2# The Beginning

The City of Ashford

Alexander drove his car out of the parking lot of the largest mall in Ashford, with a stack of gifts he had bought using his last paycheck after finally quitting the job he had held for years.

The handsome man of mixed Asian heritage ran his fingers through his black hair and exhaled slowly. He hadn’t actually intended to resign anytime soon. But his mother had just remarried a few days ago. News that came as a huge shock to him.

Ever since his father passed away, Alexander had been his mother’s only family. That was why, even though she now had a new family, his mother kept urging him to move with her.

At first, Alexander refused. He didn’t want to leave this city. The place that had witnessed all his life’s struggles, the place where he’d lost his love. It was sad, yes, but that was precisely why he’d stayed here. Perhaps because he was still waiting, still hoping that girl would come back.

But after hearing his mother cry on the phone for nearly half an hour, complaining that she felt awkward with her new family, he finally gave in.

"Just a few months," Alexander muttered. He would try living in that new city first. If it didn’t work out, he could come back anytime. At least, that’s what he thought.

****************

Alexander slowed down his car when he saw a long line of vehicles stopped right at the gate of his apartment complex.

Strange, he thought. "What’s going on? It’s not usual for the roads here to be this congested."

Alexander got out of his car. He walked to the front of the line. The sound of commotion began to reach him. Some people even sounded panicked.

"Hold him down!"

"Ouch, ouch, he bit me!"

"Shut his mouth!"

"Where are the police? Why haven’t they arrived yet?"

"Someone, please call for help! There are a lot of people injured here!" someone shouted in a panic.

Alexander’s gray eyes narrowed as he saw several people trying to break up two others who appeared to be fighting in the distance.

He ran quickly toward the crowd, trying to help. "Excuse me, let me through so I can help!" he shouted.

After pushing through the crowd, Alexander finally got a clear view.

The men weren’t fighting. One of them was attacking wildly, as if he’d lost his mind. His mouth was filled with something bloody, and it was dripping down to his chin.

That’s terrifying. Does that person have rabies? Alexander thought. He watched the man continue to thrash about, then walked quickly toward him. With a practiced move, Alexander deftly pinned the man face-down on the ground. He held the man’s body down with his knee.

"Quick, get some rope! Let’s tie him up first!" Alexander shouted.

One of the onlookers rushed toward the security guard post. He quickly returned carrying a roll of thin cable.

"Can we use this?" he asked, handing the cable to Alexander. Alexander took it and deftly tied—or rather, wrapped—the cable around the struggling man’s body until he couldn’t move a muscle.

After he was done subduing the man, Alexander scanned his surroundings. He saw someone lying nearly unconscious not far from him, with a large gash on his shoulder. A hole the size of a fist gaped open and continued to bleed. It looked as though someone had bitten him, tearing away most of the flesh.

He walked over to the man, taking off his jacket to help stop the bleeding from the wound.

While continuing to apply pressure to the wound, Alexander took out his cell phone to call an ambulance. However, the emergency line kept ringing busy. It seemed like a lot of people were calling the same number at the same time today.

His eyes kept glancing toward the man, noting how pale he looked. Fortunately, he still seemed conscious. Alexander pressed his lips together. He sensed something strange about the man. For some reason, his instincts had been warning him to stay away from there all along, as if something even more terrifying than this were about to happen.

Alexander shook his head to shake off that thought. He had just opened his mouth to call out to someone for immediate help, when his breath caught in his throat as he heard the person in front of him begin to groan. Then the person, who had previously looked weak and on the verge of fainting, suddenly straightened up and pounced on him.

"Holly Sh—" Alexander shouted, his voice catching in his throat.

****************

Ironwood

"Get me some potato chips, Ethan," Olivia said as she checked their shopping list.

Ethan grabbed one of the extra-large bags of potato chips and handed it to Olivia. "This one, Love?" he asked.

"Not this one. It’s spicy, and Valent can’t eat spicy food."

"Actually, that’s exactly why, so they can’t finish them off," he grinned, placing the black pepper-flavored potato chips into the cart.

"Get two more, please. Just the original ones. One bag won’t be enough for the four of us. You eat a lot, after all."

"Huh? Why me?" Ethan protested, pouting slightly.

The afternoon sky was clear, glistening under the warm summer sun shining down on the small town. Olivia walked slowly between the beverage aisles at the supermarket with Ethan. Meanwhile, the Soren twins were busy picking out drinks in another aisle.

"We need more marshmallows," Olivia said again, glancing at Ethan, who was standing in front of the candy aisle.

Ethan turned and smiled. "Are you sure we need this many?" he asked, looking at their basket, which was now overflowing with snacks of various flavors.

"Did you forget that your two cousins prefer snacks over regular food?" Olivia asked with a giggle.

It was peak hour at the supermarket. The automatic glass doors opened and closed nonstop. The cool air from the air conditioning mingled with the aroma of freshly baked bread from the bakery in the corner and the scent of fresh fruit that had just been arranged on the front shelves.

A promotional announcement came over the loudspeaker, advertising special discounts on cooking oil and detergent for that day. A few people stopped, whispered to each other, then hurried to grab the items before they ran out.

At the checkout, a long line snaked its way through the store. The sound of the barcode scanner echoed repeatedly, blending with the rustling of shopping bags being opened and closed.

A cashier smiled wearily but remained friendly, her fingers moving quickly as she tallied and scanned the items. In front of her, a pile of groceries formed a small mountain.

Olivia and Ethan walked past the long line. After paying for their groceries, Ethan asked Olivia to wait for Vivian and Valent, who hadn’t finished shopping yet, while he loaded their groceries into the car.

"Wait here for a moment, okay? I’ll put the groceries in the car first," Ethan said, gently running his fingers through Olivia’s hair.

Olivia waited by the window near the cashier, watching people come and go. A moment later, a faint scream was heard from outside. Olivia turned her head, her brow slightly furrowed. "What was that…?"

Suddenly, the sound of shattering glass and louder screams echoed from the direction of the entrance. Several people began running into the supermarket in a panic, some were bleeding, while others were screaming as if possessed.

"Ethan!" Olivia called out in panic. She took a step back when she saw a blood-soaked woman burst in and pounce on a shopper. Blood spattered, splattering the floor and walls.

Ethan darted over to Olivia. He placed his hand on her waist because Olivia was frozen with fear and guided her so she could walk faster. "Come on, we have to find the others. Now!"

They ran down the adjacent aisle and ran into Vivian and Valent, who looked confused. "What’s going on?!" Vivian asked frantically.

"Someone attacked a person up front. We have to get out of here!" Ethan replied quickly.

They moved swiftly toward the store’s back door, rushing through the storage room. There, several store employees were trying to close the metal door but kept slipping in their panic.

One of the staff members was nearly dragged away by a terrifying figure that growled with empty eyes and a mouth full of blood.

In the chaos, someone crashed into Olivia and Ethan hard, causing Olivia to slip and fall. They were separated amid the crowd of people running in panic. Olivia felt her hand being pulled by someone who seemed to want to help her up.

But when she looked at the person’s face, their eyes had turned a whitish-gray and their skin was a pale greenish hue. Blood was dripping from their mouth, with what looked like pieces of flesh and skin lodged between their teeth. Olivia realized this was no help.

She held her breath and tried to run, but her weak legs trembled violently. The creature moved quickly and pounced on Olivia. Its teeth sank into her arm in an instant.

"Aarrgh!" Olivia felt excruciating pain. For a moment she thought her arm would be torn off, before Ethan kicked the creature away.

"Olivia! Oh my God! You got bitten?!" Ethan exclaimed, cold sweat streaming down his pale face.

Olivia stared at the bite mark on her hand. Blood was oozing from between her fingers.

"E-Ethan..." she moaned softly, her lips trembling. Olivia tried to endure the pain. She gritted her teeth. "I... I’m okay. We have to get out of here first," Olivia said, even as the pain and burning sensation began to spread from the bite mark.

They managed to escape through the back door and got into Ethan’s car, which was parked near a small alley behind the building.

"Let me drive!" Valent shouted when he saw Ethan repeatedly fail to insert his car key.

"Let’s go to the hospital first!" Ethan exclaimed.

Valent nodded and sped off. But just as they turned onto the main road leading to the downtown hospital, a horrific sight greeted them.

Cars were scattered everywhere, some even overturned and crashed into one another. Not far from there, the creatures that had attacked at the supermarket earlier were here too—in far greater numbers.

The hairs on the back of Valent’s neck stood on end. He held his breath. "Oh my god. What the hell is this?!"