“How deserted lies the city, once so full of people! How like a widow is she, who once was great among the nations! She who was queen among the provinces has now become a slave.”

  Lamentations 1:1 New International Version (NIV)

  I put the bible down and took in the scenery of a once peaceful city sent in ruins in only a matter of hours. Luckily being in the car resolves most of the issues and since round one began early in the morning there were barely any cars on the highway. However, even with the gravity of the situation I could not help but think of how long it’s been since I have been here. I couldn’t help but wonder what my cousin is doing right now. My wondering about my cousin’s whereabouts was quickly interrupted.

  “Hey, Dante didn’t you say you lived here before you came to Fort Worth?”, Alice asked.

  “Yeah, before my mom and dad passed, we lived here. My dad and his brother wanted to live close by to each other and my uncle retired here, so my dad requested to be stationed here after my grandparents died.”, I replied.

  “Oh, I’m sorry to hear that. Does that mean you should have family here?”, Alice said.

  “Yeah, but I doubt they want to see me. It always felt like my uncle blamed me for my parents passing.”, I explained.

  “Oh…well are you curious on whether or not they are, okay?”, Jack said.

  “Of course, especially my younger cousin, she was like my little sister. It’s just I don’t know how they’d react if they saw me. Assuming they are alive.” I said.

  “Well, it’s kind of the end of the world man. Do you remember where they live? We’ve been searching for hours, and you said this will last about a month. Plus, it looks like those things aren’t as active during the day, so it is the best time to look right now”, said Jack.

  “Yeah, you’re right and funny enough I think we’re pretty close.” I said.

  As I gave directions to Jack to my uncle’s house the closer, we got, the more I noticed familiar scenery. The pizza place my cheap dad would buy me and my cousin after MMA practice, my old elementary school that even with its remodel still had the same portable classrooms I would spend third grade in, and the park my uncle would take me and my cousin to. It gave me a sense of nostalgia I haven’t felt in quite some time. As we approached my uncle’s house, I noticed that my parents house looked like it had not been occupied in a decade. There were weeds growing from the rocks that made up the front yard, an overgrown tree that has not been maintained in God knows how long, and sand covered the front porch.

  “Hey man why do you keep staring at that ran down house.” Jack said.

  “Oh, my bad, that was my parents’ house. I was wondering why it looked like no one has lived there since I left.” I said.

  “Dude, are you serious do you want to check it out first?”, Alice said.

  “Yeah, why not I was planning on breaking and entering into a military base, so it’ll be the least illegal thing we do today.” I said.

  Jack busted a bitch and parked in the driveway of my parents’ old house. It’s crazy the carport my dad built for my mom was still there. I was beginning to think no one really has lived here in years. Before we headed inside, I passed my utility tool to Jack and asked him to unscrew the plaque my dad made for my mom. I could never see what it said back then, but it made me tear up.

  It read, “To my beloved wife and son.”

  My dad wasn’t exactly the type to openly express his love for us. It was always the things he did to express that love. This straight to the point message and the fact that 12 years later the carport my dad spent the entire summer making pulled at my heartstrings. I put the plaque in my backpack and headed towards the front door.

  “Hey, so quick question how exactly are we going to head inside.” I asked.

  “Have either of you learned how to pick locks recently”, Alice asked.

  “No, I have not Alice” Jack said.

  “What about a spare key then?”, Alice said.

  “Wait give me a second. I hid a spare key in my playhouse because I kept losing them.”, I said.

  After hopping the fence and going into my old playhouse my dad built for me and my cousin to play in, I looked for my old piggybank that was in a hidden compartment I made. After dumping it out, I was able to find the key under the small hill of change I had saved up. I ran back to the front of the house to unlock the front door. As we entered the house, I noticed everything was exactly the same as I remembered it, and surprisingly it was oddly clean. As if someone has been breaking in and making sure the inside would not accumulate dust.

  “Bro, these are the cleanest squatters I have ever seen.”, Jack laughed

  “Yeah, it’s odd in all honesty.”, I said

  “Hey, Dante is this you.” Alice said.

  I went to my parents’ room who Alice thought was the perfect place to ransack. Hundreds of pictures of me and my family.

  “Tayyyy, what happened to you, you used to be so cute.”, she said.

  “That’s funny coming from you considering y- “, a loud bang could be heard from the outside interrupting me mid-sentence.

  Alice, Jack, and I rushed outside to see what was causing all of the commotion. It looked like a group of people were being attacked by a group of undead. Anxiety filled my thoughts. These ones were different from the previous undead we have seen. They weren’t as threatening as the hunter, but more fast and agile than the zombies we have encountered previously. After grabbing my machete from the car, we sprinted to my uncle’s house.

  I sprinted as fast as I could. Was my family alive? Are they going to be, okay? Will they shun me again? Thousands of thoughts filled my head as I rushed to see if my family was okay. The fast zombies noticed us and started clumsily running our way. I could feel my heartbeat faster as the zombies drew nearer. As my machete was about to come in contact with the head of the closet zombie, time seemed to slow down.

  “Calm mind has evolved, new effect unlocked; The Zone.” The System said.

  It was like they were going from a sprint to a run. Their movement, although still fast, was now manageable.

  “Runner killed.”, said the majestic voice of the system.

  After killing the first Runner a second one quickly followed. I spartan kicked it in the chest hard enough for it to fall backwards and cracked its skull. For good measure I stabbed its head, with the thought of rule #2 double tap surfacing in my memories. The next one lunged at me from the side, it was too late for me to react. As it was inching closer to me Alice swung down her bat barely saving me from a nasty bite. I gave her a look of appreciation and all three of us fought our way to my family’s house. After 5 minutes of slaughter, we finally killed the last runner. Out of breath and on the verge of passing out. The occupants of my cousin’s house acknowledged us.

  The man was tall and lanky and was sporting a goatee. He had hazel eyes and brown hair.

  “Hey, dude thanks for the help brah.”, an annoying masculine voice.

  “Oh my God, people actually talk like that.” I muttered.

  “Not cool, brahhh.” The man said.

  “My bad, brah, I’m Dante.” I mocked.

  If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

  “It’s all good brah, I’m Norville, but you can call my shaggy.”, Norville said.

  I couldn’t help but burst out in laughter.

  “Ignore my friend, he’s not always a dick. It’s nice to meet you Shaggy.”, Alice said.

  “He’s named after Shaggy literally, how is no one else finding that funny”, I laughed.

  “It’s not that funny Dante.”, Jack said,

  “But it’s still funny.” I said.

  After I stopped laughing and was no longer getting disappointed looks from Alice and Jack. I asked Norville why he was staying at this house.

  “Look brah, this is my friend’s Jills crib. We were having a crazy party since her parents were out of town, and then all this weird stuff happened. They just sent me out cuz I’m like super chill and they wanted to make sure you guys had no I’ll will ya feel”., Norville said.

  “Alright, is Jill here?”, I asked.

  Yeah brah, why?”, he said

  “Just tell her, Cousin Dante is here.”, I said.

  After waiting for a couple of minutes a somewhat tall women walked out, she had dark brown hair, light brown eyes, and the same mole I had under my right eye. It was almost like I was seeing a female version of myself. As I looked at her, I could tell she was on the verge of tears. She walked up to me and gave me a bear hug while sobbing.

  “Where have you been? I’ve sent you letters, messaged you on every single social media you have, texted you, and called you so many times since you left. I was so worried about you. Mom and dad weren’t responding, you never answer, I thought you died.”, she said crying.

  “I’m sorry, can we get inside, and I can at least explain why I haven’t contacted you.”, I said.

  She nodded her head in agreement. I explained my whole reason for coming down. Explained why I hadn’t contacted her or reached out since I was sent away, and when I was done, we sat on her parent’s couch for a couple of minutes, so she could take it all in.

  “So, the reason why you never contacted me was because my dad told you that he doesn’t want you to curse me the way you cursed your family? That he forbade you from reaching out to me and if you did, he’d hurt you”, she said softly.

  “Yeah, ever since the accident, your dad blamed me for what happened and I was going to reach out to you once you turned 18, but I started to think maybe he was right.” I said.

  “What do you mean, you seriously can’t believe that you’re cursed. That you’re a danger to your family.”, Jill angrily said.

  “Jill, you wouldn’t understand and frankly I really don’t want to talk about it. I know how crazy it sounds, and I’m sorry.” I said.

  “It’s fine I’m just happy you’re okay, and you’re here now that’s all that matters.” Jill said.

  “Thank you, so do you want to come with us?” I asked.

  “No, I have to wait for my parents and make sure they’re okay”, she said.

  “Jill, they won’t be able to come here because each city is currently blocked off. It was done to reduce the amount of area we have to hide.” I said.

  “How do you even know that? It wasn’t even mentioned in the rules.”, Jill said.

  “Would you believe me if I said I have a magical book that is helping me survive and it’s why I came here to find an artifact that could be anywhere in West Texas.”, I said

  “No but considering a couple of days ago we saw an angel literally descend from the heavens and I wrote it off as a dream. I feel like there’s no point in questioning your sanity.” Jill said

  “Bra-“

  “Stay out of it Norville”, Jill and I said.

  “My bad, that’s just super cool brah.” Norville said.

  Ignoring Norville, Jill introduced us to the rest of her friends. There was her best friend Hailey, Hailey’s boyfriend Isaac, a timid looking guy named Jesse, and a short nerdy looking girl named Ximena. Including Norville and Jill there were a total of six people who seemed to be joining our party.

  “Didn’t Norville say you were having a party?” I asked.

  “Yeah, I was, but once everything was announced everyone else left wanting to see their family.”, Jill replied.

  Alright, that’s probably for the best right now too many people might be an issue.” I said.

  After getting the head count and provisioning our food and water, it would last at least a month. I told everyone my plan. We checked everywhere in the El Paso area other than the military base. For some reason, everywhere we went there were barely any monsters, so assuming everywhere we checked is basically monster free. It can be safely assumed that the monsters are congregating in a specific area, and if that is the case there has to be a reason for that. Therefore, the artifact has to be somewhere on the base. After hearing my logic everyone besides Alice and Jack looked at me like I was crazy, and at this point I’m sadly getting used to that look. The other four people did not want to tag along and offered to stay at Jill’s place to protect it. Surprisingly, despite my rudeness Norville offered to tag along, and Jill decided she wasn’t going to let her possible last remaining family member go to his death, so she also agreed with coming with us. After having Jill helped us decide which would be the best areas to search due to her being the most familiar with the base. We all decided to rest and begin our adventure with a well-rested body and mind.