On Monday, she got the call they were being shut down.

On Tuesday: no news.

Wednesday and half of Thursday: nothing.

Then, Thursday afternoon, 12:13 p.m, horror struck.
There had been news of an outbreak, not like the flu or covid. She brushed it off before.
An alert blared on the TV, jumping her out of her thoughts. All words were lost on her as she sat up on her couch after napping.

The news anchor kept cutting in and out of static. She can’t make out many words beyond “Shelter in place”, “supplies”, and something about the government.

Pissed off, she went to Google to find out more, convinced she was hallucinating.

Oh god. Oh no… It was an unnamed lab mutated virus. There was no warning, nor a clue what it was either.
“Maybe it’ll all be fine…” the biggest lie she’s ever told herself as she looked out her front window.

Oh. Growls came from outside. Oh no.

All those movies labelled fiction? They were real now. The nightmare of a world only found in fiction found her. Getting up and looking out her front window was the worst mistake she’s made already.

Bodies were littered everywhere, blood seeping into the grass and tar. Some moved erratically, chasing other people who ran in such panic they didn’t know where to go. Some lay dead, however. Strange. She believed she was alone. She wasn’t. Not anymore with her new situation. Her heart was beating too fast for the sound of static from the TV cutting out to register.

A pole went down, all lights going out following moments later. A prayer was muttered, almost as a second nature. “Damn it,” among other words, left her mouth as she gathered her valuables.

Stay in a questionably safe house, or get supplies? That’s the question. Deciding to take a chance, the front door flew open. Sprinting to remain unseen, she got in the car, wincing at how loud the door shut in this new silence. A pin could drop in another country, and everyone would hear it.

The engine revved, lights off and no news playing, the car left the driveway. The roads were bad, the scenery was horrific. Cars in large crashes. Was something burning? It smelled awful. Smoke, blood, gasoline and other horrible smells, of which were something she’d rather not think about, wasn’t something she thought she’d ever smell, but here she was. First time for everything.

The store was in chaos with the infected beginning to infiltrate the store. People who used to be regular customers now holding each other by the throat for supplies
She had to fight for every bit of supplies she managed to get her hands on.

She came out with five cases of water, canned corn, peas, some knives someone left behind that looked like a butterfly and a set of kitchen use knives, white bread, peanut butter, granola, granola bars… Whatever was shelf stable.

She managed to leave the store. Everything somehow worsened from when she went in to coming out. The car, being left alone save for a couple scratches, was calling her name. She ran.

No. No, not now. Running to her car, she dropped a bit of her supplies.

Two cases of water, no corn, a can of green beans she stole from off the ground, and everything else made it.

Driving home was a nightmare she wanted to snap out of. There were people roaming. Not acting right. She didn’t have time to think about this.

She saw the face of one of these people. It was awful. How they were even walking, who knows
All she knew was there were horrors beyond her comprehension.

She arrived home finally. Oh no. No, no, no, no! Her window was broken. She went in, leaving her stuff in the car. Was the smell from the outside… Or was it inside? It was inside, and worse than she thought. She was face to face with one of those things. The man, if it even was human anymore, lunged at her. She screamed, running for a knife in the kitchen.

In only three short hours, her entire world fell apart. This couldn’t be happening.
Nearly getting bitten, her knife struck the man. Nothing. Retracting the knife, she kicked the creature.

The thing was growling, almost like a hunting wolf who found its prey. Remembering the virus all over the news, she feared for her life even more.

This.. Thing had the man-made strand. An old watch on its wrist read 3:15 p.m. through the blood.
She ran to her car, turned the key, backed up, and sped off. She never looked back. This would haunt her as long as she lived.

3:15 p.m, Thursday the 12th.