Alr if something sounds weird it’s cuz I had 2 edit it to make it ✨ kId FrEiNdLy ✨ A large glowing billboard in the city flickered, after the chemical had started spreading people went into chaos. The power plants had been filled with zombies, the people fled to the outer edges of north south east and west, anywhere outside the landlocked city of central. “Centralites do not panic. All of Korrinhier can contribute to helping this cause. Before this chemical of yours spreads around this country, we can take action.” The president's voice changed volume over the static billboard. Some of the citizens rolled their eyes from down below. The president lived in the West where the people were hungry due to the large population on that side of Korrinhier. Central was usually blamed for being the richest part of Korrinhier and having many technology production areas. Centralites was a name used to mock them for being so rich and arrogant, the word was very insulting towards the people of central. The president was also a dirty liar, he spoke with a tone trying to be persuasive but always got his way. His voice sounded political, that is the right word. Forest’s eyes watched the man on the billboard talk apathetically, West wasn’t infected yet but it was soon to be. Forest looked around the flood of people filling the streets, crowds turned into blobs rushing away from the ones they loved gone corrupted. They all headed to the largest store in the world, the mega mart on the corner. It was close to the factory, but the best source of food in the area. As people bumped into him and ran around him he tried to speak up but his mouth went dry. Having a compassionate enhancement, he was unable to speak up against others or be mad at anyone, forcing him to believe everything was his fault. It was quite interesting however because if someone asked if he was okay he would have to say yes. The store seemed to be coming closer to him although he was moving forward, it seems the people shoving him around had done most of the walking. He pulled his jacket closer to him and watched rain start falling from the sky. Precipitators were placed in dry,and drought prone places and controlled by the people in the powerplants, they turned on when the city needed rain but right now felt unnecessary. Forest pulled his jacket hood over his head and kept walking. The doors to the Mega Mart opened, people flooded inside with urgency, they were going to get anything they could grab to help them with whatever comes next. He looked around the room trying to read it as he always did. Someone almost ran him over from the back, he figured he would have to keep moving so he did. The shelves were getting emptier and emptier, hands of several skin colors fought for the last things on each shelf. In important isles he watched the hands, along with the people fall on the tile floor. The air was heated in the store but the bodies made up most of the uncomfortable warmth. Forest hoped to get a knife if his body would let him. People he knew looked bloodthirsty, running over one another for food and other resources, he would have to think differently to avoid everyone else. The empty aisles contrasted with the flood of people running down them. He went to the back of the store where kitchen knives were and watched people fight for them and with them, he tried to grab one but his compassion was also associated with nonviolence. He tried to force his hand to grab the knife and started shaking violently, he perceivered and finally had the knife in his hand at the cost of exhaustion. As soon as he tried to put it in his backpack his hand spastically slashed his arm. His hand immediately dropped the knife and someone else got it from underneath him. This was going to be hard but he had to get what he needed to survive. Walking around the store he started to think, does my body want to kill me? And he might have been right, he couldn't survive without these things but taking them without paying would be a crime. His beige leather jacket held the blood from his cut in, it burned badly. He wished he could have taken the knife if his body didn't force him away. Soon he stood in front of canned foods and took three, the fourth one dropped because someone else came up from behind. He wished he could control what he took, the rest of the aisles were empty, but he had managed to find one jacket on the floor. Maybe the sharp lids of the cans could work as razors.
He looked through more aisles but people were quicker than him, everything was gone besides a puffy jacket covered in pebbles and muddy footprints. He picked up the jacket with one hand and sighed. One more thing would be helpful although he knew he wouldn’t survive. Most people had left the store, except for a small few who were smart enough to know how to disassemble shelves for parts. People from the technology production center assembled everything from chairs to hover cars. He walked outside the store looking down at the wet tile beneath him. Once he went outside he sat on the cement step outside the door. I’m not gonna make it, I can’t make it. He couldn’t tell anyone that of course. He looked at the four things he managed to find and slumped over staring out at the smoggy sky. All of the production in the future made the air gray even at 3pm. As he sat down he spotted another knife on the floor. He had one more chance to grab it, The pain of the cut wouldn’t matter if he could just survive. He moved toward it before he saw a woman walk out from inside the store. Surely one of the people who worked at the production center, she had a metal pipe in her hand from the shelves. She went from the knife as well, swerving around him, but he had gotten to it first. He grabbed the knife as his hand tried to stab the cut, this time the thick jacket blocked him. He looked at the knife in his hand not believing that he could grab it but he did. The girl's hand touched his arm before swiftly pulling it back, Forest made the mistake of turning around to see her. She had bright blue messy hair underneath a black beanie, a zip up jacket that didn’t look that warm and jeans with so many holes they almost weren't jeans. Her dark brown eyes locked with his, seeing her features he knew who she was. Orchid's girlfriend, Liddy, girls couldn’t love girls,and boys couldn't like boys otherwise they would be sent to Alaska. Secret lovers he thought, he wasn’t supposed to interact with her but he did. He let go of the knife finally because his arm was exhausted from trying so hard. She took the knife with her and walked away, something in her body language said thank you, while her face said nothing. He heard something dragging by the corner of the large store. A moan came out of it, a zombie. “Wait!” Forest said as quietly as he could while still getting her attention, he didn't want attention from anyone or anything else. She turned around with a look Orchid would give him. “I think there's something around the corner.” She turned her head, he didn’t speak loud enough. He couldn't say anything else, time was running out, he saw the hand come from around the corner. “Run!” He screamed at the top of his lungs, she heard his voice but it was too late. The hand grabbed her jacket and she stumbled backward. “Liddy!” he ran towards her which was a stupid idea, he grabbed the can of asparagus that he got inside the store and threw it at the zombie’s head. Iit stepped back. She tried to run but couldn't, the zombie had her by the arm, it took the pebble and bit it with its enhanced teeth. Forest watched in horror, the zombie’s teeth had become so strong they could bite through rock, they bit the rock into a sharp point. They could still think a bit, well she, the zombie stepped forward revealing a mass of dark curly hair. The stone scratched Liddy’s exposed stomach through her crop top and made a bleeding cut. She stepped on the zombies foot, she stepped back. Forest, out of cans and hope, also took a step back thinking it would put him a step ahead. The blood had been exposed to a zombie, and like a vampire, they drank it, distributing their saliva into her cut. Forest could almost feel the pain through her, but it was too late. He didn’t know zombies could suck blood, but he knew if their DNA mixed, she would become a zombie. Liddy tried to back away, but she became dizzy, the first exposure to zombie DNA made one light headed. Forest kicked the zombie in the stomach, not realizing the zombie had the can in their hand. As Forest kicked their stomach, the can lodged into Liddy's stomach, her newly green eyes flashed him, this was his time to run. And he went far from the store, far from Liddy and the zombie girl, into an alley in the middle of the city, at least 3 miles from the store. Exhausted, he leaned against a brick wall of an abandoned building, but he heard footsteps around the corner. Too scared and tired, he closed his eyes, hoping for the best, but he knew the worst was yet to come.
