

She was looking for something. Probably. Maybe. She wondered why she hadn't left town yet, and seriously considered doing so, yet she always decided against it. There was something she felt she needed to do, and only after stopping herself from leaving repeatedly did she realize what it was. She wanted to save someone. It didn't matter who, it didn't matter how, but she wanted to keep at least one person from dying in this horrible tragedy besides her. So she resumed her search, this time with purpose.

And then there was the sound of a car alarm.

As the group of people near the car alarm's source turned and fled, jumping, ducking, and weaving like professionals, Jennifer guessed that they were actually alive, or at least extremely agile undead. But at the sound of gunshots and the sight of the gathering horde, it became more and more clear that these were not simple zombies—they were survivors. And judging by their appearance, it seemed they were not the other sort of 'zombie' either, that living sort which mindlessly acted to preserve its own life. The little girl that took the lead among them would probably not have been able to survive on her own, and thus the others must have been good people to protect her...or so she wagered.

Despite being chased, it seemed like the group didn't need her help all that much. But when has that stopped me before? Jennifer thought with a smirk. She made a quick turn towards the blaring car and began cruising steadily down the road in its direction. She honked her horn a few times while she drove, trying to get attention from the zombies and probably from the survivors as well. She hoped that the flesh-eaters would give chase to her car instead of the group—she was protected by pounds and pounds of impact-resistant metal, while they only had their clothes and brains to protect them. Within moments her car was where they had been, and she continued to honk for attention, making her car obvious to any potential pursuers. She waited there for only a few moments as the horde ran after the group (and thus towards her car), and could only hope that her car would prove more enticing a target.

Victoria watched as the car swooped in to their rescue. As the horn blared its annoying whir and got the animated corpses' attention. They went after the noise like the mindless things that they were.

"Who is that?" Victoria thought aloud. Whoever they were she was thankful that they came to their rescue, although she would never admit it. She watched as Lilly bolted after the car. She had taught the little scamp well. Lilly followed suit, easily barreling over the car. She looked behind to make sure the others were following her. She might need them and wasn't ready to give up her few resources.

They were on their way following Lilly as best they could, it wasn't easy, the girl was fast and agile. She ducked and jumped with so much expert grace that she had to run this route often. One of the straggling zombies came close, Victoria did a hard sweep kick to keep it away from her. The thing hit the cement with a satisfying thud. She didn't look back to make sure it was dead, she didn't have time for that, and quickly caught back up with Lilly and the crew.

David kept the horde at bay as best he could. Firing round after round into the swarming mass of bodies as he bought time for the others to escape. Only after the last of them made it up and over the car did David follow suit. It was then that the car sped up, horn honking wildly. "If I didn't know better I'd say they were trying to lure these things away from us..." The Ranger thought to himself as he charged up the abandoned cars and darted after the others. He paused to fire three more times before hearing a familiar clicking noise.

"Damn, I'm out."

He growled as he quickly and efficiently reloaded with his second of three clips with practiced ease. The importance of finding more ammuntion began blaring obvious as he pulled back the slide, readying the gun to fire once again. That done he ran the rest of the way before leaping into the back yard with the others. Cross took a moment to scan the gap to verify that they weren't being pursued.

"Anyone wounded?"

He asked while his eyes were on the car that had just saved them. "C'mon... get outta there." He said within the confines of his mind as he began to worry about their mysterious savior.

Lilly didn't take the time to talk. That car that came by might have saved them for now, but Lilly had to keep running. The closer she got to her house the more panicked she got. She was so worried about her mom and dad. She hopped one fence and into another yard. She stopped only for a moment, to see if the others were still following. Some were slowing down and she had slow down too just for them to keep up. Lilly was so nervous but she was trying her best to stay within range of them.

Lilly came to the first true obstacle. A ten foot drop into a storm drain area. She continued running off the edge and dropped quickly. She collapsed her knees when she reached the ground and rolled over her shoulder and onto her feet again. She waited to see where the others were.

The red Civic that Jennifer was driving was being swarmed with zombies. She was risking losing the car and even her life, but if she didn't stay long enough, she might not have bought enough time for the group to escape. After sufficient time passed (and several undead started to get a bit too close) she promptly stepped on the gas pedal, causing the car's tires to screech a bit. The noise probably helped gather attention, but her tires wailed in discontentment. She gave a slight wave, though she didn't expect the survivors to notice. Once her tires gathered the grip necessary, her car shot off like a bolt, mowing down a zombie or two in her escape. At least, she hoped they were zombies.

Jennifer felt pretty confident about what she had just done, but it didn't seem like enough. I could have done more, she reasoned. Her car cruised along at about 30 miles per hour—not too slow to escape, not too fast to discourage zombies—and she had another brilliant idea. Well, perhaps this one wasn't very brilliant, but neither was using herself as bait. Perhaps she could figure out where they were going. She'd been driving around for a while, after all. Maybe she could head them off and offer them a ride, assuming none of them have been bitten already. Still, she'd only been in Aurora a day, two at the max. How would she know where they were going, especially since Lilly was taking them on such an...'alternative' route? She tried to see what general direction that they were heading, and hoped they were traveling in a straight line. Were they heading to the park? Or maybe the police department? Or maybe somebody's house?

She really couldn't tell, and it was impossible to know for certain. So she decided to continue luring the zombies away for a while longer, but resolved to try and find the group again. After all, she may have just saved their lives. Could she really just abandon them after that? Especially when she had transportation to offer? Not to mention, it was the zombie apocalypse. If not for her desire to save them, she would still seek them out. Nobody wants to be alone during the end of the world.