Three years ago
"How is he doing, Mom?" She spoke through a cellphone. Her eyes were looking at the things that were going around her. The soldiers passing by, their faces and whatever they were doing. Her free hand was fiddling with the buttons on her navy green jacket. She listened at the voice on the other side of the line.
"He's doing better..." A voice of an older woman sounded. "That doesn't sound very promising." Rose said and sighed, leaning back against the wall of a hallway. "Has he said anything?" - "No, he's seeing a therapist, because he's having a lot of nightmares". The woman spoke. "Tell Daniel I said Hi, okay?" Rose asked her mother.
Daniel was her older brother. He was 5 years older than her, and he joined the US army before she did. But he got in an accident a few months back and lost his leg. He was in Afghanistan, and so far Rose heard, they were attacked. His brother was close by a grenade when someone threw it and it went off. He lost his leg and was sent back home.
It was busy at the military base here. People were always busy, some soldiers had just gotten back from a mission or a practice. Rose stayed here when her brother was sent back home. Even though her mother wanted her back, she felt she needed to be here. Rose felt she had a purpose here, serving her country.
"I have to go. We have to check out some things going on in Michigan". Rose spoke through the phone. "Oh honey, be careful. Have you been following the news?" - "Yes, I have mom. Don't worry. It's probably nothing to worry about." Rose said. But she had no idea what was going on or what to expect. She pushed herself off the wall and ended the conversation with her mother and left with a group for Michigan.
Modern Days
What she saw 3 years ago in Michigan wasn't something to not worry about. It wasn't something that would be easy to fix. It was a virus that was spreading more and more. It brought the dead back to live, and they were hungry. Rose wasn't exactly how or why, her mission was to get people in safety. She and other soldiers had been busy finding survivors and fighting off zombies for 3 years now. They were losing people almost on a daily basis. It was sad, but they didn't really had a choice. Rose didn't really else had a choice. The army offered them food and in return they would do as they were told.
People said hell was full, and that's why the dead were coming back alive. Or that it was humanity's own fault. If we did believe in God and lived according the bible, this would never have happened. Most people didn't know what was trying to kill them, so they just made up lies...
"We're almost there!" A voice yelled at a group of 6 soldiers. Rose was one of them. "We'll be back in exactly 3 hours!" The man who was flying the helicopter mentioned. Rose got her helmet and put it over her short brown hair. In the military long hair wasn't ideal.
She felt the helicopter going down and eventually landing on a big intersection, in the middle of a small highway. Rose and the other soldiers jumped out, holding their rifles, running away from the helicopter, and off to a place where they couldn't be seen by others so they had a moment to discuss how they were going to this.
"Clear!" Rose said out loud after they had entered a small store. Bart, another soldier closed the blinds, and used two fingers to peek between the blinds. So far, there were no zombies to be seen. "How are we going to do this?" Bart said in a heavy voice. The reason they were there because someone had called for help through a radio. They said they were in this city, hiding in a mall.
Rose took out a big city map. And pointed at a red circle drawn on the map. "The mall is here. We are here" She pointed to a small spot on the map. "It's about 2.5 kilometers away." She said, and looked at the 4 male soldiers, who were listening. Rose looked down on the map, and her fingers moved over the map. "This is the shortest road. And probably the safest road too" She spoke quickly, and put the map back in her pocket, before she turned to a blond soldier. "I've talked it through with Mason, he leads the way". Mason nodded, and they left the abounded store.
It was halfway their trip when they were attacked by a big group of zombies. They were only with the 6 of them, and there were just too many zombies. Shots were fired and heads were bashed in. It looked like there was no way out and they weren't going to make it.
Bart was the one who sacrificed himself. He managed to get the zombies attention and pulled the trigger from a grenade when Rose and the others were far enough not to get hit by it. The soldiers kept on running, until they were safe.
"Rose..." Mason said. "You're bitten".
Rose her heart skipped a beat and she got this feeling of desperation in her stomach. She looked at her body, to see where she was bitten. With the adrenaline rushing through her body during the zombie attack, she hadn't noticed that one got to her. It was a big bite on her upper arm. "F*ck" Rose cursed. She knew what this meant. She couldn't go any further with the guys. "Well, go on already. I'll be fine. I promise" Her right hand covered the wound on her left arm.
She watched the guys leave, and she was all on her own now. Rose knew she wasn't going to make it on her own here.