klena | Pretend all the good things are for you

Zombie apocalypse. Set in some amalgamation between Leeds, Manchester and a biggish American city. Evening.

I was with the guys from "Shaun of the Dead", but who were actually the characters rather than the actors. We were running through the streets and places were empty. Liz and I were near the back of the ones running. As we ran past through streets, slowly more zombies appeared and we ended up running past this mini-supermarket with full open windows. Diane was there, working the till, with hordes of people (still people? I don't remember) in queues. I stopped and knocked the window so she would see me. Shaun (or maybe David) whisper-shouted that it was going to catch their attention but I couldn't stop. I knocked again (4 times) and I felt the change in the zombies pacing up the roads. They were noticing me. But then, so did Diane. And I knew looking at her that she was probably going to die there. We looked at each other. The men continued to run. Liz had slowed down up at the corner for me. She held her hand up to the glass and so did I and she gave me a small smile. Enough to say "I know" and "It's okay" and "Maybe in the next life". I think I was crying as Liz dragged me away as the zombies got closer.

We ran up, but started catching up to the boys. Liz and I ran into a corner alcohol shop (for cover? something to keep us going) and it was empty. She grabbed some squash plus a can of Red Bull and Rum mixed together. We downed it and then I went a little further into the shop to grab a bottle of Coke and a second bottle that was practically all drunk. The owner burst through a door behind one of the beer fridges just as Liz was running out. I had a moment of flailing as he shouted at me for being a thief and then I tore out. Ahead, I could see Liz running up the hill we were on and then turning down a road on the right, that lead to the highway. And I was suddenly so aware of the masses of zombies that were everywhere, behind corners and down streets I hadn't considered, as I ran, finishing the flat coke. I took the first road to my right, the one before Liz's turning and ran up a steep up-ramp onto the highway. I kept moving up and caught a glance of her hair as she disappeared up a side turn, so I followed. I never made it to the main highway. There were too many cars littered there and too much chance of people lying against their cars, turning.

I followed Liz's path and found her, the guys and two older people all in a dip in the highway. As if there had just been a massive slab of concrete that had never been placed there. Shaun told me to pay attention to what was under the grass in this ditch. It looked like a rusted Terminator skeleton, it's metalwork frame peeking above the grass. Two more guys appeared over the outcrop, I went to swing my bottle of coke at them, only to be informed they were human. They were carrying carrots and potatoes and maybe beets? We sat and had a dinner of vegetables, although apparently we also had rabbit that no one had cooked. I lectured Ed, who wanted to carry it with us for eating later. I said it would rot and also smell enough to attract Them. Someone only had a gun with one bullet in it. (the older couple were Shaun's mum-not-his-mum-in-his-verse. Maybe she was Prime Minister Harriet Jones? The man was a prominant English actor who's name I cannot remember)

Night passed there, I think. We moved on, separating from our new companions. We walked along our road, out of the city. We had no clue where we were heading. (people were changing at this point - Matt Smith, the new Doctor Who was now with us as where some others). We ended up in this youth hostel, off a side road, coming into the forest. But inside wasn't like a youth hostel. It was like a facility. Things get hazy but we all get separated and then the zombies attack. I remember running through darkened corridors, wanting to cry out for my friends, but knowing the stupidity of it. I think I had a bat. I clearly remember zombies appearing out of nowhere, chasing me. I turned left up a corridor, running and running and breathing and ran through doors until getting to a glass patio section which also had an extended back porch. I ran through the doors, flinging the doors closed in the glass area and was closing the back door (that was pressure locked or something) to see Matt, whom I had caught a glimpse of as I ran past. I stood, stunned against the glass door, pressed against it. Matt saw me, smiled and waved with his right hand. He had the gun in his hand, fitted it against his chin and fired. His body slumped stupidly to the ground. Maybe I screamed or just gasped and started sobbing. There were people outside in the actual patio, one of who pulled me away. A few zombies paced inside, near Matt's body. One of the men to my left had a blue, infected looking arm. So did a few other people. The man who pulled me away told me he had done what he did for the best, some other bullshit until he remarked that Matt did it because he'd been bitten.

Something else happened. Some bartering system for my friends maybe? They asked for hands. The man with the blue hand pulled his off and threw it inside. I'm not sure what happened next, but I was leaving with Liz. We got separated from the others. We left the hostel.

My phone rang, as we were along the roads, heading back into Leeds/pool/state. I answered, because my phone said Blash. Liz hit me, told me i was stupid and going to get eaten, they were going to hear us. Ash was asking where I was, who I was with, he told me he was with Mof and that she said hi and they were heading somewhere. Hazy from here.

There was more stalking through the streets. Maybe we were meeting the boys somewhere. Maybe we were meeting Ash. Maybe there was just the two of us left. We left Leeds again, once again hitting one of the highways out.

The highway lead us to an estate first, one like where Charlie lives. There were about 50 people there, including Sheaf. I ran to them, flinging myself at them and hugging them. They all wore cream coloured clothing, as did everyone around us. I didn't care. I was just so glad to see them alive. I think Marcus was pushed to speak to everyone, to gather a plan. We 'ssshhhed' everyone and then Marcus spoke, too loud on the dangerous streets, and I 'ssshhed' him too. We all giggled but he spoke. What he spoke about was gone. Maybe the turmoils we'd suffered to be alive at this point. People we had lost. People we had to lose. Where we went from here. How important it was to just keep moving. Processing could be done at the end.

Another house. A house that turned out to be a mansion on the hill leading out of Leeds with two people, in African clothing, standing guard at the gate. We came out of the house with two men (who were Arthur and Merlin. I know.) A boy-man stood at the bottom of the stairs. I went to twat him with my bat. Arthur stopped me and flung his arms around him. His cousin. They were dressed in shining silver armour. We left the palace, and the guards. They stood stoic, told us they were fend off any zombies that came our way to buy us time. We moved on.

Maybe we headed back to Leeds. Maybe we saw all the abandoned cars and realised that was the best thing we could do, the best way to travel.

Liz (who was maybe no longer Liz) and I were in a car, back in Leeds. The car pointing out of the city. My phone rings again. I don't remember this call. We drive, and find a fuckton of people driving out of Leeds on some clear road. Ahead of our car is my friend Lucy, sitting in the back of a pickup truck that has an upright piano tied into it. She begins to play, it is "Bridge Over Troubled Water". People all seem to have open-top cars. We lean out, breath in and sing.