Eyes closed; the nightmare begins.
The last few months have been quiet, I have been roaming the streets trying to keep them clear but more show up every day and it has no end. Let me take you back to before this started. A young soldier just returned from a training exercise overseas, I came back to a brewing epidemic, people were getting sick and there were no signs of it slowing down. Families were terrified, people evacuating and unable to escape this plague spreading across the country. I was unsure of what to do so I stayed calm and remained at home. Several weeks have passed and a lot has happened since, I live in an abandoned train on the tracks in the middle of nowhere. I sleep in the driver’s cabin sometimes playing monopoly by myself or building a Lego set by lantern if I am lucky enough to find one for myself but how did I get here?
The epidemic had gotten worse, monsters had begun roaming the street and attacking homes. One night I was out trying to gather supplies in my uniform to give those who didn’t evacuate a sense of protection even if it’s a lie. My family had barricaded themselves, when I returned something awful had happened. Blood was everywhere as if a massacre had taken place. My family began to attack me along with other monsters I didn’t even recognise, without second thoughts I did what needed to be done. I took the weapon I had managed to secure from the butchers shop nearby and I killed my family even though deep down I knew they weren’t my family anymore they were the same monsters I had been trying to protect them from, I had failed. Unable to stay at home I decided to move on and that was where I came across the abandoned unpowered train left on the tracks a few miles away from home. It appears that everyone had left in a hurry when all this started. I settled down to finally sleep off the trauma I’d just experienced.
I live in my train I feel safe where I am, the monsters can’t climb, nor do they have any idea that I am here. With no personal attachments I roam the streets hunting down the monsters in hopes of preventing anyone still left barricading in their homes living in fear. I expand my radius as a lone wonderer everyday searching for new supplies and hopefully the occasional Lego set, monopoly gets boring after a while, when playing alone. I see myself as a hunter, the government has collapsed – it surprises me that it took this epidemic for that to happen. My aim is to eradicate the monsters putting an end to this nightmare I live in, after a day of hunting and killing I come back to the train to get some sleep and close my eyes.
Eyes open; the nightmare continues because this is the new reality.
Caption:
This is a diary entry from myself in a world where an apocalypse has broken out and its no one but myself and ‘them’. it tells a narrative of how things unfolded from the start. In this world I am a soldier which is a career I wanted before I pursued a career in advertising. I also have a love for zombie movies and games such as 28 Days Later and The Last of Us that inspired this piece.
