3RD APRIL 2010

Something doesn't seem right even though I know exactly where I am: at home. My vision seems to portray the whole house in a vivid format, the colors standing out yet illuminated by a slight dark background, so much so that the place appears to be giving off a dim glow. The air is too quiet, yet at the same time some sort of tiny sound or sinew fills up the emptiness like a vacuum. I look at my radio resting on the table next to me, it starts rattling violently, and before I know it an obnoxious looking face pushes its way out from the speakers. It has fly-like eyes and a prawn's alien-like mouth, its skin is wrinkled and green, yet stretched so tight that it has a sharp sneer on its face. Hands appear than, firm on either side of the radio as if it is trying to squeeze itself out of the small contraption. It strains its neck, claws its way out, twists its dwarf sized body until, at last, it manages to escape completely from the radio, breaking it to pieces in the process. Throughout the whole sight, I am glued to the chair I sit on, not daring to move, even when it has broken free from its chamber and is moving toward me with a floating lilt unlike its appearance. I then turn to run, only to stumble momentarily. Before I manage to reach the door, it lunges, and claws for my leg. It catches my right leg, I yank it violently to break free, and successfully escape but with three deep, red lines in my thigh which from them flow a red liquid that i refuse to acknowledge or have the time to think about.

A bus waits for me at the bottom of my apartment, it looks like the typical yellow schoolbus that is always nearby in zombie flicks where the people need an escape vehicle. Outside of the house, everything is back to normal, and the sun shines lazily in the sky with puffy white clouds. The bus door opens, and without looking back I scurry inside and take a seat. By then, the blood from my leg has completely dried up and the wound has already closed, leaving three sore scars in its place. The bus driver, I then notice, is a teacher from my school, and he tells us that he's going to bring us somewhere safe. He drives, and the other children in the bus, many of whom are from my class, all sit relaxedly in their seats- either looking out the window at the (normal) scenery or chatting casually with each other. I stand. The people in the bus are the only normal ones to me, but I still don't trust what's going on. My teacher brings us to a supermarket that I am very familiar with, and while the rest of the children go inside to buy food and drink, I remain outside with some other children who also tell me that they find the place weird. I see my teacher waiting on the other side of the road, his eyes darting discreetly and taking in the surroundings. He is a knowledgable man, and well respected in school, but for now he looks like a security guard and a spy mixed together, on a special mission. The children return, we board the bus, he tells us that he will be dropping us off at different places, but whether we survive depends on how we choose to continue.

When it comes to my turn, the sun is already setting, it is the twilight. He drops me off at a cluster housing like place. And for some reason he gets off the bus too, along with another friend of mine who apparently has to get off. We walk up a flight of open-air stairs to reach a sort of pavillion, small and square shaped. It is then that I see a weird bug-headed creature no taller than a seven year old standing on the other side. It has the same fly-like eyes and antennas, and wrinkly taut green skin. It holds what looks like a blackberry, curiously, above its head with its right hand. Whatever compells me to walk toward it is a mystery, but as I snap to my senses and realise where I'm heading, I turn to run, and it jumps. It sinks its thick, razor like teeth into my right arm, and bites off a large chunk of flesh. I scream, and run. Down the steps, past my friend, and am caught by my teacher. He looks at the green thing advancing toward me for a moment, before taking a large garbage can lid from his left and whacking the thing constantly, repetitively, without stopping, until it is a mangled mess on the floor that doesn't move. He then looks at my arm, the indents raw and pale white from the exposed underlayers of skin, lined with blood and flaps of flesh still attached.

"They are after you," is all he says, in a voice that both warns and worries, "you must leave."

The scene suddenly changes, to that of a subway station. The overall layout is gray with black tiles lining parts of the floor. I am with my family now. Everything seems to normal yet again, and I'm starting to learn not to trust anything I see, or anyone I see. I follow my family to the ticketing station, and wait as he punches in buttons to buy tickets for the four of us. I look at the station people sitting behind glass windows, they're all smiling eerily at me, in a fake manner that could be disturbing to many. A phone on the counter starts rattling violently in that familiar manner, and the bench to my left is suddenly pulled by an unseen force against and out the station door. I look back at my family, trying to keep calm and focused, and then hear a whispering sound.

"We will succeed at all costs"

The voice, it's coming from right in front of me, at the ticketing stand.

It's from my mother.

She turns around, her usual expression on her face, and hands us the tickets, all except mine. Her face suddenly turns into a twisted smile, too short for anyone else to notice. And the hissing whisper comes out again.

"Die"

And she walks away, my father and brother following after her. I'm too fazed to move.

They got her too.