A Train in a Zombie Apocalypse

The buzz of my phone shook every fiber of my being. I jolted straight and woke to an unknown and unfamiliar ceiling in a train—the lighting was only visible enough to see a couple of yards ahead of me. As I fought off the sleepiness in my eyes, I felt vibrations passing through the bottom of the floor and into my feet.

Huh?? That’s strange, where in the world am I?

Unfortunately, at the moment, it was a question I had no answer to. There were no windows to give me clues. Shellshocked by the absurdity of this seemingly unreal situation, I carefully got up and looked around. I scrutinized my new surroundings without causing suspicion. I was taken aback. There wasn’t a single living soul within eye-shot. One thought I had been pushing away unconsciously rose in the back of my mind.

Could it possibly be that I was the only person here?

I shook the thought off, lecturing myself about how it was even possible for me to give up this early. Naturally, I decided to use my phone to call for help, however, I noticed there was no signal. To make matters even worse my phone was about to die. Feeling helpless, I just sat there, impassively staring into the seemingly endless darkness.

What did I do to deserve this?

Endless questions rose to my head, solutions to which I was unaware of. Suddenly, I saw my wife and kid beckoning to me. I ran to them thinking of my new experience as a nightmare.

“Liliana, you won’t believe this but I just had the-”

“John I’ve come in your dream to tell you to get it together.”

Suddenly, her face turned into a grotesque monster and the little boy on the sidelines vanished without a trace. Startled, I opened my eyes and gasped. A cold shiver ran down my spine. While getting my stable breathing back, I decided to use my wife’s advice. With my newfound knowledge of the situation. I resolved to explore this unknown land. As I took my first step, my attention turned to the seemingly abyss-like darkness that had me trapped like an animal in a cage. Hearing no sounds besides the ones I and the train were making only fueled the suspense. I had only moved a couple of steps and I was already getting paranoia. At that moment, the place felt dark, desolate, and oddly strange, perhaps because of the obvious lack of people. Jokes aside, something instinctually felt wrong about this place. Swallowing back my fear, I carefully advanced. I found some tools along the way, a steel pipe, some food, a water bottle, and a backpack to aid in my ventures. I figured that wandering aimlessly would be pointless, so I walked around ruminating on a plan.

The materials I have will last a few days, so I can either explore the place again or… wait. Since this is a train, all I have to do is talk to the driver and he can give me the solution to this enigma of mine!

With a clear goal in mind, I moved towards the front of the train and stumbled upon a mirror. A handsome tall man with blonde hair, white skin, and freckles on his face emerged, seemingly greeting me. The man looked in his twenties and extended his hand out. Sadly, I couldn’t shake hands as I had more concerning matters at hand. As I kept walking towards the front of the train, I noticed a presence. By scrutinizing, it was most likely a fellow man. With a sense of joy and relief, I called out to the individual. He turned to face me, and my face went pale. I was livid with fright. He, no, it was rotting and was walking towards me. I readied my steel pipe for self-defense. When it was close enough, it lunged for the attack. I parried it and swung the pipe at the creature's head. It screamed and I could tell it was in a state of frenzy. Prior to this strange incident, I was very good at martial arts, so I knew the next attack would determine the winner. I baited its next attack by lowering my weapon. When it lunged again to attack me, I spun around it, dodging the attack and simultaneously charging up for the power in my attack. The monster was caught off-guard by my grandiose move and was stunned. Utilizing this opportunity, I again hit it on the head and it collapsed. After confirming it was dead, I sat at a nearby seat, exhausted. While trying to make sense of the bizarre situation, I figured it would be appropriate to name these foul beasts. I scoured my brain looking for an appropriate name when it hit me, zombies.

Why didn’t I think of this earlier?

Embarrassed by my stupidity, I decided to get up and walk around to help me refocus. While I was getting up, I froze. I saw something shining in the beast’s pocket. Curious, I slowly walked over and grabbed the ostentatious object. After staring intently for a couple of moments, I concluded that the strange item was a fragment of something. Since it caught my attention, I decided to put it in my backpack and continue on. As I was going forward, the stench of the air sickened me. I was filled with unease and something inside told me to hide. Tentatively, I absconded behind a seat, not knowing why I was overreacting. Just then three zombies ambled past me. Without making any sounds, I hid filled with a frisson of fear. When I just thought of staying still until they left, I reminisced about my goals. My wife. My kid. My freedom. I wanted to leave this hellish place to see my loved ones and regain my freedom. Hell, I even had a lot of stuff I wanted to try. Determined, I quietly got up and walked towards them, each step more challenging than the last. Suddenly, all of the zombies turned and charged. This would’ve petrified me with fear, but not today. Everything I was desperately fighting for was on the line. With the immense courage I could muster, I audaciously stared death in the face and charged. One zombie swung straight at me, and another to the side, trying to aim at me but hit a fellow zombie in the process. I figured that the brutes had a severe lack of teamwork and intelligence, as they all hit each other while trying to aim for me. In less than thirty seconds all the zombies lay on the floor before me, without a single hit from me.

Well, less work I guess.

After the “intensive” fight I felt hungry and parched. So I opened my backpack and got some food and water and started having my meal. I was about to take the first bite when I thought of how dangerous it was going to be to let my guard down for several minutes much less a couple of seconds.

Wait, since the zombies lack intelligence, couldn’t I just keep a zombie in front and behind me and eat safely?

I tried elaborating upon the idea,

Because if they see a fellow zombie, that zombie will think he’s in charge of that area and leave.

It was a very risky idea, but I decided that it was well worth the risk because I hadn’t eaten or drank any water for a long time. About halfway through the meal, a zombie walked toward the one placed in front of me. The zombie looked at the zombie in front of me, turned, and went back to where it came from. The tiny experiment with my life on the line was a success! Gleefully, I proceeded to finish my meal without any distractions. After finishing, I felt fatigued and fell asleep on a seat with the two zombies on guard.

“Dad, Dad, come here and play with me.”, a young boy said

“Of course son.”, I replied

“Let's play Hide and Seek.”, suggested my son

I agreed, and so the game began. I closed my eyes for 30 seconds as my son proceeded to saunter over to his hiding place.

“Ready or not, here I come!”

I opened my eyes and started thinking of the multitudes of hiding spots where he could be. After a while, I decided that he was hiding behind the nearby mound of dead leaves. Sure enough, he was there.

“I found you William!”, I exclaimed exuberantly

Just then, a portal appeared behind my son and zombies came out. I tried to warn him but I noticed I couldn’t speak.

“Dad, help me!” he plead

I tried to move, but I couldn’t. I could only watch my son being dragged inside the portal, unable to do a single thing.

I woke up bathed in a cold sweat and screaming, “SOONNN!!!”

Just a dream.

Yet it felt so real! I knew only one thing, I had to leave this place alive, and fast. I gathered my things and ventured onwards, leaving my two fellow guardians who allowed me to sleep. I advanced through the endless path and made significant progress, killing multiple zombies. Strangely enough, these zombies held onto fragments of the item shrouded in mystery. When I tried piecing it together, I could immediately tell I was missing one piece. Frustrated, I stood on my feet and looked back. It felt as though a bulldozer had gone on a straight path decimating the aesthetics of the interior, as it was littered with corpses that lay askew. Looking at the carnage of zombies reassured me that I was going to decimate all these damned zombies and make it home. I pushed forward and encountered a new kind of zombie. It was as if the normal zombie mutated. It was burly, tall, and had armor. I marveled at the sheer power of this being but felt despaired immediately because I had to face him. I suddenly felt a fist in my stomach, sending me flying into the wall. I coughed blood.

It’s all over.

Just as how the weak are helpless in front of the strong, I had given up and looked down. Surprisingly, on the ground lay a dagger. I smiled as I suddenly masterminded a genius thought. I feigned weakness to get the mutant zombie to lower its guard, and at that moment I struck hardest. I suddenly stabbed it in its carotid artery, it screamed in pain which only made the wound worse. It instantly fell to the ground, where I finished it off by grabbing the dagger and decapitating its neck. I stood there and noticed something shining in its pocket.

The final piece!

I immediately took out the remaining pieces and slowly pieced them together. After what seemed to be an eternity, the item was finally completed-a key. As I pushed in the last piece, the key suddenly started to shine. In the golden light, the pieces were fusing together to make a perfect key with no cracks. I saw the golden light emitted was fatal to zombies, as the corpse of the mutant zombie vaporized as if it never existed. I stood there gaping at the seemingly impossible scene unraveling before my very eyes. Suddenly in the span of a breath, the terribly bright, yet beautiful light spread across the train, purifying all evil souls with its brilliance. The internal wound the mutant zombie also dealt to me was healed immediately. Amazingly, the key moved forward and stopped, as if beckoning to me. I followed it, ignoring the fact it had just saved my life and precious time. The key somehow got me to the front of the train that I had desperately been looking for.

What the….I mean, come on man! Even a key is outperforming me!

I let out a light chuckle and proceeded to look around. I noticed something shocking. There was no driver! In disbelief, I wondered how a train could be driving itself, but after seeing the key which got me here, I decided not to bother. Other than the train having no driver, the frontmost part of the train had a door.

Why is there a door in front of a train? Talk about weird.

As I watched closely, to my surprise the door had a keyhole. I immediately knew what to do with the key. The key, as if responding to my will dropped into my hands. I was not going to give the opportunity of opening the door-my one ticket out of this place to anyone, so without further delay, I opened the door and suddenly everything went blank. I regained conciousness in a hospital bed, with all sorts of intricate wiring attached to my body.

A nurse nearby saw me wake up and said, “Guys! Look! It’s a miracle! Patient from ward 256 has woken up from a five-year-long coma!!”